Bryan’s ti and his friend Marc’s coupe are perfect examples of my favorite type of automotive styling.

Clean and slammed, with just enough of a personal touch to make them unique.

Bryan’s Ti

Before getting his e36ti Bryan was just about to leave the BMW scene for good and go back to his first love, Honda’s.

However when a too good to be true craigslist e36 ti popped up nearby Bryan felt compelled to go take a look.

Bryan in the middle of transforming the look of his ride

The green really draws your eye in

Things started to look grim for this cars future when it overheated 3 times on the way to his mechanics for an inspection.

After learning the extent of the work that needed to be done to this car Bryan talked the owner into dropping the price from $1200 to $700 and the rest, as they say, was history.

Tinted fogs and high beams are a great touch to the front end

After getting the pesky maintenance work (brake and cooling system over hauls) out of the way Bryan corrected his ti’s laughable stock stance with Rokkor coil overs which brought his car down so that it’s stance complemented his bright green BBS wheels.

Wheels which he finally settled on after an astonishing 10 sets previous.

Sitting like a king

After the suspension was dropped Bryan ditched the bland e36 factory bumper in favor of  the M3 version, and  in a final effort to drop as many jaws as possible both coming and going Bryan added an LTW spoiler to the rear.

Performance wise Bryan’s hatch has a Dinan short ram intake and n1style exhaust.

Bryan holding it down for the fam out in Cali

Bryan along side a nice looking e30

Another shot with that nice looking e30

Bryan was going for a final look that reflected his unique personality and the pride he takes in his vehicles, judging by the finished product it looks like he succeeded on all counts.

The car looks great and it’s sure not to be one that many people are soon to forget.

Bryan didn’t do this all alone however and would like to thank: Terry Keith at Star Tech Foreign auto repair in Rowland Heights, Ted at Turbo Teds in Costa Mesa, Ayed at H&H Valley Autobody, Joe at Euro Dyne, The West Coast Euro’s crew and his girlfriend Lorena for making this all possible and pushing him to succeed.

Marc’s 328i

Like girls hot cars roll in packs and the other half of today’s e36 double feature showcases what Bryan’s friend Marc has been able accomplish with his e36 coupe in just 7 months.

Obtaining a solid base chassis to work with Marc quickly got to work making the car both look and perform far better than how it came from the factory.

Like many e36 owners Marc knew that BMW hit the mark with the design of the m3 and styled his 328i after it by adding a DDM M3 front bumper, an m3 styled rear diffuser, and finally M3 side skirts and mirrors.

Marc also added DDM Motorsport door moldings, DJ auto euro ellipsoids (with 6000k HIDs), euro side markers, clear fogs and corners and French style fog lights.

Marc's e36 looking clean as hell

De badged rear along with the diffuser and perfect stance looks killer

Once all that wrenching was complete on the outside Marc turned inside replacing his factory headliner with the m3 version, adding carbon fiber trim and last but not least replacing his factory seats with a set dove gray vaders.

Marc's type 1

as they do in the rear

In the performance department Mark added a Dinan front strut brace and cold air intake, m3 x brace, DTM exhaust, and UCC stainless steel brake lines.

Love the slightly raked stance

Once everything else was complete Mark threw the icing on the cake by adding a set of BC Racing BR Type coil overs alongside a set of immaculate looking German imported 17×8.5 (et13) and 17×9.5 (et21) AC Schnitzer type 1 wheels.

AC came out with a timeless design when they released these

Both of these cars look amazing and you won’t see my picking a favorite anytime soon but I do want to thank both of them for sending in the photos and information which allowed me to feature their cars here on Stance Is Everything.
Thanks guys.

One last shot from Marc

Spotting a well done Matrix in the GTA is on par with spotting a unicorn, as a lot of them end up in the hands of people who either rice them out or wait for them to die as daily drivers.

Thankfully Matt saved his from both fates and has put his ‘trix to work skimming the top of speed bumps all over the GTA.

Matt’s Tein suspension setup currently puts his cross member at mere 1.437 inches from the floor which means that not very much makes it under his car.

I've seen XXR's on a few Matrix's and they always look great

Matt’s car isn’t only good at collecting fleck’s of yellow paint in it’s under carriage however as he has also gone 4/4 in show appearances this year collecting 3 lowest car awards and 1 best Toyota award.

Polished wheels and silver paint are always a good choice

If Matt’s ride height isn’t enough to get your attention as he drives by his very robust sound system setup comprised of Clarion, Infinity, JVC, and Rockford Fosgate equipment most likely will as it’s been verified to hit a very respectable 136.7 DB.

Reppin for Division R

Matt’s looking at building a new motor with the crew at Monkey Wrench Racing in New York in the near future and further expanding his I.CE. setup to include a full fiberglass trunk and game console.

Here are a few pics more of Matt’s ride and for more info be sure to check out his in-depth feature over on The Scraped Crusaders and the poll in which he is involved in where he is trying to attain the undisputed crown of the worlds lowest Matrix.

Close up of the XXRs, Matt is rolling on 205/40/16 tires

Close up of Matt's ride height

Matt at Summer Sizzle II

One for the road

Additionally Matt sent through this video of him at Drop-tec getting his ride height verified, check it out.

Thanks for sending your info in Matt and good luck with the title.

In 2009 it was tough to say how the car would do in regards to initial sales and aftermarket acceptance/support, however about a year or so after initial release it’s fairly safe to say that the Genesis has been well received.

Andrew along with the crew at Next Mod figured that the Genesis would be the perfect car to mod for the 2010 track/show season and together built the car getting the spotlight today.

Starting with GT platform the turbo 2.0 motor was allowed to breathe and exhale better thanks to a Grimmspeed intake manifold spacer, AEM cold air intake, Ultimate Racing 3″ downpipe, secondary cat delete, and HKS catback exhaust.

Other performance modifications include a a recently added inter cooler, Torsen LSD, RRM lightweight crank pulley, and a PowerAxel PowerX ecu re flash, and to add a little show with all that go the motor received silicone hoses and a custom paint treatment.

With all those mods Andrew has a reason to leave the hood up

an updated underhood shot shows the inter cooler in it's new home

Andrews hopped up and dressed up motor

Andrew can brake a little later for corners in his Hyundai thanks to KPR stainless steel brake lines and a Brembro big brake it, and the SMA coil overs along side a strut bar help keep the car planted during high speed maneuvers.

The running gear on this Genny are genuine 19″ Volk GT-F wheels with Bridgestone Potenza RE 760 sport tires in 245/35/19s up front and giant 275 30′s in the rear.

For having no prior sports car Hyundai did a great job on the design

As the Genesis is fairly unique looking car Andrew decided to keep the body fairly simple choosing to only add a Canadian spec spoiler, M&S badges, M& S grill, tinted headlights, CF fog surrounds, and a Bliss front lip.

Lookin clean at CSCS

Even though Andrew’s kept himself quite busy putting in work on his Genesis he has also found the time to start the www.ontariogenesisclub.ca for he and his fellow Ontario based enthusiasts.

Andrews full modification list is below and he would like to thank:

Huge thanks goes out to Peter Pang and his company NextMod, Jay at Performance Improvements in Guelph,  Arvin Ko at PowerAxel, Point Zero, my friends at Gencoupe.com, Gencoupe.ca,  ontariogenesisclub.ca and Guelphsfinest.ca, and finally my family for having to put up with me as I work on my build, especially  to my Dad for letting me use his shop and his beer fridge!!

Engine/Performance

Engine/PERFORMANCE
KPR Stainless steel brake lines
TIC Short throw shifter and bushings
KPR Stainless steel Clutch line
Brembo big brake package
Torsen LSD
Grimmspeed intake manifold spacer
RRM lightweight crank pulley
AEM cold air intake
HKS Catback exhaust
Ultimate Racing 3″ downpipe and secondary cat delete
Ultimate Racing Intercooler
Ultimate Racing O2 Housing and High flo primary cat
Power Axel PowerX ecu reflash
SMA adjustable coilovers
Front strut tower bar
Custom engine paint
Hella horns
Vibrant silicone hose kit
Red silicone radiator hoses
HKS oil cap
HKS radiator Cap

Interior/ICE

Blox LP460 weight shift knob
Racing pedals
Stainless steel “Genesis” door sills
Power Axel UniNav
RRM CF A piller/guage pod
AEM Wideband
Autometer Boostguage
LED interior lighting
Red/Black interior theme
Complete Infinity sound system
JBL 8 chn Amp
10″ Infinity sub
2 10” JL w6 Subs
2 PG 200.1 Amps
2 farad Tsunami Cap

Exterior

Canadian Spoiler
Tinted windows
M&S Type A grill
M&S badging
Custom tinted tail lights
VIS CF foglight surrounds
Custom Painted Rear diffusor
Bliss front lip
19” Volk racing GT-F rims
Bridgestone Potenza RE-760 sport, 245/35 F, 275/30 R
Racing Composite Lug nuts
8000k HID headlamps
3000K Ignited HID foglights

Those of us who grow to become car enthusiasts trade in our toy cars for one we can drive and our imaginary track becomes real world terrain.

Sam, the owner of today’s featured ride, is an enthusiast who is no longer doing laps in his mind, these days Sam cruises the streets in his low, flush, 350z fittingly plated ‘JDM Toy’.

Sam’s toy story started with his previous car; an immaculate 1995 all wheel drive Eagle Talon TSI, which by the time he was done with it was a 400 hp, ‘99 Eclipse bodied beast sitting dropped on Eagle Alloys.

Sam's previous ride, an Eclipse bodied Talon

However shortly after completing his Eclipse Sam realized that it was no longer what he was looking for in terms of performance and styling.

Sam decided to take his next car in an entirely different direction.

The direction he had in mind was low and flush, and to meet these requirements he chose the Nissan 350z/Fairlady platform.

Sam's newest ride

A strong believer that stance and offset are everything Sam’s new 350z was quickly dropped over 19 x 9.5”/10.5” Varrstoen TE37 replicas with 225/245 tires via, the more popular by the minute, BC racing coil-overs.

Close up of Sam's rear fitment

Sam then pushed his wheels closer to the fenders with 20mm Ichiba spacers in the front and 25mm H&R spacers in the rear before adding SPC rear adjustable control arms and a JIC Magic CF strut brace.

Another shot of Sam's fitment

Sam's fitment is female approved

To further highlight the new stance a Suzuka Urethane front lip spoiler was added to the bumper and a rear deck spoiler to the boot.

A closer look at Suzuka that lip

The factory 350z exhaust note is a glorious, but Sam wanted a little bit more, so removed the factory setup in favor of a Greddy SP2 unit, with Stillen ceramic coated headers, Berk high flow cats, and a Megan racing Y pipe.

Under the hood Sam addressed the Z’s performance with a Takeda short ram intake, skunk2 Plenum spacer, and an OBX pulley set. To keep everything looking tidy under the hood a carbon fiber engine cover.

Down and out

Now that is a nice interior accessory

The future for Sam’s Z has even more horses ready to join the stable as he plans to add an aggressive cam setup and possible ECU reflash or ETC.

Sam, along with his group of fellow car enthusiasts, known collectively as ‘Division R Performance‘, have attended a number of shows (Sight & Sound, Drop Tec OPC to name a few) already this year in the GTA and Sam’s Z has fittingly brought home  number of trophies.

Notable ones include 1st place  Nissan/Infinity, Lowest  ride height, and best Negative camber (twice).

2x best camber winner

Sam showing off just some of his hardware

Sam and Division R Performance are also the driving force key behind the upcoming Voice Coil Meltdown show at Selective Sound and are looking forward to showing everyone why they are one of the most dedicated show teams with some of the cleanest cars in the GTA at that event.

Thanks go out to Sam for giving me the opportunity to feature his ride and I can’t wait to see where it goes next.

*All photos copyright original photographers – thanks for the shots

This car was brought to my attention by the owner/operator of WeLoveThis.ca, Graeme Harvey, Graeme and the crew over at We Love This (who are good friends with the boys at Union) are all about celebrating anything and everything dope; and today’s car just happens to fit the bill.

Mike treating his pride and joy to a coin wash

Mike Ross’s Bug Eye started out the same as every other Rally Blue rex: stock, and awd. While this starting point is enough for a lot of people Mike wouldn’t be happy until his car was transformed into something that couldn’t be picked up off the local car lot.

After a short stint as a daily driver, the car transitioned to a road course terror for a season, before going in a direction that is foreign to most Subaru’s, rear wheel drive.

Mikes WRX looking like a predator in the night

After removing his front drive axles and modifying his center differential Mike installed a set of Megan track coil-overs and a custom powder coated Cusco multi-link setup.

With his sights set on getting the most out of his new suspension Mike took his car to Scott at Can-align for proper corner balancing before installing his 17×10 +25 Miro STP1′s (with 225/45 Yokohama tires).

Functional stance here

Under the winning blue hood Mikes motor lives in partially shaved the engine bay and once the unnecessary bits where gone under the  hood the shaving  spread through the rest of the vehicle until a total 250lbs of excesses was removed from the cars over all weight.

When riding in Mikes car you would hardly notice where the weight was subtracted (hint: custom aluminum bumper beams) as save from the air conditioning, no real passenger comfort has been sacrificed.

The 10inch wide wheels really suit the factory wrx fenders

This car has come a long way since Mike got it but the end is no where near in sight, he and the Union Auto Club have a number of tricks left up their sleeves for this already great looking and performing car.

The parking garage will never cease to be an amazing spot for photos

Photo credit: JP Ellis

Big thanks to Graeme (tips and info) and JP Ellis (flicks) at WeLoveThis.ca for helping me out with this feature, and finally a big thanks to Mike for letting me feature his ride.

Expect a few more WeLoveThis.ca/stanceiseverything.com collaborations to come in the future!

Not to take anything away from the builders doing great things here in North America, but the guys over in Europe consistently build Volkswagens of outstanding quality.

Today’s featured Passat, out of London, England, is just another example of what the European crowd is capable of.

Pete (better known as Big Pete in his local scene), the owner of this Passat, spared no expense when creating this jaw dropping VW.

Pete chose the Passat for his build due to it’s practicality both in storage capacity and fuel efficiency (diesel) and while his friends may have thought he was crazy Pete had an exceptional end goal in mind.

In stock form the Passat is not much to write home about

A week after Pete took delivery of his new ride he yanked the stock springs out and installed a set of 40mm lowering springs, while the springs were being swapped he discarded the stock wheels in favor of a set of 19” Audi A8 wheels.

The new bumper, 40mm drop springs, and Audi wheels installed

After a little bit of a fender bender aftermarket headlights, hood and bumper were added while th car was being fixed. Not long after the new body pieces were installed the 40mm drop springs were replaced with a set of coil overs. At this time the 19″ A8 rims were also removed in favor of a set of 20” Ascari Cuervo rims.

The 18inch Ascari Cuervos looking sharp with the lower stance

Once this stage of the exterior additions was complete a full in car entertainment system (9 screens in total in addition to components and subwoofers) was installed while the stock cloth seats, which were already out for the install, were replaced with a leather set.

I think there are more screens in this car than screens in my house

At the end of 2008 the car was sporting yet another set of wheels (color coded Legendary Penta’s) and Audi R8 headlights supplied by ULTRA.

Yet another set of wheels on Petes ride

Early in 2009, after a few run ins with the ground Pete realized that what his car sorely needed was a dynamic suspension set up.

After visiting his friend and getting an ‘idiots guide’ to air ride Pete headed home and laid out all the components of his air ride setup so he could figure out exactly how it was all going to fit into the car.

He and his friend managed to bag the front end themselves before sending the car to UK specialist Rayvern Hydraulics for the rear end and complex wiring.

Shortly after the install Pete added a set of digital gauges to monitor what was going on at all four corners of his vehicle as it’s a FBSS set up system.

The air ride labeled and ready for installation

Speaking of the four corners Pete had much, much, wider wheels in mind which required his car to go to the body shop and get it’s fenders widened. However no ordinary flared fenders would do, Pete made sure that the shop kept the flares as oem looking as possible since he wanted his car to maintain that clean OEM look once it was complete.

While the fenders were being reshaped the hood, bumper (MKV golf GTI fogs and Scirrocco mesh for the center were added the the bumper at this time), and side skirts also got some attention. Right before the final coat of Mercedes Benz Tanzinite blue was sprayed a few unnecessary factory bits were also shaved off.

The Fenders being massaged into compliance

Once the car was done at the body shop Pete added the last of his final touches to the interior and exterior (including being able to control the air ride via a remote FOB) and bought a new set of wheels for the car.

The first set being 20” x 9 and 20 x 10 fully polished (both sides of the wheel and between the spokes) Ascari Pentas and the second set being a fantastic looking set of Mercedes Benz AMG 20×8.5 and 20×10 as Phils daily/winter wheels.

Yes 20” wheels for winters.

Pete's car out of the body shop and in show trim

The 20" Ascari Pentas look great fully polished

Pete took his Passat and made it into an absolute masterpiece and it’s hard to capture everything that was done to this car in one feature.

Be sure to check out Pete’s highly detailed build thread on AUTOBAHN25.com as it is a delightful read.

Big thanks to Pete for letting me feature his ride and his friend Zebtan (zebtanphotography.co.uk) for hooking me up with the photos and connection out in England.

I’m sure his car will inspire a lot of Passat owners for years to come.

Here are some more photos of this great looking Passat:

The new color turned out great

Shining under the lights at a show in Germany

Phils car on his daily/winter rims, best looking winter wheels ever?

A close up of the fenders hugging the 10" wide rims

Nice street side shot

Nothing beats a nice slammed rolling shot

Hailing from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Malik bought his Accord brand new in 2007 as a way to escape the lure of the street racing scene and has been transforming it into a head turner ever since.

Soon after purchase Malik started his modifications off fairly conservatively by upgrading the headlights and fog lights by retro fitting HID units and before he knew it the mod bug was fully taking over.

Tuckin tire

In his hunt for the perfect stance Malik went through a variety of different suspension setups initially the car was lowered on Tien S-techs, then Eibach Sportlines, and finally Nuespeed race springs.

The lip and cf hood work together well here

When none of these options delivered the slam Malik needed he picked up a set of Function Form coil overs and dropped his Accord on its knees.

I'm a sucker for a clean four door

With his suspension finally in order Malik flew through 14 different sets of wheels before landing on the 18×8 TSW Snetterton wheels currently taking residence in his wheel. However these wheels are only there until a set of flush fitting CCW Classics takes their place.

In preparation for the stunning forthcoming wheel set Malik has added a trio of Siebon Carbon fiber accessories including a hood, mirror covers and B pillars.

Once this car is flush watch out.

By the end of the summer Malik is hoping to wrap up the exterior mods by adding a carbon fiber trunk to the mix, once that happens his attention will turn to the interior where the current stock seats will be replaced with Bride units.

So far Malik is off to a great start with his Accord and with what he has in store for his ride it’s only going to get better, I hope once it’s all done Malik will send new pictures in and give me another opportunity to showcase his ride.

Thanks again Malik.

Lately though the Mini has been making a lot of waves in the online stance/flush community and one that’s been causing quite a bit of a stir is Nathan Gilbert’s o9 dark silver blacktop.

Having previously owned and modified a Volkswagen Corrado Nathan knew exactly which factory options and upgrades his Mini needed in order to work with the vision he had in mind, and almost immediately after he drove his Mini off lot it was it was under the knife to have a JCW Aero kit and set H&R coil overs installed along with a set of 18×7.5 Konig wheels.

Nathans mini sitting low on the time attack painted Konigs

Not about to build a car that was all show and no go Nathan added a turbo back exhaust system, and intake to give the mini a little more zip, and opted to make his time behind the wheel further enjoyable by adding a JCW Recaro seat imported from the United Kingdom.

The rake stance matches the flow of the JCW kit very well

The UK JCW seat in it's new home on this side of the pond

For those of us who do not know much about Mini’s Nathan explains that this seat is essentially a deluxe version of the Recaro Sportster seat;  equipped with side impact air bags, heating units,  and the John Cooper Works logo embroidered into the alcantara covering.

Detailed shot of the John Cooper Works Embrodary

This mini sports a mean looking front end thanks to the JCW kit and H&R Drop

After rocking the Konig wheels for awhile Nathan was fortunate enough to come across a set of staggered CCW Classics, CCWs are quickly becoming popular among the stance crowd and for good reason. These wheels instantly transform the look of whatever car they are on and always look good doing so.

The black lip and chrome faces of these wheels really pull this car together

Nathans CCW setup consists of 18×8 front wheels with an offset that has been adjusted from 32 to 27 via a set of 5mm spacers  and a set of 18×8.5 rear wheels with an offset of 28.

The staggered CCWS look perfect with the flares

With the new wheels Nathan set up his H&R coils with 2 threads left to go down up front and 5 in the rear, this setup allows Nathan to drive his Mini daily without having to worry too much about the conditions of the corners he is tearing up.

Rig shot with the CCWs hot out of the photo booth

Dirty Sanchez never looked so clean

I am very glad that Nathan contacted me and gave me the opportunity to not only show off the transformation of his car, but also showcase his great photography skills. If you want to see more of both his car and photos click over to his flickr account: flickr/gilboyto.

To end here are a few photos that I particularly enjoyed:

Another one of Nathans rig shots, great results for the inital test of the rig

Nathan having a little fun

Close up shot of the fitment

Kind of looks like an RC car here

These are one of those simple photos that are easy to love

Once again a huge thanks to Nathan for the opportunity to showcase his ride.

Like most Mike’s first round of modifications started off fairly conservative, he installed a set of RaceGear coil-overs and OZ Superturismo wheels and called it a day. Since modified Forrester’s are such a rarity in the GTA Mike’s Forrester quickly stood out and turned a lot of heads in the Summer of 2007.

Unsuspecting little Forrester

Revision 1

Back end revision 1

With the mod bugs venom seeping into his veins via the compliments he was getting on his rides new look Mike began to modify his Forrester over the 2007/2008 winter months.

Once summer of 2008 rolled around Mike further improved upon his Subuaru’s suspension setup by adding a trio of Perrin suspension parts including: a 22mm rear sway bar, sway bar mounts and sway bar end links. Mike also got out his chop saw and welder to fabricate a set of heavy duty front and rear strut bars.

While the suspension was apart he improved braking performance by installing power slot rotors on all four corners.

Revision 2

Under the newly fitted WRX hood, Borla headers were mated to a custom vibrant exhaust system, while inside a GroupA Short shifter was added, along with a set of nex carbon bucket seats for summer use, and 2001 WRX seats for winter. He also took some time at this point to shave a few pounds of sound deadening weight.

When the summer of 2009 came around Mike was at it again installing a set of 19×8 OZ Ultra leggra wheels along with a set of cusco coil overs that allowed him to drop his car lower than his previous, RaceGear, setup would allow.

Garage shot

Near the end of the 09 season, after having some time to take in his cars new look, Mike decided that his wheel fitment left a little to be desired. Aiming to fill his wheel wells a little better Mike ordered a set of custom spacers, which required longer ARP studs, and open ended lug nuts.

Mike knew that a set of Work Lug nuts would be the perfect way to set off his new fitment so he placed his order. Unfortunately for Mike these lug nuts were back-ordered and as month, after month, went by Mike soon found himself in the middle of a snowstorm on summer tires.

Dark Knight

This is when tragedy struck, one snowy November night in Burlington Ontario, in the form of a very stubborn pole. With a significantly damaged front end Mike was put in a position that none of us as car enthusiasts want to be in.

That was some pole...

Beat but not beaten

With time, love, dedication, and money invested into this vehicle it was heart breaking for Mike to see his Forrester now almost fit for the scrap yard. After much debate on what to do with his bent ride mike eventually pushed his emotions aside Mike and decided to rebuilt his prized possession.

After spending two days locked in his garage Mike was able to get his car back on the road with a new rat/hoodride inspired look.

This car has soul

Mike’s Forrester now wears it’s battle wounds with pride and while one day Mike plans to transfer his parts over to a clean chassis he currently loves his car now just as much as he did before the accident

Mike’s plan, once he gets a new chassis, is to continue to modify his car in a way that makes it unique and eye catching.

Personally I can’t wait to see what comes next, and with the dedication and passion Mike has shown so far the sky is the limit.

Here are a few more photos of Mike’s ride in its current winter and battle ready condition:

Ratted and ready

Washing or rusting?

Flared, racked

Ready for a Canadian winter

MKIII GTI – Ramon

The MKIII GTI is a popular platform among the VW crowd, and no VW crew would truly be complete without one. That’s why Star Status has this beautiful example in their fold. Ramon’s MKIII is heavily modified, but never looks over done which is proof of a keen eye to detail.

The body is set off by a JOM badge-less grill, vr6 chin spoiler, fk long turn signals, clear red hella tails, french headlights and chrome mirror caps.

Motor wise, the perpetually loved vr6 has been hopped up with a MarkIV headgasket, Autotech 262 cams, Schrick VGI intake manifold, Giac cam file chip, Secondary Air delete, and a Suitcase muffler delete. To help put all this new found power to the ground, a stage 1 clutch has also been installed.

Inside this dub, and behind a leather wrapped dash, sit a pair of r32 seats, which are complimented by matching leather wrapped door panels with Bentley diamond stitched inserts. The leather continues to flow over the A-pillars, glove box and center console. Finishing off the interior, a suede Bentley diamond stitched headliner was installed alongside a Weichers polished 4 point cage, should this car ever have the misfortune of ending up upside down.

The chances of this car rolling are, thankfully, pretty slim since it squats down in the weeds on a bagyard “bomber” air setup that tucks the 17×7.5 and 17×8 MAE crown jewels perfectly into the wheel wells

Sitting at FDR this GTI looks dialed

Download high res – 371kb

Black MKIII Cabrio – Danny (Mouth)

The second Star Status car is Danny’s MKIII Cabrio, and it’s a serious bit of machinery. The boser hood hints that this car has a little bit of attitude, but I think few would expect that come spring time, underneath that hood and behind the badge-less grill an all black super charged 2.9L vr6 with a Shrick manifold, will sit in the red, shaved bay (which matches the red diamond stitched interior) for anyone ready for a little fun.

Additionally little birdie informed me that by the time spring rolls around Danny’s current 3 piece OZ Pegasus 16×7.5″ wide wheels will be history in favor of a deeper and wider set of wheels. The new set of wheels should be the icing on the cake for this mean little Cabrio.

This car has a motor under the hood that backs up its mean look

Download high res – 302kb

UG MKV GTI – Sal

If Danny’s Cabrio wasn’t an indication that Star Status doesn’t believe that riding low always means riding slow, this GTI should be.

Sal’s GTI has been boosted up and beyond factory specs with a GT3071R turbo upgrade while the ride height’s been adjusted with a set of FK silverline plus coil overs.

With such a potent motor and suspension setup this car needed a pair of wheels to pull everything together and the HRE 449r 18×8′s do exactly that.

I wouldn't mind taking this car out for a boot

Download high res – 359kb

The Star Status Black Rabbits

Star Status likes to double their fun, and does so by having two sets of identical body, identical color cars in their flock.

The first Star Status pair is a duo of black MKV GTI’s that drive home the point that often nothing looks cleaner, or meaner than a slammed, clean, black, car.

Furby

Furby’s rabbit keeps the mod list short but very sweet, this car has; B&G coils, Radinox lipped Th-line rims (17×8 and 17×8.5), blacked out headlights, and amber turn signals.

Each of Furby’s modifications compliment the one before it, and create an extremely clean enviable ride.

Clean, nothing else to say

Download high res – 361kb

Matt

Matt is from the same school of thought as Furby, and as such, his rabbit also has a tight list of well thought out modifications which play off one another to create a portrait of stance perfection.

This black beauty is hammered down onto polished Benz six slots with an air ride setup and has an cutout free oem votex rear, a badge-less grill, and projector headlights.

Both the no dumping and no parking rules have been broken here

Download high res – 438kb

Slammed Matt's way

Download high res – 504kb

The Star Status Yellow GTI’s

Yellow is a hard color to pull off correctly. It takes a certain type of finesse to modify a yellow car knowing that one misstep can cause an endless amount of big bird references to take flight.

With two yellow cars in their collective, it’s safe to say that Star Status knows how to keep things tasteful when it comes to dealing with yellow rides.

Before Star Status, I would have been hard pressed to post two modified yellow cars in one post, but the decision is basically made for me when the yellow cars look as clean and proper as these. If all yellow cars looked as clean as thisStance Is Everything would be 90% yellow cars.

Paige

The first Star Status GTI was featured in the Girls with hot rides Theme Tuesday and upon seeing it again I remembered just why I liked this car so much.

The female touch behind this build knew that the factory body needed a little bit of help, so a badge-less grill was installed, half of the door cups were shaved, and the hatch was smoothed out entirely.

Once the body was all squared away, a set of RH wheels were installed and an air ride kit brought the body down to ground level.

A lot of guys in the game could take lessons from Paige on what it takes to build a clean, slammed, ride.

Beautiful car, beautiful photo

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Ahmet

Ahmet’s GTI starts out with the same Imola Yellow paint as Paige’s, and truly upholds the clean look that Star Status is known for. This GTI has an oem votex body kit (Super rare!) and smoked golf tails. Ahmet installed these taillights as something for slower cars to watch fade into the distance as his APR stage 3 plus turbo kit propels his car into the night.

Not about to leave the under hood area untouched, this car has received a flawless Star Status quality shaved engine bay as well. Inside a set of cloth r seats were installed.

Finally Ahmet’s car achieves it’s immaculate stance and fitment by sitting super low on Brown AC Schnitzer Type 1s at 17×8 upfront and 17x9s out back.

Notice how ever Star Status crew car is hammered but the bumpers are in great shape

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MKIV – DTek

Another Star Status black beauty DTeks MKIV is a head turner. The paint on this car is so deep that it’s easy to overlook the shaved hood notch, bumper notch, side markers and hatch. But what’s not hard to miss is the crushed red velvet that covers the headliner and pillars. This deep red provides a perfect contrast to that flawless black paint.

Under hood the motor breathes better thanks to an intake, turbo inlet pipe, down pipe and exhaust. While an aftermarket chip has been added to remove the restrictive factory ECU settings for a final power push.

The UV airbags on H&R struts bring this Golfs fenders down closer to the polished lips of the 18×8 and 18×9.5 J line 5SL2 rims and if anyone says that black face chrome lip rims are played out the need to look at this car again. When done right this look is tough to beat.

Simply Stunning

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MKV GTI – Dan

Last but not least in Star Status is Dan’s flawless red GTI. The body of this car has been fitted with euro R32 tails, and a no-cutout euro R32 rear bumper. Inside the engine bay, it packs an extra punch with a stage 2+ tune and bolt ons.

Inside this vw, the front and rear seats have been wrapped in black leather and alcantara to keep the occupants in place during high speed maneuvers, and since Star Status believes in the complete package, the door cards were also done to match.

Star Status is clearly a fan of air ride set ups, and this car is more of the same since it sports a bag over coil setup that allows the lips of these 17×8 and 17×9 polished faced RS rims to sit flush with the fenders when fully aired out.

With these wheels sitting so perfectly in the wells, you just know that a lot of time and measurements went into this final stance.

Once again the photo work of Daniel Berenson makes for a great photo of a great ride

Download high res – 317kb

I’m no fortune teller but I can see Star Status making waves in the euro tuning scene for years to come. The nine cars you see above are just a few of the cars in the crew.

I’m very happy to have been able to showcase some of their amazing lineup of cars here on Stance Is Everything, and look forward to posting more.

Thanks to Daniel Berenson for being the liaison between myself and Star Status and for splitting photo duty with his friends Ahmet Baran and D Tek.

If you would like to see more of their work photo work their flickr accounts are:
flickr.com/photos/ahmetthejerk
flickr.com/photos/dbson
flickr.com/photos/dtek

I first spotted Eric’s car at Scrape By The Lake 2009, I am pretty sure it was the only Del Sol at the show and it looked pretty nice sitting in the grass in front of the hotel. The second time I saw Eric’s car was at Importfest and even though there were 7 other Del Sols at the show Eric’s is the only one I noticed.

Eric's car at Scrape By The Lake

and Eric's Car again at Importfest

While it was fairly obvious that Eric’s Del Sol had some work done to it, it was  not until I joined Pas Nation and Eric contacted my directly that I got to know just how much work he has put into his car.

Eric, a Hamilton native, has been into the turner scene for about eight years shortly after getting his liscense and first car (an 89 Civic) at age 17.  Like many car enthusiasts he has owned quite a few cars since his first and they have all received a few modifications. His current daily, a 2005 turbo Jetta, for example has about 10 grand worth of money into it just to get from point a to point b.

Off all the cars he has had Eric decided to turn his Del Sol into his show piece and while he didn’t have any pictures of the car in progress to make this a full feature he did have a few pictures and a lot of info to share about the final product.

Erics Del Sol taking in some Hamilton sun

Right out of the gate Eric was not happy with the factory performance of the Del Sol and therefore swapped the factory motor in favor of a 99 Integra GSR motor with a plethora of bolt on modifications including an AEM intake, AEM fuel rail, AEM cam gears, and venom throttle body, a Fluidyne race rad keeps everything cool while a clutch master stage 2 clutch helps put the power to the ground. Finally a DC sports Header and 2.5″ exhaust was then installed to let everyone know when Eric feels like getting well acquainted with the speed limits here in Ontario.

To balance out show and go Eric spent a great deal of time and care shaving the emblems, wing, antenna, rear license plate and third brake light off of the body. He also sourced out and modified a Buddy Club Body kit and mixed 1950 Ford green with HOK flake to create the unique mint green color his Honda now wears.

Eric showing off his motorswap at a local show

All of the body modifications to this car cleaned up the rear end very well

Eric knew that the stock stereo wouldn’t cut it on the show scene so he replaced the stock deck 7″ pioneer head unit, the stock speakers with Zapco components, and added some thump in the trunk with 2 OZ audio subs and installed some 2 Kenwood amps and a capacitor to power it all. As a final I.C.E. touch and a throw back to his 80s roots a 15″ tv was added with a classic Nintendo Entertainment system.

While the interior of the car was out for the I.C.E. install the door panels were replaced with custom fiber glass versions and the seats were wrapped in black leather and alligator skin. For the icing on the cake interior wise Eric replaced the factory shift knob with a Coors light beer tap.

I wonder what cops say about the beer tap

Last but not least around here the stance was brought down via Nuespeed springs and Koni shocks while the rolling stock is 17 MSR wheels painted black.

While the Del Sol might not be a popular platform among the stance crowd I think that Eric’s unique sense of style and tasteful modifications help remind us that this platform does have a lot of potential and in the right hands (and not these hands) can become something worth taking a second look at.

Thanks to Eric for contacting me regarding the mini feature and being the first featured ride of 09.

Originally from Peterborough Ontario, but currently living in Australia attaining his masters, Chris has been building cars since he got his first fox body Mustang at the age young age of 15. Since then he has owned and worked on over 30 foxes.

Having owned 30 of the same car in such a short period of time is impressive alone, but when you factor in the fact that he has also bought, built, and sold 10 e36s BMWs and 3  Ford SVT Lightnings in that same time period one begins to wonder if Chris ever sleeps and if his projects are fueled by profit gained from other peoples addictions. Chris used this mystery to his advantage and took on the ‘Infamous’ nick name that was eventually bestowed to him. Chris is now getting ready to show the car world just what a true car nut can achieve with his own two hands.

Chris’ currently daily driver of three years (a near record for him) is a Silver 2000 Ford SVT Lighting which he purchased in Chicago after the owner moved there from Arizona. This clean southern platform came with a JDM (this JDM not Japanese Domestic Market) stage 1 performance package already installed.

While the stage 1 package consists of a 4lb lower pulley, upgrade valve body, CAI, and a 90mm maf Chris knew right away that more modifications were in order.

Chris' Lightning early in the modification process

Lightning has not struck Chris twice but 3 times

Chris originally dropped the truck down four inches in the front with two inch drop tubular control arms and matching two inch drop springs, and four inches in the rear via a DJM flip kit and C notch.

However after taking a step back and looking at his freshly dropped ride he realized that he could, and needed to, go lower. He had a set of custom three inch drop springs made and added a two inch drop shackle to the rear to give the truck its final 5/7 drop.

To help make the new ride height livable Chris installed drop shocks on all four corners.

The new coils, control arms, and shocks

Hitting the bump stop is probably an everyday occurrence

With the new stance this truck rolls hard

I'm sure these shots were all taken at the legal limit

To set off the new drop Chris added custom painted 23″ 3 piece OZ vela rims with 295/30/23 Nitto tires. With such a drastic drop and large wheels some would say that Chris took a perfectly functional truck and made it impractical, however this Lightning is still capable of helping you move and towing water crafts to the lake.

23" Oz's sitting just right in the fenders, that's one of Chris's many foxes in the back

The 23" Ozs pre paint job

Haulin is still no problem

Who says you can't have your cake and eat it too? Or ride it in this case

Even though it's slammed the truck still launches Sea-doos fine

With the suspension and wheel set up squared away Chris decided that the already fast truck needed some more ‘umph‘ when the loud pedal was smashed. This lead to the stock exhaust being ditched in favor of a MAC catback system, and the silencer holes in the blower being filled. Once that was all done the truck received a Royal Purple blood transfusion.

Shot of the motor

With the wheels, suspension, exterior (via billet grill, tails and 2pc headlights), and motor all being addressed Chris set forth to add his ‘Infamous’ touch to the interior.

Chris made his own suede black head liner in addition to dyeing the rest of interior black. He also swapped out the factory passenger bench seat in exchange for a bucket seat, finally the center console from a Ford Expedition was added along with a triple gauge pod and full stereo system.

The Lightnings custom interior

Future plans for the truck include a Cervinis tailgate wing, smooth side steps and eventually a whipple blower once the current motor pops.

These future plans may have to wait at least three months as Chris is about to dive head first into The Infamous Project which will see him build a 1992 BMW AC Schnitzer and a 1989 Mustang GT Convertible for this years Performance World Car Show in Toronto.

The Infamous project will set a new standard for internet builds since not only will it be largely privately funded it will also be one of the only builds, to my knowledge, that will contain a live video feed of garage while Chris works on both cars.

If this double build is anything like his past builds it will be interesting, detailed, and clean, just what we all need to help us get through another long Canadian winter.

Probably not a coincidence the wheels match the 5.0

One of Chris' many fox body Mustangs

Thanks to Chris for sending his ride in for the feature and good luck goes out to him for both of his builds. I’m eager to see how the turn out.

Not only does she roll with punches of the male dominated maxbimmer.com crowd better than a lot of the fellas she also drives a car that’s so tastefully modded it’s no doubt sent a few guys back to the parts catalog to reconsider their modifications for next year.

Stephanie is no stranger to the automotive scene, she’s been modifying cars since she was of legal to drive (16 for you out of town folk). Her previous ride was a hand built boosted Civic that laid waste to anyone ready to underestimate it and her. After having enjoyed Civic nation for a few years Stephanie made the jump from Honda to BMW with a slammed (black of course) e36 convertible, and then upgraded once again to her current 335i.

Your average female BMW owner would be happy to leave the car like this, Steph doesn't do average

Stephanie driving her car when it was stock on a maxbimmercruise

Black Widows have read marks on their backs so the red interior is fitting

Stephanie’s 6 speed, black sapphire metallic, premium sport package convertible, with a coral red interior with aluminum accents that puts down 300hp/300lb of torque from the factory was thing of beauty when it rolled off the line at BMW however the modifications Stephanie has done to this car make you wonder why the designers at BMW didn’t consult Stephanie before rolling out the concept.

The exterior was treated to an OEM BMW Aero-lip, yellow fogs, tints, and shadow lined trim, and after having some issues with the stock wheels cracking repeatedly (GTA roads FTL) 19″ staggered VMR V710 wheels (8.5″ front with 225/35s and 9.5″ rear with 255/30s) were put on and the stance of the car was properly addressed with H&R sport springs factory sport struts.

Motor wise the car is chipped wit a JB3 and now puts down numbers in the range of 400hp.

BMW-oem lip kit, blacked out grills, and yellow fogs finish up the front end

Another shot of the front end

The 19" VMRS up close

Hard tops are the only time convertibles look great with the top up

The stance on this car is impeccable.

This car really looks as though it could have come this way from BMW

The 19

At least anyone getting walked on by this car gets to enjoy a nice view

The black widow herself

Having grown tired of the drag racing scene Stephanie’s next modifications are more lapping focused and her future plans include: KW V3 suspension, an upgraded front mount inter cooler, downpipes, and a full exhaust system.

Big thanks the Stephanie for submitting in a great set of photos for her feature and a nice list of modifications which made writing this article really easy and finally for allowing me to feature her car.

If you want your car featured on stanceiseverything.com just drop me a line at stanceiseverything@gmail.com.

Dale was lucky enough to save 62 Impala from becoming a potential rats nest in the confines of a  dusty barn in  Vancouver British Columbia and transform it into the beautiful piece of machinery you see before you today.

The impala in one of Mississauga's many industrial areas before the weather went sour

This Impala is the nicest car to sit in this spot

Once in Dales possession the car Dale chose to go the resto-mod route which meant that it was off to the spray booth then his garage for some TLC.

Like previous feature Eugene's Firebird Impalas are also capable of pulling off a teal interior

These center rear seat speakers are an iconic Impala feature

Not wanting to disrupt the flow of the interior the new CD player and Voltmeter live in a hidden compartment

Once the interior and exterior panels got some love the stealth air ride install was completed and oversize torque thrust wheels added to compliment the freshly rejuvenated chrome bumper and trim.

The trunk in full stealth mode with the air ride setup neatly tucked away

However with the vintage luggage removed the setup is easily accessible, a lot of time went into finding period fitting luggage

One of the biggest advantages of an air ride setup is the ability to ride Cali style in the GTA

The Impala has now rightfully owned garage space as Dale’s weekend toy and show and shine car that he is not afraid to show off.

If that's not stance I really don't know what is

The Torque Thrusts compliment the chrome grill and bumper perfectly

I should take a second to mention that Keven knows his way around an SLR and took all these photos

The Impala profile will never go out of style

Kev said they couldn't go anywhere without turning heads

There were actually two separate photo shoots for this car so expect desktop wallpapers soon

I can't get over how nicely this car flows

Parting shot

In one final example of six degrees of separation Dale’s wife is a flight attendant who happened to have Chip Foose on one of her flights and after a few how do you do’s Dale is now the owner of a personally signed marker and pen illustration of his Impala.

Some dudes have all the luck.

Thanks to Keven for shooting these photos for me, and Dale for allowing us to feature his ride. Expect to see a lot more photos from Keven on this site as he is about as down as it gets in support for this blog.

As always if you want your car featured send me an email at stanceiseverything@gmail.com

Over the course of seven or so years Eugene has worked tirelessly to restore this 1968 Pontiac Firebird to factory show room condition only to put it up for sale after about one year of seat time. Some might consider putting in that much work to sell so quickly is crazy but for Eugene the art of the build is just as enjoyable if not more than the finished project. Infact he has already started considering his next project; a 1940s Fleet side Pickup.

If Eugene keeps cranking out cars of this caliber and selling them for such reasonable prices (this car is priced to move at $23,595) than the prospects of all us us being able to one day own a piece of American muscle history  just shot up.

The Beginning
Eugene’s story writes out like a novel, and actually did become a book, his fascination with the first gen Firebirds started when he worked at the GM plant and familiarized himself with the parts and service manuals of the 1967-1969 Firebird.

With a new found love and a wealth of knowledge he set forth to build a show room ready First Gen Bird. He started off with one that was not too rough around the edges…

Euguenes car before its long journey

I'm not even sure you could buy a car with a blue on blue color scheme these days

Motor work
The 68 Firebird came with an inline six rated at 215hp in it’s most powerful optioned out form the neat part about this motor, which I learned while reading Eugenes site about his bird, is that it was designed by John Z Delorean the same person that designed this.

John Z. DeLorean inline 6

The 90k mill pulled for rebuild

The motor after it's fresh rebuild

The Motor running after rebuild

Interior Restoration
The interior was a bit of a mish-mash of parts which can be somewhat expected of a car of this vintage.  All of this was addressed by Eugene during the restoration and the interior was brought back it its intended glory.

Wee bit of a flinstone car, this was properly repaired with new floor pans on both sides

Interior restored to factory specs and an mp3 player was installed in the glove box to keep the original look, note the colored JBLs as well

You know the turquoise interior isn't all that bad when it matches

Freshly redone seats.

Exterior Restoration
The climate in the GTA is terrible for the longevity of cars, they all rust to some degree, thankfully Eugene took the time to have his car repaired properly and not smacked full of bondo.

This fender had cancer which someone tried to slow it down with Bondo and fiberglass

Amputation and replacement was in order

Exploratory sanding was done to see if the cancer had spread to other areas

Early primer stages

Painted and badged, I should take a second to note all these photos were taken by Eugene, talented guy

The finished product
This car turned out beautiful in the end and while it doesn’t have any suspension mods its original stance is one that demands attention and I am sure every car enthusiast would turn their head as this bird flies by.

A well used parking lot

Toronto lakeside photo shoot

Parting shot

I’m really honored that Eugene wanted me to do a piece on his car and part of me is sad to see that he is selling it so quickly, however I am really excited to see what he does with his next project.

If you want to read more about the restoration process of this car check out the page Eugene built all about it, My First Gen Bird, all of the pictures in this piece came from there. If you want to buy this fine machine visit his for sale page at car candy.

Thanks for reading the first 100 and stick around for many more.