Scion

Sometime last year I got into a conversation about "real" wheel companies with a local enthusiast. Normally I try and avoid conversations like this all together but, this time I took the bait and asked the person to list off a few companies he considered real. The standard prerequisites (BBS, Volk, Work, and so forth) were fired off but I was a little shocked that he failed to mention any of the numerous new (or perhaps maturing) wheel companies that have been putting out original designs within the past 5 years or so.

The Canadian International Autoshow  celebrates 40 years of operation this year which makes me wonder how many I've attended throughout the years. Though the number is likely  less than half I can remember as a child, attending the show with my dad, running from car to car for a  chance go get in the drivers seat and pretend to drive.

When it was announced that Pat Cyr was Scion Canada's choice  to campaign the FR-S for the 2013 season I think that the entire province of Ontario unanimously said 'Hell Yeah'. Scion Canada couldn't have picked a better person, or driver, to represent their brand and I don't think I am the only one who  feels Pat receiving support like this was long over due. During the conversation in which he invited me to come check out the car I could tell by the excitement in his voice that what he was building after hours at Cyrious Garageworks was something special.

This Theme Tuesday was pretty well inevitable. With the popularity of the FR-S/BRZ/86 everyone expected more than a few at the show and the car deservedly took home the award for Hottest Sport Compact. What I didn't expect going into SEMA 2012 was how similarly modified many of 'Toybarus' would be to one another with the majority being equipped with either a Rocket Bunny aero kit, Vortech Supercharger, and some manner of air ride.

When I did the first 'Cars With Mouths' Theme Tuesday in 2011 I never imagined it would be so well received, nor did I think that it would lead to a part two, but a year later here we are. Plenty of military (Warthog/Tigershark) inspired examples in this post as well as a few more creative examples.

Scion Canada was crazy  kind enough to give me an FR-S to test drive for a week and I figured I would be equally kind in giving it a 'real world' review. By real world I mean from the perspective of someone who is not tainted by the luxury of having multiple press cars a month, or pockets lined with riches from foreign lands.

After successfully running Tuners Against Street Racing for a few years Matthew M (previous feature s2k owner) decided to switch gears a bit and start a new show series called 'Squeaky Clean' aimed towards those with more subtle modifications done to their cars. The first Squeeky Clean show took place two weeks ago at JRP and even though mother nature didn't seem to fond about the idea of Matt having a show that day about 35 or so cars ended up coming out to participate in the event.

Is there such thing as a car show hangover? If so that is what I have after this years Importfest Toronto. This has always been a show that people look forward too but I felt as though this year people were anticipating it even more than usual. I think the increased amount of anticipation was due to the hard work the Ifest team put in beforehand promoting the show online and at events, as well as the announcement of several 'feature' cars coming to the show from both within the GTA area and abroad.

2011 marked the 25th Anniversary of the Toronto Honda Indy and thanks to my friend Steve I got to check out the anniversary festivities on Saturday. This was the day before the big show but that didn't mean there wasn't a lot taking place on and off the track for us to check out. Canadian Touring Car Championship cars were all over the place, along with Ferrari Challenge cars, and Izod Indy light cars. Not to mention the booths, tents, and displays from event sponsors.

I've been meaning to dedicate another post to Readers Rides for awhile now but with the amount of event coverage I have been doing combined with features and guest coverage it's been hard to find a day to dedicate to it. However with the Facebook fan page clicking over to 4000 people yesterday (thanks everyone who has liked the page) I think today is the perfect day to show some of your cars some love, it was long overdue.

Today's showstopper is recently appeared on Slammed Society, and one of Lyndsey's favorites from SEMA. Sitting practically in a corner away from a lot of the hustle & bustle this Scion Xb might have been easy to miss if it wasn't for the super white, almost glowing, paint and the very wide 17×10.5 and 17x 11.5 BBS RS wheels with teal centers.