Makes

It's no secret that people here in North America are becoming increasingly obsessed with the enthusiast culture in Japan. Print publications like Super Street periodically run features on shops and gatherings in the land of the rising sun, while on-line media houses like SpeedHunters have hired Japanese correspondents to provide an in depth, on-going look into their scene. On the flip side Japanese enthusiasts have begun to take great interest in what we are doing and one of the magazines providing those in Japan a close look at the North American Enthusiast culture is USDMFREAX.

In the middle of a few Theme Tuesday ideas right now so I decided to fall back to all old faithful topic this week. Funny in Part 2 of this series I was debating the switch to air and that I have it I have yet to produce any dragging photos...something to try out on my winter wheels (Works would tear my quarters to shreds) perhaps.

Since opening their flagship Markham store in '09 Nextmod has been steadily working hard to become a household name among tuners in Canada. A Montreal store is in the works and their Ottawa location opened mid summer. Exactly one week ago Nextmod opened their third store in Mississauga to an extremely positive reception and large turnout.

On the fly adjustable suspension has come a long way since the days of yore. Companies like Air Lift make kits (or at the very least can provide a starting point) for basically every car on the market and if hydraulics are more your fancy institutions like Hydroholics are capable of doing the same. The need to re purpose old air plane systems, semi truck equipment, or any sort of other retro fit no longer really exists. However that doesn't mean there are not people who are stilling willing to take up the challenge to make something not exactly designed for automotive use work in an automotive application.

If I am to be perfectly honest it took me a awhile to warm up to Mazda's last production kick at the rotary can. In stock trim the RX-8 didn't do a whole lot for me and many I saw at shows were hilariously over the top. It wasn't until I saw Moneesh's car  that I realized the RX-8 really just needs a refined tasteful touch to look 'just right'.

While writing the feature on Gerrot's awesome turbo LS1 powered s2000 I began to wonder what kind of applications his old F20 could be used for. I'm well aware that the f20 has become pretty commonplace in the ae86 chassis --there are at least four in Toronto alone-- but a bit of Google searching revealed that it's usefulness extends well past the Hachi-Roku. Here are a few examples I've found so far but I know there are more out there so feel free to share a few I may have missed!

Considered one of the most well rounded and affordable sports cars ever built there are many who regard the Honda s2000 as near perfect straight from the factory. More often know as purists these individuals look down on any sort of modification done to the AP1 chassis as tarnishing a master piece. To a purist removing the factory power plant in favor of an LS1 would be considered a cardinal sin but thankfully for us Gerrot is not a purist by any definition of the word.

Trikes are no stranger to WTF Friday's having appeared here several times over; first there was the John Deere trike, then the 2JZ powered one, followed by a seemingly endless army of Fiero based models. The latest to join this prestigious line-up is comprised of one half station wagon --of which I am embarrassed to admit I can't identify-- and one half Windjammer fairing equipped motorcycle.

Vagkraft and round four of the Canadain Sport Compact Series unfortunately always seem to fall on the same day which means I have to make the difficult choice between to great events. As I'm sure you already know for 2013 my choice was Vagkraft however I like to run coverage from all the CSCS events so I asked around to see who would be making the voyage to Cayuga.

A little over a month ago Toronto chapters of the Majetics and Luxurious lowrider clubs hosted their annual summer BBQ. I had another BBQ earlier in the day so I missed a little bit of the festivities (hop off), but still had enough time to get my annual fix of wires, murals, hydros, and candy paint. It's always such a relaxed vibe at these events and the build quality of the cars is second to none. It's seriously mind blowing the amount of time and dedication that goes into these cars and that's exactly what keeps me going back year after year.

In late July the Vossen World Tour passed through Toronto stopping at Ertefa, Importfest, Niagara Falls, and Taylor'd Customs taking pictures and video as they travelled. I've been a fan of Vossen's video work ever since this video released in 2012 so I popped in on their shoot to peak at the method behind the madness.

Dean’s 1991 Mazda Miata has a laundry list of modifications that make it look just right. Everything is carefully considered by its owner to be just the way he wants it. The first thing one might notice are the CCW Classic wheels with 245/35/16R European spec Toyos. Yes, that's right, 245 width. That means the wheels must be pretty wide!