Racefriv is dead; Long live Racefiv

Well its been about a year since we posted anything here on racefriv, so long I almost forgot how to post on here. Fear not to our dozens of fans out there as I have been busy, just not writing. The new season is here and I am once again in the spirit to share my thoughts of car love on this beloved place we call the internet. For now I will be riding solo on the blog as my fellow racefriv mates have  have moved on to bigger and better things, that's not saying that they wont return and that all there past additions to the blog arn't greatly appreciated, but for now I'm back to the one man band this website started as. Thats not to say we wont have some content up on the regular, as Ive been pretty busy in the garage and have some excellent builds in progress and I have to say my best build ever. As some of you know I picked up a 2015 Subaru WRX as a daily that now has about 10k on it so expect that in the near future, also last year I picked up a 89 S13 Coupe to build the ultimate smile inducing street/track car and that build is finally getting close to completion, expect a pretty long build post on that beast when its done. Of course my AE86 is still around and in need of some simi-serious work so that build will up on the blog when I get to it. As always well be at FD and SOWO and anything else that tickles our fancy. With the new S13 build being an all around car hopefully I can stretch its legs at a few different types events including some track days, drift events, time trials and whatever else comes my way. So yay were back! Get ready for some solid 2015 posts and thanks for catching up with us!

Internet Love: Racefriv's Top three Youtube channels.

So you got about 70 hours to waste? Good then Ive got you covered. Over the past year or so Ive come to the conclusion that there is really is no reason for TV anymore. The production values on some of these youtube channels are second only to Top Gear and usually something so much better than you would see on TV. So ready to lose a few days of productivity? Great. Ill put the playlist links below and after the jump Ive put a few selections of my favorites out of the playlist, start with those and hold on to your butts.

 Petrolicious                                               Launch Control                                            XCAR  

Welcome to Planet Low: SOWO Part 2

Im sure you read our coverage of the outside of the show at SOWO a couple of clicks below and now its time for the inside. I know what your thinking "wait what? That wasnt the show?" No, that was just the parking lot basically. Now on to the real show, the "actual" SOWO which is basically a SEMA show but only filled with Volkswagen's and Audi's. Hit the jump for your daily dose of illogically slammed rides.  

SOWO Highlight - Corvair Sickness

I rarely do this here on racefriv, usually I just clump together everything awesome I saw in a show and maybe within the post do a little high light of a car. But that would be a disservice to this Corvair. John Ludwick's Corvair is just about the sickest car I came across at Sowo and thats saying alot. This car was cruising on air bags and he had a 1200 mile drive to make it down to Helen. Thats right this car drove, not trailered, 1200 miles form New Hampshire just to make it to Sowo, that is dedication. Click read more to see a few more snaps of this neck breaker. 

Planet Low: SOWO Part 1

I honestly didnt know what to expect when I showed up to Southern Worthersee this year, as I have never been before nor had I ever remembered ever seeing any photos come out of the event. But a lot of my friends were going and I knew Id at least have a good time with them even if we were the only people in the town (actually that would be awesome). But my mind was completely blown. Have you ever walked into a movie theater having never heard of the movie you were seeing, cause a lady friend dragged you there, only to have your mind totally blown with awesomeness. That was SOWO for me, it was like stepping into an alternate universe. Welcome to Planet Low. 

Formula Drift Atlanta 2014

Formula Drift Atlanta, my favorite time of the year. Year after year, I wait for the glory that is my favorite motorsport on the best track on the schedule, which just happens to be my home track. Ive never missed an FD ATL in all of its amazing 11 years now and this year is no different. This year we didnt have FD media passes and that's ok with me, as I could concentrate on the show and seeing all my friends I rarely get to see instead of stressing to capture every little thing. Even though I didnt have passes this year, I still took it upon myself to take some pics when sober enough to do so.  So click on read more to check out all the photos I took this year in between walks to the bar. This year was wild, dont miss it. 

Offset Kings at FD

So before I dive strait in to the FD ATL coverage this year I wanted to go ahead and post up some of the photos of the car show that's attached to FD this year, Offset Kings. Some pretty rad rides showed up this year even though it was raining off and on all weekend. Click the jump and check out some of the metal that scrapped its way into the show this year. 

SWD Pro/Am Takes on Gresham

After attending Formula D all weekend at Road Atlanta I made my way over to Street Wise Drift's first Pro/Am event of the year, and let me tell you, Pro/Am is serious business these days. Last time I went to a Pro/Am event everybody was running 300hp Sr20's with a few random KA's and LS and rotary engines sprinkled about, this is no longer the case, these people want to run in FD after all. I was pretty amazed at what I saw that Sunday hit the jump and be amazed yourself!

DREAM.BUILD.DRIVE

We've talked about Nigel Petrie's amazing build a few times here on the blog, and Matthew Cox's documentary about the "end" of the build is finally out. Its an amazing 55 mins long. Sit back.relax.watch its finally time for DREAM.BUILD.DRIVE



DREAM.BUILD.DRIVE from Matthew J Cox on Vimeo.

The Flying 86

Here on racefriv we try to keep most of our content original but this is just to good not to share. If there is one thing we all agree on here at racefriv is that the AE86 is an awesome car and dedication at this level to any Motorsport we can appreciate. Ive been following Taka since college, I even had a mural of Taka's car shantely painted on my apt wall in college (not a joke I really did that), and all that is part of the reason why I own my 86 today, which was the first car ever to be on this blog. Needless to say Taka is an inspiration to us all and Im glad someone took the time to put it in a video. Long live The Flying 86.

 

PRIVATEER: Taka Aono + The Flying 86 [Documentary] from Flying Boy Films on Vimeo.

Dixie Nationals: Autocross

I'm pretty good at autocrossing.  I win my class several times a year at local events, and I'm never far behind when I'm not first.  That is at the local level, though.  I recently went to a national level event to find out how fast I really am.

The grid for Heat 3 of 5 at the Dixie National Autocross Tour

There are 10 events on the SCCA Autocross National Championship Tour.  Nine regional events and the National Championship itself.  The season starts with the Dixie National Tour right here in Georgia.  I took my Z06 down to see how I stack up against the big boys.

Subaru Global Rally Test session, an inside look.

Serendipity: [ser-uhn-dip-i-tee]  noun -

the faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident. That was Thursday for Racefriv, when we happened across a facebook post by Sverre Isachsen showing some photos of the team conducting some testing in "Atlanta".  We of course recognized the backdrop as Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton and so we went to go and chat.   Read below the jump for some insight into a GRC teams pre-season testing

Project Scrap Metal: Update 9

The last time we talked about project scrap metal I was at Nopi and explained how I destroyed the clutch towards the end of the last day. The car has always felt good but always a little strange as it felt like the clutch was slipping ever since I dropped it in and at Nopi my feelings were confirmed when I toasted the clutch so bad I could barely get it back on the trailer. Well its time to remedy these issues! So click read more to check out the clutch swap and all the other improvements I made over the winter break to project scrap metal. 

PRI Show

Falling snow, 20 mph sustained winds, snow plows and flashing lights are all things that anyone travelling from Atlanta to Indianapolis would consider a blizzard, but to locals, it was just a slight flurry.  Although waking up in a rest stop parking lot on interstate 65 after driving non stop all night to the sight of four inches of sticking snow was an exotic sight, we had to get moving.  We cranked the rental Camry and continued our pilgrimage to the less known trade show, the one they call “PRI.”



Editors Note: This is Matt first post on racefriv! Welcome to the team bro! Click the jump for more insanity from PRI.

Rally around 2014

Phil Ball here, to give you a preview of an exciting year for Rally enthusiasts.
This last week or two has seen some interesting announcements from both the FIA and GRC, as well a TV deal for Rally America.  Hit the jump for info on an area of motorsport that is still growing.
 
Check it out after the JUMP (pun intended)

2013 and 100,000 Views!

Wow it's already at the end of the year and it just went by faster than a Veyron. It's been a busy year in my personal life (I got married!) and my car life ( "finished" the vert, tons of meets, RallyX, GRC, NOPI etc.. etc..) and thanks to racefriv I got a chance to share some of it with the world. I have to admit I was a bit slow on posting to the blog this year, but that's OK, racefriv is getting more views than ever, showing that it is gaining a little traction even if it's at a slow pace. We just hit 100,000 views on the site a few days ago! Woot! Thanks everyone for reading. In celebration I grabbed a few of my favorite photos from Phil Ball, Christian Retter, Russel Klem, Kevin Lu and myself and posted them below, hit the jump and check it out theres a ton of links and a ton of awesome photos. Remember to click on the photos for wallpaper size!!

FY Friday: Ryan Tureck takes on the Oregon Trail

If you need a little inspiration to get to work on that drift car of yours for next year than look no further than here. Ryan Tureck has had some pretty badass videos with Network A this year but this one takes the cake. I can think of nothing more perfect than an FR-S with a shit ton of horse power on this open road. Its just pure bliss and the most Fuck Yes video Ive seen in a long time. Hit play, turn it up, sit back and enjoy.

.....

I've decided to write my own little post on my own little blog, about the death of Paul Walker. This is the first celebrity death that has any effect on me, Phil Ball and I talked a bit about it, and I think I figured out why. I thought of Paul, even though I never met him, as an old friend, and I think lot of car enthusiasts my age do. Why? you may ask.... Let me set the scene for you, I turned 16 on March 19 2001 and The Fast and the Furious came out just two months later on June 22 2001. Imagine finally getting your driving license in your hand, you're already into cars... then boom F&F...  Mind Blown.   The impact of that insane movie inspired countless souls to get into the car scene and it brought the import scene into the main stream. I was already hard into cars by the time I saw F&F. I didn't care about the crust-less Tuna, the two bottles of NOS, or bearings flying out of the dash, I was just so excited to see something up on the big screen I truly cared about. My hobby, my people, my cars, up on the big screen, being shown off to the whole world. The best part about the series was that it turned so many people on to a hobby they didn't even know about, inspiring an entire generation, whether people care to admit it or not.  Say what you want about the movies, but the car scene would not be what it is today with out the F&F movies and Paul.

I think of the entire cast of the F&F as old friends as they, in a way, grew up with me and the rest of us who were into cars at the time. Another reason why it's so sad to so many people is that Paul was a true car guy in real life just like us, but living out the dream that most of us wanted to. He was Brian O'Conner, just a regular guy that got into the scene in a weird way and came out with some friends and a new perspective on life just like the rest of us and just like Paul himself. The world is truly worse off without him, we could use a lot more Paul Walkers these days.
-Ish

Internet Love: OUTSIDERS

You may have heard of Driftworks before, you may have not, If you havent they are the go to place in the UK for anything drift related. They build some amazing cars and a few years back they took a pretty long trip to Japan to check out the drift scene and they filmed the whole thing. Now two years after the DVD released they put it up on youtube for free and its amazing. So sit back and enjoy all things Japan, narrated by some British dudes for a whole hour and a half.

Get Involved - Corner Work

The series continues with the best way to get up close and personal with professional race cars:  Corner Work.

Get Involved is a series of posts detailing a forms of grassroots motorsports on a weekly basis.  I write these posts with one goal:  To get you to bring your car to an entry level motorsport event.  I want you to stop buying parts, stop planning for 'some day,' stop building the perfect car, and register for an event.  It is ridiculously easy to have fun with your car right now, as you're currently driving it.  You don't need a racing license.  You don't need a roll cage, a fire suit, or expensive modifications.  You do need $40, a valid state issued drivers license, and a car in safe driving condition.  It doesn't matter if its a stock Camry, a tuned Civic, or a $75k Corvette, there's a place for you.  There are a number of ways to get started - whether you want to drive on asphalt, dirt, or a race track.  Maybe you don't have a car you're willing to autocross or PDX?  Maybe you prefer working behind the scenes, making larger events possible.  Or maybe you like earning discounted track time?  You can still get involved with racing - in fact you can get closer than any ticket you can purchase will allow.

You can see the full list of event types here: Get Involved.  This page will be updated as each installment is posted.