Do they have some sort of car style school over there that I can attend?

2010 Just Drift ASB X With Benson Hsu from Brakesislife on Vimeo.

I was nervous at the beginning of the day because I was apprehensive about how my car would do and how I would do, since it’s been almost 3 years.  I actually started to warm up pretty quickly. After two laps I was ready to start having fun. With every lap, I was learning to let go of my apprehensions a little more and more.

At the end of the day I felt myself letting go almost completely and I was willing to treat my car like my b*** instead of this precious car i needed to take care of.  I ended the day with my front bumper destroyed and chunks missing from the rear bumper.

This may have been the first time I’ve ever destroyed something on my car and was genuinely happy (vs. mad at myself for having to now fix it).  I remember being on the track thinking, “okay that front bumper is going to fall off any minute now and you’re gonna run it over.”  That was quickly followed by a “I don’t care just don’t stop me from finishing this run group!”

Years ago, I got my happiness from doing something awesome at the track, but awesome as in the technical aspects of drifting: entry speed, angle, line, etc… I think it was because of all that early breeding to become a professional drifter.  Today, being away from drifting for so long, I know that I can’t possibly impress myself technically as I was maybe able to before… so I was forced to just go out and have a good time.  And I did that – without regard to angle, line, or speed.  I probably haven’t had this much fun since my early days of drifting in like 2002… and probably haven’t driven as badly either hahah!  The best way I can explain my newly found happiness is “freedom”.

Taka and Hiro were out at the event and I was even able to talk to Andy, Alex, and D.  Man, it was like a throwback to the old touge days!  It was also nice spending the day with Reni, Julie and Maryse from Drifting Pretty and Daniel and Chris from ACT.  Thanks Edwin, Marc and Scott for the awesome support!

All in all, it was a great day and I had a blast.  I am definitely re-thinking my decision to part out my drift car…  for now.

Here are some pics people took of me!  Thanks to the photographers that took pictures of my ragged looking car and my ragged looking driving!

And here are some websites that have coverage of the event:
http://www.koyoradracing.com
http://www.speedhunters.com
http://www.driftfotos.com
http://www.wreckedmagazine.com

And Mike Garrett from Speedhunters.com used my car as the main image for their ASB article.  Sweet!!

Logan asked if I was excited, but I think I’m more worried that everything will go as planned. In terms of getting back into the groove of things, it’s pretty hard to get over the idea that I can’t just go out and drive the way I would before. I have to get accustomed to things and slowly try more difficult things. Also my car has been sitting for 3 years now and I have to be really observant of things to make sure everything is ok.

Or maybe I’m just being a worrywart. I used to do this every other week without even thinking about it.

Wish me luck!

• find a trailer
• find a nice friend who will tow my car with said trailer
• replace the fuel lines at my gas tank
• replace my valve cover gasket
• change my differential oil
• change my engine oil
• buy a new battery
• buy new tires

It’s been about 3 years since I’ve been on the track… 3 years!!

I attempted to get my car on the track last December when Rob visited, but lack of money and time told me no.  But I did try to get the car ready and I started to work on it.  It’s been on jack stands ever since.

Just Drift is hosting an event at Streets of Willow, and I know that I just have to be there.  It’s been too long, and that track is like a pilgrimage for me…  That track is like my home track – it’s where I started racing (real racing with helmets and flags and such).  It’s also where we weren’t officially allowed to drift.  Accidental oversteering was allowed, but they watched us like a hawk there and if they thought we were drifting, we got yelled at and kicked out.  It’s hard to have fun drifting when you have to drift like you’re racing.  Now that Charlie got the OK for us here, I really want to go and stretch my wings.  That is – if I can get all the rust out of my driving first!

So here’s what I have to take care of in order to get to the event:

• find a trailer
• find a nice friend who will tow my car with said trailer
• replace the fuel lines at my gas tank
• replace my valve cover gasket
• change my differential oil
• change my engine oil
• buy a new battery
• buy new tires

Considering how busy I am, that is a lot of work and a lot of money that I’ll have to spend.  But I’ll do my best!  Wish me luck!

This was one of my favorites probably.

And yeah – he is eating with both hands while driving.

The E-Rod package is a complete kit to make your LS3 street legal in any vehicle application.  GM has been working with CARB to ensure that it’s 50 state legal.

Here’s a copy and paste from GM’s press release:

The E-ROD kit carries part number 19244805 and includes the same, basic LS3 engine that’s found in the Camaro SS and Corvette (additional engine choices, including the LS7 and LSA, are planned for future packages). Standard elements of the kit include:

* 6.2-liter LS3 crate engine, rated at 430 horsepower and 424 lb.-ft. of torque
* GMPP LS3 engine wiring harness
* GMPP engine control module
* Exhaust manifolds
* Catalytic converters
* Oxygen sensors and sensor bosses
* Fuel tank evaporative emissions canister
* Mass airflow sensor and sensor boss
* Accelerator pedal (for use with the LS3′s electronic throttle)
* Air filter
* Instruction manual

In addition to the E-ROD system, the builder will need to source additional components to complete the assembly and get the vehicle running. They include:

* Fuel tank
* Fuel lines (re-circulating or returnless)
* Fuel pump
* Fuel tank vent line from the tank to the evaporative emissions canister
* Pure line from the canister to the engine purge solenoid
* Air induction system that incorporates the mass airflow sensor
* Exhaust system behind the catalytic converters

Additionally, the LS3 engine requires a front-end accessory drive system that is suitable to the vehicle. The instruction manual includes recommendations for the accessory drive kit, as well as the transmission, gear ratios and more.

The E-ROD kit does not include a transmission. GMPP recommends the GM Hydra-Matic electronically controlled 4L60-E four-speed automatic, part number 19156260, and transmission controller, part number 12497316.

This engine was meant more for those smog exempt pre-’73 American classics that people build up with old engines and old technology that is bad for the environment.  I don’t think those classic hot rod builders would embrace this type of engine swap… the ones who would embrace it are the kids who want to put an LS in everything these days.  I doubt that they would have 8k for an engine swap, but if you could swap the engine and drive around guilt-free because it’s a legal swap, I think people will find the money.  Hell, I swore up and down I would never put an LS in any import car, but if it could be street legal… I’m now open to it!

Here’s the E-rod homepage

Put some Impul Hoshinos on it and slam it to the ground.

I came across this quaint little house….

Definitely looks like an older white couple lives here…

A glimpse behind the house piqued my interest. What’s that peaking out of that garage?

And then I found the Holy Grail of house modifications! As Nadine said “Oh, snap!”

Okay full on “garage” with a lift, shop tools, TV, and according to the listing, a bathroom.  This is what I need.  Plus maybe a bar and a hammock.

I just randomly found this picture of me on a french website.  I guess it’s somehow related to Mulsanne… I remember befriending an older French guy with Mulsanne on his business card.  I think that same business is somehow involved with a local drift team in Southern California.

Anyway, the picture is of me driving the KAAZ car at Irwindale in front of the D1 judges.   Funny – I can’t even remember what event this is!  The combination of me not remembering plus the picture shows barely any smoke tells me that I probably didn’t do very well.  But it’s still nice to see new pictures from the past!

I’ve been really really really liking these cars lately.

No it’s time for some 4 liter V-8 sound porn:

Funny, I was just talking to Nadine about this.  With all the bad press about Toyota lately, it’s so easy for people to cry wolf and take advantage of both the media sensationalism and Toyota who is fighting to fix their image.  It’s easy because how do you prove unintended acceleration occurred??  It really sounds like you can’t.  I think the only one who was able to prove a problem with his car is Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak because he could successfully repeat the problem over and over.

I feel for Toyota because I deal with this type of situation all the time at work.  When somebody reports a problem to me, the first thing I ask for is the error message and how he/she did it.  Then I attempt to repeat it by doing what they did… if I cannot, I do my darnedest to figure out another way to repeat it.  If I cannot, I look through the code and try to find any possible thing that may cause it… and if I cannot, I have reason to believe that it was something besides my programming that is at fault, or the person may be just crying wolf.

How do you fix a problem that you can’t recreate?  You can take your best try at it and just change things that you think might help, but that is just like stabbing in the dark.

I think Infiniti was trying to fix that with their 2010 update.  I’m glad they tried to make it look more sporty but I’m torn – now it looks too much like a cheaper Maxima or Altima.  I’m not sold on the new M37 design either.

They put a spring/damper combo on it, too.  I wonder how that will work?  There’s only one way to find out!  If anything, it will protect those taillights at least!  Haha!

Edit:  I just had an afterthought.  They should just put a tire and some Baja style off-roading suspension on it.  Then Joon can throw that car straight into the wall at 80mph and keep going.

Source: Jalopnik.com

From one of my early day touge drifting sessions. I was so into getting my front tire into that rain gutter. My favorite part of this picture was the flowers in front of my bumper.  Read one of my old posts about drifting at touge.

This is from Drift Day 9… LAS VEGAS! I drove my car there in the hellish heat with no a/c. We all remember that drive as one of the worst drives we ever made in our cars.  Read my blog post about the vegas drift event.

Drift Day 11 at Irwindale. This was my favorite look for my car... standard front silvia bumper with oem side skirts, oem rear unders and wangan spoiler. I liked my stickers like that as well.

Another shot from Drift Day 11. My lovely concave face TE37s in the front :)

Shot my speedo at Streets of Willow. Drifting at 55mph was a big deal for me back then! Fuel gauge not working. Ghetto!