Back Home Again In Indiana

This weekend is the height of the racing season, starting in Monte Carlo with the Monaco GP, coming back home to Indiana for the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing", and finishing in Charlotte with the 600.  While I do like NASCAR the first two represent 2/3rds of racing's triple crown (the other being the 24 hours of LeMans).  The main event for me is the 500.  With all due respect to the Daytona 500, the Indianapolis 500 is the still the most significant race in the USA in my opinion.

This year's race is loaded with story lines, the biggest of which is the new car.  First off it's slower, second there is noticeable gaps between engine manufactures.  Its Chevy > Honda >>>>>>>>>>>>> Lotus.  Lotus is way off pace to the tune of 16 MPH off of the pole speeds (yet IndyCar decided not to let them use extra boost).  Its a borderline safety hazard, they will be moving chicanes.  If they don't maintain 105% pace they will be removed though.

There are also new names in the fray, the biggest star thus far in the month of May has been James Hinchcliffe who takes over Danica Patrick's (and what was to be Dan Wheldon's) ride in the Andretti Go Daddy Chevy.  He is quite the character, he is the mayor of his own imaginary internet town Hinchtown.  He missed the pole by a whopping .003 mph average. You've also got Josef Newgarden driving for Sarah Fisher's team who was the best Honda in the field in 7th as a rookie.  He was the Indy Lights champion last season and won at Indy in that series.  Sarah Fisher is also entering Bryan Clauson, a rookie Indiana boy who took the traditional USAC ladder to Indy.  He had a very promising qualifying effort going on pole day before he took a hard hit on lap 4.  Being that there were only 33 cars, all he had to do was get in 4 clean laps on bump day which he did.  He will start 31st, ahead of the two Lotus snails.

Here are some recent clips to get you in the mood for The Greatest Spectacle in Racing...

The Beauty of All Wheel Drive

Think back to the turn of this millennium and remember how good things were.  Y2K failed to do anything to the infrastructure, the economy was booming, and the Fast and the Furious franchise wasn't a franchise.  People were living their lives a quarter mile at a time, had jobs, were buying all sorts of extravagance, and 401Ks seemed secure.  Everyone was happy.  That is, everyone except the car enthusiast.

NYIAS 2012 Coverage - Day 1

All killer, no filler!

Kia hamsters are freakishly tall. Must be all that party rockin'.

No matter how many times the FWD Impala
gets a sporty redesign, it'll still be fleet.

Bow wow wow, '6-5 Impala in the mo'fuckin' house.

Suck it, Trebek! Traverse!

Oh look, a fine banker's car. (see right)

Brown Car Appreciation Society: #relevanttoyourinterests

Why so orange? Because M car.

Why so... never mind.

Y u no look behind you?

Stark Approved

Is it just me, or do the rims look enormous?

POWERRRRRR

Ralph Gilles shows off his new baby

As epic as it freaking looks

Now panic and run amok!

The Other Other Daytona Race

Today, Daytona International Speedway played host to the climax of Daytona bike week with the running of the Daytona 200.  While the rules of the 200 have changed over time, the current 200 mile format saw 45 600cc 4-cylinder (or equivalent) motorcycles from Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki, Ducati, Buell, and Triumph battle both in the infield and on the high banks.  As the bikes sat pinging themselves cool, four riders knew they had given everything.  One had taken the checkers while the other three had lost out by a mere 0.048 seconds.  Here's how it all went down.

Teaser: International Motorcycle Show

Awwwww yeahhhh!

2011-2012 Silly Season Remix

Race season kicks off in just over a week with the Rolex Series 24 Hours at Daytona!!! Ya, we're revved up (every pun intended!)!  Okay okay, so we're not the biggest fans of the Rolex Series or Nascar, which both start the earliest of any series.  Who cares?!?!  Racing's back!  Here's a quick, semi-entertaining yet highly informative rundown of what happened in the off season with the series we do follow:

Harlem Shakes

from: http://www.sntrl.com/nyc-life/nyc-nights-vraceworks-meet/

Take a step back, and you'll realize that Hip Hop has had quite a long love affair with cars. Pathfinders sitting on Lorenzos, boomin' 1000 jigga-watt sound systems in Flo-Benzies, hydraulic lowrider '64 Impalas, lifted Chevy Caprices, Escalades on Dubs, what have you.

Hell, CarEnvy did a whole Fiesta-VS.-Countryman review in G-speak. I dare anyone to try to write a review in the tongue of any other sort of subculture. Punk Rockers from Liverpool? Please, it just isn't the same.

But let's face it. To us, an Olds Cutlass on spinners is a subject of ridicule. We hate Dubs. Tweeters and Subwoofers are tossed in the name of adding lightness. Hip Hop and whatever the mainstream media enjoys putting on display doesn't represent us. Real car enthusiasts never TiVo "Pimp My Ride." We're not even disappointed because we expect it all to have little-to-no contribution anyway.

But we're wrong. I am wrong. From Vimeo, I came upon some footage posted by Henry Rojas' of a VRaceWorks' Harlem Meet (yes, that Harlem), chock full of clean JDM tuners from a Civic Si-R fitted with a Garret turbo, rare and tidy Integra Type-R's, S2k's, to even a silver MK IV Toyota Supra and a Nissan GTR. Not a single whistle tip. More than that, the whole event just looks so well organized. The cars are well prepped for photoshoots, the attendees and photographers are all genuinely supportive and respectful to the cars and its owners. I've never been more pleased about being wrong!



TGIF, everybody!

eBay Finds: MR Opportunity

Looking back for a second, the nineties was a decade filled with almost too many choices for the sporting enthusiast.  Aside from the usual suspects from the US and Europe, almost every Japanese car maker had their hat in the ring as well.  Supra, RX-7, 300ZX, and 3000GT were all big hitters but the grand daddy of all Japanese sports cars had to be the NSX.  It's mid-engine rear-wheel drive layout meant that it could compete not only with the aforementioned Japanese muscle but also with the likes of Ferrari.  All of this ability came at a price too high for mere mortals and the only affordable mid-engine car came from rival Toyota...or did it...

Designed by Pininfarini, the Honda Beat was a tiny car with a tiny engine that produced big smiles.  While never sold in the United States, one can be had with a couple of mouse clicks on eBay.  Here's one with a pretty high reserve but exclusivity never comes cheap.

Fueling Fires

Just as the seasons occur in a cyclical order, so do fluctuations of fuel prices.  This is no coincidence.  Fuel is a consumable like any other.  Its price variations are strongly influenced by supply and the demands of the consumer and we happen to drive more during the holidays and the warm months.  In addition, after considering inflation rates, gas prices have not changed very much.  Still, there's no shortage of people who complain like clockwork when the prices start taking a hike.  While most give the generic complaint about high prices.  There's a particular subset of whiner that really annoys.

inflationdata.com

Japan Week: Motorcycles

Japan Week: Honda

Time Capsules

"Win on Sunday; Sell on Monday" is a phrase that's been used since the inception of motorsport.  It gained huge popularity with marketing departments in the 60s when muscle cars ruled the dragstrip and NASCAR's ovals were filled with cars that were close to showroom stock.  There are still cars like the Porsche GT3, Corvette Z06, and Viper ACR that abide by this marketing scheme.  However, these are all quite expensive and extensively modified for race duty.

In the world of motorcycles, this old adage still holds true. Although Honda didn't reach the top step of the podium at Daytona this weekend, this wasn't always the case.  One man has held two very rare Hondas in their original shipping crates for nearly 20 years.

No Replacement for Displacement... Except Turbos

For many, the chance to see an insane, high-revving, Formula 1 car is coming to an end.  The current 18,000 rpm 2.4 liter V8s will show their full fury for the 2011 and 2012 seasons then go the way of the Mastodon and Saber-toothed tiger.  With the FIA's focus on greener technologies in racing, smaller displacement engines have constantly supplanted the previous generation.  The 3.0 liter V10s gave way to the current 2.4 liter V8s and they will, in turn, fade away in favor of 1.6 liter four cylinders.  However, for the first time in the modern era of F1, the consumer can truly boast about having F1 technology in their daily driver.

RB7 at adamcooperf1.com

Accord-ing to Me

At the end of the 2008 season, Honda turned its back on the sport of Formula 1.  The collapse of the world economy and, to a lesser degree, a lack of Japanese drivers proved to be too much for the company to bear.  However, Honda wants the American consumer to think that they turned these lemons into lemonade in the form of the Accord coupe.

The Silly Season, Eclectic Electronics, and Rosso Rossi

The MotoGP silly season is officially over and the riders have concluded their first day of testing in Malaysia.  For those interested, the times can be found here.  If you just want to hear about highlights and analysis, read on.

crash.net

2010 "Can't Think of a More Witty Phrase than 'Car of the Year" Award

Back in October, I posted my thoughts about Hyundai becoming the next Honda, or more importantly the Honda of the 90s.  Back then, Honda had several exciting cars in their lineup that showcased cutting edge technologies like four-wheel steering, VTEC, and aluminum unibody.  Today, the excitement can be felt in Hyundai's entire range of cars.  There's the sporty rear-wheel drive Genesis coupe, the mega-mile consuming Genesis luxury sedan, and the jack-of-all trades Sonata.  While the two Genesis cars cater to a very distinctive audience, the Sonata is the car that everyone can enjoy for its good looks, perfect size, adrenaline pumping turbo power, and frugality at the pump.

courtesy autoblog.com