Friday, October 29, 2010

The Bosozoku MEGAPOST

The following is a 3 part MegaThread that VadGTI posted some time in 2004 to the VWVortex
The photos were lost in a crash... this year... I recovered them and rehosted them and helped Vad re-code the forum threads so that they worked again.
However, you'll notice the threads start as "I'm Back! Part IV" and then V an VI, respectively...
there is in fact a part I, II and III... and we ARE recovering these as well. Teaser: lots of photos from Tokyo Auto Salon 2004!

Here is a SINGLE MEGAPOST of all 3 parts!

This was a meet at Daikoku in Yokohama a couple of days after January 1st.To celebrate the new year, bosozoku (motorcycle hooligans) cruise into Kamakura on motorcycles via the Shonan (like our PCH) in droves.Their other favorite mode of transport is an unregistered Mark II or Cresta (our Cressida) with its roof chopped off...The weekend after January 1st, they gather at Daikoku (a well-known spot for meets) for a huge meet at a rest stop... This is where I snapped these pics.The cars ranged from bozo'd out old school Laurels/Crestas/Skylines to crazy vans and flashing trucks...


Daikoku is in the middle of the tangle of off/on-ramps


Aerial shot

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Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Annual Dyno Day!

for the past 8 years, I've done dyno days almost every year without fail.
I've used multiple places, multiple dyno types and compiled research on many of those dynos.
For the past 3 years, I've used Enhanced Street Performance in Sterling MA for two reasons:
1) no upfront cost to schedule a dyno day. Most places charge a day rental fee and then the organizer is responsible for collecting the fees from the attendees... this sucks for me as the organizer as I need cash from everyone and I float a huge fee out there that sometimes I wasn't recouping. ESP does it simple: schedule the day, get people to come. You get 15 people to come, the organizer rolls free!
2) Friendly and knowledgeable staff. I've seen them hook up really weird cars safely and quickly, maximizing pull times. Last year they had to lock down an R8. They say the ONE car they hate are Audi Allroads. They provide free food and drink for PAYING participants. Spectators can get scraps once everyone has eaten.

ESP uses a Mustang 1100-SE AWD dyno. While not my FAVORITE dyno out there (that'd be the Land & Sea Dynomite because they're made locally in Concord NH and they have great software and sensor inputs). The Mustang is a great, easy to use dyno that spits out pretty good data. (I suggest asking your local dyno operator for a CSV file of the run with all the data outputs in a table format if available.

I've got my annual dyno day scheduled for November 13th this year. I do this in late fall because that's generally the best time to do it for most cars. Normally I do it in Mid October, but this year I had my October already booked up in advance.
I'm trying to get a lot of 5 cylinder Audis to come so we can get a great set of data points.

Video and photos are always available after the dyno at http://www.youtube.com/northshoreinnovation
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