Bites and Bolts

“Drifting? What’s that?”

It should come as no surprise to me that a good number of people still don’t know what drifting is. Although when I try to explain what it is the inevitable reaction to the unfamiliar ends up being, “Oh! Like that Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift stuff, right?”

The fact that a Hollywood movie defines drifting and the stereotypical wholly overexaggerated subculture that follows it, shows that this is one motorsport that has a long way to go in terms of maturation.

It’s been three years since I’ve spectated the FormulaD: Streets of Long Beach competition. Can’t say too much has changed at least from the spectator side of the fence. It’s still a little cozy circuit setup on borrowed track from the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach surrounded by dozens of double fences that make taking proper shots of sideways action a bit challenging.

In conjunction with the Formula D Long Beach event, Ford gave me a great chance to see the action up close, and their man, Mr. Vaughn Gittin made it all the way to the top 8 in his spankin’ new 2010 Mustang. If you’re a Mustang fan, Ford is taking submissions through their “10 Unleashed” site. Go on over, tell them your Mustang dream and it might just come true. There are only 6 slots left, so slide over and fill it out.

On another note, I came disappointly close to enjoying some highly rated Kogi goodies at Formula D only to be told they were privately contracted. The next time someone privately contracts Kogi at a hugely public event and doesn’t give me a pass, there will be bloodshed.

 

Where will I buy my air fresheners now?

See you in Japan, Autobacs.

Every now and then I come across a really inspiring story about pioneering women. It takes me back for a moment because a lot of the young women I know who are involved in motorsports today think they’re the first of their kind.

The story I read is about a woman named Betty Skelton Erde, now 82 years old, who was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America today. At one time she was the fastest woman on earth, setting female land speed records at Daytona Beach and the Bonneville salt flats. She was soon picked up by Chevy as a spokeswoman and test driver.

But even prior to all that, she was flying planes right out of high school and learned how to do airplane stunts. At age 33 she was the first woman to undergo NASA’s physical and psychological tests for astronauts.

A gutsy woman this full of talent would break news doing these activities in this day in age, not to mention back in the 50s and 60s. Compared to the ideal norm 50-60 years ago, present day women drivers or pilots have substantially less to complain about in terms of being in a male-dominated field.

Her story can speak for anyone who chooses to pursue their own dreams regardless of society’s expectations. I know it speaks to me.

Source:

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j3q2HlMnpAmP7g7tUn9yyw6CJW4QD92HDSD80

Note to self: Don’t go near Porter Ranch on Thursday nights. I was shopping at the Porter Ranch Town Center last night when I heard a customer remark to an employee that there were about 20 cops outside the store. At first she was slightly alarmed until another customer reminded her that “It’s Thursday night. Probably those ricers” and she sighed, “That’s right! It’s Thursday.” She went on to warn everyone not to turn left out of the parking lot as there are “Right Turn Only” signs everywhere.

I had exited the 118 at Tampa Ave and witnessed a patrol car pull over and park abruptly along the North side of Rinaldi before reaching the Porter Ranch complex. I thought they were just going to flip around, but now I realize they were posted up for an operation.

After leaving the store, I saw several cops cruising through the parking lot in cars and bikes. After carefully turning right onto Rinaldi, I immediately saw a neon green Ford Focus with obnoxious vinyl graphics pulled over, hood popped,  with 3 LAPD cops looking underneath. Busted! That car was screaming for a ticket or 12 with no less than 50 stickers and a drag style drilled bumper. Nice.

Heading south on Porter Ranch Dr to the 118, several more LAPD bike cops were headed onto Rinaldi. Waiting at the light, I saw an S13 and a few more modified cars cruising innocently up the street.

And just over the freeway overpass where Porter Ranch Dr dead-ends, a Dodge Magnum was pulled to the right side opposite more officers and several tow trucks. Even after entering the 118 freeway Eastbound, there was an SUV pulled over at the end of the on-ramp.

According to LAPD Devonshire Senior Lead Officer Dario Del Core at a Porter Ranch Neighorhood Council meeting on June 3, when asked about street racing,  ”…more operations are being run in Porter Ranch than any area in Devonshire”.

This was the first that I heard about the Porter Ranch meets, but it was easy to pull up posts about them from just about every car forum such as: FocusFest, E90Post, my.IS, SoCalCivic, Zilvia, Club Lexus, Honda-Tech, Maxima.org, and NicoClub. Last night’s bust was yet another in a series of raids that have been run on the Porter Ranch car meets for years now. You’d think car enthusiasts would smarten up and quit going to the same locations or be prepared for the consequences.

I for one won’t be going anywhere near the area on Thursday evenings as this seems to be the night of choice for not only the Porter Ranch meet, but a smattering of other car enthusiast meets in the valley. Thank god for TV.

The 1st US deliveries of HondaJet are expected in 2010(European delivery in late 2012). That means I might be able to afford one in, oh…30 years. In the meantime, Honda Aircraft Company started moving into their new Greensboro, NC headquarters in May ‘08. Completion of the adjoining R&D and hangar facility are expected within the year as well as the start of construction for the production facility.

And finally, a show that’s not in California! The HondaJet will be making an appearance at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, WI(July 29-August 3).

I learned a new Japanese word today: karoshi(過労死) or sudden death from overwork. It makes me think twice about wanting to become an engineer. At least I don’t work in Japan, eh?

Apparently, a 45 year old Toyota engineer died due to heart disease brought on from working too many long hours. This happened in 2006, but the ruling was handed down at the end of June.

Click here for the Yahoo! News article

Click here for more info on karoshi

According to an earlier email by Thrillist.com, Tesla Motors opens their showroom today in West LA.

Tesla Motors

11163 Santa Monica Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90025

310.473.8337

Riverside County was the location of the latest police raid this past Friday. No, not for a meth lab or prostitution sting or any crime in progress whatsoever, but for the gathering of a group of car enthusiasts. This operation was apparently such an important event that over 100 CHP and local police officers from 7 cities came together to surprise about 150 vehicle owners that night. They blocked off all exits and began interrogating and processing the cars under the premise that they were gathered for illegal street racing.

Problem is, there was no actual street racing occurring, only a group of owners passionate about their cars who chose to gather and swap advice and stories. Yet it seems that according to statements by police, almost any person who modifies a car in a certain manner must be a street racer or at the very least a spectator.

And of course most street racers modify their EG Civics sparingly with a single strut tower bar and a set of NGK blue wires. Even a modestly lowered car could get a bad rap at this Riverside bust, especially if it was a budget import.

Aha! That seems to be the point here. The group of vehicles gathered at this particular Riverside parking lot were mostly Japanese imports. According to The Press Enterprise article, there were a variety of vehicles there including Hondas, Fords, and BMWs, yet Honda always gets the final demerits.

If you were ticketed or had your car impounded at this raid, I sincerely hope you won’t think twice about standing up and fighting your case. People may fall behind or make mistakes concerning car maintenance and that’s what fix-it tickets are for. The idea that others had to go through the inconvenience of not only that night but the future waste of time and money for a mere “suspicion of street racing” is ludicrous.

Sources:

theNewspaper.com

The Press-Enterprise

AutoBlog

The 09 Fit was introduced at the New York International Auto Show yesterday.

 If it’s possible, it looks even more ugly than the 08 model. The body has been “…redesigned with slicker looks” according to Honda, although it looks like it’s morphed into a Prius with a rounder rear. And I can’t help comparing the ricer taillights and black outlined hatch to the likes of a Suzuki Aerio.

Nothing that’s come out of American Honda has inticed me since 1997. I’m not likely to give up my 94 Civic when I have no payments, double-wishbone suspension, and an enjoyable car to work on. Screw all the new vehicle stability controls and airbags in every coin pocket. I want to drive my car, not have a network of electronic modules dictating every corner I turn.

It seems those times have passed and yours and my future hold ever controlling and complicated vehicles. It’ll be sad day when and if automated cars come into play and I’m left riding along the once free highways like a robot in an Autopia hell.

Wordpress has a cool feature called “TagSurfer” that filters blogs by a series of tags you choose, providing a fresh stream of reading content for daily viewing pleasure. In my perusal of said blogs today, I came across something that made me laugh. It’s been out for over a year, but silly me hasn’t seen it yet.

Courtesy of TagSurfer and this blog(Memorable Moments from Masterworks Studio of Decatur, Georgia), I bring you the spoof video to the original Honda choir video:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzO3LXX_8sw]