You won’t find a cooler montage of a S13 convertible than this one right here (not necessarily due to the fact that there aren’t any to begin with). My friend Danny from Pink Godzira was either a) really bored or b) ultra creative when he made this short montage. All the haters need to catch wreck, this video is so awesome! The vert is also for sale by the way…only serious fools tho.

Met up with the homey John from Webrides TV the other night. Seems that Nissan lent them a GTR to test out (Napoleon Dynamite: “LUUCKY!”). Overall the car is really nice. Muscular looking with power to back the looks, it’s definitely FAST. Brembo 6 pot monoblocks, sittin on dubs, nice interior, all good.

I might be the only one, but I really wasn’t terribly excited by it. Maybe I’m biased because I knew the price tag before seeing the car, or maybe because I’m too poor to afford one? I could go into the reasoning behind what I agree and disagree with the GT-R, but in the end people would probably just think I’m a huge GT-R hate-R and I’d have to get the flamesuit (on a side note I’m more of a R34 GTR guy myself). Either way, its a nice car, super fast, high performance…but for $69k + markup…I dunno how I’d want to spend it. I guess give me the cash and I’ll take it from there?

…uh oh, not fat guy friendly. I think I’m the only person who would see a new GT-R in person and be interested in rear seats. Twin turbos? Who needs em, OOH, are those rear cupholders?

Pictures courtesy of Dom Stat.

John Lei from Texas sent me pics of his 350Z sitting on some AME Circlar Spec R’s in BBF finish. The B’s don’t stand for “blinding bling” either.

He went mo’ aggro than usual on the fitment, 19×9+10 on the front and 19×10+0 on the rear. Fat lips like the Pharcyde.

High pad fronts clear Z Brembo no problem.

I like AME’s centercaps cause they’re secured with 5 bolts, rather than pop in style on other brands (that makes it easier to fall out or get stolen). His wheels stay on the car via a set of Kics Project R40 lug nuts in Neo Chrome finish.

Besides his Z, he’s also got a stupid clean Starion, which he also repainted a similar color (Fiji Blue). I’ve always loved Starions for their body lines (i.e fenders) and their wheel fitment. You can go super gangster wide and low offset on these things, which when paired with the fenders equals a killer combo.

…you can also see your friends graduate! Congrats out to the homey Lindsay Ross for graduating from Art Center Pasadena. His major, if you can’t tell, is transportation design, and last Friday I went out to the campus to check out his projects on display. I especially liked his BMW LMR (Le Mans Racer) concept, which was intended to be a fusion between F1 and the BMW M series.

While I’m not terribly familiar with Transportation design, the LMR concept he did was cool because it seemed realistic, rather than some comic book race car. Also, since he builds cars and races (real cars) in his free time, I think a lot of his motorsports background helps to give him a realistic, purpose driven approach to his work.

He also did a few other cars, including the Lotus project shown in the bottom right as well as another SUV concept. For some of these projects, I’d had seen them from time to time when he was building them (or in drawing phase), so to see it completed brings it full circle.

His Maserati project was stunning, which from my understanding mimics the fluidity of moving cloth, specifically in the way its displayed on marble statues.

I’d be trippin balls if I found myself following this on the 5 freeway. LOL.

The wheels were made from a 3D molding machine, which actually is able to form 3D objects in real time, layer by layer. I might be totally wrong, and I sure didn’t attend Art Center, so don’t quote me on it. Either way it’s cool and super concave!

Thanks to Amanda Lam for the pics / hosted by www.larrychendesign.com

Some of the members of Team Droo-P came into town today to help Yoshioka prep and tune the car for this weekend. Kojima-san of Team Droo-P is shown here setting the backlash / preload for the ring and pinion BY HAND. Super OG.

Shot of the Toda Racing header, which I was told is a one-off custom unit.

Japanese Tentacle pronz!

Shot of his fuel setup. Peep the computer fans on the fuel cooler, suuu-whate!

Last D1GP USA at Irwindale, I guess Yoshioka was pullin so many G’z on the bank, it caused low oil pressure / starvation to the motor. As a result, they yanked the motor and sent it back to Japan, and then sent it back in the most perfect engine crate I’ve ever seen (shown partially disassembled obviously). I believe he’ll be going to a dry sump setup on this car as well in the future.

Corolla guys are investing in stock with pants companies right now. Engine work was done by Prime Garage in Japan.

This is what an empty engine bay looks like. Yes that’s an ARC radiator in a Rolla.

And through the magic of television, would you look at how tender and moi….err, I mean, look at how fast he put the motor in. Nah, after you’ve been a Corolla guy for the majority of your life, this is child’s play.

This is where he either a) dropped his keys, or b) was tightening down the motor mounts.

Since he’ll be competing this year in Formula D as well, he had to cut out and remove his previous Safety 21 / custom cage to meet the tubing wall thickness requirements. All you Yoshioka fans will notice the underlying blue paint, which was from his Espelir paint scheme a few years back.

Cage work was done by a shop A-Tech here in Socal. The boxes, welds, and tolerance came out well, and was recently passed this past weekend at Formula D tech.

Oxymoron of the day: An 1986 Toyota Corolla with Project Mu calipers and Volk Racing CE28’s.

When you are a true O.G double O.G D1GP driver, Works Bell Japan makes you a special edition Rapfix II quick release. Horn button (cover) I believe was made by one of his friends, custom laser etched.

The XL version of the Toshiking sticker. Wish him good luck this year in Formula D!

Blake from Fighters Garage sent me pics of his G35 w/ very aggressive wheel fitment using AME Circlar Spec R’s in limited Matte Black finish.

Smoove. Wheel specs are 19×10 +6 in the front and 19×10 -13 in the rear. Tire size is 245/35/19 all around, lowered on Tanabe DF210 springs.

He only had to roll the rear fender, but definitely not for the weak hearted. Do your research before buying wheels, but like they say, “if it don’t rub, it don’t fit!”

Lost a handful of resumes..please resend!

Brand Endless International Corp. (exclusive North American importer for Endless/ZEAL, AME Wheels, and CraftSquare) is currently seeking to fill an internship position.

Requirements are as follows:

-Eagerness to take advantage of the unique environment and opportunities that a small company has to offer.
-Ability to absorb and utilize the various types of information related within this industry.
-An overall interest in building communication skills, offering great customer service and networking on all levels.
-An interest in volunteering and attending events, races, meets, trade shows, etc.
-A hard worker with initiative and a proactive, patient, future-building outlook on life.

Hours/Days are flexible. Currently we are seeking to fill a non-paid internship/experience position. Perks available. If you possess long-term interest with the freedom to grow within the high-end sector of the aftermarket and/or motorsports industry, this experience may be invaluable. If you are close to Huntington Beach and are interested, send resume to kent[at]brand-endless.com

Some nice pics of our friends over at Auto Fashion in San Diego.

Visit them. They’re good peeps with genuine integrity. Photos courtesy of Daniel Irawan of www.picturesniper.com.

Had to share these sweet delicacies from my last China trip. The last time I ate these I was still drunk and hung over at the same time.

Unfortunately, this time I was hungry and sober. Local favorite. Available at Ito Yokado supermarket in the area. Great. Bread fried in lard and filled with flaked donkey meat. Lovely.

On a brighter note, things are changing so much in China. They just passed a law that mandates workers to receive overtime pay (if working overtime). So alot of companies are going out of business since they made people work 7 days a week with no overtime pay. Workers are getting more rights. Companies can’t take advantage of them as much, but don’t get me wrong, it’s still totally exploited. So many chemicals in Chinese food. No more unagi (eel) can be imported to Japan from China due to the extreme amount of pesticides, growth hormones and vet grade medicines found in the food.

…this song might be a good reason to start.

First off, credit goes to Kent for finding this gem, as I was completely unknowing about Samurai Champloo, an anime series from Japan (circa 2004-05). Song is “Sincerely,” by Force of Nature & Tsutchie. I’m sure all the anime heads are gonna tell me W-T-L-W and call me a noob, but oh well. I’ve had the Samurai Champloo playlist on Imeem on heavy rotation at work, and just added the 7 disc series to my Netflix queue.

So bump this track, grab your favorite vice, and lounge out.

And while I’m on this laid back tip…

…you gotta know about old school Sade!

Track is “Kiss of Life,” and probably one of my favorites from all her stuff. Another reason why I love this track is also because I’m a fan of DJ Neil Armstrong’s stuff, especially off his “Bittersweeet” mixtape (shouts to the homey Opie for originally introducing me to his stuff).

If you haven’t heard it (or of him), he mixes both old school and new, and specifically on the “Kiss of Life” mix, he laces in some Pharrell (”Frontin). I can’t explain it, you gotta just peep it. On the same mixtape, his flip of Stevie Wonder’s “My Cherie Amour” is ill (x Clipse “Grindin”).

Click here if you want to peep game. Isht gonna blow your mind.

Last Friday, Don from Evolve stopped by with one of his new Volvo C30’s. With the T5 turbo motor, and a cool rear hatch window (I’m a sucker for the hatchbacks)…not too shabby. But what really struck me was the center gauge panel, it was almost floating, with just a panel (nothing behind it). Futuristic, but not overly done.

And on a completely unrelated note, I ate @ Goldilocks over the weekend. For some odd reason, previous until now, I had never ate “filipino food.” I have had adobo, lumpia, etc. before (since Hawaii is a melting pot of cuisine), but never got some more “authentic” stuff. Shown to the left is some Crispy Pata (deep fried pork leg) , Fried Lumpia, and Dinuguan (pork blood stew). Super bomb.

Sinigang is some seriously refreshing soup. A nice sour taste, with all kinds of awesome thangs inside.

Garlic fried rice and Pinakbet (vegetable stew). I killed about half that plate of fried rice, and ate everything else till I was about to explode. So good, and a lot of stuff I didn’t get to try on the menu (need to holla at desserts). This didn’t help my cholesterol out much, but definitely worth the trip.