Noaki Nakamura, Drift Muscle Suzuka Twin Summer '11

Just plain awesome.  That is all.

Pictures from FOTOmotive!

I ended up winning a contest FOTOmotive was holding which resulted in me getting a free rig-shoot with these guys!  They always always ALWAYS come out to our drift events and do work.  I love these guys to death so naturally I'd like to help these guys out.  They do some fantastic work, and there is plenty of it to go around.  Want some pictures of you car or bike taken? Check them out!  Top notch stuff and really great to work with.  Here's some of the images they took of my car during the rig shoot.  Really happy with how they all came out and will even be getting a nice poster-sized print out of at least one of them.

Show these guys some love at their Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/FOTOmotive

They regularly post drifting photos throughout the summer there so if you see your car and want a print get ahold of them.  I know they would be more than happy to do that for you, and for a reasonable price too!  Professional print, frames, whatever you need.

I will leave you with some pictures.

vvv  I think this one is my all-time favorites.  vvv

Saw this and decided to reblog.. "Ripped off hard"

Read the story, pretty crazy and i really feel for the guy.

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2278180

Wish list?

Is it too early to be starting a wish list for over the winter/tax returns??

I think not.

Number 1 on my list:

Ikeya Formula inner tie rods.  I just bought new s14 replacement stuff last winter and they were first too long with stock control arms.  Now they aren't long enough with my extended control arms and the inners don't have enough thread engagement to put my 7mm spacers on.  Facepalm.  Solution is below.

These would also be nice but not necessary:

Ikeya Formula tie rod ends.

Number 2 on the list:    A BUCKET SEAT!!! FINALLY!!!!     Now whether these will happen or not.... no idea.

Few pics of the car - Door Bar Update.

Went out and took a few pictures of the car on the ground all "cleaned up"

I will also leave you with an in-car video of the last event  and one i found of me getting the monster can!.  Donate tires to me please?  My fronts are bad and am out of rears pretty much!

Pics:

Video:

ALSO!

Also added some door bars to my Auto Power bolt in cage i acquired a while ago.  I made the connections exactly as Auto Power appeared to make them, 1.5 x .125 DOM inside of 1.75 x .120 DOM with 4 inches of overlap and a Grade 8 fastener and self-locking nut.  Base plates are made out of 1/4 inch plate (both sides).   I wanted to keep it bolt-in so i can sell it later as a tandem legal bolt in cage.  (Tandem legal depending on what events you go to.)  

Got a steering wheel for a decent price a while ago as well.  Momo Mod 08 with an NRG short hub.  All i need is some seats!

Control Arms - Car on the ground

So i did some work today and washed the car, cut the hood to clear the radiator as I re-secured it and the cap hit it again.  Also stripped the entire car of every sticker except the team sticker (Opposite Grip) and my buddy's shop (www.Renown-Performance.com).  I must say, the car looks much classier without all the gaudy stickers, even with destroyed fenders, hah.

But as you can see.. the front has about 7 degrees of camber at the moment.  I had to raise the car three turns in order to stop rolling rubber off on the metal fenders in half-dollar sized balls (literally), although it still rubs because as it turns out lengthening your control arm also lowers you car.  The moment arm is lengthened and therefore your spring is easier to compress due to the steeper angle between the top hat and lower balljoint.  This thing was low as crap! I already pulled the fenders a LOT, and need to pull more or man up and actually buy something fiberglass other than sideskirts.  Currently i am stuck at this much camber until i can make the fenders wider.  I am aiming for about 5 degrees.

Looks like my wheel bearing shot itself huh.  lol

Control Arms

Hey look, I did something to my car.

Decided to get nasty in the camber area.  Will post more pics of them on the car later and after i align the thing.  I'm expecting to get approximately 5 degrees with these puppies and maybe a little better contact patch at full lock too.  Also, might be awesometron knuckle time and maybe attempt at some ackerman adjustments at the same time..

Ended up putting some polyurethane bushings in these as well.  I've had an energy suspension master kit lying around for years and I'm slowly upgrading haha.

Before

During

After

Drift Event Oct. 2nd - Thunderdome - Sturgis, SD

I suck at updating this blog... ha.  But guess what, last drift event of the SD-Drift season is next week (October 2nd) at the Thunderdome in Sturgis, SD; it's right across the street from the Full Throttle Saloon in Sturgis.  Be there!  It's an absolute blast to watch/participate in.

Driving starts at 9am and we go till 5pm.
Spectators - FREE
Drivers - $60 - cap of 25 drivers - Prepay is NOT mandatory this time. You can pay all the way up until October 2nd.

Need more info?  Get at me!

Photo via FOTOmotive dudes.
http://www.facebook.com/FOTOmotive

Full set.
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.244883882224653.57919.192098390836536&type=1

Oh yeah, this is cool too.  Nice photo synopsis of the last event at the Thunderdome.

And i suppose here's another video of the first event at the Thunderdome while I'm at it.

SD Drift Event At Kick Start/Monkey Rock

SO just this past Sunday we (SDDA) had our second event of the summer. It was at the Monkey Rock/Kick Start in Sturgis, SD.  The location was AWESOME as we could get some serious long sliding/early entry going on. Here's one video I've uploaded of the 6 hour event.  It was an absolute blast even though the weather (rain) was off and on all day.  I'll update this here with more pictures and video as they come up!

Photo From:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nuggetjr/

First Drift event in MN

It's kind of strange that I finally got to drift with people on D-Town for the first time last weekend; the drift forum I've belonged to the longest, bought this car off of, started my first build on, and even went and hung out at some drift events YEARS ago. Needless to say it was a GREAT time for me, and about time too. It was my first time at a real track as all we have out in good ole SD is parking lot events. Don't get me wrong those are fun as well because you can switch up the track layout constantly.. but the event at Elko Speedway in Elko, MN last weekend was one of the most fun events I've done.

That 3rd gear bank had me nervous all day as I hadn't driven my car at an event in nearly 10 or 11 months... it took me a couple runs on the inner oval to get re-acquainted with my car. I spun out all over the place the first run and looked like a moron. Next couple runs were a lot better but I still think i could have done better. When I finally decided to take on the bank, it was on. That bank is so much fun, first time doing 3rd gear for me and man it was fun. I cannot wait to go back there again! On with the media.

Pics from Erik Lauritsen

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.511217232360.8060.294900394&closeTheater=1

From Jmuag.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54306394@N07/

http://jmuagproduction.blogspot.com/

From:  Kaizo Photo

http://www.kaizophoto.com/

From:  Khilgers

www.khilgers.com

From: Angled Lines

www.angledlines.com

VIDEO

Event video




Inner Bank, Second Run




Outer Bank 1st Run

1st attempt at 3rd gear ever.  Was feeling out the bank for the first few corners until i got comfortable. Waaaaaay too much fun.



Outer Bank 1st Run GoPro

Drifting video from 2010

Drift event is coming up this weekend (Sunday to be exact), hopefully i can get someone to lend me their car so i can go drifting!

Video from last years events:

The wait is killing me!

So... summer break officially began for me last Friday evening.  I ended up having one of the best weekends ever with a ton of friends at graduation parties, going away parties, etc.  Now all i can think about is getting out and driving.  I cannot wait to get my car back!  Ran across this little experimental video i made when i first got my GoPro.  Kind of a cool sight to see i thought.

Heartbreaker for Japan, relief project

I saw this on the jumbosandbox blog and really like what they are trying to do.  They have set up a relief project for Japan, in addition to your donation they will send you a sticker. I will be sending my $5 off soon!  You should do the same.

Here is the original post on their blog for convenience as it has all of the information.

Link: http://jumbosandbox.blogspot.com/2011/03/heartbreaker-for-japan-relief-project.html

MDU Round 1 pictures continued.

Here are quite a few more pictures Mathew Zick took at Midwest Drift Union Round 1 at the Sportsdrome Speedway in Jeffersonville, IN. This guy has taken all of these from BEHIND A FENCE can you believe that?


Get this guy a media pass and i guarantee you will see awesome things in the future!

Even more can be found at his flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/jst1cam/

On with the photos.