Bimmerfest 2012 sponsored by HorsepowerFreaks will be held on May 19, 2012 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA! Come on out and help make Bimmerfest bigger and better in 2012!

What is it?: The 13th annual Bimmerfest event is back at the Rose Bowl with the enormous grass lot H included in the fun this year. Last year was an amazing year and 2012 looks to be even bigger. Register online today and start making your plans to attend the best BMW show in all the land.

When: May 19, 2011 from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM

Where: The Rose Bowl, 1001 Rose Bowl Drive, Pasadena, CA 91103

Entry Fee: $20 per BMW to park in the show — $15 per person to walk in — kids 12 and under are free

Register for Bimmerfest 2012 California sponsored by HorsepowerFreaks now

See the registration statistics for Bimmerfest 2012 sponsored by HorsepowerFreaks

Every year, in mid-August, car enthusiasts from around the globe flock to the Monterey Car Week. With events like the Rolex Historic Car Races at Laguna Seca, the RM Auto Auction, and, of course, the world renowned Concour d’Elegance on the 18th green at the Pebble Beach golf course.

My personal favorite, being an Italian car addict, is the Concorso Italiano and this year looks to be one of the best. After last year’s complete disaster, the new owner / CEO of the event, Tom McDowell, looks to have resurrected the event back to its elite status. Gone is the crappy food and wind-blown airfield tarmac of last year.

Other than the beautiful setting of the Laguna Seca Golf Ranch; this year, we can look forward to Alfa’s rare and unique B.A.T. cars, a world-record number of Ferrari 288 GTOs, Elvis Presley’s 1971 DeTomaso Pantera, 1 of 20 Lamborghini Reventons, and a number of distinguished automotive figures such as Valentino Balboni, Piero Rivolta and Jay Leno. Also in attendance will be the Ferrari, Lamborghini, Pantera, Bertone, Fiat, Iso and Bizzarini car clubs.

Tomorrow won’t come soon enough. I promise I’ll take plenty of photos!

At Big SoCal Euro I took a driving course and hit the skid pad and the slalom with my MkV GTI and Yokohoma AD08′s. After the skid pad the tires were a bit torn up. These are not cheap tires, but you can’t put a price on experience, right? Well, at least that’s what I’m telling myself. In reality, getting on the skid pad is the equivalent setting piles of cash on fire since you can literally see your investment go up in smoke.

Now, with my tires worn, I was a bit concerned about the performance on the mountain roads. Perhaps, that’s not the best place to be testing your ride’s responsiveness, so “kid’s don’t try this at home.” The drive was organized by Steven, and 4 cars, including mine, showed up. Anymore than that gets pretty tough to manage, especially when you’ve got traffic and bicycles on the road.

My suspension and brakes are both stock, so that makes me more susceptible to brake fade and body roll. Still, I had no problem keeping up with the pack. The car handled great and the tires lived up to their name. Early in the drive I was able to break the tires loose a bit, but after they warmed up they were super sticky. It was actually quite impressive. I could no longer spin the tires going into 2nd gear with hot tires. And, like any other driver, this just made me want to push the car even harder… so I did. The toughest stretch was on Alpine Road going into Palo Alto, but still the car stuck to the ground.

The drive was great, but if I were to do this weekly, my next investment would be in some shocks and HP+ brake pads. The car handled extremely well, but at times I got a little more bounce than I would have liked. My next performance part will likely be the Koni FSD shocks. I want shocks that perform but also maintain a great ride quality since my back isn’t in the greatest shape and I still need to go from point A to point B comfortably.

Do you have the Koni FSD shocks? Or, have another suggestion for a suspension kit? Leave your feedback in the comments below.

This weekend, Sunday July 12th, we’ll be heading up to San Pablo with some guys from the GolfMKV forums for the Dubfest car show. It’ll be an all Euro event with more of a laid back atmosphere – a grassroots car show and BBQ. Although the event has historically focused on Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche models, they’re opening it up for BMW, Mercedes, Volvo and other Euro models.

The show is going to be hosted at Tomas Sport Tuning and due to the space, will be limited to just 75 show cars. Other activities at the event include a technical install performed by the crew at Tomas Sport Tuning, live DJ, vendor row, and raffles.

Join the Caravan!

We’ll be meeting up in Fremont at Tapioca Express in the Auto Mall Plaza. Join us at 10:00am to leave around 10:30am. The show gates open at 11:00am and we’ll park at Lake Elementary and walk over.

Big SoCal Euro 2009 has now come and gone. I’ve never seen that much carbon fiber in the same place. Now that the show is over, a bone stock M3 just doesn’t do the trick for me anymore. I expected to see more E46 M3s, but everywhere I looked I saw E90 335s and E92 M3s. Given the value and tunability of the 335, this is not shocking. The 6 cylinder turbo charged engine can easily hit the 400hp mark with fairly minimal modifications starting with an ECU upgrade from Dinan which gets you started at 421 lbs of torque. Combine that tire melting acceleration with a flat torque curve and you’ve got a car that will make you glad you opted for the small fries.

While the latest and greatest were present in all their glory, there were plenty of classics in the mix. One that caught my eye was an 1988 E28 BMW M5. My first memories of torque were from my dad’s E28 535is, so I could appreciate this living legend. The contrast of the latest M5 2 rows down was nothing short of jaw dropping. The M5 has come a long way, but its heritage is clearly nothing to be ashamed of.

Warren, Hooman and I are heading down south to one of this summer’s biggest meetup events – the Big SoCalEuro Gathering in San Diego. We’ll be meeting up with some of our friends at the GolfMKV forums for a caravan from San Jose to San Diego. Join us!

The event sponsors, Falken Tires and SoCalEuro, are expecting over 1,600 vehicles this year (currently there are 636). The best part about it – the event is free! But, for $20 you can participate in the San Diego BMW CCA driving clinic with 4 different challenges, the figure 8 skidpad, straight line braking, emergency lane change, and straight line slalom.

See you there! We’ll be in Warren’s MkV GTI…

Aaron's 1999 Porsche 996 Carrera.

I recently had the pleasure of attending my first autocross event put on by the Porsche Club of America (PCA) Golden Gate Region (GGR) and Porboys German Automotive Service. This event was an annual “beginners” autocross school  targeted at first-time and novice to autocross participants with an exceptional amount of one-on-one, in-car instruction. In short, I had an absolute blast.

Now, this was a Porsche Club event but, as my title suggests, I could have been driving a Pinto all day and still had about as much fun. The fact that I got to push my Porsche 996 to its limits of grip made the event even more exciting.

There was an amazing diversity of classic and late-model Porsches on track, with varying levels of customization and performance. 911′s, 914′s, Boxsters, Caymans…..all of which, owned and driven by a group of non-discriminating enthusiasts excited to push their cars, exotic or “ordinary,” to their limits. I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of ego and snobbery.

What surprised me most, was the fact that the fastest cars around the circuit, weren’t necessarily the most powerful. Autocrossing is not about pure horsepower. The speeds reached on course wouldn’t even raise an eyebrow from a highway patrol officer on your local freeway. I never even got out of second gear. However, if you were to drive like this in your neighborhood, you might find yourself behind bars pretty quickly.

Getting a great time around an autocross circuit is mostly about driving skill. Of course, a fast car with a stiff suspension and big brakes doesn’t hurt. A well set up Porsche Boxter with a good driver could easily lap times similar to a $200k GT2.

What I’m getting at here is, no matter what you drive, give autocross racing a try. It’s cheap, fun, and safe. The worst that could happen is you knock over a few cones.

Despite temperatures in the high 90’s, the Rolex series turned out to be an exceptionally cool event. The Mazda Raceway featured several events, including the Mazda MX-5 cup, the Rolex GT/ Koni Challenge, and the Ford Mustang Challenge.

The races were not the only exhibition; walking around the show grounds one’s driving spirit would be titillated by beautiful cars, open tent workshops and up close and personal GT car drive-bys.

Some people might be surprised to learn that the Mazda Miata MX-5 makes and excellent track car, however upon closer inspection you would realize that the shape and size of the car make it perfect for track modifications. The stock Mazda Miata starts at a cool $22,420 with a curb weight of just over 2400 lbs, and 167 horsepower @ 7000 rpm (0-60 in about 6.5). Stripping the car of its excess features and tuning the engine alone turns this simple car into quite the speed demon.

As impressive as the MX-5 may be, walking around the show grounds, your attention couldn’t help but fall upon the awesome muscle car exhibit which proudly displayed several Shelby Cobras, classic corvettes and killer Camaros. Certainly one of the great benefits of races and car shows is to get a first hand look at some of the creativity, ingenuity and passion people around the world have for their cars.

Finally the races provided a great look at how performance and design go hand in hand. Watching the intensely painted speedsters drive by was the perfect distraction from the 95 degree heat.

If you haven’t had the chance to check out a race or a car show yet, I highly encourage you to check out our events page to see if there are any upcoming events in your area. They provide an awesome way to spend your weekend and gain new knowledge on the cars and parts that you are passionate about.

Photos by Fallen  Tree Media