Auto Otaku: Mike G's Blog

New Civic Type R faster than GTR at Suzuka?

I just watched the July issue of Best Motoring Japan. They  check out the new Japan-only Civic Type R  sedan. Tsuchiya was in love the car, comparing the driving feel to a race car. More importantly, the car's best lap time at Suzuka Circuit of 2:35.20 is faster than a number of former Japanese performance machines such as the BNR34, NSX S Type Zero, Evo VI etc. Awfully impressive, plus the idea of a Type R sedan is awesome. I can't wait to see these things in action next year, and to see whether or not Japan's tuners will be able to improve on this "factory race car".

Hot Summer Drifting: King of the West at Buttonwillow

So far its been a great summer for west coast drifting and its about to get even better as High level drift returns to Buttonwillow next month for the 2 day "King of the West" battle of the Pro-Am drift series.

Event info here

Shaping up to be a great event as Buttonwillow's location allows easy access from all over the state. I plan to be there Saturday and Sunday for coverage.

Ziptied All Star Bash

DSC_0482, originally uploaded by Auto Otaku.

It was a long day but it was worth it, great atmosphere with everyone screwing around, cool looking cars, and of course good drifting. I even won a totally sweet DVD, thanks BH!

Here are all the photos

Another good classic J-car site

Check it out!

http://grandjdm.com/

Ziptied All Star Bash 2007

Ziptied ASB 2007 @ Willow Springs next weekend, I'll be there Saturday at the Balcony for coverage. As the flyer states, it is going to be amazing.

Tunerzine

Last weekend I covered the SoCal NASA race at Buttonwillow for Tunerzine. Check it out here

http://www.tunerzine.com/coverages.asp?id=170

Good combination?

TE37 Equipped Fox Body, originally uploaded by Auto Otaku.

I think so, I saw this fox body Mustang back in April at Buttonwillow for the
Redline Time Attack. I had seen pictures this car a few years ago, but this was the first time I saw it in person. People have done almost everything under the sun with the old 5.0 but this one has a distinctive Japanese inspired tuning style. Low offset TE37's, Bride Seat, etc.
This could be a good way to bring something fresh to cars like this though im sure it might piss off "purists" on both sides. Personally I think it's awesome.

An ode' to Tsukuba Circuit

BNR33 and HCR32 Skylines, originally uploaded by Auto Otaku.

Just uploaded some older pictures from Tsukuba circuit. I happened to be there at a track meeting that had a huge variety of cars. Everything from classic Mini Coopers, fully tuned GTR's, Corvettes, Porsches, Imprezas, and vintage models like the KGC10 and 240ZG.

Click here to see the album!