Speedware Motorsports Car Show

So come Thursday night (Nov. 4th), I am browsing and find that there is a car show being held up in Redmond by Speedware Motorsports.  This caught me by surprise since I had never heard of the shop Speedware Motorsports and I had not heard about this event before nor heard of anyone discussing it.  I submitted an email to register my car since I actually had a Saturday off for once and figured why not attend.  Friday morning I woke up and found an email telling me that registration was closed.  I didnt think much more of it until I was called at 8:30 later that night.  Drew, one of the organizers and employees at Speedware Motorsports had opened my attached image and decided he wanted my car.  He called me and told me that he had made room for my car and that my registration had been verified.  I was surprised that I got a call back but happy for this made request #3 for my car to be in attendance.  So, Saturday morning I woke early and left for Redmond.  With little rain there, I made it without delays and proceeded to prep my car.  I do have to say, the show did seem a bit longer than needed but there was quite a bit of interest and cool cars, even an R31 Skyline.  I did not take any pictures for I forgot my camera at home in my rush.  In the end though, I was awarded Best Engine Bay, which made trophy #5 for the year.

# 31257

Yup, as of the 24th, Gran Turismo 5 was released.  I had been waiting a long time for this day.  Me and so many others were waiting with much anticipation.  After six or seven years or so and about $60 million in the making, this game as of yet has proven its worth.  It was half the reason I wanted a PS3, especially after not playing GT4.

Upon purchasing my PS3 and trading in several of the games that came with it months ago, I put a deposit on a Collector's Edition of Gran Turismo 5.  Now that I have it in my hand, I am saddened that I am just awaiting my HD TV.  I am still waiting to play the game in depth.  Just a sneak preview was enough to wet my appetite, but I know that I wont be fully satisfied until I spend a considerable amount of time on it.  I am glad that my one holiday from school is coming up within a month; thank goodness for Xmas.  Neither my HD TV or my holiday from school can come soon enough... Bloody hell.

The contents of the Collector's Edition Gran Turismo 5

 

Die-cast Gran Turismo 5 Nissan R35 GTR.

Gran Tursimo 5 Key Fob




Certificate of Authenticity.  I apparently own # 31257 of the Collector's Editions made.  Hooray for me.  Maybe this is to make us feel better for waiting a bit more for the game?  Dont know, but I would have bought the game even if it didnt have it.

The game case and the Collector's Edition companion book.  Not only does it detail both the cars and tracks that are in the game, but a decently comprehensive breakdown of a car and racing.

Snow, Snow, Snow Everywhere.... And its Bloody Cold

So as some of those know, up here in W.Wa we are getting some aggressive winter weather.  Thanks La Nina.  I was looking forward to snow here in the lowlands.  There is a reason why I go to the mountains to board.  There is a difference just so you know.  There is a reason why I like your brother El Nino better.  He actually listens and is smarter of the two of you.

Not digressing too much though.  Today was nuts.  It got down to 20 degrees F, which felt like 6 degrees F due to the windchill.  And when I say windchill, I mean seeing 'sheet's of snow going sideways or standing outside and feeling like I just went face first into a pile of snow after taking a spill on my board.  I do have to say one thing go, it is very pretty.

Pictures from last night... Light snow came down that didnt stop me from driving to work this morning.  Despite that, there was a lot more snow on her before heading to work.  After work, left her at work.  Too unsafe to drive home.  My poor baby.  Micah, she'll be ok and I'm picking her up tomorrow.

And here are some pictures of tonight, from my front door and at the house itself.

And a picture of how much snow was on my deck.  I have heard it was deeper in other places in W.WA, but yeah, my entire exposed finger was covered by snow.  I would say at least five centimeters

And here is a picture of my back yard.  Sucks, the battery in my S12 is flat, so I need to get a trickle charger or take it to the shop and get it charged.

New Things

During the summer I was lucky enough to grab a PlayStation 3.  Thanks to my friend and roommate Kenny, he know a buddy who was selling both console and seven games for a ridiculously low price.  I jumped on the opportunity knowing that I had been wanting one for so long in addition to preparation for Gran Turismo 5.  I went through the games that were given and traded the majority of them in.  After trading the games in with about $10 extra, I came out with Ghostbusters, Lair, Assassin's Creed, and Assassin's Creed 2.

On my way to JCCS in September, I stopped by Micah's and Leilani's place.  On the way down to SoCal, I stayed the night and continued on.  On the way back home, I stayed a couple of days to relax and catch up.  There I met their cutest and newest edition to their family: Ryu.  Ryu is a Shiba Inu and a pure white one at that.  He is still quite young, but wonderful despite it all.  I loved playing with him, which is not unusual since I adore almost all pups.  The difference with Ryu is that he is the first Shiba I've had a chance to play with and I have to say, the are cool pups.

And Ryu sporting his dragon costume.  Good costume choice indeed.

Before leaving, Micah and Leilani got me my first Blu Ray movies: SpeedRacer and Underworld.  I have watched SpeedRacer only days after I got home and loved it.  I am still looking forward to watching it after I finally get my HD TV.  It is going to be nuts.  As I describe it, the closest I can get to an acid trip without considering all those crazy lights and pace of action.


Then just in the past couple of days I broke down and bought a new printer.  An HP Officejet J4580.  My older HP Deskjet 565C was out of ink and I had to print out the shipping manifesto and shipping label for a package that is Australia bound.  I had gone to buy more ink only to find that:

1. My ink was not carried - too old of a printer I guess... :p
2. Ink costs like $35 a cartridge and it would be more cost effective to buy a new printer
3. All printers now are multifunctional so they can double up as scanners and copiers.  My scanner/copier has not been all that good in the past several months due to age so I was looking at replacing it eventually as well.

Installed and looking good, I can now print out the necessary bits to have the package sent to Australia.  Inside contains two more S12 SE lip kits and various bits that Gerry (from Brisbane) has bought and sent to me for mass shipping.

California Dreamin'

With august coming to a close, my summer was only beginning to slow.  Seeing that my summer didn't really start until July with Formula D and the following events, I still had until October to call it an end.

In the past, I have visited California on a yearly basis, with the exception of last year.  At times, I have visited California twice in a year.  Unfortunately for me, this year it was not entirely for relaxation.  I did however visit twice with a time span of one month.  Both times I drove my '87 Nissan S12 down and to say the least, absolutely exhilarating - especially through the mountain passes.  Both suspension and engine held through without issue.  Flying through the passes in the middle of the night was the best time; the fact that there was virtually no traffic and the cool/cold atmosphere, the twin-turboed RB loved it.

Come September 9th, I left for Southern California.  As usual when I travel to SoCal, I always stay at my best friends' place in Rocklin, CA.  I have as much enjoyment from staying with them as I do any other destination.  Not digressing too far from the original intent of my trip to SoCal, I was there to attend the nationally known Japanese Classic Car Show (JCCS) that is held annually.  In addition to attending JCCS on Sunday the 12th, I went to a the local Silvia car show/meet that was held in Anaheim on the 11th.  At the Silvia car show I received the trophy for Best S12 and at JCCS I received 1st place in the '80s Nissan/Datsun category.

 



For a full synopsis of the trip, the following links detail it all.  JCCS part 1 and JCCS part 2.

Not a month later I was heading down to SoCal yet again (October 4th) to the Toyota Speedway in Irwindale, Ca.  This time much more work oriented.  I was participating as part of Nikolay Konstantinov's race crew.  Nikolay is at the professional level of Formula D here in the States and is quite a capable driver.  For a rookie, one of three 'true' rookies, and one that only practices 6 or 8 months out of the year depending on weather, he is exceptional.

All was going well until Friday (the 8th) night just after Nikolay had qualified in the top 32 competitors beating out over half the contendors (64 in total) placing 26th place (if I remember correctly).  During a practice run, he followed Drift Emporium's supercharged Z33.  Due to adjustments in the Zed's suspension, the car seemed shaky, so Niko gave more space between the two.  Unfortunately with Randy's adjustment to Niko's rear suspension, Niko being drawn to the lower line of the bank on the track, and the Zed's lack of speed, a situation was bound to happen.  Niko had excellent angle and speeds that when speed trapped were similar to Vaughn Gittin Jr, but when exiting the first corner, he came up too fast to the Zed.  Being so low, the physics of a car drifting would force an arc outward instead of taking a higher line and angling low on the exit.  Well coming up, Niko had two choices: hit the Zed or the wall.  He decided for the latter, which caused a nearly totaled car.  The entire front end, especially that of the right-hand side, met the engine itself.  The car was unable to be driven and was towed to our spot in the pits.  That was at 9:30pm.  We had until 4pm the following day to fix the car to run a couple practice rounds then immediately compete.  With out luck, we faced Gitten Jr, the leader in points and was bound to win for the season.  We had a lot of help from many people both on the track and off the track.  It was amazing to see so much activity and a car rebuilt in so little time.

Very much thanks to the Drift Emporium guys, Nikolay, and Randy, the car was able to run and passed tech. inspection.  When Nikolay drove onto the track for his practice round there was a huge cry of exuberance and cheers from both the crowd and just about everyone in the hot pits.  The night before, Nikolay's crash was well known online and was the most sought after video/discussion on Formula D's website.  Come time for competition, Nikolay went against Gittin Jr.  The first run, Gittin Jr pulled away as any 800hp NASCAR-rated motor in a Mustang would.  However, Nikolay was able to keep enough speed, angle and style that he was able to prove enough of a challenge.  Gittin Jr ended up tapping the wall under the judges booth on the second to last turn causing him to momentarily lose control only seen when watching his front wheels change direction, once counter to the drift and then back to save the drift.  With that, Niko was favoured in the first run, which is something really hard not barring it was Gittin Jr but as a chaser, the odds are against.  All it took was for the second run to be clean on Niko's part and we would have knocked Gittin Jr out of the running.  Things were not good as Niko's RB25 overheated causing the ViPec standalone ecu to throw the whole system into safety mode, thus cutting all power.  With that, Nikolay bowed out unable to continue to compete, thus Gittin Jr won both that round against Nikolay and the 2010 Formula D season.  Despite the loss, the whole weekend not only tested Nikolay and our ability to recover, but it made not only our team stronger and closer, but it was the same with the entire professional Formula D entrants and fellow competitors and their corresponding technicians.