Builds

When Hot Import Nights strolls into Seattle, typically two cars end up battling it out for Best of Show honors. Earlier in the year, Kelly Williams, one of the two competitors, took home the Best of Show honors when HIN first rolled into town. His Civic has been cleaning house for several years up in the Northwest and there hasn’t been a Honda to touch what he has built. Until Dara Sordano showed up and surprised them all— including Williams.

You may be familiar with the fable of the Phoenix, the beautiful bird that burned and died after a spark from a cherub’s flaming sword fell into its nest. Once the flames went out, a single red egg remained and from the ashes, a new Phoenix bird hatched and so the cycle continued. This legend is similar to the lifecycle of the Honda Civic Si hatchback.

The HushMat Wave Breaker sound deflecting pads are designed to eliminate the back wave created from your car’s speakers. Speakers create sound by simply moving air at specific frequencies. You are able to see speakers move the air when you see the mid-range cone of your speaker move when it is playing music. As the speaker creates sound going toward you, it also creates sound going backwards. This sound travels backwards and then typically bounces off the surface behind the speaker. When the waves hit that surface they then bounce back going toward to front of the speaker and you the listener. When the back wave bounces off the hard surface, it does not stay the same, but rather inverts.

When driving your vehicle do you feel the heat coming through the firewall, floor & tunnel? Do you hear the road noise and vibration that prevents you from having a phone conversation? – does it drive you crazy? Do you wish you could stop the heat and the noise and enjoy a current model quiet ride on the inside? HushMat is the solution.

Are you tired of excessive temperatures, road noise, and vibrations keeping you from enjoying your driving experience? Maybe you’re considering insulating your vehicle, but don’t know where to start. No need to worry. HushMat has you covered with over 374,000 (and growing) vehicle specific kits. HushMat’s custom kits make cars, trucks, boats, RV’s, buses, appliances, HVAC equipment, and even home theater systems more quiet and comfortable.

Built with a custom Wicked Wheel® 2 performance billet compressor wheel and a Turbo-Master™ mechanical wastegate controller, this upgraded turbocharger guarantees enhanced power and responsiveness. The center section boasts a journal bearing support system with a 360° thrust washer, enabling it to handle higher boost levels. Additionally, the turbocharger is fully rebuildable, ensuring longevity and allowing for future maintenance and upgrades.

The original equipment (OE) Ford water pump utilized a plastic impeller that was prone to cracking and breaking off the hub, leading to costly repairs. In response to this common problem, DieselSite has developed a lightweight yet sturdy alternative. Crafted from a billet aluminum alloy, the new water pump ensures exceptional durability, providing peace of mind and protection against impeller failure.

THE FALKEN Tire Drift Showoff was a hit, to say the least. The event was held at Irwindale Motor Speedway on a beautiful, sunny afternoon. Thousands of people attended, which goes to show the outstanding marketing job that Falken Tire is doing to help make a difference in the tuner car movement. The company took it upon itself to give us a taste of what the Japanese market has been enjoying for so many years. Among the thousands of spectators, a healthy number of show cars showed up as well—and why wouldn’t they? This was an Import Showoff event, but this car show was a bit different from the norm. It was a JDM versus DTM show. In other words, Japanese against Euro. The cars that came out were very hot, with enough JDM and DTM on hand to kill you. All the heavy hitters and the big crews such as Team Hybrid, Flux, Tuningwerks Competition and Art-N-Motion came out to show their stuff. While this was a huge attraction, it was far from the main one.

WHAT DO YOU do when you have one of the hottest show cars in the country and need something to take you to the next level? What do you do if you have a very nice modified car, but want something more? How about a true show display setup? We have talked to a number of people in the industry, including some of the most qualified judging sanctioning bodies, and they have given us plenty of insight into what’s hot and what’s not in the world of show car displays.

The hot rod and street rodding world lost another pioneer this week when Chuck Lombardo, founder and operator of California Street Rods passed away.