Dai's Driving Academy
No, not that Dai. We're talking about Daijiro Inada: front-man of the D1GP and JDM Option. And in case any of you thought this Dai only comes to town for In-N-Out burgers and D1 opening ceremonies, guess again. Not only did Dai himself drive in the Anaheim D1GP, he also rented El Toro airfield in Irvine, CA, the very next day for a come-one, come-all grip/slip instructional track day. With help from Shogun Style Performance (course management), Garage Boso (rental and demo cars), Ross Petty (driving instructor/translator), and Taka Aono (driving instructor/translator), Dai invited any and everyone to learn the tricks of high-performance driving on a drift skid pad, intermediate and advanced drift courses (that offered triple digit speeds, for the brave), a Gymkhana course, and an autocross course. The event also served as an official D1 Underground event, meaning Daijiro was able to select up to four promising U.S. drivers to skip sanctioned D1 drivers' searches, and run D1 Pro qualifying events. Without spoiling any surprises, let's just say the AZ crew (Forrest Wang's bros) led the pack.
UTI Meet
Universal Technical Institute invited budding gearheads and their financial guardians to its Rancho Cucamonga, CA, campus for its annual open house, with over 200 slammed, high-horsepower, Kandy-clad examples of how a proper education could be put to use. Although more of a show for the Lowrider and Hot Rod crowd (there is something to be said for a 1,200hp, supercharged big-block engine that weighs more than our entire project Miata . . . even though we'd still kick its ass around a track!), the UTI cause brought out more than enough import/sport compacts to crash the party. Best of all, UTI's guided tours (read: free A/C) were so cool (literally) that we found ourselves strangely attracted to their race-inspired curriculum. Again and again.
www.UTI.edu
By The Numbers
1182.87
In miles, the length of snow, gravel, tarmac, and dirt that make up the official Rally America competition driving surfaces of the 2009 season.
Tricks Of The Trade
Helping You Wrench
Jelly Donut Anyone?
Building a high performance engine takes skill, knowledge, and the right components to get the job done. If there's one item every engine builder should have in their toolbox, it's engine assembly lube. Unlike motor oils, assembly lube has a thick molasses-like consistency that will adhere to any pre-lubricated engine parts such as bearings, valve train components, pistons, and transmission parts. Running an engine dry during the initial break-in process can cause micro-welding of piston ring-lands, or premature wear of friction surfaces. Merely soaking or dousing your engine components in motor oil prior to assembly will only leave a light coating of protection that can still be easily scuffed or galled beyond repair. Torco MPZ assembly lube is just one of many popular lubes sold over the counter and is advertised as an anti-wear, anti-friction lubricant with a natural attraction to metal. We like that Torco's MPZ lube is soluble in synthetic or petroleum oils, and kept all our internal components well-lubed and protected with its thick, red, jelly-like lubricant when assembling our EJ20 power plant.