You would think that with the wheel fitment thing being the defining aesthetic trait of many import heavy hitters out there today, that it’d be a pretty simple concept for all car enthusiasts to appreciate, understand, and execute.

Not RX8club.com… while there are a few of those who can appreciate this sort of thing, most… just don’t understand. They say, “well, why would you want to run any setup besides the 18×9.5 Enkei RPF-1 with 275/35 tires???” I swear, half the cars on that forum are running said setup. The fact is, it’s just too easy (the rx-8’s bulbous fenders easily swallows that up – not even requiring a fender roll). Also 275’s are way too wide for a near stock rx-8. It just doesn’t have the torque to move that much tire. I think the most aggressive setup I’ve seen on that forum is a guy in Norcal running 19×10.5 +24 SSR SP1’s with stretched tires and 4×4 ride height.

One person recently purchased a set of 17×10 +25 FN01R-C’s and thought he was the fitment king, claiming his car was “race-slammed” which is essentially a meaningless string of 2 words. His car had visible fender gap (hey, nothing wrong with that!) but he kept insisting that it was tucking all around, with each picture he posted making his point more and more moot. His posts had a sense of superfluous arrogance. Imagine someone who comes onto your local forum and thinks they are they shit because they run a set of common $500 wheels.

Well anyways, I’ve been bugging my buddy Matt to go a little more aggressive. He’s really into the performance thing and his RX-8 is built and driven purposefully. I got down to action with the fender roller and flared the fuck out of them haha. I’m still undecided about posting a thread on RX8club with a proper photoshoot. They either will not believe the specs, or will call it stupid. Function & Form? I’m down…

There’s a story behind the acquisition of everyone’s first car. Sometimes it’s a hand-me-down lexus (must be nice). Sometimes you work all summer before you turn 16 just to be able to afford a barely running CR-X.

Before I was able to purchase my first car on my own in 2006, I drove the family fucking minivan. 1998 Chevrolet Venture extended… that thing had low miles because my parents bought it solely for roadtrips. So here I was raping the shit out of the thing going like 90 mph on the fwy in 2nd gear feeling like the most uncool person in the entire world.

After summer, I had sold a few of my profitable websites and soon had the cash for a relatively cheap car. I remember narrowing my search down to a Nissan 240SX S13 coupe, Acura Integra (DC), or a 4th gen Honda Prelude.

I remember randomly coming across the video above and thinking that was the coolest sounding thing ever. I didn’t really know much about cars back then, but I did know I needed an Integra in my life (and an intake). So I came across a granada black pearl 5 speed ‘94 LS with about 136k miles, and an interior that would’ve made you thought a dog daily drove it. The steering wheel was chewed up and the door panel was nasty. The paint was dry and all rock chipped in the front and the headlights were yellow… not because dumb ricer put film over it, but because they had oxidized over 12 years of being parked outside in LA. It was owned by an older black lady and was mechanically sound.

I took care of all the basic maintenance and added a fujita short ram intake, GReddy evo2 catback, and springs/shocks before selling it because I had sold more sites and could afford something better. I wasn’t done with the Integra platform so I decided to pick up a 2000 GS-R with black leather interior, but I’ll save that car’s story for another day.

I had gotten the sound that I wanted and I felt like the coolest kid in the world. I was happy… for a few days. It’s incredible that the very same reasons that I got rid of that car are the same reasons why I miss it. The tan cloth interior (for some reason Honda thinks tan is supposed to look like baby doodoo), squeaky ass suspension bushings, and the LS motor with the cheapo intake. Seriously, the B18B with an intake just sounds so amazing to me. I once misshifted from the top of 3rd into 2nd gear. The thing revved to like 10.5k and I thought I blew the engine because it was running on 3 cylinders. Turns out all I had to do was a valve adjustment and it ran perfectly again. No idea how that works, but that was pretty much the last time I really wrenched on my car. (I know, sad)

I don’t really enjoy “working” on cars as much as some others do and being lazy and having money didn’t help my cause either. I wish I never sold that thing. If it weren’t for ridiculous Integra theft rates, I would purchase my 3rd one in a heartbeat to daily drive. Bone stock except for a loud ass intake. <3

STD (hehe) coilovers

No longer need to bust out the measuring tape… Discuss.

A local’s GPW AP1… Mugen hardtop, ASM front bumper, & black chrome VS-XX plus more than meets the eye.

Full set here…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexisthemovie/sets/72157615778810113/

I recently learned about an new form of “motorsport” call Auto Barrel Racing at the Hot Import Nights event in Anaheim about a week ago. I deliberately put motorsport in quotes and you will see why in a second.

First off, what in the world is auto barrel racing? Well, let’s hear it straight from the source…”

“…you must have the ability to pitch, slide, and power your vehicle around three 55 gallon barrels spaced 100 feet apart in a straight line. To make a qualified run each barrel must be circled in the opposite direction, and touching a barrel with any portion of your vehicle is an automatic disqualification.”

It’s really simple. The premise is this: you run what you bring. Launch when the light hits green, circle 3 barrels, and you finish. Sort of like autocross meets drag racing, except an extremely simplified version. Even so, I still saw people screwing up, forgetting to circle a barrel or even going the wrong way.

The Streetlightz booth happened to be RIGHT next to the action so after watching a few cars go, I was intrigued and wondered where everyone had signed up and why I hadn’t heard about it beforehand. Turns out, all I had to do was drive up to the gate, sign a waiver form, and register and I was good to go. 100% free (except the wear/tear you put on your car)…

While spectating; the first thing you notice is that FWD is a huge hindrance. Watching the civics, accords, and SRT-4’s failed attempts at ripping their e-brake trying to rotate the back end was borderline hilarious, but in a sad (sucks for you) way. It’s kind of like using a condom with Lindsay Lohan. You can appreciate the effort, but it’s not very effective…

For the first few hours, competitors were allowed to do as many practice runs as desired. I got in 3 runs during this time before calling it a day… (didn’t want to put too much stress on my differential)

Below is a video of me on one of my runs. One of the film guys just jumped into my car because “convertibles have more light” so I was trying to be careful on this on. He asked me a bunch of questions too… turns out they only used like 1/2 a second of the clip. See if you can catch it in the second video.

After practice, they held a qualifying session (basically to eliminate all fwd cars) and then had the final tournament. Winner won $5000. I believe someone in a borrowed stock Mazdaspeed Miata won it. Goes to show how it’s not about power or even being able to drift around all the barrels…

Here is their compiled video of the day’s event.

Overall… it was a very fun event. Excellent concept and it’s free! They are touring with Hot Import Nights so check it out if they stop by your area.