Coolest Dodge Caravan of the Day

Everyone needs a gas turbine powered Dodge Caravan.

And a burnout.

It looks like the turbine spins a shaft that drives the wheels. Interesting. These videos are a few years old, so I wonder what happened to the van.

Last Dromo 1 Race : Indoor Go Karting

Our favorite local in door go kart track Dromo1 ,closed May 29,2010. 

Taken with a Contour HD camera mounted to my helmet.Check out the links below for some information on the Contour HD camera.

 

EPA Exempt Nissan Skyline GT-R : 21 Years Old

Well not yet.  I went into some more information on the 21 year EPA exemption in another post, and I decided to put up a video on Youtube.  Videos are always more fun than just words.  Subscribe to my videos for more vehicle import information.

Source : GT-R USA Blog

OWLE iPhone Camera Platform

I put up a few Youtube videos, something like 280 total videos as of today over the last few years.  Mostly car, mostly Nissan Skyline GT-R related. I can’t say I am very good at taking or editing videos, but its something I am working on.

While browsing the MotorMavens site yesterday I noticed this OWLE camera adaptor for the iPhone.

The OWLE Bubo's universal "Coldshoe" mount is great because it doesn't care what kind of light or microphone you attach to it. If you are like us and one light just isn't enough, then we have extra cold shoe's that thread into any of the Bubo's 4 tripod mounts.

THe OWLE Bubo comes Standard with 37mm lens threading, as well as a 0.45x Wide angle/macro combination lens. The ability to change filters and lenses will give you the freedom to choose what your audience sees.

Check out this side by side comparison. You can see how much clearer the OWLE video is compared to a standard iPhone video. Obviously the iPhone is not a dedicated video platform, but as an add on device, or something you already carry with you, its a cool new product.

Some in car footage in Arizona.

I am ordering mine today. It will give me a few more options on shooting videos on my iPhone. I will get some OWLE shot videos up soon.

Time Lapse Engine Build : Cobb Time Attack R35

Cobb Tuning has been competing in the Redline Time Attack with their R35 this year. The car runs in the Modified class and won the modified class, and overall at New Jersey Motorsports park, after losing an engine at Buttonwillow.  After Buttonwillow the team replaced the expired engine with one from a wrecked street car.  They had a few issues at New Jersey, but not enough for them not to take the overall win.

At Las Vegas some issues from the wrecked street car engine reared their head, and the team decided to build the engine.  The next round of Redline Time Attack is at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Ca this weekend, May 29-30th.

Source : Cobb Blog via GTRBlog

The Redline Time Attack is going to be covered Live Streaming in a partnership with the guys at Owle. I was browsing some sites yesterday, and saw this neat add on for the iPhone. Its a better lens/ holding system for the iPhone that will give you good quality video for only $129. They will have up to a dozen cameras streaming at the same time, with some of them inside or on cars. John Naderi and Kerryann De La Cruz will also be in the paddock doing live interviews.

Stillen IMSA Nissan 300ZX on the Dyno 2010

Steve Millens IMSA Nissan 300ZX on the dyno at the 2010 Stillen Open house. Sorry I did not get a dyno number off the car. It was spinning the tires quiet a bit on the dyno.

Josh from Stillen said :

It put down a whopping 65whp.. :)

Yes the turbos spool so fast it had issues getting traction to the dyno, even at lower RPMs in top gear.. just did burnouts..

8 Second R32 GT-R From the UK

This R32 is pretty impressive for what modifications it has. It turned a number of 8 second passes. On slicks, and good fuel. The engine is a 2.6 with a standard R33 crankshaft, JUN rods, HKS pistons, Tomei oil pump , HKS 272 cams , HKS T51 Kai turbo , Veilside plenum. Its running an OS 88 sequential transmission, and a little squirt of nitrous to get it hustling.

 

Source : GTROC

Switzer P800 Nissan GTR vs Koenigsegg CCR x 2 Races

Koenigsegg might be a name you have never heard of. They are a semi- obscure Swedish super car manufacturer that tried to purchase Saab in 2009 from General Motors.  However, they never carried though with the sale.
The CCR was produced from 2004-2006 by Koenigsegg, so this car is pretty rare. It was also listed as the “fastest production car” in the world, in 2005 to 2006 when the Bugatti Veyron beat it.  Power is listed as 896 hp, and weight is listed as 1180 kg (2601 lbs) dry giving it an impressive power to weight ratio.

On February 28, 2005, at 12.08 local time, the Koenigsegg CCR broke the production road car speed record, achieving a new official top speed of 387.37 km/h (240.7 mph) at hoi Italy's Nardo Prototipo proving ground. A team of five Koenigsegg engineers and mechanics together with founder Christian von Koenigsegg ran a technically standard CCR, driven by famous supercar test driver and veteran record breaker Loris Bicocchi.

In this video, from 2nd gear, the CCR clearly walks away from the Nissan GT-R at higher speeds. From the 1st gear roll, the CCR spins the tires , and then again in 2nd gear, giving the Nissan GT-R enough space to keep it out in front.  With nearly 900 hp, and more than 1000 lbs lighter than a GT-R, its suprising the CCR didn’t pull harder on the Switzer P800 GT-R.   I was just reading about a Switzer GTR 1RK 1000+hp GT-R on Nagtroc today.  Heres a sneak peak video.

Source : Wikipedia ,  Youtube  , and Koenigsegg

Long Beach : World Challenge Touring Car : Scion tC

In my off time, I do a little side thing. This blog is about Nissan GT-R’s , but I have been involved with cars and racing most of my life. In 2006, I did World Challenge as a crew chief on Igors – Automotive Forums R34 GT-R.  Fun, tough, expensive. Those would be the three words I would use to describe that year.

For the last couple years I have been helping Dan with his Scion tC. Dan was a Nissan guy, I actually met him though Freshalloy, when I was at Motorex.  Dan has done well, he works hard, has a routine, and he sticks to it.  This year the one car NASA team, has grown to a two car SCCA World Challenge effort.

So far this year, we have built the second car #36 for Dan Gardner in three weeks, with lots of help, and raced at St. Petersburg and Long Beach.  At St. Petersburg we had two races, the #18 car with Robert Stout driving finished in 2nd place in both. The #36 car finished in third and fourth place.  At Long Beach, the #18 car won the Touring Car class, and the #36 car found the wall at turn 8 while we were 1-2.

During the second practice session at the World Challenge race in Long Beach, we lost an oil line, that then caused us to lose an engine. Time lapse of the engine replacement. Start to finish, it took us a while. First engine or transmission I have had to deal with since I started working on the DG Spec Scions. We qualified the #18 car P4.

Some behind the scenes video and pictures from the event.

Next race is Mosport in about 14 days. I have been so swamped in regular work, that I haven’t had any time to dedicate to helping prep the cars for Mosport.  The #18 car is now carrying 75 lbs in “REWARDS” weight for the two 2nds and 1st place showing.  Robert is in 1st place in the drivers points, and Scion is leading the manufacturers championship in Touring Car. 

Toyota Sienna : Swagger Wagon

This might not be SwaggCertified , but Toyota does their best with the Swagger Wagon.

Watch as the Sienna Family drops their hot new single, Swagger Wagon. This goes out to all you minivan families out there who get a Sienna SE for space but fill it with your family's swagger.

Funny, I’m diggin it.

7 Million Total Views on You Tube

My statistics for You Tube. I just went over 7 million total video views. 269 videos and 1589 subscribers.

Videos Uploaded: 269
Video Views: 7,001,214
Favorites: 21

Channel Type:
Channel Views: 95,610
Subscribers: 1,589

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1JZ Powered Toyota HiAce Van Video

This is cool in all the wrong ways.  Not the one JayZ the rapper, but the 1JZ the Toyota 2.5 liter inline 6 engine.  The little brother of the 2JZ.

One Minute : Willow Springs : Scion tC World Challenge Test

One Minute. One frame every three seconds. 32 frames per second. World Challenge Scion tC testing at Willow Springs Raceway in Rosamond, CA. Preparing and checking the car over. When the car is gone, its on the track. Track videos to come soon. http://www.gtrusablog.com

Hakosuka Skyline GT-R : Out for A Sunday Cruise

Well not a Sunday cruise. Best Motoring video of Gan-San in a Hakosuka at Fuji.   Listen to that engine.  Beautiful. This video is for anyone that says the Nissan GT-R has no heritage.

How to BBQ a Civic

Add sauce and enjoy.

Mines R34 GT-R vs Three Tuned R35 GT-R’s

From Hot Version #103.  The Mines R34 GT-R with Tarzan Yamada driving vs three tuned R35 GT-R’s.

TRD Supercharged Scion tC at Willow Springs : NASA 2-2010

TRD Supercharged Scion tC at Willow Springs : NASA 2- 2010. Camera ran out of battery.


On Sunday Dan invited me up to Willow Springs for a NASA event. The last couple of years I have been helping Dan with his Scion tC race car that he competes in NASA TTC, PTC, WERC Endurance Series, and World Challenge TC in 2009.  In the past the car has even run in the Koni/Grand Am Challenge.  Talk about a car with a few race miles under its belt.  This car is the “spare” car. Also known as the “street car”.  Same color, but stock suspension, stock brakes, less power, more weight.





Saturday it was raining, and I had some work to do, so I didn’t go up on Saturday.  Sunday however, I woke up early to head out to Willow Springs. It has been a long time since I have driven at Willow Springs. Last year I drove at Buttonwillow, and Streets of Willow, but its been years since the last time I drove at the “Big Track”.  The first session I rode with Dan, watched his lines, the gears he was driving in.  Familiarize myself with the track again, and the car. This would be the first front wheel drive car I have ever driven at speed on a track. Normally its all Nissan GT-R’s on the track for me.
My first session, I started from the back, and just wanted to drive around the track with Dan in the car. Follow another car, and just get familiar with everything. The Scion tC with the Nitto NT01 tires on it is easy to drive. Cornering was easy, the car went where I wanted it to go for the most part.  A couple of times the electronic brake distribution did some weird stuff, but its more a matter of making sure you are actually braking in a straight line. Stock brakes with aftermarket pads and fluid worked out well. No problems with the brakes fading or getting mushy all day.
Willow Springs is a fast, horsepower track.  The tC had a 112 mph governor on it so, we were running into the governor out on the track in a couple places.  With Dan driving, it was about 3 places, and near start finish on the straight. Turn 8 – Turn 9 is the big spot at Willow Springs. Though 8 I glanced down and was at around 105 mph in the last session, fast long sweeper, followed by the dog leg of turn 9.  Turn 9 is a fast turn that has a hole at the curb that more than a few cars have caught, and rolled.  Rolling, or even going off track was in my plan for the day, so I kept it pretty mellow.  Just driving around within my limits. The last couple of years I have been working on the other Scion tC, the racecar, at the track about 20 weekends a year.  Compared to those weekends, this last Sunday was a very mellow day.

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Heres a Fastlap with Billy Johnson from MotoIQ.

Source : Youtube

Nissan Skyline GT-R Acceleration Video

This R33 is pretty intense.  I really like the camera angle, it really helps to give you the feeling of acceleration. I will have to see if I can get that camera angle with a wide angle lens for some videos.

No real information on where the video came from or about the car, but I would guess around 1000hp , probably a 5 or 6 speed gearbox in it with a long first gear.

Source : Youtube

Scion Racing – Thunderhill Raceway December 2009

This year, Dan Gardner and Jackson-Dawson have been nearly unstoppable. They had to settle for one third place finish, but every other race found them finishing first. Taking their start at the final round of the Western Endurance Racing Championship at Thunderhill, they were gunning for nothing less than the championship. For six hours, Dan and co-driver Jeff Lepper did everything they could to keep their team in the lead, but was it enough? Find out in this latest exclusive Scion Racing video!

Source :Scion Racing

DSport R33 Video At Battle of the Imports 2009

2009 GT-R SloMo Clip from Aaron Leong on Vimeo.

Shot at the Battle of the Imports in Souther California at the Autoclub Speedway. Shot on a SONY EX1. Thank you to DSPORT magazine for getting me media access. The 1200+HP black Nissan R33 GT-R belongs to Michael Ferrara, the publisher of DSPORT magazine.