The Teams and the cars
The cars are operated by teams from the three main regions of the country: BC, Ontario, and Quebec. The event, by the way, is hosted by pro-drifter and Scion Canada's own, Pat Cyr.
From Quebec, we have Team Swag that consists of Dany "Babu" Bernier, a well-known personality in La Belle Province with extensive track and drifting experience.
From Ontario, Team Top Tuner is big in the business of automotive customization. Their leader is Edmund Dante Lopez Manasan.
And from British Colombia, we find Team VCMC with Richard Basford at the helm. Richard is also a well-rounded driver with experience in a number of disciplines including recently participating in the Pikes Peak run.
The car is a modified 2013 Scion FR-S that is, in my opinion, one of the best affordable base cars on which to build a designated track car.
In every case, brakes, tires, and suspension were all upgraded to meet the serious challenges posed by hard acceleration and even harder braking. Weight reduction, aerodynamics, and purpose-built seats are also standard fair in these cars.
Turbo- and supercharging are some of the methods used to make the 2.0L H4 Boxer engines make more power -- and they do -- and these cars are amazing!
Judgement day
As a judge for this Media Challenge, I got to take all three cars for a few laps at Mirabel's ICAR track.
First comments go to the work these teams put into the cars. As the cars are relatively new to the market, the teams had to be very creative with some of the mods performed. The boosted engines required a tremendous amount of ingenuity and, in some cases, some problem solving.
The same went for the braking systems, which, from where I sat in the car, were the most important upgrades. All three cars performed exceptionally well in this department, crushing the stock units. Hats off to Team Swag for their work here.
There' s a well known adage that goes: Power is nothing without control. This is where tires and a proper suspension setup, along with aerodynamics, make a difference. Team VCMC did a phenomenal job taking the FR-S' already impressive grip to a gravity-defying level.
Then, there's power. I'm a huge fan of forced induction and although I own two turbocharged cars, I must say that Team Top Tuner's supercharged nitrous-fed setup has lots of useable and manageable get-up-and-go.
The results
At the end of the day, my colleagues and I said our peace and Team VCMC took top honours and was awarded 10 points. Team Swag took the second spot and got their 7 points and, in last place, Team Top Tuner, picked up 4 points.
Unofficially, the standings are as follows:
Check out www.tunerchallenge.ca and vote for your fave!
The cars are operated by teams from the three main regions of the country: BC, Ontario, and Quebec. The event, by the way, is hosted by pro-drifter and Scion Canada's own, Pat Cyr.
From Quebec, we have Team Swag that consists of Dany "Babu" Bernier, a well-known personality in La Belle Province with extensive track and drifting experience.
From Ontario, Team Top Tuner is big in the business of automotive customization. Their leader is Edmund Dante Lopez Manasan.
And from British Colombia, we find Team VCMC with Richard Basford at the helm. Richard is also a well-rounded driver with experience in a number of disciplines including recently participating in the Pikes Peak run.
The car is a modified 2013 Scion FR-S that is, in my opinion, one of the best affordable base cars on which to build a designated track car.
In every case, brakes, tires, and suspension were all upgraded to meet the serious challenges posed by hard acceleration and even harder braking. Weight reduction, aerodynamics, and purpose-built seats are also standard fair in these cars.
Turbo- and supercharging are some of the methods used to make the 2.0L H4 Boxer engines make more power -- and they do -- and these cars are amazing!
 |
| From Quebec, we have Team Swag that consists of Dany "Babu" Bernier, a well-known personality in La Belle Province with extensive track and drifting experience. (Photo: Mathieu St-Pierre) |
Judgement day
As a judge for this Media Challenge, I got to take all three cars for a few laps at Mirabel's ICAR track.
First comments go to the work these teams put into the cars. As the cars are relatively new to the market, the teams had to be very creative with some of the mods performed. The boosted engines required a tremendous amount of ingenuity and, in some cases, some problem solving.
The same went for the braking systems, which, from where I sat in the car, were the most important upgrades. All three cars performed exceptionally well in this department, crushing the stock units. Hats off to Team Swag for their work here.
There' s a well known adage that goes: Power is nothing without control. This is where tires and a proper suspension setup, along with aerodynamics, make a difference. Team VCMC did a phenomenal job taking the FR-S' already impressive grip to a gravity-defying level.
Then, there's power. I'm a huge fan of forced induction and although I own two turbocharged cars, I must say that Team Top Tuner's supercharged nitrous-fed setup has lots of useable and manageable get-up-and-go.
 |
| As the cars are relatively new to the market, the teams had to be very creative with some of the mods performed. (Photo: Mathieu St-Pierre) |
The results
At the end of the day, my colleagues and I said our peace and Team VCMC took top honours and was awarded 10 points. Team Swag took the second spot and got their 7 points and, in last place, Team Top Tuner, picked up 4 points.
Unofficially, the standings are as follows:
- Top Tuner: 55 points
- VCMC: 52 points
- Swag: 40 points
Check out www.tunerchallenge.ca and vote for your fave!
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