Topic: Introduction

[Touge Tuning]

Some of you may have noticed, and some not, but I have recently been doing most of the online postings for Touge Tuning and I wanted to introduce myself and give you a little of my background.
My name is Karl, and I used to own a fairly modified Black GC impreza Coupe with an 03 WRX swap many moons ago. My SN on TSC back then was "playboy", classy I know. I came runner up in one of the NASIOC "Top Scoob" contests after a tie break vote. I lost out to another local car which was the Trial widebody GC of Arthur. Most of the work I did myself with my buddies, and although the car didn't see much power upgrades, rather, I was always looking to make the car faster through other means. Weight reduction, proper wheel spec, suspension set up etc. I took it to the track constantly and it always held up. My track days begin with my Subaru which consequently led to many endeavors down the road. Throughout the years of Subaru ownership I was able to meet many interesting people. One highlight was I was able to take part in private Canadian Subaru Rally Team test days where I ran on the track at the same time as the rally car. If any of you recognize my car below it shows your age! I sold that GC around 8 years ago and have since not really been in the Subaru scene.





Here are two videos, one of my car in a tunnel and another of me testing a foot well cam. Sorry for the quality, this was well before GoPro's, HD phone cameras and such. IIRC, the footwell cam I rigged by having a laptop in the passenger seat with a cheap webcam hooked up via USB, and I hit record while taping the cam to the foot well. The fly by video was with first gen cell phone cam - While I'm feeling nostalgic, most of you are feeling annoyed at the quality. I understand.





Fast forward to 2012, I began racing motorcycles regionally with success. I've competed and won in SOAR which is an Ontario series that ran at Toronto Motorsports Park and Grand Bend. I first started on an older R6 and after finding that I really enjoyed racing I built a full on Yamaha R1 race bike. After selling that bike I was looking to compete in a more casual manner and this is where I met Chris from Touge Tuning. Chris had a bike that he wanted to race and I helped him with his riding and also helped to develop the set-up on the bike. That year was one of the most successful for me with many podiums and wins, more then that though I had gotten a new good friend in Chris. In the down times we started talking Subaru's and many familiar names, forums, parts, brands all started to come back into my life.








Motorsports is my number one passion in life, no matter 2 wheels or 4 wheels I just like to get in and learn. I had the opportunity to do a Formula Renault school which saw me get extremely close in times with the guys competing in the series. This pushed me to compete in a round (two races) of the Asian Formula Renault series which was an amazing experience. I've also had the chance to ride and drive some very trick vehicles including Ferrari F430 Cab, '86 911, One of 45 Euro E36 M3, E46 M3, Ferrari 400i, BMW Mcoupe S54, '71 Alfa Romeo GTV 2000, 06 911 C2S (my current), 996 Turbo, British Superbike Spec Honda CBR1000RR, Factory Yamaha Racing Canada R1 and R6, Race spec Ducati 749R and Ducati 1098, Touge Tuning's own Project Blackout and few others I may have forgotten. Motorsports is an integral part of my life and I constantly strive to learn and become better.








I realized at Touge Tuning there was a very similar mindset - to take the Canadian tuning scene to the serious motorsport level in a cost efficient and planned manner.
And like that, I will be handling most of Touge Tunings online presence as well as being able to help others with driving and vehicle set-up alongside the rest of the Touge Team. Chris of course will still be active online and we will be working together to assist everyone in building their dream car and improving your driving skills in the best way possible. If by chance you run into me at the shop, feel free to ask questions you may have regarding Formula Renault or Motorcycle racing, and I can bore you for a few minutes. Hope to see you all at the Dyno Day!

- Karl Yip
TougeTuning

[jellynuts]

Welcome Karl,

Great looking GC.  Looks like you also have a diverse racing experience.  Good luck in your racing career and stay safe!

[Touge Tuning]

Hi Jellynuts,

Thanks for the welcome and kind comments!