Tag Archives: Apex Video

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Jun 26, 20211320 Engine Tech, 1320 Tech Story, Apex Engine Tech, Apex Tech Stories, Apex Video, ENGINE, ENGINES, TECH, Tech Stories, Videos, XL Engine Tech, XL Tech Stories

Valvetrain Tech: If Light Weight And Low Reciprocating Mass Matter So Much, Do Stiffer Valve Springs Cost Horsepower?

Roller rockers, roller lifters, beehive valve springs, lightweight valves, lightweight locks and retainers, and the list goes on. These are all things designed to aid in controlling valvetrain at high rpm and under extreme power levels, and they do this by reducing the load required to move and control these components. So it would make sense that lighter valve springs would also be good for that. After all, anyone that has built an engine before knows that spinning the engine over by hand is very easy when it is just a short block and gets harder as you add components. If you have an engine with no spark plugs in it, and no rocker arms, then it is still really easy to spin by hand. But when you also have to turn the valvetrain, it becomes much more difficult.

So if you had an engine that didn’t “require” heavier valve springs, because it wasn’t going to be run at high rpm or didn’t have a camshaft that needed the extra valve control that heavy springs provide, would it make more horsepower with lighter weight springs that the others? Logic says yes. Or at least it seems like it does. But what does the dyno say?

Luckily for us, Richard Holdener knows because he’s done this very test and here it is so you can see for yourself.

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Apr 24, 2021Apex Video, BangShift APEX, BangShift News, FUNNY STUFF, HISTORIC, MISC, Videos

Awesomely Weird: This 1970s Chevrolet Parts Film Stars Evel Knievel And Literally Makes No Sense

We’re guessing someone lost their job for this one. You are going to watch this 1970s Chevrolet parts film which stars Evel Knivel and makes literally no sense at all. The theme of the film is “conflict” and it is illustrated by a series of scenes where animals eat other animals, black and white movies are shown, and Evel Knievel jumps stuff on his motorcycle, sometimes crashing, sometimes not. Throw in a dose of 1970s Anchoman-level hilarity with a bikini-clad woman, and you have yourself one of the most singular odd things we have ever seen.

Make no mistake, Knievel would never turn down a gig, especially one with Chevrolet that likely was a great payday for reading some cue-cards. The company definitely did not hire him for his suave acting ability because this dude is straight up stiff while narrating the action. By action, we mean the bizarre things we are shown on screen.

Oddly, while Chevrolet parts are mentioned a handful of times there’s barely (if ever) a Chevrolet car shown as a prop in the film. This whole thing is some weirdo theater of the mind that was likely schemed up by an executive’s kid. “Hey Johnson, get my son a job in the media department and let him run wild!”

Obviously, Knievel was majorly famous at this point and his star only grew bigger. Note that he mentions that someday, “I’ll jump a mile….” we all know how that quest ended.

You have to see this one to believe it.

Press play to see the weirdest Chevrolet Parts video ever made, starring Evel Knievel!

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Dec 26, 2020Apex Video, BangShift APEX

Daydream Into Drift: A Bit Of Russian Sideways Action Courtesy Of A Mushroom Trip

There are some days, usually the sunny warm ones with the long hours, where reality can go and screw itself. These are the days when you are usually out “fishing” on the water, where the last thing you caught was a fantastic nap, or where you listen to a tune and find yourself in a completely different mindset. As a kid, it was the little league baseball field complex across the street from where I lived. I’d jump the gate, climb the netted backstop, and sit cradled in the slowly fading light of an August afternoon, picturing how my life would go once I finally grew up, became financially independent, and found myself able to do what I wanted to do. I can’t say that my daydreams were right. But I can say that I’ve done far more than what my mind came up with at the time when my lounging thoughts stayed on the “reality” side of the equation.

The other side of the reality is the fantasy. Not how life should be, but the ultimate dream, everything I ever wanted plus a little bit of unrealistic just to have a bit of fun. The YouTube channel Russian Gymkhana has pretty much nailed down the vibe of those days with this video. I believe I’m right in that translated, this one is called “Village” (Selo) and depicts a man going out into the woods, driving an old jalopy to collect some mushrooms. One or two that he nibbled upon might have been a bit more entertaining than the others, it seems. With a drift-ready Supra and a ZAZ that is built for just about anything, it seems, this is certainly a gearhead’s fantasy. Who wouldn’t love to be floating down a lazy river on your monster car?

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Nov 07, 2020Apex Video, BangShift APEX, RACING & ACTION, Videos

Classic YouTube: Watch As This VW Golf Monsters Hillclimbs At Full Chat!

If there is one truth to racing, it’s that you never half-ass anything you do. If you can’t be bothered to give it your all, don’t bother showing up. That goes for any form of racing out there. But what does 100% look like? Full-on maximum attack, where you wonder if insanity has overridden the survival instinct, that’s what. It’s the difference between pedaling out of a bad situation on the strip versus hanging the hell on and crossing the stripe a tenth faster. It’s moderating a trail versus flying over every fourth little incline to keep up momentum in a rally. And in a hillclimb…well, here’s your lesson’s subject of the day. The driver is Daniel Wittwer, and his early VW Golf is the car. The Golf is only pushing out about 25o horsepower from a 16V 2.0L four, but you’d swear that there’s more the way that Wittwer is pushing this little VW. We are pretty sure that he used the Armco barrier as a ricochet device, bouncing the car back onto the asphalt. We’re almost proof-positive that at one point he was two tires off on the shoulder besides one glaringly obvious moment. We are pretty sure that the rear tires are worn a quarter less than the fronts, given how much hang time they got in corners. And the cover photo speaks for itself, doesn’t it? Maybe not as much as Wittwer’s celebration after the run…we’d be happy to be alive, too, after a hell ride like that!

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(Courtesy: Car Throttle)

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Sep 13, 2020Apex Sideways, Apex Video, BangShift APEX, BUICK / OLDS / PONTIAC, CHEVY

The 1980s, Summed Up In One Tandem Drift – C4 Corvette Versus A Big-Boy Cadillac!

One event that we have yet to check out in person is the Powercruise USA show up at Brainerd International Raceway in Michigan. If “Powercruise” sounds familiar, that’s because you probably have seen tons of footage from the original event in Australia. They are a multi-event deal that includes drifting, roll racing, grudge racing, a late night party, and of course, powerskidding and an Aussie-style burnout contest. They encourage any and everything to come out and play, and that’s what caught our eye earlier today.

Drifting American cars should be a no-brainer, and we’ve seen some do real well, from Vaughn Gitten, Jr.’s Mustangs and Sam Hubinette’s Mopars in the professional levels to the infamous “Bubba Drift” El Camino and the “Slidebird” MN-12 Thunderbird. Which brings us straight to these two. The C4 Corvette is a no-brainer…say what you will about “sports car” and all of that junk, but the truth is that a C4 Corvette is a hoon machine waiting to happen and nobody is going to cry outside of maybe Bowling Green workers if it so happens to slap the wall. The Corvette makes perfect sense for the drift course. It’s short wheelbase, up on torque and capable. That isn’t what has our attention, however. That note goes to the Corvette’s dance partner in this tandem drift. That, friends, is a big freakin’ Cadillac hanging the tail as if it’s got something to prove. And it’s not half-assing it, either…that Caddy has some oats underneath the hood!

We might have more questions than answers, but click play on the video and you’ll understand why.

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Classic YouTube: The Most Unloved Mopar Can Still Burn The Hides Off!