side brake

WOW update needed badly.

noreply@blogger.com (K. Gushi) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 07:18:00 +0000

Hey Guys. So i havn't updated much. actually i havnt updated since my trip to Las Vegas for Formula Drift. So here i go. actually, let's keep this simple. I wrote a blog for OMG Drift for the final round of Formula Drift at Toyota Speedway. So you can read that here since they have better pictures of me! http://omgdrift.com/?p=9920 Anyway, since the season ended, I have been trying to keep myself busy with drifting. I actually had this great opportunity to drive in the 2nd round of the Formula Drift Asia Series with RS-R Japan Supra. I ended up taking myself out in the top 32, crashing myself into the lead car.

(Picture by DriftPic)

(Picture by Cheryl Tay)

(Picture by DriftPic) As you can see, my bumper is literally off the car and on the ground. What had happened was upon impact, the oil cooler busted open and sprayed oil all over my window and also into my eyes since the windows were open. I couldn't see a damn thing. I don't know if I will be participating in the remaining Asia Rounds but what I can say is that the drivers in Asia are very exciting to watch and drive with. They are balls to the walls. More updates coming soon! As soon as i fix my cracked monitor on my laptop! =(

Formula D Round 6 VEGASSSS

noreply@blogger.com (K. Gushi) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 09:36:00 +0000

I've been so busy lately so i havnt had the chance to update anything!! sorry! Anyway, Let's see if i can even remember what happened in Vegas. The first thing that I remember was it was hot!!! Hot as hell. I drove there with my gf in her car and the whole drive there, it was between 102 and 112. We got into town Thursday afternoon so that gave me a few hours to relax by the poolside at the Vdara hotel. I took this time to review my notes from last year. As long as the car held up, I knew it would be a good event. I headed to Las Vegas Motor Speedway around 6pm to get ready for practice. Practice went great for us. Before this round, we made a few changes to the tC and it proved successful on our first run. The car was definitely more predictable and easier to throw around. I felt more comfortable and already knew this round was going to be fun.

Before we ended the night, I felt something fishy with the clutch, so I had my team look at it. To my relief, it was only a broken clutch plate. I know it sounds bad but compared to some of the other issues we've had this year, a broken clutch is cake. Friday was again, another awesome day. However, we had a thunderstorm that came out of no where. But that didnt stop anyone. We went into qualify in the burning weather (it was 102 at night!). We qualified 9th, and also won the RETAKS Insane Entry Award! Thanks Retaks, AND everyone who voted for me!! You guys are awesome.

My first match would be against Tyler. Unfortunately for Tyler, he wont be in his main car, but that doesn't mean it will be easy. Tyler is a killer driver that can pretty much adapt to anything. I ended Friday night with a few runs in tandem practice. What a good day! Then came the main competition day. As the spectators began to come in, we were already in our last practice session. Top 32. Tyler Mcquarrie. As i mentioned above, Tyler was in a back-up S15 that he is not really accustomed to but that didn't stop me from pushing 100%. In my lead run, I ran the same line as I did in qualify. Then on my follow lap, I nearly hit Tyler's car on entry which scared the living crap out of me but held it together. Unfortunately for Tyler, he stalled the car and half-spun in the second S-turn. That gave me the advantage and we moved on. Top16. Conrad Grunewald. I knew this would be interesting. Why? Because Conrad likes to go in ass first. He likes to back that ass up. Following a car that backs in is not easy because the deceleration rate is not the same as a normal initiation. I assume he got the advantage on the first lap. However on the second run, I took a normal line and hit the outside clip zones, while he passed me on the inside because he had no where to go. The judges took that as an illegal pass and gave me the win. Top 8. Matt Powers. Have I mentioned this guy has been on fire? I need to put it out. Unfortunately, I tapped him on the first run, and put myself in the tire wall but hey, did they fix the tire wall after Dai had hit it..... Anyway that gave me the loss and he moved on. Until next time Matt..til next time. Overall, I had a great weekend. The team did an excellent job prepping the car and I cannot wait to get to Irwindale. Thanks to all my Fans who made it there to cheer me on! Thanks to my team RS-R for the excellent work! and thanks to my gf for supporting me out there and always! See you all at Irwindale.! or on Facebook!

Formula D round 5 Seattle

noreply@blogger.com (K. Gushi) — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 22:12:00 +0000

There were a few changes we made to the car prior to coming here. The RSR team had found a faulty diff right before we left. We assumed that was why our grip in NJ wasn't quite there. It's possible it could have been the case for Florida too. So we put in a new OS Giken diff and from what Taka has told us, it works.

Unfortunately, we didn't get to drive on Thursday because my team had decided that it was unfair for other teams that had left if we practiced without them.

Wait what?....

Anyway, onto Friday.
On my first practice run, I noticed the characteristics of this new diff was quite a difference compared to the usual 2 way we were accustomed to.

On the second run, the clutch began to act up. Then on the third, the gearbox began making grinding noises.

Crap.

Qualify is about to start and we have a car down. Not good.
While trying to pull the gearbox out, we got word that the 1st practice group would get an extra 30min of run time because of some changes to the course.

Perfect. This gave us more time. However it wasn't easy pulling the gearbox out because one of the discs were jammed at the spline. Finally after about 40minutes of trying, it came off and we found out one of the discs were installed backwards.

Wow. Really.?

By the time the team got the car back together, I had already sacrificed one of my qualify runs.
So it all comes down to one run.

I had about 3laps total on this track prior and with an iffy diff, my confidence was shaky. But I need the points!!

I managed to pull through in the 26th spot.

Then during the practice after qualify, the car felt very sloppy and also as if there was reduced traction. I knew something was wrong but everytime I came in, we couldn't find the problem. There was a loud bang everytime I shifted so I thought it was the diff bushings.

We ended up staying til 5am the next morning pretty much replacing every single drivetrain component. New clutch, spare gearbox, new driveshaft, new axles, spare diff, and toe rods.
Toe rods??.. It turned out the bushings were shot.

Without having a chance to test the car, we called it a night and rested for about 4 hours.

We got to the track around 10 and found out we had missed a drivers meeting.

How much more can this get worse?..

But the good news was that the felt much better. During practice Saturday morning, I had more confidence in the car but it was still lacking the forward bite. I can hardly keep up with anyone on the straight away due to spinning tires.

But bigs thanks to my team for staying up so late to get the car back together. I swear these guys need a huge break. Well so do I but these guys really deserve one. ;)

Unfortunately we didn't make it through to the top 16.

I can't really say that it was a great event buy mad props to Formula D for hitting record sales at Evergreen Speedway!! It was a packed house!!! I wish I could have made it through to the end.

Thanks to everyone for coming by to the Scion Racing pit area!! Seattle was awesome!

Formula D New Jersey

noreply@blogger.com (K. Gushi) — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 23:53:00 +0000

Where do I start? The drifting or the weather? Let's start with weather.

Yeah what you see is some of the heavy damage mother nature had dropped upon us right before our top 32 practice. While we were in our drivers meeting for qualifying results, as Jarod got to number 25, the rain came suddenly and tore up the entire place. Everyone was in panic mode and Ross Petty was dancing around. I have never been in a flash flood so it was quite an experience. A rush!!

Anyway, let's start with practice on Thursday. I swear, every year that I come back, I am reminded of the horrific crash in 2007. I totaled a car here!!! It's such a slow circuit but I somehow managed to total it.

Practicing against the rest of the field dominated by V8s made me
realize how hard it is to keep up with displacement. When doing tandem, you can usually tell who will win as soon as the pair leaves the start line. So I practiced jumping the light. I won't jump the light when leading but when I'm following, I have to time it right so that we get to turn 1 at the same speed.

We qualified in the 10th spot with a score of 81.4. Not bad I would say.

In the top 32, we were matched up against Eric O'Sullivan. I didn't mean to tap him but when I did, I broke a water line and saw the water squirting out as I finished the lap.

Top 16 was with Justin Pawlak. Those Falken cars are too fast. I honestly don't remember my mustang being that fast! I tried to jump the light to see if I can stick to his door, but even with a jump, he took off fast and pretty much left me in the dust.

He moved on, and continued to move on to 2nd place.

Congrats to my fellow Hankook driver Conrad for the win and Justin and Dai for the remaining podium spots.

Seattle, here we come!

Formula D Singapore

noreply@blogger.com (K. Gushi) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 04:16:00 +0000

Woooooo Asia!!!! But damn, that was a long flight. 12hours to Tokyo and then another 7 to Singapore.

This will be Round 1 of the Formula D Asia Series which is the first stop of 4 throughout the year. So am I in my beastly tC? Not for this round. I was given the opportunity to drive Marcus's JZX100 Chaser built by Spark Motorsports.

Yes. A four door! My fav! Also on my team is Robbie Nishida, Daigo Saito, and Charles Ng.

We had all day Wednesday to test all the cars and set them up to our liking. Since this was the first time driving the chaser, I didn't know what to expect. But surprisingly, it was set up pretty well. In fact, so well that I told them to just leave it for now. Pop, my mechanic was by my side all the time in case I needed anything. After a few runs, I had them change some stuff around the suspension and we called it a day.

Thursday was a free day but we ended up spending 90% of it at Spark Motorsports to work on the cars. My chaser needed a repair on the diff bushings and subframe bushings. I also had POP lower the rear suspension.

Unfortunately that morning, I ate something bad and I broke my stomach. It was something I ate right outside out hotel.

I knew it was a bad idea. I spent alot of time getting to know the toilet bowl at the shop.
Oh! And the shop is crazy! They had a display room upstairs with a PS3, pool table, bar, Internet, and some show cases.

The pool table

I beat Robbie at pool. Muahahaha.

The shop staff were so generous too. They made sure we were fed, and having a good time, at all times. Singapore hospitality is amazing. Just one thing... It's so damn humid!!!

You can almost feel the humidity through the picture can't you?? It rains alot and when it does, it gets worse. Showers seem pointless because you sweat right away anyways.

Friday: we finally get the see the track. Omg. Formula 1 pits?! Yes that's right.

We were pitted inside Timo Glock's pit. How cool is that??
This day was set aside for Media ridealongs. In my case, practice and getting to know the car better!!!! The track layout was pretty straight forward. Straight to a left turn, feint side-brake entry into a sweeping right decreasing radius following a left kink and another kink to the right for exit. The entry was similar to Palm Beach.

At the end of the day, I was feeling at home with the chaser. Pop pretty much worked all night prepping the car for me. Thanks man!
We also met the Thai Superstar team.

Spark Motorsports x PTT invasion. Men in black. Haha awesome people.

Saturday is qualify for the Asia series as to where we qualify on Friday in the states. When the morning practice session took off, it began to rain. And then it came down really hard!!

During practice someone in front of me went straight into the wall on entry.

He was injured and sent to the hospital but later confirmed to be ok. Drifting is serious business. I hope his car is repairable.

Qualify in the rain in a RHD car I've never competed in?! Sure why not. When qualify started, it was apparent that the track just went from straight forward to tricky as hell. The problem was, some parts of the surface were more slippery than others. Inconsistent surface condition made it hard for all of us. I managed to qualify 5th. Wow. What a surprise. And thankfully, all of us at Spark Motorsports made it into the show.

Sunday: it's on!! Top 32. My first battle was against Pond from the Red Bull team. I really didn't know how to gauge these drivers in tandem so I knew I had to be real close. On my follow lap, I lightly tapped him but he didn't forcefully spin. If this was in the states, they would have spun.
I moved onto the 16 where I was now matched up against Koh Kae in his A31 Cefiro. This driver won second place last year in Malaysia and Daigo had warned me that he is good. So I should be right by him at all times.
I moved on to the top 8. An s15 from Australia. Then to the top 4 against my very own teammate Daigo. Really? Come on.. Why not in the finals? I knew if I didn't blast the starter, I wouldn't be able to keep up so I did. He STILL flew right by me and left me by about 3 cars. So now he is in the finals and I am in the match for 3rd. Ivan in his Corolla. Thankfully I beat him and join Daigo and Non from the M150 team in a spot on the podium.

This was a pretty cool experience. Thank you Marcus for making it happen!

Thanks Spark Motorsports and staff for all the hospitality! And thank you Pop for the tremendous mecha-support!

Formula D Palm Beach Florida.

noreply@blogger.com (K. Gushi) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 02:48:00 +0000

Wtf?! Alligators !!
Highlight of my trip.

Palm Beach International Raceway is surrounded by small bodies of water and there are turtles and alligators in them! I was so amazed. I wanted to touch them but I thought it would be bad to lose a hand before the event.

Anyway, Thursday's practice day went well for the RS-R Scion Racing tC. We quickly got the track down but before we knew it, Formula D decided to completely flip the track layout.
Either way, the tC was still set up proper. Gearing was right even though I contemplated on switching to a 4.3. We stayed with a 4.1 final drive.

My first run into the new layout, I had no idea what the hell to look for. The clipping points and the zone seemed so awkward and the zone was kind of unnatural. Throughout the session, I managed to figure out the track but at the end of the night, I was still unsure of what the judges could possibly ask for.

Friday: qualify day. Post driver's meeting, I was still uneasy about the line going into the outside zone and then exit. But too late to complain. I ended up qualifying 11th matched up against Ryan Kado.

Throughout practice, I had a hard time leaving the outside zone to finish the run. I would find it easier to hit the last clip if I left the zone early and approached the clip from the outside.

Saturday: so what I thought would help me ended up killing me. I should have listened to the judges and stayed in the outside zone longer. Even though I was closer to Ryan on my follow lap, I was not in the outside clipping zone long enough. My fault. Lesson to be learned? Do as the judges say or it will bite you in the ass.

But hey guess what? The Scion Racing tC is in great shape!! Haha finally there is some hope. I can't wait for round 4 NJ.

Oh btw, the wind was pretty strong on Friday and it blew the FD tent away. Wow.

Side kick GS

noreply@blogger.com (K. Gushi) — Sun, 29 May 2011 06:34:00 +0000

Hi ladies and gentlemen.
I don't know if most of you know but I have been modding my GS lately. Im trying to go for the sporty look with VERTEX aero and some big ass 20 inch Autocouture Magnifiques. Who knows, I might strip it down and build a 2J for it.
But thanks Vertex USA! I personally think this front end makes the car look much better.

4door drift car?

Formula Drift Atlanta

noreply@blogger.com (K. Gushi) — Sun, 08 May 2011 04:10:00 +0000

Lap 1 was a warm up on Thursday. But I went for it anyways and what do you know? I almost go off course. Hahaha oops?

But I noticed a lack of power coming down the hill. Was it me or was it the car.

Lap 2, I gave it about 75%. the entry was good. Reverse entry should be cake here.
But at the horseshoe, my manifold cracked open and I lost boost .

I think it had a hairline crack it in before we even got here.

So after getting it fixed, we go out for the second practice session.

The tC still felt a little down on power. Maybe another exhaust leak? I don't know. But coming out of the horseshoe, I had to kick the clutch multiple times while shifting into 3rd gear just to keep it in powerband.
Then we tested out 275 tires for the rear.
Sure I was starting to get warmed up on the track and my runs were getting cleaner but I still feel like the 285s were better. So we are going back.
I can't get much angle on the 275s anyways.

But I gotta give it to my team. They work hard.

Friday. Wow. What a day.
First off, the fans here are nuts. Don't these people work or go to school? If they ditched to come watch drifting, they are possibly one of the best gathering of fans ever.

Anyway, we started practice with good momentum but I started to get heated up and on my last practice run, I hit the entry ditch and bent the passenger side lower control arm. Crap... Sorry team!! My bad.
But the RS-R team worked hard AND fast to get it back before qualify. I was shaken up at this point because now that good momentum was out the door.

First run out, I decided to take it easy (thinking back at Long Beach). I scored a 78.something. But that managed to put me in 2nd place behind Joon (btw Joon was on fire this weekend. Awesome job buddy!!) But as qualify went on, my score continued to get pushed out of the way.

Now that the pressure was off, I pushed slightly harder on my second run and scored a 90.9!!! So I finished qualify in 6th place. We are pretty content with that. For now.

Saturday. Do these people realize what time it is?! It's 10am and they are drinking!! Amazing.

Practice went as we had planned. Tried out some different approaches in the horseshoe and it worked!! I was stoked.
Then came top 32. I was up against Charles Ng again.
He improved so much from yesterday I was really nervous. But we pulled it off and moved on to what became a road block and stopped. A blown diff.

I don't know what to say anymore. Maybe the car is cursed.

Thanks Atlanta for all the hospitality and great memories!! You guys sure know how to keep us entertained!!!
I cant wait to come back next year.

Toyota Pro-Celebrity Race

noreply@blogger.com (K. Gushi) — Thu, 05 May 2011 04:35:00 +0000

Wow! Quite an experience that was. I gotta say, to be a part of such an amazing group of talent and people makes me feel very privileged. I am lucky that I got to be a part of this.

When I first got the invite from Les at Toyota, I couldnt believe what I was reading on my email. I was being invited to the longest going Celebrity Race in history. And for a good cause too! The Toyota Pro-celebrity race donates money to the Racing for Kids foundation and has already donated $20million.

The first time I got to meet the staff and drivers was at our training/practice day about 3 weeks prior to race day. I didn't know what to expect since I am not in the Hollywood acting field. But everyone was nice and down to earth.

The next time we met was the media day that I did double duty switching between the Scion Racing tC and the Pro-celebrity tC. These Scion tCs are insane!!! They handle so well. And the brakes on these cars bite hard.

They even prepared lunch for us where we would be matched up with our cars. By the way, there are 5 pros among all the drivers and the pros are Frankie Muniz, Cody Swanson, Christian Rado, Brian Austin Green, and myself.

The pro drivers are fast!! I didn't know Frankie was such a good driver. I only know him as malcolm.

Anyway, I'm happy I was able to be a part of such an amazing group of talent. The two ladies that raced were awesome people too. Jillian, I feel like I'm watching my friend on Good day la now. Megyn, you are hot.

Everyone I met, I hope we can stay in touch.

Thanks Toyota for doing this. What you guys do make a big difference for children not only in LA but across globe.

And thanks for letting me win. Hahaha

Scion power.

Formula Drift LBC

noreply@blogger.com (K. Gushi) — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 21:40:00 +0000

Why am I always plagued with mechanical troubles???? I swear I have done nothing wrong or immoral. Its such a shame to see that the we were doing so well during practice and when the most important time comes around, we are unable to run.

Let's begin with media day. I was doing double duty since I'm also participating in the Grand Prix Pro-celebrity race. So hopping back and forth between racing suits and cars was pretty much a summary of my day.

So how does it feel going from a front wheel drive, supercharged tC to a 650hp rear drive drift monster?? Let me tell you, I had to remind myself everytime I approached turn 9. Drift or grip?? Haha amazing!!

Anyway, the changes we made to the RSR Scion Racing tC during the off season seems to be in my favor. The biggest change is the tire. Man.... Hankook RS3, I love you. You are so sticky, predictable, easy to understand, smokey, and smell nice. I can say with confidence that these Hankooks are the best tires for drifting. !!

In fact they are so sticky that we broke the diff into a million pieces on media day. We may have to consider a beefier diff.

Unfortunately, we did not have practice on Thursday. This would have been a great opportunity for us to test some more but I guess it is what it is.

Friday's am practice session went pretty good minus the fact that we broke an axle 5 minutes before our qualify session. I'm telling you, these tires are THAT sticky!!

My first qualify run was horrible. I was trying to get so much angle that the car over rotated and almost spun. To prevent a spin, I had to lift, which caused me to run an extremely shallow line. My score? Somewhere in the 30s. F!!!! Pressure for my 2nd run out eh? No problem. I got this....or do I?

I need to remind myself for every qualify session to run a safe 1lap and then go for it on the second lap.

I ended up in 18th place with a score of 78.6. That's not good in my standards because if there was no 32 tandem and we were still doing top tandem only, I would be out of competition at this point. My goal is to always qualify in the 16.

My match was Ross Petty.

Or at least it was supposed to be before more engine took a shit on saturday morning. Wtffff foreal?! Serious?! I don't understand.

The part that pisses me off the most is that this is the first round of the season and we are already on a bad start. No spare motor? You gotta be kidding me. All my fans, friends, family, and sponsors came to watch me do what? Sit around??

Anyway, that was my weekend. Congrats to JTP for his win! Amazing amazing driving for Matt powers. And Dai, you are the man!! Way to represent Japan. おめでとう！

Atlanta, here we come. ATL is actually my favorite! They have some of the best fans!!!

Thank you Stephanie!!

Tokyo pt 3

noreply@blogger.com (K. Gushi) — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 19:32:00 +0000

I'm back in Tokyo. I left Bangkok early for a few reasons.

Anyway, my last few days in Tokyo were amazing. I went to Ebisu once more, touge, Shinjuku, asakusa, Akihabara, and some other places.

Our first stop was the Toyota Festival at Fuji Speedway where they showcased Toyota Motorsports. They had everything from Super GT, NASCAR, to drifting. The only reason I went was to support Daigo drifting his monster JZX100.

They also had mini events for the customers. One of those events was to test out motor powered bicycles. Here is Robbie riding one with his son Joey.

I had fun watching the driving of different Motorsports genres.

My turn. Ebisu was insane. I tried the jump drift once more and I think I got it down. Robbie was in his newly acquired S13 and Daigo and I drove the beater JZX90.

Robbie's S13 was $700. $700??!!?! And it comes with a standard SR20, LSD, coilovers and a Silvia face. Something like this would cost and arm and a leg in the US.

This is the 90 we drove.

This plus another 200hp would dominate Formula D. I can't believe how easy it was to control this thing granted it was RHD and im not even used to it.
I will post video once I get back to the US after loading them.
After Ebisu, we went to eat at the the infamous Sauce Katsudon restaurant nearby.

OMg I wish I can bring this to the states. Freezepack perhaps?

Besides drifting, we went to Kaminari-Mon, an ancient Japanese landmark in Asakusa.
Miki and Maruchan joined us for the day.

It felt like a "powerspot", or whatever Japanese kids are into nowadays.

The city life must be nice here. Everything is walking distance but it is pretty much impossible to live the city life with a car unless you are filthy rich and can afford to pay $400 a month for one car space.

Then the usual train ride back to the countryside. Hahahah

Once we got home, Joey wanted to play Wii but we got hooked watching D1GP and he fell asleep waiting. Sorry Joey!! Next time buddy.

On my last night, we went to eat BBQ near Robbie's house.

Shinji Minowa from Hey Man joined us along with his wife Ma-chan and son Hiro. His son is walking now!!! When I first came here, he was still crawling.

Then Daigo and Yuko-chan came shortly after to join us.
Afterward, we went to Round 1 to play some badminton only to find out that Daigo is not only a pro drifter but also a pretty good badminton player. Robbie and I got our ass handed to us.
They also had a fishing game room with real fish!!

Daigo caught one

Overall, my trip in Japan was quite an experience and it would have been impossible without Robbie, Christine, Joey, Tet, Daigo, Maru, Miki, and everyone else that made this trip memorable. I learned alot drifting alongside some of Japan's best drivers: Daigo, Shinji, Koguchi, Robbie, and a few others. I also got to experience life in Tokyo. Thanks for all the hospitality Robbie and Christine! You guys are always welcome in our house in the US.

See you guys soon, I hope!

Bangkok, Thailand

noreply@blogger.com (K. Gushi) — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 18:11:00 +0000

OMg this place is hot!!!! But I have a lot to look forward to.

First thought as I deplaned: humid. Are you serious?? I have never sweated so much at night.

Btw, this place has no traffic rules... Or so it seems.

People drive all over the place here.

My plan for this trip is to check out Formula D in Asia and see if I have a place here. So the very next day, I took off to wonderworld park in Bangkok.

With me was Ryuji Miki who already competes in the series.
Also, surprisingly, Ueno-San from T and E was there to help out an Asian driver.

Big props to the top three finishers for the event. The level of competition here is catching up to the US quick. Some drivers such as Tengku Djan, are already at the international level where they can compete anywhere.

Overall, I feel like I can fit in here. If I can find a ride by next season, I would love to be a part of the competition and share with them what we do in the USA. Anyway, much thanks to the US formula d crew Ryan Sage, Daijiro Yoshihara, and Andy Yen. Also many thanks to Marcus of FD Asia for the hospitality.

Now that my work was done, time to see what Bangkok is all a out. The night life is insane here. Japanese tourists everywhere.

Everywhere you go, someone knows how to speak a little Japanese.

The city during the day is nice too. I went to a huge department store known as MBK and I was tired from all the walking

And then in the department store somewhere, my friend found this:

Hahahaha serious?!? That's from 2006!!! Isn't that trademark infringement?! They were only 200 baht which is about $7. Oh well.

Then somewhere in Bangkok, we found this:

Looks like Yoshinoya huh? Well....

It's a copy. GYUNOYA. surprisingly it was better than the American yoshinoya. In fact the American one isn't as great. I was enjoying this copy food.

Yeah, that's a don't cross sign. But why does the dude look weird? Area 51?

A real Thai massage gave me sore muscles. It hurt and tickled so much that I tensed up the entire time.

Then there was this at the night market. Yes, bugs bugs and more bugs.

A delicacy in Thailand. I didn't have enough guts to try it. Maybe next time. See you guys soon!

I'll be here for a few more days and then back to Tokyo for more drifting at Ebisu Circuit!

Tokyo pt 2.

noreply@blogger.com (K. Gushi) — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 17:26:00 +0000

Ahh. Home sweet Tokyo.
Now that I'm back in Tokyo, I get to do what I originally came here to do. Drift

My mom already went back to LA so I'm on my own now. But my good friend Robbie Nishida was nice enough to let me stay at his house again while I'm here.

My first stop was BX Garage, Robbie's old workshop. Here, we had to swap out a motor in a JZX90 Mark II which was my missile car for he next two days.

We finished the swap real fast. I guess 4 people working on a car with designated jobs can finish a swap fast. We knocked it out in a couple hours.
The next day, we had a whole day to relax before packing up for our drifting trip. Since we had time, we went to Shibuya and Shinjuku to do some tourist stuff. The train ride was a wreck!! It gets so packed in the train car but no one says a word! How awkward is that?!

Afterwards, we met up with our friends Maru-chan and Arisa to grab some dinner

The next morning, we were off to Nikko Circuit. This track has been a dream of mine. I have been watching pro drivers drift this track since the very first time I saw drifting (back when I was about 11).

My first challenge was to get accustomed to drifting a RHD. The hardest part? Shifting and Hand brake!!! Wtffff?? I was confused alot. I had a hard time shifting from 2nd to 3rd. I even initiated the first entry in 5th gear once. Anyway, on Daigo's first run out, he crashed into Shinji's x90 and broke his lower control arm while Shinji broke his entire rear shock assembly.

Overall, I feel like I got the hang of it after a few laps.
I wasn't quite comfortable running tandem yet because of my lack of confidence using the handbrake. The best part about Nikko? Going full throttle from the last corner to kicking the car sideways into turn one. I wish I can do this everyday.

That night, we drove 2 hours north to Ebisu Circuit and stayed at a natural hot spring hotel.

It was late when we got there but we had a lot of time to relax and chill while kicking it. Had a few drinks and called it a night. Btw, the milk in a glass they sell at these hotels are the best.

The next morning,

Ebisu!! I can't believe I was here. I've been watching them drift this place since the day I remember seeing drifting for the first time.

Maruchan will make a video so I won't say much about the driving. But damn, jump drift is fun!!!!!

Btw, there is a sign that prohibits entry, but if you don't care, you can see bears there. They are Fu***** huge.

On the way back home, we ate at a popular Katsu-don place. Mmmmmm I wish I can go back there

I couldn't wait!! Hahah I took a few bites before snapping pictures.

Anyway, my next stop is Bangkok, Thailand for Formula Drift. Let's see if I can find a ride to run the series.

Bye Tokyo! For now..

Okinawa pt 2

noreply@blogger.com (K. Gushi) — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 16:15:00 +0000

During my stay in Okinawa, my mom and I went around staying at a few different homes. The first night, we stayed at my grandparent's house.

This house still had the same smell I remember from 17 years back.

Okinawan homes are much bigger compared to ones in Tokyo. So I felt more at home here since American homes are gigantic.
Then we for the next two nights, we stayed over my mom's sister's house. She lives in Kadena which is near the base. So I saw a few Gaijin Americans.

She has three kids but one of them is missing in the picture.
Afterwards, we stayed over my parents' best friend's house. They live in Naha which is the best city there.

I didn't know I was known overseas!!! Hahaha jkjkjk!
While visiting the Tamaki family, my dad's other best friend Mr Hiyane also helped us around Okinawa. He also took me out on a trip at night to visit his friends.

Anyway, I wanted to thank everyone who has made this trip special. You guys have all made us feel welcome and at home. I will be back again!

Thank you Okinawa!!

Okinawa メンソーレ！！

noreply@blogger.com (K. Gushi) — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 17:11:00 +0000

I havnt been home in 17 years. I don't remember much about Okinawa, but I have to admit, my hometown is so country-side. Everywhere I look, I see farmland.

I went farming too!! Planting flowers and helping my grandpa I havnt seen in 17 years.
I was happy to see him still healthy and strong.

Throughout the entire trip, I was pretty much just a tag along. I visited family and followed my mom everywhere.

When Okinawans gather, man, we gather big.

Okinawa is such a beautiful island. The people are nice, the food is good, and the beaches are clean.

The best part of the trip was being able to see my cousins. They grew so big. 17 years!!!!

One of the highlights of this trip was our stop at the Shuri Castle.

Inside the castle, we had to take off our shoes. It smelled so bad.

The inside was remodeled to cater to tourists but overall, the feel was very retro.

I want to live in there.

I'll be back!! But next stop, back to Tokyo to do some Drifting!!!!!!!!
Finally!!!!! OMg

Tokyo pt1

noreply@blogger.com (K. Gushi) — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 09:06:00 +0000

Japan has been an amazing experience. First, Daigo Saito's wedding in Tokyo, then on a tour in Tokyo with Robbie Nishida, Daigo, Robbie's wife Christine, Robbie's bro Jimmy, and my mom.

The wedding was insane. 2 after parties after the ceremony.

Touring around town was a hood break away from home in LA.

We also went to the best looking mountain in Japan. Mt Fuji

Then when I went to the restroom at the parking lot, this is what I found.

Hahahahhaha WTF???!!! Someone wrote on the top right corner stating that the position is "ok".

Next stop Okinawa!!

noreply@blogger.com (K. Gushi) — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 04:29:00 +0000

I just arrived in Las Vegas. Seems like there will be lots of changes for teams currently running Formula Drift next year. Rhys has revealed his new tire sponsor for next year and I hear other rumor floating around. I guess we can all wait til the end of the week to hear who else will be changing sponsors around and who will not be running next season.

Wow.

Other than that, Vegas is always nice. A home, away from home.

Ken

Location:SEMA

End of 2010

noreply@blogger.com (K. Gushi) — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 06:31:00 +0000

Hey

As soon as I thought Long Beach was here, the final round at Irwindale just ended. WTF?! How did this season go by so fast?? I guess mixing up school and drifting just makes it feel like you're living life in the fast lane.

Irwindale didn't go quite as planned. In fact my season didn't go quite smooth. Considering the RS-R Scion Racing tC was running significantly more reliable this season, my results didn't move up. In fact we dropped a rank lower this year. Analyzing my results and performance from this last year, I can say that part of it has to do with the lack of seat time/testing. Last season, we tested pretty much once atleast in between rounds. This year, just about 2 or 3 times. But on the brighter side, since the car is running good, I can use it to practice during the off season. I'm sure if we can finish the first round at Long Beach strong, the rest of the season can go by much smoother.

Here is a nice picture taken by Jay Canter. The scary part is that I didn't mean to scrape the wall there. For some reason, we couldn't get the car to settle coming off the bank to transition past the first clipping point. Hence, my low speeds off the bank. I was only averaging 70-75mph all weekend.

Anyway, like I said last year around this time, we have a lot to work on. Not just developing the car, but my driving as well. Everyone is getting so fast. I need to stay focused.

All in all, it was a great season and couldnt have been possible without the support of my sponsors, fans, family, and friends. Thank you very much RS-R for keeping my car running top notch. Thank you to everyone from Scion Racing and Beyond Marketing for making this program happen. Thanks to DTA for making me look nice hahaha. Thanks to Toyo Tires for the continuous support through all these years. Stan and JW, guys are sickkkk. Thanks to BASF for the continuous support as well. You guys never fail to make the car look bling. The best chemical company creating chemistry. Thanks to Alpinestars for keeping me safe while drifting. I can't even imagine what I would have done if my car caught on fire. Thanks to TRD for making it possible for other Scion owners to be cool as well. Pioneer, you guys rock too! How about a navi unit in the race car next year? Hahaha
Eddie from mackin, the wheels are sick. Let's keep it rolling.
My fans! It still amazes me that you guys still follow me! I appreciate every bit of it. To everyone that came out to support not just the Scion Racing team, but drifting in general, you guys made it happen for all of us! Thank you Formula Drift.

Ay yo Robbie and Miki, 来年こそシリーズゲットだぜ。

ありがとう、母さん&父さん。

Ken

Post Sonoma

noreply@blogger.com (K. Gushi) — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 05:13:00 +0000

What happened to my post?? I guess it never loaded. Sorry, I'm doing everything from a phone now so it's easy to assume that it didnt post itself.

I GUESS I will rewrite this entry.

Formula D Sonoma is one of the few events in our 7 round series where I seriously have a chance to podium. You can say that the RS-R Scion Racing tC is set up perfectly for tracks like that. Early initiation with speed. But I have no idea what happened during qualify. I can understand my first score. I scored in the high 60s but it was because I couldn't push the car out enough to the outside clipping zone right before the teardrop. I was being stupid and tried something different from what I was practicing all weekend. I put angle too late and had to get on the throttle early which made my line smaller.

But my second run? I honestly thought it would land me somewhere in the 80s. On both runs, my initiation speed was 96mph but on the second run, I hit all the clips and zones. But a 73.... 73??!

Anyway that matched me against JR. I knew this was going to be a hard one because he is running for the championship and they wouldn't let me win THAT easy.

But I lost anyways. It wasn't the car, it wasn't the judging, it was clearly my mistake. He had the ability to stop so fast and get on throttle much quicker than I can. So he moved on because of the slightest gap.

But not worries. I won't let that happen again at Irwindale.

GAp?! What gap??? Haha suckas.

Ken

Pre-Sonoma Test Session

noreply@blogger.com (K. Gushi) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 07:04:00 +0000

I had an opportunity today to test out some new stuff for the RSR Scion Racing tC. This was done at the balcony inside Willow Springs Raceway. We should be somewhat ready for the next round at Sears Point. Here's a video of a lap.. Enjoy!

YouTube Video

Ken

Location:Willow Springs

Formula D Vegas Event...=( horrible!!..

noreply@blogger.com (K. Gushi) — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 18:18:00 +0000

So we just finished our event at Formula Drift Round 5 Las Vegas. Unfortunately, luck wasn’t on our side this time. So far, the first half of the season has been well for us. This event sort of turned things around. First of all, we did not have adequate testing time to get the car dialed in for this venue.
Going into Thursday’s practice, I was pretty much in a fresh car without any testing. So instead of practicing, I was pretty much testing the car to make sure it was ready.
Then the bugs decided to come out.
Mechanical problem #1: Our gearbox decided to take a crap. Every time I used the clutchkick technique to initiate a drift, 4th gear popped out of gear. This was due to a faulty dog-ring.
Towards the end of the session, we decided to swap out the transmission and with only 30 minutes of practice remaining, we went out for a 2nd try. The new gear box was fine…Or so we thought.
Mechanical problem #2: While, I was fighting the gearbox to stay in gear pre-gearbox-swap, I noticed the car was pushing heavy through turn one. But because the gearbox issue was significant, I didn’t really pay attention to how the car was driving. I needed the gearbox fixed first. Well little did I know this understeer would give us bigger problems in the end. We packed up Thursday and came back on Friday ready to practice and qualify.
During practice, I noticed the car was understeering a lot more. Worse than the night before. Every run, the understeer would get worse. I told my mechanic to make sure nothing was broken. Then 30 minutes before qualify, I broke a lower control arm. To make matters worse, we didn’t have a spare. Being the good guys they are, the RockStar Scion team helped us weld our broken piece together to make it in time for our 2nd qualify pass (we had to pass our first run while we fixed the LCA).
We had one shot to make it through qualify. I wasn’t worried about the LCA anymore. If it broke, then it broke. Too bad. But that wasn’t it. As soon as I kicked the clutch going into turn one, 4th gear decided to pop out again. “This can’t be happening” I thought to myself as I quickly slammed it into gear again. But at this point, it was too late. I was already off line and although I did finish drifting the course, my line and speeds were way off. I scored a 50.6 which was way off pace.
On a good note, we know why the car was understeering and we get to go home with a car in one piece. Next stop is Sonoma. Sonoma has always been good to the RS-R Scion Racing team. We will come back with a war!!!! Thank You to everyone that came out to watch me! Sorry I let you down. =(

-Ken

Post Seattle and scion exposed

noreply@blogger.com (K. Gushi) — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 18:19:00 +0000

So we just finished our event at Seattle round 4 formula drift.
It was a good event for us overall minus the fact that we broke 2 upper control arms, a propeller shaft, and the steering rack. So it's safe to assume that evergreen speedway is not nice to our drivetrain. Last year we broke a propeller shaft, and the year before that our slave cylinder went out. This year however we were prepared. The RS-R team fought hard to make sure the tC made it through the event.
We qualified in the 15th spot and matched ourselves against Cody Parkhouse for the Top 32 tandem. The first lap out went well. I had a solid run and the tC was running strong. In the second lap where I was following, the motor stalled as I transitioned into the "power alley". WTF?!?? So I thought I had lost but it turns out that Cody had also straightened out behind me in the first lap. So it was a OMT. Unfortunately, Cody broke his car and had to pull out of competition which in turn, gave me the win.
For the top 16 rounds, I was against Justin Pawlak. The first run I had to follow and I tried to keep my distance close. In the second lap out, Justin came in too hot into the last corner and crashed into me. Because of the contact, I had advanced. Later that night, I had the chance to speak with him. He said I was too slow. "say whaaat?!". If I was too slow, then following my line should have been easier.
Best 8. Takatori Michihiro. I had beat him once in Atlanta last year so I wad pretty familiar with this driver. He is straight forward and his speeds were similar to mine. In the first lap however, I made a small correction error through the final corner which gave him the advantage. Unfortunately the second lap out was too even to give me any sort of advantage.
So that ends my event and team RS-R is working very hard to keep this Scion Racing Toyo DTA tC running strong for Las Vegas.
Meanwhile, we are now here at Scion Exposed Indiana to showcase some drifting and meet with some awesome Scion owners! Time to go drifffftiiinnngggggg! Weerrddd.

Ken

Seattle

noreply@blogger.com (K. Gushi) — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 19:11:00 +0000

Packing for seattle for what seems to be a rainy weekend!! Yesssss! I'm excited. Even though I havnt driven the car since new jersey, I feel like the car will be great! On top of that, I will be doing a demo the weekend after at Indy!!

Seattle will be a great event. I was reading a post on wreckedmagazine.com and there were five predictions that I thought were funny. Big crash. I think I predict that one as well but hopefully the two scions will make it back alive. Rain. I wouldn't be surprised. Isn't Seattle always raining?! However it's only rained once in Seattle in the past however many years we've been there. Oh well!! Best of luck to all my fellow competitors and let's give everyone a great show.

Wow. hello.

noreply@blogger.com (K. Gushi) — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 00:16:00 +0000

Its been forever since i last posted so here it goes. I don't even remember where I have to start. Let's just start with long beach.

You can say I was a bit out of shape. I didn't realize a few months away from drifting will ruin my rhythm. I lost to a kid from Ireland!! But this isn't an ordinary kid. He is a teen drifting superstar who is a champion in his native country. I took it too lightly and didn't really push myself to get close. Every lap he ran, he clipped the outside clipping point with his rear wing. WTF?!?! At the very least, I was happy I qualified to get some points.

Round 2 was Road Atlanta. It was a weird event with a lot of contact! I went against Charles Ng in the top 32 round. Unfortunately he approached the 1st corner with a feint that did not end up the way he wanted. He went straight into the wall and I got a by-run. My top 16 round was against my Scion teammate Tanner. I got lucky on this round because when I was leading, he clipped the rear corner of my car through the downhill section of the course and spun me out. This has happened last year too.
Chris Forsberg was my next competition in the top 8. In this round, i missed a shift and stalled the car on top of the horseshoe. As soon as that happened, Chris hit me from behind (SORRY CHRIS!!). My weekend was over!

Now on to Round 3 New Jersey.
What an event! It's crazy how difficult tandem has become. Some of these cars are so light and fast that I can barely keep up. My top 32 competition was DMCC champion Matt Waldin. It was a very close call because when I was following him, my car nearly straightened out on the bank which would have resulted in a loss. Luckily I caught the powerband beforehand and got the Toyos to spin loose again.
In my top 16 battle, I faced Darren McNamara again. Last year, I lost to him here so I wanted to beat him badly. We went one more time but his car was just too fast. Lighter and fatter tires.. But on a good note, the RS-R team now knows where to work on. We need more bite.

Here we come Seattle!!

Finally...

noreply@blogger.com (K. Gushi) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 02:23:00 +0000

Its the start of the 2010 Formula Drift Season. It's been too long since i last drove the RS-R Scion Racing tC. Yesterday, we had an opportunity to drive on the actual competition course thanks to Media Day.

We dyno tuned the car last friday and it made roughly 600hp. I can guarantee our new 2AZ is much quicker than the 3SGE. Because of the increase in power, we had to up the size in the rear. So, we went from a Toyo R1R 255 to a 265.

Im not 100% confident with the car yet because I only drove it 2 days, however we have another practice session on Friday right before qualify so we may make some changes.

Thanks to the RS-R team, Frank the fab guy, Nate, and all others who made this build nearly flawless.