By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

At this year’s Formula D opener in Long Beach, Vaughn Gittin Jr. proved that you can hit the track in a brand new car and wind up on the top of the podium. It probably helps if said car is a 2011 Mustang 5.0, but it’s still a really impressive feat for his team. In this video, Nads talks to Gitten Jr. about the new Pony and also gets some face time with third-place finisher Tanner Foust.

Formula D 2010: Round One, Long Beach

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

A couple of weeks back, Rockstar Energy Drink dropped this dope clip of Tanner Foust taking his V8 Scion tC up LA’s legendary Mulholland Drive. As you can imagine, setting up this video was a big production, and Matt Farah and the guys from the Smoking Tire were on hand get some footage about how the shoot went down. Tanner’s people wanted TST to sit on this footage for a couple of weeks before they released it, but now the embargo is up, so we can all check it out. Enjoy.

Behind The Scenes – Street Drift: Mulholland with Tanner Foust

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

There are a lots of perks that come with being a professional drifter, and getting to smoke the tires on closed sections of public roads is one of them. Watch as Tanner Foust takes his V8 Scion tC for a spin on LA’s legendary Mullholland Drive!

Tanner Foust Street Drift: Mulholland

By John Naderi

StreetFire.net

Shaun White has nothing on Tanner Foust. After all, he only competes in TWO disciplines, snowboarding and skateboarding. Meanwhile Foxy Tan Tan (as we like to call him) is a regular threat for a podium in drifting, rally (including the X Games), the International Race of Champions and time attack just to name a few motorsports. Let’s not forget he’s the host of Supercars Exposed and he was this close to being the Stig’s more talented American Cousin. Not to mention he’s a big time Hollywood stunt driver lending shock and awe to supplement the absurd in movies like the Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift.

This season Tanner will add the position of rallycross driver to his already impressive resume. Tanner will compete in select rounds of the European Rallycross Championship this year in addition to the Formula Drift series, the X Games and select Rally America events. Rallycross is like a hyper frenetic, condensed version of a rally stage (like a super special) and the ‘cross cars are even more potent than their rally cousins. Hit the jump to see some videos from the 2009 X Games of Tanner with the Olsbergs MSE rallycross Fiestas. There’s also the obligatory – and usually bland and uninformative – press release as well. However, in this release Tanner is quoted saying that rallycross will come to the US later this year. Well, wouldn’t that just be all sorts of awesome. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more.

Continue reading "Tanner Foust to Compete in Rallycross, World Domination to Soon Follow" »

By John Naderi

StreetFire.net

The X Games Rally Super Special is history. Yeah, we know, this is not “real” rally racing or even a super special in its purest form. And its true that some of the “qualivited” action sports crossover competitors may not turn times as quick as many of the real pro ‘shoes, but it is X-citing and its good to see any kind of motorsport huck itself into the mainstream spotlight. Although this year’s super special was rather anti-climactic compared to the thrills and spills of the first four years that rally’s been at X. Make like Travis Pastrana here and hit the jump to see our StreetFire.net video coverage and more pictures and stories from X.

Continue reading "X-Rated Rally Games" »

By Antonio Alvendia

Antonio Alvendia

As one of the more prolific tuning platforms on the market today, the Z33 350Z even in stock form provides for an excellent combination of power, handling, looks, and relative value. The RWD sports coupe can be found in nearly all forms of motorsports and has particularly excelled at drifting, capturing back to back championships for Tanner Foust in 2007 and 2008.

The long awaited introduction of the 370Z has many 350Z fans scratching their heads, however, as Nissan took away the flowing lines and sleek styling in lieu of an overly edgy and incoherent design. For many of us here at Motor Mavens, the 07-08 Z still stands as arguably the best looking Z of the past generation and for fellow Maven Mike Maez, he unequivocally agrees.

Mike’s take on the Z33 is one that caught our eye for a number of reasons. For one, it isn’t too over the top with a flashy body kit or a wild graphics scheme. There is attention to detail with the fitment and the wheel selection, which is always a plus, but furthermore it represents a very specific paint and wheel combo that we’ve never seen before on the 350Z. Combined with a solid ride height, an Akebono brake setup borrowed from the aforementioned 370, and just the right amount of bolt-ons, we were convinced that this was one Z that easily takes Center Stage.

Continue reading and view more photos on MotorMavens

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

Everybody knows that the ‘Ring is bumpy, dangerous and long, so you’re probably not going to learn too much from this episode of Supercars Exposed. But what makes it worth watching is the insane livery on the racing Astons. None of them are the same, and while lesser cars might look ridiculous all tarted up with colors that look like they came out of a bag of Skittles, every single one of these machines looks stunning. I’ve always been a fan of the orange and baby-blue Gulf color scheme, but there isn’t a ride here that I wouldn’t be happy to roll. Enjoy.

By John Naderi

StreetFire.net

Home Depot Center hosted the qualifying today for the X Games Rally Super Special. Because the FMX Super X configuration holds court in the arena until Saturday night Rally qualifying was confined to the outer perimeter tarmac section. To no one’s surprise it was an all STI/Fiesta battle. However what was surprising was that the Fiestas dominated taking three of the top four spots. Indy 500 winner and IRL Champion Kenny Brack put the Olsbergs MSE Ford in the top spot but it was only good enough for 5th place on the grid. Hit the jump to see why and you can also see more pictures as well as our video of Kenny previewing X.

Continue reading "Kenny From The Brack Takes the Pole at X" »

By John Naderi

StreetFire.net

Went to Southern California’s El Toro military base today to check out the three-car Fiesta effort that Ford is hucking into this year’s X Games Rally. Normally this event is a Subaru-only affair with a light dusting of Mitsu Evo for good measure. Ford hopes to change things up at this annual super special that historically features an all-STI podium. Ford’s blend of Fiesta Rallycross cars and drivers could do the trick. Hit the jump to see a video of Tanner Foust’s car in action as well as some pics of the other drivers going for X glory.

Continue reading "Ford Fie-Xsta" »

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

While Nads and the StreetFire crew were down in Vegas for Round four of the 2009 Formula D Series, they got a chance to chat with some of the sport’s biggest names about what’s been a—um, how should we say it… —surprising season. Former champ Rhys Millen didn’t even qualify for Vegas, two-time champ Tanner Foust is down in the dumper points wise, and Samuel Hubinette has lost his Mopar sponsorship. So what the hell is going on? Watch now for some insight about this crazy season.