Showing posts with label bags. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bags. Show all posts

Friday, April 29, 2011

Fast 5 Movie Release

Well, tonight marked the release of the 5th Fast & Furious movie.  With how popular the franchise has gotten, it wasn't a surprise when local shop, MAPerformance, and NOS Energy Drink got together to throw a little show before the movie.  Hosted at AMC Theaters at the Southdale mall, the event certainly brought out a good number of cars on top of the people just going to see the movie.  After helping my friend Jon install the suspension on his FB RX-7, a small group of us left from his house and rolled in about 9:40pm.  Since I used to be sponsored by NOS, I was able to get some VIP parking for the LS, Jon's RX-7, and Ivan's C30R right in front of the NOS tent.  It always helps to know people.  After snapping a few pics, I decided to put Kaien on and walk the lot.  He was very popular with the ladies.  After getting plenty of pics taken, it was time to just chill and catch up with people.  I decided to not go see the movie, so as everyone walked to the theaters, a few of us decided to head home.  I'm not looking forward to dealing with all the kids at work over the weekend.  Just part of the craze this movie franchise creates.  Enjoy the pics:

 Ivan's C30R

 Jon's RX-7
 Bagged 300C
 Very nice G37
 Clean Solara
 That Mini again!
 G37's rear
 Yeah, well I do...lol
 Fellow i'mSTANCED member Erik's EP3.
 The LS....
 Kaien on display after being worn for a bit around the lot
Some new stickers thanks to my friend Montana, aka StraitUp D

Sunday, May 30, 2010

University Ave: 5/29

Good way to welcome myself back home.  Friday at University Ave was packed.  Euro lot was hopping as usual with some awesome cars.  Eurowerks 4 is coming up and I am looking forward to that.  The lot will be PACKED that whole weekend, so stay tuned.


Check out the rest of the pics here:  Photos by Kaien

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Low Standards

The term , "low," usually has a negative connotation associated with it.  Low-standards, low self-esteem, low-paying job, none of these evoke a positive influence.  You change "low" to "high", and suddenly everything is good.  Forget all that though.  Let's change that negative outlook on "low" and see why being low is good.

Dallas resident and VDubber, AJ Pena is one of those that follows the school of being low.  No, wait, he doesn't follow, he's the graduate student with a PhD in slammed.  His mk5 GTI has got to be one of the lowest I have ever seen, with a stance that anyone would be jealous over.

AJ, you see, has been a Dubber since the beginning.  He shared a Passat with his dad, and he would go to local meets and shows.  He was blown away by the scene, so when it came time for him to get his own car, it was only natural for him to choose a VW, picking up an 07 GTI.

"My initial plans were sport springs, wheels, and a tune.  That never worked out...it went all downhill from there."

Sounds familiar to many in the modding game.  It all starts somewhere and generally snowballs out of control.  The car started pretty mild with the aforementioned mods and looked incredibly clean back then.  AJ wanted to be low though, lower than he could go on coils.

That's when air ride entered the picture.  Air ride satisfies the control freak in all of us; low when we want to, then raised for the convenience of getting over obstacles that a car with a static drop would have to avoid.  Some say bags are cheating.  Methinks it's jealousy.  No matter how "hardcore" a static drop on coils is, the stance that can be achieved on bags cannot be rivaled.

AJ's GTI sits dumped on a set of Masontech air struts, an increasingly popular setup.  The struts carry Slam Specialties RE-6 bags that are supplied with compressed air from an Air Ride Technologies Ride Pro E2 compressor.  This setup allows AJ's silly-low drop.  The arches house a set of gorgeous CCW Classics sized 18x8.5 up front and 18x9.5 in the rear.  Falken's 512 tires are nicely stretched to the specs of 215/40/18 up front and 225/40/18 in the rear.

The exterior of the car has received some attention in the form of a Jetta front end with some custom paint work by Dorbitz Design (who also helped with the bags).  The interior hosts a minor audio system with a Pioneer Avic D3 head unit, JL Audio 8w7 sub, and a JL Audio 500/1 amp.  A bump in performance is had with a Neuspeed intake, GHL 3" turbo-back exhaust, and APR stage 2 software.  These basic mods actually have quite the effect, waking up the 2.0 FSI turbo motor nicely.

So, what's next for AJ?  "I am hoping I was done, but you never know.  Right now I need new front air struts, and a re-spray due to all the rock chips.  What would I want?  A possible big-turbo and reupholster the interior."  Regardless, AJ's GTI will keep schooling the newcomers to the world of low.  His VW has certainly set the bar high for getting low.