Car Throttle

No car clubs, no sponsors, no vendor tents - just car people standing in a parking lot. A few years ago, that's how it used to be in Raleigh.  Of course, the downside to that was it was the prelude to a whole bunch of illegal street racing, a meetup spot where people popped hoods and talked cars, oogled girls, then rolled out to the highway in a big group, doing 3rd gear rolls to absurd speeds until the cops showed up. Then came the crackdown; RPD got sick of it, and the street racing - the bad stuff - along with the impromptu, unorganized night time car shows - were basically eradicated.  You used to be able to roll up to a number of different

Dank: it's a noun, an urban-ism, with a lot of meanings. It can refer to food ("that burrito was dank!"), music ("this house DJ is dank!") or a number of other things.  In the car world, Dank is usually used to describe stanced/hellaflush cars.  So Dank-Fest seems like a proper title for a show devoted to the Stance & Offset crowd.  The show - which was the first - was organized and put together by StancedLyfe, Wilkseboro Crew, and Hoodstatus, and was supported or sponsored by ISO, TeamRPM, NOS Energy, Firestone (locally), GoGirl Entertainment, and SOHO Motorsports. So... what the hell is Stance & Offset?  In mechanical terms, it's a car that's slammed to the ground, cambered out, stretched tires and rolled fenders with the wheels

The Honda CR-Z has been panned by many reviewers and enthusiasts as a missed opportunity. The CR-Z has left performance out of the equation, instead of being an affordable and fun successor to the CR-X. Since its introduction we've heard rumblings about a sport-tuned by Honda tuner Mugen. Last month, Mugen made it an official with the announcement of a Mugen CR-Z concept headed for a debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July. The changes focus primarily on boosting power from the 1.5-liter four-cylinder combined with an electric motor. Now with forced induction, the combined setup makes 197 horsepower and 191 pound feet of torque. Those numbers are up dramatically from the standard car's 122 hp. Along with a drop of 110 pounds

The Honda CR-Z held a lot of promise when it was first shown to enthusiasts, but sadly hasn't quite lived up to that. Clearly Honda was aiming to catch some of the CR-X's allure but it hasn't quite panned out that way. Its slow hybrid drivetrain doesn't do it any favors. We wouldn't be surprised if Honda tried to make it more performance oriented in the future. Until then though, Honda tuner Mugen is happy to oblige. In October 2009, we first reported on news about a Mugen-tuned version of the Honda CR-Z. Over a year later, the first pictures of the car are surfacing. Even now though it apparently is just a concept car, although we don't see it being that way

It's nice when enthusiasts and dealers get along. This allows events like a Honda car show at a Honda dealer to occur.  So big kudos to Crown Honda of Charlotte for hosting Carolina Honda's meet in their lot this Sunday.  It's a great venue for a show: plenty of parking, room for vendors and swap tents and a dyno, and of course so many awesome cars you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a set of titanium lug nuts. What's really cool about Honda shows is the variety of cars that show up to them.  The bulk of the aftermarket and enthusiast support for Hondas are for mid-ninties Civics (EG and EK chassis, mainly for their low weight and double-wishbone suspension) and Integras (primarily

It's hard these days to find a unique niche in the US auto market. There's a vehicle to suit basically any need and price range.  I mean, why else does Mercedes make the R-class and the CLS?  Does anyone really need a 500-horsepower 4WD AMG-engined Minivan?  Not really, but Mercedes saw a niche and filled it.  Sometimes this practice of niche filling works out (Subaru Outback!) and sometimes it doesn't (GMC Envoy XUV!)  Honda saw an opportunity to both fill an empty niche in the market, and make a retro reference to one of their cult classics.  Thus was born the CR-Z hybrid, an odd amalgam of Civic CRX, first-generation Insight, and a touch of Prius.  And maybe Fiero.  It's weird, but does it make

For real.  I love drag racing. I know it's simplistic, primal, and perhaps a bit stupid.  "Real racers turn, too!"  Yeah, I know.  Still, it's one of those sports that's not hard to get into.  You don't have to have a long attention span.  If you don't like the car on the tree, it's gonna be done racing in a few seconds.  And something else is coming up behind it.  Hell, it's a sport that not only condones but encourages burnouts, which is the automotive equivalent of a testosterone storm. So there's not really "news" to report from a local drag strip.  But it's loud, smells great, tons of fun to watch or participate in, and talk about.  Plus, I just picked up a new camera

There's a lot of smack-talking that occurs among the import tuning crowd. "Yo, bro, my B20/VTEC EG hatch could walk all over your H22-swapped EK hatch."  Sadly, these are not the type of discussions that can be settled on the street, because that's illegal. So local drag strips spend a lot of their weekends hosting drag racing for street cars.  This was the case the other weekend - local import speed shop Phantasm Racing hosted their first Street Wars event of the season.  As with any import drag racing event, there were some wickedly fast cars - and also some loud slow junk.  I'll be skipping the loud, slow junk and showing you a mix of pictures and video of the good stuff.

Ahh, the 90's Civic hatchback: dime a dozen, get 'em while they're hot. I know you wanted to pick a flavor, but I hope you like vanilla, 'cause that's what you'll get.  Right?  Now, normally when you look under the hood of an EG-chassis Civic (92-95), you see one these: a D15. Boring.  On a good day, a single-cam D15 16v PGM-FI motor will make 110 or so horsepower.  Which is perfectly adequate for a 2,400lb commuter car, and it'll deliver 40+ MPG on the highway all day long.  But if you want to go fast in your Civic Hatch, you're going to need a bigger motor.  How about one that doesn't even fit under the hood? Wait, WHAT? No, this photo isn't photoshopped.  That's an

The Honda Civic Si has been a shoestring-budget enthusiast favorite for a long time. But it's hard to deny that it's been standing pat while it's competitors have been charging past it - sometimes at a way faster rate of speed.  Budget rockets like the MazdaSpeed3, Lancer Ralliart, and Subaru WRX have sucked down a lungful of turbo boost and proceeded to blow the Si's doors off.  Even though the current Si is a hoot to drive, it's a bit embarassing that a V6 Mustang will blow it's doors off.  Enter the rumormill: when the refreshed 2012 Civic Si hits dealer lots, it's going to have a new engine under the hood. Now, that's not to say the current Si's motor is a dud.  Far from