***FT-86 SpeedFactory's Road to the 86 Expo***

[FT-86 SpeedFactory]

One thing we have figured out with being involved in this community of FRS/BRZ owners is that the members and leadership that reside here are some of the best car people on the planet. From the first time sports car buyer to the hardcore JDM enthusiast that has been following the car for the last 5 years and everywhere in between, we find that same burning passion for these cars. This passion brings us together for all sorts of events, car shows, autocross, track days, and even the occasional drag race. 86 Expo was just that, an event that brought together some of the most passionate people involved with this forum and the car.

With that being said, we knew we had to be there for this event. One problem...the vast landscape that is in between Las Vegas, NV and our hometown of Des Moines, IA in the heartland of the U.S.A. How were we going to transport ourselves, our cars, and as many of our products down to Vegas?? Well, we could pack up a truck and trailer one of the cars, but that won't be enough, will it? No, let's take both cars and pack them full of everything we need....which included an EZ up, folding tables, chairs, our luggage, tools, jack and stands, spare tire(255/40/17), V1 exhaust, and other products we wanted to showcase. So, that is exactly what we did.

Day One
Our first stop was Vail, CO. The cliche ski resort where nobody was skiiing...since it is June





















The town wasn't completely dead. Lots of families were out shopping and taking the kids out for summer vacation trips. There were also quite a bit of older women out on the town....cougars......

The trip up to 8000 feet of elevation was excruciating on our cars. The cars were gasping for air and so were we, but they made the journey with a couple timely downshifts to keep the revs up. We were gasping for oxygen, but settled for some fine bourbon in the form of some old fashions for the evening:happy0180:



















Day Two, Three, and Four
After Vail, we barrel out of the Rockies and into the Desert toward the oasis of Las Vegas, NV. Cutting through the valleys of the Rockies and headed toward sea level and these cars started to shine. The big fat Hankook RS3 tires were up to the task and hugging high speed corners with ease. Now we were starting to eat up the miles and began to enjoy the environment that the Rocky Mountains have to offer. Not to mention the occasional downshift to redline in a few mountain tunnels



















The Desert Oasis greeted us with the dry air and temperatures in the 100*F+ range. Not to mention, the King of the Jungle plated in gold.....





With the autocross portion of the 86 Expo being on Friday night, we had some downtime to get some work done and enjoy the town for a bit. So, after getting as many housekeeping items down from our hotel rooms at the MGM, we went out for some food and checked out a few of the sites.





















That's all for now. Stay tuned for more from our trip. Up next the autocross at the 86 Expo

[charged86]

Vegas beaaaaaaatchhhhhh.

[Asphalt~86]

In for typo in title

***FT-86 SpeedFacrtory's Road to the 86 Expo***

You only have to type it and see it like every day

[ichitaka05]

Photo looks awesome! Can't wait for an update!

[M-17]

Nice! Glad to see someone decided to do journal of their trip to Vegas for the 86 Expo. So far it looks good, so I can't wait to see the rest.

And btw, I didn't see the Hello Kitty person while I was out there, but I found it a bit disturbing to see a guy passing out pornographic cards about 15 feet away from kids getting photos with Buzz Light-year and Woody characters. SMH

[FT-86 SpeedFactory]

Day 3

After a night out on the Vegas Strip, Friday morning left us with empty pockets from the tables and nursing a bad hangover in our rooms for most of the morning. Literally, entering orders and answering questions in our beds at the MGM we had most of our morning filled up. With the autocross portion of the Expo starting at 6pm that evening, we had some time to relax at the MGM pool and sip on some bloody mary's. This was much needed!

Now, time for the autocross competition. Put on by the wonderful folks of the Las Vegas Region SCCA. These guys put together a great event for all to enjoy. Jeremy and I are both event directors for our local SCCA region here in Iowa, and we both know how much work it takes to have a successful event. Hats off to the LVR SCCA. They had everything set up, worked tech and registration, and worked the entire event, so none of us had to during the entire event. Unheard of for autocross at any region. BIG THANKS to them!!!

Onto the competition

The fantastic LVR SCCA volunteers!


All the drivers ready to get on course at the driver's meeting


The cars were looking really good in the paddock and here are some of my favorite shots I was able to get.





































With the cars lined up and the LVR staff headed out to work the course and timing equipment, everyone was ready to go! The course was something that we were definitely not used to. It was very tight, technical, and was lined with cones. We understand why this was done, having setup multiple courses ourselves, you must understand that not everyone has autocrossed or even driving in any type of performance driving event. Designing a course that makes it easier for a newbie to navigate will get them more comfortable and allow them to actually push the car and themselves towards their limits.

Having a wide range of drivers with differing skill levels, I think the they did a fantastic job keeping the course safe, easy to navigate, and fun for all drivers.

I wish I would have been shooting more, but with meeting people, taking pictures, and competing myself, I was only to get pictures of people not around my run times. Regardless, here they are































































Everyone remembers the Asian, Scotsman on the microphone, right??















It was something else autocrossing into the night, something that we had never done before. I am sure a great time was had by all and we enjoyed giving people ride alongs on course. We wished we could have stuck around for that last session of runs, but there was much to do the next morning and we are a bunch of babies....

Jeremy was pretty proud of his first place finish, so he climbed a huge mountain and screamed out "I'm the king of the world!!!"



I should have the car show, cruise, and raffle review up tomorrow. So, stay tuned

Cheers!:happy0180:
-Yo

[ichitaka05]

Great photos!

Yes, we've discussed with LVRSCCA about all types of driver (pro to newbie) and they were kind enough to assist w that line idea. LVRSCCA did awesome job! I would squeezing my head trying to figure that autox out, if LVRSCCA agree with this.

Jeremy was really fast! I wish, I could ride along to see his skill... but maybe next yr

[heeltoe86]

Great write up! Maybe we can do autocross for newbies and trackday/carshow next year all on the same day? If we have plenty of participants we can rent out LVMS Outside Road Course and possibly run it in conjunction to a trackday organization ala 86Fest or MFest?

[FT-86 SpeedFactory]

Day Four

It was an early morning in Vegas for us and we had work to do. After a quick coffee stop at the MGM Starbucks....it was off to Fletcher Jones Toyota Scion. The temps were already rising to levels we didn't think existed when we arrived and we quickly got the EZ up situated in our vendor area for the show. When we arrived there were a few people already there and AVO Turboworld, Beat Sonic, and Cusco USA were busy setting up their booths, as well.

Once we got setup and had a cold bottle of water, it was time to relax.....wait, no it wasn't. The crowds of FRS/BRZ's were starting to pile in, so it was time to get to work I wasn't able to get as many photos as I wanted because of working the booth most of the day, but I managed to sneak out from under the shade and get some photos. HUGE THANK YOU to everyone that came by to our booth to purchase items, check out what we had to offer, and chat with us!!!

































Now that all had gathered and had a chance for the party sandwiches provided by Fletcher Jones Toyota Scion, it was time to get out of the sun, kick the AC on in the rides, and head into Lake Mead and Valley of Fire State Park.

We were busy packing up our things and didn't get a chance to leave with the larger groups that headed out right away and I think we ended up passing all you guys somewhere???? Not sure how we missed a huge gathering of FRS/BRZs, but we ended up being the first group back.... Either way, a few stragglers tagged along with us and it was still a great cruise into a part of the country that neither of myself or Jeremy had seen before.































Upon our return, we sat around and waited for everyone else. We were looking forward to the remaining raffles, as we were ready to give away our FT-86 SpeedFactory V1 cat-back exhaust

Tons of other awesome raffle prizes were given away that I wish I could have won!! Thanks to Beat-Sonic, Zeta Performance, Cusco USA, AVO Turboworld, Genome Tuning, JPM Coachworks, NorCal 86 Owner Club, Fletcher Jones & Club4AG providing us with all the raffle drawing goodies.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner???











Oh, and, of course, Jeremy's trophy for fastest auto-x time



That's it from Vegas for us, but that's not all!!! Stay tuned as we cross over the state line to SoCal for the FT86 Challenge and Red Line Time Attack at Willow Springs International Raceway the day after 86 Expo

[ichitaka05]

Yay~ keep up with the update! I am interested on how went you guys car did in Redline Time Attack also

btw, how long of trip was it total (day you left to day you came back)?

[ric342]

[QUOTE=FT-86 SpeedFactory;1024708][CENTER][B][SIZE="4"]Day 3




I should have the car show, cruise, and raffle review up tomorrow. So, stay tuned
sponcer me lol:lo l::happy0180:

[FT-86 SpeedFactory]

Originally Posted by ichitaka05

Yay~ keep up with the update! I am interested on how went you guys car did in Redline Time Attack also

btw, how long of trip was it total (day you left to day you came back)?

Got it done in 7 days. Wednesday to Wednesday. 4300 miles.

[goshem]

love the pics! more of the cars pls!

[FT-86 SpeedFactory]

Originally Posted by goshem

love the pics! more of the cars pls!

We got more coming today.