Filming of the show "The Forum Wars," presented by Royal Purple, is in the can after a full day of shooting at Irwindale Speedway. See some of the cars and forums that tried to "represent."
These days every car model has its own forum; if you look hard enough I'll bet you can even find a webpage dedicated to the usefulness and styling excellence of the Pontiac Aztek. In most cases car forums are happy places where people can share useful information (like how to turn off the annoying seatbelt reminder when you are using aftermarket racing harnesses). Car forums have also become a place where people bench race and talk a lot of trash: "My Volkswagen GTI can do a better burnout than your Camaro SS."
"The Forum Wars" is the show to be featured on Speed TV where forum users and their cars get the chance to put up or shut up. Each episode will feature two cars representing two different automotive forums. The drivers are interviewed and get the chance to talk smack about the competition. Then, the drivers negotiate a drag race and a road course event. If after the two events there isn't a clear winner, a tiebreaker event is held.
There were some very serious machines that arrived at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale to do battle, from a heavily modified Nissan GT-R to a Corvette ZR1. Besides the cool cars, there was also a fair amount of Z-list automotive celebrities at the event. Adam Bruce, the creator of Streetfire.net who is now operating Autostream.com, ran a Nissan GT-R. Jim Halloway of Mothers Polish drove a Corvette ZR1 (yes, it was very clean). Myself, Rob Krider, ran a Mustang Shelby GT as Racer Boy for Speed Sport Life. Hot Rod magazine was in the house and last but not least, Matt Farah, of Garage 419 fame (now doing The Smoking Tire) was on hand to make fun of everyone's mistakes on the drag strip (he had plenty of material to work with). Below are just a few of the battles to take place on the show.
Dodge Challenger SRT-8 vs. Chevrolet Camaro SS
Cadillac CTS-V vs. Doge Viper ACR
Ford Mustang Shelby GT vs. Nissan 350Z
The on-track battles proved that just because you can type fast, doesn't mean you can drive fast. What was stated on certain forums did not hold up when the green flag dropped. The final results, of course, are under super secret wraps. The producers want to avoid any spoilers to the episode outcomes. You will have to tune into Speed TV and online early 2010 to see who brought home glory for their car forum or who choked. Check for future listings and air dates at Royal Purple.com. If you watch the show you will also get to see who learned this very important lesson: Everyone knows it sucks to get your ass beat, but it really sucks to get your ass beat on television.
Photography by Steve Kuhtz