Author Archives: Will@FluxAuto

The Global Rallycross Championship is Awesome

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I’ve posted highlights from the Global Rallycross Championship (GRC), but I came across ESPN’s full coverage of the events yesterday. I think they may have come up with a pretty successful formula. This is the first year of the GRC and they are schedule for 5 events. 4 of them coincide with NASCAR races and the 3rd round will be held at X-Games in Las Vegas. It’s exciting because it combines the best parts of rally racing in a wheel to wheel format in a small closed course which include a tactical shortcut that can be taken once during each heat after the first lap. The second round at Texas Motor Speedway also had a pretty massive gap jump. I highly recommend watching these entire videos if you’ve got the time. I promise they’re more exciting than most of the stuff you’ve got recorded on your DVR.

GRC Round 1: Charlotte Motor Speedway
 

GRC Round 2: Texas Motor Speedway

Sources: YouTube user WRCforeva and Global Rallycross Championship

Mars Rover Curiosity

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The NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory released this animation of the next Mars Rover, the Curiosity. Once launched from Earth, it will take 8.5 months to reach Mars. Once there, it will explore the surface using a laser and robot arm that collects samples for the lab tools inside it’s body. The Curiosity will be powered by a radioisotope system that generates electricity from the heat of the decay of plutonium. This will give the rover at least two years of exploration on the surface of Mars.


Source: NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory News

Drag Racing On Dirt

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Sometimes when you take a perfectly good motorsport and you pick it up and plop it down on a low friction surface, you get a new sport that’s a lot more fun to watch. For example, trying to do road racing on gravel and snow resulted in rally racing which has produced some of the world’s best drivers and is my favorite kind of racing to watch. This video proves that the same thing can happen when you drag race on dirt. These guys built insane 4×4 drag machines with paddle tires to get the job down on the unpaved quarter mile. It makes for some very entertaining and gratuitous displays of horsepower. I have a feeling these guys would get along very well with the folks who compete in the World Power Wheelstand Championship.

**BAD WORD WARNING** The cameraman drops the F-bomb in the middle of the video when he gets pelted in the head with a rock coming off the paddle tires on the 2000 horsepower alcohol powered dragster. You probably would, too.


Source: The Outlaw Video SS on YouTube

Tomei Cusco Impreza Time Attack Car

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Have you ever wondered what it takes to build a world class time attack car? This is a bit of a peak into the a Subaru Impreza STi built in 2009 by Japanese aftermarket tuners Tomei, Cusco and Voltex. The entire body has been prepped with a carbon fiber wide body aero package and the suspension is made up of custom adjustable pieces that the teams fabricated. The car competed in several events in the then young American Time Attack scene piloted by Tarzan Yamada. They were shooting for some of the lap records set by the HKS CT2032R Evo, but I don’t think they were ever able to beat them. Tarzan also piloted this car at the first World Time Attack Challenge that year in Australia for a third place finish behind the Cyber Evo (which he also drove) and the Sierra Sierra Enterprises Evo from the US.


Source: Motive DVD on YouTube

HKS Honda CR-Z Green Monster

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The whole premise of the RX-8 EV conversion project is that we’re taking a fun sports car and converting the drive train to something that performs better and is environmentally responsible. That way we have an engaging car with zero tailpipe emissions. What if we approached that goal from the other direction? What if we took an environmentally responsible car and did everything we could to make it fun? That’s what HKS have done with their Green Monster Honda CR-Z project. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find a subtitled version of this video. This is what I’ve been able to gather by watching the whole series of videos about the project. HKS supercharged the 1.5 liter engine while retaining the factory Integrated Motor Assist (IMA). They decided to go with a supercharger because the factory ECU cuts off the engine at stops and that wouldn’t allow a turbocharger to cycle hot oil out of its bearings. HKS went all out and made forged engine internals to pump the CR-Z’s output to a staggering 320 horsepower. It’s also got an Endless big brake kit, HKS Hipermax coilovers and 235 section Advan Neova AD08 tires. Tanaguchi’s time attack around Tsukuba with the car starts at 3:10 in the video. What do you guys think of this approach to building a fun green car? Can any car be fun with enough performance upgrades or is it better to start with something that has a sports car soul?


Source: YouTube user tritondsgn