Site updates 2-28-2010

Alright I've been working on this blog for a straight week now and I think it's going pretty well. So thank you everyone for your support. If you can tell your friends about this site that would be great too! I appreciate all my readers to the max. If you want you can click that follow button on the top of the screen to get an update everytime I make a new post. Also you can find this blog's new fan page on Facebook.com @ http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=logo#!/pages/JDMugen/342650957188
So feel free to check that out as well :D

Anyways I've gotten rid of some obnoxious ads. They weren't really doing much for me. I try to get ads that are relevant to what I talk about in my blogs, it doesn't always work out that way but if you see an ad that you think is interesting feel free to check it out, Just wanna let you know that everything on this webpage is provided by google or amazon so I can guarantee there are absolutely no viruses or anything.

Also what I'm mostly excited about is I added a neat little widget on the bottom of the page. Definitely check that one out, it's awesome! So yeah. That's more or less all I wanted to say, and the next post will be back to business as usual. Just thought I'd give a little fan appreciation.

That.

And some Porschgasm

 

Thanks guys, just keep doing whatchu doing. 

Honda CRX, reborn?

When I was a young fellow just getting into the world of automotive tuning I was really attracted to the Honda CRX. And to be perfectly honest with you, I have no idea why. Let's face it....it's ugly. And with it's stock engines, it's slow too.
With exception of like the b16a1(?) Vtec engine it has in the higher end models.



Yeah. I warned you. This car was made from 83-91.

It shows.

Buying new rims and a fancy bodykit helps hide it's ugliness but it's more or less just throwing rainbow sprinkles on a pile of shit.



Yeh. It doesn't look bad. I'm sure there's some people who are into the looks of this car.

However most people weren't to interested in this car for it's box look. Believe it or not it became popular in the tuning scene...because it was fast.

Wtf?

The common thing to do with an old CRX like this is to rip out the engine, throw it away, never look at it again.
Instead, Buy a k20 engine from an Acura RSX (Last gen Honda Integra for you non-Americans)
With a powerful engine like the k20 or an h22a from a Prelude the CRX becomes the classic example of a pocket rocket. (Don't be a pervert)


I don't know if you've heard but Honda is making a new car real soon (more breaking car news, I know, I'm a on a roll)It's called the CRZ.
Honda never really said it's a rebirth of the old CRX but I mean...come on.




Who you tryin' to fool Honda? It's small, 2 doors, and roughly the same shape as the CRX.

It might as well be a modern day CRX but would I recommend buying one in hopes of it becoming a street demon?!?!?

No.

I wouldn't count on it. Mainly due to the fact it ONLY comes with a 1.5 liter hybrid engine. Not to mention they retail at about 25,000 dollars. I bet it'll be more after the dealers get their grubby hands on it. And honestly it's not even that swift and lightweight... This CRZ weighs in at 1,211kg or 2,669 pounds. Eesh, it's not looking good.
The heaviest CRX was barely over 2,000 pounds and the lightest 1,700 pounds.
That is a noticeable difference.

It is hard to say how the CRZ performs without actually driving it. It could still make a decent car, don't get me wrong. I'm just not expecting the cult tuner following that the CRX had.



There is one thing I gotta give credit to the new CRZ for...




'Dat interior!

I would constantly feel like I'm piloting my own spaceship. And I approve of that. To be honest I'd probably drive around with a captain hat on and I'd constantly order my passangers to "batten down the hatches, we are entering the Vtec warpzone!"
I imagine I would lose my friends in a matter of days. But hey. A man can dream...a man can dream.



Oh.
Uh.
On second though.
Fuck that.

Aftermarket Performance- Intakes

Okay so when it comes to modifying your car the cheapest and quickest way to get some extra power can be getting a new aftermarket intake. Typically prices don't cost over 400 dollars and the installation doesn't take more than 10-15 minutes. In most cases atleast..

When it comes time to pick out what intake is right for your car it may not be as simple as you'd think. You can usually pick from either a cold air intake or a short ram air intake. The cold air intake usually uses a longer intake pipe to place the air filter in a place it can suck in the most air. (Moar air = moar pweR!)



See that blue pipe? That's the intake. It's heading down into the front bumper area to suck up that delicious air. nom nom.

And if you're a real baller you'd pop out your headlight and use that for your cold air intake.



Heh heh, he's winking at me.

If you don't feel comfortable driving around knowing that your cars air intake is just potentially a few inches above the ground then there are other options. (pro tip: Don't drive over deep puddles like a jackass when you have a cold air intake like that. If you suck up a nice few inches of water then you better start looking for a new engine...ass)

You can go with a short ram intake. They usually use a shorter intake pipe and sit where your factory oem intake and filter box went.



See how much shorter a short ram intake is? I don't lie to ya.

There's still a lot of debate as to which intake system is better. Some people say the ram intakes sit in a bad spot and just suck in warm air which doesn't really do much of anything. Common argument is that when you're driving along there's going to be cold air coming into the engine bay so if you're doing a dyno test you need a big ole' fan blowing at your car while you do it. (discuss in comments if you'd like?)

My opinion: Get a cold air intake. They're harder to install but you're guaranteed results. Usually around 10 hp or so switching from a stock intake. And in the mazda 6 (I think it's the mazda 6, idk I'm not a mazda pro) With an AEM cold air intake it gained 20 hp. That's amazing for a 300 dollar part.

Okay so you've decided to buy a CAI (cold air intake)
Now you just gotta pick with company you want to buy it from.
The biggest names when it comes to cai's are AEM, Injen, K&N, Mugen (hondas), and Fujita. But there are a bunch of other ones like option racing, password jdm, stillen and weapon R just to name a few.

I actually really like Weapon R intakes. I'm not sure how good they are but damn do they look cool haha.



This one's called the dragon. Ha, Just imagine opening your hood and seeing that just staring back at you. It makes me feel like a little schoolgirl again.

Or incredibly dorky saying "Yeah, I have a dragon under my hood. What do you have? ...chump"

But for serious business. I gotta recommend AEM intakes. They're probably the best value for money and they will certainly give you decent power gains. My only real complaint with AEM is that they just always play it safe. They're so boring. Typically when you buy an AEM intake you get an option of like...2 or 3 colors. And then if you're lucky you get a snazzy license plate frame for their free advertising. That's why I like Weapon R, they do weird shit, I like weird shit.

However, If you're just looking to replace an air filter then I say go with a K&N drop in filter. Cheap yet effective and they come with a million mile warranty.
Just don't expect any real noticeable gains of power.

I hope this somewhat served as a crash course, mainly for people who don't know a whole lot about cars or car modding. If you have any other questions either leave a comment here on this blog or send me a message and I'll try to help you out best I can!

And if you're wondering, No I'm not getting paid to write this article. I wish I was D: Hey auto companies, Give me free stuff and I'll write good reviews
*Wink wink*

I'm waiting on you, Nissan. Let me drive a GTR Spec V!






Oh lord. Time to change my pants.
I think there just might be a Skyline article coming soon...

New Saab model

For those of you who are not familiar with Saab, and I suspect there are a few of you, they are a Swedish car manufacture and I'm not gonna lie I like Saab. They usually try to do new things no matter how crazy it might seem at the time. Apparently it didn't work out because in 2010 (about a month ago) they were nearly bankrupt and GM was forced to sell Saab. At first no one wanted to buy this lone Swedish car company. There were rumors that Swedish super car company Koenigsegg was going to be the ones saving Saab. But I imagine Koenigsegg was too busy doing 0-60 in under 3 seconds to listen to Saab. Instead a company called Spyker bought Saab.

If you've never heard of Spyker I don't necessarily blame you. They only build hand made cars.


Spyker c8 sports car.

Anyway I'm getting off track as usual. I only made this article because I ninja'd my way into a Saab meeting room and hid in the vents in the ceiling.. It turns out Saab is making a new car to help boost sales and get them back on the right track.
Those of you who were around in 1949-1956 Sweden should remember the Saab 92.

I wasn't around back then, or in Sweden for that matter. But apparently the Saab 92 was popular and even made it's way on Swedish postage stamps.

Since this is primarily a high performance tuning blog, let's talk about some performance figures. The Saab 92 came standard in the 50s with 25 raging horses of power. Giving it a top speed of 65mph. Now if you're even more of a speed demon there is a tuned version for rally racing that has a blistering 35 horse power.

I'm sure back in the 50's 35 hp was a lot...

Anyways this is when I'd normally post some pictures of what the car is going to look like and then I'd proceed to make fun of it. However, There aren't any pictures of the new 92 yet. I still have to do some more ninja-ing and get those. But here's the old one.



I really hope the keep that same styling. I like when companies re-invent their old models. Fiat did it with the Fiat 500 and that car became HUGELY popular in Europe.

It looks snazzy too.

Here's the old 500, from the 50's and 60's and what have you.



and now the new redesigned, modern and trendy Fiat 500.




I like this. Take note Saab.

And stop being so bankrupt.

Chevrolet Camaro

Herro everyone. Thanks to your support I've really been getting this blog popular. Well, it's getting there atleast. I applied for my google adsense account and got accepted finally, so now, I get paid to talk about cars. Granted it's not a lot at all, it's still neat! Okay. So today I'm going to talk about Camaros. I've mentioned them a lot before, in my datsun article and one camaro (I think...) was featured in horrors of craigslist. But today I'm going to talk about what makes the camaro great, but I'm only going to talk about the third generation (82-92) one in particular and maybe touch upon the new one a little.

So let's just dive right into it.

The third gen Camaro was a huge step up from the second gen. Everything style wise was changed, it offered modern fuel injection, and not to mention the third gen Camaro is nearly 500 pounds lighter than the older generation.



What I always thought was interesting about this Camaro is that it came with 5 different engines over the years. Technically 4 were only available to public though.

"lolwat 5 engines?!!1" you say?

There was an 2.5 liter inline-4, 2.8 l and 3.1 l v6 engines, and a 5.0 v8 (which most people probably cared about to be honest.) There was also a 5.7 liter v8 but it wasn't officially released to the public because Chevy decided it was too fucking awesome (that's my guess atleast)

My only real complaint about the Camaro is the typical driver usually consists of this guy...



Yeah.... The Camaro is considered a god in the world of the rednecks..

Case in point



Although that last picture has potential to be mind bogglingly awesome, I suspect the driver of that car is too busy getting it on with his sister and/or cousin to be monster truckin' his way down the freeway.

Point being, The Camaro is a good car, and it has a lot of potential, Always did, and still does. I know a guy who bought 3rd gen Camaro for 500 dollars in effort to fix it up.

This is what his car looked like when he picked it up.



I love the little fluid stain on the ground, it's a nice touch :D

Call him crazy but he's put a lot of time and effort into his car and here's a more recent pic



That's more like it.

I suspect it'll look more like this in no time



Also, another fun fact was the IROC-Z was introduced in 1985 and featured upgraded suspension, lowered springs, larger sway bars, and some other performance bits and pieces so you can't say the typical "lolcantcorner American car"

1992 was the last year for the third gen camaro. And unfortunately the high performance face crushing "25th Anniversary Heritage Edition" wasn't fully implemented and in the end it only resulted in rally stripes and a special badge.

Good work fellas. good work...



The Camaro has gone a long way. Obviously they kept making them after 92 and decided they want the Camaro to look like a fish



Once again, good work fellas.

Kudos.

And now for the new Camaro



I don't like this one either.

Honestly, If I was going to buy a modern day muscle car I wouldn't go with the Camaro

Not when you can buy the new Dodge Challenger.




God damn, I get sexually excited everytime I look at the new Challenger. It constantly looks like it's flexing and ready to wreck face!

You might say my reasons for not liking the new Camaro Aren't justified. But you know what, I didn't like Transformers. Fuck bumblebee.

Consumer reports

Not like I actually give a shit about consumer reports... but I might as well talk about the new Auto Issue of consumer reports. Since it's only an annual thing I guess that makes it a big deal or something... Whatever.
For those of you who don't know, consumer reports are basically like report cards for the auto makers. They get judged on safety, performance....yatta yatta...

What didn't surprise me is Honda coming in first. Also, Subaru tied with them, both at 77 out of 100 points.

And then! What I never saw coming, Toyota came in second. Or third. Whichever way you wanna look it. I was like lolwattoyata. Aren't you busy with that whole recall thing?
You know... The largest automobile recall in the history of history. Smooth...



Also, American companies didn't fair so well in the consumer reports. Ford was the highest ranking American company, and Chrysler was dead last. I shouldn't have to explain why really.

I think Toyota could have easily taken the crown from Honda this year. Would I buy a Toyota then? No.
They are still just plastic japanese econoboxes.
And if that's the case I'd rather just buy Civic or someshit.

Obligatory Japanese racing vid

Looks like so much fun. I just wish there were subtitles. Although it is much more amusing this way.

Honda Prelude

Okay okay. This is a jdm blog and I haven't even talked much about japanese cars. So today we're going to talk about one of my favorite hondas. The prelude.



Personally I think they're great looking cars. The red one pictured is the latest (and in my opinion the greatest) 5th generation. The last ones ever made. Honda stopped making the prelude in 2001..It was more or less replaced by the honda S2000 but to be honest I never really cared for the s2k all that much. It just strikes me as more of a middle age crisis car than a tuner.



Ehhhhh... Make it go away.


The Prelude had a 2.2 liter I-4 Vtec engine pumping out 200hp.
That's really not shabby. Seeing as the car originally retailed at around 22,000 back in 2001 for a brand new model. But you can pick up a used one now aday's for around 7 grand. And I bet you the Vtec will still pop




I had to do it haha.

The Vtec jokes are endless but none the less it's still a good engine and a good car. I wouldn't mind if someone wanted to buy one for me. It makes me a little sad that people steal Preludes and especially Integra GS-R's or Type R's just to rip out the engine and pop it in a Civic Hatchback.

Let me make something clear. I do like Civics. I understand they're not race cars but no matter what I can't stand civic hatchbacks. They're the ultimate BRO car.

But anyway we're not here to talk about stupid ass bros' and their civic hatches.
















mmm That's nice.

I don't really see too many prelude's out on the roads. A lot of people overlooked them, maybe that's why honda stopped making them. But oh well.
Back before I bought my truck I was about to buy a 4th gen Honda Prelude.

This one, in fact.




It was a 96 Prelude and I was soo close to buying it but the day I was going to check it out and make an offer the guy selling it disappeared from the face of the earth. Whatever dude. In a way I'm glad I didn't buy it. I much rather prefer the 5th gen preludes anyhow.

So there you go. That's my basic rundown rant on the Honda Prelude and how Honda ruins everything I like...bastards.



There ya go. Complete with techno/house beats and all.

oontz oontz oontz

What I drive

I might as well talk about what I drive. It's nothing special, at all.. Infact It's not even a car, I actually bought a truck about a month ago so I've been daily driving that for the most part. Thing is, I'm not a truck guy. I actually really don't like trucks. I only bought one to learn how to drive manual. So I picked up a cheap one from my friend's dad thinking I'd destroy the clutch in the process. It really only took about a day of driving and I had the basics of driving stick down. It has a 5 speed transmission, a 3.0 vulcan v-6 engine. Which has 145hp@4800 rpm and 165torque@3600 rpm which isn't bad I guess. It's not a speed machine by any means and it is completely stock. I don't really plan on modding it a whole lot, if anything I might just put a new exhaust on it and call it a day.


1995 Ford Ranger XLT

Well there it is. Nothing great but it gets the job done. It's a little different then I'm used to but I'll keep him around till it dies. I figure there's no point in selling it, I won't get much anyway. But I'm saving up for my next car which will be much more relevant to this blog. Either a 95 Civic EX (B or K series swap)or a 3rd gen Integra GS-R. But that's not till later when I'm not poor.

That might take a while.

Audi RS5 unvieled

Since everyone is talking about the new Audi RS5 I figured I might as well join in on the band wagon. If you haven't heard already Audi unveiled their new High-performance coupe. RS5. From what I understand it has the same 4.2 liter engine from the Audi R8 making 450 horse power. Whether that's brake horsepower or wheel horsepower I couldn't tell ya. Uhhh... Besides that it has a neat seven speed transmission which they say will help save gas because I imagine this car is gonna be a thirsty beast on gas.

Throwin some stats at you now:
They say it weighs roughly 3,800 pounds
Does a 0-60 in roughly 4.6 seconds
Top speed of 174 mph although it's limited to 155mph

I don't know guys. I'm not a huge Audi fan, admittedly. Not doubting the car or anything I'm just not into this one. Mainly because of the price they are selling it at. $104,600. God. Damn. This Audi better be unbelievably amazing at that price range.
I'm skeptical to say the least. I just don't see why someone at that price range would buy an Audi. That's treading in Porsche territory!

How does it look you say?

Well...




It looks like an Audi...

Ford Fiesta

Short post because I gotta leave for class soon. (Hate chemistry) I don't know if you heard the news. I hope you have.

Ford is bringing over the new Fiesta to America. Damn straight too. First time I heard "Ford Fiesta" I just thought, "ew well that car is going to be a shitstorm." But I saw the pics and more importantly watched Top Gear's review of it.

If you want to watch the Top Gear review of the Ford Fiesta (Which I suggest because it's amazing)check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSVfgQYnbaA
I embedded into this post but it was too big for some reason and blocked too much of the screen :/

But anyways

I approve of this, Ford. Keep em' comin.

Still waiting for you to bring over the Focus RS though. Just saying...



Srsly Ford, Why do you have to do this to me?

Nissan/Datsun Z series history lesson

Hey all, let's all take a look back at Nissan's line of Z cars. No matter how you look at it, like it or not, these cars have helped the automotive tuner scene become what it is today. Also I'm a little late on this but Nissan retired the 350z and moved on to the 370z. But enough on the new, let's go back in time. That's right we're going back to 1969!

When we as Americans think back to cars in 1969 I bet the first thing that comes to mind isn't a small Japanese coupe. It's probably something more like this...



1969 Camaro. What a gorgeous car. However, this is not why we're here.
The car I'm talking about is actually more like this.


Datsun 260z. Aint she a beauty. It might not be much today but back in the 70's it had 151 horsepower and about 140ft·lbf of torque. With a top speed of 125mph and a 0-60 time of just 8 seconds. 8 seconds... damn. Okay well maybe this old datsun hasn't aged well. But still a wonderful classic car none the less.


I'm not going to talk about the 280z much. It's more or less a 260z with a bigger engine (2.8 liters as opposed to the 2.6) Incase you didn't know... Interesting to note however that Datsun offered a special edition 280z known as the "Zap Z" Which was used as a pace car. If you look in your garage and happen to see a zap z 280z. KEEP IT (and take damn good care of it) Because you're holding on to one incredibly rare car.

Okay so Let's speed time up a little bit and head on over to the year 1980. Not a bad year. Good music and such. It was also a big year forward for the Z series. The nissan 280zx was a complete redesign and atleast in my opinion, a big leap forward for sports cars. (also add the nissan Z31)



Just look. Now that is a badass car. [for it's time] I still think it looks nice by today's standard. As an 80's car though you're probably thinking about what the average 280zx driver looks like..



Oh. That's bad. ugh...




Jesus christ! Make it stop!

Let's just move on to what most people probably care about. I'm going to assume the 240sx (for tokyo drifting all over the place) But I'm just gonna go ahead and talk about the 300zx. The 240sx isn't a proper Z car. It's more of a sister car if you will and also Because I like the 300zx more. And I make the rules here.

Now the 300zx. What a car. Especially the twin turbo one, if you can find a nice second hand 300zx twin turbo I recommend buying it.



In Top Gear's RWD challenge Richard Hammond bought and old 300zx with very high mileage, yet he was surprised with how new it still felt. He ended up really liking his car. That is until Clarkson threw away the top of his roof...But I'm not getting into Top Gear talk...yet. Anyways, I could keep posting pics of 300zx all day. You might think it's an ugly beast of a car, and it's okay, I thought that too. But it grew on me. Ever since I saw one in person I looked it right in it's droopy kinda eyes, and fell in love. lawls.





What a beautiful thing.

Also...






'Dat ass


Anyways. It's 2003. Nissan comes out with the new 350z. It has a new 3.5 liter engine pushing nearly 300 horsepower. With a 0-60 speed of 5.1 seconds and a top speed of...100.. something. 150? 160? Well it's not important because just look at it.
Have you ever seen such a good looking car? That question was rhetorical. I absolutely love the Nissan 350z. It has huge aftermarket support, a very good community, and an undeniable racing pedigree. Whether you're into drifting or circuit racing, the 350z will not let you down. I know it's hard on gas, and I know it has a tiny trunk. Do I care even the slightest amount? No. I've seen so many beautiful 350z's in my day and it just makes me want one even more.



Those crazy Chinese, drifting with a pregnant lady in the car, but it's okay because shit man. Just look at that car. That wing is kinda...eh. Atleast in my opinion but hey, whatever man.

Sigh, someday I'll be able to afford one. Someday... If you haven't noticed by now the 350z is one of my all time favorite cars. So I'm a little biased towards them to say the least. And without the old and great datsuns I wouldn't have the 350z or 300zx for that matter. It's good to look back into history, it really helps you appreciate what you have now and makes you wonder what's to come.

Which reminds me. Nissan made the new 370z. Which has a 3.7 liter engine and is faster than the 350z in about everyway. But fuck it. I'm not gonna talk too much about that. I'll still prefer the 350 or even 300zx. If you wonder why I'm not talking about the infamous 240sx it's because...I don't like it. Well, I do like them. I just don't like the BROS that drive them. There's plenty of time for a drift article so I'll be sure to talk about them then. But for now, let's just saddle up in our Datsun, Nissan, Whatever it may be and do what they were built to do.
Drive




Edit: Found this video as well, Pretty much sums everything up if you're too lazy to read. Ya bum.