This year marked my fourth time attending the SEMA show in Las Vegas, Nevada. In this time the economy has improved and created a shift in the industry. Compared to years past it seemed like the primary focus of 2016 was trucks and domestic cars. Of the imports that were there most of them were exotic or European makes. Photos by Robert Haugness and Conrad Jordan. Text by Matt Haugness. Although I was a little disappointed in the lack of Asian import cars this could probably be attributed to fewer “tuner” style cars being released in general. In 2013 and…
Author: Matt Haugness
Matt Haugness
Matt created ImportMeet.com in 2011 after noticing a lack of media websites dedicated exclusively to import cars. Although he's employed as an engineer and has no formal training in journalism, his skills continue to develop as the editor for the site. He enjoys writing feature car articles, technical build/project articles, and organizing events. Matt drives a 2023 Honda Civic Type R and a 1990 LS-swapped Mazda RX-7.
Holding the last large outdoor car show event of the season in September is always a gamble. With the weather in the NW being so unpredictable the success of the event hinges completely on what Mother Nature decides to do. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESl2JXteuRc Photos by Kenny B. and Nick/Melissa Poirier. Text by Matt Haugness.We lucked out again this year and DriftCon Afterdark was amazing from a spectator turnout and driver standpoint. Almost 30 drivers showed up to compete in the Round 5 ProAm competition which was only bested in turnout by DriftCon in June. For a full breakdown of the drifting competition…
A common question that you will find on S2000 forums/Facebook groups is owners asking for others to help them diagnose some strange engine noise. While there are many different things that can contribute to noises at idle the most likely culprit is the OEM timing chain tensioner. The tensioner is basically a spring loaded pin that pushes on the timing chain giving it tension. When these start to wear out they sort of sound like a card in the spokes of a bicycle and the sound is usually worse when the engine is warm. The annoying part is that it’s…
This marks the third year of DriftCon events at Evergreen Speedway and the June event is always the first of the season. Every time this event continues to grow in size and this year was no different. Compared to DriftCon Afterdark last September there was a 30% increase in overall attendance!Photos by Adam Ruiz, TK Akiyama, and Nick/Melissa Poirier (Wicked-West). Text by Matt Haugness.The Evergreen Drift ProAm season kicked off in April with round 1 on the 5/8’s bank. For round 2 (DriftCon) they elected to move over to the 3/8 course and run the mini-Irwindale layout. This was the…
In the last post I introduced you to the car I’ve owned for the last 8 years. In this post I’m going to show you my current summer wheel setup.Washington State is known for having unpredictable winters. Some winters it just rains for 3 months out of the year. Others it’s freezing from January through March. With my S2000 being my daily driver since I’ve owned it – I’ve been forced to run all seasons for the winter (I don’t drive it in the snow or freezing conditions). My stock painted black AP1 wheels that I showed in the introduction…
I’m excited to introduce the newest Project Car for ImportMeet.com – my S2000! First, a little backstory on the car…I picked up my one-owner 2001 Honda S2000 in February of 2008 with 7,900 miles on the odometer. I found it on a local consignment lot completely stock. At the time I was considering picking up a higher mileage AP2 (the chassis code for 2004-2009 Honda S2000’s) or an 2002-2003 AP1 but I was having a hard time finding one in perfect condition. Nearly every one that I looked at had been abused or had been painted in some area of…
The XXX Import Meet and DriftCon Afterdark mark the beginning and the end of the car show season for us at ImportMeet.com. This was our second DriftCon event at Evergreen Speedway this year with the primary difference being that it was held in the evening to change the overall feel of the event. Ending the season on a high note is always our goal and we couldn’t be happier with how Afterdark turned out. It was one of the largest shows of the season and our most successful event to date.Photos by Adam Ruiz, Kenny B, Cullen Cheung, and Nick/Melissa…
What a wild round of Formula Drift last weekend! Unpredictable weather and mechanical failures led to some interesting upsets during the main event of the Pro competition. Going into the top 32 on Saturday the point leaders in the championship were Ryan Tuerck, Fredric Aasbo, and Aurimas ‘Odi’ Bakchis. All qualified well and were paired off against worthy competitors.Photos by Ryan Kam, Randy Montgomery, and Kenny B. Text by Matt Haugness.What I felt was the most surprising was that Ryan Tuerck was knocked out of the top 32 by Geoff Stoneback. Nothing against Geoff, it was just that Ryan was…