McLaren Scottsdale

Being on Winter Break has given me much-needed time to decompress from school, in addition to catch up on photography. This Winter Break I wanted to try to expand my photography a little more, and I decided that Scottsdale is full of cool people and nice car dealerships, so I wonder if I could go anywhere there. Thus, this is how I ended up at the McLaren Auto Gallery in Scottsdale, due to hearing that they had McLaren 675LTs. With a big, appreciative thank you to the General Manager, Gina, and technician Krystian, I was able to take pictures of the brand new McLaren 570S and the limited production McLaren 675LT, as well as see the other four 675LTs present. 

I'll admit that at first, when I saw pictures of the 570S online, I wasn't a fan of the design. It just looked odd to me. However, seeing one in person changed that completely. I find it interesting how there are a lot of design cues reminiscent of the McLaren P1, like the swooping, multi-edged sides, the mirrors, the round greenhouse, and the rounded, LED strip taillights, with diffuser underneath.  Sharing the same heart, albeit detuned, as its older brothers the 650S and P1, its 3.8L twin turbo V8 still makes a healthy 562hp@7400rpm and 443lb-ft@5000rpm. This could be heard as the engine turns on, since I heard it start up several times when cars in the garage had to be moved around for the various work tasks that had to be accomplished that day. And of course, it has plenty of genes from Formula One, such as the carbon fiber tub that forms the basis of the car, the 7 speed gearbox, and all of its other go-fast software and hardware.

As special as the 570S is, however, it was not the star in my eyes of my visit. After all, McLaren hopes to produce 5000 of these per year, making it the "volume supercar" for them, like the Gallardo/Huracan is to Lamborghini. No, instead, the "star" of my visit is the McLaren 675LT. Only 500 were produced, and McLaren Scottsdale had a whopping five LTs at their dealership, including one with a special paintjob that looks like Mexico Blue. However, the one in the garage that I could take pictures of (well, there was a blue one in the showroom as well, but the positions I could take photos of that were a bit restricted) was this beautiful grey example with orange seats and brake calipers. Pictures don't give its aggressiveness proper justice. The diffuser is massive, as well as the splitter and spoiler. The exhausts, once nicely integrated into the body work on the 650S, now jut out in an "in-your-face" manner to remind you that this is no 650S with a bodykit on it. 

The 675LT gets its name from two sources. The LT, LongTail, designation comes from McLaren's 1997 F1 GTR "LongTail", approriately named as it was McLaren's FIA Homolgation model that featured a very long tail with its direct-from-racing aerodynamics. The 675 comes from its increased power output of 675PS, which, interestingly (and I find appropriate), is 666hp.  Meanwhile, to fit into that new, aggressive aero package, the 675LT lost 220lbs/100kg compared to the 650S, with 40% more downforce helping glue the car to the road. With a 0-60mph time of 2.9s, 0-100mph time of 7.9s, and a top speed of 205mph, the car performs as amazingly as it looks. 

I have to say, originally I did not have much of an opinion on the 675LT. But, after seeing it and hearing it in person, as well as talking to Krystian about it, I love it. It really is an amazing synthesis of performance and engineering.

And again, thank you Gina and Krystian for letting me take pictures at your dealership! 

Austin's '76 Celica GT

With Japanese cars appearing and sometimes dominating the world stage for the past 30 years, it's always good to revisit roots and see the beginnings of it all. It's a good thing, too, that so much interest is being put into older JDM vehicles now because there are so many gems, including this, the first generation Toyota Celica. 

The Celica, derived from the Latin world coelica meaning "heavenly" or "celestial", is the successor to Toyota's first sports car, the Sports 800, which, at the time, competed with some of Japan's other first sports cars, including the Honda S500 and Datsun Fairlady . Thus, its place in the family tree is quite clear. This car was meant to take Toyota forward as their next sports car. 

This particular Celica, a 1976 GT model, is owned by Austin, a freshman electrical and software engineering student at ASU, who is also a part of our local ASU car club Street Refined. The condition this car is in is amazing, and its no wonder thanks to the attention and detail Austin has put into the car. He first found the car after 6 months of browsing Craigslist, attracted to its rarity, looks, and classic JDM nature.

The car was once lowered with underglow and a front splitter, however, it was raised back up and the underglow was removed. Meanwhile, the front splitter met an unfortunate end when it was ripped off by a water puddle.

The list of fixes and modifications is immense. The whole suspension system has been worked on, with struts replaced and adjustable A arms from Techno Toy Tuning installed on the front. The ignition system has also been reworked, with an MSD Streetfire ignition installed, an upgrade to a Thunder coil, and a conversion from points to electronic ignition thanks to a Pertronix kit. The fuel system was also worked on, with the in-tank fuel filter being replaced. The car now rides on sixteen inch wheels wrapped in Khumo ASXs, and the car has a 1974 "Smiley" bumper. For some extra engine audio, racing long/short headers are installed and hooked up to a 2.5 inch exhaust and a Dynomax muffler with an expansion chamber and no cat. The throaty sound is extremely gratifying to hear, with a deep sound that resembles a beefy 6 cylinder engine, and a pop that resembles backfire due to the extremely low pressure of such a large exhaust. The engine's audio wasn't the only audio enhancement, however. A completely new sound system was installed, featuring a 4x400W Fosgate amplifier hooked up to two 5 inch Infinity speakers by Harmon Kardon and another two 6x9 Infinity speakers. A 1000W Fosgate amplifier powers a 12 inch shallow mount Fosgate woofer. I got to hear the audio system in action with some very dynamic music from Clean Bandit, and the power of the system is clear. The basslines come out tight and strong, and the audio is superbly crisp. Austin plans on dropping in a Weber 32/36 carb in the future, as well as working on a rebuild 20r with a port polish and mid-level cam job.

The weather was perfect for taking pictures due to rainstorms earlier in the afternoon leaving clear and cloudy skies, perfect for the amazing Arizonan sunset. The light really helped highlight the lines, shapes, and proportions of this car.

This car has been on the track before, driven by a club member with two years of track experience. He complimented the handling and behavior of the car. Under acceleration, given the power and weight of the car, it pulls very nicely. The exhaust and headers make the exhaust sound heavenly. The appearance of the car is also excellent; both Austin and I noted that we really like how the design looks Japanese, yet it has US muscle car proportions and stance. In fact, I discovered that there was a liftback model of the Celica that very clearly resembled a period-spec Mustang from the rear. The first generation Celica surely a classic car near the base of Toyota's, and Japan's, sports car roots. It surely is a gem worth looking at and worthy of attention, a true, proper classic Japanese sports car.

Noah's Blobeye Impreza STi

Subarus are a huge thing, as you can probably see from the recent blog posts about Subarus. There are a ton of Impreza drivers here at ASU, including my good friend Noah. Noah and I first met because I was wearing a Honda NSX shirt, and both of us are huge fans of it. With us both being car guys and an admiration for the NSX, we became friends easily. Noah drives this Blobeye Impreza WRX STi with a Cobb exhaust, white wheels that I forgot the name of, and some other various small engine mods that I forgot to ask about again since I forgot that this was also a feature piece and that I needed to ask him about these things.  

As can be seen from the license plate, Noah and his STi are from Oregon, which he tells me has an absolutely massive Subaru presence. For this academic year he drove his STi down from Oregon to have in the desert. The Arizonan fuel, however, has not always matched his Impreza's tastes, as he's told me before how he's had to work on the engine mapping a lot because the fuel didn't agree with his previous maps. But, with those issues over, Noah's been driving this thing- a lot. It serves as both his daily driver to his job and also his track-day toy, and its long, multipurposed life can be seen in its odometer.

The Impreza STi has always been a favorite car of mine because of its rally heritage. Riding along with Noah on the way to the photoshoot location, I became enchanted by the traditional boxer-burble and the wastegate, as well as the smaller details such as the shift indicator (that Noah set to go off at around 3500rpm just so it can be heard regularly, a decision I wholeheartedly agree with). And, being outside looking at the car, I was taken back to when I was younger, playing Gran Turismo 4 and loving how the Blobeye looks. Even sitting still, it looks aggressive and ready to race.

Unfortunately, Noah plans to sell his beloved STi due to life. Even though the STi is a wonderful car, it still screams "boy-racer" too much for Noah's current and future professional career because of all the reasons why a person would love an Impreza STi- the big wing, the loud burble, the bright color, etc. It's a real shame to see her go, but Noah told me that after school is done and a career is in place, he definitely plans on buying another one. Subie love sure runs deep.

Keaton's WRX

As mentioned in Milo's Impreza, I went to No Fly Zone with a group of people. Keaton, a very close friend of mine I met in the beginning of college, was another person in our group, driving his WRX. And, as stated before, when a Subaru and some dirt combine, rally drifting ensues. Milo and Keaton drove together, however, due to all the dust kicked up, I could only photograph the lead car, which was always Milo because he has more experience than Keaton. However, that doesn't mean I couldn't snap a photo of his WRX as it emerged from the dust. Look forward to an actual feature of Keaton and his WRX soon.

Milo's Impreza

I'm working on No Fly Zone and Cars and Coffee photos, but first, I wanted to share some pics Milo's Impreza. We went to No Fly Zone together with some other people, and after we were done spectating, we set out to a power plant we spotted in the distance to get some photos there. While we couldn't find a way in/couldn't find a suitable location, there was a nice dirt circle by the entrance. When dirt and Subarus combine, you get off-road drifts. Plenty of them. What do you do when this happens and you have a camera? Take some photos. 

Since this was a spontaneous thing, I didn't get to do an "interview" per se with Milo about himself and his car to write about as a feature here. However, from the small talk we've made, Milo has plenty of racing experience, racing karts as a kid and cars like his Subaru in autocross and track events. Hence, when photographing him, everything felt completely controlled and comfortable. His car makes "unknown power"; I didn't as about what's under the hood, but it isn't stock, either. Clearly though, his skill and the car's unknown power showed itself in our little drift-photoshoot. Which, by the way, was on a dirt loop with only one entrance and exit that we blocked off, so it was a closed course, in case if anyone was wondering. We're professionals, folks.