Formula Drift 2010 @ Road Atlanta

 was always curious about Drifting and had seen enough and more videos but when i got a chance to see it, there was no way in hell that I'd miss it. 

Drifting refers to a driving technique and to a motorsport where the driver intentionally oversteers, causing loss of traction in the rear wheels through turns, while maintaining vehicle control and a high exit speed. A car is said to be drifting when the rear slip angle is greater than the front slip angle prior to the corner apex, and the front wheels are pointing in the opposite direction to the turn (e.g. car is turning left, wheels are pointed right or vice versa), and the driver is controlling these factors. 

the above is obviously not the stuff that i can type out. pulled it out from Wikipedia. 

Formula Drift is a championship which is held nationwide and features some top notch teams and privateers. its very much like INRC that we have. privateers who impress the sponsors get sponsorship deals. Need For Speed did sponsor one such privateer. 

enough of digressing. This event that i went to was held at  Road Atlanta which is a motorsports park. 

they have a calendar of events covering all types of track races. This is known to be one of the best racetracks too (they claim). The days events actually started in the noon with free practice for all participants starting at 2pm. I planned my travel such that I'd reach there by 1pm just so i could get to see these cars up close. I parked up and walked towards the Paddock/Pits area.passed by some nice cars on my way...

went ahead to the Paddock area where all the participating cars were being worked upon. I wanted to get a close up look at these cars coz there has to be something magically different in these cars to make them go sideways.Just as i entered, my attention went towards to the far corner of the area where i saw tyre smoke and rumbling V8's. it was the dodge stall !!

and those V8's rumbling were Challengers and Chargers in SRT 8 HEMI's. they were drifting in a track made specially by Dodge. this had nothing to do with the actual competition. stood and watched it for a while and then i saw this..a board which said FREE THRILL RIDES .
  
oh yes. thats when i realized that the passenger seat was part of the thrill ride on these drifting 425HP V8's. left the rest of my paddock visit to air and got in line for this ride of a lifetime.this is where my eyes where stuck on all through the wait for my turn. 

and when my turn did come, what a ride it turned out to be..watch this video and esp the 2nd half which is just phenomenal. must watch

guess what , i got greedy and went again  :) while i was waiting for my 2nd turn, this is what this guy with the charger did...he did this super awesome burnout...!!

after all this adrenaline rush, i went to the track coz the knockout session had already begun.i walked up to the viewing area and marked up my space. it was gonna be at the spot where i could get as close to the cars as possible at a turning. no zoom zoom on my camera (busted). 

and then it happened..the 350Z ,which was fitted with a V8, that was on the track cracked its gearbox and went
around spewing oil all over the track.

so now come the cleaning squad. its a long process with a truck dragging along a bag of ash and some other stuff that absorbs oil. then a tractor comes with a huge blower which blows off all the dust and all the debris. after this brief disruption came the action !! ..this is an event worth visiting and guess what,it only gets better after you know the rules. i understood that well enough to know whats going on.

the race eventually resumed.

phew.the knockout session was incredible. watch my video coverage of the race.

a video of the line up and launch



Don't forget to watch the picture slideshow below  

discussions @
http://gearheads.in/track-racing-track-days/formula-drift-road-atlanta-t1897.html
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/intl-motorsport/81138-formula-drift-drifting-championship-i-there.html

exotic car festival 2010,celebration,FL....been there

Florida has beautiful weather, sunny and warm ..so say the Americans..well, coming from India, I've seen enough of sun and warmth and did not really look fwd for that weather..but..wait a minute..good weather means everybody will want to live in Florida..meaning rich guys too..meaning  exotic cars too...aah..see, now you know where I'm headed..all this while, I was trying to see why I should be going to Florida and here I just found the reason..and just then with a weird stroke of luck, i saw some post about a certain car show happening in a town called Celebration in Florida. the show is called Exotic car festival 

saw some videos on youtube and i knew it.I had to go. this place is a cool 5 hrs drive away from where i stay. 

Now since I had no intention to go anywhere else in Florida, I decided that the most sensible thing to do will be to drive out early in the morning like 4 am and reach destination by 9.30 am. show was to start by 10.00am.

 As planned , i did leave at 4 am. multiple stops for fuel, breakfast, coffee, energy drink etc later, i finally reached Celebration,FL. as soon s i took the exit towards Celebration i realized there was something different about this place. the whole town looks different. a lil magical if i can say. it looks like a movie set. the entire town has this luxury and richness feel to it. very unlike any town/city I've ever seen in US. on reading, I understand that this town is developed by The Walt Disney company. So that explains the magical fairyland touch to the town. 
I drove all around town and found myself a parking spot and walked to the venue. most of the cars passing by are exotics of one kind or the other. Custom Range Rovers, AMG mercs,  BMW M's  are dime a dozen. matter of fact even the current gen muscle cars stay away from this place coz the competition is an all out european assualt so to say.  i was flabbergasted at the sight that i saw. long lines of ferrari's. the kind we'd go gaga over when we spot it on indian roads. why even in US its a rarity. this event is only a congregation of these rare cars. 

i reckon there could've easily been around 200 ferrari's in and around that event. now all these cars belong to either owners, dealers or auction houses and sadly, these cars spend most of their times idle. on shows like these or in their temperature controlled garages. the miles that these cars ever put on are the ones while driving into or out of a trailer. 

the Bugatti Veyrons were a sight to behold. they are some of the rarest examples ever made. the chrome and blue variant is the pur sang bleu version and was bought for 2.9mn $ !! yupp..thats what its worth.  and guess what,both the bugattis in the pic are owned by the same guy.wow. there was another Veyron in another part of the show and that was owned by yet another super billionaire. 

Now, ferrari had arranged a drive for all Ferrari challenge series cars at a racetrack called Sebring Speedway. those cars were displayed too. interesting to see was a ferrari 360 challenge with Force India Decals !! on close look it was an Indian who owned and raced it. the name India is flying high eh.
Also of particular interest was the 2004 Ferrari F1 car which belonged to one of the super rich collectors.
after seeing the entire line up, drove out of there by around 3 pm to reach home 6 hrs later. 


mindblowing show this one and I for once , did not mind the long drive. 

the pix in the below slideshow are a must watch.

discussions @
http://gearheads.in/super-cars-section/exotic-car-festival-celebration-t1676.html
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/international-automotive-scene/79849-exotic-car-festival-2010-celebration-fl.html

Incline Railways,Chattanooga,TN

The Lookout Mountain Incline Railway is an inclined plane railway located along the side of Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in the United States. Passengers are transported from St. Elmo's Station at the base, to Point Park at the mountain summit, which overlooks the city and the Tennessee River. The railway is approximately one mile in length. it is single track except for a short two-track stretch at the midway point, allowing operation of two cars at one time, and has a maximum grade of 72.7%. It is billed as the world's steepest passenger railway.



watch the photo slideshow below

Ruby Falls,Chattanooga,TN

Ruby Falls is a 145-foot high underground waterfall located within Lookout Mountain, near Rock City and Chattanooga, Tennessee in the United States.
 Ruby Falls Cave features many of the more well-known types of cave formations including stalactites and stalagmites, columns, drapery, and flowstone The Falls are located at the end of the main passage of Ruby Falls Cave, in a large vertical shaft. The stream, 1120 feet underground, is fed both by rainwater and natural springs. It collects in a pool in the cave floor and then continues through the mountain until finally joining the Tennessee River at the base of Lookout Mountain.
wikipedia told me all of the above.I did not know this at all LOL

 

pics @

SeaQuarium, Miami,FL

had a whale of a time and I mean it literally. where else can you see a whale dance to the tune .














pix @

The Mysterious Coral Castle,Miami,FL

About 30 miles south of Miami, Florida, in a town called Homestead, lies an unusual—some would say impossible—structure, composed of coral rock. Called the Coral Castle, it has a colorful past.  It was the life's work of a reclusive Latvian immigrant named Edward Leedskalnin, who built the complex after being jilted by his sixteen-year-old sweetheart on their wedding day.

source: livescience

Universal Studios,Orlando,FL

This theme park is mind blowing.







pix @

Stone Mountain Park,GA

Stone Mountain,is dubbed as “the largest exposed piece of granite in the world". This misnomer is most likely a result of advertisement by granite companies and early park administration. In actuality, there are larger exposed granite landscapes throughout the world. There is an interesting carving on the side of mountain of Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and Jefferson Davis.I've no clue who they are. 




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Georgia Aquarium,Atlanta,GA

The Georgia Aquarium, located in Atlanta, Georgia  is the world's largest aquarium with more than 8.1 million US gallons of marine and fresh water housing more than 100,000 animals of 500 different species. The aquarium's notable specimens include four young whale sharks, two beluga whales and two manta rays.





pix:

Providence Canyon State Park, GA

Providence Canyon, which is sometimes called Georgia's "Little Grand Canyon" is considered to be one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Georgia. Providence Canyon actually is not a purely natural feature — the massive gullies (the deepest being 150 feet) were caused by erosion due to poor farming in the 1800s.

RiverQuarium,Albany,GA

A quick day visit is what i was looking for. Albany is a city some 45 minutes drive away. I happened to find this attraction. Its called , RiverQuarium. The Flint RiverQuarium is a 54,000 sq ft aquarium  located on the banks of the Flint River in Albany, Georgia, United States.

..and it snowed in Georgia !!

it generally does not snow here not like in the NE of US but then, one fine day, it did snow. 

Peachtree City,GA to Americus,GA

I had to relocate base location to client's plant further south of Georgia

Buying a car- The craigslist experience

The last 2 times I was in US , I was on short term assignment's..
1st one was for 3 months to Philly..Public transport was available for home-office-home..in the evenings, I'd ride in my friends '95 accord. never needed to own a car.
2nd time I was in Birmingham,AL for a month and I did need a car...rented an Altima for a while and then switched to a corolla.
this time, I was gonna be in US long term and knew very well I needed to buy a car..
why buy a car? couldn't I have just rented ? answer is yes and no...
yes I could've rented any car for long term..and I could've got good monthly rates too. but I did not.. I chose to buy. I always travel on L1 visa and my company doesn't provide rental car reimbursement ( thats the way they are...I'd rather not discuss that point). This means that rental car expense are only money outflow..whereas if I buy a car, I can sell it and recover my money..makes sense?

with this logic in place, I started searching...


searching for a used car suddenly became a primary activity for me while still being in India. the online sources I used were :

1. Craigslist - Classifieds site where one can buy anything and everything. not like ebay though.
2. Autotrader - Dedicated automotive classifieds.
3. Carmax - used car dealer who has nationwide presence.
4. kelly blue book - to check for value of car based on the condition of the car.

now this got me excited. very excited. so i start looking for all the cars I always wanted to drive..
my logic was "whoever goes to US ends up buying a jap car..let me be a bit different..I'll buy a car I want to drive..german, american or british "

found quite a lot of 'good looking' cars but I sure knew the good looking cars did come out of a detailing shop where all the blemishes are removed. So, then, I started to look beyond the surface finish. high miles is something I was avoiding. there are very few cars I come across with low miles on them. Americans drive around a lot you see. so my checklist was

1. less owners
2. relatively lower miles.
3. no engine work (done previously or pending in near future)
4. no mods whatsoever.
5. direct seller..I avoid dealers.
6. not repainted.
7. no accidents/dings/dents
8. carfax report.

good..now checklist was in place..and i was still in India at this stage.

started searching Carmax inventory..why carmax when I hated dealers ? coz this is not the typical mexican car dealer..carmax has nationwide presence and the experience ,I'm told, is as good as buying a new car. therefore carmax was an exception. if they've got a car sitting somewhere in NY, they'll ship it to this location if I buy it. so, all this sounds cool and sounded like the place to go to for used cars..but then, who told all this came free? the feel good is obviously a 'purchasable' commodity. prices of all cars were way higher than the norm market price. but this was the only place I could find low miles cars..could I afford it ?
Then came the issue of budget. My pockets were definitely not deep and nor could I get a loan..my credit score in US is not great and without a good credit rating, one cannot get a good loan. that's when carmax went out of the search and so did low miles car.
back to craigslist and autotrader. in both these sites you can find dealers and individual sellers..I chose to look from direct sellers and looked up a long list of 'good' cars.
I started looking for used jap means..read Honda CIVIC/Accord, Toyota Corolla/Camry, Nissan Maxima/Altima.


I had only 1 more weekend before I packed up and left to americus..I had to find a car asap. but which one? jap cars are available but not all are good to buy..civics are notorious..many of them have engine swaps for mods or have very high miles..the ones with low miles needn't have to be so..the ads cleverly word it as "120k on the engine" ..people who just read 120k get fooled coz the ad means that car is way older and has had an engine swap and then run for 120k..now that's a car phaked beyond recognition. I had to filter these out..then there are those who price the cars really low and have genuinely low miles but with salvage title..what it means is that the car has met with an accident and has been declared as 'totalled' but has been repaired to run again. now this is scrap value coz nobody wants to buy these..well, not me atleast. these 'salvage' titled cars are next to impossible to sell.

my new checklist :
1. non smoker car
2. good service history.
3. no pets.
4. genuine miles (car/engine/transmission)
5. no salvage title.
6. less owners (preferably 1 owner)
7. no engine work (done previously or pending in near future)
8. no mods whatsoever.
9. direct seller..I avoid dealers.
10. not repainted.
11. no accidents/dings/dents
12. carfax report.

now you see how I learnt about US used car scene thru the 1 weeks of research.

I started shortlisting cars and then came this majorly attractive ad on craigslist..
'2006 PONTIAC GTO/50k miles/no accident/genuine title/single owner/must sell immediately/$ 6000.'

aah..now I found the next best ad after the Range Rover.
no phone number on the ad so I had to email which I did immediately.

the pontiac GTO is a rebadged LHD Holden Monaro. one of the better known RWD performance car...naaisss..i like i like..and guess what, I even got an immediate response...


craigslist is a a very good classifieds site but then it also hosts a lot of scamsters..

I'll explain.
this Pontiac GTO ad sounded very nice and looked like the deal of the year. But when I got the reply, I smelt something fishy. summary of the lengthy reply - car is in Texas, he 'says' he is a soldier and is deputed to IRAQ and has to sell immediately, I pay via ebay motors and the car with title will be shipped from ebay motors' yard to my location. if i don't like the car, I can return it.
This ad was a carrot for all the stupid folks of US. whats wrong with that ad you say? well, I can't even see the car since it is so far away...so, I'm not even sure if the car in the pic is the car that's for sale..he does give me a VIN and the carfax will be predictably good...but what I could be getting for that money will be a only a title and a heap of metal..yupp..if its met with an accident and had only liability insurance (3rd party) , then all that'll remain will be a heap of metal...and that's what was being sold..you can find an ad like this ever so often and only careful eyes can point them out..
and btw, after making the payment I'm not sure if there is any legal way of tracing the transaction too so all that is a big scam..
the symptoms became more and more predictable as I bumped into more such ads..

so I continued searching...


5 cars shortlisted for shortlisted for inspection for the weekend .

1. 1995 Acura Legend.
2. 1997 Acura Integra.
3. 1997 Nissan Altima.
4. 1996 Civic sedan.
5. 1996 Civic coupe


well, actually shortlisted many more but then I could end up speaking with only 5 of them prospective sellers.

Took a Rental Kia Optima and left on sat morning.


and this is what happened with each of these cars..

1. 1995 Acura Legend.

all the while, I was made to believe that it was being sold by an individual and not a dealer..guess what, rubbish..it was a mexican dealer. when i went there, all he said was " the car just got sold..you were late.." that was non sense..I reached at the time we had decided on..he was in a very far away location too..instead he started selling the mazda's he had..I did not want to heed to anything he said..drove out of there.

1 car down.

2. 1997 Acura Integra.

we had decided to meet at a convenient location coz i did not have a GPS and I could not locate his address..bugger never turned up..after an hours of my waiting , I got a call..
"yo man..I can't be there today..my mechanic is working on the and he has opened up half the engine "
I asked " what's wrong? "
he " the head gasket is gone and I tried to change it myself and it did not work and so , I called my mechanic ..we can meet tomorrow"
this car went to the trash as far as i was concerned..

2nd car down.


3. 1997 Nissan Altima.

this was a car i wasn't really keen on but I wanted to see it anyway coz the miles seemed like genuinely low miles. this time around, this guy said he'd come to the hotel I was in..sounded like he was desperate to sell the car. I had seen the pic of the car. it was rear 3 qtr shot of the car and it looked ok.
he turned up on time...when I saw the car, I really wanted to just walk away and not even tell him that it was me he came to meet. it was a disgusting looker. the rear 3 qtr,which was in the pic , was the only bit that was acceptable..
paint- oxidised beyond recognition.
body- dents all over.
interiors- it was a smokers den, it even had the door pads missing. the speakers were all falling into hands. half the electronics were not working.
suspension & tyres - tyres were all screwed..suspension...god knows..I didn't ride/drive it.
engine - this was the joke..bugger had button start/stop installed and it never worked. so he had to go and bypass it and start it..I cared the least for this car..I said I'll get back to him..we just can't say no easily.

he msg'd me later asking " dude, are you still interested in the car" I replied "did I even have to reply? wasn't it clear when we met? good luck selling it"

3rd car out


4. 1996 Civic sedan

this was being sold by a hyderabadi guy..it had low miles and he said all was fine with the car and that he was buying a newer car and did not need this one..most common reason people give..I went to his apartment complex and walked up to his apartment block..when i reached I got irritated to the core..this guy said he was going to sell it to me but here he was...negotiating with somebody ..in front of me..atleast he could've told me when i called him from the gate of the apartment complex.. i could find sollace in the fact that this car was not even starting..it had a starter motor problem and would've cost me a lot to tow it and get it repaired anyway..

4th car down..this was getting frustrating.

5. 1996 Civic coupe

this was officially my last car on the list and I was in the most frustrated mood..again, the car owner came to a common place to show me his car..it was black coupe..i have a soft corner for coupes..i kinda like them..
the car had bad paint, bad interiors and bad electronics..the power windows and the inside door latches wouldn't work either. was the engine good atleast? well, when i drove it, the engine felt good though..so was the suspension and tyres.. i got back to the spot and popped the hood to see the engine bay..to my horror..the car was red color on the inside !! the reason for the bad paint on the outside was coz this guy had painted his car at home ..
that's it..told him his car was useless and walked off..went back to the hotel with all options gone away with no car shortlisted.


..then, just when I was planning on getting back to peachtree city (from atlanta) , I checked craiglist for updates..amongst all the rubbish cars listed, I found one car which was kinda good but had high miles.
it was a 2000 toyota camry V6 with 187k miles on it. after all the cars I'd seen, I thought i'd give a shot too. quickly called the owner and arranged a meeting spot and went out ..there this was ..

BLR-FRA-ATL- Peachtree City,GA

For the past 2 US trips of mine, I'd flown on Air France and I was very pleased with it but this time around it was on Lufthansa. 

Talladega Speedway

was always curious about Nascar. I've always been an ardent fan of F1 but never knew what this sport has that gets US gripped enough to ignore the existence of F1. 
I had planned to visit Talladega Speedway which was an hrs drive away from Leeds,AL where I stayed. Left early in the morning to reach the racetrack by 8am.

more pix





discussion @
http://gearheads.in/track-racing-track-days/drove-nascar-t484.html