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• SoCal Scene: Crossroads First Friday Meet Coverage

  In Car Events / By Freddy Chen / 6 February 2013

  

  Before I knew it, the first month of 2013 had come and gone and I had attended a whopping total of zero car shows/meets all 31 days. Disappointed in my lack of commitment, I set my sights on the Crossroads First Friday meet in Torrance, charged my camera battery, and drove southbound with “Eye of the Tiger” playing loudly on the radio. Nice.

  As I rolled into the Torrance Crossroads Shopping Center around 7:05PM, a small group of FR-S and Club4AG owners greeted me in the southern corner of the parking lot. While I took out my camera and started shooting test shots, I was surprised by the seemingly low attendance. Apart from the small FR-S crowd, there was a Datsun 510 here and there, a first-gen Scion xB, a blacked out third generation Camaro, and a Porsche Carrera GT. Wait what?

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• 2012 Scion FR-S Cup: Small Cars, Big Event

  In Car Events / By Staff / 18 November 2012

  

  Quick question… How do you fit over 100 Scion FR-Ss into just one small area of a parking lot? Easy, have Scion in collaboration with HPI Racing host a remote control (RC) event exclusive to the FR-S called the Scion FR-S Cup!

  Imagine controlling an FR-S zooming down a straightaway – the ground is a little wet and a turn is coming up, so you ease off the throttle. The FR-S clears the turn, but you can’t get stable. The FR-S jumps a small barrier on the track and does a couple flips. Normally this would be a major tragedy, but not when the FR-S is at 1/10th scale; it’s all part of the fun and excitement of an RC race.

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• SEMA 2012: The Final Countdown

  In Car Events / By Freddy Chen / 3 November 2012

  

  There are a number of times every year where I avoid my Facebook news feed like the plague. In no particular chronological order, these times include election season, major sports finals, whenever it rains in California, and the weeks leading up to and after SEMA. Why do I avoid checking my feed then you ask? Because everybody is posting the same frakkin thing. You see sites across the internet posting about the same cars, kits, builds, on and on. It’s madness.

  Needless to say, SEMA poses a unique coverage challenge to enthusiast sites unlike any other show on the automotive calendar. Do we write about the recognized heavy hitters and risk becoming “just another SEMA article” floating around the interwebs? Or do we cover the cars just out of the spotlight – and risk the lack of an established audience? I’ll make it easy on you. In no particular order, here are 20 SEMA 2012 standouts that should have caught your eye:

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• SEMA 2012: Scion FR-S & Subaru BRZ Invade Las Vegas [45 Pics]

  In Car Events / By Ari Cox / 3 November 2012

  

  It’s no surprise that the Toyoboru was THE car this year at SEMA. With a shortage of new noteworthy sports cars in the automotive world, the Scion FR-S and to a lesser extent the Subaru BRZ dominated the show floor at SEMA 2012. We counted over 45 Scion FR-S models  around the Convention Center. And that doesn’t include the 50 FR-S owners that rolled out to Vegas in the Scion to SEMA caravan. All told, rumor has it that there were over 150 reppin’ hard at SEMA. Most were slammed on aftermarket wheels and gussied up with either the Rocket Bunny bodykit from Japan or the Five Axis aero kit. What follows is a look at some of our favorites from the show.

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• SEMA 2012: Our Top 20 Favorite Rides

  In Car Events / By Tom Anderson / 2 November 2012

  

  It’s taken about a fortnight, but we’ve finally made a full recovery from our SEMA Show hangover. So…now what? Well, after going through our notes and editing our pictures, we realized that there was an absolute glut of customized cars and trucks squeezed into the Las Vegas Convention Center. Such a glut, in fact, that we wouldn’t have any trouble compiling a list of the top 20 vehicles from the show.

  So that’s exactly what we’ve done. And when our friends at Nitto Tire got wind that we were working on this, they decided to throw their support behind it. Thanks guys! Anyway, here, in no particular order, are our favorite dozen plus eight rides from SEMA 2012.

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• SEMA 2012: The Top 5 Emerging Trends

  In Car Events / By Tom Anderson / 1 November 2012

  

  It’s hard to believe that November is upon us yet again, but a check of the calendar (and, in less well-behaved neighborhoods, candy wrappers and/or smashed jack-o-lanterns on the street outside) indicates that that is indeed the case. And for fans of and builders of custom cars, trucks and motorcycles, their equivalent of Christmas comes every year during the first week of the eleventh month. That is when the SEMA Show sets up shop at the Las Vegas Convention Center, bringing with it all the chrome, carbon fiber and cheesecake you can handle.

  But one of the other attributes of SEMA that is frequently overlooked is how it acts as an instrument for measuring which vehicle modifying trends are hip or soon will be hip. Hike enough miles of exhibit space and you’ll start to see some clear patterns form. These patterns, in turn, can point to the popularity of a particular style of customization, or vehicles being used as starting points for customizing projects. Here are what we believe to be the five hot or about-to-be-hot trends on display in America’s preeminent adult playground.

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• Monterey Car Week 2012: Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion

  In Car Events, Motorsports / By Andre Ravinowich / 21 August 2012

  

  For the third time this year, Sub5Zero traveled once again to the beautiful Monterey Peninsula, home of the Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway. Each year, around the 3^rd week of August, the Peninsula plays host to dozens of car-related events – including what is probably our favorite, the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion.

  Over the course of 2 days, more than 500 cars, divided into 17 race groups, each took part in 2 20-minute races. Cars varied from a 1907 Renault Grand Prix car, to Mazda IMSA GT Prototypes from the early 1990’s.

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• Monterey Car Week 2012: Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance

  In Car Events / By Andre Ravinowich / 20 August 2012

  

  Our coverage of Car Week at the Monterey Peninsula continues with the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. This year marked the 62^nd anniversary of the Concours, which takes place on the grounds of the beautiful Pebble Beach Golf Links. Much like the Motorsports Reunion at Laguna Seca, the Pebble Beach Concours also selects different themes and marques to focus on each year.

  This year’s Concours featured cars with coachwork by Jacques Saoutchik, cars previously owned by the Maharajas of India, and Shelby Cobras. These were just a few of the dozens of different Classes of cars that competed for Best of Show at this year’s Concours.

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• 2012 Hot Import Nights Los Angeles: Kicking Off the Summer in Style

  In Car Events / By Jason Kwon / 10 July 2012

  

  As you may know, Hot Import Nights was the first big event of the summer, and it was a mishmash of all different types of cars, tournaments, and models. The first thing I was rather surprised by was the collaboration with IGN to host a Starcraft II tournament in the convention center. There was also a wrestling tournament in the corner of the building, which looked a bit odd taking place next to showcars. However, it was great to see more types of people come in through the doors, hopefully exposing their eyes to the greatness that is the SoCal car scene.

  Getting to the cars: there were cars from all across the board — European, American, Asian — you name it. I remembered HIN to be an essentially exclusive meet of JDM tuners and models, but things have changed. That is a good thing, of course, as more variety stirs things up. Now, before I show you the pictures, I apologize for the excessive noise, as the lighting conditions were less than ideal.

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• Cars and Coffee Irvine: Classic Cars Galore

  In Car Events / By Jason Kwon / 5 June 2012

  

  Cars and Coffee always brings out a huge selection of vintage cars, dating from the 1900s all the way to cars that haven't even been released yet (Jaguar CX-75, Lincoln MKR, Hennessey Venom). It's almost guaranteed you won't recognize at least one car every time you go, simply because of the insane variety of cars, most of which are classic, pre-1980s cars. 

  To be frank, I used to find many older cars boring, dirty, and obsolete, and I'm sure some of you can relate. I just didn't find a reason to be interested in something so unrefined with so little power, that smelled like it was leaking oil all the time. However, I began to realize truly how beautiful vintage cars can be. In the present day, cars are crammed with technology to make them safer, easier to operate, and more reliable. On paper, it's a good formula, but it dulls the experience of driving to the point where a computer is steering the wheel for you. On the other hand, older cars feel much more connected to the driver; no drive-by-wire, no traction control, and sometimes not even power steering!  Even driving a 70's Corolla would be a more visceral and raw experience than driving a present day Mustang. The melody of the carburetors, the lack of excessive catalytic converters and sound deadeners, no plastic… you get the idea. There's also the novelty of owning a car from a different era, constantly reminding you of the ideologies and ideas of the past. In a way, it's like a time capsule. A badass time capsule you get to enjoy driving, that is.

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