HIGH TIMES
Written by Dave Pankew // Photos by Eric Simpson   
Tuesday, 15 December 2009 11:55
The truck started out as your standard black FJ with the quirky white roof and cartoon-like markers and tails. The team decided that they would stick with the black theme but go with that much more of it. They would also build upon the inherent off-road characteristics of the FJ and make it much more capable on any terrain.
There are two types of car enthusiast in the scene, one who likes to go fast and one who wants to look fly. Sure there’s a few that take a stab at both but winning shows and winning races are two very different animals. But when it comes to trucks, o [ … ]
Last Updated on Tuesday, 05 October 2010 09:58
 
BIG TIME
Written by Dave Pankew // Photos by Chioke Brown (www.vibrantphotographics.com)   
Tuesday, 15 December 2009 11:37
“When it came to creating the subwoofer enclosure I wanted, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out who I wanted to entrust with touching my truck,” said Walters. “I attended many shows and had seen tons of different installations. Nothing is better than rolling large and in charge behind the wheel of a custom luxury SUV around town. You might not want to get anywhere fast, but you can definitely go in style and bring your entourage with you. Pop culture might lead you to believe the Cadillac Escalade is the epitome of ballin’ [ … ]
Last Updated on Tuesday, 05 October 2010 09:56
 
LOCK'N'LOAD
Written by Dave Pankew // Photos by RCH Designs   
Tuesday, 15 December 2009 11:27
Colello was eager to tell us more about how he accomplished the makeover. First, the entire car was stripped down with all of the exterior ornamentation removed. The body was shaved to delete all door handles, antennas and wipers before the BRS Autodesign widebody kit was fitted to the car. When you see a project like this shine at SEMA, you have to give credit where credit is due. Tuner Pete Colello has definitely worked hard to earn his way to the top. As the builder of the ultra-popular award-winning Celica, his project caught Toyota’s eye, and their executives know a talented guy l [ … ]
Last Updated on Tuesday, 05 October 2010 09:38
 
HIGH ALTITUDE
Written by Dave Pankew // Photos by Somya Siva   
Tuesday, 15 December 2009 11:19
“I bought the car as a daily driver,” says Moy. “I just wanted to put some upgraded wheels and sound system into the car, but it soon turned into an addiction. I wanted to be different by customizing a car you very rarely see at car shows and from there, the project got out of control.”Back in 1993, the Fresh Prince of Bel Air was considered a hot TV show and MC Hammer still had a career. Clinton was scandal-free and well, the trouble with Iraq seemed all but over. Cars were migrating from boxy forms of transportation to more flowing and undulating curved designs. At that time, th [ … ]
Last Updated on Tuesday, 05 October 2010 09:40
 
BOOM BOX
Written by Dave Pankew // Photos by John Jackson   
Tuesday, 15 December 2009 11:05
The Hummer was initially selected because it was big and powerful enough to haul the Acoustic Edge show trailer around the country to enthusiast events and high schools for presentations. Well, that and the fact that it certainly gets noticed! From student to master is the mantra repeated at Acoustic Edge, and projects like this Hummer H2 are proof of that. From the simplest of wiring know-how to elaborate audio concepts, Acoustic Edge Institute empowers their students to build the impossible. And the instructors live by that in rolling s [ … ]
Last Updated on Tuesday, 05 October 2010 09:59
 
SHOWDOWN
Written by Dave Pankew // Photos by RCH Designs   
Monday, 07 December 2009 11:35
Originally, Nissan North America was supposed to give Huang a brand new Nissan Cube to build after they recognized his achievement with the Scion Tuner Challenge from 2006 to 2007. “The Cube was not released until the L.A. Auto Show last year,” says Huang. “So my plan changed and I decided to shift focus toward this demo-VIP project aiming to strengthen the aftermarket capability for the Infiniti brand,” he explains.Many enthusiasts forget that Infiniti actually makes quite a few different luxury cars, SUVs and crossovers. There were some highlights over the years like the G35 coupe and some low points like the old school J30. There were also some great cars that never gained any traction like the legendary Q45 [ … ]
Last Updated on Tuesday, 05 October 2010 10:02
 
SNOW BIRD
Written by Dave Pankew // Photos by Jason Rosvick   
Monday, 07 December 2009 11:28
The system was tuned with a Kenne Bell computer by Lyndon Wester at Wester’s Garage and Maguire maintains, “He’s a genius.” The intake is a custom cold air box with a carbon fiber air box. Custom long tube headers were fabricated by Focuztech into a custom Magnaflow exhaust by Dave’s Auto Service. Then James at Shinny’s Sweatshop got to work on the endless amounts of polishing in and around the engine bay. With every crisis, there is a silver lining. Regardless of the state of the company, GM has had some great highlights in their line-up, especially the aggressive-looking Pontiac Solstice roadster. Mike Maguire of Lloydminster, AB has made his Solstice a labor of love. He has even named the vehicle “ [ … ]
Last Updated on Tuesday, 05 October 2010 09:20
 
SWITCH HITTER
Written by Dave Pankew // Photos by RCH Designs   
Monday, 07 December 2009 11:10
The mission was to take a stock Mustang GT to the next level with road hugging-like handling and super solid suspension. The process began developing the TEIN Type FLEX coilovers for this modern muscle car.

The name TEIN, stands for TEchnical INnovation and not many people know that. Their mascot is also a gangster-looking damper with an external reservoir and eyeballs – not many people know that either. I’ve rarely met anyone who pronounced the company’s name right either, so for the last time repeat [ … ]

Last Updated on Tuesday, 05 October 2010 10:07
 
BRAVE HEART
Written by Dave Pankew and Jacob Leveton // Photos by Jacob Leveton   
Monday, 07 December 2009 10:49
At the beginning of the year, the plan for the Drift Emporium team was clear – high displacement, torquey V8 GO9G8149_optmotors were going to be the theme under the hood. Originally, both G35’s and Kenji’s S15 were converted to Nissan-powered VK56 engines, a motorswap pioneered by Chris Forsberg just three short years ago.Ask any Nissan enthusiast and they will tell you an S-Chassis cars should be powered by a turbo-4. Not an NA truck motor and certainly not a V8 but an SR20 with a small, responsive turbo hanging off it. But at the competition level, drivers complain that these motors make less torque than a rider mo [ … ]
Last Updated on Tuesday, 05 October 2010 09:52
 
STREET SMART
Written by Dave Pankew // Photos by Chaz Boyd   
Monday, 07 December 2009 10:35
Owner Bill Vitale needed something to transport him year round in his North East hometown of Feasterville, PA. The professional consultant also needed to have 4-doors and everyday reliability, so the 2006 Subaru Impreza STi fit the program perfectly.If you need practicality buy an SUV. If you want tire shredding performance buy a sports car. But if you need a combination of the two there are a few stout platforms on the market to build up. A few that come to mind are the Mitsubishi Evo and the MazdaSpeed3, but leading the charge in “practical-p [ … ]
Last Updated on Tuesday, 05 October 2010 09:19
 
HARD CORE
Written by Dave Pankew // Photos by Josh Mackey   
Monday, 07 December 2009 10:17
A culmination of hundreds of man hours and over a year of modifications, it is easy to see where all the attention was focused – on the exterior. In a move that was traditionally frowned upon, Rhee’s project integrates both Lorinser and Brabus branded components on the svelte exterior of the project. We first spotted this car at SEMA ’08 out in the front lot getting passed up by many of the graying hot rodders waddling around the grounds. For us, this body style is as beautiful and timeless as any ‘32 Ford Coupe and we started sniffing around to track down the owner. Ironically, that night we me [ … ]
Last Updated on Tuesday, 05 October 2010 10:09
 
QUICK STEP
Written by Dave Pankew // Photos by Mike Gazda and Jeremy Glover   
Friday, 04 December 2009 13:37
“I don’t have the big money that other teams have,” states Waldin “but it didn’t seem to matter because our hard work has put us in first place and with a legitimate shot at the title,” In competition anything can happen. Sometimes the big budget teams disappoint event after event and then pullout altogether or you can have more grassroots entries with no sponsorship, taking down the big guns. That is the case with Matt Waldin in his near-stock Nismo 350Z. As the owner of Import In [ … ]
Last Updated on Tuesday, 05 October 2010 09:28
 
WILDSIDE
Written by Dave Pankew // Photos By: RCH Designs   
Friday, 04 December 2009 13:15
A’PEXi’s RX-7 is one rare ride the company has campaigned over the years and is No. 2 of 3 FD3S chassis in their fleet. Built back in 2003 by A’PEXi USA, the No.2 car was built to campaign as a drift car back when D1 Grand Prix drifting first came to the United States. If you have been in the tuning world for a while chances are you have owned an A’PEXi upgrade of some sort over the years. Although it might not have been one of the super rare electronically-controlled extreme carbon fiber wings you see here adorning your ride, I’m sure it may have been one of th [ … ]
Last Updated on Tuesday, 05 October 2010 08:58
 
TWIN TERRORS
Written by Dave Pankew // Photos by Jacob Leveton   
Friday, 04 December 2009 11:41
Today, the pair of Drift Emporium Infiniti G35s here are picking up right where their predecessors left off, very much influenced by the Signal projects of the past. Of course Signal’s previous G35 was a bit more unorthodox back in the day with an SR20 powerplant instead of the VQ-powered V6. When rhyming off shop names that define the Japanese scene, one shop is on every top 10 list. That shop is of-course Signal Auto of Osaka, Japan. Signal is known for producing some very important automobiles, as their shop cars helped define the enthusiast scene with builds like the Chop-Top Civic, [ … ]
Last Updated on Tuesday, 05 October 2010 10:12
 
WIDOW MAKER
Written by Dave Pankew // Photos by Adam Nelso   
Friday, 04 December 2009 11:03
After slipping in a built 1.6L motor, the car underwent some surgery to fabricate a forced induction setup. Starting with a GReddy TD04 turbo, the snail sits atop a GReddy stainless steel top-mount manifold. The compressed air is forced into a network of Aerodyne intercooler piping and chilled with an Aerodyne front mount. A few Porsches throughout history got the moniker “Widow Maker” slapped on them since many novice to intermediate drivers were greeted with serious consequences due to lack of skill. It was never really base 911 models though but the twitchy high-horsepower and lightweight versions like the GT2 or t [ … ]
Last Updated on Tuesday, 05 October 2010 10:14
 
HIT 'EM HIGH
Written by Mark Pereira // Photos by John “Action” Jackson   
Friday, 04 December 2009 10:50
Metra Electronics also got involved to promote their premium audio line called Vibe from the UK. With a three month investment and $40,000 worth of gear, what you see before you rolled out of the shop and commanded a closer look along with this magazine feature.When it comes to the talented team at Installer Institute, these guys never settle for less and always step up with impressive project after project. They are true “go-getters” that push the envelope of style and function at their educational facility, teaching many top installers in the country and [ … ]
Last Updated on Tuesday, 05 October 2010 10:21
 
MAGIC TRIX
Written by Dave Pankew // Photos by Andrew Jennings   
Monday, 30 November 2009 09:59
“Everyone helped build this car together over a tight four month time period,” says Mohan. “My friends, my co-workers, my family and then the corporate help of Mazdatrix and even Mazda USA!”

If you ask pro drifter Kyle Mohan how to get (and keep) a car sideways, his equation will always include rotary somewhere in it. Mazda is the only automaker still pumping out engines that are based on the quirky trochoidal design. With high RPMs and instant-on throttle, Mohan will tell you the twin- [ … ]

Last Updated on Tuesday, 05 October 2010 10:23
 
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