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Articles by Cyber Eric
200tw tire test | Revised Nankang Sportnex CR-S
Confession time: We’ve been keeping secrets. It started innocently enough, with an email from a manufacturer asking us to find out how its new tire stacked up against the competition. But this tire wasn’t yet available to the general public, and our testing would have to be confidential. Fair enough. We’ve been down this road before, sometimes with disappointing results.
First-generation Mazda RX-7 | Buyers Guide
I have an '83 GSL that I bought 3.5 years ago at 43K and it now has 49K. Bone stock, original engine, everything works fine except that the retractable antenna just started to go, zero rust California car, always garaged, original paint that looks great, and all it has needed is a new alternator and battery. The only down side is that it's an automatic but it satisfies my rotary lust (I put 287K on a FC 5-speed and 244K on a FE 6-speed).
#TBT: Can the Ford Pinto be a surprisingly quick street machine?
By Staff Writer Aug 31, 2023 | Ford, pinto, GRM+ | Posted in Features | From the Aug. 2010 issue | Never miss an article Photography by David S. Wallens Story by Mike Lovecchio The Ford Pinto has been a punch line for decades, and why shouldn’t it be? Any car that’s as infamous for exploding gas tanks as it is for being photographed wearing airplane wings is bound to incite more than a few snickers. But like any car, the Pinto has its enthusiasts.
First-generation Audi TT | Buyer's Guide
[Editor's note: This article orginally appeared in the June 2009 issue of Grassroots Motorsports.] All of the doomsday headlines in today’s automotive news can make it tough to remember happier times in the car industry. Ten years ago, however, “recession” was the last word on the minds of auto executives. Sales approached 15 million units per annum, and many of the big players were enjoying a considerable upswing. Audi was one of those successful companies.
Driving all three manual-equipped 2022 VW models
Despite Volkswagen’s heavy embrace of electric vehicles, it’s still working to save the stick. How? For 2022, the Golf GTI, Golf R and Jetta GLI will all be available with a traditional six-speed manual box. In fact, only the U.S. and Canadian markets will get the Golf R with the stick. Now do you feel the love? 2022 Golf GTI The big news about the all-new Golf GTI? It comes with a six-speed manual–but you already know that because you read the introduction of this piece.
I bought a Prius | Column
Perhaps you’ll read that title and think, “Well, I guess he’s finally just given up. Certainly slippers and some sort of muumuu can’t be far behind.” While those things are appealing in their own right, I want to present a far stronger case for why the Toyota Prius is worthy of appreciation in our world. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that the Prius is the Miata of derp cars.
Racing an old Toyota camper because why not? | Low-Buck Tech
Lemons is a place where you can race just about anything as long as it passes safety tech. The $500 budget is enforced electronically with negative laps assigned to cheaters, and there are three very arbitrary classes (and several even more arbitrary awards) that you can win with speed, lack of speed, creativity, mechanical ingenuity, or a combination of those plus infinite other variables.
Why not a time trial series for old cop cars? | Spec P71
What does it take to create a racing program these days? How about a dream and a nearly endless supply of inexpensive, long-wearing donor cars? Brett Madsen, an SCCA autocross national champ with a pair of high-output Mustangs in the stable, came up with Spec P71, a Southern California time attack series for decommissioned Ford police cruisers and similar sedans. These Ford sedans are basically big, comfortable, long-wearing Miatas, he explains.
2021 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody: New car reviews | Grassroots Motorsports
797 horsepower. That’s how much the spec sheet tells us the supercharged, 6.2-liter Hemi Hellcat “High Output” V8 under the hood of the Charger Hellcat Redeye makes. To put that kind of power into perspective, the Lamborghini Aventador S only makes 730 horsepower, and the Redeye manages to edge out the 789-horsepower Ferrari 812 Superfast. So yeah, that’s a lot of power to have underneath your right foot—though with great power, often comes with a great price tag.
What is an anti-roll bar and how does it work?
[Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the May/June 1997 issue of Grassroots Motorsports.] Story by John Hagerman When a racer takes aim at tuning a car's suspension, one of the first targets is often the anti-roll bar. Anti-roll bars (also known as swaybars or stabilizer bars) are found on virtually every modern car right from the factory—they are important tools used by sus-pension engineers to modify a ear's ride, handling and response.
2020 Mazda CX-30 Premium AWD: New car reviews | Grassroots Motorsports
If the introduction of the CX-30 to the lineup has you a little confused about where it fits into the whole lineup, let us help. The new-for-2020 CX-30 slots right in between the CX-3 and CX-5 (why they didn't settle on CX-4 is beyond us) and is based on the same underpinnings as the current Mazda3. That means a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine rated for 186 horsepower and 186 lb.-ft.
2002-2006 Acura RSX | Buyer's Guide
In the heady tuner-culture days of the late 1990s, the car to have was the Acura Integra. This little coupe—and, rarely, sedan—was light, had double-wishbone suspension at both ends, and sported a sweetheart of a free-revving B-series engine coupled with a slick-shifting five-speed transmission. It wasn’t fast in a straight line—although later Type R Integras could click off sub-7-second zero-to-60 times—but it was quick and engaging to drive in a way that cars hadn’t been for many years.
Dodge SRT4 buyer's guide: Everything you need to know
[Editor's Note: This article originally ran in the June 2008 issue of Grassroots Motorsports] Back in 2002, car enthusiasts were finally getting out of the millennial SUV doldrums. Signs of life were just beginning to develop in the sports sedan market after a dry spell that arguably began in 2000, when the last old-school Civic Si and Sentra SE-R models disappeared from showrooms. They were replaced by newer, heavier Eclipses, Civics, Sentras and Neons.
The Mazdaspeed NB Miata
The two-year-only Mazdaspeed Miata lives in a weird state of limbo–neither fish nor fowl, neither here nor there. Is it the car that Mazda should have delivered from the get-go, or is it still not quite fast enough to make that case? What, exactly, is a Mazdaspeed Miata? Put simply, it’s the only factory-turbocharged Miata ever offered. The recipe was simple: Grab a loaded NB-chassis Miata and then add a turbo kit, six-speed transmission, revised chassis tuning, and $827 to the MSRP.
A 1983 Mazda GLC Race Car From the Glory Days of IMSA
Story by Alan Cesar • Photography as Credited Geoff Koteles is living out a legacy. His father, George Koteles, had been involved in the SCCA since the 1950s. The man was an architect, a neat freak, and the executive chief steward of the Western Division. George started putting together this Mazda GLC when Geoff was in college. Geoff took a semester off in 1983 to help his dad build it and got to work alongside notoriety.
Saving the best for last? | Toyota MR2 Spyder buyer's guide
A light curb weight and low polar moment of inertia made it thrilling to drive despite its low … Up the Waterspout Cut to a few years later: It was 1999, and Toyota was facing a buyer demographic problem. The median age of a Toyota buyer was among the highest in the industry—older than 60—and creeping higher. Realizing the need to appeal to a younger buyer with products that were less expensive and more attractive, Toyota executives launched Project Genesis.
#TBT: The fastest Volvos before Polestar? The 700-series Turbos.
[Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in a 2004 issue of Grassroots Motorsports.] Forget the Hokey-Pokey. Boost-fueled Volvo trickery, that’s what it’s all about. Nothing pokey about it. Sure, on the outside these things look just like any other older Volvo, with their bricklike aerodynamics and a safe, sensible image. Through most of the 1980s, Volvo 740s seemed to be the vehicle … This content is available for GRM+ members and Grassroots Motorsports magazine subscribers only.
Resurrecting a totaled Acura NSX into a dream track car
[Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the April 2018 issue of Grassroots Motorsports.] When Honda’s U.S. luxury division debuted the NS-X concept in Chicago in 1989, it raised plenty of questions. Could Japan build a supercar to compete with the likes of Ferrari, Lotus and Porsche? Was Honda inspired or foolish to use aluminum throughout the car? And were Honda reliability and sports car soul mutually exclusive?
Are lighter wheels really better?
Several thoughts: 1 - Wow, the difference between the light and heavy wheels is greater than the weight of each (bare) 15" RPF-1 I mounted on my last Miata. 2 - Is there anyone here wouldn't sell his or her grandmother for half a second per minute? 3 - I recall, from the old autox list on Team.Net a billion years or so ago, that somebody quoted the mathematical formula for calculating accelerative performance improvements from reducing rotating mass.
Mazda 323 GTX | Vintage Views
[Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the August 2014 issue of Grassroots Motorsports.] In 1988, the Mazda 323 GTX burst onto America’s shores. It was a short-lived but epic hot hatch that felt at home on both dirt and tarmac. While it may not carry this reputation today, it was introduced as an aggressive, road-going rally car. It could easily claim to be the predecessor of today’s STI and Evo. The 323 GTX was actually conceived for the sole purpose of competitive rallying.
Mazda RX-3 | Vintage Views
Technically no. Need to clarify the difference between an FB ('81-85) and SA ('79-80) RX-7 as well. Mazda made huge, sweeping changes to components and structural design between SA and FB, and to a lesser extent between Series 2 ('81-83) and Series 3 ('84-85) cars. (And because Mazda, some of the changes were not split per chassis series...
Vintage Views: Porsche 944 Turbo
[Editor's Note: This article originally ran in the November 2017 issue of Grassroots Motorsports. Some information may be different today.] For decades we’ve touted the Porsche 944 Turbo as a bargain supercar, and our advice has always been simple: Buy one and enjoy one of the fastest, most capable machines of the ’80s. The 944 had a competition pedigree as well as the performance chops to run with the day’s best.
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