I wasn’t planning to go to HIN but some of my Austin friends were coming over to see a old high school friend, who is one the founders of Dopery. Kinda great to see people that you know move up in life, and doing well. Congrats to Andrew and the rest of the Dopery crew! After the show we all got crunk off of Coronas and Hennessy, but thats a different story.

My homie Donnie needed a ride to show since he left his CRX overnight. Being a good friend I gave him a ride and he was the first passenger in the Miata after one year of having no passenger seat.

I actually got in for free which was great and I didn’t know there was vape convention till I arrived lol. Usually HIN is associated with the anime convention but vaping is also popular in the car community too. I don’t vape anymore but its was crazy to see the different kinds of juices and designs the vape convention had. Its like SEMA of vapes with all the fancy vender displays. I didn’t take any pics of the venders because people might come to me to try to sell me something.

I brought my fully charged camera, only to realize my camera didn’t take any shots because I forgot my memory card. Fail. I didn’t take much pics and I had to use my iPhone 4S which is a dinosaur now considering the iPhone 6 and 6S is out.

Something I don’t see often is a bagged S2000, most of the time S2000 are static. Looks like this owner did some custom hard line design to flow with the tank.

This Honda Civic from team Apokalypse is static and I heard the day before the show the owner was adjusting the coilovers in the convention center to go lower. Bags or static, choose your poison.

Chan with his custom front Rocket Bunny fenders. He actually bought a Rocket Bunny for the FRZ/BRZ fenders and had them integrated for the WRX fender. I was talking to him at one of the meets and he was deciding to buy bigger lips or camera gear. I told him bigger lips. My 50mm and iPhone seems to do the job lol, not really.

Custom wide bode Lexus with Aimgain body kit… I think.

More VIP

This Lexus was at Wekfest, and Stancenation. It’s funny how people only would show their car for one show but don’t show to the other shows. Im guilty of that, but it cool to see the other cars attending most of the shows.

This Lexus looks like it has the Rocket Bunny fenders and Im pretty certain it was for the BRZ/FRS but had them also custom fitted to the Lexus.

This 350Z originally had overfenders, but then the owner molded it to fenders to make one piece but still kept the rivets. The racer theme carried to the interior.

Rocking the one seat gang like the Miata. But now I have two bucket seats since wifey will be here ❤

Loving this NSX with a funtional hood scoop. He is doing it right by first buying a NSX. Considering its a 90s car, NSX still look modern even in 2014.

The perfect combo. This Intergra Type R has all the right things.

This GLI has a custom front bumper that looks like it came from a Lexus, maybe, but flows well with the car. I like one off pieces that owners put on their cars. Its gives the car a different look from the rest the crowd. Sometimes it stuff that just sticks out and make you look it, other times it’s soo subtle that you don’t notice it till you look at it the second or third time.

This Toyota Camry is build you don’t see often. Considering its a Camry, a platform not popular with the car community. The stock Camry looks hideous, usually some Asian driving going to school. At least thats what I saw when I went to high school. Props for using a uncommon platform to make it your style.

Junction Produce rims. Love this timeless classic and looks soo good served in deep dish.

Saw this Mugen front Civic at the Nostalgic Meet that Mayday Garage hosted a few months back.

G37 on Luxury Abstract wheels. I would say wheels is the number one thing you can do that will make or break a car. Why not invest in good quality wheels.

My buddy Bun was showing a live demo of a R34 Skyline being wrapped. You can change the color of the car but still keep the original paint. Check out Arkem Wraps and Customs for your wrapping needs in the greater Houston area!

Since the vape convention was going going on, it got smoky real quick. Smelled good though, like a sweet fruity smell lingered in the convention center.

I’ll end it with this BMW M4, that was showing with the Dopery booth. This car hasn’t been out in the market that long and already someone has tapped into the potential. My parents said I should get a car that matches my profession. I think this M4 would do just fine.

Check out:

http://dopery.com/

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http://natsukashigarage.bigcartel.com/

Within the past few months, I’ve been looking into getting coilovers for the Miata. The Racelands (came with the car when I bought it) rode like shit and I couldn’t take it anymore. I was looking into 326 Power, which I still really want to get, but at this moment, just a bit financially out of reach. I looked into Fourtune Auto coilovers with custom spring rates and I was going to buy it, if I didn’t stumble upon the HKS Hiper D coilovers I found on eBay… yes, eBay.

The interesting thing was I was just about to enter my billing info for the Fortune Auto coilovers, but then something in my mind said just wait and see what else is out there. So I hit gym the to distract myself from cars and clear my mind. When I came home, I was just browsing the interwebs when I found a really good deal. I stumbled upon HKS coilovers for $800.

Obviously they were used BUT $2k coilovers for $800 is a steal. Plus HKS is made in Japan which is a country known for quality and reliability. They are not made in Taiwan, or China… Not saying Taiwan or China are bad but some cheap coilovers, like Raceland, are made there and I personally don’t want to pay $1000 for coilovers made in Taiwan…. aka BC Racing or Megan racing. I’m sure it’s a great product and I know lots of people on them but it’s just my preference. I just like to be different.

Fortune Auto coilovers are assembled in the States and the customer service is great but the HKS is just a brand I would rather get. It’s a personal preference. If didn’t see the HKS the 2^nd choice is Fortune Auto. The 1k range coilovers is a lot of money and the H&R on the GTI was around that much, brand new.

Anyways back to HKS, I found it on eBay and I immediately clicked the buy now sign. Yeah it’s used, but HKS is a brand known in the racing world especially in Time Attacks, Drifting and Road Racing. All the R&D that HKS does on the track makes their way to the consumers. From the pics from eBay looked like it was taken cared of and not abused. I wasn’t worried if they were blown, because HKS. Another factor I wanted these coilovers was they are discounted which make it even more rare and just cool to own.

I broke 20 watchers heart that night. I waited 7 days anxiously counting down the days I will no longer ride in Racelands.

The day came and I was sooo excited! I inspected the coilovers and no obvious leaks and the collars didn’t look seized. The coilovers comes with a metal purple top mount with “HKS” stamped on it. They have the HKS purple, chrome color scheme. These coilovers are a Monotube design with fully adjustable right height.

I knew the HKS wouldn’t go low like the Racelands since HKS is more about the track/drift setups then just go slammed and have a shity ride. Don’t get me wrong though, I love to ride slammed and throw sparks, but having cheap coilovers kills it. Let me explain. I have H&R Ultralows on my GTI for 3 years now and its slammed, occasionally takes out a reflector but the ride over bumps is 100x better than Racelands. With any quality coilovers you don’t get the bouncy ride or always bottoming out even when the coilovers are maxed to their lowest setting. Yeah the H&Rs are stiff but its not bouncing up and down endlessly like cut springs, or feel as if the piston is about to go through the shock when bottoming out. The H&R soaks up the bumps better than the softer Racelands. You would think a softer set up would be smoother but it’s not always the case. It’s all about quality here and dampening.

So the next day I wanted to install the coilovers at my friend’s house but unfortunately my friend was working and I couldn’t wait. I went to One Stop Automotive and hit up Fernando. With the help of power tools we got done in 2 hrs and I also did alignment too because that’s what you are suppose to do after changing the suspension. Some people tend to ignore that.

With my HKS coilovers installed and alignment dialed in, I immediately felt a BIG difference. With the collars spun all the way down, the Miata was still 1.5” higher than the Racleands. But I didn’t mind it, because the Miata had this track style going on. There is this corner I take almost everyday and with the Racelands I felt like the body roll was excessive, and my right rear shock was bottoming out on the exit. Then I took the same turn on the HKS and it was 10mph faster!! The HKS had minimal body roll, felt more planted and wasn’t unselted when I passed over the bump. HKS coilovers never felt like they where bottoming out even having the collars spun all the way down. The ride is stiffer but not bouncy or rough. HKS soaks up the bumps smoother than the Racelands. This HKS coilovers gave me more confidence on the corners but of course I have to be responsible and not be the idiot where his ego went over his skill. The difference is night and day. Hoping I can make it to a drift/track even and really see the potential. If you are going to do something, do it right and don’t cut corners. Buy legit products.

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http://natsukashigarage.bigcartel.com/