Hey, sorry for the lack of posts lately, but there hasn't been much going on. If anyone is out there, drop me a line! Let me know what's going on in your part of town, what you're planning, what you're building, that sort of thing. This is the place to do it, you know?
At any rate, updates should start coming again soon. Merry Christmas from Team Tristate!
There seems to be a trend here. First we started with the old D- to B-series swap, where the original, old school wrenchers had to custom fab just about every part they needed, from front motor mounts to custom-made wire harnesses for their hand-done wiring with ECUs and extra fuel injectors. Nowadays, B swaps are considered simple, with plenty of walkthroughs and guides available through magazines, forums, and others who have done it before. Who cares about the B anymore? Who cares that when it first came out, it was innovative and groundbreaking in its own right?
People like Phil Gaudencio care. Phil has done the impossible, the crazy, the improbable, and hooked up an Acura J32A2 V6 in his EK9 hatch. True, he didn't have nearly the hassle as the original B swap boys, because he DID have the support of the internet and friends who had worked with J series engines before, but what he's done is pretty crazy nonetheless. Gotta hand out mad props to a guy who can put this much into his car and still look for more to do to it. For an excellent, powerful, clean job well done, kudos to you, Phil!
Read more about Phil's crazy ride in the winter 2009 edition of Honda Tuner, on sale until January 19th.
Well, over the past couple of days, I've been messing around with my car, since it still has a few problems that I might be able to figure out on my own. The main problem affecting the legality of my car right now is the lack of running lights. First things first, I checked to see how the bulbs in the brake lights were doing. Go figure- all three of them were busted. For those who haven't really taken a good look at your lightbulbs, I'll tell you what you're missing. There are two filaments to a brake light bulb, one that is a single strand, and one that is curled up tightly. The straight one provides less resistance, and is what glows when you switch on your running lights, then gets overpowered by the curly one when you hit your brakes. When I press the brakes, I still get light, but the running lights don't come on.
After replacing the bulbs and reinstalling my tails, I dove into the fuseboxes to check all of the fuses related to lighting. Small lights, turn signals, lighting relays... everything seemed to be in working order, but still no light coming from the rear! Frustrated, we started poking around the wiring a bit more, bouncing ideas around for possibilities. One that we came up with was that since I am missing a front corner light, and Honda likes to link all of their electronics in series instead of parallel, meaning that in the case of taillights, if one bulb goes out, all the rest of them go out as well. Thinking about this, we figured that the missing front bulb could be canceling out the circuit for the running lights, making it so that power couldn't reach the proper wires and get to the lights. The second idea is that the headlight stalk itself could be malfunctioning at the running lights setting, which would mean that power wouldn't even be trying to reach the lights, whether or not it actually could make it. The last option would be that during the crash that started this whole mess, some of the wires that spiderweb out to the running lights may have been damaged, causing the whole thing to stop working.
On a side note, though possibly related, the internal gauge clusters are refusing to light up as well, which makes me believe more thoroughly that it is probably faulty wiring, rather than a problem with the stalk or the missing bulb.
Either way, we are making the best of a bad situation and using the opportunity to learn more about my car... as well as ordering some flared fenders and a new body kit by Vision. Stay tuned for more, tuners!
To put it plain and simple, you can only race as well as your machine, and if your machine isn't at 100%, you won't be either! One of the most important parts of proper racing is tire alignment and calibration. I'm talking caster, camber, traditional alignment, and suspension. For those of you in Southern Ohio, or Northern Kentucky, or if you feel like going a bit out of your way for quality, there's noplace better than Performance Alignment in Cincinnati. Not only can they give you a fantastic alignment to your specifications, they can also offer advice based on all of their own racing experience. As well as alignments, they can do work on coilovers, sway bars, custom wheels, brakes, and much more.
Their website is ancient, but that just proves they're much too busy doing amazing tuning to bother learning how to improve their web code. I mean, come on, with skills like theirs, who needs HTML? Point is, they're one of the best companies around, and we need to support them. Check out their website here, or visit them in person sometime. Performance Alignment - http://www.performance-alignment.com/index.html
It seems like all we hear about now is the Genesis. Hyundai has finally made a break into the true sport coupe market, but will it really turn out to be as fantastic as we all hope? True, it has excellent numbers for the price, producing 210hp and 223ft/lbs torque with the turbocharged, inline four, stock block, it will have plenty of potential for not much cost, with the base model starting at $22,000. It also has an optional Lambda V6, which produces 306hp and 266ft/lbs torque, though it boosts the price up to a (still very reasonable) total of 25,000. However, those are the prices for STOCK ONLY, which means that any aftermarket mods will be coming straight out of our pockets. Considering that, most people will go with the base 2.0T model, which will end up having simpler, cheaper, more available bolt-on and heavy mod power. Now, don't get me wrong, the V6 will still be getting plenty of use from the right people, but when it comes down to it, running a machine that comes turboed from the factory will mean a lot less hassles when it comes to increasing your power output down the line.
And boy will we want it. Considering how rare it is nowadays for a factory turbo, RWD car to show up on the market (hint: Only one has showed up since the 1998 Supra, and this is it), people will be taking out loans by the dozen to get their hands on one of these. Modified coupes are already setting records in the Formula Drift races, and more and more are expected to break into the scene as new parts are developed.
Will it turn out to be the car we've always hoped for? Only time will tell. Has Hyundai finally hit the mark with their new beginning? I think we already know the answer. -CE
Attention readers: There's been a delay in the interview we have slated, but hopefully it will be up soon, once we can get back in contact with Frank. Frank and his 350Z were featured in the August issue of Import Tuner, and we've learned that his car has just undergone another overhaul, so stay tuned for all the details!
In other news, the local cruise in at the Franklin/Middletown strip mall will be held again this weekend, so bring your cars and come check out the rides. Take I-75 to exit 32 at Middletown, then head West on ST 122. Hang a left at the Speedway (on the left), and continue down the road until you see the parking lot full of cars.
We expect a big turnout, so let's make it good! Racing isn't technically allowed, but who cares? Fastest drag racer gets free White Castle during the second half of the night. Beware the blue and red flashers, though! The police will have their eyes open, since it's a weekly meet. Don't get caught, and have fun.
NASA Racing is probably the best way to get started in racing, no matter where you live in the country. They have racing circuits all over, and they do classes in High Performance Driving (HPDE) starting from the ground up. For those of you whose cars aren't race ready, they allow you to rent vehicles for a fee at most locations.
Throughout the course, you will learn the basics of driving the line, when and where to shift, proper braking technique, and how to approach turns. After you master the basics, you get to participate in on-track race practice, and then you graduate into a full racing certification, which allows you to participate in NASA approved events.
(Like the Honda Challenge!)
Now, obviously you wouldn't be reading this blog if you weren't interested in racing and cars and such, so I'll simply give you the info you need. You can participate if you are 18 or older, or 16+ with parental consent. Your insurance company should cover your car during the classes, but be sure to check with your agent beforehand to be absolutely sure. Don't want your prized possession being destroyed with no chance for repairs.
(Don't let this happen to you!)
Now that you know, it's time to go! Let NASA get you on the road to racing! HPDE Information - http://www.nasaproracing.com/hpde/ Great Lakes Regional Info - http://racenasa.nasamidwest.com/season/ Picture is of Spoon Sports' crash at a NASA event. The driver, Angelo Zucchi, survived, though the car was torn apart to free him.
To begin with, some information. This blog is meant to be imformative, useful, and mildly entertaining. Most of the posts will pertain to automotive news, though occasionally I might stray into the often exotic and very strange world of other Japanese imports, or other types of racing imformation.
Now, the purpose of this blog is an introduction. This is a stepping stone toward a future website in the works, which will be the eventual brainchild of myself and a friend, the friend who got me into tuning and all things automotive. He drives a white 2005 Honda Civic EX, while I drive a gold 1995 Honda Accord LX. We may sound a bit biased towards Hondas, but we're expanding! My plan is to build a 2005 Nissan 350Z, while Sam would like to build a Mitsubishi Evo X, or a Subaru Impreza WRX STI. He changes his mind often, as do I, though I like the Nissan more than most things right now. There's just something about those Blitz over-fenders...
At any rate, post your comments, leave me your info, and let's get an Ohio/Tristate group going on here. I will continue to post info as I learn it, though I tend to be absent-minded about this. Let's build a strong community.
