Started in 2011 the Niagara Tuner & Truck Expo (TNTEXPO for short) is a show that I have had the pleasure of watching grow from nothing to something the past few years.
Tom and the Nine 0 Five rides club are an easy bunch to work with and each year they put a lot of time and dedication into the expo in order to make it an enjoyable event for everyone in attendance.
In addition to an extensive list of trophy classes TNT also has a number of side competitions like a limbo contest, loudest exhaust, loudest blow off valve, and the crowd favorite Bikini contest to keep people amused throughout the course of the day.
Unfortunately this year I met (or maybe I brought) the rain to the show so I didn’t get to take as many photos as I would have liked. Thankfully reader and show goer Justin Weiss was able to help me out by contributing some of his photographs to this year’s coverage.
Cars
One of my favourite parts of the TNTEXPO is the diversity of the show field. There’s a little something for everyone.
It’s always fun listening to people guess what this car is, I heard all sorts of things from Datsun to Ferrari, no one ever guesses AlfaAfter only doing a couple shows last year it seems like Sam is back on the show circuit and sporting wider Work VS-XX wheelsI wonder if he’s ever served at a show…This Dart has a number of unique touches…My favourite has to be the lace paintGround’d Kustoms, the same shop that did the Dart above, also did this Denali
Schaf thoroughly enjoying life on the dark sideEvery time I check this cars build thread it’s a different color, the silver looks much better than the black I previously saw it asNew wheels completely changed the look of this car compared to last yearSurprised this car made it in without ripping of the lip’s lip
Shea’s new Meister S1s have become real close friends with his quartersClean e46 from the Next Level Car clubSpiked lugs seem to have officially crossed over into the tuner sceneShannon’s freshly dipped Civ on teal AdvansJustin’s last car met with some unfortunatness so now he’s rocking thisArmy tribute themed Jetta
Cool to see people incorporate what is important to them in a buildIt is kind of interesting that the closer you get to the border the more marble paint you seeCongrats to Ryan for taking home the PASMAG Tuner battlegrounds award at TNT, look for a feature of his car in an upcoming issue of Performance Auto & SoundOn the topic of magazine features Trevor just grabbed on in the latest issue of USDMFREAX magazine
This certainly isn’t an engine bay treatment you see everydayBrad creepin’ his way to the loudest blow off contestThise AE86 was nearly factory freshThis might just be the only modified s12 200sx I’ve ever seen in person
Pretty cool to see this phenomenal Dart GTS at the show
Trucks
Since I am (sadly) once again unable to attend Vanfest for the fourth year in a row I was glad I was able to at least see a few trucks at TNT Expo.
Brandon’s truck, clean as always
This truck has more A/V equipment in his bed than I do in my house
Hard to keep up with the revisions on James’ truck but I think his front end has changed a bit
Never seen this 5.0 swapped B series around before, certainly not what I expected to see under the hood
Duck Hunt on a 7″ screen would be one of the must frustrating things ever
Limbo
This year SIE sponsored the Limbo contest at TNTEXPO but unfortunately it started to rain pretty well right as it started. The show did go on but it wasn’t quite as competitive as the year before.
It was still a lot of fund and there is always next year, I know there is one of you out there who wants to stop a Miata from winning three years in a row.
The truck limbo ended up getting the worst of the rainy conditionsSomehow the drive shaft let go in this truck immediately after thisGary ended up taking it home for the trucks simply because he’s not afraid of dragging through the mudStock height? No problem.Team Mayzn TL givin’ it a go
Brad ain’t scared of doing a little limboThis years champion
After vanishing down the rabbit hole of RWD builds for some time I realized that this theme will no doubt be multiple renditions simply because their are a TON of awesome conversions out there.
For this first edition I’ve limited things strictly to cars that were FWD from the factory, and omit all wheel drive to rear wheel conversions.
I’ve also loosely ordered these by level of ridiculousness.
KLZE RWD Probe
When searching for RWD conversions this is actually one of the first projects that pops up. This build is the odd duck of the bunch because it uses the motor the car orignally came with just rotated.
Miata parts come through with the assist for suspension and the like.
The rotated KLZEMiata UnderpinningsLargely stock appearance (it’s a daily too)
The only reason I am including this one so early on in the post is because I can’t really find much of any information on it, and being completed in 2010 it’s fairly old.
However it’s probably some of the best converted car drifting I have seen.
9 Second Geo Metro
This particular car is actually from a 2009 WTF Friday post but was to good not to bring back. It’s really a Metro shell over a toube frame and GNX turbo V6 but I am 100% ok with that.
Wonder if it is still around?
Rover Powered MK1
Over the weekend Speed Hunters posted a photo of this car on their instagram and I was instantly intrigued. After Forge Motorsports (who had the car at their booth) couldn’t come up with more photos I asked on the fanpage and was set down the path to find a bit more.
The car is clean as hell and actually has a Rover v8 under the hood not your typical Chevy for Ford mill.
Another WTF Friday veteran is the ‘Vorsche’ which is, as the name implies, a Porsche motivated MKII Volkswagen Golf. For this build parts largely came from the Porsche 944 chassis.
The Vorsche build is here on badassassdubs, though I am not sure where the car is today.
Ziggy Built F20 Powered DC Integra
This car popped up in Wekfest coverage a few years back and since then there has not really been to much else about it.
Anyone from Cali know more about this car, is it a driver or just a in your face show piece?
LSX Cavalier
This appeared in the LS In Everything Theme Tuesday (which this post could double as with a few additions) and since then I’ve seen it pop up at various minitruck centric shows here and there.
I cannot seem to find a build thread but I do know it’s another tube frame car sitting underneath a FWD body.
Twin Turbo LS1 Powered VW Golf
An LS with two snails hanging off it, stuffed into a MK4, and slid around a track, what’s not to like? Well maybe the fact that it started as a real R32… but if you look past that this car built by Dala Performance is pretty damn awesome.
There’s coverage of this car scattered over the internet but SpeedHunters has the most recent feature I’ve found.
The Mustegra
Unlike the Ziggy built Integra above this Integra isn’t really much of a Honda (Acura) any more but rather a Mustang in import skin. It’s currently in pieces destined to be put back together sometime in the future but even if it doesn’t it was an awesome project and huge middle finger to both he Import and Domestic crowd.
Going to end off with this one because while I’ve seen a few RWD CRX conversions I never really expected any of them to be powered by a SR20. This car comes from Greece and looks and sounds pretty beastly.
There’s a feature of the car here on nafsclick and while it’s not in English, and the translated page comes out a bit choppy, it does have a lot of high res photos of the car.
Suggestions for part 2? Let me know in the comments below.
While the Toronto Ruckus/Zuma/Met/Jazz scene has been simmering for a few years now it’s activity has mostly slipped under the noses of anyone who wasn’t explicitly looking for it.
This is mostly due to the fact that previously there were no local vendors dedicated to this niche market, and for a hobby to experience rapid positive growth it needs to become relatively easily accessible to the lay person without getting watered down.
Here to change things, and continue to steer the scene in the right direction, is Mini Moto lab. Run by Anthony, and Aidan (die hard mini moto enthusiasts in their own right) Mini Moto Lab is the first dedicated Ruckus/Zuma/Met/Jazz shop in Canada and is dedicated strictly to bringing in only the best of parts.
After putting in a few months of ground work building relationships with companies in Japan and abroad Aidan and Anthony officially opened the doors to their brick and morter store (a companion to their online business) June 1st 2014.
Personally I’ve only taken a bit of a curious glance at the mini moto scene, so I wasn’t sure what to expect from the grand opening, but I must admit it was really interesting to see the level of detail that goes into these builds.
Like any wheeled hobby it looks like these little bikes would take all the money out of your wallet at the drop of a hat!
Some of you may have seen these flyers getting tossed around at the Fitted Lifestyle EventThose flyers featured Carolina and Aidan’s project Jazz/RuckusI am going to go ahead and say on the record that more events need tacos, or rather all events need tacosTo remember their opening forever the Mini Moto Lab team allowed people to sticker bomb and tag this table which will be lacquered and sealedWhen I was a young snot nosed kid some older guys on my street had a Honda trail 80 I wanted REAL bad, upon seeing this one those feelings came right backTried something a little different with this shot, normally don’t get much chance to mess with reflective lensesRat Fink popped by for a bitSuper clean example of step lipped RMs on an e46A few people from across the boarder showed up with their ridesIt’s actually a little wild just how much detail can go into these little bikes, this one even had Bride seating
No two bikes looked exactly a like
I wouldn’t be surprised if a few of these bikes rivaled what I have in my carThis bike looked to be Mini Moto Lab’s ‘Pièce de résistance’Stretched tires are as important here as they are in the car worldThis bike featured a Hot Lap Exhaust which Mini Moto Lab is the exclusive North American Distributor ofIf this bike peak’s your interest it is actually for sale
If mini motos are your thing I definitely recommend checking out minimotolab.com and following them on facebook. When it comes to growing the scene here in Toronto and aborad there really couldn’t be two better people to do it.
By the time I got to the 2014 CSCS season opener the event was well under way and they venue was absolutely packed to the point where all of the cars were essentially lost in a sea of people.
Drake on the other hand camped at the venue and was therefore able to fire off a few photos before things got really hectic, check out his coverage of the show and shine and pits below!
Pits
Can’t being to fathom how much it must cost to track this carMarin doing a little work between rounds‘Now see here’s your problem’…No crust
This appears to be one very clean looking Cressida
Had to do a double take on this e30… thought it was my old one for a second
Chicks dig the LS
Show And Shine
John Wakely out in his daily driver instead of the green monsterThis car looks so much cleaner without the roof mounted BMXAnother one of the several local cars I am hoping to take a closer look at this year
This looks like it’s shaping up to be an awesome finished productTeknotik always brings a few awesome cars to CSCS that blur the lines between show car and track car
Whomever decided black on black shiney material for the models attire did not have their best interests in mind. I reckon these girls were literally quite hot
End things off with the Nextmod Mississauga Supra project currently capturing the eyes of damn near everyone on the internet
The next round of CSCS is June 29th at Grand Bend!
For more information, and points standings, on the Canadian Sport Compact Series visit cscs.ca.
It’s said that if there is one thing that is constant in this world it’s change and that truism couldn’t apply more aptly to the evolution of the Canadian Sport Compact Series over the past two years.
Always one of the ‘must attend’ events in the area the CSCS staff has been making significant strides the past few years in an effort to grow the event as a large scale, well respected, race series in Canada.
The success of the 2014 season opener was a direct result of their hard work and a sure sign of what is to come in the future.
Switching season kick off venue’s from Toronto Motorsports Park Cayuga, to the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park was a bold move but loyal CSCS fans and competitors went with it, and though I don’t have any official numbers to quote I would say this was one of, if not the, the highest attended events in recent memory.
In addition to redeveloped grounds the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park boasted a new drivers development training track that many were eager to break in. That track in question is exactly where round one coverage by Drake Nolte will begin.
Time Attack
As always the time attack field at CSCS looked really competitive with veterans striving to better their results from last year and newcomers trying to find their lane.
The line-up of eager time attack participants waiting to rip up the new track
Can Jam Motorsports is always well represented at CSCSMike Gardner put a lot of work into his 350z over the off season making it an even more competitive car than it was last yearLooks like someone will be competing in time attack this year on Air Lift Suspension, awesome
LS NB Miata’s are multiplying…
Looks like the unlimited class is getting a little more exotic
Innovative Tuning put a lot of work into their unlimited Subaru known as ‘Voltron’ prior to round one and the car is even more of a beast than it was last year
Drifting
The new DDT track at the Canadian Tire Motorsports park meant a new layout for the drift competitors and round saw one of the most technical drifting layouts at a CSCS event to date.
Entry speeds were high and turns transitioned from banked to flat as drivers did their best to hold it together.
One of the first things I heard when I showed up was that Jover and the wall had a bit of contact, he’s ok but it will be a bit until the car is back outThe second thing I heard when I got to the opener was this car leg go. Apparently he was killing it all day too
I believe this is the crazy LS powered e46 from Innovative tuning that showed up late last seasonDrifter’s Anonymous’ own Miguel Pereira sporting a PD influence livery, someone get him a light bar
Dylan had the whistle tips going at the first round of CSCSMarin basically rebuilt this entire car in the off season, jungle gyms front and rear nowFrom show car to drift car, one of the craziest transitions ever. (If you forget what this car looked like before click here)
Steve managed to get second in his first every drift competition which is incredibleCody Loughhead drove really consistently at the season opener….
…well enough to walk away with the top spot and a great start to the series, congrats Cody!
Check back tomorrow for more coverage from the CSCS season opener including some of the cars lurking in the pits and the show and shine!
Drew a blank this week for a standard Theme Tuesday, so I decided to do a little hard drive ‘closet cleaning’.
As you can imagine I save a lot of photos during my travels through the internet; some go here on the site, some go on the Facebook Fan Page, some instagram and others… well others just kind of sit there waiting for me to figure out what to do with them.
These photos are pretty much all of the above, some of them I saved as far back as 2010.
Can’t remember where I picked this one up but lordy is it wild. Love that rear fenderWhen was the last time you saw an SVX?Also ticking the ‘cars I have not seen in a long time column’This little Fiat is quite awesome, well done by the ownerThe Scirocco in the foreground has such an 80’s vibeCan’t say I have seen too many RX-3s in personThere was a time when modified Astro vans were the jam…If reliability isn’t so much your thing this is awesomeLove this jeep, because it’s so not jeep likeVideo below:
No idea where I grabbed this road monster fromBeaver panel no punch backs!The UK got the best Escorts…. FACT
Bit of a trip back in timeA Countach on… Equips?Speaking of back in time…
Got the chance to head out to the weekly Street Classics meet at Canadian Tire Queensway this past Saturday and wasn’t disappointed by the turnout for what was the second or third meet of 2014.
As the near by plaza gets further developed, and these events have less and less space to work with, they become a little more challenging to photograph, but from a spectator point of view the compact space makes it really easy to take it all in.
Since this was more of a family outing that anything else I just snapped a few photos of whatever caught my eye, and enjoyed the awesome Saturday evening weather.
The second Nissan Figaro I’ve ever seen, from what I overheard this one was imported into BC before making it’s way into Ontario
A pair of legends
This bus makes it’s rounds in the summer, if I’m not mistaken that is the original paintwork on it
Surf’s upIt’s not how you stand by your (awesome) car…The iconic Muscle car rake interpreted 3 ways
In my opinion this Nova is one of the best looking cars in the city.
In 2012’s Theme Tuesday on local builds I pointed to an f20 swapped, rear wheel drive, second gen CRX being built by local fabricator Weir Tech. That car (which is drive-able now and updates can be viewed here) is still awesome but I think it may have been ‘one uped’ buy this first gen being built in Saudi Arabia.
Like the Weirtech build this humble CRX has had it’s drive-line set-up switched from FF to FR using a combination of oem Honda parts and a fabricators ingenuity.
And like the Weirtech build an f20 motor now sits under the hood, but in this case the F20 is given a bit of help from two snails instead of one.
Owner Ayman Sindi’s personal facebook page serves as the only build documentation I can find, and despite the lack of words things seem to moving along quite well.
I suspect video of this car getting wild will surface soon.
While sitting down and going through the photos from Fitted 2014 it really sunk in how much these events have grown. Starting from a very small meet, with perhaps a handful of truly fitted cars, to the event that just took place last weekend is one hell of a journey and it’s been awesome watching it grow.
Every year, without fail, Fitted is one of the most popular in the area and the event coverage is some of the most high trafficked on the site.
I really look forward to seeing where these events go in the years to come, and hope to be able to continue to document them as time goes on.
There’s about sixty photos in today’s coverage so give it a sec to load up and enjoy.
Come one come all
Though the show itself was limited to a fixed number of cars the great weather meant that outside the venue doors there was almost a second event taking place in the parking lot. I didn’t spend a whole lot of time cruising around the lot but every time I did poke my head out I saw something pretty awesome.
I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the cars that were outside this year end up inside next year.
Sic Ryde lowered his hauler and it looks amazingI didn’t see this car myself but from what I’m told it’s got quite the system in itAs a huge Blazer fan I was bugging out over this, evidently it’s original paint tooWhen you see it…Drake managed to nab these two cars I didn’t even know came to the eventSuper rare to see these so clean in Ontario
This is awesome.
Mutli-piece Tarmacs are a good look on this JettaHoping to catch up with the owner of this car for a shoot in the next few weeks
The local aircooled community always comes out to support
Widened style 5s are a really good look
Bring the Noise
Local Ruckus/Scooter shop Mini Moto Lab brought out a few of their builds for this year’s Fitted Lifestyle event. There’s always been the odd Ruck here and there in Toronto but with the introduction of a new shop I suspect there will be a lot more cruising the streets mid summer.
Mini Moto Lab is having a grand opening Sunday (with Tacos!) so if Rucks are your thing be sure to roll out to that.
My friends Aidan and Carolina recently finished up their Jazruck project and Fitted was my first time seeing it in person
It’s becoming harder, and harder, to tell myself I don’t want a motorcycle when I see bikes like this one
Onto the show
One of the great things about both halls at Fitted was that they were arranged so that the vehicles were relatively easy to photograph. As someone who enjoys taking photos nothing is more frustrating than being at a show and not being able to get the angle you want because the cars are lined up tighter than sardines.
It’s a small detail in the grand scheme of things but goes a long way.
Ryan was a last minute addition to fitted, good to see him thereAnother look at Jay’s M Coupe on Baby moonsUpon hearing this car was over 450+ hp the guy on the floor there had to take a bit of a breather
This static IS300 just looked ‘right’ and as such took home one of the static awardsGeoff’s car is always spotless and the machined faces/painted windows really give the LM’s a classy oem+ type vibeDamn that open door for more or less killing this shot, however Sic’s Benz looked great at FittedBrad keeping it real for all the Fitted KidsAnother look at Rob’s MGBGT, she wears her war wounds on her sleeve
To get home (without losing most of his exhaust) he swapped to the stock front wheelsLove these two Beetles, @rapchat and @ekul_bug on IG if you want to give em a follow
Drake managed to catch this fellow in deep concentration over Dan’s NSXThis EF was absolutely stunning, the relipped RMS suit it quite wellTucked and shaved bay with……ITBs! Well deserving of the award it took home, this car almost always had a good sized crowd around itPete Young’s EF is a car that I have somehow managed to miss the past few yearsThere’s a lot of subtle touches to it including the widened front quarters that allow the 16″ SSR Defi Fin wheels to fit nicelyThe SSR’s bore a very unique center capTucked and shaved bay of course
Bag All The Things
In my top trends of 2013 article I mentioned that everything and anything was going to hit the ground on air in 2014 and I’m pleasantly surprised to see that prediction was actually true.
Luke’s bug laid out on the air kit he spent the winter fabbing up@loopy_lu on his new CCWSjnoort1 took home one of the Ride Low Park Lower prize packs I was giving away on instagram the week leading up to the eventChu’s C63 repping Level OneWatercooled IND SA07’s are some of the most intricate and unique wheels I’ve ever laid eyes uponAlexandre Angers was the winner of the Tuner Battlegrounds Live award at Fitted 2014, watch out for a feature of this car in Performance Auto And Sound soonJesse From Air Society‘s new lookScottie 2 LO on huge Blonixx TTA wheels
Natalia unveiled her new look for 2014 and it’s killer. Next time I catch this car outside I’ll get some interior shots
Dish for days…Jagjiven’s car looked flawless at FittedIf I was more of a MK4 buff I could more easily recall the list off of rare, oem+ mods this car has but, I’m not so just take my word for it that it does…..or just peep the fitmentThis was the first stock bodied bagged FD I’ve seen…… and it’s a thing of beautyRounding out the ‘purists are so mad they can’t even type out their hate’ cars is Nextmods bagged, big single, kitted, Supra
The People’s Champ
This 73 240d was one of the most talked about vehicles at Fitted Toronto 2014. Essentially completely stock save for the bags and RS wheels it was a perfect example of the less is more philosophy.
The owner Richard ended up taking home a trophy in the vintage category as well as the Scraped Crusaders ‘Favourite Ride at Fitted Lifestyle’ award presented by Broadway Static Suspension.
Execution was key on this car, not only do the blue centres match the paint….…but the cream faces also match the well kept interior
The plate says it all
That’s it for the bulk of the Fitted Lifestyle 2014 Toronto coverage. However a few more photos might make their way up to the Facebook Fan page over the next few days.
Stay tuned for CSCS season opener coverage coming soon.
I like trucks, and I like drifting so really this week’s Theme Tuesday should have happened ages ago, and be well into multiple innings at this point.
Other than the fact that far too many pick ups shipped with automatic transmissions and power to all four wheels, trucks seem like a pretty decent option for drifting that few people seem to try out.
Must have something to do with the fact that most have less than desirable rear suspension set-ups and lack of dedicated after market but that’s what a little ingenuity is for.
Not exactly one of the trucks I expected to see pulling this post togetherFor whatever reason Rangers as track vehicles seem to be somewhat commonThis Ranger is/was actually local if I recall correctlyIt’s kind of a truck..I believe this is a Datsun.. but I could be wrongLike most other things Japan has been into drifting trucks for awhile
Two trucks in a tandem with an S chassis trailing? Amazing.
I couldn’t NOT include this. I believe it is from SEMA a few years ago
I’ve got to make it out to a DMCC event so I can see this in actionI’ve heard Riley might be driving something else this year which makes me a little sad
Not the first time I’ve posted this Datsun, probably won’t be the last
Seems like whiplashdvd.com is deadthedriftruck.com too
Was this just another excuse to post Nigel’s truck? Maybe.
