By John Naderi

StreetFire.net

Tonight Hollywood Blvd went up in smoke. No, it wasn’t the premier of the long awaited remake to the Cheech and Chong Classic (see: Express, Pineapple). The smoke enveloping the touristy Hollywood and Highland area was of the spent tire variety from the likes of BFGoodrich, Falken and Nitto. And it was all part of a drift demo produced by Formula Drift. Hit the jump to see how and why FD scorched the Walk of Fame plus some quick videos from the event.

Continue reading "Video: Formula Drifters Tear up Hollywood Blvd" »

By John Naderi

StreetFire.net

Greetings, CarDomain blog populace, I’m Nads, bearer of the world’s most unfortunate nickname and executive editor of StreetFire.net. I want to clue you in on a little promotion we’re doing over at StreetFire. Actually it’s a really, really big promotion. It’s our – cue dramatic pause to build anticipation – Weekly. Video. Shootout!

All you need to do is upload a video to StreetFire and click on the “Contest” link in the categories. If your video has the most views in a given week you can win $100. It’s that simple! Click here for complete contest details.

Last week’s winner of a crisp, clean Benji was StreetFire member, Driftgarage. While we would have preferred more Challenger and less Reggae Floyd on the soundtrack it probably won because it was the first look at this new drift car. It was also much better than my submission, which you can see after the jump.

SAM HUBINETTE 2010 DODGE CHALLENGER 1st DRIFT

Continue reading "Upload a StreetFire Video, Win $100" »

By John Naderi

StreetFire.net

Was it all a dream or possibly a fantasy perhaps? We just got back from a star-studded Hollywood-style premiere. But the star attraction was not some coked out, starved-for-attention starlet (not that there’s anything wrong with that) but one of our favorite drifters introducing his all-new competition car for the 2010 Formula Drift series. Hit the jump to see more up skirt shots of this sexy beast.

Continue reading "Vaughn Gittin JR and His 2011 Ford Mustang GT Are Ready to Rock" »

By John Naderi

StreetFire.net

After Japan’s famed Tsukuba circuit no track is more widely recognized for time attacks than Buttonwillow Raceway Park, located in bucolic Buttonwillow, a mere hop, skip and a two-hour drive north of LA. Buttonwillow’s 2.6-mile CW #13 configuration seemed the perfect venue for the Redline Time Attack to launch its 2010 series. While Redline does not normally attract some of the big time J-pop rockin’ JDM machines as the rival Super Lap Battle this year’s season opener saw plenty of records fall. Hit the jump to see more images as well as some of the record-breaking times.

Continue reading "Redline Kicks Off The 2010 Time Attack Season" »

By John Naderi

StreetFire.net

You are looking at a shot of a 2010 Formula Drift car that almost didn’t happen. Samuel Hubinette, a two-time Formula Drift Champion who finished fourth in points last year had a trying 2009 season to say the least. First was the rather untimely bankruptcy of Chrysler that left his Nuformz Mopar/BFGoodrich team without sponsorship for the majority of last season followed by the tragic death of his team owner, Shaun Carlson just before last year’s FD finals.

But Samuel picked himself up and dusted off the tire bits and is preparing to come back with this 2010 Dodge Challenger that will include sponsorship from his longtime supporters Dodge and BFGoodrich. Samuel will also campaign the car under his newly formed eponymous Samuel Hubinette Racing team. But Samuel won‘t be the only driver on Team SHR as veteran rally ace Andrew Comrie-Picard will drive the team’s iconic Dodge Viper SRT-10. Hit the jump to see more pictures and a rough video of this car, which is very much still a work in progress.

Continue reading "Sneak Peak: Samuel Hubinette’s 2010 Dodge Challenger Drift Car" »

By John Naderi

StreetFire.net

The Specialty Equipment Manufacturer’s Association is best known for its eponymous SEMA Show, but one branch of this automotive aftermarket trade organization is that of modern day Che Guevarra in that they fight for your right to modify your car. SEMA’s Action Network (SAN) brings certain oppressive legislative measures to the attention of people like us, who want to modify their vehicles.

The latest legislative alert, which is currently moving through Utah’s senate floor, proposes to ban any exhaust not “installed by the original manufacturer of the vehicle” regardless of whether it meets DOT, NHTSA and emissions requirements. SAN is calling on us to help fight this bill by contacting the Utah state senators to get them to vote against this bill. C’mon, people, even if you don’t live in Utah don’t allow this to become a precedent for which all other states can cite. Act now. Click here to get more information on the bill.

By John Naderi

StreetFire.net

SpoCom just released its 2010 schedule and we can already tell that it’s going to be three times as good as last year. That’s because SpoCom added two new venues in Nor Cal’s San Mateo and super sexy Honolulu, Hawaii in addition to Long Beach Convention Center that’s coming back to host this show for a third straight year.

We’re big fans of this show as it’s a mix of Hot Import Nights hype, old school Import Showoff substance and SEMA tradeshow info. We haven’t seen a more pleasing blend since the Reese’s people got peanut butter in their chocolate or perhaps since Donny and Marie mashed up a little bit of country with some rock and roll (silly Mormons!).

Hit the jump to see our StreetFire original video from last year’s show as well as the press release from SpoCom showing the times and dates. You can also visit SpoCom USA for more info.

Continue reading "SpoCom Announces 2010 Dates, Our Shorts Tighten a Bit" »

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

Just how many Volvo 760s can there be with hydraulics? This totally cracks me up…

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

I can already hear the moaning of BMW purists, but DBM Engineering’s swap has everything to do with power and nothing to do with making Germans drop their pretzels and tankards of beer. Apparently, the Skyline motor can be built to reliably make 600HP, which is 200 more than the BMW!

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

While it was on the floor at SEMA, all this lifted 4×4 had to do was look burly, which is good. Because when it tried to tackle a tiny little jump, the suspension on the passenger side collapsed completely. What the hell happened here? Did the builders assign that half of the job to their resident stoner? It cracks me up how all the guys kind of meander over with their hands in their pockets—that body language just screams “not my fault.”