Month: September 2015

I’m just about as shocked since you are to be witnessing a piece of American metal in Super Street-and not just any part of metal, a freakin’ Mustang. The truth is, this battle of imports versus domestics has gone on for so many years-why shouldn’t it? We hate Mustangs right? There’s a good reason we decide to subscribe to Super Street rather than Modified Mustangs or Chevy 5.. And there’s a reason we don’t pull up to local car meets and park next to the first Mustang we see-for that, we cannot blame you. Personally, when I hear “Mustang” I tend to think racing stripes, five spoke Cobra wheels, outdated styling and a lot of other things I ought to probably keep to myself. But lets be real for a second; times are changing, new body styles are emerging and deep-down inside, despite what your buddies (or even girlfriend) might think, you realize this Mustang looks exceptionally badass.

The truth is, this obviously isn’t your average run-of-the-mill Mustang. This is certainly a project from one of our own, Sir Vaughn Gittin Jr. If you’re relatively-new to the scene, you’ve probably known Vaughn as being the guy gettin’ squirrely in a Mustang around the Formula D circuit, however, Vaughn merely has recently moved over to the domestic “dark side” since 2005 or so. Initially growing up around cars and tweaking on imports, he started his career breaking the ice with a beastly S14 that had been actually featured in these very pages many years back. It wasn’t until late 2004 when the new Mustang body style was published that he instantly fell for each other and began pairing with Falken Ford and Tire Racing to create his first Formula Drift Mustang. With a rich history of podium slides, lets fast forward to 2009 in which the first RTR, or, Vaughn’s vision of the new generation of Mustangs, was wear paper and transformed into the monster you seeAttempting to blend genres and intertwine heritage, Vaughn created a production-ready 6 and 8 cylinder banger (aka the Spec-I and Spec-II RTR) to help you Ford reel in a new generation of enthusiasts while continuing to deliver appeal to the diehard, traditional folks. Although the Spec-III RTR on these very pages was actually a SEMA project in conjunction with Mothers for the 2012 season, it is actually still able to take a beating and provides the perfect example of what endless possibilities this new platform provides.

Starting with power, a Ford Racing blower was snapped atop the hefty, factory 5. V8 in addition to a group of American Racing headers as well as a 3 X-pipe leading instantly to an RTR axle-back exhaust produced by Magnaflow. Though we’d like to feature a detailed sob story of how much of difficult it was to have this car up to a steady 650 hp, it seems that just after a small tune from Revolution Automotive, the factory V8 handles the power similar to a champ and was consistently ready for any thrashing. You are aware that saying, “Built Ford Tough”-well, it came into being for a reason, and Vaughn is living proof on a day-to-day basis: so, believe it.Ford and shocks Racing to personally test and develop all suspension components to guarantee maximum stability and configurability. the, Vaughn and enough team elected to choose none other than a set of staggered, industry standard, three-piece HREs to get a strong, yet contemporary stance, as if that wasn’t enough.

The exterior and interior aesthetics of this project are also an incredible example of the dedication and soul that has been placed into this build. You my buddy, are wrong, if you thought the exterior was some sort of vinyl wrap. It’s actually paint, real, one-of-a-kind paint formulated in a two-stage candy carizzma waterborne coat custom developed by BASF and also the intuitive folks at Mothers. For added aggression, RTR carbon-fiber splitters and spoilers surround the body and conjoin using the unmistakable RTR carbon-fiber fender flares. While still expressing detail on the T, the inner was redone with RTR Spec-III front seats designed by Sparco in addition to an RTR rear seat delete kit to successfully house a rear crossbrace and rollbar.

So if you’ve ever considered to yourself, “Why in the hell is this world class Formula Drift driver still rocking a Mustang? ” Well, now you know. It’s not due to some insane sponsorship or for the security of a solid paycheck, but for that fact that Vaughn Gittin Jr. truly believes inside the platform, and is extremely enthusiastic about diversifying the automotive culture, filling the void and bridging the space between domestics and imports. Eventually, you’ll come out and admit your passion for the new Ford brand. It’s ok, we won’t hate you for it; we know we have.

Some people can happily jump into the car and travel for miles and miles down the road without a care in the world, for others it’s a completely different story. Car sickness can really spoil the enjoyment of an otherwise terrific journey for people who suffer from it. But what’s it all about and can you do anything about it?

What’s the difference between car sickness and motion sickness? Well, there really is no difference because car sickness is motion sickness when you are travelling in a car. But is there anything you can do about it?
Take a look at these things you can do which can either help to relieve car sickness symptoms or actually avoid them completely.
• Sit looking the way you are moving. One great tip is to focus on something at the front, in the direction in which you are moving. This could be the horizon or any other stationery object. On the flip side you should not attempt to read, play cards or games and don’t sit looking out of the side windows for extended periods of time.

• Have you ever noticed that drivers don’t get car sick, well, not when they are actually driving anyway. This is because the driver is permanently focusing on what’s happening in the road ahead . . . or at least that’s what they should be doing. If you can’t drive then at least try to sit in the front passenger seat of the car and look at the road, you could even pretend that you are driving to see if that helps.
• Open up the window to let in a little fresh air, this can be another big help. Some people feel worse in cars which have a specific odor; this can be a particular problem with new cars which still have that distinctive new smell. Spraying the interior of the car with something soothing like lavender or mint may help to mask this smell and hence the problem. Remember this if you go to pick up a brand new motor from somewhere like www.downtownnissan.com and someone in your family suffers with car sickness.
• Tiredness can cause some people to feel car sick in which case it can be a big help to stop for a nap. If you can’t go to sleep you may feel better by just closing your eyes for a while . . . unless you are the driver.
• Ginger is a great stomach settler, so nibble on a ginger cookie or munch on a few ginger candies, have a cup of ginger tea or something similar before or during your car journey. You can even buy caplets of ginger root from the pharmacy if you have severe car sickness problems. Just a couple of caplets and most adults are as right as rain.

• It’s a good idea to take plenty of breaks while you are on an extended car journey. Just having the opportunity to stretch your legs, perhaps drink some coffee and breathe in some fresh air for a few minutes can really help to take the feelings of nausea away.
• Sucking on a peppermint or some other type of hard candy is another great tip. Music can help to take your mind off things too.
Okay, is that problem solved? Sit in the front of the car, looking where you are going, sucking on a peppermint and listening to music with a few ginger cookies available for a nibble if need be. Sorted!
Now you can take a test drive in a new motor from http://www.downtownnissan.com, just don’t be sick in it.

I first drove the Ruf CTR3 prototype in October 2008, and since then Ruf has sold more than 20 of those hand-built, mid-engined supercars. It’s also continued to develop it for more power, better handling and simplicity.

From the beginning, the CTR3 had a six-speed sequential transmission commissioned from Hör Technologie. While it permit you to grab each of the six forward ratios via a race-style lever, you still needed the clutch pedal with each shift.

For the 2014 model year, prospective CTR3 owners now have the choice of a seven-speed PDK dual-clutch gearbox instead, after requests for faster and smoother shifting from customers.

Another upgrade that came through the requests from keener drivers was a more hardcore CTR3 Club Sport version, which made its debut with the Geneva Auto Show earlier this year.

The two vanilla CTR3 and hot chilli Club Sport reap the benefits of a 10% bump in output to 777hp at 723 and 7100rpm lb-ft at 4000rpm. The PDK adds another $51000 on top of the $700,000 Ruf asks for youran extensive, hard winter in Europe and even now, at the end of June, the weather was unstable when we visited Ruf Automobile in Pfaffenhausen, Gemany. Rain is the last thing you require with 777hp going through the rear wheels. Yet predictably, because i was all set to depart on my Club Sport test drive, a downfall kept us inside the garage longer. Thankfully, the sun returned, and very soon dried the tarmac.

Ruf cars are consistently usable on an each day basis. So while the low roof and Group C-style windows on the CTR3 mean poor visibility and require constant vigilance in traffic, the mighty engine was as docile like a pussycat.

Despite its humungous output, the twin-turbo flat-six rivals a standard Porsche Turbo for tractability. We drove through several villages at 30mph or less in third gear at around 1200rpm, and any ask for acceleration was met having a willing response. And while some purists might prefer to row their own gears, there’s no arguing using the seamless change of ratios the PDK delivers. However, the Ruf paddle shifters were surprisingly short and stiff, requiring more force than any production car.

However, shifts were lightning fast, so when braking right into a bend, a combination of the Group C front windshield, hugely powerful brakes and the snappy PDK gearbox inspired Le Mans fantasies. That might be further enhanced on a racetrack, which is a big part of the CTR3 Club Sport’s overall driving experience.

2013 ruf CTR3 club sport flat six biturbo engine 05

2013 ruf CTR3 club sport porsche PDK paddle shifter 07

2013 ruf CTR3 club sport group c 08

962

Back in the early ’90s, I drove several Porsche 962LM Group C cars in 650hp qualifying trim. At 1800 lb, they were significantly lighter compared to the 3131 lb CTR3 Club Sport. But the 2.6-litre race motor in the 962C is substantially outgunned with regards to torque through the 3.8-liter Ruf motor.

With modern aerodynamics, the Club Sport also slips through the air more easily compared to the 962C, reaching 236mph with all the tallest final drive offered. That’s a good deal faster than the factory Le Mans racer, which topped out at 217mph.

From the box, the Club Sport will blast to 62mph in 3.2sec, and double that in 9.2sec, while returning the average fuel consumption ofOn target, the 962C would corner better than the CTR3 because of its suspension and ground effects. But road-legal 962 variants produced by some aftermarket companies were raised to conform to the regulations and would probably be no better than the Ruf, with its state-of-the-art race-derived suspension that makes full use of the vastly superior modern rubber.

The CTR3 Club Sport came to be out of our usual policy of continuous development, explained Alois Ruf. A few of our CTR3 customers asked for this kind of car, and it was a logical thing to do since the basic car had so much race-derived technology in it.

We’ve slowly ramped up engine output since we launched the car in 2008, he continued. We started with 700hp at 7000rpm and 656 lb-ft at 4000rpm, with the extra output making a discernable difference to the acceleration. There’s no additional lag when you go into the throttle, but the power delivery has become more aggressive, particularly during the last 2000rpm.

We started the PDK project in October 2012 and finished it in June, Alois recalled. I’m not going to say it was easy, but the biggest challenge as always was the electronics, so that we ended up with a whole new ECU.Because the engine and gearbox are the other way around than in the 911, we had to make new transmission casing and mounts, Alois explained, When it comes to hardware.

Both the PDK trans and the sequential gearbox weigh around 240 lb, so there’s no change to the balance of the car.

The visual changes to the Club Sport are the new front section with a splitter, more pronounced flares that add 15mm each side, along with the larger, fixed carbon-fiber rear wing.

The track is wider as a result of different wheel offsets, as the wheel and tire sizes are unchanged at 19×8.5 and 20×12.5, with 265/30 and 345/30 Michelin tires, respectively.

The damper and spring rates had been increased, and so i noticed a firmer ride but it’s fully adjustable, so you have the option of so that it is suppler to thetogether with the car in a short time.

Long, open curves with good visibility enabled one to explore the performance from the car within reason. Its stability gave you great confidence in fast sweepers, where you can feel the new splitter and rear wing pressing the CTR3 into the tarmac.

The CTR3 Club Sport is actually a testament to Ruf’s ability to design and build a vehicle that mixes the best Porsche components together with the company’s own parts, thereby producing a unique vehicle that provides the performance enthusiast an additional option for track days or sheer fun on the open road.

Public perception can be quite misleading at times. It has also helped to spread plenty of ignorance, while the Internet and its particular social media outlets have helped the growth from the tuner segment immensely. In the earlier times of the import community, things weren’t so widespread. Should you discovered something or saw a build that you hadn’t seen before, you dug deeper to discover information about it. Any information you found could be helpful and, hell, who knows, you might even take the time to talk with the owner with regards to their project. The Interwebs changed all of that. Individuals have grown increasingly impatient and instead of in search of information on things they know nothing about, they choose to make assumptions. We’ve become so consumed using the complexities the world wide web has provided, we’ve become a society simply skimming over everything and moving right along. Whenever people come upon something that they know very little about, they pretend that they’re knowledgeable, and pass along some false information. In turn, whoever hears that will spread the phrase to the next person, that person will interpret the info another way, and the end result is a bunch of inaccuracies.

There are those that will tell you which they believe that print is dying and that the period of print magazines are numbered. When there is any truth to that, then our automotive community is at terrible trouble. Why? Because magazines like Honda Tuning have always been the outlets for enthusiasts to tell their story well. When someone gets their shot at getting their vehicle build featured in print, it is their opportunity to cast all assumptions and predetermined notions aside. These postulations aren’t always a bad thing; they simply aren’t the reality. When given the chance, who wouldn’t want to tell their side of yourWith all that said, let’s play along. Stop right just and here scan through the next couple of pages. Go on a quick consider this DC5 and try to come up with a number of assumptions relating to this build. Okay, first off, it’s white. White RSXs are fairly common and everybody seems to develop a white version. Secondly, what type-S model offers the best motor of this particular generation so there was no need to do a swap. The owner just added some bolt-ons and cleaned-up the engine bay. Third, this RSX has a Mugen body kit so the owner must be rich, especially since he has Volk Racing wheels to go as well as it. That, or all things are fake which is Mugen-styled. Oh, and since the car is so clean, it’s probably a trailer queen and it is garaged for 95 percent of its life. We can’t give it props because it’s a hard parker.

The existing saying tells us that we should never assume, because when you do … well, you understand the rest. You will be wrong on all accounts if you believed any or all of the statements above. The property owner, Danny Avina, has actually been on quite the tumultuous journey in the process of making what you see today. He’s not only on his second motor, but he’s also had to repaint his DC5 and his Mugen aero kit and CE28s are 100 percent real. Furthermore, Avina is by no means ballin’. He actually finished the Police Academy not too long ago and is waiting to start a profession in police force.

I bought my ’03 RSX back in 2009 for $10k. Danny says. It absolutely was bone stock except for a set of wheels. And, the car originally came in Premium White Pearl. The owner didn’t take care of it very well mainly because it was about four different shades of white. The day I drove the vehicle home from purchasing it, the ‘check engine’ light had already come on. Before, the car ended up developing a bad cylinder because the owner had turbocharged it. He wouldn’t even help me because they said that it absolutely was my fault, when I contacted the owner! It absolutely was the only car I had, and that i didn’t have money to correct it, thus i just drove it around for a year with the bad cylinder. In the event that weren’t bad enough, things got worse. He adds, I eventually killed the motor after sucking up water into my cold-air intake and hydro-locking it. Afterward happened, I made a decision to completely rebuild the car.

2003 acura RSX type s all in fab custom oil catch can 02

2003 acura RSX type s all in fab intake box 03

2003 acura RSX type s hybrid racing fuel rail 04

Avina started saving all the money he could from working a 9-5 and eventually acquired a K24A2 motor. Through the RSX’s downtime, he also obtained a used Mugen front bumper, wing, and hood from your friend that was parting out his own DC5. The authentic Mugen sideskirts and rear lip eluded him for quite a while until after he managed to get the car back on the highway again. Once he completed the Mugen exterior, he couldn’t stand his ride being multiple shades of white anymore, so he had the entire car painted in Lexus’ Starfire White pearl.

I kind of just learned the way to do everything through trial and error. I live in an extremely small town that nobody has really ever heard of, so locating help was difficult. There aren’t too many locals that can correspond with my hobby, though obviously, I’ve met a ton of great people after a while just from attending events and what not. Basically all the installation and work of parts have been performed within my garage by me. I’ve always been a believer in making use of top quality parts as well, so I’ve slowly just collected parts that I’ve saved up for.

That hasn’t stopped him from stepping outside of his comfort zone to create a custom engine bay utilizing components from Hybrid Racing and another-off creations from All-In Fabrications, though mugen certainly is the reoccurring theme in this build. The result is a mix of classic Mugen style with a minimalist’s approach underneath the hood, as only the bare necessities stay in a bay that has been completely shaved smooth. Guardians of the anti-trailer queens need not fuss because you’ll be happy to hear that Avina continues to drive his DC5 daily. We don’t recommend cruising across the streets having a screaming Buddy Club Spec 2 exhaust like Danny’s, or possibly cracking that shaved engine bay, but he apparently has no fear-commuting a whole year with only three cylinders will do that to a guy. His plans don’t end here either; a custom turbo kit from All-In Fab is definitely in the works and should be on once this hits the press.

After decades in the workforce, you deserve to treat yourself when you retire. Great thing is that there are plenty of great things that will make you feel like a kid again, all when you no longer have to go into the office every day.

1. Motorcycles

Many people dream their entire life about going on the open road with their motorcycles. Many Baby Boomers are now living this dream in their retirement by getting the motorcycles they always dreamed of and travelling. Instead of going on boring tours on a bus, you can enjoy going where you want, when you want – without a tour guide. Get started on planning your epic road trip and get yourself a motorcycle.

2. A Sports Car

The good thing about being older is that you now have the financial ability to buy yourself a sports car. That does not mean, however, that you have to spend your entire savings on a luxury car. With the Nissan 370Z, which you can find at metronissanredlands.com, you can get a hot sports car with great mileage for way less than a typical sports car. There is even a convertible model, for when you want to really show off. Find out more about the Nissan 370Z by going to http://metronissanredlands.com.

3. A Dream Vacation Home

One of the best ways that you can live it up in your retirement is to buy a vacation home someplace that you love to go to. Whether skiing is your thing or you would rather be in the tropics, you can really enjoy your retirement if you know that you can get away from it all to your favorite place for some alone time with those you love. You can even rent your place out to visitors when you are not staying there for some extra income.

2015 Subaru WRX Details:

2.0L turbo Boxer engine makes 268hp and 258To the 2014 model year, hardly any changes were made to the Subaru WRX, except for a cost increase. A similar can’t be said to the 2015 WRX, which receives many new and exciting features mainly because it makes its world debut at the 2013 Los Angeles Auto Show.

A few of the more notable changes include performance upgrades, such as a new 2.0Ldirect-injection turbo Boxer engine effective at producing 268hp at 5,600rpm and 258 lb-ft of torque at 2,000-5,200rpm. Apart from squeezing more ponies out of your engine, Subaru also added the first six-speed manual transmission and a new (optional) performance automatic transmission, the Sport Lineartronic CVT with two manual modes towards the WRX.

2015 subaru WRX interior view

2015 subaru WRX interior

2015 subaru WRX front

2015 subaru WRX detail shot

2015 subaru WRX side view

2015 subaru WRX tires

The standard AWD system remains, and for 2015 a new torque-vectoring system has become implemented, which is designed to reduce understeer. Additionally, the chassis is stiffer, the brakes are larger, and due to the new powertrain, the 2015 model is a lot more fuel-efficient than its predecessor – the best of all worlds.

The interior is not merely roomier compared to previous year’s model, but for the first time ever, a premium sound system is offered for that WRX, together with navigation, heated seats, and standard automatic climate control.

The four-door sedan’s rear fenders and doors are also unique on the 2015 WRX and its widebody stance. The headlights were given a narrower look along with the hood scoop is set more deeply in to the hood. Every one of these changes create aThe new 2015 Subaru WRX is a huge improvement from the 2014 model, although with new upgrades a higher sticker price is usually attached. Although pricing has not yet yet been announced, one could only hope the price stays close to that of the base 2014 WRX, which starts at $26,790 with destination fee. Expect official pricing announced within the next few months.

The world’s car companies’ great drive to Wankel-style rotary engines in the 1960s and early ‘70s was massive—and largely a dead end. NSU, the company that created the Wankel, won plaudits with its rotary-powered business-class Ro80 sedan, but fell into VW’s hands when warranty costs over failing engines drove them out of solvency. Citroen found a way to get their cars to fall apart even more quickly by installing a Wankel engine under the hood. Ford’s experiments with Curtiss-Wright rotary power went nowhere. GM spent more than a billion dollars (a lot of money today, and an awful lot more 40 years ago) developing their own rotary when emissions issues, reliability with housings and rotor tips, oil burning and excess fuel consumption killed the project outright. You’d think that the engineering world hadn’t been equipped to solve the rotary engine’s myriad problems.

Except there was Mazda. Little Mazda, who’d only been making cars since 1960, and whose tentative first steps into the States occured a decade later. Mazda, who licensed the Wankel from NSU and tasked 47 of its own engineers to tame this radical new engine. Mazda, who had to hold back the launch of the Wankel-powered Cosmo because NSU didn’t have their Wankel-powered car for sale yet. Mazda, who surely lit the hearts of American performance fans afire with tales of its on-track (and on-street) derring-do, second only to Datsun with their 510/Z one-two punch. Mazda, who managed to raise horsepower ratings during the emissions-clogged days of the mid-‘70s. Mazda, who built half a million rotary-engined cars and trucks by 1973, and a full million by the end of 1978.
1973 mazda RX 3 work equip wheels Photo 2/12 | 1973 Mazda RX3 – Revived Rotary

Yet clean RX-3s are hard to find these days: the dealer network could still be considered “fledgling” in the mid-‘70s, gas mileage—so important in small cars after that first OPEC scare—wasn’t what it could have been with other cars, and rotor-sealing issues caused some very un-Japanese-car-like issues. (Starting in 1974, some of the rotary’s sealing issues were solved with a new rotor-housing hardening process; Mazda was so confident about the fix that they offered a five-year, 75,000-mile warranty.) All of these factors impacted the number of RX-3s that came Stateside. Mix in the number that were converted to race cars, and it’s little wonder that clean, streetable examples are few and far between.

Strictly speaking, the car you see here was not clean and barely streetable when Phil Sohn of Birmingham, Alabama got his mitts on it. Buying someone else’s project is always dicey, but the Mazda bug has bitten Phil hard: over the last 15 years he’s owned eight third-gen RX-7s, an RX-8, an ’89 RX-7 convertible, and even a three-rotor, twin-turbo-powered 20B-powered ’91 Eunos Cosmo. He’s also owned a clean ’72 RX-2, and with all that in his hip pocket, it was only a matter of time before an RX-3 had come into his orbit. The RX-3 he eventually bought had some work done to it already—a lot of the hard stuff, like a coilover suspension, disc brakes on all corners, selective body reinforcements and the battery moved to the trunk and so on. This is why Phil isn’t sure of the brand names, sizes or measurements of any of the chassis components—they were all installed when he bought his rotary rocket, and work just fine as-is.)

It also came with a built carbureted 13B that Phil swears was rated at 220hp; he’s got dyno sheets from the previous owner that prove it. Honestly, that sounds a little extreme for a streetable, naturally-aspirated 13B, even for something with a ’70 Chevelle-sized Holley 750 carburetor on top and a ram-air tube where one of the headlights is supposed to be; to boot, Phil’s forte is fuel injection. Luckily, Phil knows Luis Canizales, who is well versed in carbureted engines; Luis tweaked things a little (for easier start-up, smoother running, and less hesitation when you crack the throttle) and, assuming that Luis only took the ragged edges off by fiddling with carb jetting and idle screws, it should still pump out north of 200 horses—or more than twice what an RX-3 was rated when it was new. (All the better that it’s backed by a beefier second-gen RX-7 Turbo II five-speed transmission—less chance of something going terribly awry.)
1973 mazda RX 3 custom air dam Photo 3/12 | 1973 Mazda RX3 – Revived Rotary

The body itself was previously painted silver with black rockers and a blue stripe, but had clearly seen better days: dents, chips and even rot had set in. (Alabama’s rainy season plus summertime humidity surely did the vintage, largely untreated steel few favors.) What’s more, some random bits were just missing—the vent pieces on either side of the rear window, for instance. “The body was completely restored—rusted parts were cut out and new sheetmetal was installed. I found the fender flares in Japan, and a friend of mine brought them onto the plane personally to get them back here.” The front air dam, rear wing and old-school Japanese-style fender mirrors were Phil’s additions, along with the flares. (The bumpers and side markers had been removed and smoothed by the previous owner, so at least that was done.)

Once the steel was massaged to Phil’s liking, Arthur Magarian from M7 Auto flowed the Mazda Blue Mica and Porsche Gunmetal Gray. With the extra-wide, 14-inch Work hoops poking out from under the flares, the two-tone vibe and the carbureted 13B, there is a definite ‘70s vibe going on. Your author lived through the ‘70s, a time of rainbow stripes, vans, white-letter tires and IMSA flares (sometimes all on the same vehicle); believe me when I tell you that as ‘70s/early ‘80s styles go, Phil’s RX-3 is moderate and tasteful.

It also kicks ass. Machines like Phil’s can only force us to lament for what might have been: a world where the RX-3 is less rare and more appreciated. With better distribution, with better mileage and perhaps with better initial reliability from the new-ish technology that was the Wankel engine, the Mazda RX-3 surely would have been able to grow beyond a mere cult car and into a full-blown old-school success story like so many other old-school Japanese cars have. In the meantime, its cult success remains accessible to the lucky few.