Wednesday, May 28, 2008

My new car in 2011...


TOKYO — As if paying homage to Subaru, Toyota is co-developing a new lineup of rear-wheel-drive sporty coupes employing a revised version of the Subaru Impreza's platform, boxer engine and transmission. Toyota's largest contribution to the mix will be product planning and its impeccable quality control. The Toyota model, still to be named, will be sold exclusively in Japan, while the Subaru-badged model will be marketed worldwide. The mechanical package will be identical, but both Toyota and Subaru will create exterior designs to differentiate their cars from each other. The basis for this new radical project is to take Subaru's well-known 4WD powertrain and modify it to create a new rear-wheel-drive setup. Slated to be built at Subaru's Gunma plant in Japan, both Toyota and Subaru models will employ a revised version of the naturally aspirated boxer 2.0-liter unit generating around 220 horsepower at 6,500 rpm, mated to a six-speed manual gearbox from the current Impreza WRX STI. Surprisingly, the joint Toyota-Subaru R&D team has chosen the out-of-production, front-wheel-drive Honda Integra Type R as its benchmark, because its styling, performance parameters and dimensions mirror what the development team wants to create. Expected to ride on a 103-inch wheelbase, the 2,866-pound coupes will use a 2+2 seating configuration. Slated for a late 2011 debut, the coupes are expected to be priced starting just under $20,000.
I got this from insideline.com, can't believe I forgot to put that on my last post of sites I visit daily (multiple times per).

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Internet car hang outs

So, I spend too much time on car forums and internet sites. Just wanted to show you where I hang out on the information superhighway. :)

Speedhunters.com
this is a new site that started this week. It's a car enthusiasts dream, it showcases mostly japanese car culture, so there's a lot of drifting, time attack and cool street cars from all over the world. I heard about it from another cool site where I get a lot of my favorite car pictures...

http://auto-otaku.com/
this site may be going away since the key composer is now working on speedhunters.com, but this sight was a cool look into japanese car culture in Japan itself.

Drift Utah
this is a cool forum where Utah drifters congregate and talk about their cars, drift events at Rocky Mountain Raceway and even a for sale/want ad section too.

Japanese Nostalgic Car
a forum that is everything old school Jap metal. Its a newish forum/site with a magazine that has just been started this April and will be a quarterly thing. I have subscribed to it and received the first issue. Really high quality mag specifically for old classic japanese cars.

Club 4AG
A cool site and forum for the drift classic Toyota Corolla GT-S called by those in the know (or even the wannabes like me) the "86" or "AE86" or "hachi roku" which means 86 in japanese. I spend most of my time looking at the classifieds or the projects forums. This car is becoming the classic mustang or camaro classic for japanese cars.

Utah Time Attack/Lap Battle
this site is a new forum/site focusing on the new lap battle series being run this summer at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah. I believe there are 3 events this year, and its an event trying to get local Utah enthusiasts into trying lap battle and helping the local scene learn how to develop the driving and building of probably the top 1 or 2 most popular auto racing sports for ameteurs and pros alike.

Evo forum
so, anyone who knows me knows that the Mitsubishi Evolution is my dream car. This forum helps me keep up to date on Evo 8's, 9's and now the newly released in 2008 Evo X's. They have regional forums, classifieds sections, forums for Evo X's and earlier versions. Anything you could want to know about how to maintain or modify your Evo you can find it here.

Subaru WRX forum
and if you know we well, I consider the Subaru WRX and WRX STi as my second place dream car. It's basically the same car, made by Subaru. I just personally like the look and handling of the Evo better, but the WRX is a cheaper more easily obtainable car with just as much potential to be fast on the street and track. This is where I go to keep up to date on the WRX and look through the classifieds too.

Buschur Racing
so, if I actually owned an Evo, this is the company who I'd get my aftermarket parts from. This is a smallish tuner shop in Ohio who have been in business since the early 90's working originally on the DSM (Laser, Talon and Eclipse) which was an awd turbo 4 cylinder car with a lot of potential if modified by the right tuners. It was a baby evo. David Buschur, from what I've read on the forums as well as evom forums, knows what he's doing. He is a true engineer, testing his modifications on his dyno and on the drag strip, autocross and road courses. Anyway, good engineered parts, high quality at reasonable prices.

Honda Fit
so, when I'm not dreaming about Evo's and WRX's, I think about the much more responsible, fuel efficient, slower but a great handling and much cheaper car, the Honda Fit. Many are modifying this car to handle the twisties and this forum is great for keeping up to date on the Fit. I'm more likely to own one of these than an EVO or WRX. I haven't driven one yet, but I hear they are fun to drive and get 40+mpg.

Free classified Ads
KSL and craigslist
these are the two sites that I go to everyday, more than once per day searching the used car classifieds. Christy and I have sold two of our own cars on these sites, my '94 Mustang GT and the '95 Toyota Camry. This is where I keep up on the used Evos, WRXs, Civic's, Mustangs, RX8s, 350Zs, S2000's, 240SXs, etc.