Stumbled upon this Honda Accord wagon a few days ago and while the ride height is quite low its the wheels that made me ‘right click save as’. They are most certainly not the type of rims you would expect see on an import but they actually don’t look too out of place on this wagon.
A little different but not bad at all in my opinion.
I wish I knew the specs, but I am going to say fairly tall 18s or higher judging by the amount of camber needed to get them to fit.
Parking garages, a classic photo shoot locationDoes Honda still make a good looking wagon?Tires probably don't last too long before a flipReserved, low only
Hat tip to the owner for choosing rims out of a different catalog than everyone else.
Today’s Winter Wednesday is a bit different than all of the ones I have posted previous. It contains two cars and both get covered in snow and slush, but only one has it’s tires set on the ground, the other is just along for the messy ride.
The owner of these cars, Zakinen (from SubaruForester.org), is a pretty lucky guy he drives a dropped Subaru Forrester as a daily and on days he’s not working he uses it as a tow rig for his ae86 track car.
Those of you who read Speedhunters may remember his cars from a recent post called ‘Pulling in style‘ which he certainly does.
Perhaps the perfect combo?
One day in December he decided to take his AE out to a track day at the Grobnik track in his homeland of Croatia.
He spent the night before hand getting everything ready and loaded onto the trailer with no idea that while he was sleeping mother nature was going to try her best to completely ruin his plans.
Like a true Subaru owner when he woke up and saw snow on the ground he didn’t skip a beat. He checked the forecast and saw that no more snow was going to be falling on the track so he fueled up and rolled out.
Everyone else now has no excuse for not taking it to the trackUgh weather like this is depressing
On the way to the track things got really messy for both cars but since no more snow was falling he forged on in hopes he would be able to stretch his Toyota’s legs out on the track.
Poor car got filthy and not driven
Once he got to the track however there was a small problem, it was covered in so much snow that even the track operators couldn’t quite tell where it was and therefore didn’t know where to send the plow.
How did he over come this problem? He looked up the track layout on his phone, unhooked his Forrester and hit the gas.
Zakinen off to find the trackLooks like he eventually found the trackIt also looks like he found lots of fun
After having some fun with his Forrester on the snowy track with a few other adventurous 4×4 owners he reluctantly called it a day, packed up, and headed home without ever getting to take his Hachi out on the track.
About this time two weeks ago I posted up a clean LS400 and put forth the question about whether or not I should do a full LS400 Theme Tuesday.
The response I got was basically a resounding ‘yes‘ so I hit up Aidan, who I normally ask about Lexus/VIP matters, and he helped provide some links and photos to pull this together.
These big Lex sedans look really good dropped, wish I had a chance to see more of them in person.
Lots of stagger on this LSDon't see a lot of Work Carving Heads these daysThese photos look older but the car holds up wellThey look like behind the scenes photos I wonder where the finals areCould use a little more contrast but nice overallOne part of Toronto's very small VIP communityThis cars just on the verge of Oni CamberRadius-ed fenders, slammed, white letters hell, sickLike the one last week this wears its two tone well, and that plate? HilariousIt's interesting how smooth a lack of wipers makes a carYesHuge, polished EquipsIs it just me or is that a giant house?Looks like sliding a big sedan like this has a bit of a learning curveBasically perfectNot always a fan of gatling gun headlights but they look good hereRollin heavy, rollin hard
sumTHAIguy on the Mazda3forums has been pushing Mazda fitment, more specifically Mazda speed 3 fitment, for awhile now going a little lower and a little wider each time. After looking great on 350Z rims for a quick second he bolted up his new set of kicks, SSR Longchamps XR4Z kai’s, and knocked the doors of possibility down for the speed3 in regards to ride height, stretch, and poke.
This current setup isn’t for the faint of heart, at 18×9.5 +13 this car is a stark contrast from the speed3 I posted last week.
Bolting the new setup up this is the point where I would be worriedLookin' pretty good at a stand stillThe owner of the 3 behind him has been pushing regular Mazda 3 hatch fitment for awhile tooOut onto the road, pebble pushing status achievedHis bumper is basically quick release status these daysLike I said, not for the faint of heartLove this picture
It’s my hope that this current setup sticks around for a bit, or at least long enough for him to sort out those rubbing issues, because it does look really impressive setup like this.
However after following his thread on M3F for awhile now I have a feeling this setup only has a little while before he thinks of something else…
I really can, this car is going to end up all over the internet. It’s going to appear on blog after blog, and forum after forum, for a couple of reasons. I would actually be surprised if some of you had not seen it already.
The first reason people are going to talk about this car is pretty obvious. A lot of people don’t think Subaru’s should be lowered, never mind slammed or on air ride, because of their out of the box off road capability and cherished rally heritage so multiple page debates about the suspension on this car are basically a given.
The second part of this Subaru build that is sure to push some peoples buttons is the fact that this car rocks Rotas, and looks so great doing it, that the owner has no immediate plans to change the wheel setup.
The color of the Rota's and the color of the paint are great together
Before you’re quick to get upset with the owner for bagging an Impreza RS I feel I should let you know that by the time this car got into his hands it already had a salvage title, meaning that it would have been a less than desirable platform for most people to start from anyway.
If you are a purist would you rather this car end up in a junk yard or end up looking like this?
Some are saying this car would look better wingless not sure if I agree...
As for the Rotas (which some people hate) and the bags (which some people hate) maybe the following photos will change your mind. There is no denying this car looks damn good as it’s currently set up.
Look, Rally mode!The final stance aired out is pretty killerShouts to the photographer too great workLove em or hate em Rota is here to stay
For those of you who are, or already have, started a family and are looking for a fun way to get the tribe involved in something automotive based then you might want to take some cues from this wrench holding handy man as he’s obviously has it all figured out.
First you need two Dodge Caravan’s, one running and one for parts, then you need a truck frame to put everything onto and once that’s done gather the kids for the camouflage paint job.
When it dries stand back and admire what you’ve created.
Isn't she beautiful?The funky body line makes it look like a photo shop
This van is both odd and slightly intriguing to me, I wonder how it performs off road.
However if I were to do anything to a Caravan it would be this:
Nothing major site wise, and in regards to my wheel post yesterday I am getting the tires taken off tomorrow and then proceeding down the path of measurements/modifying center bore.
I want to make them fit.
Flashback Friday
Since we are talking about Van’s here is a throwback to what I think was the first Theme Tuesday I ever did called ‘Vans can play too.
I mentioned yesterday on facebook that the test fit of my new wheels went pretty poorly, but before I get into that I should back track and let you guys know what my goal for these new wheels is.
What I hope to have purchased is a set of Work Equip 5 spokes in 17×8 (et38) and 17×9 (et44) fitment. The plan, through lots of research, was to run these with 215/45/17s all around and be happy with not a lot of poke and no excessive amounts of camber.
I went to see the wheels last week and they looked good so I purchased them on the spot (without test fitting) during a snow storm of all things.
The wheels the day I got them, still covered in snow
After a busy weekend and few days following the purchase I decided I had better test fit them before I sold my current wheels.
Last night I tried and sadly the center bore is too small so I can’t get the wheels to fit flush onto the hub. After this problem I had a bit of a freak out and began picturing the widths and offsets also being incorrect (partially brought on by measuring the widths incorrectly during this panic).
Last nights sad test fit
After contacting the seller to confirm the specs he said that the specs were given to him by the previous owner and he was simply going on his word since the tags on the wheels have long since vanished.
Knowing that I am now ‘stuck’ with very desirable wheels in potentially un-runable (for me sizes) I devised the following game plan:
Remove the current worn out, too large, tires
Verify rim width and offset are within the specs I can realistically run
If the specs are good bore out the wheels and proceed with cleaning and polishing
If the specs are NOT as advertised put the wheels back up for sale/trade
Sounds good to me what do you think?
Just so this post isn’t all about my wheel fitting woes here are some cars on similarly sized and offset Equips.
17x8/ 17x9 +47 These could go on my car no problem.17x7.5 +44/17x8.5 +41 - would also fitIf my wheels turn out close in spec I am goodDon't remember the specs on these but I do know they have a slightly different lip option17x8 +35 f 17x9 +35 r - Wouldn't fit the way I wantJust a hair too low for the Mazda 317x8.5 et 37 Front, 17x9.5 et 36 RearIf I can't fit them maybe I can swap wheels with an IS300 owner?This car looks beautiful17x8, 17x8 +27 - Too low but looks damn good on this car
So what do you think, does my course of action seem logical? I really want to make these bastards work.
I’ve spent a lot of too much time lately browsing a fitment thread on Mazda 3 forums trying to figure out just how I want my new wheels to look this year in regards to stretch vs fatness and that’s where I stumbled across this sick looking Speed3.
It’s sitting on an aggressive, functional, setup that I really can’t find any reason not to like.
I love Speed 3’s, I love RPF-1s, and I love blacked out cars, and I love nice stance so this car hits all the right buttons for me.
Its a refreshing change to see tires filling up the wheel wellsThis car gets driven hard thus the meaty setupAmazing looking carHe doesn't rub in the front and only slightly in the rear
The specs are: 17×9(et40) 255/40. Not sure the suspension. If a set of 17×9 RPF-1’s showed up at my door this is probably what I would do.
I love hot rod guys, something about their mentality makes them different than the rest of us. It’s this mentality that allows them to create the cars I like to drool over then take them out in the snow just to blow my mind.
The first car I am posting today probably doesn’t see much winter driving, the second looks like it was just parked for the winter and then snow fell on it, but the third is reported to be a daily driver.
Seven types of immaculate, and I know that doesn't even make senseFrom what I remember this photo is a vintage oneThis is a daily!
This 1931 roadster is owned by Jan. Jan never asks what the weather might be at that hot rod meeting the upcoming weekend. He doesn’t whine about rained out car shows. There’s no way he cares about getting a late model car to drive around during the winter months. Hell, he doesn’t even own a daily driver. Okay, that’s not true. He does own a daily driver: his 1931 roadster.
It’s been awhile since I have done a Theme Tuesday on a late model car. This one in particular I’ve been working on and off for at least a year.
Most of that time was spent with me pondering whether or not I really liked this chassis. Visually I think I do however if I were to get something for a performance aspect I would probably go older.
This might have to do with the fact that I couldn’t afford to own and mod an e90/e92.
Liking the trend of blue rims lately, more so than the neon trendThese cars contrast really well whiteThe owner of this car runs a site you might have heard of...Cali styleSaw this one on the SW forums, the owner things he should go lower but I like the current lookSaw this beast at SEMA, it pulls off the fighter jet graphics wellSick photo, not sure if it's real HDRNot sure how I ended up with so many white cars..whoopsLook a color other than white!Time and time again BMW and BBS are a winning combinationThis car is local one of the first full wraps I ever saw in personRollin to a Hellaflush meetThis is the second IND car I have posted here and this is just as sick as the lastFunction and form in this carFTW indeed, damn!
