Cars & Cafe 4/2/11

Well, this weekend marked the first Cars & Cafe event of the year and despite the forecasts, the weather cooperated and the sun was out all day.  For this one, I rolled the LS400 out with a few other cars from i'mSTANCED, and we had a good showing.  Everyone was sporting new looks, and the cars went down a treat.  Overall, the gathering was small, but still a good turnout considering the roads still hadn't been washed clean of the winter salts, and the lineups were impressive.  Minneapolis Maserati brought out a few Bentley Continental GTs, a Maserati Quattroporte, and a Ferrari F430.  There was also a nice lineup of Porsches and Audis from their respective organizations.

Another "big" showing was Kaien.  Following up from my Spiderman escapade last year, I decided to put on a little show for the opener and bring Kaien out to check out the show.  Everyone got a kick out of it, including the little kids walking around.  Kaien even had a little fun with Tiesto, a malamute that was walking around.

After the show, me, the bf, and some friends went to Lions Tap for lunch, followed by a stop over at MAPerformance for a little open house.  It was a great day to kick off the season.

That's a Wrap!

Well, I can't exactly remember how long it's been since I've been able to say that a project has been, "finished."  Then again, is a project ever really finished?  Surely there are things one can change for the next season, or areas that can be improved on from before after looking at the "finished" piece, but I think I can say that my 2000 Lexus LS400 is finally done.  I say that mainly because I don't know how much longer I will have it, and also because any changes that I had planned for 2011 have been cancelled due to other projects and other changes in life.  Still, the short, but sweet journey with the LS has been a fun one, and I think I did a good job with it in the short time I had in building it.  I think it came down to minimum effort, maximum results.

I picked the car up in early July after selling my 2003 Ford F250 diesel since I wasn't towing around my cars anymore, plus I was looking at getting another car and getting a big, luxury sedan.  Thanks to my friends on the west coast, and sites like Stance Nation, Stanceworks, and Hellaflush, I was exposed to the VIP scene and liked what I was seeing, which lead me to looking for a big, Japanese, luxo-cruiser.  I had always like the Lexus LS400 and LS430, and found this nice example in Chicago, IL.  It was a platinum edition with 78k original miles.  I picked it up for a good price and almost immediately I was on the phone with Guillermo over at GPR Auto ordering the necessary parts to get the car sitting right.

The nice thing about having a few cars is that you generally have some parts laying around that can be used on new projects.  In my case, I had a set of 19" multi-piece Enkei Phalenx wheels from on of my other cars.  They measure in at 19x8.5 +35 front, and 19x10 +40 rear, so while not too terribly aggressive, they still sat well on the LS and filled up the wheel wells nicely.  To get the car sitting nicely over the 19s, GPR Auto sent me over a Tanabe suspension.  After installing it, the car didn't sit as low as I wanted, so off they came, and me and a friend did a little modification to the springs to get them to sit the car a little lower.  Hey, sometimes a little ingenuity comes in handy.

With the rolling stock taken care of and the suspension dialed in, it was time to focus in on some other areas of the car, which in reality, nothing else really needed attention.  Apart from an exterior detail, and the addition of some accessories, it remains stock.  The factory audio system got a slight upgrade in the form of a JL Audio amp and single, 8" JL Audio sub where the factory sub once resided.  The factory, plush leather interior didn't need much sprucing up, the factory wood-grain adding that perfect touch of class.

The car's big debut was at the September Cars & Cafe event here in Minneapolis where the cars simple appearance and low-down stance turned more than a few heads in an event filled with exotics.  Not too many people up this way are familiar with the stance movement so the car got looks for it's wide wheels with stretched tires on a big, luxury sedan.  I hit up as many meets and local get-togethers as I could and the car had an overwhelmingly positive response.  Overall, I'm very happy with the response and the impact the car created with how little I put into it, and the short time that I had the car out.  Right now, the car is sitting dumped on the stock 16s wrapped in winter tires as I wait to decide what to do with the car.  It's a great car and is still in very nice condition, but this was one of those projects destined to be short lived.  My tastes and interests change and I'm courting a few new possibilities for the LS's replacement.  Only time will tell, but for now, that's a wrap.

I would like to say thanks to all my friends who helped in this build, Guillermo over at GPR Auto for the parts, all the guys on the Low N' Slow crew, and the i'mSTANCED crew.

Happy Holidays!

Have a safe and happy holiday and a splendid new year!

Update on the newly completed PS117 Corrado VR6 soon

i'mSTANCED MN

That's right, we're doing it big.  Kaien (PS117) and Jared (Jared Levine Photography) are organizing a group of MN's finest, stanced cars.  Look out for big things for 2011

i'mSTANCED on Facebook!

A Volvo and a Lexus

Rolled around with my friend Ivan this weekend and his super clean, Volvo C30R.  Such a great car with very little done to it, but certainly enough to create a large impact.

Such a great stance, and this is just on springs.  Coils are coming after the winter.

Parked up with my LS400

And just a couple of the LS pretty much sitting where it will be for the rest of the year.  2011 will be a lot lower.

Wednesday Night at Porky's

Stopped by the MN Mazda meet this past Wednesday to hang out with some friends and other cool peeps.  My friend Eric was there with his Cannonball, One Lap of America C5 FRC.  Fully-built is an understatement.  Full photoshoot soon.

More GTI Photos

Little photoshoot again with Erik A's 98 MKIII GTI, this time on his track setup; 16" Rota Slip-Streams with Nitto NT-01s.  Mmmm-mmmm good.

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

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.

Black Dragon

There is something about the Nissan 350Z that makes it one of the cars of choice for today's tuners.  It's aggressive, yet has a touch of elegance and a refined look.  More importantly though, it looks good slammed to the ground with an aggressive set of wheels.  The Z33 is fortunate enough to have some cavernous arches that are begging for the proper set of wheels.  The problem is, it seems that every sort of combination has been tried out, so what to do?

Eric from BRG (BoneOut Racing Group) certainly found the answer.  The Work Equip is a classic wheel and looks good on just about everything.  Of course, Eric wasn't just going to throw a regular set of Equips on his car, oh no.  Not only did he have the centers finished in flat black but he had the lips done in copper.  This color combination certainly creates quite the visual effect and looks absolutely amazing.  The specs are 18x10 -3 up front and 18x12 -3 in the rear with 225/40s up front at 275/35s in the rear.

Of course these sick wheels wouldn't look good at stock ride height.  Eric sorted that quite easily, slamming the car all the way down on some BC Racing coilovers with some custom arch work by his buddy Royal T.  The stance is pretty much perfect.  Of course, a little go to mix with the show is never a bad thing, so Eric utilized a Power Lab single turbo kit using a GT35r to make cruising a little bit more fun.

All in all, this Z33 has one of the hardest looks out there and a stance to die for.  When I first saw the car, I couldn't stop looking at it.  Seeing this car rolling down the road with its low and wide stance, blacked out look, and intercooler poking out from the front bumper would cause anyone to move over.  Much like a dragon, this Z33 has an elegant and refined look, but whatever you do, do not make it show its fangs

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Photos by Banzai Steve:  FLICKR
Fluid Motor Union

Pictures used with permission from owner

GPR Auto IS300

Change.  Change seems to be the the theme of the last few years, everybody seems to be stressing change.  Whether it's in politics, the economy, or something as simple as a new look, change is what's hot right now.  Change is always good though.  It pushes the boundaries, breaks the mold, gets people's attention, and sends a message.

Guillermo Escamilla, from Kosoku, based out of Southern California took a look at the current Lexus IS scene and decided to change it forever.  What happened next changed the IS game, and in the grand scheme of things, the car scene for good.  The reviews are mixed, but this is exactly what the scene needed.

Clearly, the look is a love it or hate affair, but wherever you fall, you cannot help but look and stare.  The slammed stance, the crazy, aggressive wheel setup, the insane amount of poke, the ridiculous stretch, and of course, the graphics.  What started simply as just adding a black vinyl wrap to the hood, which them became covered with stickers and graffiti, has now turned into a style all its own.  The giraffe print on the hood, bumper, fenders, quarter panels, and even the interior, is something that cannot be ignored.  One cannot help but stare.  Why the giraffe print?  Well, why not?  Outside of the box, different, going against the grain, however you want to call it, it certainly gets the job done.

The graphics weren't the main goal though, although it certainly is a highlight.  What steals the spotlight though is the wheel setup.  I remember when I started in the IS game back in 06 and remember seeing +20s on a IS300 and thinking, "wow, that's aggressive!"  Well, Guillermo certainly showed what can be done with fitment on the IS300.  His IS wears a set of Leon Hardiritt Ordens, sized 18x9 +7 and 18x10 -5.  Let me retype that; 18x9 +7 in the front and 18x10 -5 in the rear.  Just about on any car that is considered aggressive, but absolutely unheard of on an IS300.  With the car slammed to the floor, the setup is more than flush.  Forget hellaflush, this is hellaPOKE!  With 215s stretched on every corner, the presence this car gives is quite astonishing.  It makes some drool while others want to smash their keyboard in anger.  Like I said, it really is a love it or hate it look, and controversy definitely surrounds this car.

Whether you love the look, or absolutely detest it, there is no ignoring the fact that this car came and changed the game up.  The off-the-wall styling, insane wheel fitment, and the low n' slow style certainly make this car noticed wherever it goes, and it certainly goes far.  With over 160,000 miles on the odometer, this is no show queen.  Driven daily-dumped on the streets of SoCal, this car makes a statement wherever it goes.  Despite its fair share of haters, Guillermo silenced his critics and the Wek Fest event back in Feb where he took home 1st Place in the IS Series category, as well as a spread in S3 magazine.  This car came along and changed the scene with one of the most unique looks in a long time.

For more info check out GPR Auto's page on Facebook.

Photos courtesy of Daniel Kroothanooch and used with permission by the owner of the car.