Behind The ScenesAfter the delivery of his R35 GT-R was delayed and he was unable to make this year's USCC, James Chen of Axis Wheels donated a bit of his time to become our third Car Show judge. He arrived to the sweltering heat of the California desert sun decked out to the nines, with a yellow Bentley as bright as the "discounted" yellow suit that he had on. Masa Kuji (left) and Taro Koki (right) came out from our online media partner, GTChannel.com, to film owner interviews, dyno runs, road course, and other action from this year's USCC. Before he knew what he agreed to, we had Koki also roped in as our first Gross Display of Horsepower judge.Masa Kuji (left) and Taro Koki (right) came out from our online media partner, GTChannel.c After an adjustable cam gear slipped during one of the Mazda3's early quarter-mile runs, the car stumbled and struggled to run correctly. Team members from various competitor teams pitched in to help push the car to the pits and diagnose the problem.After an adjustable cam gear slipped during one of the Mazda3's early quarter-mile runs, t The USCC has become old hat to the guys at K&N Engineering, who have helped make the dyno portion of our testing possible for the past few years. They once again allowed us to make use of their parking lot, lift, R&D facility, and side-by-side dynos, which are normally used to test power gains during air intake development. A special thanks also goes out to Mark Keniston (above in the beard), who had recently retired from K&N but volunteered to come back to help dyno during the USCC.The USCC has become old hat to the guys at K&N Engineering, who have helped make the dyno The Engineering Guru Panel is historically made up of a selection of some of the geekiest and most tech-savy nitpickers around. This year we lined up engine and tuning guru Eric Hsu from Cosworth Engineering (left), suspension guru Robert "Robi" Fuller from Robispec (center), and turbo specialist Brian Regnier from Garrett (right).The Engineering Guru Panel is historically made up of a selection of some of the geekiest For timeliness and consistency, we utilize a spec driver for the skidpad and braking performance testing. This year's 80-0mph braking test was handled by AE86 road racer, ex-NOPI drift judge, and time attack driver Wesley Hamachi. Having had previous experience with Hamachi's driving talents, the Tuning Technologies crew enlisted his aid for the Evo VIII's road course competition later in the day. Who could say no to this face?For timeliness and consistency, we utilize a spec driver for the skidpad and braking perfo Although he appears to be lounging in this photograph, Scott Tsuneishi (chief editor at our sister magazine Turbo) was enlisted to apply his vast knowledge of horsepower burnouts and broken cars as the second judge for the Gross Display of Horsepower. He claims to this day that his 1.5-liter Civic could have won the competition.Although he appears to be lounging in this photograph, Scott Tsuneishi (chief editor at ou
