Track Maintance

Posted on August 10, 2016 by chamba002

A good rule of thumb, at least with me, is to do oil changes every 4 track days or every 3k miles, whichever comes in first. Another good thing to do that is often overlooked, is to do brake flushes once a year. I visited my buddy Fernando that owns Backyard Auto for my oil change and brake flush.

Brake fluid is corrosive. Eventhough the brake lines are a closed system, they do get dirty and can significantly impair brake performance. If you don’t track your car its still a good idea to do yearly brake flushes. Its maintenance that will keep your car running forever and avoid serious complications later.

I use Motul dot 5.1 brake fluid for my M3. Motul dot 5.1 does the job for the track abuse and normal city driving. My experience from the track, is the Motul performs exceptionally well and never had them boil. The brake pedal feels consistently firm and great bite. I can modulate the brake pedal nicely to adjust my braking distance. Only at COTA is when I had brake fade issues but I think that track exceeded the stock brake system. If I had race brake pads and fluids then it wouldn’t be an issue. Motul dot 5.1 is little more expensive than normal dot fluid but its way cheaper then higher temp brake fluids. For me its the perfect match for track abuse and city driving. The M3 only required one bottle for the stock brake system.

While I was doing waiting, I notice within one week I managed to crack my lip. Comes with the territory when tracking. Unfortunately during TX86 Day, there was a cone in the middle of course and I was unable to avoid it. The lip is still intact but you can see the crack is visible. Battle scars.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Backyard-Auto/1098057443561688

Texas 86 Day

Posted on August 7, 2016 by chamba002

Soon after coming off from a 12hr shift I headed straight to HPD training academy for TX86 day. I was pretty tired but my tiredness soon went away when I arrived.

TX86 day was a event hosted by the people from NST on August 6, hence 86 day. That day celebrates the Toyota AE86 and the newer Scion FRS, and Subaru BRZ. TX86 didn’t allow non 86 owners to participate, but they did offer a pre screening for some slots. Luckily I was one of the few that was allowed to drive at the track.

When I arrived there where already a lot of 86 owners that was getting ready for the driving event or the car show. I was contemplating if I should grip or drift, but after seeing the famous Taka Aono do a drift session I made up my mind to go drifting. I brought my spare wheels with brand new Nexin N9000 rubber and slapped them on the rear.

It was super hot and humid that only got worse in the afternoon. Regardless, people stayed for the show and grip/drift event. From past experiences at that track, its always a good idea to bring drinks for hydration.

This Lexus IS300 fitment was spot on. One of the few non 86s that was allowed to drive at the track.

It even has an old school Nardi wheel and roll cage for tandem drifts. They didn’t allow tandem drifts at this event and kinda glad becuase Im not at that level.

This yellow FRS is rocking Volk TE37RTs with Advan Neovas, and dressed in TRD accessories. Most the cars drifted the course but this car looked well planted focusing on grip. Seems like with this chassis you can tune it for grip or drift, it does both pretty well.

A right hand drive AE86 that was in the show section. Sporting some very deep dish Work wheels and sticky Nitto NT01s.

Looked like a work in progress but headed in the right direction.

A FRS/BRZ rocking the Varis body kit in the show section. The aero looks soo aggressive that it could do a time attack.

The Volk and Brembro combo looking nice.

Slammed BRZ in the show section. I remember when I was about that life.

Simon Chan’s TSX.

Neon interior light for JDM.

Simon setting up the drift course for the RC cars.

RC drift action.

The NST booth that hosted the event. The black AE86 with the NST logo is actually Taka Aono old drift car in the OG days.

The AE86 with the red wheel is Taka Aono current drift car that competes in the Formula Drift series. It produces 700hp!

The 700hp beating heart.

Taka Aono and Yoshie Shuyama offer drift school in California. I feel pretty thankful that they came from California to Houston to celebrate 86 day. The VIP drivers got an opportunity to get lessons, which I felt like I missed out on. I didn’t get a chance talk to them personally but I could tell they made their passion into a career and thats something I want to work towards too. I like nursing but my passion has been racing.

Simon Chan was able to get a dope picture of me sliding and kicking dirt up.

Another shot by Simon Chan.

After 24hrs of no sleep, a day of just drifting and catching up with friends the tiredness caught to me again. Next thing I knew, it was 4pm and was hotter than an oven.I had a great time but I was feeling the heat. So I switch to my Volks, packed my gear, and headed home. Till next year, I hope I can join TX86 day again!

I think its only appropriate to end this coverage with my homie Thaison and his newly acquired AE86 Black Edition. Thaison just slapped on Work Equips and really gives that Hawaiian/Cali look to it. Dope photo taken by the famous Simon Chan.

http://www.tx86day.com/

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86 Day Drift

Posted on August 7, 2016 by chamba002

SCCA Track night: MSR Cresson

Posted on August 4, 2016 by chamba002

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.

SCCA track night Harris Hill

Posted on July 16, 2016 by chamba002

Ever since my first track day at COTA, I’ve been going to track events once a month. But this will be my first time at an SCCA track night event, and I wish I knew about these events sooner. Its like HPDE except its a lot cheaper, with fewer sessions and you learn at your own pace without an instructor.

Harris Hill is about a 30 min drive from Austin, with elevation changes and long sweepers. My friend Jason, with his track oriented Miata was able to join in on the action. It was our first time at this track, so we joined the novice group. Thankfully there were only 7 cars in the novice class. Probably the Texas summer heat might be to blame for low number of cars but I wasn’t complaining. I hate to race in a crowed track.

SCCA track night is $150 which includes three 20 min sessions. The novice class also gets paced laps before the beginning of the first session, and drivers meeting between sessions. Luckily SCCA does offer discounts and I was able to get $25 off. The people are pretty chill and its about having fun in your car. You get to experience what a track day in a chill atmosphere. You don’t get an instructor, but in the paced laps, the lead car shows you the preferred line. I still like HPDE becuase they offer instructors and more track sessions (5), but the price sometimes is too much for some people. SCCA track night just makes it more affordable to the general public.

Unfortunately my lap timer was acting up and I wasn’t able to time myself but I still had a blast. My first impression was this track is slow but its decently fast. I was able to hit 110 mph on the straights with no brake fade! The stock M3 brakes are more than capable for track use. The only time I had brake fade was at COTA with stock brakes, Im pretty sure if I get track pads and higher boiling point brake fluid then it wouldn’t be an issue. I can really feel the g forces in the long fast sweeper. Harris hill is mainly a 2nd to 4 gear track. The only thing I didn’t enjoy so much was how bumpy the track was. My suspension isn’t super stiff, but if you are not careful the bumps could upset your car and lose control. I didn’t run into any issues, but it was a rough ride that my helmet would occasionally hit the roof. During the drivers meeting, the SCCA track host gave us pointers around the track which did help avoid some of the bumps. By my third session, I was pushing the car harder and I really enjoyed the capabilities of the M3. I will be back again.

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Dreaded Bleeder Screw

Posted on July 15, 2016 by chamba002

Since I do a track event once a month, and its the middle of Texas the summer. I knew I would be racing in 100 degree plus heat. I was nervous about about overheating during my next track day at Harris Hill. With my M3 hitting 60k miles, and just a week before track day, I took my car to ABR Houston for a coolant flush. Unfortunately the plastic bleeder screw is fragile and can break easily, which is what happened on my way home after the leaving the shop. My low coolant light came on midway driving home. I immidiately added distilled water from a nearby grocery store and the low coolant light never came back on. But when I got home and opened the hood…

Looks like the expansion tank spilled coolant everywhere! I was totally bummed and worried that I wont be able to make it for my upcoming track day. I let the car cool down and called the guys at ABR Houston. The service advisor informed me that some coolant did spill out during the radiator flush but when I first popped the hood to add distilled water the amount of spilled coolant was minimal. I didn’t really worry but I started thinking…. It only got worse when I arrived home after adding distilled water. I didn’t overfill the expansion tank since there is a bevel that tells the max level. You could still see the fresh coolant around the bleeder screw.

After letting the car cool and being all bummed about what happened I started to wipe the dried coolant from the engine bay. As I was wiping the expansion tank the top of the bleeder screw came off!!!

Worse case scenario, I have a partial screw that is stuck in the expansion tank. I did some research and found out that the plastic bleeder screw is known to break easily. I called up ABR Houston and spoke to Alex about the situation. Alex, the shop owner, was nice enough to drive from his shop to my apartment in downtown, and this was during rush hour! Alex was able to remove the broken bleeder screw with a left handed drill bit. The left handed drill bit catches on screw and which enables the screw to turn counter clockwise. The broken bleeder screw was replaced with an aluminum bleeder screw that wont break. So I was able to make it to my track day and race without any issues. The guys at ABR Houston know how to work on BMWs and really take pride their work. ABR Houston also did my engine bearing replacement the beginning of this year. VAC coated bearing with ARP rod bolts and no problems so far.

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Learning Levels of Grip

Posted on June 12, 2016 by chamba002

Recently my last track day, the forecast called for thunderstorms. This was a good thing because I wanted to feel how summer tires fair in the wet when you are really pushing the limit. I was on worn out Nitto NT05, and on the dry they are great tires. This is actually my 2nd set and the cheapest 200 treadwear tire for my size. I would like to thank Alex from http://www.street-form.com/blog with the dope pics!

Unfortunately I didn’t have a tent for my tools and spare wheels so those got soaked. At least I didn’t need to use them. Out on the track its was a challenging to drive clean and being careful not to go off course.

What I learned racing in the wet:

1. Don’t go all out in your first run….. I noticed people at the track tend to go all out when its the beginning of the session. For me, thats not how I do it. How can you run if you can’t crawl, right? If you go balls to walls on the first run, you have a higher chance of spinning out or worse crashing becuase you are not familiar with the course or track surface. I like to go smooth and steady first and learn the course before I really push it. Slowly increasing speed and braking later with each run. You got all day, whats the rush.

2. Nitto NT05 work well in the rain even in when its worn out! I thought I was going to be all over the place but for the most part my car felt stable and grip was there. There is a long sweeper on the course and I was thinking the NT05 wont be able to turn in the wet but it gripped! I was even adding gas to the sweeper to see if it would understeer but I got oversteer, which isn’t a bad thing. I want oversteer instead of understeer becuase you can turn the car in better and can control it better (if you get it right). When the tires did loose grip, it was still predictable and progressive. The NT05 gave me confidence to push harder. I never had a sense that I was all over the place.

My tires my before track day

My tires after tack day. They wore out pretty fast even in the rain, but I was running nonstop with a couple of 15 mins rest sessions.

3. You can’t go as fast compared to the dry… Duh. I know it sounds dumb and common sense but to actually experience this is something that you really understand. The grip is very low in the wet and its something you have to account for. Your braking comes in sooner, than in the dry, and the pedal modulation is more sensitive to your input. I was learning to control the tires from spinning too much or sliding out of control. Hydroplaning is a big thing to watch out for and trust me when it was pouring, like cats and dogs, it felt like those tightrope walkers. One wrong move and its the end. You have to find that very small window of grip because too much or too little gas, brakes or steering can send you out of control. The faster you go, that small window of grip becomes even smaller. Yes is did go off course a couple of times but that is becuase of driver error and not the car. Here is video of me learning the course then losing it but luckily managed to stay on course.

4. A wider tract makes a difference! So last week before this event I went on to a autocross and I took off my spacers, because I was worried of rubbing. Well since it was raining I didn’t want to get wet removing my spacers, so I kept it on. I can tell the 15mm spacer made a significant difference. The 15mm spacer in the rear made the car feel more stable and planted than without the spacer. I was feeling this in the rain, what more when its dry!

Managed to get 0.8g in the wet! I honestly don’t know how accurate that is but I was using my iPhone for my car telemetry.

5. Its okay if your car gets dirty. Maybe I should pull up to Wekfest like this….

My fastest time I manage to get with a semi wet track:

My experience in drifting

Posted on March 21, 2016 by chamba002

First post of 2016 lol. Since my last post of the M3 I haven’t done much to it, except for engine bearing upgrade but more on the that on a later post. I’m here to talk about my racing adventures.

I have been out enjoying my M3 in what it was built for in the first place…. to take it to the track and have fun!

I have wanted to take M3 to the limit but in a safe controlled manner and not worry about going to jail. HPDE (High Performance Driving Education) is fun and you get to race in cool tracks but its too expensive to do frequently. More like Im able to to do that once or twice a year. Autocross is cool but they don’t allow sliding and it seems to be a more serious crowd focusing on times when you are mainly in 2nd gear. Why time yourself if you are (for the most part) in 2nd gear? I would do autocross to learn car control, I don’t really care for the fastest time. BUT autocross is way cheaper than HPDE. Then there is drifting…..

Drifting is the driving technique you not suppose to do when at the track. You are purposely upsetting the car balance to make it slide around the corner. Its the slowest way around the corner but most entertaining. Drift events are usually the same price as autocross, just more fun in my opinion.

I recently found out Houston has drift events once a month for a really good price. The first event I went to was TXDF and its $55 to drift or grip (the organizers are pretty chill) at a closed facility. Its usually all day thing and the crowd is a bunch or regular car people that want to get some seat time for cheap and car tuning. For $55 I can do that once a month! Its nowhere near as fast like COTA or MSR but still $55 versus $300-$500 every month.

TXDF is held at the Houston Police Academy track. I found out about TXDF though Facebook and it was the day of the event. They have drift events once a month so you will probably be seeing more of me there. I didn’t even bring tools or spares, I just drove the M3 and paid at the entrance. The drift course is a 2nd gear course so you can focus on gas and steering input.

Then I did Lone Star Drift Round 1, and that was more of a serious event than TXDF since its an actual completion. They do offer practice session which is the same course as the participants drift in. In the past events, they had another course for beginners but this time they didn’t have that. I actually did prepare for the event this time. I brought my tools and spare tires stuffed it in the back of the trunk.

The first corner entry is 3rd gear, and I did hit 70ish mph before braking. This proved difficult for me, because it was too hard shifting into 2nd while maintaining the slide. The S65 motor is the high revving V8; therefore, I didn’t have to shift into 3rd gear. I just focus on the gas and steering inputs. Master basics first before doing advanced stuff. The M3 felt strong and I only let the M3 rest once because I had to readjust the GoPro. By the end of the day I was connecting the corners.

I do love how the BMW M3 chassis is engineered for grip or drift. Depending on the drivers actions you can do both easily. I didn’t trailer my car, I just simply showed up and it ran like a champ! Pretty thankful because I’ve seen other cars that look like they spend way more money than I did and were having issues. The M3 is truly a car to take to the track and then the same day go do your groceries.

The Impractical Daily

Posted on September 4, 2014 by chamba002

It has been also a long time with any updates with my Miata and a lot has happen after only owning it for one year .

I first bought the car May 2013 for a cheap deal. The Miata came rims, coilovers, bucket seats, and other bolt on parts but NO ac or power steering. Kinda weird because this car is my daily while the GTI, which has AC, is a special occasion car. The thing was, the Miata is a convertible roaster, and if you haven’t driven one, then you are missing out on life. The car was already upgraded and looked nice, but soon the bug bit me and I started changing things to make it more of my own car. First thing I did a complete maintenance overhaul, because I wanted the car to last for a long time and be reliable. The car when I bought it only had 130,000ish miles on it.

After the maintenance part was done, I started changing things. The first thing on the car to be changed was the seats. The car came with the red racer boy seats. Personally I didn’t really like the seat because on long journeys the seat would become uncomfortable and the quality was alright. I was getting back aches and having to pull over at gas stations to stretch. I had to change that immediately. Since I have a Status seat in the GTI I wanted one the Miata. Status Racing is a brand of quality, safety, and good looks. There are no knock offs of Status Seats and its FIA approved so you know they are legit for racing. Luckily, being in the car culture, I met someone that was selling a seat and got the homie hook up. I paired my Status Racing seat with Garage Star seat rails.

The installation was a breeze. The Status Seat looked perfect and the Garage Star seat rails hold it in. I sold the the red seats and to this day I still have no passenger seat. Main reason is because putting in a stock seat won’t compliment the car and I didn’t want to buy knock offs either. Then it just so happens I have a Grip Royal steering wheel lying around, for quite some time, and replaced the old eBay steering wheel. I also bought NRG hub adaptor too for the steering wheel, the blue hue matches well with the blue paint job.

Later on, I noticed the factory seat belt would randomly detach itself and the 4 point eBay seat belts wasn’t much good either. The back harness was incorrectly installed, WHICH is scary. The last thing you want during a crash is your seat belt to break. I was honestly scared to drive this car for that reason.

^^^ The top pic shows the 4 pt eBay harness wasn’t wrapped around a harness bar, but instead it was laid over a style bar which is the wrong to install a 4pt harness. Style bars are not used as harness bars. The rear harness was attach to the seat belt, along with the side harness, and that has putting too much stress on the stock stead belt bolts. This car was a death trap to happen.

I wanted to make my car safe to drive just and know my safety equipment wont break. I bought an OMP 4 point racing harness which is FIA approved and a Hard Dog harness bar. I choose OMP because not many people in the States use them, but FIA approved, and I want to be different from the others. The correct way is to the wrap the rear harness straps to the harness bar and not the seat belt mounting points. Here is the link on how to wrap a harness on a bar: http://www.schroth.com/installation-instructions/en/05_restraint_installation.htm. After searching craigslist, I manage to score a cheap deal on a Hard Dog roll bar. I noticed this also improved chassis stiffness and race car looks.

Starting to get tired of the XXR, I wanted to find legit rims. The good thing about the Miata is legit 16-15″ rims are relatively cheap compared to legit 18″ rims. I found rare set of Advan SA3R rims with the center caps for cheap!! I sold the XXR to my homie and I bought the Advans. I loved the look of the style. The Advans matches the era of the car well and had the tracked functional fitment. Surprisingly, the Advans are heavier than the XXR but the Advan SA3R was made in the 90s and the forging technology was different back in the day. But I rather have legit wheels over fake wheels any day. I have nothing against fake wheels but please don’t put “Volk” “BBS” or other name band stickers on rep wheels or say its a legit wheels but actually its a rep. Its just tacky when people do that.

Then I was pulled over twice in one week for no front plates. Felt like it was a dumb excuse for the cop to stop you, so they can check if you have any outstanding warrants or give you a ticket with something dumb. I got away with a warning but that was annoying and a bought a Garage Star front plate holder. Till this day I haven’t been pulled over by a cop.

After a while, I wanted to be ricer and I changed the stock muffler to a lightweight Apexi muffler. My set up is super loud, like it literally will make your ears ring. I do like the ricer fly bys this car makes. Never gets old.

Made my own custom piping with the classic jdm angle. Car gives a mean growl and sounds fast too haha.

Then the stance bug hit me hard. I love the functional track set up but I really miss stance and yeah my GTI has that but I wanted it also on the Miata. I was browsing the wheel forums and came a across a nice set of BBS RM with really aggressive specs. I wasn’t sure if it was going to fit but I wanted it and determined to make it fit. I contacted the owner and bought the rims the next week.

Even with maxed stock camber and a lot of fender pulling it was a wide load. I had two options, I can go over fenders or more camber. Noticing over fenders is popular this year (2014) with rocket bunny kits and liberty walk kits, I wanted to do something not soooo popular. I went for demon camber. With the amount of poke i had, I knew I needed extreme camber. Demon camber or ONI camber is something very controversial in the car community. People really love it or people really hate it. I know most track or Miata purist would be mad but I don’t give a damn.

Negative 12 camber. No rubbing and no issues. I like this look a lot, its something different and unique.

Tired of the red, white blue colors I painted the finish panel blank for the JDM look and less subtle. then the red finish panel. People used to call this the smurf car but not anymore.

Added stickers to the interior for my personal touch and I had to rock Cambergang of course.

This dog seems to love my car.

Tired of the weak factory headlights, I came across a group buy from Top Miata. I bought Jass Performance low pro headlights!!! Its worth the money and big light upgrade too! The headlights are upgraded to H4 bulbs which is more brighter than the factory sealed bulbs. Plus the look of the headlights matches the car perfectly, slim and low proflile. Not many people have these lights and kinda glad they don’t, because I want to be different.

I rocked no fenders for a while because I got into a wreck. Don’t want to talk about that. But I did like the no fender look, reminded me of the rat rods.

I did by new fenders but not factory ones. I got fiberglass D1 style fenders. Something different that you don’t see everyday. The rubbing did go away after cutting the inside of the fender a bit.

Yep its daily driven and static.

Thats pretty much of what is going on with the Miata. Next major upgrade would be replacing the coilovers to BC Racing or 326 power. We had our ups and downs but I very much like this car and way it has turned out. I daily this car because I like the persona this car gives, the way it drives, and the character it has attainted over this past year. I know my car is not everybody cup of tea, Ive seen and heard people say crap about my car, but I don’t care. You don’t build cars to get people’s approval, built it to your taste and style. The car is a blank canvas and you are the painter.

Lam Photography BTS (Behind the scene)

Posted on August 6, 2014 by chamba002

What all started out as a joke ended up becoming a legit photo shoot. When I got my GTI back from the shop I would joke to Lam to do a shoot of my car because the Miata shoot was soooo bad ass. I recently got my camber arms and dialed the stance on my GTI with the Work Kiwami. My car was looking really good and happy the way it turned out. I gave the GTI a full detail, and noticed she never really got a good proper shoot. I txted Lam that night about shooting for fun and decided to do the shoot that weekend. I never really thought it was going to be serious one till he told me the photo shoot would be for a possible magazine feature.

When I heard that, I was really excited and hope I can get the feature. I put a lot of hard work and dedication on this car and if someone can also appreciate it enough to be a feature I would be stoked. I literally didn’t drive my GTI for the rest of week until the last day before the shoot. Unfortunately when heading back home, Texas weather likes to play tricks and it rained hard. The wax on the car did a good job beading up the water but it seemed to collect in the rear trunk. Hatchbacks always have this problem.

The day of the photo shoot arrived and was going to do a quick wash of the car in the morning but I wanted to workout. I went ham on the worked out with my homie Marc but when I got home I was crashing hard on the pre workout. I was laid out, lying on the couch, just waiting for my friend Manny to come over since he wanted to chill at the shoot. On a side note, look for a upcoming feature of Manny’s bagged TSX on the blog soon!

As usual Im on Filipino time and the last one to arrive at the meeting spot. I just like to be fashionably late. Then we all headed out to the secret photoshoot location. Sorry Lam doesn’t want to give out his locations on where he shoots.

My other friend Bun also came to do BTS for Modelsta Mag and his own photography business Invisible Rabbit Photography. Bun came prepared and brought all of his camera gear to shoot. I forgot to bring my camera so I used iPhone.

Lam is such a playa he even know models. Sally was cool enough to model for the shoot, without being nervous surrounded by guys.

Umbrellas are not just useful in the rain but also when using flash on your photography

Tony and Manny were mainly the human tripod, better flash angles.

It was a good day, chilling with your friends and just doing cool things. Even if I don’t get the magazine feature, Im still going to take the photos, make it into a collage and frame it, because memories.

Natsukashi Garage repping.

Natsukashi Garage

life journeys of friends and their cars

Category Archives: Euro

Track Maintance

Texas 86 Day

86 Day Drift

SCCA Track night: MSR Cresson

SCCA track night Harris Hill

Dreaded Bleeder Screw

Learning Levels of Grip

My experience in drifting

The Impractical Daily

Lam Photography BTS (Behind the scene)