Merry Christmas From Excitement! Car Magazine!
Hey there guys, Merry Christmas for all of us at Excitement! Car Magazine!
Just to let you guys know, we will be taking a break over the Christmas holiday and will be resuming posting on the 2nd of January 2012! Over that time we we will be accumulating a bit more content but also taking a much needed break. 2011 has been a fantastic year for us and we are hoping to make 2012 even better!
We are always looking for more contributors, so if you feel your photographic and journalistic skill matches what you have seen on the site, send me through an email on grant@excitementcarmagazine.com.
Also be sure to keep your eye on the Excitement! Car Magazine Facebook page as well as our Twitter account for updates on what we are doing here at the magazine.
Best wishes from all of us, we hope you all have a fantastic break and a happy new year! We look forward to providing you much more amazing content in 2012!
- Grant Scott
Excitement! Car Magazine | 2011 Wrap Up
Having only been in operation for half of the year, 2011 has been an incredible year for all of us at Excitement! Car Magazine!
In a very short time we have gained some very significant contributors who have been invaluable towards the success of the magazine. However, one of the greatest things that has helped us to point the magazine in the correct direction has been the feedback from you guys; the readers. We love to hear constructive criticism about the site so be sure to keep letting us know what you like and especially what you don’t like!
Streetkarnage Christmas Meet
Yes it’s Christmas time and everyone is meeting up for their end of year meets. Lovers of cars add no exception; we love hanging out with each other so why not! Just this Sunday past, Streetkarnage held their end of year meet for all of their beloved friends.
For this particular meet however I almost had no chance of being able to make it due to being at work. “Working on a Sunday, what an outrage!” you say? Well I would say that too, but thankfully I was able to leave just a little early in order to get some photos.
RE Amemiya To Debut at WTAC
The next couple of months are going to be very exciting as more and more announcements are made for who will be entering the 2012 World Time Attack Challenge at Eastern Creek. It has just been announced that the RE Amemiya Hurricane RX-7 will Debut this year which should be very exciting to watch, particularly if the Pan Speed and Hancook RX-7 also enter the event.
You can read the full article here on www.worldtimeattack.com
As for me, I’m going to get back to per-emtively packing for this event despite it being several months away still!
- Grant
Scott Mitchell | Spicy’s SR Ke70 – Hit And Run
I spotted this video by Scott Mitchell a couple of months back and couldn’t have loved it more. Of course there is the part of me that loves this video purely because it features a ke70, but there is much more to it than that.
Despite being a short video, it is incredibly laid back and features some very crafty shots of this car. The car was obviously in a state of conversion at the time of this shoot, but I would very much like to twist Scott’s arm and see what this car is up to these days.
Sound good?
- Grant
Archerfield
Being very close to the end of the year there has not been a huge amount of events that I have been able to attend. With that in mind I have been digging out some old content that I have shot over the last few years to show you guys. Today I thought I would share with you some shots I took a while back at one of the many late afternoon Archerfield events. Archerfield is a very small track situated in Brisbane that has basically been converted from a go kart track and used for drifting for the last few years. Despite its small size it has always been an awesome little track for some cheap fun.
Subtle Stinger | Trents Mazda 3 MPS
Around three or four JDMST meets ago, Grant and I headed up in his AE71 to have a bit of a browse of the cars. Not expecting the night to be much more than that, we caught up with some cars on the drive home that were at the meet, one of which was Trent in this Mazda 3 MPS. When I noticed one of my friends in the passenger seat, being a typical gen y, I was on my phone to them straight away. With the topic of a touge run coming up quickly we then got onto some other friends and it was arranged. We didn’t have overly high expectations of the Mazda, but with open minds we headed up the pass. To our surprise, we could hardly keep on his tail! This is a seriously fast machine.
Excitement! Car Magazine | 2012 Street Meet
Hey guys, a meet date and location has been decided for the Excitement! Car Magazine | 2012 Street Meet!
It’s going to be on Sunday the 15th of January 2012 and it will be in Carrara on the Gold Coast. There has been a group created on Facebook for the exact location, so message me on Facebook to be added to that group. Make sure you keep on the Excitement! Car Magazine Facebook as well for regular updates.
- Grant
Scott Mitchell | Project D – WSID – Return Road Drifties
Scott Mitchell has come back with yet another awesome drifting video this time from the WSID. Have a look through the video to check out the excessive smoke, loud noises and awesome wall taps!
- Grant
Pulling Apart Jason’s 4agze
It’s a good feeling being near the good end of an engine conversion, isn’t it? I have been showing you guys a lot of the work Jason has been up to recently with his 4agze, but today I thought it might be good to show you where he has come from. As many of you would know; the 4age series of motors are getting quite old now with some of them getting around the 25 year mark. The 4agze that was sitting in Jason’s car when he bought it was quite tired and never really ran too well. Eventually it just gave up. These are some of the photos I took on the day we took it apart.
JDMST x Downshift Meet
As per usual Excitement! went down to support the local cars at our monthly JDMST meet.
Ross Baker | Targa High Country
Over the many years I have been playing around with cars I have been very privileged to meet an amazing variety of people. One of which being my good friend Ross Baker who, for as long as I have known him, has been an exceptional rally driver. Ross recently approached me to show me some of his photos from this year’s Targa High Country rally event where he had been competing as the navigator in an incredibly rare genuine MK1 Rs2000 Ford Escort. Of course I couldn’t resist asking to use the photos for the magazine to which he happily agreed to!
Teaser | JDM Garage Feature
Last year on a trip with Jayrad to get some parts for his S14 I took some snaps of JDM Garage at their old location. Anyone that knows Erin from JDM Garage will know he is heavily involved in the drifting scene as you would have seen earlier this year at one of the Queensland Raceway morning sessions. Today I will be giving you just a taste as I will be heading up again in the coming month to do a proper shoot of the new garage in Capalaba. Erin has recently put a bit of work into the show room so I would imagine things will be looking very impressive!
TEASER | Mazda 3 MPS Shoot
Just a quick teaser for a shoot that we have coming up from Nathan McKenna who you might know as that owner of the Purple 1200 Sunny. This Mazda 3 MPS has some very impressive specs, and believe me, having driven behind it on the way up the mountain it certainly gets the power down! You’ll find out all the info in the coming week, so be ready!
- Grant
Kenny Chow | Hellaflush at Fuji Speedway 2011
We are very lucky here at Excitement! Car Magazine to have been given some photos from my good friend Kenny Chow. Normally residing in San Francisco, Kenny took the trip over with Mark and all the boys at Fatlace for the first Hellaflush Japan meet that was held at Fuji Speedway.
There always seems to be a lot of talk here in Australia, and there are always people that are quick to jump on the ‘I hate Fatlace and Hellaflush’ bandwagon, but personally if there were more car meets like this in Australia I would be showing my Corolla a hell of a lot more road time!
New Clutch | Time for a run in
I’ve just recently picked myself up one of these GoPro Hero 2′s which I have seen some fantastic footage with. Check out the GoPro web site! As many of you will know I have just purchased a new clutch and flywheel for the Corolla as well so the other day I took the GoPro and the car for a bit of a test run.
I will be doing many many more videos on the track as well as hills (maybe when the weather is a little more dry). To get the best quality go to Vimeo so you can view it in HD!
Cheers Guys!
- Grant
Guest Feature | Walaki’s XTR Competition Chassis AE86
My name is Walaki from Hungary, and I have been a huge fan of the AE86 since I first saw them in Gran Turismo 3 back in 2001. Ever since then, I wanted to have one. When a friend of mine bought one, I was helping him a lot with the car. Then in January 2008 he moved back to the USA so I bought the Hachi from him.
After I bought the car I attended some minor drift and track days, meanwhile I repaired the smaller problems with friends. A panel beater repaired some rust and the rear arches on the body. I changed the OEM suspension to Tokico HTS shocks, Tanabe 8kg/mm springs on the front, TRD 5.7kg/mm to the rear. Over this time I did two 16v 4age swaps with small steps of performance increase before I installed the current 20V blacktop setup.
The Corolla Is Back!
I’m very happy to be writing this right now as I have not driven my Corolla since I completely obliterated my clutch at the Queensland 24 Hour Matsuri. Having been very busy with the magazine as well as work and university I simply have not had the money to buy a new clutch nor the time to source out the larger 212mm flywheel that I wanted to run. With a large thanks to Andrew from Kudos Motorsport I was able to promptly order in a brand new Exedy clutch, but this was only half of my problem sorted.
An Unlikely Predator: Gareth Simpson’s Safari-Spec Evo
This year I have been fortunate enough to attend all rounds of the ADGP and Track Battle Time Attack series. At every event, the presence of drifters has heavily outweighed that of the ‘time attackers’. Recently however, at the final round of the series in Perth, the time attack field was strong, with one contender in particular arising as the crowd favourite for the whole event, and for myself personally, the entire series. With that in mind, let’s take a safari around Gareth Simpson’s zebra Evo.
FT86 / BRZ What Do You Think?
There has been a lot of talk about the FT86 being released and of course the Subaru BRZ, particularly over the last week or so. I have been just as eager to see a new version of the beloved Ae86 as every other hot blooded Ae Corolla fan, but up until now it really has not made my jaw drop. This however has; the Subaru BRZ GT300.
Birds eye view on the Gold Coast
The end of the year is approaching fast and there is plenty going on. Most of Brisbane’s graduating students this past week have made their way down to the Gold Coast to celebrate what is the end of 12 long years of schooling.
Camera Geeking | Telephoto Lenses
Being a passionate photographer is very hard sometimes. Many of you reading this would know the prices that you can pay for good quality gear, not to mention the financial stress that already comes with a drifter’s budget. With that in mind the strategy for me has quite often been to make sure that money is well spent. For the past few months I have been very painfully saving for a new Camera, however I have come to the conclusion that it will be a far better choice to buy a new telephoto lens; a 70-200mm f/2.8. With that in mind, as well as the fact I have had no new photos for you guys of my Corolla lately, I thought I would show you some photos I took a few years back when I borrowed the exact lens from a friend.
