Toyota, backed by massive sales of some of the most reliable cars on the market, spends millions of dollars a year on such motorsports ventures as off-road trucks, Grand-Am, and the growing success of their Formula One effort. But a venture into the premier ranks of collectible commemorative plates, Bud Light, oval tracks, and southern accents is something wholly different. Having absolutely nothing to do with the production Camry, Toyota's NASCAR effort was designed and tested from scratch and is sure to be scrutinized by competitors that are a little less than happy to be racing with a Japanese manufacturer. Will Toyota begin to win races in the Chase for the Cup? Are people going to take notice of the V-8 Camry's efforts? Will this open NASCAR's doors for other foreign manufacturers? Keep an eye out on Toyota's efforts at www.toyota.com
Rain Or Shine Inaugural Jtuned.Com MeetWhen we received notice of the first ever car meet put on by the JDM-slingfest known as jtuned.com, we were downright excited. Everything sounded good on paper: the massive Irwindale Speedway parking lot was going to play host, there was going to be lots of reputable vendors appearing, food would be available on site, a lot of great cars were going to show up. Best of all, it was completely free. If you arrange it, and don't charge a single cent, they will come.
At first, the watchful eye of the Irwindale police force combined with the moderate rain cast doubt on the expected turnout. Once the gates opened up, all fears were lifted. Braving the morning cold, as well as a light downpour, more than 1000 cars shuffled through the Irwindale Speedway parking lot to check out a veritable "who's who" of Japanese-inspired styling in Southern California. With the sights, sounds, and smells of the Formula Drift driver's qualifying session blaring out from the banks of the speedway, the cars lined up in rows that stretched out to the very border of the finest piece of Irwindale real estate in existence. JTuned.com spread the word out grassroots style and plenty of tuned S2000's, Civic's, WRX's, RX-7's, Evo's, Integra's and Scion's showed up to shoot the shit with each other. A swarm of past 2NR feature cars also made an appearance, including APR Performance's wide-body Evo VIII, Ernie Rico's April '06 cover S2000, High End Performance's Evo VIII, and Fred Chang's golden RSX Type-S.
Tickets were sold and prizes were raffled off from such vendors as HKS, RS*R, A'PEXi, Mackin Industries, Fujita Air, Tanabe, DC Sports, JHPUSA, Pacific Rim, Best Motoring, Spoon Sports, XS Engineering, DVS Shoes, Signal Auto, Star Shield Armor, and APR Performance. There had been promises of food being served on-site by the greasy and great local vendor King Taco, but the doors never opened the whole time we were present. Not that we can hold it against JTuned. With a massive turnout of some of the cleanest cars in Cali, plenty of people to talk to and share ideas with, and no cover charge, they had a real winner on their hands. Check it out at www.jtuned.com
Pitchin' It Sideways In A 2006 Scion TCImagine an event that crossbreeds autocross, road racing and drifting to create a competitive sport called Gymkhana. With more than 50 years of history tracing back to the mid 1950s, Gymkhana stages two competitors in a head to head battle, challenging driver ability, speed, and vehicle handling as the winner crosses the finish line on a timed course. The rigors of Gymkhana can be technically demanding as, the course layout is varied throughout the day, making driver skills as a must. Similar to drifting, numerous techniques such as clutch kicking, side brake, and 360 degree spin turns become a necessity in completing the course in minimum time without being penalized for knocking down cones.
Front-wheel-drive owners? Don't feel discouraged. While many of the competitors are using RWD AE86's, FC3S's, and 240sx's, the FWD sleds do have a competitive edge when in the heat of battle. To test the FF theory, we casually called Scion to deliver us a 2006 tC press car the day before the Gymkhana event for some tire-smoking fun. Upon delivery, the vehicle was taken to TEIN USA and equipped with a set of TEIN S.Tech springs and Enkei NTO3+M rims wrapped in a set of Falken ST115. Hosting the gymkhana was Aerodyne Industries of Garden Grove, California, Aerodyne developed a committee entitled Super Gymkhana Racing Association (SGRA) as a means to cater to a sport that seems to be catching steam in the U.S. With over 40 vehicles battling at Willow Springs, the tC didn't disappoint as TEIN engineers Katsuma Nakai and Ippei Sugano were busy mashing on the throttle and e-brake, winning numerous rounds against SR20DET powered 240sx's. The Scion even managed to impress a few spectators, including the main sponsor of the event, Carboy Magazine, who makes their gymkhana presence known in Japan as main coordinators of the ever-popular Battle Drift GP. This year, Aerodyne Industries and SGRA will mirror Battle Drift GP with their own US version. SGRA announced that the series would be judged on gymkhana time results as well as drifting performance points. For more information, e-mail SGRA@carimageland.com
Want Free Tein Scion tC Springs?If you're sporting a 2005-2006 Scion, we've got a set of S.Tech Springs plucked from our Gymkhana machine, just for you. Send us an image of your bad ass Scion TC and a short paragraph as to why your ride deserves to sport a set of TEIN S.Tech springs. Just make sure the image is a minimum 1200x1000 resolution. Don't be sending us that crap newspaper image! Email us at importtuner@primedia.com