renegade x sarupbuhay

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

Fumoto oil drain plug install and Dieselgeek Panzer skid plate update

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After doing my Unitronic Stage 2 tune, I decided to change my oil every 3,000 miles instead of the 10,000 mile oil change service from VW. I figured the more frequent oil change will help improve the engine life since the boost is increased and keep the engine feeling fresh.

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I bought my Fumoto oil valve drain from ECS tuning. The part is pretty straight forward, remove the old oil pan bolt and then then replace it with Fumoto oil valve drain. The valve is simple to use and it eliminates the risk of someone over tightening or striping the oil pan drain bolt.

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To do the oil change I needed to remove my skid plate, and you can see my skid plate is put to work. For anyone slammed status or just want to protect your oil pan and transmission BUY the Panzer Diselgeek skid plate. Houston roads are horrible, Ive hit reflectors, bumps, small rocks, and dips going 80mph. You’ll hear a loud bang and see sparks but its just the skid plate.

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You can see the two bottom bolts that hold the skid plate were cut down paper thin from the roads. Thats low life, some people dont get it but thats fine, you dont need to. I used my adjustable wrench and pliers to remove those bolts.

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After i got those removed, the two front bolts holding the skid plate were in good condition, because they were not exposed to the road and carnage.

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I used a 30mm socket to remove the bolts.

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You can see the diference from the bolts and how much I scrape. Since the two bolts are scar faced, i bought new bolts from Dieeselgeek and its a direct replacement.  I only waited one day to get my bolts with the basic shipping.

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With my aluminum skid plate off, it may not look thick but its not weak. I can tell Dieselgeek did some engineering  because you cant see any bends, open holes, or deformities.  The skid plate can take a beating.

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After seeing all the scrape marks from the skid plate, Im sure if didn’t have it I would have been stuck on road with a busted oil pan or transmission several times. The skid plate already paid for itself many times!

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With the skid plate off, I can now get to the oil pan. I used a 18mm socket to remove the OEM oil drain bolt and let the oil drain out.

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The Fumoto oil valve drain plug has a lever were you move it to open and close the valve. You can see there is a spring, to lock the lever in place to prevent it from coming lose. Fumoto also comes with an extension and washers but you dont need a extension for the MK5 GTI.

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After the oil has drained, hand tread the Fumoto oil drain bolt. Then use a 18mm socket and torque it to the factory spec 22lbs. Now you dont have to worry about someone over tightening or striping the oil pan bolt! The Fumoto oil drain valve makes oil changes easier and less messy. I just have to put back my skid plate.

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When putting back my skid plate I had some clearance issues. My Fumoto oil valve bolt was touching my skid plate. No big deal though, I use a hack saw and cut of a part of the tubing.

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Ahhh, more clearance.

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Dont forget to add thread locker to the bolts when attaching the skid plate!

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My illest sticker holding up pretty well.

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With the car on leveled ground, time to put the oil. The oil I used was OEM spec, Castrol Edge 5w-40. The engine uses 5 quarts but I used 4.75 quarts when my dipstick showed it was max level. I left it that way because overfilling is bad for the seals and gaskets. After topping off the GTI with oil, I drove it around and no problems. I didn’t change my oil filter because it is rated for 10,000 miles before I need to change it. Just some basic maintenance to keep my car healthy.

TX2K13

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Texas 2K13 is a yearly car event were all high power cars from all over the United States come to Texas to compete in a 3 day race event. The event was held at Lonestar Motorsport Park which is the home of Hennessy Performance. After my hospital orientation I headed down to TX2K13, it wasn’t that bad of a drive, just 45mins from Houston (without traffic). The cars that showed up were V8 muscle cars, Supras, GTRs, RX7s, Corvettes, Italian supercars, Mercedes, Sport bikes, High HP SUVs and trucks. Rolling up in my stanced, Unitronic stage 2 tuned GTI was probably one of the lowest horsepower cars out there.

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Import Alliance End of Winter Meet

When I first found out about import alliance back in high school I made it a goal of mine to make it to one of their meets. Ideally I would want to go to the Nashville or Atlanta ones since that’s where all the heavy hitters attend, but money and time always lead me away from it. To my luck, however, they hosted one at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth and a few of us Natsukashi guys (and gals) took to go.

The quality at this meet was outstanding. Yes there were the typical fake parts and no heart builds but you can really see the cars that shine with their creators heart. It’s the builds and the people behind them that constantly remind me of how fortunate I am to be apart of this scene.

P.S. I took a stab at editing photos for the first time, any criticism is welcome!

We decided to stay at the Best Western in Roanoke, Texas. This was the first time that we were stationed at some place that wasn’t way off in the boon docks. It was great!
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After much anticipation, I present CCM13 part 1

Sorry for the long wait guys and gals, I had a final I was studying for on top of being busy with all of the end of the semester things. So here it is. I want to break this up into at least a two part ordeal since we have TONS of photos. My apologies for things not being edited, but I don’t want to make you all wait anymore. If you use/take any of these photos please tag us, and give us credit! Thanks!!

So for the journey we all decided to meet up at my place in Round Rock the Friday before. To my surprise Thaison had gotten in the stickers which we thought weren’t going to make it in time. Since they did we slapped them on before rolling out. This was my favorite picture which just happened to be on Cody’s sweet wagon. Don’t you just love the sparkles?

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track day — more to come!

So this past Saturday, Branden and I went down to Harris Hill Road for the “Mazda Raceway Outlaw Autocross.”  Essentially, a higher speed autocross, where we got to run a section of Harris Hill Road with a couple slaloms down the side straight, back straight, and before the dam turn.

Here’s a look at the track:

A really fun, technical course with elevation changes.  There was a slalom between 3 & 4, 5 & 6, and 7 & 8.  Gridding was in the pit and the finish was right before turn 9.  Needless to say, it was a suuuuuper fun day.

More to come on this event soon!

tearing up the slaloms!

tearing up the slaloms!

Late Valentines Day Greetings

Sometimes you just happen to stumble upon the greatest people in the world. For me, cliche enough, one of those people is my girl friend of over 2 years now. Last night, on Valentines day when I contemplated selling my hatch again she told me this:

I may not know a lot about cars, and I may get bored at meets from time to time, but that doesn’t stop me from loving what you do. It especially doesn’t stop me from admiring all the hard work and effort you put into cars. I’ve never seen anyone so passionate about a lifestyle before… And you have this fire inside that is always set a blaze when you meet other car enthusiasts especially JUST like you. Your love for this hobby is so great that you’ve got someone like me.. Who doesn’t have a clue about cars appreciate and respect it as much as you do if not the same amount. What you contribute to the  auto community is irreplaceable. Sure people like to out flashy and expensive things in their cars, but they forget what it all comes down to. It isn’t about who is the best… It’s about sharing your love for a hobby, a lifestyle, call it what you may. This is why I know why many of your friends don’t understand why you do things that you do. I may not know what exactly it is that you add or change up on your car, but I do know why you do it. Some people might do it for silly reasons and some may think that you’re silly… But I think you’re passionate. Seeing you happy and satisfied with what you have is absolutely rewarding

If you find someone that understands you like she does me, hold on to them forever. And with that, I now have a new burst of inspiration to continue work on the hatch. One day Ill make it do this:

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-BChaisorn