Índex per Jul-13 a Modified Magazine

I had a bit of an epiphany the other day. I was cruising down the street in our GarageFR-S project car, eyeing the road like a hawk scans a meadow for its prey, but instead of lunch, I was on the lookout for road hazards. The thought of damaging the pristine Rocket Bunny kit fastened to our FR-S made for an uneasy ride that day—not to mention the stress anytime a police car drove by. That’s when it hit me: It’s no fun driving this car! As much as I love how it looks (and boy, does it look good), I want a vehicle that can be driven hard without the worry of taking off a front lip or cutting through a tire. I guess my mind-set about cars is…

Motovicity Distribution, a leading aftermarket auto parts distributor, is running its Ticket to Ride Promotion, which will give away a ’13 Scion FR-S and a ’13 Ford Mustang with an assortment of performance products along with each of the cars. Winners of the project cars will then document the installation of the supplied performance parts, as well as document before and after performance tests. The promotion runs through September 30, 2013, and is open to all current and future Motovicity customers. The lucky two winners will be selected from a random ticket drawing in early October. For more information on the sweepstakes, contest rules, or to register, go to Motovicity.com/tickettoride.…

For most of us, those far too infrequent “Eureka!” moments—when life comes into clearer focus and million-dollar ideas dance in your head—happen on the toilet, in the shower, or halfway through a bottle of Crown Royal. This tends to make it difficult to capitalize on these fleeting moments of clarity, but luckily for Kaizen Tuning’s Scott McIver, his happened while going “ludicrous speed” in his Japanese dream machine. To properly appreciate Scott’s moment of clarity, we need to rewind for a second and take a look at how he got there. As Scott told us, “I was involved in my family’s manufacturing business back in 2000 and made frequent business trips to Japan. I had a free day in Tokyo, so I went down to Ginza to pick up something…

Once you get bit by the tuner bug, it often turns into a full-blown case of Tuneritis, which in severe cases results in an empty bank account and a garage full of project cars. To outside observers, especially those lacking the all-important gearhead chromosome, this may seem like a kind of dementia. But for unapologetic tuner addicts like Steve Devers, it’s a lifestyle he couldn’t escape even if he wanted to (and he doesn’t). This Garden State native somehow managed to skip the IROC-Z stage of puberty that inflicts so many of his fellow New Jerseyites, instead getting his start in 2001 by spinning wrenches on a Honda CRX when he was just 16. Before he knew it, he’d built six different CRXs before graduating to Integras and then an…

01 VARIS R35 GT-R ’13 VERSION Many Japanese tuners have been slow to produce new looks for the R35 GT-R, but Varis recently debuted an all-new ’13 version that takes aggressive inspiration from the GT3 race car. Carbon louvers on 20mm wider front fenders highlight the kit, which also features original bumpers, side skirts, rear under spoiler, GT wing, hood, trunk, and more. GT-RR.com 02 C-WEST HONDA CR-Z REAR WING Challenging new materials like urethane, aside from FRP, PFRP, and CFRP, C-West’s new ABS resin has eliminated the need for advanced craftsmanship to maintain uniform thickness and has created an even higher quality product than its previous FRP Type. The products have successfully cleared rigorous in-house quality checks and are ready for your car, including this new Honda CR-Z rear…

When I was originally planning Project Super VIII, my intention was to keep it on the stock turbo and push it to its maximum horsepower output. However, if you’re a regular reader of this magazine, you know things never go as planned. The last time the Evo saw a dyno was when it received intake and exhaust bolt-ons and a retune. The peak numbers were 273 whp and 288 lb-ft—not great. Mike Welch at Road Race Engineering said this motor might be a little fatigued, hence the low numbers. He also mentioned that it was showing high knock counts, more so than other similarly modified Evos he’s seen. Perhaps my gamble of buying a high-mileage but completely stock Evo hadn’t paid off. I was hoping that since it had been…

When I started competing in autocross and time attack, one of the first lessons I learned was about the importance of tire pressure as it relates to tire performance and available grip. At first I was just guessing at what the right pressure might be for my car (a BB6 Honda Prelude) based on how much the tires appeared to be rolling over and wearing the outer shoulders. This type of basic experimentation with tire pressures helped me go faster, but I had no idea how an increase or decrease in tire pressure was affecting tire performance across the entire contact patch. All I really knew was what the stopwatch was telling me. It was hardly a scientific approach, though, as lap times are also affected by changes in your…

Acura unveiled a more detailed NSX Concept at the ’13 North American International Auto Show that illustrates tightened body lines and a fully dressed interior, kicking into better focus what the production version of the company’s wicked hybrid supercar will look like. The new Acura NSX Concept is based on the expected underpinnings of the vehicle Acura will bring to market and maintains its low and wide stance with the dynamic and alluring proportions that debuted in the original NSX Concept at the ’12 North American International Auto Show. But the big news is on the inside where we see the design direction of the interior for the first time. Acura says the design concept is founded on a “Human Support Cockpit” theme, a strong expression of Acura’s product direction…

It’s safe to say that the majority of us spent a good chunk of our childhoods glued to a PlayStation controller, pretending to jump behind the wheel of our favorite Japanese dream machines. Though we always wanted to experience that one awesome car in real life, there seemed to be a never-ending list of reasons why we would never get that opportunity—a lack of funds, strict U.S. importation laws, and maybe the fact that we weren’t even old enough to drive legally. Whatever the reason, most of us came to accept that we would probably never get the chance to own or drive one of these cars. For Chris Parker, that digital dream ride was the EK9 Honda Civic Type R. No matter how much time he spent playing Gran…

The original The Fast and the Furious film made building a 10-second car seem pretty straightforward: Do a little illegal street racing, wear a dirty tank top, have a backyard barbecue followed by an all-nighter in the garage, and bada bing bada boom, 10-second car complete. But if you’ve ever actually tried to go this fast in the quarter-mile, you know it’s not that simple, especially if you’re aiming to do it without a Hollywood bankroll. For Fernando Martinez and his Florida-based shop, Ostar Motorsports, the objective wasn’t just to build a fast car on a tight budget, though that’s certainly a goal many of us can relate to. He also needed a shop car to help promote his company and carve out a niche in the ultracompetitive world of…

DESCRIPTION The needle on the Civic DX’s tachometer isn’t supposed to move this fast. Heck, the Civic DX isn’t supposed to move this fast. And it certainly isn’t supposed to be faster than what’s been Honda’s crown jewel of compacts since 2006—the eighth-generation Civic Si—but it is. That’s mostly because of the folks at Jackson Racing and their Rotrex-based supercharger system, which was designed specifically for ‘06-’11 Civics that feature what many consider the lampoon of modern Civic engines—the single-cam R18A—and is exactly what gives Honda’s less-fashionable coupe and sedan the 100hp promotion they so desperately pine for. The all-new Civic supercharger system isn’t based on the Roots-style blowers of the ’90s that are partly what made Jackson Racing a household name among Honda followers. Instead, a centrifugal-based, C30-74 Rotrex…

01 AEM INFINITY ECU FOR B/D/H AND K-SERIES HONDA/ACURA, 4G63T MITSUBISHI, AND 2JZGTE TOYOTA Infinity ECUs are now available and can support B/D/H and K-Series Honda/Acura engines, the Mitsubishi Gen I/II Eclipse and Evo VIII 4G63T and Toyota 2JZGTE USDM engines. Plug-and-play Infinity ECUs are available for the ’93-’98 Toyota Supra TT. A vehicle adapter harness for the Toyota Supra plug-and-play app is sold separately. Infinity ECUs are also available for universal applications for imports and domestics using certain AEM-verified cam and crank configurations. Visit AEMElectronics.com for detailed application information. AEMElectronics.com 02 HOTCHKIS FR-S/BRZ TOTAL VEHICLE SYSTEM The Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ combine a responsive platform, supercar looks, and an economy car price tag, but as with all modern performance cars, their factory suspension and tires limit driver control…

SPECS & DETAILS CIRCUIT MONT-TREMBLANT Location Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, Canada Track Configuration 2.65-mile, 15-turn road course Elevation Change 85 feet Other Facilities Timing Tower, restaurant and concessions, Jim Russell Racing School and Karting Academy, Ferrari Driving Experience, Ride & Drive Programs If there’s anything you should know about Montreal, it’s that it’s the strip club capital of the world. But you should also know that Montreal’s legendary nightlife can be combined with equally sexy daytime activities at the nearby Circuit Mont-Tremblant, an old-school road course that Michael Schumacher has described as a “mini Nürburgring.” Built in 1964, back when men were men and racetracks were dangerous and quite often deadly, “Le Circuit” (as it’s locally known), was where Formula 1, Can-Am, and IndyCar all raced around this hilly and bumpy circuit…

Good news for pocket rocket, hot-hatch fans: The diminutive Fiesta will get a high-performance ST (Sport Technologies) model. Thanks to a stout 1.6L EcoBoost four-cylinder that develops an impressive 197 hp compared with 120 in mere mortal Fiestas, the 2,537-pound ST looks to be quite the thrill ride. The ST also bests rivals the MINI Cooper S (181 hp) and Chevy Sonic (138 hp) in the power game. The Ford sports a unique grille and chin spoiler with a new ST-spec diffuser and fascia extensions to score style points, while exclusive 17-inch rolling stock puts the pressure on a special lowered sport suspension. Available exclusively as a five-door hatchback in North America and with a six-speed manual transmission, the Fiesta ST is also projected to achieve up to 34 mpg.…

Everyone remembers his or her first ride in a turbo-charged car. Whether it was with a parent or friend or just a chance spin around the block with an acquaintance at a car gathering, it’s hard to forget the feeling of being pressed hard into the back of your seat while hearing the “psshh” sound of air being force-fed through the turbo and into the engine’s throttle-body. While that first experience is a memorable one for most of us, it’s safe to say it was a total game changer for Walker Morgan. Walker’s first taste of boost came from a ’73 Datsun 240Z with a 280ZX engine swap. From the moment he felt what a turbocharged engine was capable of, he knew he had to have one for himself. Shortly…

There’s no shortage of AE86 Toyota Corolla fans in our scene, thanks in no small part to Formula D driver Taka Aono and the Drift King himself, Keiichi Tsuchiya. But even without the popularity of drifting and Tsuchiya’s Hot Version Hachiroku video antics, the AE86 would still have a special allure all its own, perhaps because it’s an analog driving machine in an increasingly digital world, or maybe it’s more a case of nostalgia and affordability in an increasingly bankrupt world. Whatever the case may be, it’s hard not to fall in love with Luis Colon’s ’85 GTS hatchback, thanks to its impeccably clean presentation and perfect blend of period-correct modifications along with a few more modern touches. To build an AE86 this true to its roots, it should come…

What do you do to a brand-new, 2,000-mile FR-S that’s being built by three magazines simultaneously? You slap a wide-body kit on it and repaint it, of course. Why? Because show car. I’m not a huge fan of going over the top with cars (my editorial explains why), but this FR-S represents what happens when you have free reign to build a car with very few restrictions. I was quite happy to hear that ours was to be one of the few cars originally getting a GReddy x Rocket Bunny kit, but as you’ve probably seen all over the Internet, we definitely aren’t the only ones with it. Thankfully, I think our execution and final product stands out among the others. It wasn’t easy choosing a color, especially with more…