#1 on the list? Teach my self solidworks. I’ve been wanting to learn for years now. When idea hit me it’s so nice to be able to whip them up into a visual frenzy, both to check if my dimensional dreams are physically possible, and to have a nice proof of concept. I’ve been playing for a few days and today, in a 20 minute session I managed to accomplish 2 very long term and put off goals:

-Create something of my own design in solidworks, has been a goal of mine for 5? or more years now. I tried learning it a long time ago when I was much younger and gave up. No longer

-The day I moved to Victoria I wrote a note and taped it to a wall “Knuckle/RCA combo”. It sat there for about a year until I got mad at my lack of progress and scrapped the paper. 2 years now and I finally ‘penned’ it out. A universal Toyota shortened knuckle RCA combo. It fits multiple toyotas, is shorter than stock knuckles, corrects the lower control arm angle and reduces ackerman all in one single piece. Fits left and right as well!  I’m excited. Time to get it whipped out for some prototypes

#2, Speed hero hats should be on the way soon. I’ll be posting more about a preorder shortly.

The common cars for drifting are beginning to become less common in the wild. Fewer unbent, cheap, unmodified examples are out and about. This is normal, and expected. The enthusiasm for drifting has levelled off in a growth sense, those who wish to participate most likely are already, those who enjoy watching, are following just as much as before. This trend should continue for another 10 years, but the cars, well, they will change very soon.

None of these chassis’s will be new. You’ve seen examples of them all around you before, but your going to be seeing more of them around. This year the frequency will jump. There’s quite a few great options many people ignore, they’ve been hanging around with associations to other forms of racing. Not far from you, easily grasped, but also easily ignored. Honestly, there’s already people out drifting them, figuring out their issues and resolving them, hunt for these gurus.

A big surprise will be the number of trucks drifting this year. Small pickups will be on the rise dramatically this season as they are great platforms that still appeal to the original emotions offered by S-chassis and other popular cars. The nice thing is, they are mechanically simple, and much more utilitarian than unibody cars. The ability to pop the body off, build the drivetrain and then flop the exterior back on is a massive advantage. Minitruckin’ guys have been paving the way for information on engine and suspension swaps.

Look for BMW E30′s and E36′s to pop up more this year, as well as, and I mean this, Volvo 240′s and 740′s. These are all very good cars to jump in and slide, though the two brands have much different approaches, the end goal is very obtainable by both. Those of you on the hunt for a Corolla or S chassis may want to consider buying cheaper more available cars. Look around, there is plenty about. What are some interesting ones you can think of?

The idea was simple: Keep the wheels small, wide and stretched. Paint the bumpers black, body off white. Pay homage to my two favorite drift cars: Ueo’s early pre-D1 ae86, and the old D1 sunrise Levin coupe. A bit of a mash up of cues from the two, a welded diff and some cut springs.  The problem was, the car was big, REAL BIG. Heavy at 3600lbs.

It spent some time sleeping in the driveway, I fiddled a bit, drove it around and it never felt quite right. Too much power, and too much weight. A tromp on the pedal led to wheel spin, but little motion. When it was moving, the feeling of changing directions was so cumbersome. It then dawned on me at work that I needed a constant supply of 17″ tires and wheels to be able to go play at the track, a feat too baller for my tastes. It had to go.

Dylan Sharpe from Ontario popped his head into town for some odd reason and mentioned a car down the street from him. After checking it out it was mine.

Revived: My enthusiasm re-excited once again over a $200 1976 Toyota Corona Mark 2. This MX13 only has 59,000 original miles! Though it’s a bit beat up, it’s the start to a great summer cruiser. Now if I could only get an MA60 to drift for February!

The revival? People seem to like Speed Hero. I have very little idea why, though I assume it was my passion for cars. I’d like to continue sharing that passion. Let’s see where this little website can take me, as I’m quite tired of making some rich persons dreams a reality for them.

You will observe people in life who have made, and stuck to these core decisions, whether wrong or not. They are dividers of the world, the kings and queens of society, leading followers of similar beliefs while offending or disagreeing with the rest. Consider for a volume of the population who have not been so decisive. The general public has a wide range of decisiveness, but their inability to be whole heartedly convinced of their initial decisions, the most basic of life, results in their in ability to lead. Worker bees most of us, not just from a sense of duty, but rather a need for direction, someone being decisive on their behalves.  For some, like myself, it’s incredibly difficult to make an initial decision on the meaning of life, ones purpose to live.  Efforts to live, and continue to live come into question, with no purpose comes no real reward.  What’s this got to do with cars?

Recently I was asked why I don’t post on the blog anymore. People enjoyed it, a passion, with expression. Recently though my initial decisions, core values have come into question. The passion I built up for cars, the decision I made to love them, although a decision close to that of my core values, is a smaller slice in comparison to those it is based on. Purpose, reality, are all shattered, and it’s proving extremely difficult to choose again. Until then, I’m not sure what to do with myself or with my love for cars.