Offset Kings / Gridlife Collaboration Show- June 27, 2015

As you all know, JDMC has collaborated with Fatlace over the last few years to bring OFFSET KINGS / SLAMMED SOCIETY to Chicago. This year we are working with Gridlife to bring you an epic track/drift/and car show.

Ticket Information:

Car Show Registration: Payment of $37 covers registration for 1 vehicle (and owner) for the Offset Kings showcase: http://fatlace.com/offsetkings/offset-kings-2015-chicago/ (Note: Additional passengers and attendees may purchase spectator tickets)

Spectator Tickets: Purchase spectator Pre-Sale tickets $20 and bypass the general admission line. Tickets will also be available at the gate. Available here now: http://fatlace.com/offsetkings/offset-kings-2015-chicago/

Driving Event: Payment of $360.00 covers registration for 1 vehicle (and owner). This is a 2 day pass (June 27+28). All drivers will be able to utilize the track on Saturday AND Sunday. Three levels (Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced). Beginners will get a dedicated instructor for the weekend along with 3 classroom sessions. All cars that register for the 2-day track event are also eligible for car show judging (included in cost). Track Registration Available here. https://gridlife.ticketleap.com/trackbattle-round2/dates/Jun-27-2015_at_0600AM

*All tickets purchased from Offset Kings and Gridlife are non-refundable.*
**Media Coverage by JOEY LEE from The Chronicles… **

Facebook event page here: https://www.facebook.com/events/814376385308196/

Duc Trinh’s K20/K24 Honda S2000

Here are some bonus pics of Duc’s Honda S2000 I shot for the last issue of Super Street Magazine. Since the issue has just passed, you probably only have a few days or so to find this at your local news stand. The full story should be available at Super Street’s website in a few weeks or so.

Final Bout Video!

We’re excited to announce that the Final Bout is now ready for pre-sale! We’ve been working on creating a DVD to document and commemorate this event for over a year, and are so proud of the result. This DVD has a 60 minute full feature on Final Bout, plus bonus team edits, driver’s profiles, judges profiles, and a great deal more. Pre-order yours today by clicking here. DVD’s ship out on March 22, 2015. See below for a quick preview.

-Ilia

Produced by:

ClubFR | Unscene Media | 3LLL

Matt Tomczek’s Subaru WRX STI

Thanks again to Patrick Lauder/QuickWorks Photo for sending us another excellent car from the west coast.

Matt has always had a love for the AWD turbo cars from Japan. He gives Gran Turismo credit for this introduction. Not having the means to afford a WRX, Matt started out like many others before him, building a Honda Civic show car. Fast forward 10 years later, Matt was finally able to buy his dream car-a 2007 Subaru WRX STI.

Immediately after purchasing the STI, Matt started his research. Within a few months, an exhaust and a new set of wheels were on order. The modifications stayed fairly simple up until the summer of 2010. At that time he decided to make some bigger changes to the car. New wheels, coilovers, and a switch to E85 for fuel resulted in a nice 350whp 410 ft/lb torque daily driver. He also started participating in local SCCA autocross events and some light track driving.

About 4 months after the last set of modifications the pistons decided they couldn’t take it anymore and Matt ended up with cracked ringlands on pistons 1 and 4. The motor was pulled, torn down, and rebuilt with stronger forged parts and a new larger turbo.

After tuning, the car made 422whp and 457 ft/lb torque. He ran this setup for a little over a year when the injectors started to go bad due to faulty manufacturing. Matt decided to swap those out; add a few new parts like equal length headers, and a new Koyo radiator.

Matt wanted to go a bit wider for autocross, so he added the now very popular “Karlton” fender flares which add almost 60mm of extra space for some seriously massive rubber. Another set of wheels were also ordered, Advan RG-D wheels in 18×10.5” + 15 fitment with 295/30/18 tires at all 4 corners.

Unfortunately the good times didn’t last long. Roughly 3 months after the last re-tune, the motor went again due to bad tuning. The result this time was cracked cylinder walls in cylinders 2 and 4. Feeling fed-up, Matt found another local shop that had an excellent reputation in the Subaru community. The motor was pulled again; cleaned, inspected, and sleeved (Darton sleeves). Everything was put back together and then broken in.

After the break in was complete, Matt pulled out the old turbo setup, intercooler, and headers. He then swapped them for a much larger setup.

Matt decided to go with Extreme Turbo Systems, for a full rotated setup. The kit included a Garrett GTX3576 with Tial .82 exhaust housing, new larger runner equal length headers, and a much larger 4” thick front mount intercooler core with all titanium piping.

Once Matt got everything back together (doing all the work himself), he had to get the car re-tuned at Snail Performance and made 561whp and 587wtq at 28.5psi peak boost. Needless to say, the STI is a monster and makes very good use of the massively wide tires.

Matt’s car is now finally in a state where he can truly enjoy it. He is a true enthusiast and uses the car for everything- autocross, shows, track days, and occasionally daily driving to work. Thanks for checking out this feature and thanks again to Patrick Lauder/QuickWorks Photo for the fantastic captures.

Hakosuka

Over the summer I met up with Brad Sillars to take a few shots of my ’72 Nissan Skyline GTX (Hakosuka). It was nice just to kick back and see another pro shoot my car for once. Unfortunately Brad had some issues with his hard drive and lost most of the photos except for the three exterior shots shown here. I took a few interior shots looking “over his shoulder” which I’m including here as well.

One thing you will probably notice off the bat is that this Hakosuka is fairly low. Not a big deal, right? Once you significantly lower a Hakosuka, there is no factory adjustments for the rear camber and toe. This usually results in extreme negative rear camber. After discussing this issue with jdmlegends, they recommended the Datsun 510 rear camber-toe adjuster kit from Futofab. The weld-on kit required the rear cross member to be removed. While this was out, I had JDML powdercoat the unit as a rust deterrent. Click here to see a pic of the finished kit. Fellow Hako owner Jose from Detroit is currently in the process of putting together a detailed write-up / DIY of this kit. We’ll be sure to post this link up when it’s ready.

Nothing beats 70’s wood veneer. If this was acceptable back then, why is fake carbon fiber frowned upon today? lol. The switches you see here are rear demister, wipers, washer fluid, and fog lights.

I’m loving this overhead shot by Brad.

An original GTX steering wheel in this condition is very hard to find. You’ll notice some subtle gold touches/finishes on the car. This was to indicate/define the car as a GTX model.

Some more interior detail shots. The condition of the interior was one of the main reasons I purchased my Hako. I still need to find an 8-track to see if the player still works.

As I’ve mentioned before, I decided to leave the GTX badges on the car. It seems as if most of the Hakosuka’s imported to the US have GTR emblems. Considering that only a handful of Hako’s state-side are legitimate GTR’s, why the misrepresentation? In Japan most Hako owners who complete a GTR clones also replace the badges. It’s more or less a “homage,” rather then “faking the funk.” Thanks again to Brad for the pics, and be on the look out for a new look and comprehensive shoot later this year.