Pioneers

Though the hella-flush movement may already be embraced by the VW crowd, it has made much slower process within the Japanese brands. For whatever reason these groups of modifiers tend to be more function over style oriented, but hey wouldn't it be great if you had both? Kwinskii took up just that challenge, with a quest to throw out what was said would or would not fit the Subaru body and force the car to accept his standards. Now I'm by no means saying others have not experimented with low offsets and huge wheel widths but rather that Kwinskii stands out from the crowd through the absurdity of the aggressiveness of his fitments as well as the quality of the wheels. After all it is one thing to buy $500 Rotas that may not fit well, but it is something else entirely to order $3,000 of Volks with the determination that they will work. Other modifications are handsomely few, a set of WRX side skirts adds some OEM style to the car while flowing well with the Cusco front lip and Voltex carbon diffuser. Less sublty, an APR GT spoiler forces air flowing over the car into submissive help to keep the vehicle planted. The multiple wheel choices range from his original Enkei NT's in 18x9.5, to the Volk CE28N's measuring 18x10.5, and the interchanglable Work XD9's in 18x10. It's refreshing to a car that has so much style be flogged in a track environment, a home that this project is and has been intended for.

Death From Above

So I was preparing to leave my apartment today and seconds before I opened the door I heard a nice deep thump and my car alarm going off. Inquisitive, I ran to the window only to see that a branch had broken from a dead tree behind the garage and fallen through the roof. I was braced for a pretty bad reality but thankfully the tree itself lodged in the rafters though the ceiling collapsed onto the car. After cleaning reasonably cleaning things up the paint is rather worse for wear, as is the roof but thankfully everything is intact and drivable. The front and rear glass are also scratched pretty badly and I seem to have lost a JDM rain visor as an innocent bystander. After all is said and done I'm extremely thankful to have not been in the garage a few seconds early when all this happened; insurance should take care of everything else. Tomorrow I should meet with an adjuster to work out the details. Though a temporary set back, and one not too long after I was rear-ended, I already am eager and excited to have the car back as well as the possibility for improvement. I would have never had the car outside of God providing it and accordingly I have joy in trouble knowing that He is in full control.

Controlling Power

For some time I have been working on a solid plan to improve braking on the STi. The stock Brembo system features decent calipers, four piston fronts and two piston rears, but is matched with a poor offering for rotors and pads. Understandable as these are easily upgradable and allow for a friendly stock braking system. As my particular project focuses on response over power, I am hopeful to derive a fairly easy and inexpensive solution that may involve the stock calipers. I have a lot more research to go but here is a list to brake down my options by company, model, size, and wheel clearance:

*Clears 17 inch Wheels

Stock Brembo Calipers *
-Girodisc 2-Piece Front Rotor
326x30mm / 12.8”
-Girodisc 2-Piece Rear Rotor
316x20mm / 12.4”

Alcon
-6 Pot Front Kit
365x32mm / 14.3”
-6 Pot Front Kit *
343x32mm / 13.5”
-4 Pot Rear *
343x25mm / 13.5”

AP Racing
-4 Piston Front Kit *
330x28mm / 13”
-6 Piston Front Kit
355x32mm / 14”
-6 Piston Formula Front Kit
362mm / 14.25”
-4 Piston Rear Kit *
330x28mm / 13”
-4 Piston Formula Rear kit *
330mm / 13”

Brembo
-4 Piston GT Front Brake Kit *
332x32mm / 13”
-6 Piston GT Front Brake Kit
355x32mm / 14”

Endless
-6 Pot Mini Front Caliper *
326x30mm / Stock Rotor 12.8”
-6 Pot Full Front Kit *
326x30mm / 12.8”
-6 Pot Inch Up Front Kit *
345x32mm / 13.5

Stoptech
-4 Piston Front Brake Kit *
332x32mm / 13”
-4 Piston Front Brake Kit
355x32mm / 14”
-6 Piston Front Brake Kit
355x32mm / 14”
-2 Piston Rear Brake Kit *
328x28mm / 13”


Fact of the day: 13.5 inch rotors will fit under 17 inch wheels

A Quest Of Limit

This week on Garage Humble I will be looking into the other side of enthusiast vehicles, cars that exist only for the thrill and excitement that comes from completing hot laps. These machines range from decent usability to all out experiments at redefining how quickly the chassis can lap a circuit. Hopefully over the course of the week a definitive strand will emerge to show that the fastest of racing cars need not necessarily be as far away from streetability as one usually assumes. To start things off, this Pulsar GTi-R caught my attention recently looking through images from Hyper Rev and Super Lap Battle. Not only do I enjoy the style, but more so the fabrication that is mandated so often in race machines. Nearly the entire body receives handcrafted race work, from gorgeous flares to the vented hood inspired by the Nismo Z-Tune to the breathtaking cutaway rear bumper and diffuser composite. If only the more important details of engine modification and suspension setup were not lost to the internet.

Japanese Refinement

At times it seems that there must be some law of physics that mandates the Japanese to produce the most well rounded modified cars the world over. I'm not sure of all the reasons but the results of their culture continue to show them as the premier country for refinement. Adding to that list is the new 370z from Zele, and accordingly a car that stresses moderation and overall balance above anything else. The car sports mild exterior refinements made from that staple for deep wallets, dry carbon fiber. Titanium compliments the chassis with a supporting strut tower brace under the hood and forms a home for exiting exhaust gasses that have been lucky enough to run through the motor. Inside the car is improved with a gorgeous set of Recaro racing buckets as well as some better instrumentation to monitor vital engine data. The exterior is rounded out with a set of the new TE37s from Volk in a matt black finish hiding absurdly sized Brembo race calipers and two piece rotors. In typical Japanese fashion the only part of the car to not be functional is the deep and flamboyant orange pearl paint.