Author: Matt Haugness

While it may appear that Project LSX-7 hasn’t been touched in weeks, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Before diving into the latest update, the first thing I would like to do is introduce Secondbolt Racing as the latest sponsor for the project. Secondbolt Racing was officially created 5 months ago by an Import Meet member by the name of Matt K. (v8rx7guy). Secondbolt Racing designs parts for late-model GM swapped vehicles as well as performing the swaps into import cars. Secondbolt Racing will be the shop swapping the engine into Project LSX-7 and performing any additional upgrades to…

Photos by Robert Bishop – Article by Matt Haugness We couldn't have picked a better weekend to hold our very first Spring Show & Shine in Bellingham, WA. The weather forecast changed at the last minute which helped us reach a total of 63 pre-registrations before the show even started! Sehome Haggen was very generous and let us use a good portion of their lot for the afternoon. Since this was technically our second show at this location, we knew what to expect and how many cars we could fit. Parking for spectators and customers was as issue this year,…

ImportMeet.com officially launched on April 16, 2011. At the time, the site had approximately 5 members (a few real life friends) and I had made about 5 posts on the blog. April 16th was an important day because it was the day that I started to actually market the site. Today, after over 80 blog posts and over 16,000 forum posts, I can confidently say that the site is growing at a rate that I'm satisfied with. The amount of people viewing the site daily is doubling every month and the number of members continues to increase rapidly. Keep in…

Photos by Matt Haugness and Kristi Johnson Yesterday, ImportMeet.com was invited to a dyno day at Racing Greed in Port Coquitlam, BC. Racing Greed (or RG for short) is a well-established shop known for building high end import cars in BC. Their shop is equipped with multiple lifts and a Mustang dyno which locals refer to as "The Heartbreak Dyno." Mustang dynos typically read lower than Dynojet or other styles of dynamometers which is how their dyno got its nickname. From what RG says, their dyno results are consistently 75% of an engine's crank horsepower.

V8rx7guy’s obsession with V8 engines started about 10 years ago while he was still in high school. At the time, Matt K. was driving a V6 Mazda MX-3 which he thought was one of the faster cars in his school. It wasn’t until the day he tested its acceleration against a 5.0L Foxbody Mustang that he realized that it was time for a different platform. Even though he knew that a large engine in a small car was the answer, he had a hard time finding the perfect car. “All of the cars I looked at that had V8’s that…

Nissan Fest 2012 from Takuya TK Akiyama on Vimeo. Here's a video I shot at Northwest Nissans' Nissan Fest 2012. Song is Feel So Close by Calvin Harris. Equipment: Sony Alpha 77 Sony Alpha 550 Sony 2.8 16-50 SSM Tamron 2.8 70-200 LD(IF) Macro Gitzo Series 3 Carbon 6x Tripod Extreme Pro 16GB SanDisk x3

Photos by Matt Haugness, Nick & Melissa Poirier, and TK Akiyama On March 25th, 2012, Northwest Nissans and NWMotiv.com joined forces to hold Nissan Fest at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, WA. Nissan Fest was created to replace NWN's Golden Gardens meet that was held in late March every year. For the last several years, the Golden Gardens meet continued to increase in size until it was too big for the location. Northwest Nissans selected Evergreen Speedway as the venue for Nissan Fest because it allowed them to have their Drift Sponsorship Competition and have an abundance of parking for spectators.

Photos by TK Akiyama – Article by Matt Haugness Nw-built decided to team up with StanceWars and organize a March meet at Golden Gardens Park in Seattle, WA. Last year, one of nw-built's first meets was held at Golden Gardens in January. It was a huge success and this year's meet was even bigger.