Read that title again…it’s not “Formula D Long Beach 2012 Coverage”…because my time machine is broken right now, it’s the “Formula D Long Beach 2012 TECH DAY Coverage”….There was no drifting, no real action, just a whole lot of drift cars making “brap brap brap” sounds and then driving into a building to get inspected. I honestly didn’t even know this was going on until maybe the night before the event. I had seen on Facebook that there was a small meet which was dubbed a “casting call” by Super Street and Import Tuner but I didn’t know it coincided with the Formula D tech day. This was held at the Source Interlink Irvine offices and served as a small meet as well where cars would come by and possibly get scouted to be in one of the Source Interlink books. I didn’t expect a whole lot from this event because it wasn’t heavily advertised and when DPK David and I arrived at the event, my assumptions were correct. It was just a very small gathering of cars and an interesting mix of different makes and models. The Formula D cars came and went because they were just there for the tech inspection, but I got what I could. I don’t have any details on the tech day itself because I don’t know that much about drifting these days, and I am not a Formula D official. We all just hung out for awhile and chatted and took off awhile later because, as you saw yesterday, I had a surprise birthday party to attend. With that said, let’s get this going….
Loved this Z33 with SSR Type-Fs from R-Rydes. If you aren’t familiar with this car, it is the infamous “Ruined Z” that was once the talk of the internet a couple years back. The owner took his 350Z to this shit hole of a bodyshop known as iDesigns where they did everything possible to not complete the job of installing a body kit. They used wood screws to hold on the sideskirts, did a horrible job painting it, etc…it was a mess. I’m happy to see this car looking great these days though. A lesser owner would have given up on the car after the ordeal he had to go through…
Another clean Z33…this one on Volk LE37s…
One of the first things I noticed when I rolled up to this event was this S13 hatchback with a gutter-ass intercooler spray-painted with the words “HONDA KILLER” on it…haha…better save up some money and have some better taste before you attempt to kill any Hondas…
Always enjoy seeing really clean builds like this NA-chassis Mazda MX-5 Miata on Work Equip 03s….
Honda S2000 with Amuse or “Amuse-style” aero…
’33 Ford hot rod that sits inside the Source Interlink offices in Irvine…
Inside the bays of the Source Interlink offices are multiple lifts where the Formula D participants had their cars inspected…
Widebody Honda S2000 from 1UP crew…
The event also played host to the most Elite of the stock NSXs…
EP3 Civic on Formula Hart wheels with a Mugen grille and lip….
This was totally random but I spotted this Lancer Evolution III at the meet. Not only was it rare to see, it was also left-hand drive….With the 4-lug it may very well be a Mitsubishi Lancer with a Evo III conversion…
Ran into this second generation Scion xB with a pretty large intercooler….something with a large intercooler unit like this must have a pretty large turbo, right?…
…apparently not… Also strange to see people rocking stickers that just say “HATE” on it now too…The word “hate” is starting to become more overused than the word “JDM”…Overall, not a bad looking car though…
This MX32 Toyota Cressida is a pretty cool build from Sparkle Garage…Within their circle, it’s known more as the “JZX32 Shakotan Zombie”…
…”JZX32″ because this Cressida sports a VVT-i N/A 2JZ-GE engine swap from a Toyota Aristo/Lexus GS300…. The box on the bottom of the photo actually houses the Cressida’s ECU…
Really liked this 180SX-converted S13 hatchback but he was leaving as I approached it so I couldn’t get a closer look…
The meet hosted a couple of nice Z32 300ZXs, which are rare to see these days considering how they weren’t very popular even in it’s time… This was one of the better examples at the meet…
This was another nice Z32….Both on Work Meister S1 wheels but the latter had caps…
And here is a random crappy metal scoop on a Subaru WRX…not sure if this is to help drive air into the motor or if the owner has a pet hamster…
5th generation 7-Series BMW on Vorsteiner wheels…
Z31 Nissan Z on SSR wheels…I believe this was the same Z that used to be pink…
This is Daigo Saito’s new Achilles Tire-sponsored Toyota Soarer/Lexus SC430 drift car that is set to make it’s debut at Formula D Long Beach…I’m told it was built in Japan and brought over to the U.S. to compete in the Formula D series. It’s THE car to watch in 2012 because it’s a 1200hp 2JZ-GTE monster that will be piloted by D1/FD Asia’s 2011 champion…
Check out the dual rear Wilwood brake calipers and the notched brake rotors…
A glimpse of the 1200 horsepower 2JZ…
The Soarer being loaded-up on an Emergency Hookers flat-bed truck after inspection….
Besides the massive rear wing, check out the underside of the car with the radiator and dual electric fans…
Ross Petty’s S15 Silvia drift car from Garage Boso….sporting a new livery this year with a hint of his political views…
Not sure what this candy red Z33 drift car with HRE wheels had under the hood but it was extremely loud as it rolled into the lot…
The air cleaner sticking out through the center of the hood shows that it’s probably a GM LSx V8 but don’t quote me on that…
The interior of the 350Z….
Clean AE86 coupe on Work Equip 01s…
One more shot of the Soarer/SC430…
Closing out this portion of coverage with a shot of the JZX32 Zombie driving away…
That’s a wrap for today…With things being so slow lately, I’m leaning towards going to the Formula D Long Beach event to grab some coverage…stay tuned…