Super Lap Battle Finals - Initial Timing

The Glass/ What Are You (IT Team)Looking Forward To This Year?
Half full or half empty? It's neither. For me, the glass is smackdab in the middle. Why let optimism or pessimism cloud what is clearly water sitting stationary in a glass that is irrevocably in the middle. Don't get me wrong, if said glass was brimming to the top, it would be full; vacant, empty. But in a half state, it is nothing but the middle. It is a fact that can't be disputed and the outlook I share with most everything else in life. I'm a realist.

And when it comes to what's been going on in the world, it's a whole lot of suck. The economy, banking, mortgages, Middle East, all blah to say the least. Even our industry has felt the negative effects in the past year: manufacturers are unstable, shops are going out of business, events are done-dizzle, and magazines are shuttering their printed doors. Cue boos and hisses. But there is a small twinkling light at the end of the long, dark and narrow tunnel. Make that lights, plural.

Right after a better-than-expected SEMA show, filled with new parts and demo cars, our Super Lap Battle Finals in Buttonwillow, CA saw the unexpected debut of the Cusco Impreza, which nearly obliterated the HKS EVO's record. Cusco may have missed their mark, but overall, times in the nine classes improved by an average of 2.207 seconds from last year. My first Super Lap Battle was four years ago and I remember the carnage that was the first 10 minutes of every session. Cars spilling oil, motors popping, engines catching on fire, drivers going off into the dirt-it was like amateur night at the track. Now, cars are running faster than ever before, with destruction at an all time low. Are we-gasp-maturing?

Two over-achievers of interest were AMS Performance and Crawford Performance. Martin, Ivan and the AMS crew-fresh after winning the Castrol Syntec Top Shop Challenge-brought out their latest creation, an EVO X built in two months that rocked SLB and two other races in Buttonwillow within the span of a week. That's three birds with one very stout Mitsu stone. On the other side of the AWD turbo spectrum, Crawford's STI is the first completely U.S.-built time attack car to break deep into the 1:47 barrier. In an age of JDM, here are two homegrown USDM tuning shops that take the "performance" in their title to heart.

On the OE front, there is a plethora of new platforms coming out. Mitsubishi has the new Ralliart, and Subaru, the improved WRX. Nissan unveiled the lighter, more powerful, stiffer 370Z, and in a "Stop the presses!" moment, Hyundai has a model worth talking about with their new Genesis Coupe. Turbocharged 4B11, RWD, and priced in the mid $20k? It's got the kimchee in my blood boiling.

For us at 2NR, we have something huge to announce: Drum roll please, the addition of a third editor. Not just any FNG either, but Scott Tsuneishi, a name that ought to be familiar to our longtime readers. After a stint at Turbo, he's back, and going to be giving us a much needed helping hand/wrench. Expect more hardcore tech and some very cool stories.

In an otherwise bleak 2009, the glass is still unmistakably in the middle, but here's to hoping that it turns out to be half full.

Editor
Carter Jung
carter@importtuner.com

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