It's done. Another Super Lap Battle time attack finals event has passed and the times are getting lower and lower.

Unfortunately for their team, the Tomei/Cusco/Voltex WRX STI did not break the overall record held by HKS but they came darn close. It's impressive considering the fact that the car went that fast thanks to chassis prep, a good engine, and attention to the small details. Most of the body structure seemed to be intact and Cusco even had a board listing all the parts on the car for sale. Look for our March 2009 issue, where we lay out (in the kind of complete detail that you can only find with SCC) the Tomei/Cusco/Voltex STI for all to pick apart.

I've been to the first Pioneer Store, opened in the high-end SoCal mall, South Coast Plaza. It's full of really nice Pioneer stuff that I can't afford - plasma TVs, noise cancelling headphones, and speakers. Now a second Pioneer store has opened in Phoenix, AZ in the CityCenter of CityNorth.

From Pioneer: "The 3,200 square-foot store showcases Pioneer’s state-of-the-art products in a comfortable home environment with six vignettes, each featuring unique themes and different technologies, as well as a revamped mobile electronics section bringing an interactive shopping experience to High Street patrons:  
•    High-end home entertainment products, such as the award-winning KURO plasma display line, Blu-ray Disc players and a home theater featuring Pioneer’s Elite line of speakers
•    Pioneer’s Premier line of in-car products including its AVIC-F Series navigation systems, subwoofers, speakers, amplifiers and single CD car stereos
•    A tricked out Scion xD demo car created by installer Chris Yato (voted top installer by Mobile Electronics Magazine) and Tim Olsen, Elite Creations of Corona, Calif. demonstrating the sound quality and performance delivered by Pioneer’s Premier product line  
•    Exclusive products currently only available in Japan, including Pure Malt Speakers and headphones"



Yes, just like in the first store, you can buy speakers made out of old whiskey bottles.

The dust has cleared - the 2008 SEMA Show has ended. It was a banner show for domestic cars, with the Challenger, Mustang, and Camaro making numerous appearances in multiple booths.

But compact cars were still ever present. The Lancer Evolution X and R35 GT-R were the most prevalent cars, especially in the wheel and tire South Hall of the LV Convention Center. It almost made you think that the Evo X was selling like hotcakes, but it seemed instead that every Evo X owner just ended up making the trip out to SEMA. Many of them will be appearing at the Super Lap Battle time attack finals in just  2 days, so they're abusing their show cars as well. Some of the interesting items from the show:

Dr. Russ Warr's "coming soon" Unlimited AWD Class time attack/time trial Subaru WRX STI in the NGK booth. Caged, gutted, immaculately built, and shooting for sub 1:40 lap times.

Falken Tire announcing their purchase of a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR and their own ALMS GT2-class team. Still developing that slick tire and with a car that blows away almost all drift car builds.

RMR debuts their new Hyundai Genesis Coupe. Carbon body work that looks more like DTM and Super GT than Formula D. A built four-cylinder turbo engine and fully caged - could this be Rhys' new Formula D ride?

Just got this in my mailbox. The latest Harbor Freight mailer.

15% off any single item purchase. Now I can get my bar clamp for about 85 cents. Which will spontaneously implode after about 2.357 uses. Whoo-hoo.

In case you missed our current front page story HERE, the Tomei/Cusco/Voltex Subaru WRX STI time attack car has arrived in the US.

It's modified in every single area - chassis, engine, aero, tires, and will be driven by time attack driver Tarzan Yamada. They're aiming to take out the HKS carbon fiber Evo (current overall champ) but can they do it? We'll see in less than 2 weeks time.

After all the depressing news from numerous aftermarket companies reporting difficulties, cutbacks, and hard times, HKS releases a postive note. Even through the difficulties of the 07-08 year, HKS has reported a net profit of $2.23 million versus a loss of $1.66 million the previous fiscal year.  It seems that a large part of their strategy so far was cutting back on spending, since sales were understandably lower.

So, for all of you buying HKS parts and supporting the real companies (not the knock-offs), keep doing what you're doing.

According to HKS, "As a result, The Operating Profit for the Fiscal Year was 392 Million yen (US$3.92 million) versus previous FY loss of 47 Million Yen (US$-.47 million), the Current Profit was 390 Million Yen (US$3.9 million) versus previous FY loss of 9 Million Yen (US$-.09 million), and the Net Profit was 223 Million Yen (US$2.23 million) versus previous FY loss of 166 Million Yen (US$-1.66 million). 
 
 *100JPY = $1 USD
 
HKS USA, Inc. Financial Highlights (FY 2008)
 
HKS USA, Inc. FY 2008
As HKS *** Ltd.’s public disclosure statements show, the HKS Group is financially sound, with its substantial asset base of 11 Billion Yen (US$112.0 million) and liabilities of 3 Billion Yen (US$30 million). In fact, liabilities have been reduced by 9% versus prior fiscal year as a result of efficient operating and accounting controls. HKS’s solid financial standing will allow the company to continue to implement its R&D and dealer support plans during the global downturn.
 
For the fiscal year, the North American operation (HKS USA, Inc.) made a significant contribution to the HKS Group despite the developing U.S. financial crisis and significant decline in auto sales and aftermarket industry sales. While sales revenue decreased by 18% versus prior fiscal year, profit increased 11% versus prior fiscal year as a result of the implementation of a “lean operations plan” and cost containment.
 
Plans and Outlook for Next Fiscal Year
The HKS Group forecasts that the global economy will continue to lose momentum into calendar year 2009, placing significant pressure on the auto and aftermarket industries. In spite of the weak global economic outlook, HKS believes it will continue to perform successfully in the Fiscal Year 2009 (FY36) with the benefit of the HKS Group’s strategic direction already in place. The “lean-operations plan” will continue to go forward in HKS’s relentless efforts to contain and reduce costs.
 
To achieve better capital efficiency – return on capital employed - HKS Group will not participate in major industry shows, including SEMA, PRI and Tokyo Auto Salon. The capital will be employed in operations and R&D to ensure all new products are delivered to the market to better support our loyal customers and strengthen the HKS Dealer network."

Not too long ago, Rahal Letterman Racing announced their entry into the American Le Mans Series GT2 class with a BMW M3. They've now chosen their wheels, Rays Engineering, the manufacturer behind Volk Racing wheels. The centerlock wheels will be used to help the V8-powered M3 beat on the Porsches and soon to be Chevrolets that will populate the GT2 class.

The new BMW M3, with RAYS Wheels, is set to make its 2009 racing debut in the American Le Mans Series’ season kickoff event – the historic Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring – to be held March 18-21.

The 2008 SEMA Show is almost upon us and the display vehicle lists are already coming out. Toyo recently announced a new GT-R (go figure) for their booth.

Toyo's release read: "Nissan's long awaited GT-R has received the full treatment by Bulletproof Automotive, including a set of brand new 20" Toyo Proxes R888 tires, the first of their kind by Toyo. Known as the GT-RR.com 2009 Nissan GT-R, this powerful all-wheel-drive sports car features Limited Edition BBS LM-DBK-P wheels shod with the Proxes R888 D.O.T.-approved competition tires in a 285/35ZR20 size up front and a 315/30ZR20 on the rear. The Nissan GT-R is also loaded with high-grade carbon fiber components, an Amuse Super Tough Titanium (STT) exhaust, and Endless monoblock six-piston front and rear brakes. The Proxes R888 is the Official Tire of SPEED World Challenge®, and is popular with both professional and amateur racers around the globe."

Red Bull has just released the teaser video for the upcoming Drifting World Championship. Not much info in the video about the "secret location" but we know it's going to be on the docks in Long Beach. We're crossing our fingers for a high stakes course where drift cars fall into the ocean if they mess up. That'll be good for a show.

Catch the video HERE

From Red Bull: "The best drifters from around the world descend on the Port of Long Beach
on November 15 and 16 for the first ever Red Bull Drifting World
Championship. The course, left a mystery to drivers and spectators alike,
promises to be one of a kind."

For more information, visit http://www.redbulldrifting.com

It's nearly unwatchable, it's corny, it doesn't do justice to the old show (with the Hoff) and it just won't go away. The newly reborn version of the Knight Rider TV show has gotten the green light for 9 more episodes. NBC isn't giving up on it just yet.

This is from the NBC release:

"NBC will pick up nine additional episodes of its the freshman drama series "Knight Rider” (Wednesdays, 8-9 p.m. ET) to provide the series with a full-season order for 2008-09, it was announced today by Ben Silverman, Co-Chairman, NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios.

"Gary Scott Thompson and the great cast and crew of 'Knight Rider' continue to deliver fun, action packed adventures every week,” said Silverman.  "Kitt and Michael will continue to travel across the country on their fun, escapist ride pursuing bad guys and saving the day.”

"Knight Rider” premiered its new season on Wednesday, September 24 (8-9 p.m. ET). The series is averaging a 2.4 rating, 7 share in adults 18-49 and 7.4 million viewers overall so far this season in "live plus same day" averages.  "Knight Rider" is the #1 regular series in its competitive time period in all key adult-male demographics and won the slot in adults 18-49 with its most recent telecast on October 15.

On the heels of NBC's hit movie, the iconic 1980s television classic comes roaring back to life as a reinvented, updated and super-charged action series showcasing the new KITT (Knight Industries Three Thousand).  Absolutely the coolest car ever created, KITT is equipped with "AI” (artificial intelligence) that is capable of hacking almost any system.  Its weapon's systems match that of a jet fighter, its body is capable of actually transforming into other vehicles and it uses sophisticated holographic imagery to elude villains.

"Knight Rider" stars Justin Bruening ("Cold Case"), Deanna Russo ("NCIS"), Sydney Tamiia Poitier ("Veronica Mars"), Paul Campbell ("Battlestar Galactica”), Yancey Arias ("Kingpin”) and Bruce Davison ("Breach"). Smith Cho ("Blades of Glory”) recurs.  David Bartis ("Heist," "The O.C."), Doug Liman ("Mr. and Mrs. Smith," "The Bourne Identity"), Matt Pyken ("Las Vegas”) and Gary Scott Thompson ("Las Vegas,” "The Fast and The Furious”) are executive producers.

Based on characters created by Glen Larson, "Knight Rider” is from Universal Media Studios and Dutch Oven Productions."


The key quote is "Absolutely the coolest car ever created", referring to the hideously strange abomination that they've created using a Ford Mustang. It's like Bumblebee turning into a commercial-schilling Camaro in the Transformers movies. Why not just turn them all into Segways or tired old Cressidas? Then at least they'd be cheap to replace after stunts and mildly better looking.

For those of you in the SoCal area, SP Engineering will be hosting their 4th annual garage sale soon.

Held the week after SEMA (Nov 8th), SP will be selling off overstock items and whatever other stuff they may have lying around. But remember, another man's stuff is another man's treasure. Who knows what you'll find.

As reported by our friends over at Autoblog, some apparent English wacko has created this rolling piece of "art".

Parked outside the Royal Academy of Arts in London, this Hummer H3 is sporting wooden wagon wheels. No, it isn't driving around the city and was only parked out for display from Oct 17th-20th. We don't even have any idea of if the car is driveable in this form. Our guess would be no, although super small hubs or wooden center-lock wheels would be interesting. In the end, this just seems like a case of "what where they thinking?"

Their name and green/blue livery has been associated with drifting, Super Taikyu, and the 24 Hours of the Nurburgring (with a R34 GT-R most notably). But Falken Tire is now assaulting the American Le Mans Series.

Ok, so their Ford GT isn't exactly SCC material. But the Ford halo car is undeniably cool and fast, and we're interested in the rubber. Falken is supposedly designing a new slick racing tire for the GT2-class Ford.

Falken tells us, " have teamed with Black Swan Racing in a Doran Enterprises built Ford GT-R to compete in the GT2 class currently flooded with Porsche and Ferrari entries. Historic in its own right, the new Ford GT-R’s legacy began in the late 1960’s with the mythic Ford GT-40. Although 2008 will be considered a development year in regards to both chassis tuning and race tire development, Falken Tire and Black Swan’s vision is to emerge triumphant in the U.S. made GT-R as its predecessor did between 1966-1969 in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

With an intense tire testing schedule and dedicated technical engineers working on-site at each and every race weekend and private testing days, Falken is poised to further expand its presence in the series within the next 12-24 months."

They'll have a tough fight ahead of them, with the class filled with sorted Ferraris and Porsches, but if this means R&D time for a new Falken r-comp, then we're all for it. Bring on the race tires.

For all the complaints we have about tuning around OEM CAN-BUS systems, there's a good reason why its there.

CAN-Bus systems are essentially a means of multiplexing electrical signals in a car over a small number of wires. Instead of using a pair of wires running from the ecu to the far corners of a car to power every single bulb, switch and motor, signal multiplexing allows these systems to be controlled by just a few wires that carry all these signals. In a simplfied way, multiplexing works much like modern phone lines or ethernet cables where several signals and instructions are meshed together and carried on the same line. The main reason that OEMs use this isn't to make life difficult for us. It saves weight and more importantly costs.

For the same reason, we should be wiring our cars with systems like this. If you've ever pulled the entire electrical harness from a modern car, you'd know that there is close to 70-pounds of copper and plastic just in wiring. To get around this nightmare, Littlefuse, an OEM supplier of automotive fuses and electrical components have introduced their ISIS (Intelligent Silicon Integrated System) Multiplex System. This basically allows someone to control a whole slew of electrical systems from stereos, aftermarket lighting and security to airbag systems with a small programmable system. It can also be used as a stand alone system if you wanted to wire up an entire race car.

The ISIS system consists of at least one master cell and one power cell. Typically the master cell is located near the firewall where switches and controls are located. It communicates with one or several power cells located at different corners of the car through a small diameter insullated harness which is the only wiring that has to run from one corner of the car to the other. As long as the Powercell is also connected to battery power, it can drive up to 10 different electrical outputs with a maximum draw of 20 amps. This eliminates a lot of wiring and relays as everything is solid state driven and rated for automotive use. 

The system is also very smart. All the control logic can be programmed in by the manufacturer so that different types of switches can be use with just about any imaginable output (soft start, flashing at programmable intervals, dimming, speed control, and analogue out.) A single switch input to the Master cell can also drive several outputs at two different Powercell outputs for headlight and tailight operation. Or several switches can be used to control one output like in the case of turn signals and hazard lights.

For the car show guy this has endless possibilities in terms of bells and whistles, but for the SCC guy, this would be the way to wire a race car for weight savings and simplicity of troubleshooting. The LCD display in the MASTERCELL and flashing LEDs in each CELL make trouble shooting wiring a simple matter. OEM level weather and noise insulation take care of longevitiy issues too.

While we look for a project car to put this to use on, find out more details at www.isispower.com

Sometimes you think a temp or pressure gauge is a good idea; we'll go with that, it can be often times. But once you get carried away you find yourself with 16 gauges on your dash and a fighter jet look. Defi and Autometer have come out with linking gauge systems that help with clutter, but digital displays are the next thing.

HKS has tried it before with their CAMP and new CAMP2 system, but the price and understanding/marketing of the system has been lacking.  The guys at Magden visited our office before with their rather interesting M1.b display. It uses your own in-car LCD screen capable head unit, such as a Pioneer or Eclipse unit and then allows you to pick whatever "gauges" you want. The main interface is through the OBD2 port but they also sell a variety of sensors that you can use to display info, and even promised us that they would be selling packages with linear potentiometers and pressure sensors, etc. Could be cool, especially with datalogging features.

Magden claims, " monitor functions such as air intake temperature, wide-band lambda, horsepower, torque, fuel mileage, ignition timing and more by simply changing what you want to see and how you want to see it. The M1.b offers the only automotive software that allows owners to monitor and data log any five functions at the same time, allowing you to test the effectiveness of your aftermarket perofrmance modifications. With downloadable software and updates comming soon to the Madgen website, your M1.b computer never becomes outdated, and additional software such as Navigation, MP3 audio, video, Bluetooth integration and GPS locator systems are all in the works for future upgrades." We're still interested in seeing how fast the sampling rate can be, the demo unit had some work to be done with our Project Evo 9 before it could read the data quickly enough from the OBD2 port.
 
The Magden M.1b retails under $650. Find more info HERE.

Tanner Foust, stunt driver, rally champ, newly minted Top Gear USA TV show host, and (obviously) drift driver, won his 2nd straight Formula Drift championship in his twin-turbo 350Z. Using his Rockstar/AEM/Toyo Tires® Nissan 350Z from Papadakis Racing (what a mouthful), Foust secured his 2008 title with a second place finish at the Irwindale Speedway season closer.

According to the Toyo Tires press release, “as reigning champion, Foust continued his dominance on Proxes R1R tires right from the start with a third place finish during the season-opener at Long Beach. He then won Round 3 in Englishtown, New Jersey, followed by a win in Round 6 at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California. In the final race at the "House of Drift" at Irwindale, Foust clinched the championship during the Great 8 round, and then put an exclamation point on his championship by finishing second for the event."

What you're looking at is the most coveted possession of any car tuner.

You may like your turbo kit, your intake, or your muffler but this sticker is the most important thing you'll need. It's the little self-stick nothing that lets the police know that they've got nothing on you. The part on your car has been tested and is emissions legal for use. No fix-it tickets, no impound, no attitude. Now, not all parts come with this sticker (this one is for a HKS air intake system) but there's a reason why the real, tested, emissions legal stuff costs more than the knock-offs. Don't be cheap.

One of the more surprising news bits from the enthusiast auto industry popped up sometime last week. GReddy's Japanese parent company, Trust Co. Ltd., filed for MINJI-SAISEI-HO, the equivalent of Chapter 11 protection in the US. This restructering is surprising given GReddy's US strength, with 2 offices in the US. But I think many of us have forgotten that GReddy is a corporation itself and operates autonomously to an extent.

The Japanese tuner market has also been in a hurt for years, with the younger generations more interested in cellphones and MTV than hopping up a Silvia or Civic. Haven't you noticed how every OEM is trying to go upmarket with the WRX, Evo, and GT-R? Still, GReddy assures us that the US market has been strong (go American tuning!) and that they are not affected by this problem. So go out there and show your support, don't buy the knock-offs, buy the real parts with quality and R&D behind them! Otherwise, you'll be seeing more of this in the news.

As reported by SEMA, "the SAN defeated California legislation to require annual (rather than biennial) smog-check inspections for vehicles 15 years old and older. The bill would also have required that funds generated through the additional inspection fees be deposited into an account which could then be used to scrap older cars. In an effort to sneak the bill through in the closing days of the legislative session, California Assemblyman Dave Jones amended a completely unrelated bill with the annual smog-check inspection language."

"While pre-'76 motor vehicles would have remained exempt under existing California law, this proposal ignored the fact that vehicles 15 years old and older still constitute a small portion of the overall vehicle population and are a poor source from which to look for emissions reductions. This latest action represents the second time the SAN was able to defeat this legislation."

I think I'm completely out of the loop.

One of those things that has somehow escaped my grasp so far is the online social networking concept. I've heard of them - Facebook, MySpace, etc. But I haven't ever done it before or joined up in those sites. I think I don't go online enough just to "cruise" what's out there. SCC currently has about 71 friends on its Facebook site. That's more friends than I know what to do with. Apparently we're still getting beat by ex-import model turned MTV annoyance Tila Nguyen/Tila Tequila in terms of friend count. Sounds kinda sad when I put it that way.

But the site concept is good, I suppose. We can talk about what we have going on over here and at the mag, and people can say that SCC is one of their personal friends on the "Net. Hey, maybe SCC will show up to my birthday party or my next poker game. Who knows? But you can check out our facebook site HERE.

I'm not usually one to comment about such things as a company's ad or website, but sometimes you just gotta sit back and clap your hands. With the Internet becoming increasingly popular with the car crowd and web-based purchases on the rise, aftermarket companies need to step up their web game. Some have already started, promoting their websites in the print advertisements run in our magazine. But others seem to have not caught on quickly enough, with outdated, difficult to navigate, and mis-informed websites that serve as their public online catalog.

With Samco Sport's new website, finally we can see a fresh change. The site is now easier to navigate and still has more information than before. Marque logos, a better layout, and clearer pictures/part numbers make everything easier to find.

But don't think that I've been paid off by Samco and am just plugging this for the sake of it. The reason I'm typing about this at all is because these kinds of things, ads, websites, and catalogs, are representative of a company. If more companies put together professional looking sites and catalogs, the entire aftermarket industry will look more succcessful and professional, as a whole. We can shut down the knock-offs, buyers will take notice of the quality, sales will rain down from the heavens, etc. Maybe that's an exaggeration, but it's still something that we can all use a lot of.

CLICK HERE

Mazda fans rejoice, your Meccas has returned.

SevenStock, the annual Mazda fan festival held at Mazda HQ in CA, is coming back on Sept 27, 2008. It's always a good place to catch a lot of Mazda privately-owned cars in one place. Also this year, it looks like the Grand-Am 3-rotor RX-8s will be on display, along with the usual racecars. Should be good.

Day 1 of the Rally New Zealand has finally finished. The results so far are not quite what was in mind for WRC regular and top competitor, Subaru.

Petter Solberg has run consistently in all the 1st day stages, but he seems to have trouble finding the right setup and, thus, pace. The battle for the front is still between Mikko Hirvonen (Ford) and Sebastien Loeb (Citroen). Chris Atkinson was having a strong rally but crashed and rolled his WRC Impreza WRX STI. His car was towed into service following the super special at the end of the day. STI mechanics were given a 3-hour service session with which to repair the car. They had to change the windshield, hood, fenders, supports, bumper, cooling system, carbon ducting, brake ducting, suspension, suspension arms, wheels, tires, and various other parts. The car was surprisingly good shape considering it had rolled and the outlook was that there was no engine damage despite the fact that the oil cooler had ripped on the course and dropped the car's oil. Atkinson seems to have shut the car down quick enough for the loss of oil pressure.

In the PWRC class, Subaru Japan factory driver Toshi Arai's 2008 STI got hit by some road debris and punctured his radiator. Ken Block was taken out early in the first stage with a ripped rear suspension. Both cars are being serviced and are expected to run tomorow.

Video of the Bergenholtz Racing Mazda6 at the 2008 Seattle round of Battle Of The Imports.

At around the 1:44 mark, check out the Mazda6's close moment with the wall and the car in the other lane near the end of the quarter-mile drag racing run.

CLICK HERE

We're one step closer now to the beginning of the 2008 Rally New Zealand. This is my first ever WRC event in person, and so I'm excited enough o want to be present for every second of the cars running. Today the cars all ran from 8AM-12PM for shakedown. WRC, then PWRC, and finally the front-wheel drive JWRC cars. They're all amazing vehicles.

Seeing the cars on TV and DVD footage is nice and all, but to see and hear one of these cars in person is completely different. The anti-lag pops and backfires are much more amplified in person; some of the blasts will throw you off your feet. The sound of each of the cars is amazing as well. Solberg seemed to be having some setup issues, during service he changed out his rear end and transmission. Ken Block, the sole US entered driver, put his PWRC car through its paces today. I got the chance to go along for a ride, and the shakedown course was brutal. The ruts and ditches were huge and many cars ran a stiff setup because the actual stage tomorrow will be softer than the shakedown. Some cars did not take part in the shakedown today for the sole reason that they didn't want to risk the damage.

Rally New Zealand starts tomorrow and we'll see how the cars run through the first day of competition.