Yokohama

Nitro Rally RX x Yokohama Canada

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Been a minute, but this was a nice first post for the year. James at Yokohama Canada invited me out to the Rally Cross this weekend over at the Stampede Grounds. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to attend Saturday on the first day, but was able to show up on the Sunday to check out what it was all about.

Admittedly, I haven’t really kept up in the world of Nitro Rally but it was cool to see what it was all about. Yokohama Canada had a suite up in the Paddock Area with some really sweet views of the races. I was able to take some shots of what was happening – but unfortunately with my 35mm I couldn’t get close enough to the action like I wanted to. I was really hoping to get down to see the cars up close but it was pretty busy so I didn’t get any close ups.

I was able to get some shots on my phone as well with video – sorry about the poor quality upload through WordPress. No 4K 120FPS here 🙂

Just wanted to give a shout out to James and the Yokohama Canada team for the invite! It’s so sick to be able to be up close and personal with the events that take place locally and to see al the other segments of the business other than the motorsports line that I’m more used to. A great team to be a part of!

I knew where I had to be from a mile away lol.

Up from the other side of the paddock, the teams getting ready.

I wanted to steal one of these for the garage LOL

Another view of some of the cars. Most of them look like Ford Fiesta’s but unsure of a lot of the others. Many of the cars ranged from EV to combustion and to see them out on the track and the differences between them was unreal in person. You have the silent whines of the EV’s and the loud echoing booms of the combustion vehicles… Totally cool in person.

Here’s a view from the suite – we got a nice shot of the bend and a side view of the jump you can see on the right of the picture.

Something I was a little more interested in was this beauty. Check out the studs on this bad boy…

Hundreds of studs on a tire for the grip out on the icy track

Beauty.

Just on my way out, I tried to get some closer shots of the cars in the paddock but this was as close as I could get.

Some video shots – potato quality but still cool. 4 of the combustion vehicles out on the track

And a quick clip of the EV’s. That sound!

Yokohama Canada Brand Ambassador!

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I’m a bit late to the game for an official post and I mentioned in my 2022 Aesthetic Update post as well but let’s pretend you didn’t read that and you’re reading this first 🙂

I’m super stoked to share that Yokohama Canada chose me as one of the brand ambassadors for this year. I’ve always been a fan of Yokohama and their products and being an ambassador just gives me more of an opportunity to share that love with everyone! Back in January, they had sent me a set of AD08R’s for the Type R and I’m beyond excited about it. It’s nice to lace the Type R up with a new set of tires to pair with the new set of Advan GT’s as well. Perfect combo.

Sitting in front of the Fit. That is on A052’s – another awesome Yokohama tire but I’m a bigger fan of the aesthetics and tread of the AD08R. They’re also a little grippier to me but it’s debatable… Can’t go wrong with either, to be honest.

Who doesn’t love the AD08R tread?

A match made in heaven.

I’m also super excited because Yokohama Canada also offered to lace up the daily driver as well. A totally different segment, but arguably maybe a more important one? Everyone has a daily driver and most of the time, they don’t need AD08R’s or A052’s but just some high performing, long-lasting all-season tires.

Diana’s RAV4 is still on the tires that came with it when we bought the car about 5 years ago and is on its last legs. Yoko came through and sent a set of Avid Ascend GT’s – perfect to replace the old Bridgestones.

Love me a new set of tires…

Aria and Rin were pretty stoked on them as well. Can’t wait to get these on the RAV4 and try them out. These would be my first set of Yokohama all-seasons and I’ve heard and read nothing but good things.

Thanks again to Yokohama Canada for outfitting almost all the cars in the stable with awesome tires! If you’re looking for a set, check them out!

FK8 2022 Aesthetic Update

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Sorry in advance for the iPhone photos and the random edits. I haven’t had time to take my camera out and take proper photos and whenever I do remember, I have no battery LOL!

Anyway, I haven’t really posted many updates on the Civic since I barely drove it last year and it just kind of sat there for most of the year. A big reason was because we were just moving into the new place, the garage was getting painted and the flooring done, etc and then I bought the Fit. As you all know, new toys means you forget about the old ones and that was that.

Over the winter, I decided to put the Umber bronze GT’s up for sale just to see if there was any interest. I know there aren’t many around here that are willing to spend the money on wheels if they didn’t already have a set of their own. If they didn’t sell, then no biggie. I’d just continue to run them. I was only looking for a black set to change the color scheme anyway.

Well, stars aligned for a bunch of us and the set is going to Casey and his white FK8, meanwhile Nam in Montreal was selling his set of limited Smoked Black GT’s that was for his FK8 which he sold for a Supra. It’s like it was all meant to be.

That, paired with the awesome cool fact that Yokohama Canada sponsored me this year was another blessing in disguise and I’m totally stoked to be working with them and their brand. To be honest, I was never big into the idea of being “sponsored” because I never thought I needed it. There was always those guys (you know who I’m talking about) going out there and asking for sponsorships and it just made them seem so desperate that it was more about getting “free parts” or discounts than it was about repping the brand. I think that’s why many brands have such a bad taste in their mouths when it comes to that sacred word – “sponsorship”. To put it simply, if I loved a brand and their products, I was going to buy it from whoever could get it for me. But to have the audacity to email or message a company asking for handouts is the worst.

Anyway, the Yokohama Canada team was kind enough to send me a set of 265/35 AD08R’s. Slightly wider than the 255’s that were on the Umber Bronze GT’s. What better pairing than to have it go on the new Smoked Black GT’s. Thanks again to Yokohama Canada for the set of tires. Too rad. I’m just posting some shots of the swap and some other random pics I had that were somewhat worthy of posting on the blog… I’ll take some proper photos soon!

It was a nice day a few weeks back so I decided to do the swap and get the wheels cleaned for Casey.

I love them both…

If only I could afford to keep both and run both LOL

Aria – helpful as always – drying the wheels carefully. It’s funny because she knows to be careful and never to let the cloth touch the ground or the tire because it could pick something up and scratch the paint/finish. LOL

Umber bronze in the sun is still amazing tbh.

Umber bronze off. Smoked black on.

Just a quick shot outside before pulling her back in again. Back to the issues of black wheels on a white car – basically underexposed or overexposed – no inbetween LOL

Excuse the dirty/muddy floors…

This was after I washed the floors as best I could for now until winter is officially gone. The Fit might be taking the back seat for most of the year while I enjoy the Type R this time…

With the change over to 265 AD08R’s means the need for more camber. AD08R’s run fairly wide so these would guarantee rubbing. Luckily again for me, Nam had a set of Eibach rear camber arms that were coming in that he obviously couldn’t use on his Supra, so I took them off his hands.

For only 2 bolts, this was a bitch to install without the right tools. The innermost bolt is really tucked away inside leaving very little room for maneuverability and wiggling…

Eventually was able to get it all done after borrowing some tools from a handy neighbour (Thanks Lanny!)

I just recently took it to Mike Wu over at Airdrie Honda to do some maintenance and then dial in the suspension piece. He’s the only dude that touches my car at the dealership – I don’t trust anyone else. When you find a good tech, keep em close LOL.

I asked him to dial the rear camber to -2.5 and the front to -1.6. The fronts are OK with no rubbing – even on that front tab (yet). And the rears rubbed the plastic lip underneath that you can see in the picture above. I ended up marking and dremelling  the lip that it was hitting and it has reduced the rub significantly. On big dips, it still rubs the inside metal which I don’t think I’ll be cutting anytime soon – but it’s bearable since it’s only a tiny scrape. If anything, I might get Mike to dial in to -2.7 and see if that does the trick, otherwise all is good now.

And the shot of it last night LOL. Right after this, I also got a massive rock chip which sucked. That makes for 3 massive rock chips that have spread about 10″ each on each corner. I’ve had them all filled because I ain’t about the $1200 windshield replacement life just yet LOL.

Once the weather warms up a bit more, I’ll take proper photos of the new combo.

Mugen FK8 – Completed

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An unofficial and quick shoot of the rest of the car with the Mugen tail lights. I didn’t venture too far for these – I just wanted to get some full car shots of it all together and I must say that I’m pretty damn satisfied right now and that doesn’t happen often. It’s nice when things come together like you envisioned/hoped for… All this started because Diana and the guys got me a Mugen button…

I will say though that although Mugen FK8’s exist all over the place, it’s nice to be able to say that I have one of them. It’s a little different seeing one that you’ve put together yourself versus all the ones on social media. There aren’t many options for exterior cosmetics for this platform and there are a few big ones that have been released recently such as Spoon and Varis, but they just weren’t up my alley as much as I had hoped Varis would’ve been. Ever since my 8th gen days, I’ve always dreamed about putting together a Honda x Mugen build and I’ve finally done it. There’s just something about Mugen that invokes this really good feeling that you’re putting literally the best on the car because it’s literally the child of Honda. From the fitment to the quality – there’s just nothing that comes close to that compared to all the other brands I’ve used.

Anyway – I hope to do a proper photoshoot when the weather gets a little better and I have a little more time in the evenings. Until then, enjoy!

Finally the side profile looks complete. No more empty rear end!

Probably my favourite angle on the FK8 right now…

The Thanos rear chin. Like I mentioned in my last post – I love how the vertical lines in the Mugen lip pair up with the horizontal lines in the tail lights and how those lines match up with the trunk lines. It’s pretty hard these days to find cosmetic mods that fill and continue the stock body lines. It’s also a rear that I love without a GT wing and prefer the stock wing instead. I know, I thought I’d never say that but the stock wing is bulky enough to match the whole car whereas I find the GT wings just feel too small and out of place.

More shots of the rear… The addition of the red pin stripe on the lip is a nice accent to tie it all together.

Last shot back at home. I am in love with how this turned out because I didn’t think I’d get to this point this soon (or at all) but man… There’s only a little more this needs before I call it complete to me.