To know that besides Orido-san running his ridiculous FT86 with the 2UR-GSE for D1GP, there’s also Ken Gushi who’ll be competing in Formula D with his own Greddy sponsored FT86.
You know what’s the best part?? No gay ass LS motor. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Mr.Cid
And I can’t wait to get back into full swing. The last three months have been one of the craziest, highly stressful, and most exciting times of my life. Besides the obviously significant and historic events that have happened for me and my family, this recent venture into opening up my own shop definitely cements a spot for itself on my “Shit to do before I die” list. I’m sure I’ve mentioned before how this “obsession” was leading me to do something pretty nutty. Well, this is the end result!
I can just imagine what would happen if I obsess over something else entirely. Yeah let’s not talk about that. lol. Anyway, I definitely miss being on here. You’ll be seeing updates in between jobs and installations. I just hope that I find the time and motivation to stay on top of things as there’s definitely a lot of work to be done at the shop. But if I were to do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing. Nobody said it was going to be easy, but it’s definitely fcking worth it.
Mr.Cid
I obsess over them. All.The.Time. That includes the parts and gadgetry that go along with it.
Granted I’m no elitist or JDM connoisseur, I consider myself well rounded enough to hold my own. That’s with any type of vehicle. Ever since I started selling parts a few years ago, I’ve come to appreciate what good quality pieces are all about. Besides the price on admission, there is no comparison between a well engineered part, to a quickly developed-mass produced, or replicated piece. Non whatsoever. It’s made my life easier knowing that I could sell these products, and not have to worry too much about fitment or factory defects. Don’t be fooled however, as no one brand is perfect. Some brands just make less mistakes, and it’s usually the Japanese that pull this off.
Now comes the part when building your own machine. Which brand level do you pick? Do you go for the rare, high end companies the likes of ASM, Amuse, or Voltex?? More popular, mass producing companies like HKS, Greddy, or Apexi?? Or even, gasp…replica?? Now, before you get your thongs in a bunch, let’s review what “I” mean by these so called levels.
High end brands are for the hardcore JDM connoisseurs, ballers, and the wanna-be’s. These parts are mostly hand-made and run in very small production numbers in little huts somewhere in Japan. These limited runs not only make these pieces very desirable, sometimes unattainable, and usually more expensive than the ordinary run of the mill part. Owners are damned proud, as they should be of what they have. Although majority of the cars built with these parts will never be used or abused as the manufacturers intended them to be. Most will be shown-off like chain bling to try and gain some sort of internet status symbol. The posers will try to gain web notoriety and pass off the projects as a “show car/street car” when the damned thing will just sit in their mom’s garage. Thankfully, there are the few (deep-pocketed) nut jobs that will actually use them for racing or at the very least, the occasional track day.
Oh Powerhouse, how you make my pants moist.
Now comes the “oh-so-common” mid level companies. Now, I’m not saying that HKS, Trust, APEXi, or Blitz are “midgrade” due to average quality, but because these brands are geared more toward “mass production” (which could mean that there’s higher chances that it’s Made in Taiwan or China unless otherwise specified) and are popular with the majority of tuners and average builders. These products still offer good results (sometimes even better than high end brands), competitive pricing, and good availability. The only downfall I see, is that if you’re an owner wanting to build a car that stand outs and has it’s own style, you can guarantee that somebody else will have what you’re rocking.
I still love this special edition HKS Carbon Ti.
And here come the replicas, knockoffs, and fake shit. Don’t get me started on these. Because of all these pieces of crap floating on a certain bidding site, its harder for the average business owner to try and make ends meet. Not only do we lose potential clients to cheap Taiwanese knockoffs, these people will soon realize that they’ve wasted their hard earned money on something that was a few bucks cheaper, but is a forth of the quality. Although there are a few names out there that started off by borrowing, nee: “ripping” designs from another firm, and have eventually grown into pretty large and somehow respected companies. I just don’t get how people think you’re legit when you started off selling clearly duplicated shit?? Bah.
No picture of teh fakes. That’s including a certain set on my car so fuck off. lol
So ultimately, your decision is what will count. Don’t be swayed by the douches into thinking that spending 5 grand on a set of wheels and tires will make you a better person. Or that buying Rotas makes sense on a drift car since it will get beaten anyway. No. You have to do the research. Figure out for yourself what makes sense as far as the purpose of your build, and the budget that you have to do it with, and do it properly. Granted not everyone is blessed with financial independence, but at the very least minimize your purchases on the “fake shit.” This way, you may not be helping out the companies who did the R&D for the original piece now, but at least you’re not tossing your money to a bunch of jag-offs that deserve to be beaten for stealing intellectual property. Someday, you’ll have the money and eventually do the right thing. Anyway, sorry for the rant. I’ve been wanting to let this go for so long but just haven’t had the chance to write it up. Finally, it’s like I blew a load right on Katy Perry’s chest. Ahhhhhhhhhh, I’m hilarious.
Mr.Cid out.
I still think this isn’t that bad looking, regardless of what the hardcore fans say.
I certainly think it looks better than the Top Secret V12 Supra.
Mr.Cid
Well folks, it was that time of year for me again. Another age gone by, another new number to try and remember. Shiet man, sometimes I think I’m getting too old for all this. Then I remember that if it weren’t for us “older” guys in the game, the whole thing will be a complete wreck. Little fckers be wearing skinny jeans and low v-necks all day! Lol. So the next time you see dudes with normal jeans and Option or HKS T-shirts, make sure to be nice to them. They might be willing to share some knowledge with you. Or they’ll pull a gun on you and jack your mom’s Camry. Dicks.
Mr.Cid
Only a certain few understand why they do this…
Toyota Curren, the Celica’s lesser known twin brother.
It might not work too well, but I’d like to see a ST205 GT-Four do this front conversion…
If they sold this car here in the states with the 180hp 3SGE, his would’ve given the DC2 GSR a run for it’s money.
Mr.Cid
Haven’t put up a clean WRX in a while.
Not JDM tyte, but nice nonetheless.
Mr.Cid
