S3 Magazine // Issue 34

ISSUE 34 // 2015

Koyorad Performance Radiators 

SPEC PERFORMANCE CLUTCHES AND FLYWHEELS 

PRODUCTS | 

ONLY THE BEST 

| SERVICE 

PRODUCTS | 

ONLY THE BEST 

| SERVICE 

INTERESTED IN MAKING YOUR BUSINESS THE BEST IT CAN BE? 

TURN 14 DISTRIBUTION OFFERS THE BEST CUSTOMER SUPPORT, INVENTORY, B2B ONLINE EXPERIENCE, RETURN POLICY AND FLAT RATE SHIPPING! 

Can you really afford to not have an account with the best in the business? Turn 14 Distribution, when only the best will do! 

INTERESTED IN MAKING YOUR BUSINESS THE BEST IT CAN BE? 

TURN 14 DISTRIBUTION OFFERS THE BEST CUSTOMER SUPPORT, INVENTORY, B2B ONLINE EXPERIENCE, RETURN POLICY AND FLAT RATE SHIPPING! 

Can you really afford to not have an account with the best in the business? Turn 14 Distribution, when only the best will do! 

Turn14.com | 877-7turn14 

#onlythebest 

Turn14.com | 877-7turn14 

#onlythebest

EDITORIAL 

EDITORIAL/DESIGN 

Editor 

Art Director 

Assistant Editors 

Web Editor 

Graphic Design 

Contributors 

ADVERTISING /SALES 

Director of Advertising 

Jonathan Wooley 

jwooley@s3mag.com 

Guy Haynie 

ghaynie@s3mag.com 

Yousef Alvi 

yalvi@s3mag.com 

Ross Huber 

ross@s3mag.com 

Joe Coville 

jcoville@s3mag.com 

Alexander Grant 

Brady Lankford 

Brandon Bachtel 

Chris Sullivan 

Courtney Cutchen 

Gene Tjin 

Greg Szoda 

James Mitchell 

Jeremy Gomez 

Joe Gustafson 

Jory Calle 

jtranphotos 

Kevve.be 

Luke Munell 

Paul McPherson 

Ravi Angard 

Tania Santos 

Thomas Ho 

Mike Sanders 

msanders@s3mag.com 

S3 MAGAZINE 

P.O. Box 1536 • Loganville, GA 30052 

s3mag.com 

SUBSCRIPTIONS & BACK ISSUES 

www.s3magstore.com 

SUBSCRIPTIONS ADDRESS CHANGE 

store@s3mag.com 

S3 Magazine (ISSN 1543-1428 is a quarterly published, independent 

magazine. Our contact address is PO Box 1536, Loganville GA 

30052. US subscriptions are $20 for 12 issues. Single copies 

are available on our website (s3mag.com) for $4.95. Unsolicited 

photos and manuscripts become the property of S3 Magazine 

LLC. Copyright 2015. All rights reserved. Reproduction in 

whole or in part without prior written permission is prohibited. 

Mark Meyers passed away recently. He was one of 

the brothers who ran the show over at NOPI. And I’m 

sitting here with kind of an empty regretful remorse 

that’s tough to swallow… because I feel like I didn’t 

appreciate him enough while he was here. He was 

overweight, he was sweaty, he was sloppy, and he 

always seemed a little spaz’d. Actually - a lot like Chris 

Farley lol. And now that I think back on it… it’s with 

a big smile. I mean c’mon - he was a fun guy with 

presence. A true character. The kind of guy to throw 

empty shot-bottles at the back of your head on the 

flight to Vegas for Sema at 10am… and when you 

turned around he’d shove 5 full ones in your hands. 

I’ll always remember him with a walkie-talkie, a NOPI 

crew shirt, and a golf cart full of bombshell women. 

And looking back, he kind of embodied what NOPI was 

all about from the start - having fun & getting wild with 

cars. 

And I feel this sorrow & emptiness, because I feel 

like he never quite fit in with what the sport compact 

industry ultimately became. Like it got to a point where 

NOPI became shunned by the very industry they had 

a serious hand in creating. Confusing. Because how 

many established tuner companies out there today, 

owe a big part of their original US come-up to NOPI 

and NOPI Nationals? Most of them. I know S3 does. In 

addition, a lot of dudes who got 100% obsessed with 

imports in the early years because of an epic NOPI 

Nats weekend, ended up turning their backs on NOPI 

via forums a few years later. The crazy thing is: they 

turned their backs on it for the exact same reasons that 

they were originally attracted to it - the insanity, the 

girls, the crowds, the larger-than-life styles & attitudes. 

It’s kind of like the puppy we got & loved more than 

anything when we were a kid… that turned into the 

old dog we left when we went off to college. 

But the thing is: NOPI literally built the sport compact 

culture in the US. It started from running parts for aircooled 

VWs… before modern-day imports were ever 

even a ‘thing’. I know it’s hard for you younger guys to 

realize it, but there was nothing in the sport compact 

market, before there was NOPI. It didn’t exist. NOPI took 

the sport-compact market from a small underground 

movement with little/unaccessible aftermarket support 

(besides Prime 3-spoke wheels, tint, and neon)… and 

turned it into a MainStage staple of the automotive 

aftermarket. We all owe a huge debt of gratitude to 

NOPI. Because like a family tree, there’s a seriously 

good chance that YOUR involvement in this culture 

today, is somehow tied to someone or something that 

came out of NOPI. 

I remember being at NOPI Nationals in 97, 98, 99, 

2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and thinking… “Is there any 

limit to how far this can go?!” It was an exciting time 

for the culture. 

NOPI’s business mentality was all about ‘going big or 

going home’. They did it bigger than big. There was no 

ceiling to their vision. They literally had a warehouse 

stocked full of parts. You could walk up to the counter, 

and walk out with a truck full of boxes like Fast & 

Furious. 

They sold parts at RETAIL, not bargain basement 

pricing. Meaning - they didn’t undercut the 

competition… which is the first sign of a weak store, 

or a weak salesman. Rather, they upheld the VALUE of 

their products. And that, in turn, upheld the VALUE of 

the aftermarket industry. On top of that, they further 

upheld the value of the industry by running a complete 

motorsports division/series with car shows, drag 

racing, and later drifting… all of which promoted & 

PROVED the legitimacy of these import-aftermarket 

parts companies. You can’t argue with history, and 

you can’t argue with the fact that the industry was 

booming in this time period. 

NOPI charged a good amount to get into their events; 

and people whined about that once they had forums to 

whine on. But you know what - the flipside is that NOPI 

had HUGE events set up, with payouts for competitors, 

and live shows from guys like Ludacris & TI. You get 

what you pay for. Imports overran the town around the 

track. People, cars, and lawnchairs lined the streets. 

Police helicopters tried to restore order. Super Street 

tours came in from all corners of the country. The 

show had industry vendors representing from across 

the coasts - literally hundreds of them. 

In 2003, my dad did marketing for a company that 

sponsored NOPI Nationals, and you know how 

much they paid to be a sponsor? $30,000. And that 

doesn’t count the $10,000 given away in product & 

promotional materials. 

“OMG what a waste of money; how stupid right? 

Especially when you can’t even ‘quantify’ the results 

by counting web hits.”

EDITORIAL 

I have had some pretty awesome 

journeys in my life… but I believe I may 

have just started the most rewarding 

one of all. About a month ago, my wife 

gave birth to our first child - a baby boy 

named Cooper Thomas Sanders. I don’t 

normally like to go into my personal 

life too much in my writing, but I just 

can’t help myself on this occasion. It’s 

hard for me to talk about cars and the 

culture right now, because this little 

guy has immediately become my main 

concern. I’m not sure how many of 

you reading this have children, but it’s 

pretty crazy how quickly they consume 

your thoughts and your actions. 

I don’t mean that in a bad way. Ok 

sure - he can get fussy, needy, and 

make sure that I don’t sleep for 3 days 

straight. But at the end of the day, it’s 

just so rewarding and worth it. He has helped to give more purpose and meaning 

to my life. Everything that I do now, I do it for the little man and my wife. I promised 

that I wasn’t going to get mushy or dramatic about parenthood, but nature just has 

a funny way of changing a man when circumstances like this arise. 

That being said, I am extremely concerned about the world that Cooper is going to 

EDITORIAL 

be raised in. Our current state of affairs as a whole is just not cutting it. Everyone 

is offended by everything. The media is constantly trying to divide & segregate the 

community to get us all riled up. And there is more hatred now in 2015, than I have 

ever seen in my lifetime. Seriously guys, are we breaking down? Who ever knew 

that something as uniting as the internet, would end up just being used to ramp 

up hate to epidemic proportions?! 

We all need to take a step back and see the big picture. Dumb it down, if you will. 

Worry about your own life and the life of those that you love or care for. Drown 

out the rest… most of it is just noise anyway. Does any of this shit that we argue 

about really have any effect on ourselves as people? Honestly, is it really that big of 

a deal if gay marriage is legalized, if a man wants to become a woman, if weed is 

being sold legally, or if an old flag does/doesn’t get taken down? Does it hold any 

impact on your life on a personal level? No! Just let people be happy! Happiness 

is like the most basic human right, and who are you to get in the way of that? 

I’m not saying that you should celebrate everything that everyone does. Hell, you 

don’t even have to agree with it. But tolerance is something that needs to be 

exercised more in this world. Please keep the hateful comments and opinions at a 

minimum. They literally help no one… and they’re hurting everyone. I don’t want 

my son to have to grow up in the world of keyboard bullies and over opinionated 

know-it-alls. I want him to enjoy the world, and to be a part of it. 

MIKE SANDERS 

DIRECTOR OF EVERYTHING 

My first NOPI Nationals experience was coming off 

the heels of the first Fast and Furious movie in 2001. 

IT WAS JUST LIKE IN THE MOVIE, MAN!! Literally 

thousands upon thousands of sport compact cars 

- modded, tricked out, slammed, bagged, Street 

Glow’d, graphic’d, boomin’, and JDMed-to-death. 

Teams running the freeways in packs, late night 

street racing, turbo’d-everything. It was complete 

sensory overload and I was hooked. 

That’s what NOPI was all about. It was a truly 

national event, bringing in the baddest cars in the 

country. If you didn’t show up and represent, you 

weren’t really shit in the car show game. It was 

a crowning achievement if you got a trophy, and 

almost guaranteed you a magazine spot. NOPI was the first place I saw an R34 

Skyline GT-R, V-Spec no less. Hell, it was the only place to see a Skyline of any 

type for the vast majority of people that attended. It was larger than life. 

During those earlier years, if you modified your car, you got the parts from NOPI. If 

you didn’t, you either paid way too much from a smaller distributor with a fraction 

of the inventory… or you knew a guy whose cousin worked for a shady little 

operation importing parts & cars from Japan. Every tuner magazine featured 

multiple NOPI ads per issue, and we studied those ads part by part. We saved 

our money, and knew down to the dime when we could order that DC header, or 

ICEMAN cold-air intake. If you were lucky enough to be in Atlanta, you could drive 

to one of the stores and get it - no waiting - and carry parts out on your shoulder 

for all the world to see. It was the best feeling ever. I think at one point, they had 

like 5 stores just in the Atlanta area. 

NOPI’s realm expanded beyond car shows. It wasn’t just about the pretty stuff - 

because they had their own damn drag racing series, the NDRA. These were the 

fastest, rowdiest sport compacts in the country… and often times, the world. 

Names like Stephan Papadakis, Lisa Kubo, Chris Rado, and John Shepherd spent 

years breaking records in the NDRA. The first in almost all categories of sport 

compact drag racing happened in the series. 9-8-7-6 second imports. 200mph 

imports. 200mph FWD. 6 second 4 cylinder cars. Speed that domestic guys said 

we’d NEVER reach. And records broken because of NOPI fostering the industry. 

The NDRA gave these racers/builders the foundation on which they built their 

careers. And it brought A LOT of revenue into the aftermarket industry! 

When Drifting burst onto the scene, NOPI recognized the shift and gave us NOPI 

Drift. It started small with drift demos and exhibitions at NOPI car shows and the 

Nationals, developing into a full-fledged sanctioned body. Qualifying events were 

set up around the country and pro licenses rewarded to the best drivers, inviting 

them to the main events in Phoenix, St. Louis, Denver, L.A., Miami, Pittsburgh, 

finishing with the finale in Atlanta during the Nationals. There are guys like Chelsea 

Denofa, Justin Pawlak, and Kenji Yamanaka competing in Formula Drift today - 

that began their professional driving careers in NOPI. 

Then, sometime around the summer of 2008, it seemed like NOPI vanished 

overnight - losing a majority of its influence. The major car shows, the Nationals, 

the NDRA, and NOPI Drift all folded. A lot of its demise can be chalked up to 

three things: 1) a rapidly downward-spiraling economy, which caused vendors/ 

supporters to pull out by the truckload almost overnight. 2) Skyrocketing gas 

prices. 3) The cooler-than-cool digital-age enthusiasts infiltrating the original 

enthusiasts. However, NOPI never gave up as a company. They closed all stores 

except for the main hub-store & warehouse in Atlanta. 

And sure - there was still Formula D and the NHRA Summit Sport Compact Series 

for racing events… and shows like Hot Import Nights and Import Alliance. But, at 

least in my opinion, they all lack the over-the-top, overwhelming feeling of the 

NOPI events. NOPI events felt genuine - and embraced the entire scope of the 

industry: good & bad, import & domestic, show & go, burnouts & bikini contests. 

Somewhere along the way - you became mocked if you got stoked for the 

Nationals, or you bought something from NOPI, or had a NOPI sticker on your car. 

The NOPI boys laid low for a while. But over the last couple years, NOPI had 

been stirring it up a little & testing the waters for a comeback. They are putting 

on shows in various cities, filling venues with cars reminiscent of their heyday. 

They’re doing drift exhibitions and giving drivers, casual or amateurs aspiring 

to become pro, an opportunity to drive on a bigger stage, supplying invaluable 

seat time, experience, and exposure. Maybe they’re getting back to their roots, 

or returning to the fundamental idea of providing an experience that EVERYONE 

will enjoy. 

NOPI is a LEGACY. Mark and Mike Meyers gave us something unlike anything else 

we’ve ever had. They defined an entire generation. And they facilitated an entirely 

new demographic of the aftermarket industry. We should all remember Mark and 

thank the Meyers family for this culture. 

BRANDON BACHTEL 

TOPSPEED MOTORSPORTS 

6 WWW.S3MAG.COM ISSUE 34 :: 2015

S**T YOU SHOULD BUY 

SYSB 

MACKIN 

The newest edition to the popular Volk Racing G25 is the D-BK 2015 Limited Edition. 

The wheels have a 2x5 split spoke design - with sizes ranging from 18” to 20” 

diameters and 7.5” to 11” widths. The slim & elongated spokes have deep sectional 

width - offering the latest advancements in technology & strength. The D-BK features 

a black clear coating finish. Fitments are available for both Japanese and European 

vehicles. Made in Japan by RAYS. 

www.mackin-ind.com 

KW 

The BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe is a thing. A strange 4-door hatch 2-door thing. Now if 

you want to add some much better road-holding skills to that thing without sacrificing 

that luxo-sport ride comfort, there’s only one place you need to go! The KW Street 

Comfort series is the ultimate in the name of road-going high end coilover systems… 

and that goes for any chassis. 

www.kwautomotive.com 

P3 CARS 

Do you want state of the art gauges? But do not want the install headaches, wires, or 

pillars & pods jutting out everywhere? Before there was not an easy solution to that 

dilemma. Now there is. P3Cars. The future. All your gauges in one - with about a 10 

minute installation! They have now released their newest gauge for the Mini R50-53 

(2000-2006 model years). Gauges include the following functions: Boost & vacuum, 

coolant temp, air-intake temp, exhaust temp, volts, air/fuel, 0-60, throttle %, RPM 

with shift light, peak & hold… and the added ability of clearing CELs!!! 

www.p3cars.com 

IT’S MY STYLE. 

VORTECH 

The V7-JTB is the newest supercharger by the sexy folks over at Vortech. If you’re 

running a Coyote V8 and you’re in need of that extra ooomph, call these guys right 

now! This new unit has a billet impeller for efficient and (keyword here)… reliable 

horsepower! 

www.vortechsuperchargers.com 

SPORT SUSPENSIONS 

ST X 

HEIGHT ADJUSTABLE 

COILOVER 

ST XTA COILOVER 

HEIGHT AND REBOUND 

ADJUSTABLE WITH TOP 

MOUNTS COILOVER 

ST SPORT SPRINGS 

LOWERING SPRINGS 

ST ANTI-SWAY BARS 

MANUFACTURED FROM 

HIGH QUALITY SPRING 

STEEL AND FINISHED 

WITH ST’S SPECIAL 

POWDER COATING 

SEE YOUR LOCAL ST SUSPENSIONS DEALER OR GO TO WWW.STSUSPENSIONS.COM FOR DETAILS 

© 2014 KW AUTOMOTIVE NORTH AMERICA, INC. 


S**T YOU SHOULD BUY 

SYSB 

www.sylvania.com/zevostrip 

SYLVANIA 

Do you want to stylize the interior of your ride? You probably need to. And Sylvania has their new 

Interior Strip kit - which gives you 16 different colors and modes to toggle through. You can cross 

your arms and say that ‘colors’ are ricey, and I can say that the $62,000 F150 we just drove as 

a press car came with color-optioned ambient lighting. Install them cleverly, and it’s the perfect 

way to give your ride that extra bit of awesome! 

www.sylvania.com 

CYNTUR 

This thing is about the size of my cell phone, weighs LESS than a pound, and I used 

it to jump-start a Tundra. …And that was after it hadn’t been charged for 3 months. 

Not only will it jump your car, but it will also power anything with a USB-plug. The 

battery charge lasts up to 1 year when stored. And Cyntur claims that it will start a 

car up to 25 times on a single charge. It also packs a 200-lumen flashlight, which will 

strobe as a safety/emergency feature. And – it’s weatherproof. It’s small enough to 

effortlessly swap from car-to-car if you’ve got more than one ride, and it’s definitely 

portable enough to bring on every flight/vacation/road-trip. 100 bucks 

www.cyntur.com 

GRAMS 

This is the Grams 52mm wideband air/fuel ratio gauge. When lit up, it features large, easy to read 

numbers in the center, and the familiar red/yellow/green sweeping lights around the perimeter. 

This gauge utilizes the Bosch LSU 4.9 sensor - which is superior to the less expensive & outdated 

LSU 4.2 sensors (something to look for when buying an AFR gauge). The Grams wideband air/ 

fuel gauges feature a 0-5v output for closed-loop feedback when pairing with a standalone ECU. 

$199. Boost & oil pressure gauges coming soon. 

www.skunk2.com 

STILL HOOD 

Destroy all tires. ……..Or just sit back & chill 

www.s3mag.com 

Light is creative 

Transform any interior from 

ordinary to extraordinary 

Let your creativity shine. The SYLVANIA ZEVO® LED Strip Kit comes 

with 16 colors, 5 modes, a 12-volt adapter and a wireless remote 

so you can easily create any ambience for your car’s interior. 

© 2014 OSRAM SYLVANIA 

Facebook.com/SylvaniaAutomotive 

Twitter.com/Sylvania 

Youtube.com/SylvaniaLight 


Hi - my name is Jeremy Gomez. And I’ve honestly never even thought of trying to get my Z 

featured in print. But Courtney (the photographer) finally convinced me to do a real shoot 

of this thing… making this the first car that I’ve ever had serious pictures of in my life. 

I know that seems crazy not to have a million photos of your car, considering how cars 

& photos go hand-in-hand these days. But in my 40s… I guess I’m a bit of an old fart 

in this scene now. Funny how that happens: You blink your eyes, and all the sudden 

you’re one of the ‘older’ guys… and the kids are strangely obsessed with hashtags. 

My first car was a ’73 Camaro with a 350 SBC, at a time when I was in high 

school in 80s Southern California. Looking back, that’s probably about the worst 

1st car you could ever give a 17-year-old in the 80s heyday of Beach Boulevard 

street racing. It had no brakes, terrible suspension, terrible tires, and just a lap 

belt for safety. It was a different era. I’d never let my kids have one, but damn if 

it wasn’t one of the most badass cars I ever had. It got me hooked for life. 

I somehow survived that car, survived high school, and ended up doing a few 

years in the Navy during the early 90s, an adventure that landed me in Japan. 

14 WWW.S3MAG.COM ISSUE 34 :: 2015 ISSUE 34 :: 2015 WWW.S3MAG.COM 

15

That’s where I really fell for 

Japanese car styles. Until then, 

I had always been a diehard 

domestic kid. But with exposure 

comes perspective. 

The car scene in 1990’s Japan was 

blowing up big-time, and I was there to 

witness it. Through my eyes, it seemed 

like Nissan was king - with GTRs, Zs, and 

Silvias running the streets. When I got 

back to the States, I really missed the 

Japanese car culture. I wanted to see & 

feel it again, so I decided to get a Nissan. 

I’ve had my share of them through 

the 90s: a pair of Z32 300ZXs, an S13, 

an S14… and now on my third 240Z. 

Over the last 10-15 years, I’ve dipped 

into modifying other cars. Three different 

WRXs and STIs, a Mk1 GTI, a 79 

911SC… and my current daily driver 

since 2007 has been my C6 Vette. I love 

ALL those cars, but I’ve always wanted 

to get back into Nissans, specifically another 

240z. It was always my favorite. 

There’s just something very pure & direct 

about driving an old Z that I have 

yet to find in any new car. The lightness, 

the non-assisted steering, you feel every 

bit of what’s happening when you 

drive a Z. And that’s something that’s 

gotten lost in the weight & complexity 

of new cars. Even if they’re faster… 

they’re nowhere near as fun for me. 

One solid piece of advice with these 

old Zs: ALWAYS take your time and find 

the best surviving car you can. That’s 

more important than anything that can 

be bolted on or off. Does it have a solid, 

straight body & minimal rust? I’ve seen 

so many guys go out and buy the cheapest 

old 240z they can find… and get 

thousands of dollars into a build before 

realizing they bought a car with a bent 

frame or an inch of Bondo, or those 

little bubbles in the paint was in fact a 

fully rusted body that would have to be 

stripped all the way down to be fixed 

properly. More and more it gets proven 

that finding an old Z with minimal rust 

& wreckage is worth its weight in gold. 

This car has an LS V8 swap. Just a few 

years ago, this was a great swap that 

everyone loved. And it still is a great 

swap. But for some reason, recently 

it’s become fashionable for the kids to 

hop on the LS-hate bandwagon - even 

though they’ve probably never driven 

one. It’s very puzzling to me. I’m an old 

school hot rodder and the whole agenda 

for an old school hot rodder, is to try and 

stuff the biggest & best motor possible 

into the lightest car. For me, an LS swap 

in a Z is a no-brainer. The all-aluminum 

version of the LS weighs the same as 

the stock iron block straight-6. The LS 

sits further back in the bay, almost completely 

behind the front axle, compared 

to the stock straight-6 that sits about a 

16 WWW.S3MAG.COM ISSUE 34 :: 2015 

ISSUE 34 :: 2015 

WWW.S3MAG.COM 

17

ULTRA SERIES 

B/H/K-SERIES CAMSHAFTS 

The new standard in 

engine performance. 

Ultra Series also utilize AMAX profile technology. This 

technology results in superior flow area under the valve lift 

curve when compared to competitor camshafts with the same 

lift and duration specs. AMAX also allows for valve springs 

with reduced pressure to be used without sacrificing valvetrain 

stability. Combined with Fast Ramp technology, AMAX allows 

Skunk2 to make more torque and power with a significantly 

wider powerband than their competitors. 

Available Now 

Online or find a dealer near you 

Visit WWW.SKUNK2.COM 

Performance | Precision | Flow 

foot ahead of the front axle. It’s a swap 

that turns the 240z into a supremely balanced, 

lightweight, and scary-fast coupe 

that’s probably as close to the old Shelby/ 

Brock Daytona Coupe as you can make. 

Seriously, at about 1000lbs lighter than 

my C6 with 500hp, this Z is still WAY faster 

& quicker in every way. But LS hate is 

the flavor of the month now - so yeah. 

As for the style of the build, I’m a WWII 

history buff. Always have been. I grew 

up listening to my grandfather’s Navy 

stories of WWII. I also built damn near 

every WWII model plane I could get my 

hands on. Living in SoCal near the Chino 

Air Museum, I would walk through every 

chance I got as a kid… marveling at 

the old planes and their legacies. When 

I bought this Z, I never planned to wrap 

it, but original paint had definitely seen 

better days. So I decided I would try 

something creative with it before it got 

repainted. Since I conveniently own a 

shop that does automotive specialty 

films (tint, clear bra, vinyl), I decided to 

do a custom wrap in Japanese Zero 

livery. I tried to keep the scheme and 

markings as authentic as possible. 

I’ve had a lot of journeys with different 

automobiles and with every car I’ve ever 

owned… I’ve driven the hell out of it. I 

don’t build show cars and I don’t take a 

picture every time I park it. That’s not my 

thing. Hopefully they look cool enough 

to hold their own in the real world - but 

in the end, they’re gonna be driven hard 

and put away dirty. That’s guaranteed. 

So many kids these days just care 

about parking, and not driving. 

It blows my mind. 

• Balanced, blueprinted, and matched within 1% 

• Ultra-fast solenoids for precise fuel metering 

• Compatible with all known fuels including 

gasoline, methanol, and ethanol 


 

g r a m s p e r f o r m a n c e . c o m

ENGINE 

1972 Datsun 240Z 

2000 LS1 + t56 transmission, JCI mount kit , JTR intake, Sanderson shorty 

headers, Ported throttle body & manifold, 2.5” dual exhaust - Magnaflow 

with crossXovers 

CHASSIS 

Shortened struts with MR2 Tokico iLLumina adjustable struts, Ground Control 

adjustable perches with 250/250 lbs springs, Modern Motorsports rear 

tubular adjustable control arms, Futofab front control arms and traction control 

arms, Ermish Racing big Wilwood 4-piston brakes front & rear, Wilwood 

1” master cylinder, R200 rear end with Z31 300ZX clutch LSD 3.7 gears, 

Chequered Flag billet CVs/flanges/stub axles, Poly bushings everywhere 

else, Marcus Fry Racing 6-point cage, Marcus Fry Racing tubular fender & 

chassis reinforcements added, 16X9.5 -19 Watanabe R-types in gunmetal , 

245/45/16 Toyo RA1s all around, Z-force extra-wide flares 


TECHNICALLY SPEAKING 

TECH 

VORTECH CHARGE COOLER 

If you’ve got a new Ecoboost Mustang, this should honestly be one of the 

first mods you look into. Reason being: once your turbo car gets heat soaked 

(which could be as little as one hard pull in the summer), it’s no longer efficiently 

making power… and it’s more-or-less ‘game over’ until it’s had a 

good chance to cool. It’s a very noticeable defeat. 

But this charge-cooler upgrade kit from Vortech will virtually eliminate heat 

soak issues. And it will keep intake temperatures at a safe, stable, & performance-operational 

level. Also - this Vortech kit upgrades your rubber pipes 

to HARD pipes, giving you a more immediate & punchy boost response… 

with less boost response lost to rubber pipe expansion. In other words - the 

boost pushes through the pipes, rather that out against flexible rubber walls. 

The Vortech kit will also set the stage to support future levels of modification… 

and allow you to get the most out of your mods going forward. 

This is your Step-1. And it’s an easy install… designed to do at home. What 

we’ve outlined here is the general process for installation. And unlike a lot 

of hacked aftermarket companies out there, Vortech kits come with VERY 

clear & descriptive printed instructions… designed to walk you though your 

specific install without confusion & frustration. 

STEP 1: FRONT BUMPER COVER REMOVAL 

You need to remove the black plastic cover that is located above the grille & radiator. You also need to remove the front under-tray panel. Both of these pieces easily come 

out with either clips/fasteners, or small screws. Then you need to remove the bumper bolts. There are a series of 6 bolts on the top of the bumper, 2 more on the top-sides 

over the headlight (under the rubber seals), and 3 plastic fasteners on the front-side of each inner fender. Pull back the fender-liner to reveal a 7mm bolt holding the bumper 

to the fender (one on each side). Next - pop the corners of the front bumper away from where they meet the fenders, and remove the front bumper. 

STEP 2: ELECTRIC LOUVER & RADIATOR SHROUD REMOVAL 

You need to remove the plastic radiator shroud and do some cutting/trimming to allow space for the larger intercooler. Don’t let that scare you. The shroud comes out with 

4 easily-accessible bolts in the mid & lower section, and 2 more easily accessible plastic clips on the upper section. The Vortech instruction packet will clearly show you 

exactly where to trim the OEM piece. 


TECHNICALLY SPEAKING 

TECH 

STEP 3: OEM DISCHARGE DUCT & COOLER REMOVAL 

To gain access to the discharge duct, you need to remove the factory airbox/air-filter. It’s simple - just a few 10mm screws, unplugging a plug/connector, and loosening 

a hose clamp. Then once that’s out of the way, disconnect the hose clamp that connects the discharge duct to the throttle body. Next - unplug the recirculation hose and 

the blow-off/bypass valve connector. At that point you can remove the discharge duct from the turbo. For the intercooler removal - all you have to do is loosen the hose 

clamps to free the hoses, remove one bolt, remove the TMAP sensor (also one bolt; and you can do it after the cooler comes out), and pull down/forward to release the 

intercooler from its mounting slots. Last, remove the 4 bolts holding the cross-brace just below where the intercooler was located - this will give you more clearance for 

the Vortech cooler. 

STEP 4: VORTECH COOLER & DISCHARGE DUCT INSTALLATION 

The Vortech kit comes with a block-off plate to maintain efficient/proper airflow between the radiator, AC condenser, and the new charge cooler. Install the block-off plate, 

then mount the new Vortech charge cooler into place. Stand back and get excited. Then attach the OEM blow-off/bypass valve to the new piping; also re-attach the TMAP 

sensor to its new pipe. Run pipes, fasten clamps, reinstall airbox, check your work, reinstall bumper, & enjoy. 

Install new Vortech block-off plate 

Reinstall radiator shroud & front bumper 


The Cayman S is a chassis that falls into a gray area. It’s not an exotic per say, but it’s also not your 

entry-level everyday commuter. In a way, it plays in a segment where the Supra, RX7, and 300ZX 

turbo used to be. Porsche design, roots, & heritage are definitely alive within the Cayman, and 

that’s what sets it apart. But it’s also got a price tag that you can reason with, set goals for, and 

get your money’s worth out of. It’s not just a Sunday car, or an A-to-A car. It’s an exotic, without 

all the fluff. Where the engineers at Ferrari face-palm if you take their car to the grocery store, the 

engineers at Porsche face-palm if you don’t. 




27

“WE CAN KNOCK ON MARIO FOR BEING A SINNER 

AND PUTTING A PORSCHE ON AIR. OR WE CAN 

LOOK AT THE ALTERNATIVE-SIDE…” 

So when you get to a point to where you’ve got a Porsche sitting in your garage, do 

you tear that bitch apart and wrench on it like any other car you had before… or do 

you just rub it with a diaper & stick to the dealer scheduled maintenance plan? Here’s 

an honest follow-up question: can you actually improve on these cars, besides maybe 

a great coilover system and a sticky set of tires? Or are you just going to inevitably 

spend huge bucks, only to grenade the balance & driving-dynamics that generations 

of engineers & racers much smarter than you had spent their careers perfecting. The 

thing is, cars in this bracket are generally all about tuning maturity & sophistication. 

Sure, turn it up a notch or two in the aftermarket… but keep it respectable & keep 

your fingernails clean. It’s the “I’m only lowering it an inch and getting wheels” denial 

mindset. But what happens when the guy with the champagne budget can’t quench 

his tuner taste? 

Well for Mario, no amount of wisdom or backlash from the exotic snobbery could keep 

him from throwing a big middle finger to the Teutonic Gods and doing things his way. 

When we first saw this Cayman S, the initial emotion was all-out excitement… followed 

by all-out anger… followed by perplexity. Excitement — because the colors, 

shapes, fitments, and silhouettes are truly love/lust at first sight. Anger — because he 

put flushed out wheels and air suspension on a damn 987C. And then perplexed — 

because he almost tricked us into believing it was ok. 

As a magazine & so-called industry professionals, we want to be ‘too purist’ for this 

car. We want to snuff our noses at it & play racecar driver. We know that stancing 

out a car like this is like buying a thoroughbred racehorse to pull a plow in your field. 

However, as car guys, should we really care? I mean — when we get down to the 

nitty gritty, is it really our problem? 

It’s only our problem if we spend our time getting mad about it. And we only spend 

time getting mad & debating cars like this — when they come out stunning. That 

goes for all of us, on all sides of the fence. No one wastes their energy getting worked 

up & mad at mediocrity. It doesn’t happen. The controversy starts, however, when 

they freaking go and ‘pull it off’. For example, when a guy puts 21-inch wheels and air 

on a Cayman S. Or when that first guy put an LS1 in his 240. Or some dude went off 

the deep end modifying a Honda scooter. 

And you know what — we can knock on Mario for being a sinner and putting a 

Porsche on air. Or we can look at the alternative-side, and realize that we’re transitioning 

into a time where some of the higher end streetcars are utilizing air from the 

factory. Teslas come on air, and they are one of the most advanced production cars on 

the planet. And remember, when in motion, this car sits at a much more ‘actionable’ 

ride height than you see in the photos. 




29

We can knock him for putting 20/21-inch wheels on a nimble sports car. But before 

we sling that blind hate, we need to know that Mario is the owner of Rad48 Wheels, 

so the car is essentially conceptualized around the super-aggressive, high-profile 

wheel set… and prep-work for the wheel fitment was meticulous. The front fenders 

were widened 7cm, and the rear quarters were widened 12cm before paint. And the 

bodywork flows seamlessly under the radar with the natural lines of the car — rather 

than sawzalled & riveted into place like some of the other tack-on fiberglass Porsche 

wide body kits. The custom ducktail puts a little ass & aggression on that rear profile, 

and keeps up with those curves of the rear hips, while giving a salute to the RS legacy. 

The fact is: Somebody’s gotta do it. Somebody’s gotta go there. The car culture’s attitude 

is such that: if nobody’s done it… then that’s a sure-fire guarantee that somebody’s 

in their garage doing it right now. That’s also our culture’s appeal. So realize 

that amusement comes in all shapes & sizes. And just because YOU might do it differently 

if it was your car — really doesn’t mean shit to anyone. 


2006 PORSCHE CAYMAN S 987C 

OWNER 

Mario Mattick, 31 

LOCATION 

Dresden, Germany 

ENGINE 

3.4 boxer, M&M exhaust (Cayman Cup exhaust) 

WHEELS / SUSPENSION 

Airride HP Drivetech, Accuair with E-Level, RAD48 Type BR: Front 20x10 ET 

20. Rear 21x12.5 ET -3., Falken 235/30/20 front. 295/25/21 rear. 

EXTERIOR 

Front fenders widened 7cm, Rear quarter panels widened 12cm, Repainted in 

Mustardhuney - yellow/greenish custom color, Custom front carbon lip, Custom 

rear carbon diffuser, Custom ducktail decklid & race wing, Yellow headlights 


34 WWW.S3MAG.COM ISSUE 34 :: 2015 



35

15 years ago, Honda released the 99 Civic Si, and 

it instantly became a staple for the import culture. 

And whether you personally love or hate the Honda 

brand, you’ve gotta admit as a car enthusiast, the car 

had the right ingredients for a lot of people. It was 

light, it was fun, it had a strong, small displacement 

motor, it took well to aftermarket parts, and if you 

knew how to drive it - you could run down cars that 

should’ve been faster on paper. And the clincher - it 

was affordable. 

15 years later (today-ish), in an era of fat cars filled 

with complicated gadgets, Ford releases a Fiesta 

ST that also has a 1.6-liter. Only the Ford’s 1.6 is 

turbocharged. And it makes about 125 more ft/lbs 

torque at the wheels than the ’99 Si did. It has 2 

more doors than the old Si, plus a hatch. And yet 

- the new Fiesta ST weighs within 100-pounds 

of the 15-year-prior Si. In a world where cars are 

getting bigger, heavier, and filled with more & more 

complicated gadgets - the Fiesta ST is damn near 

a miracle… like when gas dips under $2.00 per 

gallon, and you look up at the sign and say, “Well I’ll 

be damned it actually happened.” Oh - and you can 

get it new for just a hair over 20-grand. 

There’s a difference between Dodge trying to go 

after the import demo with the Neon SRT4, or Chevy 

doing it with the Cobalt SS. Versus Ford literally 

redefining the market with the ST line. If you took 

the Fiesta ST & a new Civic Si, debadged them both, 

went back to 1999, and asked import guys to ‘pick 

the import of the future’. They would see the hatch, 

they would see the turbo, the would see the swift/ 

clean body lines, the ‘chromelessness’, and 100% 

of them would pick the ST as the import. 

And they wouldn’t be wrong. Look at the world we 

live in today, and how connected & intertwined it’s 

gotten. You’re literally arguing about ‘Fords’ from 

a smartphone touch screen, in real time on social 

media, with a person on the other side of the 

country/globe. But you still can’t wrap your head 

around the act that Ford is truly a global company?? 

The Fiesta ST was designed in Europe, and built in 

Mexico for the North American market… just like 

our MK7 GTI. 

Yet I still see import car guys that can’t get past 

the Ford emblem. Still tirelessly humping tired & 

stale JDM trends. Ok - you go build that JDM 130hp 

hybrid CRZ and pretend it’s a CRX. Seriously - what 

is Honda doing to shake things up TODAY… that 

doesn’t involve an ‘eco’ button… or social media 

hype on a car that’s not here yet. Pay attention to 

the TV commercials: Honda is using a Del Sol and 

an S2000 to sell the HRV. Honda also used their dirt 

bike to try and sell a Civic. Toyota used the AE86 to 

sell the new Corolla. C’mon already. A lot of today’s 

Japanese cars are living off yesterday’s legacy. And 

waging their bets that your import-brand loyalty will 

outweigh your good judgement. The pretty obvious 

fact is: Ford is taking a lot of the once-dominant 

import brands, and rubbing their dicks in the dirt. 




37

Gene’s Fiesta ST has the newest, 3rd version of 

Cobb Tuning’s Accessport. Cobb Accessport gives 

you the ability to use ‘off the shelf’ tuning maps 

when using supporting Cobb bolt-ons. It also gives 

you the ability to customize your own pro map. But 

for most people, the ‘off the shelf’ maps are set up 

for everything you’re going to want/need… and it’s 

designed to be simple & reliable without hiccups. 

For the Fiesta ST, your stock wheel horsepower 

and torque are going to be around 190hp & 230tq. 

A Stage-1 map on 93 Octane with no other mods 

(in other words, straight off the dealership floor), 

will give you a 5% horsepower increase, and 

a impressive 26% torque increase. That’s your 

starting point, and it’s a good one - especially when 

you’re looking at those torque gains. 

Add a Cobb intake & front mount intercooler, and 

you can move to Stage-2… giving you a 14% 

horsepower increase, and a 29% torque increase. 

Fiesta STs suffer from heat soak issues, so these 

mods fix the problem and open up the gate to more 

power. 

1500cc/min 

DV2 EV14 

Up to 750cc/min 

Scion TC 2011+ 


Denso 


Nissan/Subaru Side Feed 

From there - add Cobb’s turbo-back exhaust, and 

you’re ready for Stage-3 - with a 23% horsepower 

increase, and a wicked 41% torque bump. Make 

sure to also get Cobb’s rear motor mount, as the 

factory mount can’t handle the added torque, 

and will allow the motor to flex too much & bump 

the firewall under heavy launch & hard-shifting. 

Matter fact - go to thesmokingtire.com and enter 

‘project fiesta’ in the search bar. They ran through 

essentially all the same engine & software mods 

that this car has, made 217hp and 287tq on Stage-3 

with crappy 91-octane Cali gas. Plus - Matt Farah 

really gives you a feel for the ST’s real world funfactor… 

beyond the dyno charts. 

Ryan Tuerck 

Formula Drift Pro 

1000hp 2jz-powered Scion FRS running 

DeatschWerks 1500cc DV2 injectors. 

“The injectors come flow matched from 

DeatschWerks already, so everything is 

very on-point and makes it easier on 

the tuner. Everything is there for us 

performance wise to compete all 

weekend at Formula Drift events.” 

w w w . d e a t s c h w e r k s . c o m I 800.419.6023 

1745 W Sheridan Ave. I Oklahoma City, OK 73106 



39

ENGINE 

Cobb Tuning Ford Accessport V3, Cobb Tuning air 

intake, Cobb Tuning intercooler, Cobb Tuning turboback 

exhaust, Cobb Tuning rear engine mount 

EXTERIOR 

Triple R Composites front spoiler, 3D Carbon 

rear spoiler, Bojix side skirts, LightWurkz One-off 

projector headlights, Coplus LED fog light / daytime 

running lights 

WHEELS / BRAKES / SUSPENSION 

One-off Air Lift air suspension, US Mags Big Slow 

18x8, Falken FK-453 tires - 215/35/18, Baer Brakes 

6P brake caliper / rotor upgrade, Eibach anti-roll bar 

front and rear 



41


43

You know who else drove a black Toyota 4X4? Fucking Marty McFly. Sure – he 

had to go back in time and tweak the past a little bit to make it happen, but Marty 

McFly said, “If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything.” 

We’ve all heard that line before. And unfortunately, corny advice-givers seem to 

have ill timing, as it usually comes when we’re neck deep in the struggle, while 

we’re feeling overwhelmed & frustrated… and we frankly don’t wanna hear that 

crap. That weapon is best given before battle… not in the thick of it. So we really 

need to pause for a second now – stop – and let it sink in. 

Then we need to go further. We need to put it on repeat, beat it into our skull – 

not for days, but for years. We need to get to a point where it runs through our 

subconscious, we believe it with passion, we make it part of our DNA… and we 

fight for it because it’s true. If we REALLY put our mind to it, and commit to a 

cause, we can accomplish radical things. And that’s the point of it all, isn’t it? Not 

just to survive & ‘get by’ in this life, but also to challenge ourselves… triumph, 

and to grow from the experiences we have here. 

Let me tell you about Joshua Steele. He was a pro windsurfer for 10 years. On 

the way to the beach one day, he passed a local drift event, and stopped in to 

see what they were doing. That stop changed his life. He bought a cosmetically 

rough 350Z, learned the ropes of drifting, and got pretty damn good at it… 

taking it all the way to a pro level in Formula D… even opening his own tuning 

shop/brand called NEVRSLO. Now – his interests have expanded to Baja 

trucks. So Joshua did what he does best, he went all-in again and spent the 

better part of a year researching the trucks. He talked to the professionals, 

learned the dynamics, and now he’s built his first custom truck. 

When you talk to Joshua, you can feel his enthusiasm for life. It’s in the room 

and it’s infectious & energizing. You want to hang out with him longer and be 

inspired. He’s a natural born leader, not a fabricated one. Most sensible people 

on this planet will try to rationalize away their impulsivity as a ‘slip’ in good 

judgment. Josh rationalizes it as a slip of genius. And that’s an important 

distinction. Society will try to pair impulsivity with rashness or immaturity. 

But Joshua’s impulsivity is extremely calculated… and might I remind 

you - successful. 

So this is his first Baja build and the first of many in the NEVRSLO pipeline. It sparked 

when Josh was on one of his routine trips to Baja to windsurf. There’s a restaurant 

about 40 miles before the cut-off road to the camp where they stay on the beach… 

and the restaurant is actually the starting point for the Baja 1000. His exposure to 

that area/culture, combined with Josh’s love for lifted Yota 4X4s - led to this. It was 

a ludicrous concept from the start, but why not take it there. Drifting is an expensive 

addiction, but Baja can wipe you out. 

Joshua started out simple (I guess), and bought a 2004 Tacoma Pre Runner. He 

swapped to a 2005 fiberglass front clip, giving the truck a late-model appearance. In 

the back, he used Engage rear fenders. I’m not sure if most people know this, but Baja 

trucks evolve as you build them. Meaning, you may envision one thing at the 

start of the build, but it changes every time you make a cut, weld, etc., always 

adapting. One of the most insane differences between building a drift car and 

a Baja truck is the suspension. Drift cars, for the most part, have to stay within 

the boundaries of their chassis design/setup. With Baja trucks - literally anything 

goes! It’s crazy how crazy you can get with the trucks - seriously. Josh spent 

months waiting on the perfect custom application from Fox Shocks. With Fox - 

every shock/coilover for these trucks is valved precisely for that specific build… 

with consideration for what & where you plan to drive the truck. 


45

There are basically two types of rear end setups you can do with Baja. The first, 

being more affordable & more common, is the axle-over-leaf spring rear. That’s 

what this truck is running. The alternative option is the 4-link. It has a considerably 

higher cost (10k), but it also allows way more travel, and the ride is amazing. 

NEVRSLO’s next truck is being built with a 4-link right now, and a NEVERSLO 

Formula D livery to match. 

Going back to the axle-over-leaf spring setup for a minute, stock Tacomas come 

with the rear axle mounted below the leaf springs, and the OEM leaf springs 

themselves are much shorter & straighter. When you go to a long-travel conversion, 

you upgrade to longer leaf springs, that when mounted, have much more 

‘droop’. In other words, they have much more arch, like an upside-down rainbow. 

This droop is what allows the 

desired long travel. However, you have to visualize the travel in 2-parts: upward 

AND downward travel - compression when going over a rock/obstacle, and expansion 

when departing the obstacle & returning back to solid ground. So with the 

long-travel leaf springs, you relocate the axle above the leaf springs, so that the 

wheels can travel both upward & downward the same distance. 10-inches upward 

travel and 10-inches downward travel gives you a total of 20-inches. 

With the amount of travel this truck has, the leading front tire will actually lift off 

the ground as you turn. It’s so much fun! This truck has the travel & reinforcements 

to handle 5-7ft jumps without hang-ups. 

NOTHING 

People dig seeing a drift car on the streets, but people honestly don’t even know 

how to react when you merge into traffic with this thing. They don’t know whether 

they should call the police… or whether you ARE the police. Imagine for a minute 

if you will, sitting at a red light waiting for it to change… and then seeing this truck 

blast out of nowhere, jump the intersection, and then casually lean into the Quicky 

Mart for a slurpy. It doesn’t make you less of a diehard ‘car’ guy to take fascination 

in a truck like this. If anything - it makes you more of one. 

FRIDAY, NOV. 6 • 3:00 PM–10:00 PM 

LAS VEGAS CONVENTION CENTER, GOLD LOT 

500+ BOOTH AND FEATURE VEHICLES ON DISPLAY. 

DRIFTING • CELEBRITIES • MUSIC • FOOD TRUCKS 

FOR 30% OFF ADMISSION, USE PROMO CODE: S3M30 

SPONSORED BY: 


2004 Tacoma Pre Runner Long Travel Baja 

2005+ front conversion 1-piece clip, Engage 

rear fenders, Engage long travel front end - 

upper & lower control arms, NEVRSLO custom 

long travel rear end, Deaver 10 leaf pack; 

62.5-inches long, Fox coilover 2.5 with Fox 

2.5 rear, ATX 17-inch Chamber Pro 2 bead 

lock wheels, 35x12.50.17 General Grabber 

tires, BMW metal flake black paint, Rebuilt 

transmission, Built driveshaft with ex. Yoke, 

Rebuilt axles, bearings, seals, T-Spacer, 2008 

radiator conversion, K&N intake, Magna Flow 

customized exhaust, Hawk front brake pads, 

Optima Battery 

NOTHING 

Photo by Jory Calle 


Advanced Digital Stepper Motor Instruments 

Selectable full dial 

illumination color 

options for a 

custom look 

0-5v Data Logger 

output eliminates 

the need for 

redundant sensors 

Low 

Warn 

High and Low 

Pro-Control ground 

triggered outputs 

provides fail safe 

performance 

Normal 

High 

Warn 

Programmable 

High and Low 

Warnings 

Over High 

Warn 

(Flashing) 

PROGRAMMABLE PRO-CONTROL OUTPUT 

high and low Pro-Control output provides fail safe 

protection. Enabling you to control auxiliary 

electronic devices using the gauge such as fans, 

pumps, meth injection, ignition switches or other 

electrical systems. 

One touch 

peak recall 

Full pointer 

illumination for 

maximum visibility 

Blacked out 

look when 

powered off 

Precision Digital Stepper 

Motor movement with direct 

digital drive circuitry for 

unparralleled accuracy and 

response 

BUILDING THE APPROPRIATE BRAKE SYSTEM 

We all dream of that shiny red big-brake kit. But let’s 

be real - that can be a considerable expense that takes 

time to happen. And a lot of times your money could 

honestly be more effectively spent over a few different 

areas - rather than ALL on brakes. On the other side 

of the spectrum, ‘doing nothing’ about brake upgrades 

is not the solution either. I cringe when I see all of 

the focus on wheel fitment, and none of the focus on 

what’s behind the wheels. Switching to a bigger OEM 

application on older models, like GSR brakes on a Civic 

hatch, or 300zx brakes on a 240 can be great bang for 

the buck, and definitely get you more squeeze from the 

calipers. But even with more squeeze, the materials 

in those OEM rotors and pads are just not made for 

repetitive high performance. 

They are designed to work within a lower temperature 

range. The reason for that is: they will achieve a longer 

life span - and that’s what the masses are most into (no 

maintenance). Most OE brake systems are designed 

for stop & go street applications. Probably even a 

relatively short burst of spirited driving. But when 

you put your braking system outside of that routine 

element and demand more for longer, you’re going to 

build heat fast. If the system can’t operate at that more 

extreme temperature, and it can’t dissipate the higher 

heat fast enough… then you will pretty quickly exceed 

the temperature capabilities of that system, and will 

not be able to get friction. This is called brake fade. 

A lot of people think that brake fade has to do with the 

pads. And that’s true - it does. But it also has a lot to do 

with the rotors becoming heat-soaked. 

A larger diameter ‘big brake kit’ will give you an 

advantage in leverage. Meaning - if you’re trying to 

stop spinning bicycle wheel with your bare hands (and 

it had a smooth surface instead of spokes), it would be 

easier if you clamp your hands together on the outer 

part of the wheel, rather than in-close to the center 

around the hub. The 2nd advantage to a big brake 

kit is thermal mass. Meaning - just the fact that it’s 

physically ‘bigger’, means that it can handle more 

heat. But other than that - a good set of QUALITY 

replacement aftermarket rotors, pads, and stainless 

steel lines will make a night & day difference in your 

braking system. It will give you 90% of the gains of a 

big brake kit, at 25% of the price. And it will make your 

braking system ready for anything that track days are 

going to throw at it. 

Let’s start with stainless steel brake lines. They’re 

not so much of a ‘heat-soak’ solution. But the reason 

people upgrade to stainless steel, is to get rid of the 

OEM rubber lines. When you squeeze the brake pedal 

& push brake fluid through a rubber line, that rubber 

line will naturally expand/bulge outward a bit. So the 

fluid will move through the line, but since it’s under 

pressure, it will also expand OUT in diameter as it 

moves through the line - wasting efficiency. This effect 

will get worse as the rubber ages and loses strength. A 

hard line, on the other hand, will force the fluid straight 

through without allowing expansion… giving you a 

more immediate and stronger response. 

A good set of brake rotors, like DBA, are designed to 

hold up to extreme heat. But just as importantly - they 

will cool much quicker, because they dissipate heat 

more efficiently. DBA rotors will cool the entire system 

better, which will take stress off the other components, 

and reduce brake fade. 

What makes rotors different? 

1) Material choice: DBA injects EXTRA carbon to make 

the alloy more stable across extreme temperatures. 

That’s science talk - but just know that the extra 

injections in DBA allow less expansion & contraction 

of the rotor - leading to better performance, and less 

warping. Basically - injecting ‘a little’ carbon into 

iron is like dissolving a little sugar into hot coffee. 

It’s easy. And that’s where a lot of performance rotor 

manufacturers stop. But imagine trying to dissolve a 

cup of sugar into a cup of coffee. It get’s difficult. But 

that’s what DBA does. And the higher levels of carbon 

make their rotor the most durable. 

2) Design: DBA’s Kangaroo Paw design gives their 

rotors more surface area between the rotor faces. 

Adding surface area allows the kangaroo paws to 

absorb more heat from the rotor faces more quickly 

- thus allowing the intense-heat rotor surface to cool 

more quickly. It’s also a stronger design - because it 

distributes the brake-squeeze pressure more evenly 

from one face to another. Those pads squeeze hard. 

And having more material spread out between the 

faces equals less distortion in the rotor - which equals 

less warp & fade. 

3) Machining & Finish: The reason for slots in 

performance rotors, are so that gasses can escape. 

Without slots - building heat-gasses will put 

counteracting press-back on the squeezing pads, and 

will negatively effect the performance of a hot brake 

system. DBA uses a curved slot. The curved slot allows 

for out-gassing just like a straight slot does. But the 

‘curve’ doesn’t shave as much material off the pad 

each time. A little shaving is good for performance - 

because it cleans the pad as it out-gasses… but it also 

eats the pad, and shortens pad life. The curved slot 

allows for longer pad life & quieter operation. 

Cross-drilled rotors are less ideal than slots. With rotor 

heat, there is expanding & contracting. And the rotors 

will heat & cool at a different rate around the crossdrilled 

holes. For the street, it is fine. But for serious 

track use… having different heat/cool rates around 

the holes can cause cracking in the rotor around the 

holes. Slotting is harder to accomplish, and it requires 

more machining work. 

People tend to have misconceptions with rotor weights. 

They tend to want a lightweight rotor - because 

they think it yields less rotational mass (like a heavy 

wheel vs light race wheel). But the weight of a rotor 

is too close to the hub center for rotational mass to 

come into play. So all you’re really saving is ‘overall’ 

vehicle weight… not rotating weight. And there HAS 

to be a certain amount of weight/mass involved in a 

performance rotor, in order for it to handle & dissipate 

the heat properly. It is a better trade-off to take on 

a little more weight in the rotor, and have a better 

operating braking system. 

When choosing the actual pads, you gotta be honest 

with yourself, because you have to choose a pad that 

is in sync with your driving styles/conditions. When it 

comes to modifying cars, we all want to automatically 

go for the all-out race versions - because race car 

duh. But when it comes to brakes, you really need a 

pad that’s in the sweet spot for your driving habits. So 

you have to honestly consider your daily driving style, 

the types of roads you drive on, the weight of the car, 

etc. A full race pad is NOT a better pad - if you’re not 

constantly keeping extreme heat in it. Because without 

a lot of heat built up in it, it will not function as well 

as a performance street pad. And you’ll be all sorts of 

surprised when you’ve been cruising the freeway for 

15 minutes, then go to jump on the brakes and there’s 

nothing there. A lot of guys will swap pads for track 

days, and then swap back to a performance street pad 

for the drive home. 

www.autometer.com 

L34 ©Auto Meter Products 2015 ISSUE 34 :: 2015 WWW.S3MAG.COM 51

#GRIDLIFE 

GINGERMAN RACEWAY, MI 

MAY 29-31, 2015 

PHOTOS BY GREG SZODA & WOOLEY 

Gridlife is an event that you seriously need to 

consider. Here’s the premise: trackday, drifting, car 

show, concert, & camping. Sure - we’ve all heard of 

other events that combine the same elements… but 

Gridilfe has that ‘key ingredient’ extra spark of life to 

it. It’s one of those events where, much like Import 

Alliance, the people ARE the event… they’re not just 

attending it. 

Gridlife is an event where you can get your street 

car out on the track - with no judgement. Where 

people buy real wheels because they’re light… not 

just logo’d. There’s no line drawn in the dirt between 

the car show guys, and the track guys… or the track 

guys, and the drift guys. If you want to take your daily 

on the track, there will be an instructor ready to jump 

in the car with you & show you the way. Everyone is 

intermingled & inter-exposed. And everyone seems 

to take an open-minded interest & respectful attitude 

in what others have brought to the table. For a guy 

like me - it’s so energizing to see good attitudes on 

the comeback. 

This year - Mother Nature was being kind of bitchy, 

and threw everything short of an earthquake & 

tornado at the event. It was a total ‘worst case 

scenario’. 50 degrees & raining practically the 

entire weekend. The track was wet, the infield was 

saturated, everyone was soaked… yet literally no 

one gave a damn. It’s like they didn’t even notice. 

And the fact that everybody unanimously kind of 

decided to rise up & not give a damn - only made the 

spirits & positivity soar that much higher. 

The Gridlife event really has a pulse to it. It is chill, 

and it is continuously moving & shape shifting. It 

never gets stagnant; you never look down at your 

watch. There are cars on track all day long, and 

when sessions change, it’s like a fresh wave spilling 

into a tide pool - with the pits/grid coming to life. And 

all the while, there are cars moving/cruising through 

the infield & camp grounds. The gates are open 24/7. 

You know how strange it feels pulling back up to the 

event at 10pm, and seeing rave lasers and HIDs all 

through a dark track? 


#GRIDLIFE 

The thing about Gridlife - is that it’s sort of like 

backpacking in Europe. In order to ‘do it right’… 

you’ve kinda gotta make yourself rough it a little bit, 

as it’s part of the adventure. Bring your sleeping bag 

& bring some beers, because everyone camps. And 

after hours, the DJs come out on stage, and everyone 

parties, chills, and socializes till the wee hours. And 

that’s the thing - from opposite mountains separated 

by a valley, it’s easy to judge your fellow man because 

you don’t know him yet. It’s easy for a ‘track’ guy to 

criticize a ‘show’ guy… or vice versa. But when you 

meet in the middle of the valley, share meals with 

these people, and share some good times… those 

walls come down, and people develop a respect for 

the other side. Now we just need to take that Gridlife 

mentality, and apply it globally lol. Piece of cake right? 


#GRIDLIFE 



57

#GRIDLIFE 


#GRIDLIFE 


#GRIDLIFE 

NEW 

Triple SEMA Award Winning Ethanol Content Analyzer 

ECA-2 $179 

www.ZT-2.com 

sales@ZT-2.com 

(310) 328 1234 

QUALITY FIRST !

If you looked at every JDM junkie’s dream car wish list, chances are you’d see a collection of the usual suspects - Skylines, Silvias, Evo XIs, 

etc. The power hitters. These are the double-D, fake titties of the JDM tuner world. You know you’re probably never gonna get to touch one… 

but hell, it never hurts to dream right? 


65

So what about the guy who likes a modest B-cup? 

Something like the girl next door, who takes kickboxing 

lessons? 

Enter the Nissan Pulsar GTi-R. SR20DET, all-wheel drive, 

2-door hatchback, ricebox. It’s almost like a Subaru 

Forester before it tacked on its freshman 15, or a Civic 

hatch on mega-roids. It’s a nimble, odd, inconspicuous 

little car, that’s full of power potential. 

The current owner Kevin picked up this piece of obscure 

JDM contraband from Craigslist, with full intentions of 

using it as a daily driver. And he does just that. 

Kevin works at Enjuku Racing, and also runs in the 

Formula Drift Pro 2 Championship. So the prospect of 

dailying a 300+ awhp rarity is nothing out of the ordinary 

considering the lifestyle. 

“My most favorite part of the car hands-down: is the look 

on people’s faces when they pull up next to it thinking it’s 

just an old Civic or GTI… then I catch ‘em at a light and 

blow their doors off out of the hole,” says Kevin. 

This GTi-R is the true sleeper spirit. It leaves it’s 

opponents flabbergasted; bumbling, trying to figure out 

what just happened… as the unfamiliar taillights throw 

its hazards on the de-accel from banging gears. It’s 

like an alien encounter. No one will believe you if you 

tried to explain, and you couldn’t explain even if you 

wanted to because you have no idea what the heck just 

spanked you so hard. It’s the car behind enemy lines; an 

insurgent; the stealthy sleeper. 


ENGINE 

CP Pistons 8.9:1 compression, ACL race bearings, 

ARP head, main, rod bolts, Cometic head gasket, 

Brian Crower dual valve springs and Ti retainers, 

Garrett GTX2860r Turbo with .63 ar, Tial MVS external 

wastegate, Synapse Syncronic BOV, Deatschewerks 

800cc injectors, Z32 Maf, Vibrant Performance custom 

3” exhaust, Mishimoto Radiator (modified to triple pass) 

DRIVETRAIN 

Competition Clutch stage-2, Ksport coilovers, 

Whiteline front control arm bushings, anti-lift rear 

bushing, Whiteline Front sway bar, Circuit Sports front 

sway bar end links, Volk TE37 Superlap wheels 15x8 

+25, Bridgestone Potenza RE11 tires 205/50/15 

INTERIOR 

USDM Nissan NX1600 digital cluster, AEM Uego wideband, 

AEM Trueboost boost controller, Nismo shift knob 



71

Cars have always been something I’ve had interest in. Growing up, my four older 

brothers were gear heads, and I guess I picked up their habits. 

Dad walked out the door when I was 10, no warning, so I had to learn to grow up at 

an early age. I worked hard, and by age 16 I got my first car… an ’08 Honda Accord 

Coupe. That car was my gateway (and my weapon) to meeting & joining up with 

the car community in Houston. I started modding that thing with all my Christmas & 

birthday money, in addition to my minimum wage job. 

Exposure to car culture in Houston, along with the more expansive ‘social media’ car 

culture, opened my eyes to a lot of opportunities. I got super motivated to get myself 

more involved, and started Prospekts car team with 6 other guys from Houston. We 

really strived to take it seriously, and set out to be one of Houston’s youngest & most 

elite teams. (You have to understand, teams are a big deal in the Houston scene… 

that’s just part of it) 

So fresh out of high school, I started college in the medical field… like every Asian 

mother prays their child will do, and a year or so into college, I was blessed with 

an accounting job that kept a good income while I was in school. 

Yeah, yeah, it’s all so stereotypical 

‘Asian’. I know. But by age 20, I was able to trade in my Accord and pick up the ’09 

Audi S5. 

Before I bought the car, I already had a rendering of the final design on my computer. 

See, my older brothers started a graphic design business when I was still young. 

It is a business that I grew up with, and helped-out with since I was 10. Now that 

I’m older, I’ve got a lot of experience under my belt, and I’m getting more & more 

involved with graphic design as a career (one of them ha). But the point is: I had this 

car built to the T, before I ever had the keys. 

So when I picked up the Audi in July of 2014, I drove it straight to a friend’s shop in 

Houston, Unlimited Car Stereo. They accomplished exactly what I had envisioned for 

my trunk. As that was going down, I was waiting on the Rieger kit and RS5 front-end 

conversion to arrive from Germany. The body pieces came in 4 months later, and the 

car went straight from the audio shop, to another friend’s paint & body shop, CMS 

Collision Motor Specialist. It took them 1 month to have the car kitted-out, and looking 

flawless. Next, I ordered the wheels, and took the car straight from the body shop to 

CVT Designs to do my Universal air suspension. They dialed in the wheel fitment & ride 

height perfectly. So 6-months after the original purchase, I finally drove my car for the 

first time... other than driving it just to ‘drop it off’ at a shop somewhere haha. 


73

The S5 became kind of a big hit in the Houston streets. And I’m realizing that it’s 

becoming another reason for me to get out and meet the more seasoned, more 

experienced guys in the car culture. The Audi has already been driven to Georgia and 

California in the past few months - and has really grown my network of friendships 

in the automotive aftermarket. Two of the best guys in the business are Anthony 

Quang and David Nguyen from VIP Modular. They introduced me to the California 

car scene this year, as they took me to Wekfest and opened me up to a whole new 

world. Thanks to them, I was able to leave my car on the West Coast this summer, 

as it tours California’s many shows. Hopefully we will make it back to the East Coast 

soon, and I will get a chance to meet more cool people from a different corner of 

the community. 

My dream way back when I got into the car scene was to own a car that is magazine 

capable, and to be able to hit events on the East and West Coast. So I guess you 

could say, I’m living my dream right now. 

The business motto I always heard from my brothers was: It’s not what you know, 

but who you know. That’s not to take anything away from ‘what 

we know’… but that’s to emphasize the ‘human element’ under 

the surface of it all. And I truly believe that this cool-looking 

concoction of metals, paints, and plastics is allowing me the 

opportunity to network with some pretty awesome people 

across this country. 


P3 Gauge 

Corbeau RRS Seats 

MODS 

RSV Forged 20x10.5 front & 20x12 rear, Universal Air Suspension, RS5 Front 

End, Custom front splitter, Rieger Side Skirts, Rear, and Front Undertray, AWE 

Tuning exhaust, UNITRONIC Stage-2 tune, JHM test pipes, short shifter, JHM 

short shifter, APR carbon fiber intake and box, Corbeau RRS racing seats, 

Corbeau harnesses, Full custom trunk setup, 19’’ led Samsung LED TV, JL 

Audio 10w7 (2), JL Audio, 12000/1 v3 black edition amp, Custom enclosure, 

Rhino roof rack, 40’’ curved light bar with custom mounts, Custom roof tray 

THANKS TO 

Spectrum graphic designs, CMS Collision motor specialist Houston, CVT 

Designs Houston, Ash Automotive, Unlimited car stereo Houston, VIP Modular 

Wheels Garden Grove California! 



79

You know that 1st bad-influence friend you had in grade 

school? The kid with the M80’s, who taught you the f- 

word, knew the location of his dad’s porno stash, and 

totally touched a boob already? Yeah — that’s a supermoto. 

Supermotos make you ride wilder & have more 

fun than you usually would, and they urge you to generally 

create a ruckus. Bottom line - they’re good for your 

health. 

Basically, they’re dirt bikes with smaller, street friendly 

wheels and tires. That’s how you can spot ‘em on the 

fly. This setup translates to more grip on the pavement. 

When you combine these wheels/tires with a dirt bike’s 

long suspension, light weight, & torquey motors, you 

have a package that now turns on a dime, pops wheelies 

like it’s under compression, can criss-cross over 

different terrains, and makes that staircase look like a 

viable option. Take the freedom of freestyle BMX riding, 

now shove a motor in the mix, and call it street legal 

transportation. That’s supermoto. 

Why not just get a sport bike? Well - a sport bike is excellent 

in the top 50% of riding situations where you really 

want to go to jail. A supermoto, however, is awesome in 

that OTHER 50% of riding situations… where you want 

low speed punch, more maneuverability, and one hell of 

a durable bike with no boundaries. Don’t think supermotos 

can shred? Start peeking around Youtube. In a real 

world situation dragout — 8 times out of 10 they’ll beat 

a sport bike. All bout that handling & torques yo! That’s 

your bench racing S3 wisdom of the day. 

Downsides? Supermotos are very much a “choose your 

own adventure” type of bike. There are a couple offthe-shelf 

options, such as the Suzuki DR-Z400SM. But 

most of ‘em out there are converted Dual Sport bikes, 

or converted dirt bikes that are really only legal in track 

scenarios. Unless you live in Washington, where they legit 

don’t give a shit about titling stuff. 

Jamie Emery’s KTM falls on the extreme side of the 

equation. He’s a guru of singles from Canada, and has 

a raft of knowledge like many experienced riders in the 

moto industry. He’s seen it all, rode it all, and raced it all. 

So for this KTM, he wanted to build the ultimate version 

of the genre — think Ferrari Enzo FXX RRR Competition 

Superleggero Tifo Edition. So he took the “industry 

insider” approach. 

Step one: Own an awesome dealership renowned 

for your expertise and customer service. In this 

case, Action Motorcycles in Victoria British Columbia. 

Step two: acquire a KTM 450 SX-F dirt bike for a 

smoking price from the factory. 

Step three: use your parts book to acquire all the 

unobtanium European parts from an SMR (factory 

KTM Supermoto sold in Euorpe) to convert your bike. 

Step four: dial it in with an Arrow exhaust, lighter Marchesini 

wheels (the Volk of motorcycle wheels), engine 

remap, witchraft, and race shit. 

The result is a track-only affair for SHREDDING GNAR 

UNTIL YOUR EYEBALLS EXPLODE. Extremely fickle, 

light as a feather, and engineered for spectacular high 

sides… it’s not for the faint of heart but if you’re looking 

to do hood rat stuff with your friends, than this type of 

bike may just be for you. Keep that front wheel up, and 

keep the good times rolling. 


81

THE ULTIMATE SUPERMOTO BUILD 

2015 KTM bodywork, Graphics & Numbers - Ride 

Industries, KTM Hardparts clutch cover and filter 

covers - lots of orange stuff, KTM seat cover, 

Titanium fasteners and bolts from Pro bolt, Racetech, 

and Toronto cycles, Frame painted KTM orange with 

gold pearl, post welded on for steering damper, 

Swingarm shortened 15mm & powder coated black, 

Gilles Tooling GP style stand adapter for road race 

type stands, KTM factory style chain guard, Raptor 

ti footpegs, Front forks shortened 20mm, revalved 

same as a SMR, lower left fork radial brake mount, All 

suspension work by Riders Edge, Works connection 

holeshot device, Rear shock shortend to lower bike 

20mm, X-trig preload adjuster, X-trig triple clamps 

11-14mm offset, Brembo racing radial caliper 

108mm, Brembo race pads, Brembo 15rcs master 

cylinder folding lever, Zeta carbon scoop, Core brake 

lines front and rear 24k gold plated, ti fittings, Front 

rotor 310mm braking, Renthal handle bars, Cycra 

handguards, Renthal folding clutch lever, Marchesini 

wheels - 16.5x3.5 front & 17x 5.4 rear, KTM axle 

sliders, Michelin supermoto slicks, Steering damper 

Honda HPSD revalved with Racetech internals 

Factory piston, ported head, stealthy flywheel @ 

12oz, Remapped ignition, Suter slipper clutch, 

Arrow titanium full system dual exhaust, Airfilter 

DANN, Hiflow waterpump kit, Silicone hoses, Carbon 

overflow tank for radiator, P3 carbon skid plate, Rk 

chain, Renthal sprockets, Custom breather tank 


IMPORT ALLIANCE 

IMPORT 

ALLIANCE 

KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY, KY 

JULY 18-19, 2015 

PHOTOS BY BRADY LANKFORD // CHRIS SULLIVAN // WOOLEY 

Everyone will wanna see 

your fuking hose 

And don‘t forget a 

lanyard! 

Now available 

in the USA 

Place your order online 

www.fukuworks.com 

Like us on 

FaceBook! 



CONTROL 

ACOUSTIC THERMAL ultimate sound 

upgrade! 

THERMAL ACOUSTIC CONTROL 

Boom Mat Spray-On Make your 

interior quieter by removing noise 

and vibrations. 

Speaker Baffles protect speakers 

while enhancing audio quality. 



AutoZone.com 

SummitRacing.com 

800-264-9472 Designengineering.com 

Jegs.com SpeedwayMotors.com Eastwood.com 

BoomMat.com 1-800-264-9472


S3_2014_1-2pg_350Z-73000_Layout 1 7/14/15 10:46 AM Page 1 

Emico-HalfPageAd-12.2014.indd 1 

12/19/2014 11:35:47 AM 

SPC Performance is the world leader in performance suspension tuning, 

featuring parts that substantially change camber, caster and toe, which 

allows you to fine-tune your suspension. Check out our new Nissan Z/ 

Infiniti G Front Adjustable Arms (#73000) that match the OE 

design for clearance and uses our turnbuckle adjusters giving 

you ±4.0° camber and caster adjustment. Both our front 

and rear (#72052) arms feature xAxis sealed flex 

joints that perform like monoballs, but with 

non-metal bushings which will last 

longer than OE bushings. 

Tracking your Z? SPC’s 350Z 

hex adjuster arms decreases weight by 

one pound per arm while increasing rigidity. 

These arms also feature xAxis sealed flex joints 

for better handling. Scan the code for more! 

® ©2014 Niwot Corp. dba Specialty Products Co. 

©2015 Niwot Corp. dba Specialty Products Co.® 



Ultimate Performance Cooling 

ORIGINALITY. QUALITY. DEDICATION. 

We don't need to have every car in the parking lot rocking our stuff, we're just LOOKING FOR THE TOP 10 

We don't have a fake Japanese sounding name, and pretend to make every trinket there is. We've BEEN 

MAKING THE SAME THING FOR OVER 75 YEARS, and we've become PRETTY DAMN GOOD AT IT. 

This isn't cheap, shiny engine bay nonsense found on ebay and amazon... THIS IS THE REAL DEAL, straight 

highest performance, hand built, NO BS BEST SH!T YOU CAN BUY FOR YOUR RIDE. 

This isn't about price, gimmicks, and mass sponsorships... This is our family legacy, our reputation, OUR 

CRAFT.. 

We don't choose to work with everyone.. WE SIMPLY SEEK TO ALIGN OURSELVES WITH THE ABSOLUTE 

BEST. Because that is who we are... THE COOLEST MUTHAFUCK@S ON THE BLOCK! 

What do you stand for? 

RADIATORS - INTERCOOLERS - OIL COOLERS - PRESSURE CAPS 

#COOLIsTheNewHOT 

Find more at CSFrace.com: News • Blogs • Features /CSFradiators @CSFrace @CSF_Radiators 

OFFICAL PARTNERS OF: 

@Carswithoutlimits 



91

SOWO 2015 

GOODBYE HELEN 

HELEN, GA // MAY 15-17, 2015 

PHOTOS BY TANIA SANTOS 

I’m sure a lot of you heard that Sowo will not be 

held in Helen, GA any more. And that’s unfortunate, 

because Helen provides such a great backdrop 

for a Euro event. So great in fact - that the event 

inevitably outgrew it’s own home. And a lot of people 

point to late-night rowdiness as the final nail in the 

coffin. But the truth is - regardless of what happened 

around the Sowo nightlife - the event had just plain & 

simply outgrown the town. Sowo had become a giant 

goldfish in a small bowl. And no one wants to leave 

Helen. That could be the kiss of death for an event 

like SoWo. Unless…………………. 

Unless the show organizer, Matthew Bounds, went 

and pulled off a damned Hail Mary!! It was just 

announced that SoWo 2016 will be held in Savannah, 

GA on a river-island called Hutchinson Island. The 

island is approximately 1 mile wide and 7 miles long 

- complete with giant hotel, convention center, and 

road course. 

Hmmmm are you guys hearing me?! It’s an island… 

with a racetrack. And it’s right across the water from 

River Street - which has legendary restaurants, bars, 

shopping, and nightlife. You can drive the bridge, or 

leave the cars at the show & take the ferry. The SoWo 

name will somewhat lay to rest in Helen, and the 

new name will be The European Experience (street 

name: EuEx)… presented by SoWo. Book your rooms 

now, because this one is not to be missed. 

RACE LEGEND VINNY TEN ON 

BUILDING FAST CARS! 

Snap the QR Code or visit: 

FacesOfKonig.com/vtr to listen to Vinny 

Ten's thoughts on Konig & history of 

import tuning. #facesofkonig 

Centigram 

F. 19x9.5 R. 19x10.5 

SHOWN IN MATTE BLACK 

SOWO 2016: MAY 13-16, 2016 - HUTCHISON ISLAND // SAVANNAH, GA 

Helix 

15x7 | 15x8 | 15x9 

Red (Shown) 

Matte Black | Silver 

Low Offsets Available 

Tweak’d 

15X7 | 15x8 | 16x7 | 17x8 | 18x8 

Gloss Black w/ Red Stripe (Shown) 

Silver w/ Machined Face 

Special Fitment - 15x8 4x100 ET25 

Interform 

18x8 | 19x8.5 | 19x9.5 | 20x8.5 | 20x9.5 

Matte Graphite w/ Machined Face 

Low Offsets Available 


KonigWheels.com 1.800.645.3878

TEXT: WOOLEY 

PHOTOS: PAUL MCPHERSON 




95

Real car guys all seem to have a similar dehabilitation, 

and it manifests itself in different ways. But what it all 

boils down to - is that enough is never enough. In every 

other facet of our lives, we might be humble, satisfied, 

sensible, laid back, generous, socially-functioning 

people. But when we lock into our automotive frame 

of mind, our inner-beast breaks the leash. And we 

become dead-set & consumed with nothing else but 

hunting down that extra 1 horsepower, or that extra 

1 pound, or that extra 1/10th of a second, or that 

extra 1/10th inch of clearance. Some people says it’s 

a problem, or a dangerous obsession. I say - suck it 

Trebeck. 

This GTR makes 1200hp. It was built by Topspeed 

Motorsports in Atlanta. And here’s the thing - when 

you’re building a car to this degree, it’s a lot like 

building a legitimate competition race car… with 

interior & AC vents instead of numbers. And in your 

higher levels of motorsports, success isn’t achieved 

by having better ‘parts’ than the next guy… because 

everyone at this level is running cutting edge parts. 

The real advantage is achieved by having the best 

strategy & in-depth knowledge of the chassis through 

& through. It’s the secret tweaks, and the tricks 

learned from repetition & experience. And that means 

there’s a lot that’s going to get left off the final ‘spec 

sheet’. A lot that is chalked-up to talent, and REAL 

tuning mastery. 

For example, a Motec ECU is just a paperweight 

without the right brain tuning it. You don’t send your 

car to Topspeed to keep your fingernails clean. That’s 

not what it’s about. You send your car to Topspeed, 

because what you get back - is greater & more 

capable than the sum of it’s parts. 

This GTR car has a Topspeed Motorsports 4-liter build 

(up from the original 3.8) with the Alpha 12 package. 

The Alpha 12 is a turbo system package put together 

by AMS, and targeted for insane power numbers… but 

with a main focus on drivability & broad powerband. 

See a lot of times, when you’re talking about 4-digit 

horsepower numbers, you lose real-world drivability, 

and you end up talking about cars who can’t find any 

rhythm until they’re high in the RPMs & have 4 lanes 

of open freeway that stretches clear onto the horizon. 

Good for Texas2K brag videos… but limiting as far as 

actual drivability goes. The Alpha 12, however, has 

different intentions. It sets the stage for your GTR to go 

from 60-130mph in a blistering 3.3 seconds - while 

maintaining OEM-type city manners. Jason, the owner 

of this GTR, lives in Farmington, New Mexico… which 

according to Google Earth is precisely in the middle 

of bumf*ck nowhere. There are no freeways within 

hours, just 2-lane desert roads. So Jason was looking 

for a setup that would allow for completely insane 

explosive light-to-light bursts > landspeed records. 

For that reason, Topspeed settled on the Alpha 12 for 

his build. 

And from there, Topspeed built the motor & the rest 

of the car to support the Alpha 12. The car has a 

Topspeed in-house fuel system upgrade - utilizing 

a complete 4-gauge rewire, with a 3rd fuel rail, 

Topspeed 1300cc injectors, and a 3rd Walbro 485lph 

pump. The third fuel rail mounts to the center of the 

intake, and feeds an additional 6 injectors - for a total 

of 12 injectors (6 on each outside rail, and 6 on the 

aftermarket 3rd rail). 




97

The transmission was sent to Shepherd, and built 

to top-of-the-line Stage-5 specs. The Stage-5 build 

will support 1500 ft lbs, and uses Dodson parts… 

including Dodson Extreme gears, and a Dodson Pro 

Max clutch. Jason doesn’t like to price-brag about 

his build at all, that’s not his style. But just to put it 

in perspective, there’s a $30,000 investment in the 

tranny-build alone. 

Topspeed tuned the car with a Motec M150 ECU, and 

installed a carbon ceramic big brake kit. The kit is 

actually produced for a ZR1 Corvette, but Topspeed 

adapts them to fit the GTRs. 

The wheels are a one-off set from MHT Wheels. MHT’s 

brands include Niche, Rotiform, Foose, US Mags, 

and Fuel. These are the Niche Misiano T61 design, 

however, Jason had them custom made with an 

optional 1-piece forged monobloc construction. The 

result is a stronger, and deceivingly lightweight 20- 

inch race wheel. 

Suspension-wise, Jason’s using a KW Suspension 

sleeve kit, which uses the GTR’s factory struts, 

thus retaining the car’s superb factory suspension 

electronics. It provides a stronger/sportier feel, gives 

you better traction out of the hole, and allows you to 

lower the car - making it the go-to for a lot of GTR 

owners. 

A lot of 1000+hp car owners are only concerned 

about one thing - being the tough guy on the block. 

And as a result - a lot of their cars come out looking 

like the automotive version of Nickelback. 

Jason is not that guy. 

When Jason got this GTR, is was black. Jason hated 

black, especially living in the desert. So while the car 

was still in ATL at Topspeed, he had it sent to Bryson 

at Classic Livery of Atlanta. Some of you may know/ 

remember - Bryson is the owner of the Marlboro Civic 

from our cover a few issues back, a good friend of 

mine, and one of the best in the business. Bryson cut 

the OEM roof out of this GTR, and replaced it with an 

AMS carbon fiber replacement. He then resprayed it 

Lambo gray (Grigio Telesto), They added a Revozport 

carbon trunk lid, and painted it from the tip of the 

ducktail-back, but left the top of the trunk 

carbon to match up with the roof. 

And they finished it off with a 

Rexspeed carbon 

rear valence, and a blue sport-line on the nose to 

match the calipers. 

The license plate on this GTR says NVRENUF, and 

that pretty much sums it up for all of us doesn’t it. 

No matter what we’ve got in our garage, we’re all 

trying to squeeze that very last drop out of it. And it’s 

squeezing back… on our wallets haha. Nothing is 

ever enough, and we’re always searching for more. 

But that’s the fun of it; it’s all about progression. No 

matter what your primary hobbies are - getting 

that first 80% under your belt is the easy 

part. But it’s that last 20% where 

all the real satisfaction & 

good stories hide out. 


2010 NISSAN GT-R - 1200HP 

Topspeed Motorsports 4.0 build, AMS Alpha-12 

turbo system, Shepherd Stage-5 transmission, 

Topspeed Motorsports complete fuel system 

upgrade, Motec M150 ECU, Topspeed Motorsports 

tuned, 4” intakes, 3.5” downpipes, DSS 33-spline 

pro levelrear axles with DSS stub shafts & ARP 

extended studs, KW Suspension sleeve kit, Carbon 

ceramic brake kit, MHT Wheels: one-off Monotec 

series 20x10 front & 20x12 rear, Painted by Classic 

Livery of Atlanta, AMS carbon fiber roof, Revozport 

carbon ducktail trunk, Rexspeed carbon rear 

valence, 1.75” chromoly roll bar, Custom Status 

race seats, Custom tunes 


STREET DRIVEN / HYPERFEST 

STREET DRIVEN / 

HYPERFEST 

VIRGINIA INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY, VA 

MAY 1-3, 2015 

PHOTOS BY LUKE MUNELL 






105


107

As I sat here gearing up to write an article I realized 

- nah. Because sometimes when you try too hard 

to define something, you end up cheapening it… 

or diluting the pieces. Editors tend to have a hard 

time with this - they want to be the appointed ones 

to attach the perfect words to an item or idea. They 

feel driven to break down every little detail into its 

smallest element. But we all already know what we 

like about this build. It’s one of those things where the 

‘whole’ is greater than the sum of it’s parts. 


109

1983 BMW E30 320i 

ENGINE 

M20 2.0 inline 6-cylinder (small 6; killer sound), Motor 

rebuild with custom exhaust, straight pipe (sidepipe) 

WHEELS & SUSPENSION 

VIP Modular VXS210 17x8 front, and 17x9 rear. 

Copper color with golden bolts. 185/30/17 front, and 

195/40/17 rear tires. Custom air suspension build 

with AccuAir management and Viair compressors. 

INTERIOR 

Inside is all matte black paint, Carpet removed, Deleted 

back seat, Wiechers roll cage, Kirkey racing seats, 

Leather reupholstered dashboard, Doorcards , and Midtunnel, 

Built-in air gauges, Deep dish sport steering 

wheel 

EXTERIOR 

Custom respray in Lamborghini Grey, Widened inner 

wheel arches (front & rear), New facelift front end with 

pre-facelift old style bumper, DTM front lip, Removed all 

OEM towing hooks, Aftermarket front tow strap, Wiper 

delete, Custom side pipe, Original OEM Hella yellow 

headlights, Deleted right side mirror 


REVIEWS 

REVIEWS 

NISSAN JUKE 

2015 NISMO RS 

REVIEWS 

REVIEWS 

TOYOTA TUNDRA 

2015 TRD PRO 

No doubt – the Nissan Juke Nismo RS is an odd little crossover. You either can’t 

understand for the life of you why Nissan made it… or you can’t understand why 

you kind of want it. Or both. 

We can tell you after driving the Nismo RS, that it’s totally every bit as fun as it is 

weird-looking. The Nismo RS has got a hopped of version of the turbo 1.6, and it 

makes an additional 27 horsepower over the standard 188, for a total of 215hp 

(yeah – out of a 1.6). It’s got 6 short gears in the 6-speed version, which makes 

it really squirty around town and the backroads, but kind of leaves you wanting 

one more gear on the freeway. Sorry – but that’s just the tradeoff with smalldisplacement 

squirtyness (think B16 Honda). The RS also has a factory limited slip 

on the FWD, which is really unique in a car like this, and allows it to grip hard 

& pull strong without tire-slip when coming out of a corner on boost. It is also 

available with all-wheel-drive… which sounds awesome initially. But you can’t get 

the manual with AWD. In our opinion: go front-wheel-drive & get the manual with 

limited slip all day. 

The Nismo RS isn’t blistering ‘faaast’ out of the box… but it is hilariously fast for a 

small quirky crossover. It’s the type of car where you can launch off a red light with 

surprise, burn up the pavement like Marty McFly, and leave people scratching their 

heads. It’s hugely amusing. 

Even from the factory – the car sounds like a turbo import should – low tone 

exhaust notes & a little swooshing. With a couple aftermarket intake/exhaust mods 

– this thing would be a total rascal. 

We took this one to the North GA mountains, and never felt weighted down by the 

car. It was as sorted & nimble as smaller & lower hot hatches. At one point – I had 

to get from a doctor’s office to a cabin 12 miles away, and back to the doctor’s 

office – quickly. The Juke Nismo RS blazed down a mile-long wooded gravel road, 

through a historic old town with speedbumps, up a winding paved mountain road… 

and then did the reverse-course without missing a step or ever falling off its pace. In 

other words, the Juke lived up to it’s name. It can handle what the world will throw 

at it, without slowing down. And if left me with the question: If I owned a Juke Nismo 

RS, would I lower it track-style as I do everything else? Or go full blown rally-style 

with lights & mudflaps? 

The front seats are hardback Recaros with leather & suede. They’re totally cool, 

have great support… and are definitely one of the standout focal-points & sellingpoints 

for any enthusiast. Suede carries over to other parts of the interior. There is a 

‘sport-mode’ that sharpens up the responsiveness & performance… and you want 

to be sure to hit that button every time, as soon as you get in the car. 

You can see the top set of lights from the driver’s seat. It’s both cool & soothing to 

be able to see the glow of the icy blue/white parking lights when you drive at night. 

That’s one of the unique things I really like about the Juke – that you might not 

notice from a test drive. 

The windshield has a slight curvature or wrap-around, and from the driver’s seat 

(in combination with the suede & dark interior/headliner)… it kind of gives you 

feelings of being in a LeMans-type closed cockpit car. I know that maybe seems 

like a stretch of a comparison, but I felt it for sure. And I think the feeling is further 

accentuated by the decreasing roofline. 

The negative side to the decreasing roofline, is that it limits rear seat entry/ 

exit room, and cargo room in a noticeable way. As a newer dad, I found it to be 

a little bit of a challenge to get my 16 month-old daughter out of the car. You 

have to ‘sideways-slither’ the babies out a little bit. Personally, I don’t mind the 

inconvenience. I’m used to lowered, sporty cars, and I feel like the tradeoff is worth 

it. But why have all this ‘sport’ packed into a crossover chassis… when it ends up 

being no more convenient & roomy than your average hatchback? Also, speaking 

as a parent again, there is not a dome light over the rear seats. Those Recaro seats 

create a big shadow in the back when you only have front dome lights, and if you 

have something on the rear floorboard at night.. you have to use the light on your 

phone to find it. It just seems off balance that the Nismo RS would come with fancy 

cameras in the sideview mirrors… but no simple rear dome light. I know that’s nit 

picky, and I only mention it because – the Juke NISMO RS seems like a natural 

choice for car-culture people who find themselves in need of a newer, reliable ‘kidcarrying 

car’ with modern conveniences AC, keyless entry… and dome lights. 

Basically: The Juke Nismo RS is a car that’s hard to quantify. In other words – 

you can’t explain the Juke Nismo RS. The fun-factor is real. But if you’re trying to 

rationalize the purchase of this car… then you’re doing it wrong. If you’re trying 

to compare it to other cars, you’re going to confuse yourself. You could call it ugly. 

And I could use up all my fingers pointing out iconic cars with cult followings that 

are – arguably ugly. Like a pug… the Juke’s beauty is in the eye of its beholder. 

Sometimes ‘weird’ works. If you see the appeal, and you like the car, you’ve just 

gotta give in and go with it. You don’t have to justify it. 

First off – we are really fortunate to be able to use this Tundra TRD Pro for road trips 

to a lot of our out-of-town events, so we’ve spent a lot of time getting to know it. 

And if you’re looking for a new 4×4 full size truck, and you’re the kinda guy/girl who 

reads this magazine – then this is the one you want! 

A lot of trucks out there try to separate themselves in the pointless differences. You 

know why? It’s because they’re all the damn same – minus the emblem. One has 

squared-off wheel wells, another has rounded wheel wells – who cares. One gets 

product placement in a lot in country pop songs, another looks good tailgating, and 

a third loves to run commercials of their truck towing a boat – who cares. 

Let’s be honest – pretty much any full size truck will get a nine-to-fiver to Home 

Depot & back on a Saturday. But as car enthusiasts, we want to take it further than 

that. We don’t like cars/trucks that make compromises. And this is where the TRD 

Pro comes into play. 

The TRD Pro comes with a reworked front nose with black accents (no chrome) and 

hard-amber rescue-style running lights. It’s made in San Antonio. It has a leveled 

2-inch suspension lift with high-travel Bilstein reservoir shocks and TRD springs 

– for 10.5” travel front and 9.5” rear. It’s got 4-wheel-drive with a locking rear 

differential. It’s got a burly skid plate, and a burly TRD exhaust which stays pretty 

mellow at cruising speeds, but thunders like a trophy truck at wide open throttle. 

It’s got enough interior space to sublease. The back window goes down – never 

underrate this feature, because once you have it, you’ll never want to go back. It’s 

got ‘TRD PRO’ embossed in the sides of the bed. It’s got signature, ‘form=fashion’ 

red-accented TRD Pro seats. It’s got good sound waves with good bass for an OEM 

truck. At a little over 6.5-feet wide, it’s too damn wide to get down narrow ‘Jeep’ 

trails, but we never found trails that tight on the moon. 

You can get it in white, black, or Inferno orange. It gets comically poor gas milage 

(about 14mpg)… but the tradeoff is: this truck will absolutely solve all the little 

dilemmas, irritations, and annoyances of your life. 

Going to the beach for the day and don’t know what umbrella, stroller, or cooler to 

take – take ALL of them. Wanna go see what’s down that wet dirt road, but scared 

to might get into a jam – you won’t. Go to the mountains & your wife sees an oak 

table she’s gotta have – heave it in the back. Pull up on a car full of nuns in a station 

wagon getting washed away by a Texas flood – throw ‘em a rope and drag ‘em out. 

Stuck in a neighborhood full of speed humps – ramp them. Approaching traffic on 

the horizon – hit the grassy median & and set cruise control. 

The TRD Pro is not for everyone – that’s why it’s a special-purpose build… that 

will go down as yet another one of Toyota’s legitimate 4x4s. On the other hand, for 

being a significant model, Toyota has managed to keep the price pretty reasonable 

– at only a few grand more than an SR5. Some mass-population reviews hint that 

the TRD Pro’s off-road capabilities result in a soft ‘on-road’ ride. Professionally 

speaking – durr. But from one enthusiast to another – I say don’t even sweat it. 

Toyota did an amazing job with the TRD Pro. 

Look – this is a giant, bright orange, rumbling/roaring, post-apocalypse-prepped 

truck. And the kind of people that this truck attracts… are not bankers. Criticizing 

the soft ride on this truck is like criticizing a jet for its ‘ground’ handling. As a buyer 

– you just have to ask yourself, what features do you really want in your next truck. 

And where do you want to set your limits? 


113

REVIEWS 

TOYOTA 4RUNNER 

2015 TRD PRO 

REVIEWS 

In the 90s, SUVs had a real sense of utility and purpose… that spawned a natural 

attraction to them. There was a generational movement, to get out and explore the 

world. To get dirty. And to use a vehicle not just for a daily commute, but to also 

broaden & expand your life. That’s the spirit behind what a real SUV should be. And 

that movement has always been lead by Jeep & Toyota. And then – all the followers 

& fakers ensued. 

In this current decade, SUVs have gotten fat, sloppy, and incapable (much like their 

drivers did), and turned more into soft-roaders than off-roaders. Meaning they’ve 

more-or-less just morphed into minivan-alternatives… but with adventuroussounding 

names & non-sliding rear doors. Right? Yeah, pretty much. 

Well – the new 4Runner TRD Pro is a blatant return to Toyota’s original design and 

intent behind the SUV. It puts the ‘sport’ back in Sport Utility Vehicle – and it does 

so in a beastly way. 

The TRD Pro gets a 1.5-inch lift over the other models. It gets upgraded Bilstein 

shocks with remote reservoirs. The TRD Pro / Bilstein shock setup has enough juice 

to absorb hits on natural terrain at speed (gravel/dirt/desert), without upsetting & 

unbalancing the ride. It can be a little soft on asphalt, but if you’re honestly trying to 

backroad-rip an SUV… then you bought the way-wrong sports car. Trust me – city 

potholes are not even noticed. 

The TRD Pro has an electronic rear locker – so if you get the truck crossed-up in a 

situation where one rear wheel doesn’t have much weight or solid ground under it, 

instead of just spinning the free wheel & rendering yourself stuck, you can hit the 

electronic lock button. It will lock the differential, and both rear wheels will turn in 

unison, using whichever wheel has an edge in grip to dig you out. 

On an upper console near the rearview mirror, you have a dial for crawl control, 

which will manage your speed AND braking during steep descents & climbs with 

limited traction. It works going up or going down. All you have to do it point the nose 

away from cliffs and lakes. There is also a sister dial on the upper console to select 

the terrain that you’re working with – whether it be sand, gravel, snow, etc – so 

the truck can best-adapt its 4WD system to the current conditions. It’s inspiring to 

see Toyota use modern technology to bring drivers CLOSER to the adventures of 

real life driving/off-roading… in a time when some other manufacturers are using 

technology to REMOVE us from the experience – it really starts to open your eyes. 

The TRD Pro gets a great looking set of TRD 17-inch wheels with all-terrain tires. It 

gets a 1/4-inch metallic beefy skid plate to protect engine/suspension components. 

And the front bumper loses the standard Toyota emblem, in favor of bold, blockedout 

TOYOTA letters with matte black accents. The front & rear bumpers are angledin 

on the sides & bottom to allow for more aggressive approach/departure angles. 

Inside – you get synthetic leather black seats with red stitching that carries over to 

the door panels. Don’t take the word ‘synthetic’ as a cheap alternative. It is actually 

more durable & easier to maintain/clean over time than standard leather. 

The dash has a strong & satisfying presence – with some gloss black metallic 

accents around the center console. It’s obviously well constructed. Radio and AC 

knobs are large, easy to grab, and offer just the perfect amount of resistance – so 

you can nudge up the tunes while barreling down a bumpy dirt road… without your 

hand bouncing all over the dials & accidentally spiking the volume causing ‘a look’ 

from your spouse/girlfriend (you’ve gotta think about these things). 

The rear seats & rear cargo area pick up where the FJ fell off, and offer more than 

enough room for offspring & gear. It also offers an optional slide-out tray – which 

doubles as a bench if you’re working on a bike, waxing a board, or changing socks 

& shoes. And – it has an extra set of speakers in the hatch itself, so when the hatch 

is up and the stereo’s on… you have your favorite jams showering down to keep 

you mellow. (There is also an OEM subwoofer mounted stealthily in the back) 

After all these 4Runner generations, the window in the rear hatch still rolls down 

– a 4Runner signature. That may seem unimportant to all these modern day 

germaphobes out there. But get in this SUV on a nice day, and within 5 seconds, 

all windows are down & the breeze is blowin’ through… and it’s simultaneously 

blowin’ OUT all the BS & stress of your life. You can hear the Nitto all-terrains 

humming down the road, and it calms you down. You don’t seem to be in as much 

of a hurry as the rest of the world. You take a little bit more appreciation in the sights 

& smells around you. The TRD Pro creates a relaxing atmosphere; a good vibe. And 

as corny as it may seem to see a guy with dreadlocks sneak the words ‘good vibe’ 

in a Toyota 4×4 review, it’s a critical component to an SUV… and it’s a component 

that most fake SUVs are lacking. 

The TRD Pro is more than the sums of its parts, and people in the market for a TRD 

Pro already understand that. It’s not for everyone, but it IS incredibly adaptable to 

whatever you throw at it. The TRD Pro is an SUV that can realistically open you up 

to new adventures, new hobbies, new values… and change what’s important your 

life. That may sound a little far fetched, but it’s not far fetched if you don’t fight it. 

Just look at the Toyota 4X4 nation out there across the world – it’s real. And it’s 

literally – more than a car. This 4Runner’s got a tried & true V6 that, as Autoweek 

said, “should last approximately until the sun burns out”. …Can’t really say it any 

better. 

And from a money well spent standpoint – it’s a truck that you can drive for 30 

years, get nods of approval & appreciation for the entire duration, and still sell it for 

10-grand… should your 30-year-older self ever be foolish enough to do so. 

READ THE REST, AND MORE ON S3MAG.COM

S3 Magazine // Issue 34

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?