Castrol Top Car Challenge

After taking home the crown of the Castrol Syntec Top Car Challenge last year we have a pretty good idea of what needs to be done to win. It takes a well rounded car that makes a lot of power but not high strung, it has to be reliable. It also has to have plenty of traction to do well at the drag strip and road course. The combination of turbo power and all-wheel drive is key to this contest. Using this formula we have a few choices, we can use a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution again, a Subaru STI or even the all-mighty Nissan R35 GT-R. The GT-R would hurt us in the price category but we think it can make up the points in all of the other

Rev Speed Tsukuba

Tsukuba Circuit / Tsukuba, Japan For any true gearhead out there, December in Japan means only one thing: Super Lap Battle. This is the last event of the year, and as they say, the best things are kept for last. Rev Speed has been organizing this event for 20 years now, inviting the fastest cars in Japan to Tsukuba to see who laps the tiny Japanese circuit in the fastest possible time. It's been amazing to see the times come down over the years; back in the day, getting a sub-1-minute time was a milestone at the time, but these days everyone is trying to dip below the 55-second barrier-a perfect example of not only how cars are getting better but just how good the tuning

industry has become at extracting the last bit of performance from demo cars. Super Lap is not only about power-anyone can build an extreme engine-it has more to do with fine-tuning, getting that perfect balance between grip, power and weight to push a car to its limits. Super Lap is innovation at its best, and we're happy to see that the tuners have started to shift their interest to the new wave of JDM sports cars. There's no doubt the EVO X takes the top spot, with the all-new 4B11 proving to respond rather well to modifications-most shops are running well above the 500hp mark.