Nissan

While I was at Torque Modified, a little closer to home in Mississauga Tires 23 was holding a charity BBQ/show and shine as a show of thanks for the years of support they've received from the community. In addition to free food, the event had speciality trophies, giveaways, raffles, and live music and at the end of the day Tires 23 raised $1,022 for Credit Valley Hospital.

Now in it's thirteenth year Importfest is a firmly established staple of the Toronto scene and for the second year in a row Stance Is Everything was there via both media coverage and a physical booth. Like last year 201 coverage will be split into three parts with the third dedicated to the awesome group of guys who were part of the Stance Is Everything display at Importfest 2013.

Lots of people seem to think that trucks are only really good for hauling around couches, dirt bikes, debris, and people. These same people believe that trucks should stay stock height and should never be pretty as that "defeats the purpose of a truck".

Going to even out the LSX in everything Theme Tuesday with a Toyota 2jz Theme Tuesday. Versatility wise it could be argued that the 2jz is on par with Chevrolet's legendary V8. Originally finding a home in the Toyota Aristo the 2JZ GTE soon became Toyota's power plant of choice for the Supra before eventually finding it's way under the hood of all sorts of different enthusiast owned vehicles world wide.

Going to finish up the 2013 CSCS Beach Burnout coverage before moving on to what will be an onslaught of coverage from Eurokracy 2013. Today's coverage is made up of the photos I took while not on the track or hiding in the shade from the heat.

The last 'Girls With Hot Rides' (Lady Driven from here on out) Theme Tuesday was in 2010 and to be honest that's entirely too long. The days of women rolling around in pink Civics and outrageous Sunfires are largely over and there are a number of ladies doing things just as good (if not sometimes better) than the guys and it's a damn shame I don't post them more often.

As mentioned in part one of 2013 CSCS season opener coverage Cayuga was packed last Sunday which meant the show and shine was overwhelmingly full. Let me tell you I was pretty glad to not be a judge at that event because as it must have taken ages to get through the show and shine field never mind try and arrange them in some sort of logical order.

The mantra of the devout non purist enthusiast is that the right motor for the job is the one that is the most reliable, cost effective, and powerful one available regardless of the make. More often than not GM's LSX ends up being the motor that fits those requirements, and as such the go to power plant for the non purist. It doesn't hurt that they came in a variety of different vehicles making them readily available, and have robust after market support.

For the past four years Dave and the ever growing Stretch & Poke! operating team have been providing Toronto's aggressive fitment community with quality events for enthusiasts, by enthusiasts. Last years season opening event clocked in record attendance and, not a group to rest on their laurels, the Stretch & Poke team strived to top their previous success with an even bigger 2013 event at an all new venue.

I've always found the relationship between Japan's automotive scene and the one in North America is pretty interesting. We copy them, they copy us, they copy us copying them, we copy them copying us copying them. It's like a never ending feedback loop that more often than not leads to a lot of cool cars.

With Driven in the books the 2013 show season is now "officially" underway in Calgary. Eager to get old man winter out the door this years driven took place a little earlier than last year which meant a few people had to scramble to get their cars ready for the show. However 250+ cars ended up making it to the Calgary Oval even with the accelerated timeline and Mike once again did a great job of capturing the show in the artistic way only he can.

Today is the day I make good on last Friday's promise of some more favourable front end swaps to balance out the more horrendous. Front (and rear for that matter) swaps are always going to be somewhat controversial, and a matter of personal preference, so I have no doubt some of you are not going to agree with a few of these picks. As always feel free to express your opinions, or share ones I may have missed, in the comments below.