Driving Sports

Oregon Trail Rally Action!

Click here to jump straight to the 2007 video!

Visit the DS Rallysport Channel for ongoing 2008 coverage!

Oregon Trail Rally, one of the best events on the Rally America national series, is kicking off for an action-packed three days of competition. The fun starts off with a Parc Exposé in downtown Portland, followed by the start at Portland International Raceway on Friday. Competition then heads out to the Hillsboro Fairgrounds and the town of Vernonia. For more information, check out the official site.

I always think it's more enjoyable to watch an event when there's some perspective to go along with it. So, for the first time ever, we're making our coverage of the 2007 Oregon Trail Rally available to watch online for free (this is the same feature that ran on Portland television last year.) Just click over to our Featured Videos and select which segments you want to watch. The full meal deal on the 2007 event is just under 30-minutes long.

For the 2008 event we'll be uploading video from the field. Check our Rallysport Channel often throughout the weekend!

SCHEDULED VIDEO COVERAGE
Now showing: Preparing the Rockstar Rally Cars
Friday (late): Competitor Smack Talk
Saturday: Footage from PIR clips and Vernonia footage
Sunday: Hillsboro and wrap-up

Our own Jeff Zurschmeide will be co-driving for Austen Angell in a 1982 Alfa Romeo GTV6.

Getting Schooled

Last summer I had the opportunity to go through an abbreviated racing class at Skip Barber's Laguna Seca school. This was a special journalist edition of the school put together to promote the new MX-5 Cup racing program. This video takes you through all the basic elements of the school, including the one "off" experienced by the journalist from Grassroots Motorsports (how embarrassed was he?) through Turn 11.

I've been through a couple schools and I have to say that the methodology of the Skip Barber instructors was superb. Highly recommended. Plus, hey, it's Laguna Seca! That, and you get to experience the fun of driving real, race-prepped MX-5's -- just like the ones running in the Playboy MX-5 Cup series.

Making room for Hot Laps

I made a few changes to our video players this morning, especially in the Video Center. Due to our video hosting partner discontinuing the pay-to-download feature, all the episodes of The Vintage Vehicle Show have been removed. As have a few of our DVD features. In time, we'll make parts of these available as individual clips. If there is a specific video you remember and want to watch, but is no longer available, let us know and we'll see if we can post it sooner rather than later.

Newly added to the Video Center is a section for our Hot Lap videos (available in the tabs above the player). We record a lot of these, mainly to include into features. Now there's a place to go if you'd like to see a specific racetrack from behind the wheel but don't want all the chatter. To kick off this new area, I've uploaded a fresh video from behind the wheel of a Spec Miata race car as it performs a lap around the newly-repaved Portland International Raceway.

As usual, let us know what you think by posting comments into this thread!

Tuesday Shorts: 2008 Nissan NISMO 350Z

Tuesday is a great day for shorts. We're kicking off something new here at Driving Sports: Every Tuesday we'll have a new video short. It may be an interview, a new car review, or just an onboard track lap reel. No matter what's rolling, you can bet it will be a better way to blow 5-minutes of your life than filling out TPS reports.

Kicking off the Tuesday Shorts is a review I did of the 2008 NISMO 350Z while attending the WAJ Media Days at Laguna Seca.

Normally, when shooting a test video we go through the following process: Drive the car for a few days, prepare some comments in advance, prepare a "shoot" which usually lasts a few hours and involves 2-5 crew members, then spend another day editing and scoring.

Sometimes, however, we just toss that all out the window, grab our $300 Canon solid state recorder and pop out the first thing that comes to mind... as part of a one man show. That's how it went down for this clip. Fast, quick and dirty.

So, enjoy this clip knowing it was recorded in a single shot, then edited while sitting at the gate in the San Jose airport and on the plane from Cali back to Seattle. Tell me what you think. Do you like this "rough" approach? Or is the cheese just a bit too strong? Hit the jump to watch the clip and sound-off in the comments. We have something much more refined already lined up for next Tuesday. Promise.

V6-Powered Miata is Awesome

Yesterday we did a photoshoot for our Miata Magazine, Forever MX-5, of this unique and very awesome V6-powered Miata.

Sure, there are V8 conversions out there, but they're simply ridiculous. Keeping "reasonable" with a Mazda-sourced V6 creates a car that is true to the essence of the Miata, but kicks performance to a new realm: 180whp in a featherweight car with fat tires. And yes, this car can handle. I may even go so far to call it brilliant.

Click the jump to see the video, and go subscribe to Forever MX-5 Magazine to read all the details in the Summer 2008 issue.

Gitting sideways at Prodrive UK

Just before Christmas I was running a series from my trip to Rally GB in 2007. I've dusted the files off and have one more from that series to share. This was the visit to the Prodrive test track in Warwickshire.

I had a chance to drive a Type UK 2007 STI and a Group-N WRC car on the high-speed course (my first time in a right-hand drive), plus I had a little fun on the ice simulator. Prodrive has one of only two such simulators in the UK.

Thanks to Subaru of America for hookup us up. Enjoy the video, just after the jump.