BensonHsu.com

It’s a gift from a friend.  Awesome!

Maybe now I’ll have to switch over to Blockbuster.com instead of Netflix.  (Blockbuster doesn’t charge extra for Blu-ray.)

So I test drove a WRX last weekend in the blazing heat…  the reason was because I’ve gotten a little tired of the Mazdaspeed3 (torque monster) in its FF layout and with the new Mazda 3 being released, my car is looking seriously outdated.

The results are in:

• Power – good. a tiny bit laggy but once you’re above 3k rpms, it’s nice.
• Suspension – soft.  They call it sport tuned suspension, but it felt like an Accord.
• AWD is trippy!  I took some hard corners at high rpms and the car took it all in stride… no tire squealing, no torque steer, no understeer!  It’s pretty amazing that the ride is so soft and boring yet can handle this way.
• The interior size is comparable to the Mazdaspeed 3.  The major difference is that the WRX traded the large trunk space for rear leg room.  I’m not sure which is better… but I tend to favor more trunk space since I never have to sit in the back haha!
• Interior trim – FAIL.  It’s no exaggeration that the interior trim gave me cruel flashbacks of when I had to rent a Geo Metro when my car was at the body shop.  It really cannot get much worse than 1-piece plastic door trim.  No fabric panels, no change in texture…. just bam!   One piece door panel!  It was at that point that I realized how Subaru could sell a turbocharged car with AWD for 25k.
• Audio – sucks.

It took some time to get over how fun the car is to drive, but I think I’d still rather stick with the Mazdaspeed 3.  Interior trim and nice audio equipment are essential to enjoying a daily commute.  Large cargo area is also important for family outings.  I just wish the Mazdaspeed 3 didn’t look so outdated and was anything other than FF.

Can’t think of any better alternative… might just have to stick with it for now.

Check out the stunning views in this video.  Doing this myself someday would be really amazing… especially since I hate heights.  My hands were sweating during the video.

Note to self:  add this as #1 on my bucket list.

I remember when I first started drifting, it was pretty close to 95% AE86s out there.  Those that didn’t drift an AE86 were myself and Mark Hutchinson with S13s, and a small handful of others.  I remember being the only 240sx at Drift Day… nowadays you will probably only see a couple AE86s with the rest being 240sxs (and maybe a Miata or a couple FCs, but mostly 240sxs).

Time keeps passing and the 240sx keeps getting older, which means the beloved SR20DET is also getting older and will eventually be pretty hard to come by.  I think you’ll eventually see the 240sx die out at drift events… but probably not as much as the AE86 has.  Drifting may die out too, but I think the 240sx’s popularity would die out before drifting would.

So what’s going to replace the 240sx?  The 350Z and G35 since they’ve been in production for almost 10 years from now and I think it’s pretty safe to say they are starting to become pretty affordable to buy as a dedicated track car.  Oh, and not to mention the obvious – these cars have huge aftermarket support.

Every once in a while, I’ll see a car and think to myself – I wonder what that would be like as a drift car.  I think a lot of people are starting to think that way… Now I see people buying Mustangs, Lexus GS300s, Cressidas, IS300s, etc.  I think we can also thank Formula D teams for showing us that it’s possible to drift almost anything (although maybe not always successfully at that level of competition).

I decided to compile a list of cars that I often wonder about as an alternative to the 240sx.  What do you think?

• Cadillac CTS-V – Would definitely be fun to drive.  I was also going to say these things are ugly and what’s the point… but then I found the image below.  Looks good to me!!  But expensive…
  
• Subaru Impreza STI – I think this car has a lot going for it… it looks good, it’s got a lot of aftermarket support, and it’s got proven engine.  Plus it’s a hatch, so you can fit plenty of spare tires in the trunk.  The problem (I’ve heard) is the suspension is setup for AWD, so there is no self steering as you’d find in a car based on the FR platform.
  
• Infiniti G35 Sedan (V36) – Engine is a blast, I can see it looking good, and I know that it drifts well, but expensive as well.
  
• Lincoln LS – I know that they  come with a V8.  But they also look like a yacht.
  
• BMW M3 (E30) – These cars are so gorgeous!  I just can’t see myself destroying one on the track!
  
• BMW M3 sedan (E36) – The reason I picked this is because I think we need to see more 4 doors drifting.
  
• Nissan 300ZX (Z32) – Street legal turbo v6… why aren’t more people doing it?
  
• Acura NSX – Just because I think the engine makes a great sound and it would look crazy doing some skidding.
  
• Hyundai Genesis – This is a pretty boring selection, but I think it has a lot of potential to become really popular in drifting.
  

I just finished watching this movie called Helvetica.

It’s a sci-fi set in the future about this alien race who were trying to retake their planet Helvetica.

No… actually, it’s a documentary…

About the font.

It’s an hour and 20 minutes long.

The documentary is pretty eye-opening… it’s like when somebody first informs you that you’re breathing oxygen and you say what? really?  Helvetica is used EVERYWHERE.  Almost as much as oxygen.

If you have the slightest interest in type design I’d suggest it if you haven’t seen it already.  I don’t really have any interest in type design, but design always facinates me even though I suck at it.  You should also watch it if you enjoy listening to crazy designers and their far out thoughts and ideas.  People have some really strong opinions about Helvetica!

Good morning. Deal with any relationshipmarital problems that you have constantly.. Never let little problems just sit. I recently read a story about.. “What’s that smell”.. Have you ever gone into your refrigerator and said “What’s that smell”. You could not figure out what was stinking inside?? Usually its some left overs that you forgot about etc etc…. It’s the SAME with relationships.. You must not push problems into the back. Your problems will not get better! On the contrary,, They’ll ALWAYS start stinking! (Word to the wise) Deal with your issues quickly everyone! (Remember!) Whatever you leave behind you,, you’ll always find right in front of you. :-)

God is Love
Rev Run

Read more at Run’s Words of Wisdom at globalgrind.com/revrun.

We decided to visit an old favorite spot last weekend – El Rocoto in Cerritos.  They serve great Peruvian food.

If you’ve never tried Peruvian food (what are you waiting for?), it’s South American cuisine with a pronounced Chinese influence.  It’s not uncommon to find fried rice and wonton soup on a Peruvian restaurant’s menu.  Actually, my favorite dish is lomo saltado, which always reminds me of the chow fun I would eat every Sunday with my grandmother in Chinatown.

For starters - hot bread and some spicy dipping sauces

Peruvian beer - it was actually very sweet.

Lomo Saltado: ribeye with french fries, onions, tomatoes, cliantro and lime.

ElRocoto.com
11433 South St
Cerritos, CA 90703-6600
(562) 924-1919

I went to go see some stand up comedy for a friend’s birthday.  It was a great time… some of those comedians gave me face cramps from all the laughing!

Here’s one of them…

Lachlan Patterson

I was reminded of my old SSR MKIII by my buddy Rob who is selling a bunch of cool used wheels from Japan.   All of my old 15″ wheels were bought from friends or businesses when they were already imported to the USA… except for my SSR MKIII.

Did You Know…

that my SSR MKIII were sold to me by one of the dudes in Night Zone?

My buddy Ogawara Ken was in contact with them and made the deal happen.

My car with SSR MK-III in the rear and MK-II in the front

Team Night Zone

Some of you may have not noticed, but I finally moved servers.  I got a free domain name with it, so welcome to bensonhsu.com.

If you subscribed to my previous blog with an rss reader, please update your link!  My new rss feed link is:
http://blog.bensonhsu.com/?feed=rss2

If you came from sileightymania.com, then if you look up, you’ll see that you’re now at http://sileightymania.bensonhsu.com.  I decided a long time ago that my site needed a makeover, but at the same time I wanted to keep sileightymania.com the way that it looked… so sileightymania.bensonhsu.com won’t change… it will look like that forever (probably not a good thing).

You’ll also notice that I’ve finally given in and turned my blog into a wordpress blog!  My previous blog was entirely programmed by me, and there was just too much neat stuff out there for me to keep up with.  Plus I had no time to be programming a blog!  I’d rather be doing stuff and getting paid for it!

Thanks for reading guys… I promise to update more often!