Something Special

When most people come to us for work, they're usually shown the door if they're not bringing in an Evo or DSM. However, every once in a while we'll be presented with a project that's just TOO amazing to turn down. Introducing: Joseph. Introducing: Joseph's Lexus IS. Introducing: TOM'S SUPERCHARGER KIT straight from Japan... you can't get more JDM then that. For those of you unfamiliar, TOM'S is like Gucci and there are only two of this kit currently in America. We've got one of them in our hands!

The quality and precision in which this kit was engineered is mind-blowing to say the least. The rubber hoses were thick and sturdy, the core was as light as a feather and some of the piping even had strategically placed indentations to insure perfect fit! Moreover, every single screw, bolt and gasket came in its own compartmentally allocated plastic bag and there were Japanese instruction sheets everywhere. They even included a pen to write with! I can think of a handful of domestic companies who could learn a thing or two from TOM's.

Many of our customers are tech heads to the max looking for the fastest laptop, E.T. or horsepower numbers. Some of them like their cars to look nice doing so. Others -- like Joseph -- are just straight up ballers. Check these out. The car doesn't even have license plates yet!

Sticking with the JDM theme, Joseph with be installing the TOM's supercharger kit in conjunction with HKS's F-Con Engine Management System. F-Con is arguably one of the most advanced, comprehensive management system on the market. Since we're the only HKS certified tuner for miles and miles and miles, Joseph definitely came to the right place. If you thought AEM EMS could do some mean things, wait till you see what's in store for this beast.

We'll be sure to take a few photos after the install and if Jospeh doesn't mind, we'll post his dyno sheets and a few shots of the F-Con in action. Keep posted!

SEMA Baby!

God must have been angry...

A couple of us spent the last week at SEMA and damn was it amazing! The trip definitely got off to a "rocky" start as our cars ran into the stranngesst issues on the way to Las Vegas. Long story short, here is how the commute there went:

4:00 PM - depart
4:30 PM - alternator failure 20 miles out
8:00 PM - finally find way back
8:30 PM - replace alternator
10:00 PM - depart again
5:00 AM: - sharp object in road
9:00 AM - towed to Firestone in LA for new tires
5:00 PM - Car pickup but Firestone notices wheel puncture at the last minute
5:30 PM - JB Weld to the rescue!
6:00 PM - Leave for Vegas

30 hours later: Finally arrive!!

SEMA -- leno & bumblebee??

Aside from the commute, the rest of the trip was amazing! We spent our days split between going to seminars, checking out the exhibits and nights either working or getting sh*tfaced ;). The first 3 days were spent with the serious performance stuff. It was great seeing the new lineups from the manufacturers we support as well as our friends over at HKS, GReddy and AEM. We learned a lot from the seminars too and will be implementing many of the ideas we picked up over the next few weeks.

One of the highlights of the trip was seeing the real life Bumblebee used in the movie! Too bad it couldn't actually transform... Jay Leno's custom e85 C6RS Z06 was there on display as well. Man that thing looks absolutely BEASTLY. GM must have been proud to have those two exhibits. I mean after all, aside from transformers and sick z06s, what else are they good for...

just kidding... kind of...

Forty-Twos?! You have got to be kidding me...

The last 2 days were spent hanging out over at the wheels/tires exhibits. For those of you that have never been to SEMA, the wheels side and the performance parts side are absolute polar opposites of each other. Walking into the wheels exhibit is like going into bling bling ballerdom. Asanti had their precious 42" wheel in giant display being announced "GO BIG OR GO HOME" by an equally giant staff member. The floor was filled with scores and scores of 430s, Murcielagos, Gallardos, Bentleys, Phantoms and the usual sprinkle of McClaren SLRs and Carrera GTs. As expected, these bad boys had some of the SICKEST wheels in existance.

The highlight was having the big tire manufacturers (Michelin, Continental, Yokohama etc...) bring their OEM supported cars. The spectacular lineup included the electric Tesla, the new Audi R8 and that sexy green GT3RS.

Overall, SEMA is everything it's hyped up to be.

quick tip: even if you're not associated with the industry it wouldn't be difficult at all to... "accidentally" wander into one of the exhibits if you happened to be in vegas. security? yeaahhh... not really there. and the ones that are don't really care...

you didn't hear that from us!