Draco-REX

It's Mad Tyte JDM, Yo!

They didn't have lunchables when I was a kid.... Pass the PB&J and twinkies..

I can't find it, but I remember seeing a video of a test that was done on a bridge support. They drive a semi into it at 70mph. The cab wrapped around the pillar and the truck stopped dead.. Really cool, and scary at the same time.

Kick ASS. Good find!

Every time I call it it says to call some talk line and hangs up.

Truth.

DeTomaso Pantera http://frobac.com/images/img/top10/9.jpg

Drat... I was hoping you had misspelled Pantera.

Can't wait to see the fail vids of people trying to drift their Scions...

Show me a Turbo AWD one, and I'll be all over it. The WRC versions are absolute badass.

Formula1.com and F1technical.net are both great sources.

Forgo to mention. I agree that some more passing would be nice. But ther ejust isn't an easy way to accomplish that. F1 is the bleeding edge of racing. Every millimeter and milligram translates into real-world results in F1. If you remove all the aero, the teams will still develop the cars to the limit and passing will suffer. Qualifying is as much a part of the race as the race itself. If you're not watching qualifying, then IMO, I think you're missing half the fun. I think of F1 as a two-part series. A test of not just roadcourse racing, but time trials as well. In my eyes, qualifying sets the field. It's the chess match that sorts everyone out. Then race day determines if the teams have the ability to hold onto their spot. Vettel looked like a shoe-in for 1st. But that didn't happen. BMW Sauber looked like it would be a mid-pack contender and Lotus would fall apart in the first corner. But that didn't happen either. Passing is only part of the race. The trophies may be given out on Sunday, but the race starts on Thursday. That's what I love about F1. It's the whole package.

True. But the possible issues in the pits have been moved out to the track. And a lot of people think that the race should be won or lost on the track not in the pits. So, yeah, there's less chance of an issue in the pits. But the risk of a fueling issue or a wrench guy fumbling the safety release has been replaced by other risks. Increased weight from the fuel will cause stress on the entire car. These cars can't be driven like the cars of last year when they are full of fuel. You can't hop curbs, or brake as aggressively. Plus, a lot of these parts were designed for a car that weighs 300lbs less! Greater tire wear as well from that weight. Tires will be under more strain, not just from the weight, but the front are smaller now, so there's less mass to handle heat buildup from braking. The rear has more downforce and the cars are better balanced now. So rear tire wear will be up as well. No refuels mean that the teams have to debate between carrying extra fuel to have flexibility in strategy, or to run the calculated minimum for less weight. Fuel management will be big this year, and you know there will be people running out on the final 5 laps this year. And don't forget the new teams. They are anywhere from 5-8 seconds a lap down on the front runners. Teams will need to deal with lapped traffic more than ever. ALL of these things will need to be managed by the driver during the race. The drivers are more involved than ever and that is something which a ot of F1 critics have been clamoring for. A misjudgement on any of the above points can ruin a race. Let alone all of the other things a driver needs to deal with. If anything, I think there is MORE risk this year than in recent years.

Dude, your TV only gets the nature channel? I'd get a new one if I were you.

Worked fine for me. Watched it on DirecTV

SPOILERS!! (Though if you're worried about spoilers, why are you even looking at this thread?) Great race, even though my stomach made me miss most of it. The extra weight is going to really push reliability. We're definitely going to see more attrition this year, as everything on the car will feel the weight of that extra fuel. A third of the field retired in this race, and 7 of those 8 were due to mechanical failures. I bet the 8 engine limit is going put the hurt on some teams, and I won't be surprised if it effects the championship. Vettel is going to be a force to deal with this year, if his car will stay together. He and Webber are blazingly fast. If they can hammer out the reliability issues, Red Bull racing could cement themselves as one of the true big dogs of F1. Imagine that, a soda company standing tall with McLaren, Mercedes, and Ferrari. Alonso is showing why he was a Champion. It's good to see him out of the slow Renault and making a big splash on his Ferrari debut. But as much as he integrated with the team so easily, it looked like he was doing a little showboating when he was in the lead. Massa ran conservatively while Alonso was clicking off fast laps. It might turn out that Massa will prove the more consistent driver in the long run. Speaking of Massa, way to get back on the horse! I know that if I had taken a 30lb spring to the face at 160mph, I'd be a little more gun-shy. Remember, there's barely any testing outside the race weekends and between the seasons. He didn't have a huge opportunity to overcome any mental issues. Schumi. He's still got it. But will it be enough? Considering he took 3 years off, and the cars are so different from what he last remembers, 6th place is really good. He's already stated that he thinks 2011 will the year for Mercedes and himself. The big surprise for me was Lotus though. They put two Formula 1 cars together in 6 months. Half a year! That, in itself, is amazing. And it did show during practice and qualifying with pieces literally flying off the car. But what really amazed me is that, on their first race, at one of the hottest locations on the schedule, they got BOTH cars over the finish line. That's more than some much more experienced teams did (BMW was a double DNF, and Renault had a failure as well). Heikki said to give Lotus 3 years to come up to speed. If they can keep doing what they did today, I don't doubt Lotus will be adding to their great history in 3 years. Who'd have thought I'd see British Racing Green and the Silver Arrows on the track live. I thought those sights were before my time. I'm not so sure about McLaren's stalling wing. I see nothing bad about routing air through the body to the rear to effect the wing. Aerodynamics are just that, dynamic. Just because McLaren thought of it first, doesn't mean it should be banned outright. This isn't NASCAR. However, I do wonder about the driver-actuated flap in the ducting. Granted it's not an external aero device, and I'm sure the driver or pit can control other ducts in the car, but it's a very grey area. One that should be decided on quickly. That or McLaren needs to design out the driver-controlled aspect of it. Otherwise, other teams are going to start "ducting" other aero devices so that they can be made active. But thumbs-up for the innovation; taking a problem from last year and turning it into a ground breaking idea this year. I bet Adrian Newey is kicking himself for not thinking of it first. Can't wait for Austrailia in two weeks! Damn.. two weeks to move a F1 racing operation to the other side of the planet.. I don't envy those crews.

The tires rolling uphill is a dead giveaway.

Has started! Bahrain this weekend. Friday Practice is done, Qualifying tomorrow, then the race Sunday. Set your DVRs!

..where they made the ? (fake BTW) Yeah.. Was cool.. Now sucks. Epic Awesomesauce: http://www.wimp.com/gomachine/

Needs a HHHHNNNGGGGHHHHH.....

Yeah, sounds scam-ish. Though I will say, there's this one house on Dublin RD that I really really like. If I had the money, I'd knock on the door and ask if they were interested in selling...

Not really. Seen a couple at the local AUtoX events. I think they fall into the kit car category, like the Ariel Atom.

Wider I think, and shorter.. Tough to tell. But I don't think that mockup has a full water jacket.

That's ok. We don't expect much from the 2WD crowd. When he started impersonating me?

But what is the curve going to look like? And that's a LOT of reciprocating mass. I don't see it revving high. With the likely hood of a narrow power band and low rev limit, I think it's going to lend itself to diesel-type fuels more readily than gas. Not a bad thing per say.. But I don't see this being the next 'vette engine...