Subaru WRX Performance Mod Sup?  Time to update you all on Project Subyrod, my 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX.  I was getting really excited for Speed Week 2010, the Nugget Cruise in and everything that goes with being at Bonneville.  For Subyrod's first trip to the Salt Flats, I felt an itch to have a custom axle back exhaust made for it, something that would turn some heads, maybe make my car fit in with all the old iron running around with loud exhausts.  It had to be on a budget.  I kicked around the idea and then dropped in at JDM Legends (See my Introduction Story of JDM Legends here) to see what Eric Bizek could weld up for me on a small budget. Take a look at some in-process photos below of the custom exhaust work.  I was thinking of a few options, mild steel painted or stainless and 2.5" or 3".  We ended up going with stainless 3" dia. tubing to match the rest of the exhaust system.  One way to achieve my budget was using some of Eric's stainless scrap pieces laying around. Here's Eric Bizek of JDM Legends...

Datsun 510 Driver from Australia Datsun 510... I called it the Ultimate Japanese Classic Car in my "Hot Rod Ramblings Part 2".  Why?  I explained that it had all the right ingredients for a pure driving experience.  The Dime is lightweight, rear wheel drive, independent rear suspension (rare for those days), manual trans and high revving, efficient, over head cam 4 cylinder that was willing to rev.  Now, I know there's a lot of hot rod guys and gals out there that might be reading this, going "What is that car?"  or "What's that little 4 door doing here?" Let's take a look at a 1969 Datsun 510 four door owned by our web friend from Australia, Anth of Build-Threads.com fame.  His website has gone crazy in the last year or so.  He's also been busy updating and fine tuning his '69 510 as well. I love rolling shots like this.  The car doing what it does best, putting miles of asphalt and concrete behind it, quickly. Comparing this compact import classic with the domestic behemoths that we at MyRideisMe love so much... I can agree, land missiles like 60's Camaros, Mustangs,...

Custom Truck: Nissan Frontier Sometimes you’ve got to go against the grain. Take Clint McDowell, for example. If you saw the 20 year old on the streets of Phoenix, you’d wonder how one person could get so many piercings in their face, and how they were able to dig up a set of Max Headroom style glasses out of the 1985 parts bin. To say Clint is unique is an understatement in its highest form. Seriously on his tech sheet under “other interests” he put: “Hockey and Monkeys.” It’s probably  no surprise then to know that this bright pink Frontier used to be a Desert Runner. Yes, Nissan’s factory pre-runner truck was in Clint’s driveway just a few years ago, really high off the ground with a funky blue color. It was neat for a while, but seriously, Clint doesn’t go for what regular people do. He couldn’t leave the truck stock, that’d be too… normal. He wanted to reduce the daylight underneath the truck, and knew it wasn’t going to be an easy task. After searching far and wide, he came across Kevin Blysdale from Just Plain Trick...

You've  probably met guys like Jerry before. He’s a good guy, always worked hard at his job, been around the local club scene for a while, and has built a few cool rides in his time. Then one day, he steps it up a notch and builds something really wicked. That’s just what happened to Jerry Taylor, of Glendale, Arizona and this Nissan Hardbody. Except Jerry doesn’t go by Jerry. Most know him as “Bear,” a nickname used by all of his fellow club members in Kastawayz. He’s built a little stable of rides over the past few years, including a pair of Hondas, a bodydropped Nissan Hardbody, and a Toyota mini. When Bear bought this particular Hardbody a few years back, the goal was to really go above and beyond what he had done in the past. Something that would get some attention, and really take the custom scene by storm. It started in Bear’s garage, a cozy little spot named “Bear’s Customs.” In that 20X20 space, he tore into his hardbody, starting with the suspension. The factory Nissan 6-lug had to go, so Bear did a spindle...

Hot Rodders and a stop watch you ask?  Ya, I'll get to that in a minute.  But first, let me introduce you to one of my favorite automotive competitions:  Time Attack or Superlap Battle.   These pictures were taken by the MotorMavens.com crew at Eastern Creek Raceway in Australia, as part of the World Time Attack Challenge, the first of its kind, pitting the best the world has to offer in Time Attack. What exactly is Time Attack?  It's simply taking your car around a road course as fast as you can and recording the fastest single lap time, hence the name Superlap.  There are various classes that your car might fit in.  Currently most of the vehicles that compete today are of the Japanese or European make.  Here's where the hot rodders with the stopwatches comes in.  Time Attack has almost zero muscle cars.  Wat up wit dat?  Here's the R-Magic prepared Mazda RX-7, one of the fastest Unlimited Time Attack cars in Japan.  Time Attack began in Japan in the late 1980's.  It was a chance for top Speed Shops (they're referred to as Tuning Shops, not Speed Shops, but...

As I mentioned in the blog about the Rocky Mountain Raceway's Midnight Drift event, I met Marco and his friend Rudy in the pits during the Midnight Drag and Drift event.   First of all, to you hot rodders out there who don't YET get drifting, let me tell you about the Nissan 240SX.  In a way, this car in Japan is similar in following and cult status as a Mustang or Camaro.  The similarities may be more than you think.  Rear wheel drive setup, Coupe body styling, small back seat, huge aftermarket support and fun to drive status.  The differences are aplenty as well though.  Mustangs get a solid rear axle and V6 and V8 engines and weigh 3200-3600lbs.  The Nissan 240SX (or 180SX or Silvia in Japan) comes with an independent rear suspension and 2.4L 4 cylinder (turbo 2.0L outside Japan) naturally aspirated truck engine in the USA and weighs about 2800lbs.  So, there's a little history on the 240 for ya.  Marco has owned his S13 (S13 is like what the Mustang guy's equivalent of SN95 or S197 chassis codes for the 1989-94 240SX, S14 for 1995-1998 and S15 for...

Salt Lake City, Utah has a decent sized auto enthusiasts community for how small of a city and state it is.  There's about 2.5 million people in all of Utah.  Utah has 2 racing facilities, Rocky Mountain Raceway (RMR) with its 1/4 mile dragstrip and asphalt oval and Miller Motorsports Park with its 4+ mile road course. Last night I hit up the 2nd Midnight Drag and Drift event of the year.  RMR has been holding Midnight Drags since about 2001 or so.  It was touted as a way to get the young punks off the streets and have a safe and organized way to race.  I raced my first Civic at a couple Midnight Drags back then.  A couple years ago though, the Drift Enterprise of Utah started holding Midnight Drift events on the oval track.  I thought this sign was kinda cool.  "Section D" for DRIFT!!! The number of cars entered in the drag portion are probably 150-200.  For the drift boys, there's only about 8-10 cars.  The number of people watching the drag racing is probably somewhere around 1000+.  The people watching drifting?  1, maybe  2.  Ok, not that...

For my 1 year anniversary and 100th blog post at MyRideisMe.com I share with you a classic Japanese land speed racecar, err... truck, a Datsun 620.  I spotted it on the Japanese Nostalgic Car blog/website HERE.  If you don't have this on your blog reader, go ahead and add it now.  The picture credit goes out to Stephen Rosinni, a professional photographer out of NY. According to JNC's blog post, the Datto truck belongs to Barry Brown of Riter Automotive and was run at the Maxton Mile recently.  It runs in the F/PMP class (F = 2.01 - 3.0 liter, PMP = Production mini/mid pickup) with a 2 liter that makes about 220hp equipped with Nissan 50mm race carbs and a Nissan 5 speed.  The #1620 truck broke the class record of 119mph by running 123 in the standing mile.  The Riter Automotive crew, out of Rochester, NY, plans on running at Bonneville this year.  Hopefully we can bring you all some more pics and details.  Of course, when it runs at B'ville, we'll hopefully bring you news of another broken record.  I was curious, so I checked out the BNI class record...

I've been a little quiet of late on the MyRideisMe blog.  I have good reason.  With (as opposed to without) much adieu (it's taken me years to nail down a car I REALLY wanted) I present my new (and used) hot rod!  Not a hot rod you say?  Ok, well, then let's call it a suby rod. This blog will NOT do justice (crappy pictures, I promise better ones in the future, these were taken while giving son #3 his first ride in "daddy's suby") to how much I love this car and how excited I am to own it and drive it.  But, I'll do my best to introduce you to my new daily driver/project car, "SUBYROD" (see my MyRideisMe.com Garage HERE). Subyrod is a 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX with 115,000 miles (kind of a lot I know, but it was in my budget and very clean with recent important maintenance items taken care of).  What the crap is a hot rod and custom car nut like me buying a funky car like a Subaru for?  Ok, good point... but how about a factory turbocharged and intercooled sedan with wide fender flares, all wheel...

I think its time for some more aircooler LOVE!!!  Remember our German Facebook friend, Pascal Hein?  We blogged about his cherry Lemon (lemon is what he named the car) classic 1973 BMW 1802 Touring.  Pascal took these pictures at a big VW Bug and Bus Meeting in Germany, home of the "People's Car" brand.   Most of the bugs you'll see came from Great Britain, Belgium or from Netherlands. I thought I'd grab my favorites from Pascal's photo website  http://www.vipallica.deviantart.com/. This is my favorite picture.  I'm really likin' this blue Cal-Look big window bug.  It's got the big single turbo muffler, nerf bars, narrowed front beam with all the chrome trim.  Bugs with a nice raked stance are one of my favorite cars of all time. One of the coolest vdubs is the early buses or Kombi's.  When slammed, they are saweet kruzers!  This rust-a-rific bus is rockin' some white painted Porsche Fuch wheels on low pro tires.  I think this is a barndoor model.  Also, check out how you can see right through this car with the barndoor open.  ha ha Gold Member anyone?  Polished Fuch Porsche wheels are always...

Are you a "do-it-yourselfer" (DIY) hot rodder?  Do you wrench on your own cars?  Well, this is a DIY'er to the max.  I came across pictures of Jared Drinkwater's Mitsubishi Evolution on NASIOC.com, a Subaru enthusiasts forum of all places.  I'm a huge fan of the Mitsubish Evo for sure, but I was blown away at Jared's engineering and build skills.  Jared is like the ultimate do-it-yourselfer.  He is a Mechanical Engineer by day, by night he engineers parts for his Evo, which he races on road courses.  Jared makes his own aero parts, race seat rails, fire extinguisher mounts, rebuilt his own engine (with a stroker kit and bigger turbo) and more.  Dig these pics of his ride and Binary Eng parts you can buy for your own Evo. Jared's "Binary Engineering" Mitsubishi Evolution in his new race livery.  Of course, he designed and applied these decals on his own.  Dig the front aero package, designed and built by Jared using lots of aluminum sheet and carbon fiber. This was the stock front bumper.  Jared has added a tow hook (just in case he needs help getting out of...

So, its no secret that I dig Japanese cars.  I certainly have a special place in my automotive heart for the Honda Civic.  I've owned 2 and am looking for #3.  Why?  It's a Civic?  They're boring, cheap, small, chick cars with no power and are front wheel drive (FF = front engine, front wheel drive).  Well, lemme "splain"...Being a father of 4 with a mortgage, a retirement plan, food storage, swim lessons, youth baseball, basketball and soccer, 2.5 kids still in diapers...shall I go on?...then you now see the Civic's big advantage.  Cheap, reliable transportation.  For a car guy, the Honda Civic also offers a lightweight chassis (1992-00 Civics weigh 2200-2500lbs), amazing mpg (I've average 39mpg), double wishbone suspension at all 4 corners, ease of transplanting other more powerful Honda/Acura engines and likely THE biggest aftermarket, making the Civic is a great choice. For this post, I bring you one such Civic, a budget Time Attack machine owned by Tag Evanson of Arizona.  These pictures are from 2008 at GT Live at the Miller Motorsports Park.  Tag Evanson is from Arizona and made the trip up to Utah for...