Category Archives: 86 hatch
SCCA Track night: MSR Cresson
Another fun day at the track. This was my first time racing at this track and was pretty far drive from Houston (4hrs). I racked up about 800 miles part of which was because I stayed overnight in Austin. Even though I track once a month I joined the novice class becuase it is my first time here. I was thinking the track would be pretty empty since its was 102 degrees outside. Surprisingly I counted 11 cars in the novice class, and was actually less drivers in the intermediate and expert class.
When I got there, the covered garage was filled! Grudgingly I unloaded all my tools and tires in the Texas sun. I did leave my tires and tools in the shade, at least there was room for that. 
The silver Lexus IS300 is actually pretty fast in the straights, I later found out it was LS swapped! The track day included 3 sessions, each being around 20 mins. On the first session, I was behind the IS300 when it started smoking bad with the smell of burning metal. Soon afterwards it smoked very badly and pulled over to the side of the track. Then session was black flagged and required everyone enter the pits. We waited roughly 10 mins for the track workers to clean up the spill and I found out the IS300 blew a power steering hose. Thankfully we were able to get back on the track to complete our first session. 
This Jaguar was just cruising on the track top down. Not that Im saying its slow at all but you could tell the guy was just out there to have a good time. Its about the experience.
Mini Cooper on Bridgestone RE-71R. I’ve seen a lot of people run RE71Rs on the track and autocross. They say its better then the RS3. I need to try those out. 
The 2nd session went through without problems and I got in a friendly competition with the Mustang Shelby GT350R. These days you always see jokes and memes how bad mustangs handle. Even on YouTube, just a simple search and you can find videos of drift and burnout fails of mustangs. I got to hand it to Ford making a track oriented car. The GT350R could never pull away from me but I couldn’t pass it either. We were evenly matched and pushing each other to the limit. This was the hardest I pushed myself and the M3. The last couple laps my tires got too hot and grip fell off. I had to back off and let my tires cool but thankfully the checkered flag was waving. After the session we shook hands on a great race. Unfortunately, which seems to happen often, my memory card was full by my 2nd session and the epic battle wasn’t recorded.
This was the GT350R I had a friendly battle with. Definitely sounds like a roaring V8, and the owner recently bought it! Still has the paper plates! For those of you that don’t know the Mustang 350R here is a little info:
After such an adrenaline filled session, on my last and 3rd session I just played it chill and didn’t go to hard on the M3. I was shifting early and using 3rd gear on 2nd gear corners. That session went on without incident and was great. The 350R did catch up to me but I let him pass, I know he probably wanted another duel but sometimes if you go over the limit that when bad things happen. After the 3rd session, the sun was setting and was just that perfect lighting to take a picture.
Lady driven Porsche boxer was in our run group.
Lots of V8 today.
Mustang Cobra is supercharged with pullies and tune. The car is mainly used for drag racing but the owner still had a good time at the track. 
This truck was a complete custom build, tube chassis, modified frame and with a supercharged V8. Unfortunately it only did one session becuase trucks are not allowed on the circuit. Look good though, like the rat rod look.
You get a good mix of cars in the run groups which makes things more interesting. 
Four bangers were also out too.
I thought this S2000 was on Hankook TD but its was rolling on Ferderal tires… I wonder how they feel at the track.
Big Wang. 
Harrys Lap timer was working seemlessly and I managed to clock 01:31.53 seconds, which I have no idea if thats fast or not. But it felt good just being out there.
Heat cycled Hankooks did a really great job. They only over heated once because I pushed too hard on my 2nd session and grip fell off. It handled the abuse in the 102 degree heat.
MSR Cresson consists of high speed long sweepers, late apexes with a few tight twisties (aka the rattle snake). The track isn’t terribly fast, but I managed to hit 100mph on the straights. With shorter straights and longer sweepers, the track isn’t harsh on the brakes compared to COTA or Harris Hill. You can with the amount of brake dust after my last sesson. What I really did like was how smooth the track was. The track is well kept and very close to gas stations, some even offering racing fuel. I’ll be back again. 
Tire Shop Needs: USA Tire and Wheel
Living in Houston, the 4th largest city, it wasn’t hard finding tire shops but the problem is would you trust them with your expensive wheels. Or if you are about that stanced life, who would be willing to stretch your tires and not bitch about it.
When I first moved to Houston, I took my tire needs to NTB and the guys there took 4hrs to stretch 205/40/17 tires on the 17×9 rims. Then I took a my tire needs to local mexican shop and they stretched my tires no problem. BUT messed up my RPF1s while mounting the tires.
When I used to live in Humble, because the hospital I worked at was 5 mins away. I found this little tire shop called: USA Wheel and Tire located at 2415 FM 1960 Rd E Humble, TX 77338. Unfortunately one of my rims debeaded on my GTI and I took it to that little tire shop.
The guys at USA Tire and Wheel did a great job with my wheels. I found out the tire had a small leak on the sidewall, which was unrepairable. I ordered new pair of Federal 595SS tires from the shop, and arrived in the afternoon. Gabriel is the guy that mounted and stretched my 215/40/18 tires on a 18×10 rim. He made sure not to scratch my rims and stretched the tires no problem at all. I told them not to go too hard on the impact gun so I can torque the the lug nuts and they did just that.
Satisfied with the work, I take all my tire needs to their shop. When I brought in the Miata, they stretched 205/50/15 Nitto Neo Gen tires on my 15×10.5 BBS RM! I wouldn’t really trust anyone to mount my rims except for them.
If they don’t have the sizes in stock they can usually get you one by the afternoon or if they cant, it would come in the next morning. They are really chill people and they hook it up on the prices, especially if your ride is nice.
They even mounted the tires on my Advans SA3R rims back when I was squared and fictional fitment.
I recently had my tires replaced on the my Work Kiwamis. I was still rubbing when I had 4 people the car even with the camber. I was embarrassed with all the rubbing and my friends making horrible noises when I rub that I wanted to change my tires. I had 225/35/18 tires which did better then the 225/40/18 but the 225 tire width was a tad too wide. I called up Gabriel in the morning and was able to get a pair of 215/40/18 tires and would arrive in the afternoon.
Now that I live in Houston, driving to Humble was kinda of a distance, a 45 minute drive without traffic to be exact. But other tire shops near my place was charging me an extra $100 just to mount my tires because of the stretch. Not worth it, since Gabriel is real homie, and can stretch my tires with no complaints. He actually enjoys the challenge.
Getting the tire to bead to the rim did take a while because its was an aggressive stretch. More than I had done before or even driven on. We were mounting 215/40/18 tires on the 18×10.5 Work rim. After the 7th attempt we were able to get the tire to bead on the rim with the help of me and the cheetah. The 2nd wheel we got on the first attempt, since we knew what to do. Also the Delinte Tires are really easy tires to stretch just like Toyo, Nankang, and Federal. No sticky, gunky bead sealant was used, just good ol tire lube. I kept the tire pressure to 50psi because with this amount of stretch the last thing you want is the tire to debead or deform. I like the look of it, is just cool in my opinion.
I only paid $150 for everything and that is really cheap for those tire specs and what we did to get the tires to set on the rim. I don’t rub anymore with a full load!!! In matter of fact, I think I can even go lower.
I like to keep the stickers on tires just to show the camber. I like it, and I think this trend is going to catch on especially with the stance cars. Any of you readers are in Houston, come to USA Tire and Wheel in Humble, Texas. They stretch tires, or do track fitments, or 4×4 truck fitments and can get you any size tire by the afternoon or first thing in the morning. What matters the most are, the people are chill and laid back. Check em out next time you need tires.
Shop info:
USA Tire and Wheel
2415 FM 1960 Rd E
Humble, TX 77338
StanceNation Dallas
Been a while since I last posted here but busy with life and priorities. Fortunately I had time off and was lucky enough to be accepted at Stancenation. My roll in time was actually a day before the actual event, which meant I had to leave my car overnight. I didn’t really understand why, but my guess is it wont be soo chaotic if all the cars rolled in at once on the big day.
I worked the night before and was hoping to leave work early but day shift came 30 minutes late and I still had to get clothes for the extra day staying in Dallas. I had no time to eat or wash my car. I just went to my crib, grabbed some clothes, and my camera.
The meeting place was at Greenspoint Mall (AKA GUNSpoint mall) in northeast side of Houston. I rolled out with my buddy Donnie and Mayday Garage was having a Stancenation rollout to Dallas. By the time I got to the meeting point there was about 15 cars and everyone was getting ready leave. Just barely in the nick of time. I love to drive in packs, because it makes the drive less boring and makes long drives feel short. Mind you, I had zero sleep from night shift, and eating my Dunken Donut sandwich combo in the car.
I was glad I got my GTI back from the shop because I was sure enjoying the cool blast of AC. If this was the Miata, I would be miserable because the forecast called for high temps and humidity with a chance of rain. Sucked for Donnie because his CRX has no ac.
At the very last stretch in Dallas it was like all the cars kinda went their separate ways and it seemed like I was leading, for a brief moment. But honestly I had no idea where the meeting point was at for lunch or knew where I was going. I just kept on the highway hoping to find another car to follow. Fortunately I did find a car from Houston and just followed them. Turned out, the meeting point was In and Out Burgers but Donnie and I ended up eating at Pluckers with some people from Southernfresh. I didn’t mind, since it had been a long timeI had pluckers and I was hungry and tired being a awake for 24hrs.
After eating and getting my Pluckers fix, Donnie and I went to our hotel to check in. We got a great deal on our hotel but it was 20 minutes away from the venue. LOL. Thanks to Donnie’s girlfriend, she drove after work from Houston and headed to the venue so she can pick us up.
I didn’t really had time to enjoy the hotel or sleep even because our roll in time was coming up and we didn’t want to be late, thinking we might get a crappy spot. Donnie is a member from team Squirrel Squad, and I ended up rollin with them too. Squirrel Squad is a team mainly based in San Antonio but Donnie was repping the Houston side.
Upon checking in, everybody got free Meguiars quick wax spray and air fresheners. I do love free goodies. At this point I was delirious and just plain tired. The things I do for car shows seems impractical. Dedication.
My car was very dirty, and I haven’t washed my car in over 2 weeks from the Houston rain. Luckily I did remember to bring towels and some quick detail spray, but I was hoping I could have gone to car wash and give my GTI a quick spray at least. Donnie came prepared and had his car detailed the day before the roll in. Fortunately Donnie brought this Meguiars car wash spray, which is actually called Meguiars ultimate wash and wax spray. This was my first time hearing about this product but its literally a life saver, especially at car shows. Basically if you don’t have time to wash your car, then you can use this spray with a clean rag to clean your car. No mess and no fuss. Made my dirty car looked like it came off of the paint shop just dripping wet. My car honestly got more bad looks then good ones, because I’m guessing I was too hella poke in the rears especially. Oh wells.
After cleaning my car, I went around to take some shots of cars. Plus we were waiting on Donnie’s girlfriend to pick up. One of the best things about showing in a show is that you actually can take pics without people in the way and just take your time. You don’t have to stand in line for the doors to open or battle the crowds to wait for that one shot. Just the perks of being in a show.
Cars were starting to roll in and people detailing their cars for big event tomorrow. Mayday Garage RX7s are definitely a show stopper. This is David’s RX7 with the Car Shop Glow LED taillights and I must say it really looks great in person. Just ridding next to this car while heading to Dallas felt like seeing something beautiful for the first time in your life. If there are any RX7 owners, these are a must have, and worth the price. Japanese built and Japanese quality.
All lined up
Now this is Tom’s S2000 and always killing the S2000 game at every show. I remember seeing this car at the Wekfest Austin roll in back in 2012 with Work Misters, shaved and wired tucked engine bay, and unboosted. This time it boosted with super rare Mugen MF10 wheels and more details. Tom took the s2000 to Wekfest LA just to show the Texas scene. This s2000 is wearing the first Car Shop Glow S2000 LED tail lights even before being released to the market at the time of Stancenation.
For those of you wondering what the LED look like in action.
This car has gone a long way since Wekfest Austin 2012, which did win best S2000. Just to give you some perspective.
One the things that is becoming popular is bags and air ride suspension. Air suspension have really gone a long way now in the car scene market. They are more reliable and the support is readily available on most cars. You have the convenience to be slammed, hard parked, raise it up for driving, and then go 4×4 when you go over bumps with a push of a button. I will eventually go bags but I still like riding static and slammed just because set it and quit it.
Booty
Faces
Mazda 3 on rebarreled Work Emitz with overfenders. Wish I didn’t sell my Emitz and just rebuilt them. Maybe that was the Emitz I had…. or maybe this one……
Oooohh kill em with the copper bronze, deep dish
This Lexus has the AIMGAIN widebody body kit is one the VIP heavy hitters in Texas. I don’t think there was one part on the car that wasn’t touched with some type of VIP accents.
On point fitment.
VIP everything.
The Euro scene was also strong at Stancenation. I like the how VW can play the OEM plus style very well. I remember when I used to rock the Mercedes Alphards on the GTI but then I went for more stance and poke. Sigh.
Leo’s creamy clean MK4 GTI. This guy also drives a 135i convertible with TE37s or BBS E50. Showing the euro scene from Houston.
I heard this VW was static. The one thing about VWs, is either you are bagged and laid out, or static and laid out. Or on the other side of the spectrum, raised 4×4 status.
S line.
This Mercedes is owned by the guy the that drove a green custom bagged MK1 Rabbit at Wekfest Houston last year. That rabbit used a beer keg as a gas tank and I thought it was the air tank. Soo much custom work and attention to detail on that rabbit. The owner did all the custom work too all the way from Kansas. This year he sold that car for this Merc and Im sure next time I see this car it will probably be on bags, shaven doors, and more euro goodies
This M3 was sporting the Euro JDM look rocking the Work Equips.
The Miata gang. NA, NB, and NC.
2JZ no shit. This will decimate all.
This was a clean and simple Lexus. Just wheels and a drop will completely change the look of a car.
Much fitment on this TL with upsized BBS RS wheels.
The TL, by the way, is a boosted V6… vtec
Team 16niss always having some the best cars out there.
Team BRG also with killing it the crazy fitments.
Rat rod is always cool. Style and looks comes first and safety is the last priority.
A Takata tow strap for a touch of JDM
This Honda wagon from team status was clean and simple with a shaven and wire tucked engine bay.
This wagon has extended top hats with wheel arches raised so the upper control arm wont smash into the body. Something you don’t notice unless you know something about honda suspension when slamming it. The reason why most people wont notice, is because this was done cleanly and not hacked at, just flows with the car. Its all in the details.
Seen this car at many shows, and has a LED stars in the engine bay. VIP.
Wrapped cars seem to be big this year too. Still want to keep your paint? Wrapping is another alternative.
The new 86 rocking the louvers.
Pop that trunk with custom air setup and hardwood floors.
Emmanuel’s murdered out TL type S. Daily static too.
Mervyn’s recently bagged Genesis from team Prospekts. I think every single car in that team is bagged.
Manny’s dope TSX, from team Apokalypse on aggressive Work LXZ, and a new updated Mugen front bumper. This car also has gone a long way since Wekfest Austin 2012.
This is the first Stancenation show in Texas and I was glad show in it. I wish my camber arms came in time for the show, but getting in is an accomplishment considering how many cars applied to be in the show. A lot of quality builds and I hope they will have one next year, but this time in Houston or Austin. The 4.5 hr drive plus no rest was very tiring. As soon as I got to my hotel that night, I just passed out.
ae86 hatch update — super duper long awaited
Soooo… I think the last update I had on my hatch was almost a year ago. When I was pulling out the 16v and dropping in my 20v. The last post featuring the hatch was 8/6 day of last year, 8 months ago. Over the last 8 months this is, in short, the progress of the hatch:
-broke down
-20v didn’t run properly
-pulled motor
-stripped interior
-swapped levin front end from coupe to hatch
-fiberglass doors
-mounted shine auto trd style wing
-new sideskirts
-custom DIY purple plastidip
-slammed
-f20c swap
I’ll pick up from where I left off from the story of the coupe:
As soon as I got the coupe up and running with the 20v, I began to focus on reviving the hatch. Which at the moment, had no front suspension and I mean NOTHING.
You do not want to miss this event, this will be the largest meet in the Austin area this summer. pass the word along and make sure to save the date.
Renegade X Sarupbuhay summer meet
— Saturday June 8th 2013
— 8:45pm – 11:15pm
— at Pho Thasion
9500 North Interstate 35 Frontage Road, Austin, TX 78748
Sponsors:
— Loyal KNG
— Lead Industries
— Natsukashi Garage
— Squirrel Squad
— Grip Royal
DJ MIK ONE out of Houston will be playing music for your ear holes.
King Ptolemy of Austin will be debuting his second album demo
Kawaii Lani will also be making an appearance
Coupe Update pt. 2 — OBSESSION
Dec. 20, 2012
So after the coupe was painted, I decided it was about time to get the car looking like a whole car again. Most people around town knew me as the guy with all the 86’s (which happen to always be missing a body panel). So I decided to piece the coupe together to be as close to 100% appealing to the eye as possible. So first thing first, was to get the rear over fenders to fit the 15×9 -41 rear work equips.
Just look at that… NOT CUTE
Natsukashi Garage 