Red Hot

Some people can just turn out feature cars like it's a habit, nothing special, nothing out of the ordinary, they just get a car and wave a magic wand, and VOILA, feature slot in a magazine or blog.  Minnesota resident Dana Nguyen is one of those people that car turn out neck-snapping cars at an alarming rate.  Since I have known Dana, he's had an ultra-clean GSR Integra, a ground scraping AR IS300 (our cars were confused for one another's a lot!), and now his current NFR S2000.

Dana bought the car in late 2009 and not even a year later, this is what he has produced.  Talk about turn-around time!  Most people spend years on a project to get it to this level, but not for this veteran tuner.  However, this time he took a little bit different route than his previous cars.  While his GSR and IS300 certainly had the show areas down, the first plan of attack on the S2K was the engine.  To address this area, he chose to go to the local Honda maestros over at Full Blown Motorsports.  You see, the owner LJ has been working on his own personal S2K, building it into a mind-boggling street monster.  While Dana's goals weren't as lofty, Full Blown still came up with a nice turbo kit consisting of a custom exhaust manifold, Garrett 60-1 turbo, Ultimate Racing FMIC, FBM intercooler piping, FBM 3" down-pipe, and 3" dual exhaust.  A Tial 38mm waste-gate coupled with a FBM boost controller keep the boost in check, while a FBM oil-catch tank helps keep the crank ventilated.  The head is held down with ARP head-studs, while an ACT clutch ensures that the 400 ponies get to the ground easily.  A walbro 255 fuel pump supply 725cc Injector Dynamics injectors while an AEM EMS coordinates everything.  An APR CF coil-pack cover, S2Carbon CF cooling plate and CF strut tower bar add to the under-hood bling, while a wire-tuck from Renown Performance really cleans up the engine bay.

With the engine bay all sorted, it was time for Dana to address the other areas of the car.  He kept the mods simple and subtle, a trend these days, but with these results, it's easy to see why.  The front bumper was exchanged for a newer, OEM, AP2 item and fitted with an OEM AP2 front lip.  Out back, Dana swapped the AP1 tails for OEM AP2 items as well, another subtle touch that usually goes unnoticed.  A Seibon carbon hood and carbon trunk break up the red and compliment the custom Blitz Type 01 wheels nicely.  The 17x8/9 Blitz wheels were split and refinished in black with red bolts before being bolted up and fitted with Falken Azenis tires..  The ride height issues were addressed with the ubiquitous Koni/Ground Control setup that is commonly found on many Hondas.  Hey, when something works, why change it?  The setup rides great and performs awesome.  The clean and simple theme carries onto the interior as well.  The dash houses a 6.5" screen fed by an Alpine head-unit.  Alpine Type R speakers and tweeters provide the tunes while an AEM wide-band, and Pro Sport gauges provide the engine vitals.

After only a year, Dana has build a winning setup, receiving a lot of local praise and attention, having taken the car to many local shows and events as well as HIN Chicago.  Of course, like a lot of projects, the road doesn't stop here.  Over the winter Dana has a lot of changes planned to take the car up another level for next year.  I won't say much, but "wide" and "fast" are two key words.  I certainly am looking forward to seeing it next year and will probably be taking some more photos and writing another feature.  All I know is, it's certainly going to be Red Hot.

Gallery:  Photos by Kaien

RKC MN Tuesday Night Meet 5-18-2010

Following a successful Monday meet up in Fridley, the Tuesday meet had an equally impressive turnout.  While not near the numbers of Monday's meet, nor the variety, it was still nice to see roughly 60-70 cars show up to hang out and have a good time.  The lighting issues were solved by some spotlights generously donated by RMS Lighting.

Some cool cars showed up including LJ, the owner of Full Blown Motorsports, and his 750rwhp, stock-block S2000.  There was a good mix of old and new, import and domestic, with more than a few Euros showing up from Eurowerks to come see what the events were all about.  There were also a few nice bikes out with some of the choppers that frequent McKracken's deciding to check out the meet as well and bring their bikes back to the event parking area. 

All-in-all two great back-to-back meets.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous yet again making things that much more enjoyable.  Of course, NOS Energy was out handing out free drinks, lanyards, and stickers.  They are doing a great job at the events, helping support the local community.  Inside, more food specials were to be had.  We had a few sizable groups go inside to get their grub on.  My recommendation; take advantage of their wing specials:  25 wings for $7.99 or 50 wings for $14.99.

So, what to do if you missed out?  Wait till next week unfortunately.  Hop on RKC MN's forum and join up to keep up-to-date on the events.  Also, keep posted here on Project Spartan 117 and check the upcoming events section.  There are links to the meets there as well.  There are big things going on including RKC MN's 1st car show coming up on June 5th.  It should be a blast.  Stay tuned.

More pictures here:  Photos by Kaien

Cars and Cafe MN 2010 Kickoff

Well, Saturday, April 3rd, kicked off the 2010 season for the Cars and Cafe meets here in Minnesota.  Held at the AutoMotorPlex in Chanhassen, MN, the venue can accommodate a good number of vehicles and provide a rather nice backdrop.  The meet has grown from its humble beginnings to one of the largest regular gatherings in MN (if not the largest).  The events are held monthly on the first Saturday of every month.  An addition to this year is that there will be events following each meet (next month, there will be a cruise to Rockfalls Raceway in WI to participate in a Test-n-Tune event).

The meet brings out an eclectic mix of vehicles from exotics to classics, domestics to imports, cars, trucks, and motorcycles.  There is also a wide variety of styles represented.  Unfortunately, I slept in late and arrived to the meet later than I wanted, but there were still a good number of cars there.  Here are a few pictures that I took.  Unfortunately, my Adobe PS is not working at the moment so these are unedited:

This Miata had a great stance and is well tracked

a friend's 240 that he just picked up.  Isn't this hobby all about having fun?

monkey + ODB = ???

S2000 on chrome Regas...yes please!

this Bimmer was sitting right

the stance on this Impala is just perfect

Real Street Performance tuned R35 GT-R; 539awhp

some IS300 with a weird hood...just a shot of my car.  I got more compliments on the hood than I thought I would.

Stay tuned for next month's meet.