Analogy Never Made: JDM EG Hatch

Hondas in the states are a lot like McDonald's. Everyone appreciates their function of supplying cheap sustenance for the everyday cheap commuter, and if there was one car in the world that had been pulled up to McDonald's more than any other car. My money would be on a fifth gen Honda Civic. The two worlds collide so beautifully in an array of passions; a love for cheap thrills whether in the mouth or through the pants. McDonald's has always been native to America and after the movie "Supersize Me" it's demise had ensued. The Honda Civic is indeed a native of Japan and even though the movie The Fast and The Furious was filmed in America the Honda's demise has abounded internationally. With chopped mufflers and welded on exhaust tips that take rice to a whole new level, there is no way to street a modified Honda without at least a few bystanders seeing scenes of scantily clad ladies and neon lights. Now I hate to start an article with a disclaimer about how I know that any car... yes Hondas included, with any amount of work must be appreciated, but I'm striving to make a point, so ease yourself into this clash of topics as I do my best to synthesize some thoughts I've had after encountering this little Honda.

 In showing this I want to show how a native rice maker can become much more appreciated with a fresh set of eyes, and no preconceived ideas about how to build one. And in doing so make an analogy with the cheese burger.. I know it's a stretch. Now I realize these are by no means the prettiest photos I could have taken of this car (some where even taken on an iPhone.. shhhh), but this was a documentation not a photo shoot so look at content not quality. If you take a look at this Honda with a fresh set of eyes and give it a little credit, a lot of things emerge to show how much fun these little fellers are, even on a budget. It's common knowledge that these civics are a treat on the track and besides looking like it has sat through one to many typhoons this little air pump looks hungry for some more track time. If you look at the whole car as an analogy for a cheeseburger it's real easy to see what is what in the equation.

 The bun. The thing you touch when you enjoy a burger. So the tires when a pump enjoys some open road. Nothing to fancy, much like the white bun on a McDonald's cheeseburger does the job and does it well. Delivers when you need it. In this particular case a mix between 205/50R15 Dunlop Direzza ZII up front and 195/55R15 in the rear. If the tires are the crust and the sesame seeds of the bun. Then the inside, or the real baked bread of the bun, is the choice of wheels; A mix of Enkei RP 01 up front and some pretty tired looking reproduction Volks in the rear. 

Continuing with the analogy, and moving inward on both the burger and the car, we have the sauces. Ketchup and mustard usually, mayonnaise if you're feeling slim. We have the three components of a good interior. Seating, addressed by a small time and rare JDM brand seat that looks like it's had some seat time which perfectly analogies the mass produced ketchup used on our American burgers. It's not a particularly Distinct tasting sauce but again does the job of keeping the whole experience safe and happy, especially when the bun and other components come out a little bland and lacking in flavor. which is commonly found on the cheese burgers McDonalds makes these days.

The second component of a well finished interior, the steering wheel. In this case a Yonex tennis grip wrapped OMP deep dish. Something that helps you stay on track in an experience that sometimes seems difficult to define. Mustard, the thing you can always taste if one particular bite comes out bland, and the glue that keeps a hamburger out of any questioning zones and in on the affirmative experiential moment resolving what is being experienced if ever the question arises.

The shift knob and emergency brake drift button... moving past the drift button, because I have no idea what that is doing there, and onto the knob. It is not a totally necessity in the modification realm but every experience would be lacking without a good one. Something to get you from one place to another or keep you where you want to be. Mayonnaise is the filler the item that could easily be left out but keeps everything going down smooth and well drawn out in a cohesive and complimentary manner.

Lettuce and tomato. The two items that are often an option but really take any burger to the nextest of levels. In the case of the Honda I grant those first to the duckbill spoiler fitted to the hatch with the ATS & ACROSS decal for the lettuce and the whether beaten carbon hood for the tomato taking the front end of the car to the next level aesthetically and in concerns to performance thinking weight reduction. The lettuce for the dick bill because leaf lettuce always sticks out of the bun and comes across a little bit overstated but even still any deep digging burger wouldn't be complete without it. The carbon hood for the tomato because it actually does something. I don't know about you but I never taste the lettuce on a burger I only feel it as if the the tongue in the mouth was a set of eyes a spoiler that small doesn't do to much accept add some more classic EG silhouette ques.

But the carbon hood lightens the car and looks good much like the tomato. It actually does something for the burger other than aesthetically. It brings the burger completely and wholesomely to the next level. Any regularly tracked Honda needs some carbon to help give that next edge while lapping a Japanese circuit.

If we move on further I might merge onto the next episode in the epilogue of the burger. What is a cheese burger without cheese. And much like the fact that you can grate cheese or cut it and slowly grind off more from the whole block of cheese, the brake pads and discs found tucked neatly under the enki and volk wheels grate away at themselves while providing stopping power to the whole of the vehicle. On the civic they are clearly P.M.U pads as so genuinely displayed by the blue haired feller found on the quarter window.

Now Project Mu makes the worlds finest break pads. Much like the Tillamook cheese I expect to find gracing the juicy meat patty found on any McDonald's burger. Unfortunately McDonalds uses some processed form of cheese so this may be the first section of this eg that supersedes the analogy for the McDonald's burger, but bear with me because we still have the heart of the hatch to tackle. 

 Now considering this hatch was a random find in the streets of Setgaya that I stumbled upon while I was studying there I would have very much felt like I was exceeding my limits of ethics, especially in Japan if I were to lift the hood on the car without the owners permission. 

 Who never showed himself despite the ten plus minuets I spend snapping photos of his car. maybe he was out working, or enjoying a bowl of ramen, but I digress. So, I can't tell you much about the engine except that there was a nice looking tin can on the back as can be seen in the wheel and tire photo and a little on the photo below. I would have felt weird moving the bike also so I didn't get a chance to find a name on the exhaust either.

Now considering the spirit of the car and the seemingly low budget I assume the owner was on I think it's safe to assume nothing outrageous had happened under the hood. Much like that of the run of the mill paddy found on all the McDonald's burgers. Maybe it was an interceptor exhaust, but those are normally fitted to Honda street bike engines.. maybe there was something surprising under the hood. I guess we will never know.

Anyways I could go on to explain more and more about the depth of what this car was and the analogy of the cheeseburger, but I am fully confident I am getting my point across. These very different subjects merge together in one of the most beautiful analogies to be sparked in the automotive community.

But I'd like to finish off the analogy with telling how McDonald's once made a good cheese burger and indeed they could again one with good yummy cheese and a paddy from a real cow and not a processed cardboard cow, in the same way Hondas rarely are and once commonly made in the right spirits before the Feast and Furious Franchise spoiled the fun. So when done right these cars do need to start getting the credit they deserve despite all the goofballs who mess them up.

 Albeit, in this analogy there are flaws and loopholes, but these never come to lessen the analogy but simply show that an analogy is only a representation with something more commonly known to the viewer and depending on what you personally have experienced more of; cheese burgers, or Eg hatchbacks, I'm sure there has been new knowledge ideas and opinions entering your conscious thought throughout. 

 So the next time you see a modified Honda do your best to see it without a Honda badge and just as a chassis that some guy modified, then take a step back and re-evaluate your opinions of it. If you still hate it, it was probably for good reason and I'd likely hate it also. But if, at some point you see something you like, don't be afraid to point it out and spread some love in a hate filled community.

Joshua Sewell

Instagram: josh_sewell_photo

Top Ten: 2015 Drift Photos

2015 marks the first year I consistently took photos of drifting. I learned a whole bunch about my camera and about the limits of what I can do with it. I went from taking thousands of photos at an event and getting maybe twenty decent photos to taking closer to five hundred and getting fifty or sixty. I still have much to learn, and look forward to the opportunities in 2016 to stretch myself and my equipment even further. Now these may not be the very best photos I took at each event, but there is more to them than just the photo. Some of them may be redundant from previous posts but I took the time to re-edit each of these photos, one so they will be a bit more of a set with each other for this post, and to have an opportunity to readdress each one having learned so much about the software I work with since the first event of the year. So here is a little compilation of my favorite photos of drifting I took in 2015. In no particular order and with some words and maybe a story if I feel like it.

This feller was taken at the 6th round of Japanese D1GP at the Odaiba Special Stage in Tokyo Bay. Now I know that's a mouthful, but even being able to type that seems surreal. Realizing again that I had the opportunity to shoot at this event is just incredible. Also this image is special because it marks the first photo I took of a super car drifting. I really like the pull in Japan to use even more and more expensive Pumps in drifting. I mean who would have thought back when drifting was just starting to surface in the States that a few short years later half a million dollar super cars would be drifting with the same classic cars that started it all like the Toyota Corolla. It really makes you think about where the sport has left to go.

 This photo is from the same event. It is the Final battle of the event and the second to last battle between the Supra and the GTR of which the Supra took the win. This photo along with the ones that accompanied it in the original post are some of the most exciting shots I've ever taken. The challenge of keeping the grain in the photos low but having enough light with a slow shutter speed to show the cars and keep everything in focus was such a fun challenge to take. I think I passed the challenge, but if I was better prepared for the event with better equipment my results could have proven to be better.

 This was taken at the year end bash of what I now call my home for drifting, Stateline speedway. This Cressida made the trek to the Spokane Coure d'alene area from Seattle as a street car. Not only was I thoroughly impressed with the skill level at which he drove but also the commitment to drive his stiff harsh Cressida all the way from Seattle. I really wish more locals would have this level of commitment. It would make the local scene so so much better, and events so much more fun to shoot and watch, and drive for that matter.

 These next four shots were all taken at VIP (Villains Invitational Project) an event hosted by the Villains in one of my favorite venues I have ever shot at. Granted I haven't shot at the legendary PARC go-cart course or at Final Bout in Shawano WI, but the proximity the crowd had with the action at VIP was incredible to say the least, and the photographers could literally reach out and touch a car flying by in full drift if they felt so inclined.

 Because of the close proximity at this event, it made for some unreal shots showing a bit more of the intimacy and emotion of drifting.

 Something I've been playing around with this year is panning shots. As the year progressed I got more confident with lower shutter speeds and after shooting maybe fifty shots similar to this at VIP that turned out blurry I finally got one successful eighth second exposure in decent focus. Opening this up and seeing it for the first time in full size on a computer screen had me pretty excited.

 This photo is not only one that ended up with a good deal of mood and some dramatic wheel drop rock flinging dust kicking action, it also shows the barrel jumping Miata in full glory. Now, throughout the first day at VIP this Miata was struggling with some understeer problems. With the track setup at VIP a lot of cars would, instead of making this corner and turning in like the Miata successfully did in this shot, they would understeer and careen strait for the blue barrels or for the wooden loud speaker pole in the background of this picture (which was later knocked down by an ugly understeering s13). Anyways, From what I picked up, one of the fixes to get the Miata to stop understeering was to throttle on and off and initiate some weight transfer and make the front wheels grip up a bit more and make it into the next corner. Later on in the day after this shot I was doing some really low perspective shots about 75 yards to the right of this photo. Just adjacent to where the understeerers would end up stopping. Now as the first day really got going and the drivers got more confident the Miata driver took the corner before the one pictured and began understeering into the barrels. I distinctly  remember hearing the Miata throttle on into the understeer and towards the barrels. I'm not sure exactly what happened to make the driver keep throttle on, but despite efforts from the driver the understeer continued and the Miata hit a barrel knocking it over. The Miata then caught the underside of its front bummer on the bottom lip of the barrel and ended up having its front end thrown some six feet into the air. Now I'm used to seeing the bottom of a car when I'm laying on my back and it is safely placed on jack stands, but seeing the bottom of a Miata flying over a barrel caught me a little off guard especially considering I was laying on my chest with my backpack in front of me as a camera rest. Evasive maneuvers were first on my list of to do's in this situation so I unfortunately dropped my camera on my backpack and got ready to pick a side to dodge the flying Miata. Fortunately I was far enough back in the run off and low enough into the next turn that I didn't have to move at all before the Miata came to a stop on top of a blue barrel. None the less I missed an opportunity to capture an epic once in a lifetime photo of the bottom of a miata flying over an unsuspecting blue barrel. After the Miata came to a stop on the barrel, the event coordinator drove his pit rig to the scene with some buddies and they all burst out laughing. After being lifted up off the barrel by a bunch of willing drivers and crew mwmbers the Miata was back out on the track tearing up the asphalt with the best of them. This, was by far my favorite moment of the event. The whole proceedings; the barrel hop, the reaction of the event coordinator, the help from fellow drivers and crew to lift the Miata and pull the barrel out, and the fact that fifteen minuets later the Miata was back out on track.

 Back to the photos. This one was taken at the second event I shot in 2015 and presented itself with some good drivers and fun shots. This shot was more of a mistake than anything else. Yes I planned on getting half of the car and some front wheel poking out with some wild smoke and spark from the tires and undercarriage, but what was accidental about this shot and what surprised me when I pulled it up to edit it for the first time was the face that is perfectly framed in the mirror. Now if the driver was wearing a closed face helmet a lot of the mood of the photo would be lost. Fortunatly he wasn't and the photo displays a great look at what a driver's focused face looks like in the middle of a drift.

 These last two photos were taken at the Spokane County Raceway road course. For the one above I was feeling like I needed more to work with on my photos because of the somewhat boring scenery around SCR. So I found a tree on the first corner of the course (one of like five in the whole complex), climbed it and hoped for the best. After some failed attempts with really slow of shutter speeds I found a sweet spot and ended up with some nice captures.

 This last shot was at the first grassroots drift event I ever attended. I had never been to one and had no idea what to expect. I got to the event, scoped the course and picked out some spots I thought would foster some decent shots. After testing out some of the first locations, I arrived at this one and sped up my shutter speed to guarantee some sharp shots to work with. Luckily it was just in time to get a crispy shot of this kouki s14 using up all of the best drifting section at Spokane County Raceway. This being my first event at this track, I got stoked out of my mind on this one photo, and it very well may be the reason I kept coming back to more events.

So looking back I'd like to give a huge shout out to Treis and Trevor at Stateline for welcoming me into their drifting community, Nate and Jason of the Villains for putting on a Wild VIP  and all the drivers for constantly putting on a show and letting me point my camera your way. This next year is gonna be another good one.

Joshua Sewell

Instagram: josh_sewell_photo