Hard to believe 1998 was 10 years ago, huh?  Well it was, and with the December '08 issue (on stands now) 2NR celebrates its 10-year anniversary:

IN THIS ISSUE ONLY:

GIRLS, GIRLS, GIRLS -- We scoured the archives, and re-shot the 10 hottest models in 2NR history.

The History Books -- From records broken, to products launched and everything else in between, we've assembled a master timeline of all the decade's major tuning scene accomplishments.

ENGINES, ENGINES, ENGINES -- Japan's 10 best engines, as presented in our Top 10 Power Pages of the decade. If you're driving a Japanese car, find out how best to modify it for big power.

FEATURES:

DC-area DC2 Integra -- Side-draft turbocharged to the tune of 550+whp, right-hand drive, and stacked with JDM/Mugen goodness inside and out... Is this the best tuned import ever? We think so, and let you know why.

SoCal Twin-turbo G35 -- A little bit of show, a whole lot of go, and the owner still refers to it as his "beater car". Try not to be jealous.

East Coast Supra -- 740 whp, 10.5 sec @ 117 mph quarter-mile blasts, and daily driven -- what's not to like?

ON THE SCENE:

Hot Import Nights, Pomona, CA
Super Lap Battle, Atlanta, GA
Mitsubishi Owners' Day, Cypress, CA
The inside scoop on Formula D: Seattle, as told by seven pro drifters.

DIALOGUE:

Ken Miyoshi and Frank Choi -- From Import drag racing, to drifting in America, to the show circuit, meet the two men who started 99.97% of the import scene you enjoy today.

Kay Valentine -- A British import model, of French and Vietnamese heritage, in one of the hottest photo shoots ever to grace our pages. Oh, and a full interview, too: assless chaps, tea bags, and lame pick-up lines all covered in depth.

TECH:

Fact or Fiction -- Import Tuner vs. Top Fuel: we expose a major Japanese tuning company's supposed 'power adder'.

Question IT -- Eric Hsu discloses his all-time favorite car, the controversial truth about big brakes, and what he thinks about 2JZ-into-Camry swaps.

Monster SR20DET: Update -- Our four-digit-horsepower SR20DET project nears completion. Get the details on how to win this thing!!

Import Tuner magazine along with Tein, are building a Lexus IS F for SEMA and for our Super Lap Battle Finals at Buttonwillow. Follow the build on our site.

TEIN:
Once the chassis was nice and stitch welded, custom Tein Comfort Sport monotube coilovers went in to replace the stock shocks and struts. With a complete R&D team in the U.S., Tein was able to revalve the Comfort Sports in-house, for more aggressive damping. A coilover based on this setup should be available for all IS Fs soon.

VOLK/ YOKOHAMA:
For wheels and tires, there was a huge dilemma. We knew that we wanted forged Volks but sizing was an issue. Since the IS F comes stock with 19s, we couldn’t rock anything less for SEMA. But for competition in the Street class , we needed 18s. The solution? Two different sets of wheels with two different sets of tires. Our IS F will have 19-inch RE30s (19x9 +38 offset front; 19x10 +38 offset rear) for show and 18-inch LE37Ts (18x9.5 +40 offset) for race.

For tires, we went with Yokohama Advan Sports (255/35-19 front; 275/35-19 rear) and sticky Advan Neovas (255/40-18).

FIVE AXIS:
When it came to aero for the Lexus, the first company that came to mind was Five Axis. Troy is sick with designs, and he built an IS F for SEMA last year so it was only natural. Unfortunately, with time and budget being a constraint, we were only able to manage a custom lip. The photo is just a prototype, the final piece will be dry carbon and will be available through Five Axis as a production piece.

NOS:
Time once again being a factor, a custom turbo kit that would run competitively let alone properly (emphasis on the “run”) was out of the question. Liquid turbo (aka nitrous) was the simplest solution. Holley and NOS came through with a composite NOS bottle, bottle opener, drive-by-wire wet nitrous system, Ntimidator dual LED purge kit, nitrous bottle heater, P.O.D. system, and nitrous pressure gauges.

TOM’S:
For the chassis stiffening bars, we turned to the Toyota experts at TOM’S. If you look closely at all the silver bars under the chassis, they are all TOM’S (upper performance rod, front suspension member brace, rear suspension member brace, rear body strengthening brace).

BRIDE:
The stock seats on the IS F are heavy. A brand with luxury as one of its core values, it’s only natural that a Lexus seat has motors, thick padding and air bags—great for daily driving, bad on weight. To counter that, while adding some JDM appeal, we went two Bride seats for the front: BRIX II and its extra bolster for the driver, and XAX II for the passenger.

TO BE CONTINUED...

HOTBOX:
Tein
www.tein.com

Lexus
www.lexus.com

Fujitsubo
www.fujitsubo.co.jp

Volk
www.mackinindustries.com

Yokohama Tire
www.yokohamatire.com

Five Axis
www.fiveaxis.net

NOS
www.holley.com

TOM’S
www.tomsracing.co.jp/

Bride
www.tees-usa.com

M1 Fabrication

Import Tuner magazine (www.importtuner.com) along with Tein (www.tein.com), are building a Lexus IS F for SEMA.

Given that the IS F comes from the factory stout—what with its 416 hp, sport tuned suspension, and aggressive styling—our goal is to accentuate those attributes and build an aggressive ride that performs well on the track while being livable: A four seater to floss on the street during the work week…and a car to beat around the track during the weekend.

With this in mind, reliability is key. We’re going to go light on the engine mods (it does come stuffed with a V-8...stock) and heavy on the chassis and suspension. Cue Tein. A lot of our efforts will also be spent on lightening the vehicle to improve its power-to-weight ratio and tuning the suspension components.

To test the capabilities of our IS F, after SEMA, our Lexus will compete in the Street Class of the Super Lap Battle time attack finals at Buttonwillow Raceway, CA. The driver we have lined up? Mr. Tanner Foust.

STRIPPED (part 1):
After marveling at the IS F's stock beauty for about three days, what do we do? Order a bunch of parts and proceed to strip her down like a starving college student working for tips. We (as in Philip and Brian from Tein) ripped out the bumpers, fenders, headlights, doors, trunk, seats, carpet, to get to the sheetmetal to prep for stitch welding the chassis.

STRIPPED (part 2):
Now that we had access to the exposed chassis, all the tar and sound deadening material was scraped, chiseled and gnawed off in an effort to reduce weight. How much? According to our scale, 27 lbs or so, giving whoever drives our IS F, the equivalent of an instant diet; a portly 217 pound man would now essentially weigh 190 lbs. And once we tally the weight loss from removing the air bags (side curtain, knee), rear speakers, strategically cut holes, and the difference in lighter Bride seats, titanium Fujitsubo exhaust, and forged Volk wheels, it’s like the driver went on a really bad meth binge.

STITCHED:
To stiffen the chassis, M1 Fabrication, Tein and Fujitsubo all lent a hand and stitch welded most of the IS F's seams. Hopefully there will never be any need for major body work (knock on wood).

TO BE CONTINUED...

HOTBOX:
Tein
www.tein.com

Lexus
www.lexus.com

Fujitsubo
www.fujitsubo.co.jp

Volk
www.mackinindustries.com

Yokohama Tire
www.yokohamatire.com

Five Axis
www.fiveaxis.net

NOS
www.holley.com

TOM’S
www.tomsracing.co.jp/
 
Bride
www.tees-usa.com
 
M1 Fabrication

Lexus gave out four of their new sport sedans, the IS F, to various organizations to build for the upcoming 2008 SEMA show. Guess who got one? Us.

Import Tuner along with Tein scored an Ultrasonic Blue Mica IS F to build for Lexus' booth in Las Vegas. The project is currently underway with full intents on building a Street Class time attack car. In fact, immediately after SEMA, the IS F will race at Buttonwillow for our Super Lap Battle finals. 

More images and text will be posted soon, but until then, take a look at the proposed rendering.

IN THIS ISSUE:

Features:

Bug-eyed WRX: 10-second, 618+whp, track-prepped, street-driven... wait for it... show car?!  Find out why this is one of the baddest cars we've featured, ever.

East Coast 350Z:  Power, style, and sound in an all-encompasing Power Enterprise twin-turbo'd, Do-Luck widebodied, Seibon carbon'd, Team Emotion masterpiece.

EK Civic Hatch: Sportin' a fully-built B18C5 swap w/ SIK ITBs;  Acura ITR, Mugen and TEIN suspension bits; Spoon/Work rolling stock; and a J's and C-West-enhanced exterior w/JDM'd, race-prepped interior. This Civic is beyond words. Almost.

On The Scene:

Formula D Diaries: Gushi, Gittin, Yoshihara, Forsberg, Foust, Miki, Hubinette, McQuarrie and Pfeiffer in their own words about what REALLY happened in Vegas, during Formula Drift.

Battle of the Imports, Vegas:  Drag is back!  Imports beat domestics three times over (and the man who couldn't be beaten), records broken, and dragsters del fuego.

D1GP Odaiba:  We packed our bags and headed for the Promised land... Coverage of some really, really insane action from JDM drifters you've never heard of.  Wrecks?  Chicks?  Drama? Check, check, and check.

HIN NorCar:  North Carolina come on 'n raise up! 

New Jersey's Finest: Pride Performance shop profile.

Dialogue:

You know that video game called Gran Turismo?  Well, we interview its creator.  Turns out Kazunori Yamauchi tears up the track on-screen as well he does in the real world.  Betcha wish you also had a Lambo-beating Z33 and carbon fiber S2K... in real life!

Miss Formula D Catherine Kluthe:  Boogers, farts, sunbathing, and chasing after guys in Vegas... this Filipino/German hottie bares all in her one-on-one with the 2NR staff, including one of the hottest side-boob shots we've ever run!

Tech:

Unleashing the EVO killer...  Find out which '08 import platform posted higher baseline power numbers than the EVO X -- while retailing for $11,000 less -- and how best to drop a grand on making it even faster.

Do vented hoods make more power?  You might be surprised at the outcome of this month's Fact or Fiction.

Eric Hsu instructs how to properly import a JDM ride to the states, helps a brave reader/tuner conquer one of the oddest-yet-coolest Toyota project cars we've seen in a long time, and schools some random noob about the Internet.

As our monster SR20DET project engine comes together, we delve into the details of why no two engines are created equal, and why we're gonna kick the other mags' asses in Castrol Syntec's Top Shop Challenge engine-building competition.

And tons, tons, tons more!!!  Including Longshots:  hundreds of you sent us your best attempts at automotive photography last month; find out which lucky four of you actually gain Clint's respect!

Bill A.B. 3053 has been defeated!

Thanks to all the readers of my last blog, who, disgusted with Assemblymember Dave Jones' attempt to sneak language to require annual Smog check inspections for vehicles 15-years old and older into bill A.B. 3053, took the time to call or emaill select California state senators, urging them to oppose the bill.

A brief recap; a proposal to require annual smog inspections for vehicles 15 years old and loder had been previously introduced and defeated in bill A.B. 616, earlier this year.  Unhappy with that outcome, state assemblymember Jones reintroduced the launguage into completely unrelated bill A.B. 3053 in the final days of legislative session -- a clear attempt to "bushwack" challengers of the bill and automotive enthusiasts everywhere.

Here's the official presss release from our friends at SEMA's Sema Action Network (SAN) regarding the issue:

CALIFORNIA BILL TO REQUIRE ANNUAL EMISSIONS INSPECTIONS FOR OLDER CARS FAILS . . . AGAIN!

The SAN defeated California legislation to require annual (rather than biennial) smog-check inspections for vehicles 15 years old and older. The bill would also have required that funds generated through the additional inspection fees be deposited into an account which could then be used to scrap older cars. In an effort to sneak the bill through in the closing days of the legislative session, California Assemblyman Dave Jones amended a completely unrelated bill with the annual smog-check inspection language.

While pre-'76 motor vehicles would have remained exempt under existing California law, this proposal ignored the fact that vehicles 15 years old and older still constitute a small portion of the overall vehicle population and are a poor source from which to look for emissions reductions. This latest action represents the second time the SAN was able to defeat this legislation.

Special thanks to the countless enthusiasts and car clubs whose quick and powerful response to this harmful bill prevented it from moving forward.



Get involved with more efforts!  visit www.sema.org for details.

California residents who own and drive cars 15 years old or older, take a minute to read this notification we just recieved in the 2NR office, courtesy of our friends at the SEMA Action Network:

Immediate Action Needed!  

California Lawmaker Trying to Sneak by a Bill to Require ANNUAL Emissions Tests for Vehicles
15-Years Old and Older

Committee Hearing set for August 28. Call Now!!!

In an effort to avoid public scrutiny, California Assemblyman Dave Jones (Assemblymember.jones@assembly.ca.gov) has amended a completely unrelated bill with language to require annual Smog check inspections for vehicles 15-years old and older.  This represents an obvious attempt to sneak through legislation in the closing days of the legislative session that had been previously defeated (A.B. 616).  The new bill is designated as A.B. 3053.

While pre-1976 motor vehicles would remain exempt under existing California law, this proposal ignores the fact that vehicles 15-years old and older still constitute a small portion of the overall vehicle population and are a poor source from which to look for emissions reduction.  Furthermore, the bill would direct that the funds generated through annual inspection fees be used to scrap older cars.  This represents another attempt by California legislators and regulators to scapegoat older cars.

This is the type of activity that fuels distrust in public officials.  SEMA caught this lawmaker’s underhanded attempt to circumvent public process and is now calling on you to help defeat A.B 3053 before it’s too late.  

Time is of the Essence!  We Urge You to Call the California Senate Appropriations Committee (List Below) Immediately to Oppose A.B. 3053


California Senate Appropriations Committee

Senator Tom Torlakson – Chair
Phone: 916/651-4007
Email: senator.torlakson@sen.ca.gov

Senator Dave Cox
Phone: 916/651-4001
Email: senator.cox@sen.ca.gov

Senator Sam Aanestad
Phone: 916/651-4004
Email: senator.aanestad@sen.ca.gov

Senator Roy Ashburn
Phone: 916/651-4018
Email: senator.ashburn@sen.ca.gov

Senator Gilbert Cedillo
Phone: 916/651-4022
Email: senator.cedillo@sen.ca.gov

Senator Ellen Corbett
Phone: 916/651-4010

Senator Robert Dutton
Phone: 916/651-4031
Email: senator.dutton@sen.ca.gov

Senator Dean Florez
Phone: 916/651-4016
Email: senator.florez@sen.ca.gov

Senator Sheila Kuehl
Phone: 916/651-4023
Email: senator.kuehl@sen.ca.gov

Senator Jenny Oropeza
Phone: 916/651-4028

Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas
Phone: 916/651-4026

Senator George Runner
Phone: 916/651-4017
Email: senator.runner@sen.ca.gov

Senator Joe Simitian
Phone: 916/651-4011
Email: senator.simitian@sen.ca.gov

Senator Mark Wyland
Phone: 916/651-4038

Senator Leland Yee
Phone: 916/651-4008

-------------
We're going to do a little digging, to find out some more details of the proposal, and the bill its hiding in.  Further findings will be posted in a new blog. 

Thanks for reading -- now go get involved!

--Luke
www.myspace.com/munnellphotography

As yet a fourth rendition of the Fast and Furious movie series – this one, simply titled:

Fast and Furious – inches into post-production, it seems that the official trailer has been released online.  Fasten your seatbelts, and click here:

Production and editing? Good.  Cinematography? Good.  Stunts?  Good.  The return of the original cast? Even though it will probably turn out to be somewhat cheesy… good, overall (meaning: no Tyrese Gibson). 

Regurgitating the plot of the first movie, albeit with a modern-day, carbon-conscious twist?  Bad. U-turn-spinning, NOS-powered Mad Max-style pick-ups that hijack tanker trucks by driving backwards at freeway speed? Bad. The fact that 7/8ths of the official trailer plays before even the slightest hint of import involvement is given?  Bad, but... 

That most or all of said imports were apparently picked based solely on head-turning flash?  In case you can’t already predict my answer to that one... even worse.

Since the release of the mildly tolerable Tokyo Drift, I had been holding my breath that the FnF creators were finally on a solid path toward depicting the import scene in a more accurate – albeit melodramatic – way.  Until I saw this.  It seems like the previous import-heavy cast of cars is being traded for a broader mix, to make #4 more "action flick", than "import flick", so its understandable that portraying the import community accurately isn't job #1 for these guys, but still... if they can get the domestics right, why not us?   

After having produced three movies spanning nearly eight years, one would think that Justin Lin, Gary Scott Thompson and the boys would take it upon themselves to at least pick up some copies of Import Tuner, or attend a few legitimate industry events in the name of market research – anything to help themselves get an idea of what’s been really going on out here, because judging by some recent outtake photos, they clearly don't have one.  Just a hint, guys: combat kits, flashy vinyl graphics, Lambo doors, and the like no longer gain respect in mainstream import race or show circles, not to mention in the streets.  And they never really did; we just let you slide with it in the first film because you were trying to show some love.  Using cues like that to represent the import scene today is really, really making you look foolish -- to everyone.

Is it too much to ask for some modern representation of the import scene, that enthusiasts and the general public, both, will appreciate?  When will Hollywood’s depictions of imports with fluorescent paint give way to those with OEM-spec color changes, for example; dyed interiors to race-prepped ones; or colored wire loom to a good wire tuck?   Will the Silver Screen ever trade Imola Orange for Championship White, 20-inch chrome for forged aluminum monoblock, or combat kit for OE-spec JDM conversion?  I promise, the effects of such action would be positive on all fronts – for us and our industry, for the general audience, and consequently, for the film’s creators.       

All my whining aside, there does appear to be a slight “rally inspired” bright light for us, though. And rumors of Paul Walker piloting an R35 GT-R and cleanly modded NSX in this latest offering are, in fact, holding water -- definitely a plus.  June ’09 is long away, and while we’ll probably all drive out to the FnF premier for old time's sake, I know I'll be crossing my fingers that this trailer isn't a complete indication of what’s to come.  It’s bad enough these guys were behind the times in ’01; let’s hope they don’t prove to be stuck there for ’09.

--Luke
myspace.com/munnellphotography

Alpine is celebrating their 30th anniversary and inviting all their customers to come out and party with them.

Taking place at an undisclosed location (to keep the non-Alpine owning riff-raff out) on Saturday, August 23, 2008 from 12-6 pm, there will be free food and drinks, live entertainment, games, giveaways, and Alpine's famed demo cars.

Go to www.alpinethankyou.com for more information.

Either I really suck or our servers do because my X Games blog vanished off the face of the digital planet. On the suckage it's probably a little bit of both...with it biased more towards me. Regardless, what was news at the time is now semi-news but still newsworthy: Rally Racing at X Games.

X Games BMX medal-man Dave Mirra and DC Shoes co-founder Ken Block tied for Bronze thanks to a mutual car breakage, Tanner Foust won Silver, and Mr Double Backflip Pastrana took home his second Gold for the event. For complete coverage look to a future issue of 2NR.

Sorry no pics...yet. Peep the December issue for that, but here are the results.

I hope you have a vivid imagination.

So we all know how green the Prius is, how much gas it saves, how it’s partial zero emission, yadda-yadda-yadda. That's all fine and dandy but how much power does the hybrid make? Under full throttle, what hp does the electric motor put out and the gas motor after the transition. All we needed was a Prius and a dyno...

Lucky for us, Toyota gave us one to try out and Troy and Pete over at XS Engineering is a hop, skip and three freeway exits away (the sole perk of my daily commute from LA to the OC every damn day). Unlucky for us, the Prius took to XS's Dynamic dynamometer like a paraplegic a treadmill.

To calibrate a new car to XS’s dyno, the first thing you have to do is match it to the engine rpm. Easy, right? On a normal car, yes, on a Prius, no. First off, the Prius doesn’t have a tachometer. It’s a hybrid, an automatic one at that, so Toyota engineers probably assumed you wouldn’t be flogging the engine to its upper extremities and shifting nano-seconds before catastrophic failure.

Secondly, the Prius, being a hybrid, runs on an electric motor in idle and low speeds and swaps to its gas motor at higher speeds. Electric motors, believe it or not, doesn’t have rpms. Well, not in the conventional sense and so finding an appropriate four-stroke rpm took some thinking. 

Pete at XS, being the whiz that he is, removed a coil and hooked up a wire to bridge the ignition to the spark plug and clipped a Snap-On timing light to the jerry-rigged wire to read the rpm. Only thing left was to get the engine to turn on and get a proper reading. If life were only that simple.

Turns out, the Prius would only stay in electric mode on the dyno. The combustion motor would turn on, but only seemingly to recharge the depleting batteries so the electric motor could keep going. Think Energizer bunny. That, and the gears didn’t seem to change and an ominous check engine light the size of a woman’s fist kept flashing. Think Engergizer bunny holding a women’s fist thumping your head--repeatedly. We did get a reading but it was some crazy 200+ hp at 15k rpm that didn’t make any sense.

Moral of the story: Go green, just not to a dyno.
www.xs-engineering.com

www.toyota.com

More outtakes of Teresa Noreen.

Enjoy.

For those of you who complain that we at Import Tuner have too much boobies (weirdos) here's proof that we're not.

For our Summer-themed August 2008 issue, we forced our crew out of the shelter of our fluorescent-lit studio out to the sunny beaches of Malibu to shoot Teresa Noreen and the Toyo/Super Autobacs-sponsored ER34 (thanks Victor for braving the barely-wide-enough-for-a-huge-ass-rig security gates). Besides sandy shoes, farmer tan lines, and slight sun stroke, we captured our cover, model feature, and a few outtakes…one of which was too hot for print. I guess Teresa doing a topless impression of “The Pledge of Allegiance” was a bit too much.

On July 7, 2008, at 12:01 A.M., to the envy of wishful thinking Gran Turismo owners everywhere, Daryl Alison, male, Caucasian, of Costa Mesa, CA, purchased a Premium model Nissan GT-R at Universal City Nissan in the Los Angeles area--the first ever US-spec GT-R to be sold stateside.

The color of the very first GT-R sold? Black Obsidian. And with that dark-hued purchase, Daryl is now the proud owner of not one, but two black R35 GT-Rs. But if that was the first, how is that possible, you might ask? Daryl owns the R35 from the SCC cover story two blogs ago. Like how we have a left and right sock to put on every morning? He has the choice between a LHD and RHD GT-R. Hating? So are we.

Nissan announced pricing on the new 2009 Maxima today. Stuffed with the ubiquitously sweet VQ35 V6, the Maxima comes paired with a CVT transmission and marks its return to its 4-Door Sports Car roots with its aggressive design and emphasis on performance.

Available in two models, the lushly-equipped base S trim starts off at $29,290 and its sportier SV sister at $31,990. Look for a full review in Import Tuner.

The July 2008 cover of Sport Compact Car magazine featured the new R35 GT-R. Now what does that have to do with Import Tuner? Well besides a full story on the coolest tuner car, ever, my own GT-R is on it. Sort of. You have to look real hard. It's the white R33 driving off into the background to what can only be the greener pastures that all obsolete cars go to rest.

If you can still find it on the newsstands, the cover story is about the the new R35 carving the canyons with its two predecessors, a R34 (owned by Willy Tseng) and my R33. Check it out, the story is dope and there's some cool photography.

Setting a precedent for the tuner scene, Super Lap Battle made its first-ever appearance on the streets of Long Beach during the annual grand prix. On a course that sees Champ Car and ALMS, circuit-prepped imports raced through the LBC.

Posted here are the results and times from the event. For more, peep the August issue of 2NER.

Undeniably the most significant Japanese OE launch in the US since the very same company dropped the 240Z, the 2009 Nissan GT-R will once again redefine how Americans, scratch that, the world will look at imports. Me? Screw global perceptions, I can’t believe I drove the new GT-R.

From the Lake Tahoe area on the Nevada side, I drove the GT-R to Reno-Fernley Raceway. On the streets, the car is much more different than any GT-R I’ve been in. Compared to the R32 I previously owned and the R33 I currently have, the R35 is much more refined. The car is solid, smooth, comfortable and deceptively fast. The portly 3,800 or so pounds feel light on mountain roads thanks to the model specific twin turbo 3.8L VR38DETT conservatively rated at 480 hp and the six-pot Brembos up front and four-pots in the rear.

Take it to the track and the new GT-R shines. It’s balls out fast. I’m talking a heckled Barry Bonds on a ‘roid rage hit the ball out the damn park kinda fast. Admittedly, I’m far from a Schumacher but the car made me feel like a hero. Lucky for the mild-mannered (me), Nissan had the foresight to have legendary Steve Millen on hand to take journalists (me) for some hot laps around the Reno-Fernley Raceway to see what the GT-R is made of. Based on my calculations it’s: aluminum, steel, carbon-fiber, cojones, testosterone, Sigmund Freud’s id, a bushel of fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and Jules Winnfield's wallet. Now if only I could afford one. Until that happens, I’ll take some comfort in knowing that I drove the new GT-R.

For the full review, including dyno charts and an impression from our scene's hottest import model, check the newsstands copies of Import Tuner.
 

For my first blog, ever, I thought I’d go into a typical week as an editor. Well, maybe not completely typical considering it was on the action-packed side, but typical nonetheless.

FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2008
Tomorrow, Saturday, is HIN Los Angeles and Tuesday, Joey Leh from Sport Compact Car asked if they could use my R33 GT-R to be a part of their cover story, which is why I’m at DC Sports with Will Law. Not that DC has anything for GT-Rs, but because he’s helping me install OE projector Xenon headlights for my Skyline—and by helping, I mean that he’s doing all the work while I’m on the phone trying to squeeze in AP brakes from Stillen/Brake Pros for the shoot.

Once Will is done “helping” me swap HIDs, I’m off to the LA Convention Center to meet up with Elliott (Mr. SLB, himself) and Tsuyoshi from 5Zigen to roll-in my former GT500 Supra into a Import Tuner/eurotuner booth. My first show roll-in since SEMA back in 1996, it’s amazing to see how much work and coordination goes into pulling off a HIN. It’s dizzying. After we set up our booth, Elliott and I walk the show and hand out a couple of cards to prospective feature cars and I cut out to a Xbox event also in downtown LA.

Not too far from the Convention Center, Xbox previewed Rockstar’s new Grand Theft Auto IV over at SA Studios. To my surprise, SA Studios is Mister Cartoon’s spot. If you don’t know, Cartoon is the guy who tatted up 50 Cent, Eminem and every other celeb on the planet. He’s the modern day urban DaVinci, only his canvas is the human body. The two-story studio was super cool with old-school lowriders in the first floor and tattoo parlor up top. As cool as the location was, even cooler was GTA IV and the limited edition Xbox 360s on hand. Having played the PS2 version, the new GTA goes back to the thinly guised New York, or Liberty City, and it looks ill. Hot Coffee minigame in HD? I can’t wait.

SATURDAY, MARCH 22, 2008
I get to HIN by four and finish setting up the booth and cleaning up my Supra. I still can’t believe I own this car; the car has so much heritage I’m stoked to be a part of it. Staffers, Luke and Clint show up (late!) with giveaways in hand. The show starts and I go to Babe Blvd’s booth and look for Steve Bitanga and Melissa Reign, our November 2006 cover model, to come to our booth. After kickin’ it with Melissa a bit, I take off to find import model Pearl Nalani. Pearl, sales guy Derrick and I walk the show looking for our pick of the hottest 20 cars. With the quality and quantity of rides, it’s a monumental task. Compound that with the packed crowds, it’s damn near impossible. So much so, that we break and decide to wait for the show to die down before we finish the list.

I go back to my booth and run in to my homeboys, girlfriend and sister at the booth. Understaffed, Caroline and Dana (my girl and sis) are stuck with manning the giveaways. Corissa Furr, our April Cover star comes by to greet the crowd at our booth. I find Pearl and Derrick and we go to finish our search. Super troopers, the both of them are. We scramble to finish and make it back to the booth to clean up.

After we’re done, Caroline, Luke, Clint and I go out to K-Town to grab a late night dinner at 24/7 joint Hodori. To date, this is the first time I’ve ever ate at this place completely sober and unlike Waffle House, is still pretty damn good.

SUNDAY, MARCH 23, 2008
Sleep, eat, crap, eat, sleep some more, eat and then sleep again.

MONDAY, MARCH 24, 2008
I go out to our office down in Anaheim and go through “flats” (story layouts) and then take off to G-Dimension to install the AP Brakes. Like Will on Friday, Stephen Rhim “helps” me install the brakes, however instead of being on the phone I had to photograph the install. If passing wrenches and taking notes qualifies as helping, I’m a pro.

Installed, the red six-pot fronts and four-pots rear look super dope behind the Volk wheels. They work even better. Even moderately pressing the brake pedal, the negative Gs is amazing. What my stock Brembos did to dimes, the APs will do to pennies.

TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2008
For the SCC shoot, we all meet up at a Starbucks in Westlake, CA. Across the mountain from Malibu, there are a handful of twisty roads that lead to the coast that are perfect for photoshoots. The story highlights the Jspecconnect.com’s new R35 GT-R. Willy’s R34 and my R33 are used for comparison (read: props). The photoshoot went from Malibu in the afternoon and ended late in the evening in downtown Los Angeles. Judging from the photographer’s camera the shots came out super dope. Should be a really cool story and I’m stoked to be a part of it.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 2008
For the July issue of 2NER, I went up to Simi Valley to shoot Jeremy Lookofsky for the Dialogue interview section. The world record holder for the fastest NA four-cylinder, Jeremy is one of the last die-hard Honda drag racers and I have mad respect for that. I remember his CRX back from the JG days and the timeslips he ran all motor versus my turbocharged setup was embarassing. I remember Javier giving me *** about his car and Joel’s all-motor DC2 spanking my mid 13-second boosted passes. Ah, the good ol’ days.

The interview went really well and it was more of like us talking *** than a formal thing which was cool. The photoshoot went equally well. Instead of shooting him with his drag cars, I shot him with his other toys to show a different side of Jeremy.
 

THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 2008
After being out of the office two days, Thursday is a day filled with catching up. More story “flats” to read and stories to be turned in. Work, work, work. On a bright, energetic note, Ernie from NOS sent a refrigerator for my office. It’s empty but for some reason I’m compelled to turn it on. With the compressor on, it sounds like a freaking Boeing 747.

FRIDAY, MARCH 28, 2008
Back in the office again for more reading, writing and work. One of our Japanese freelancers and old school street racer, Scott Kanemura visited the office for lunch. We conference call the legendary Frank Choi of Battle of the Imports to discuss his events, drag racing and old school street racing stories back in the 80s. If ever I feel too old for this *** I’ll always have Scott and Frank to make me feel young.

Sprinkle in eating, bathroom time, sleeping and driving, that pretty much encapsulates one week in the life of an editor. If it sounds rambling, I apologize. It’s late, I’m tired, it’s my very first blog and my memory don’t work too good.

The proverbial question every gearhead wants to know: Which engine is the best? 

Is it high compression, high-revving normally aspirated four-bangers? Or how about twin-turbocharged sixes putting out tarmac ripping horsepower? Or is it the no-replacement-for-displacement V8 domestics putting out metal twisting low-end torque? Like arguing over who the greatest boxer is of all time, the age-old debate will never end. Until now.

Thanks to Castrol Syntec and our sister publications (Super Street, Lowrider, eurotuner, Sport Compact Car, Modified and Turbo) we are finally going to put the dispute to rest. Each of the magazines, including yours truly, will select a motor and a tuning shop to build, tune and dyno, to see how much power they can make.

To level the playing field for motor size and number of cylinders, the competition will measure the horsepower per liter—a little division for the math-weary. Fuel is allowed at a boost-friendly 100 octane, but to hedge for a forced induction advantage, will be penalized by doubling its motor size (ie 2.0L turbo would count as a 4.0L NA).

Given those restraints, we decided to stick with the forced induction route and go with the proven SR20DET motor found in a Japanese-spec 240SX. The mill makes power upwards in the 600s relatively easy but with careful tuning, we’re shooting for the 800 mark. And with Castrol SYNTEC oil and the Nissan gurus over at G-Dimension as our shop of choice, we have a good chance.

So will we be able to build a 800 hp turbocharged four-cylinder? More importantly, will that effort be good enough for the win? With seven titles representing the import, sport compact, domestic and euro markets fighting for ultimate bragging rights, only time will tell. Until then, keep reading 2ner and check out www.SyntecTopShopChallenge.com.

ImportRaffle.com is giving away a 1996 Nissan R33 Skyline GT-R.  This legendary vehicle is best known for its all wheel steering, all wheel drive, and a twin turbo in-line 6 cylinder RB26DETT motor and usually sells for $50K here in the USA.

Tickets are being sold for $100 and there are 500 tickets available.  This is a pretty good chance to own the legendary GT-R, it's the best shot I have at owning one, that's for sure, so I'll be entering.

Visit 2009gtr.com for more info.

Well its New Years Eve today, so this blog will be brief.  Happy Holidays, have fun tonight, I know I will.  Considering this is still my vacation time, I figured I would blog about something off-topic, a vacation from cars.  Here are some pictures from my trip up to Mammoth Mountain over the holidays for a little snowboarding.

I didn't want to risk busting my iPhone or a camera, so I don't have any pictures of the mountain / snowboarding, but I wish I would have had a camera on the slopes and in the park, it was awesome.  Launching off kickers and "shredding the gnar" (lol).  So I hope these pictures will do.

The first picture is the view from the Jacuzzi on the roof of the condo complex we stayed at (which was just absolutely balling) as the sun was rising.  A better camera would have captured the colors missed by my 2 mega-pixel deal, but oh well, you get the point.  The second is just a random shot in town, and the last was taken along highway 395.  The Sierra Nevada Mountains are just so amazing to witness firsthand.  Enjoy.

Happy New Year, see you all in 2008.

Ah, southern California, a place where the weather is beautiful 90 percent of the year.  It's a shame that the other 10 percent of the time, the general population completely loses their ability to drive when the smallest bit of water touches down, and Mother Nature throws a wrench into their perfect, climate controlled world.

To those of you who have driven during "Winter Storm Watch 200..." in SoCal, you know exactly what I'm talking about.  It's been raining the last couple days, and the roads are a joke.  People either drive like there's black ice everywhere, or completely ignore the fact that the roads are wet and cause 20 car pile-ups.  Darwinism at its finest.

Driving home from work the past couple days has been an adventure, to say the least.  Either I get boxed in by people going 20mph in the left lane while freaking out as if they're driving in a hurricane, or traffic is dead stopped due to some moron flipping their SUV on their roof because of bald, neglected tires and poor driving skills.

It's understandable that things like this happen considering there is normally zero bad weather in southern California, but people still need to learn how to drive.  Heaven forbid the skies open up and let down the wrath that is 1 inch of rain!  Make sure you stay posted, checking the news coverage of "Winter Storm Watch 2007."  Dun Dun Dun...

I think I found the perfect recipe for moron soup.  Take a bunch of bad Californian drivers, let them loose on the roads, and just add water.  

I think it's safe to say I will be avoiding all major freeways on my commute tonight.  Rant officially over, thank you.

Even though there has been more than enough news on the new R35 GT-R floating around for quite some time, I'm still going to write the obligatory "I want the new GT-R" blog because it's just that buff.

As more and more info/testing pop up, this car keeps looking better and better.  Not only is it the most powerful GT-R by about 200hp, it's the fastest car to ever come out of Japan (473 hp, 434 lb-ft).  It will do the quarter in 11 and change, 0-60 in 3.5 seconds, and we all know the infamous 7:38 at the Ring.

Not only does it go like hell, every review so far claims that the GT-R sports THE best brakes of any production car ever.  With 15in two piece rotors, forged monoblock six-piston in front, four-piston rear, this thing should stop as fast as it goes.

A true manual will always be my first choice, but I can safely say, this is the only car in existence that I will settle for a dual-clutch paddle shifting unit (probably because there is no other choice).  Carbon fiber driveshaft, rear mounted transmission, 0.2 second upshifts, rev-matched downshifts, this thing is just packed with cool stuff.

All of this should be old news by now, but the car is just so badass, I feel the need to reiterate simply because I want one... badly.  For the money, it just does not get any better, even though there is no way I can afford one.  Sure the C6 Z06 might be better bang for the buck (just ran 10s on stock tires) and houses arguably the best V-8 ever produced, but its still a GM and its best time at the Ring is 7:42.  In the end, can you live with the cheap-ass interior, flimsy body panels, and poor build quality?  I'll take the GT-R over a Chevy any day.  There is just so much more technology packed into the new GT-R.

If for some fluke that I win the lottery, or start getting paid a whole LOT more, this would be the only car I would consider.  I wouldn't touch a thing on it, keep it bone stock.  The only thing that I might consider would be smaller, lighter wheels, but even then, I would not want to mess with something this good out of the box.  70 grand gets you one of the most capable super cars out there, period.  It would also be nice to have a car that passes smog and can be registered with ease.  Even though all of the reviews thus far have been from overseas, it's only a matter of time until Godzilla storms the US.
I want this car, period.

Here are some quotes from recent reviews:

Jeremy Clarkson - Top Gear
"The GT-R hasn't just moved the goalposts, it's obliterated them.  For all-round ability, I have no doubt the Nissan is the best car I have ever driven."

UK magazine "CAR"
"It's automotive heaven..."
"Quite simply, the new GT-R is the world's most multi-faceted supercar. There is no fast car so easy to steer, none so forgiving, no car that has more armoury in its quest to go fast and keep you out of trouble.

Just as that old GT-R resets the standards for front-engined coupes, so the new one lifts the bar ever higher. An M3 beater? Easily. M5? Think higher. This car is faster, more high-tech, sharper, more capable. Faster than a 911 Turbo on the straight. Or on the circuit. And all for normal 911 money. Genius."