Now that we've shed some light on the subject, we've made your tire shopping decisions easier by highlighting five of today's most popular R-compounds chosen by road racers like you. And what better way to make you look at these tires than throwing in new SS girl Italia LaRagione. Enjoy!

You want to care about tires, but tires will always be, let's just say, not the most thrilling topic in the world. And confusing. It's almost as if the tire makers want you out of the loop. If they didn't, sidewall nomenclature would be easier to decipher, treadwear ratings would make sense, and a tire that uses the word "super" in its name would almost always be better than one that doesn't. Despite all of that, tires are the biggest contributor to your car not handling like something that's navigated with oars, so paying attention to them suddenly seems like a good idea. Make that a great idea.

By now, you’ve seen us highlight parts time and time again for the more popular Nissan engines, such as the SR20DET (or KA), but we know there are just as many enthusiasts out there who require more power out of their 350Z, 370Z, G35 or G37—that’s where this guide comes in handy. Here are some of the best engine hard parts you can find, as well as forced induction kits that’ll seriously launch your VQ35DE or VQ37DE where you’d like it to go. Remember that most Nissan parts will also fit Infiniti platforms but it’s best to double-check with the manufacturer.

We have a confession to make... At last year's SEMA Show, we debuted our Project Garage FR-S without a key ingredient—boost! Because the FR-S and its FA20 boxer engine were so new, most tuners were still working out the kinks on forced induction kits. With time against us, our Rocket Bunny-equipped Scion showed up to the Las Vegas Convention Center without a major power adder and the hood closed. But with the big show out of the way and more time to work with, we finally finished what we set out to do—install the HKS GT Supercharger Kit.

In case you've been living under a rock for the last six months, allow us to bring you up to speed on the latest Super Street project car build, codenamed Garage FR-S. We have teamed up with our sister publications Modified and Import Tuner to bring the heat in the form of a fully built FR-S, a car that can stunt hard at shows, grab your attention on the streets, and (ultimately) scorch up a racing circuit.

Making your car handle better isn't easy. Camber, caster, toe, roll centers, motion ratios-suddenly building a show car sounds like a pretty good idea. Aside from tires, your coilover shocks are the single most critical component to your car not handling like a turd. But if selecting the right coilovers were easy, show cars would be in short supply. Besides the more conventional type of coilover shocks that are standard equipment on most cars, there are also high-performance versions, slip-fit coilovers and full-bodied coilovers. The choices don't end there, either: preload, material options, damping adjustability and the whole mono-tube versus twin-tube enigma is enough to make anyone care more about stuffed animals dangling from purple tow hooks than going fast.

Why do we hate OEM traction control like Honda's VSA? It closes the throttle when it senses wheel slip. This loss of power leaves us kicking the gas pedal for more-you know what we're talking about. But Hondata is changing the game with its new traction control system, dubbed (wait for it) Traction Control. It's a closed loop system that reads the slip rate and monitors the friction through a car's ABS sensors. It's constantly monitoring this-let's just say around a 100 times a second! When it senses over-slip, the system will retard ignition timing first, then drop the cylinders if necessary to maintain the ideal amount of slip. This allows you to stay on the throttle through a turn, on a hard start or even in the wet. Still in a little disbelief, we spent a full day on the track with Hondata testing the system. We drove several high-horsepower cars from a daily-driven supercharged TSX to a track-spec S2000. In the TSX, you can just lay down the throttle the entire time exiting a corner or leaving the starting line. The traction control works instantaneously fast and lets you stay on the power longer keeping your acceleration smooth and in control. The system also works in the wet, which demonstrated a night and day difference to us. Hondata tells us the system can be tuned for a street car, drag racer or road warrior and will retail for $795. Well worth the cost if you consider we've already heard some of their sponsored drivers shaving a couple seconds off their lap times. The system will also be used on a few hardcore drag racers like Las Vegas' Team Adrenaline turbo EG that showed up on our testing day. - SD

One of Japan's famous race tracks, Suzuka Circuit organized FF Challenge race. The race included Honda Civic SiR (EG6/EK4) and Civic Type R (EK9). I think many people think EK9 is faster than EG6 but EG6 was the winner at the last race. The regulation of FF Challenge race says engine is stock. EG6's motor, B16A, can make 170ps; EK9's B16B can make 185ps. Why does the EG6 race with EK9? The answer: weight. The regulation says the minimum weight for EG6 is 890kg (1,962lbs) and EK9 is 920kg (2,028lbs)-weight is important for racing, tuning and fuel mileage. But lightweight isn't the always the correct answer. Some people put steel rims for FF drag racing; others put carbon hood for driving on closed race track. Good tuners and mechanics think about car's performance, its situation and balance for building/customizing cars. High powered cars aren't always the fastest cars. Japan's famous tuners and racing engineers say a car needs total balance so parts must be chosen carefully when they are building a race car. Some Americans buy Japanese coilovers in Japan and ship to USA but Japan-spec coilover setup is hard for US streets. Japanese streets are flat and mostly perfect. Japanese coilover companies test coilovers in USA and build US-spec coilovers, that's why they are more expensive than they are in Japan. They spend much money and time for developing coilovers for US market. If you would build your car for time attack or racing, choosing rims is very important. One Japanese race car engineer says rims is just one part of a suspension system; they absorb impact from the road along with tires, suspension and chassis. At one race, a team wanted to go one second faster on time attack; even changing tires, brakes, engine and making good time, they still could not do it. After changing new rims and exact same setup, they made one second faster easily. Racing teams with money change new wheels every race. I would recommend buying tuning parts carefully, especially if you want to save your money.

Greddy

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The AWD (all-wheel-drive) story begins in 1893 when the idea was first patented, 10 years before actually being implemented by a couple of Dutch gents from Amsterdam and a solid century before you thought the Evo was cool for having it. Audi and the now defunct AMC were among the first companies to mass produce full-time AWD passenger cars, beginning in the early 1980s, but it's auto makers like Subaru, Mitsubishi, and Nissan that have taken the concept and made it something that you actually care about.

We Say 'Bypass'!

Building on a budget? Raceland has you covered with suspension parts!

Yokohama

Q My friend just bought a BB2 Honda Prelude Si. It doesn’t have V-tec, but it does have the H23A1, which is in great shape. I have an extra H22A V-tec head that I want to give him. My friend is awesome and never gets a break! So how do I run the V-tec solenoid on a non-V-tec block? Where do I tap the block for good oil flow?

With the recent introduction of the Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ (in case you are not aware, these cars were developed as a joint venture between the two marks and are essentially the same, save a few aesthetic differences and minor mechanical bits) we thought it was high time to gather up a list of some of the best parts the aftermarket has come up with so far. This is just the tip of the iceberg; the number of quality aftermarket parts available for these cars is growing every day!

Flat engines like Subaru’s Boxer are nothing new. The design, which gives the finger to inline and V-type engines and instead incorporates horizontally opposed banks of pistons, was patented in 1896 and has since been implemented by Volkswagen, Porsche, and most notably, Subaru. The Boxer layout, which positions its cylinders in two banks—180-degrees apart from one another and on each side of the crankshaft—has been used on everything from commercial airplanes to bikes like Honda’s early Goldwings to cars as modest as Volkswagen’s Beetle and as shameless as Porsche’s 911 Turbo, with cylinder arrangements featuring as many as 12 pistons. In the 1960s, Subaru fully adopted the Boxer design, which today remains the company’s exclusive engine configuration.

Whether buying a gift for your friends or yourself this December, we’ve put together some of our favorite picks. Hopefully this helps but if it doesn’t, a subscription to Super Street always works!

In case you’ve been living underneath a rock for the last year, Scion’s got a hot new car on the market called the FR-S. This front-engine, rear-drive coupe is exactly the breath of fresh air the tuning community needed so desperately, so as soon as they hit North American shores, we knew what needed to be done. We introduced Garage FR-S in our last issue, but in case you missed that, the cliff notes are simple. The editorial staff here at Super Street has joined forces with our sister publications, Modified and Import Tuner to create a place where all things relating to this fantastic new vehicle can be found. Everything from tech to image galleries, even videos and interviews with drivers and builders from across the globe can be found at garagefrs.com.

Ever see a tuning part or accessory that was so cool you wanted to go out and buy the car just to use the part? This wicked full-weave, carbon-fiber intake from Mugen got us pricing CR-Zs. But since it's in the JDM realm you'd be best served getting your hands on the intake before the car.

First off, if you don’t own a turbocharged car, enjoy these photos of Christine, then turn the page. But if you’re honestly driving around an STI, Evo or SR20-swapped 240, or perhaps you’ve thought about turbocharging your Civic or Z, keep reading because you’re going to want to invest in a good blow-off valve.

You might have picked up this issue because you either drive an S-chassis car or are trying to get into one. But if you’re new to the game, let’s get a few things out of the way…

It’s easy to let your garage turn into a chaotic mess, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Here, Marissa shows us a few free and/or low-cost ideas to help control your space, so that you can put the attention where it needs to be: on your car.

Here’s where we act like we know something technical about cars. Feel free to ask us about your technical troubles. Write us at superstreet247@gmail.com or Super Street c/o Tech Support, 831 S. Douglas St. El Segundo, CA 90245. Feel free to include a picture of your project or tech problem.

Before you rip the next four pages out and post them on your wall, we do have a message here. This month, instead of bringing you a random list of new parts to look out for, we had our friends Debbie and Maya showcase the top five safety harnesses you’ll need before heading to the track.