Celsior and ZG flares

It is long weekend and I'm getting restless again.. so here's a quick-n-dirty chop of ZG Flares off a Datsun 240 on my boat.

I do miss the fender flares on my old Altezza. Maybe this is somewhere I can explore..

Stay tuned.

Swagnbang Trio Fairlady

A coworker linked me to these ridiculous Z's. Swagnbang is a crew that understands the word, "STANCE". These guys are all on coilovers and yes, they drive at this height. I have nothing but respect for the cars you see here. Driven hard, parked hard.

The Flush and Stance movement is starting to hit cities all over the country and I cannot wait to see others define and create their own interpretation. Hard-Stance is all attitude. Drive low, scrape all day long, negative camber, 7-point turns.

Swagnbang, you guys are "Solo-Approved".

swagnbang.com

SSR X Steplip = SEX

Still one of my top 10 wheels of all time: SSR Professor Series.

Forged BBS for BMW M5

BMW has been working with BBS to develop their next generation lightweight wheels for the M5. Check out this super sexy 1-piece forged 20" available in standard silver of satin black soon to be offered direct from BMW. This wheel is one of the best looking 1-piece wheels I've ever seen. The amazing part is, this 20 incher weights only 16 pounds!!

BBS FTW

The Real DTM

Check out this video.. makes me wanna build a Euro-spec 190e 2.3-2.6 16V:

Matte White Celsior

Tom @ Fatlace and I shot the Project43 Celsior last Saturday morning in the cold breeze morning air of San Ramon. Here are a few of my images turned black/white with a hint of red taillight accent. This was a trial-run to test out how the matte white vinyl would react to the camera lens.

Check it out:

JOB DESIGN and GEE Concept SEMA 2009

Half a year ago, I showed JO from JOB Design Japan a picture of a very special '62 Corvette built by the Roadster Shop brothers. JO immediately blogged about the car on his own website and said he wanted to sit in the car when he sees it at SEMA. I made a few phone calls to the owner and the shop and everything was setup and ready for JO.

I first met JO 3 yrs ago also at the annual SEMA convention. JOB Design is a very popular company in Japan that makes Aero kits and complete turn-key cars for customers. They range from Euro to Lexus, to custom Vans. Whatever the customer can imagine, JO and his crew can make it happen. JO is also the editor of VIP Style magazine and he has a huge column every month. So during that time, JOB Design was rarely heard of here in the states, so I did some viral marketing on blogs and forums. Then I found out JO was planning a booth at SEMA with a shop in Socal and I had to come meet him.

Since I work the Goodguys booth at SEMA every year, it is hard to actually get out to walk around and enjoy the show. Everytime I would go to the booth, JO was nowhere to be found. Finally at the Scion Party at the Hard Rock, a friend and I were headed to the bar and out of the corner of my eye was JO BLOOD!!! I literally grabbed him and said WSUP... JO is not a big dude and I'm 200 pounds and over 6 feet tall.. He was so shocked and scare it's still hella funny to think about it. Since JO doesnt speak any English and all I know in Japanese are the bad words, our initial meeting didnt go very far. Friday, the last day of SEMA I took an early lunch to go back to his booth to hunt him down.. from a distance, JO was sitting on a table and he saw me.. the Grizzly Bear coming back for more.. he started to point, with his eyes-wide open and speaking alot of Japanese. We sat, introduced myself, he had a translator and an entire group of ppl and the rest was history. He autographed 4 VIP Style and VIP Car magazines with his feature articles and 3 years later we still meet at SEMA to catch-up.

This year, JO forced a good friend from Japan to come along for the trip. Teru is the owner and operations manager of Gee Concepts. They are a distributor of Klassen, HRE, KW, Brabus, AMG, Alpina, Rotora, and more. TERU caters to the BMW and Mercedes owners in Japan. Did you know a brand new BMW M5 in Japan is nearly $180k.. that's double the price in the US. So the very few owners that actually have these cars are good customers of TERU and his company. TERU first met JO 3 yrs ago through a joint collaboration with Klassen wheels from the US. JO runs Klassen wheels on his personal LS600HL. Today, TERU was hired to be the translator. JO does pay TERU to help.. apparently with oranges and bananas. :)


So when JO saw the Corvette C1RS it was love at first sight.


At SEMA, he was the only person allowed to sit inside the car.


Here is JO meeting the owner, Barry.


Phil of Roadster Shop, JO of JOB DESIGN, SOLO of Goodguys


JO and I catching up after missing each other at SEMA last year.


TERU doing the hand-gesture translation for JO.



Thursday JO, TERU and I had some lunch and discussed the auto industry in Japan. We touched on what's new and cool and the difference between the scenes. We here are definitely way slower than Japan. JO even called our VIP style very old. TERU had pizza and JO had a wezzle-dog. JO is scared of the oil on the US pizza, but he ended-up eating half of TERU's slice. :)



Thursday night we ate at Ichiza in Chinatown and I introduced JO and TERU to the CL family. We had 20 ppl and just took over the restaurant. As we ate the best Japanese food in Vegas, many other Japan companies walked through and greeting JO. It was pretty cool to see. We ate like champs and finished just in time for a local VIP meet.

This year it was especially nice catching up with JO. Meeing TERU and getting to know him was great. What does 2010 bring?.. More aerokit and wheels? Project cars and joint collaborations? Wait and see. We will have something special at SEMA 2010.

Thank you JO and TERU!!!

JOB Design
GEE Concepts
Goodguys
Roadster Shop

ACC built Toyota Vellfire

ACC, the parent company of Airrunner built a ridiculous JDM Toyota Vellfire for the SEMA show last week. Shin, the US director for Airrunner showed me a sneak picture at "The Pursuit" in Irwindale a few months back and I knew this car van would cause quite a stir at SEMA.



Where do you start?.. It's a true JDM VIP van. Toyota never sold the Vellfire here in the US, so the styling alone should just capture your attention. The Vellfire is Toyota's flagship van in Japan.



Then a closer look or touch, will reveal that the entire van was stitched and wrapped in red leather. Leather?.. Are you serious.. since vinyl wrapping has been gaining more attention, the folks at ACC thought why not bring the interior to the exterior and that is exactly what makes this demo car just over the top. The technique was lots of glue to make the leather stick to the panels. Just how long did it all take?.. The entire exterior wrap took 1 month with a team working 24/7. The entire car was built in Japan in just under 2 months.



The entire hood and roof is cross-stitched. Even the roll call is stitched on. The van rocks a Wald Aerokit and exhaust with Portofinos on one side and Forgiatos on the other, all in 22"inches. Rotora 6/4 BBK system on each corners and of course the Airrunner system for the suspension.



If SEMA had an award for most original, this is clearly the winner. Good job Shin and ACC. Thanks for pushing the boundaries in the automotive industry and creating another killer demo car.

Look for future magazine feature in DUB and several online communities.

www.AirrunnerSystems.com

AIT Racing carbon GT-R

A good friend worked on a very high profile GT-R that debuted last week at SEMA. Turns out the owner of the car was a local from the Bay Area that told me about his plans 8 months ago. Well, as you all know, there's only one true widebody R35 GT-R right now and that is this creation by AIT Racing.



The project too 6 months to finish with almost the entire car refinished in the highest grade carbon fiber. The fenders were widened 5 inches on all corners to fit the massive tires. To be exact, this car is now running 335 wide tires front and rear. Why? The owner of the car is a series Time Attack driver and the car will be tested on the many tracks of California in the 2010 season.



This exact car was in the iForged booth last SEMA rocking a set of 22" inch wheels. This year the car is back to 20's with HRE step lip 13" wide front and rear. You many notice the non-flush wheel offset.. but this car is meant to be driven hard, therefore the HRE setup is for track dimensions. I'm sure the owner will also have a street setup aswell to please all the HellaFlush fans. Notice the Michelin race tire. All business.



Congrats to Poyet and AIT Racing for pulling off the first states-side widebody carbon GT-R.

AIT Racing

360 Drift

Have you even seen a car drift?.. Have you even seen a car drift and whip a 360 and back into a drift?.. Watch this video. Incredible car control:



Thank MotorMaven for the link

WHERESNEEK.COM

I met a super cool cat in Vegas this year. Introducing NEEK.



He is the store manager of Stussy on Paradise across from the Hard Rock. NEEK was my ride several times last week during SEMA and he rocks a hard-ass xB gen2 with poke you had never seen before. The fender literally sits on top of the stretch rubber. The smell of burnt rubber is very apparent everywhere you drive.





Monday night, Mark of Fatlace, John of id Agency, Ernie of NOS Energy, and DaveGS all kicked it with NEEK outside of the Stussy store. We discussed culture, cars, viral marketing, everything you can imagine.





Follow NEEK here

Stussy Store
4480 Paradise Rd # 350
Las Vegas, NV 89169-6540
(702) 693-5400

SEMA Day1 LF-A

Since early 2005, Lexus has been teasing the media with a potential supercar concept. Unlike many of the concept cars that end up in storage, Lexus hinted with annual progress as the concept turned into test vehicles at tracks around the world. Even with the economic troubles, Lexus is ready to release their supercar, LF-A. It is powered by a 4.8 liter V10 that produces abit over 550hp and a 6-speed tranny. The car is truly exotic and with a price tag of just over $400k you can expect 2/3 of the car to be fully made from the finest carbon fiber material available. Only 500 units will be sold to mainly car collectors or those that just have half a million laying around.

Congradulations to Toyota and the Lexus brand for their first ever Supercar, the LF-A.
Check out the Lexus Lounge at SEMA 2009:

SEMA Day 1 LEXUS coverage

After working a half day in the office, I flew into lovely Vegas to experience 5 days of automotive madness. This year, there were talk that vendors and numbers were down compaired to years pass. Although that was very accurate, nonetheless there were plenty of new products and vendor booths ready to show the latest and greatest. There was a strong presence of trucks throughout the halls. Here it is, Day 1 of lots of walking.




Clark of VIP Auto Salon debuted another corporate project, the ISCoupe. With Rotora bbk front and back, new Work Gnosis wheels in flat black and steplip, flat red paint and lots of carbon. This build was finished in less than a month. If Clark would had have the car a few weeks longer, you would see some killer prototype items.





David Huang was reppin the always fresh gen1 Altezza. This car got yet another dowse of more tricks since it was last featured on numerous magazines. Check out the midnight purple color change from the Vspec II GT-R, more wire-tuck under the engine bay, lots of chrome and custom catch-tanks, huge Veilside intake manifold, 20" inch Work wheels, and redesigned interior with new Recaro buckets.









When the first IS-C came out, I did a quick Photoshop of what a 2-door IS-F may possibly look like. The fine folks at Fox Marketing actually created a very similar version. Check out the fenders and skirts directly off a IS-F. With blacked out wheels, stretched and widened rear fenders, and twin turbo power, this IS-C will surely be one to watch in 2010.





I didn't get a chance to find out info on this one.. but minus the hood, it was hella dope!






I will save a complete post for the LEXUS LF-A.
Stay tuned, more to come.

2009 SEMA coverage

Evert coverage will begin Tuesday as I sneak back in after hours to shoot up all the hot cars and products for 2010. Look out for a dedicated section just for hottest offsets and stance, BBS sightings, local project builds and Where is Fatlace & illest? ..spotted decals.

2010 SEMA coverage all week long. Stay tuned!

No limit Creativity

I'm a fan of every car. To me every platform has room to improve. When the BMW E36 was released in the mid to late 90's, it was quickly the typical mod-car with plenty of power tweaks, lips kits and your basic polish reverse lip wheels.

I've been following this builder for sometime now and this rendition continues to change and evolve. Start with the perfect tucked and gap less stance and add a set of BBS RS in 18s and you have your typical Euro car. But this owner didn't stop there. Here you see the BBS wheels in two different finishes. He ran the wheels standard silver and polish lip initially. There is even a shot on the net without caps. Then he painted the centers lime green and left the lips polished. Looks good in my book. Then he decided to flip it completely. Check out the BBS RS with white centers and lime green lips. This setup is pure SEX.

Don't learn the car, let the car learn you. Express your creative thinking without limits. What's the worst that can happen? You try again.

District 10 Breast Cancer Awareness

District 10 sure knows how to do good in the world. This year they locked down the parking lot of Pak n Save and held a Breast Cancer awareness with all the local shops and cars in Norcal. I decided to crash the party around 2pm. Ran into Tom (photographer for Fatlace) for the second time since the night before at Milpitas and kicked it with ChubbyGS and John of JSJ Brothers. All in all, a great turn out of the fine Norcal Import scene.



JDM Nissan Cefiro was causing quite a stir with it's RB20DET motor and pearl white paint. The owner is a true purest with his other JDM RHD Silvia S13 parked a few spots down.






Johnson and his Sharpie-Lexus IS350 took top honors with a Best of Show award.



ChubbyGS also owns a timeless S14 Silvia. He was awarded the Best Import trophy.



@Po Crew came for a few with this stunning white EVO. Check out the details!






Pink tapped lips and an all metal hood.. glad some are trying new things.



White carbon fiber wrap on a MK5 Golf.. very nice.



Timeless DC2 Tegger.



Fresh CRX dipped in olive green w/ Yakima and decals.



Super clean supercharged K20 RSX.




More here.

Friday Night Milpitas Meet 10-23

After all these years, Milpitas Friday night meets are still jumping. I stayed until 1am which is very unlike me.. anyways, all the usual suspects. Thanks to John and Tom for making the drive from Sac and Elk Grove.



Bryant's better half runs this daily driver IS300 with gold Meister wheels and a true BN Sport bumper. Here front windshield temp-blinds were hella funky.







ChubbyGS made the drive from Fairfield with his slammed to the ground WORK sponsored GS430. No kit, just drop with wheels.. clean and simple.




Bryant rocks a Toyota Cressida when he really wants attention. Check out his touge mountain machine!




Ruthless from San Jose was hidding in one corner. Owner of this DC2 was bummed I didnt shoot the better fender.. to bad. It's all about battle scars.





Matte White painted RSX rolled in with hella attitude, but turns out to be a chill dude and a x-Hybrid member. We chopped-it-up about matte paint and the Norcal Hybrid family.



Joseph owner of a very nice Tom's supercharged IS350. Not the most flattering picture of Joseph..



Owner of this JDM Nissan GT-R R33 V-specII came out to show everybody what $60k could get you. Chad is such a cool cat.. if he had overalls and a pitchfork, you would think he was a farmer in Iowa.




John's gen2 GS already slammed on KYBs and UAS bags. You need wheels homie!



Tom and his women crashed the party in their Yakima installed gen2 GS and Amistad OG wheels. We discussed steplip and how to get wider lips and barrels.



My favoriate car of the night was this Cressida with old school Centerline wheels and mad support for Fatlace. One trick mod was real JDM train handle bars. Crazy!

Nissan GT500 Silvia

A GT500 version of a Silvia?!?! That is what a gear head in Sweden is doing. Building a complete carbon fiber wide body Nissan Silvia S14 in his own garage. Check out the computer renderings. Looks hellaFresh.

Follow it Here

Tire Outlet Meet & Greet

Joseph of Tire Outlet held an after hours meet & greet with the Norcal Club Lexus owners in an attempt stop illegal street racing and to raise money for more Wednesday egg-roll poker nights. Tire Outlet is located on the East side of San Jose that yields plenty of walk-in customers. Joseph has been a manager for many years now and Tire Outlet is in the middle of expanding across the street with a 10,000 sq ft building ready to break grounds. Tire Outlet caters to all people with any kind of car. The majority of services performed are 30, 60, 90k services, especially brake jobs, said Joseph. For those that do modify their rides can also find Tire Outlet quite useful with an abundance of CARB legal aftermarket products available as-well as wheel and tire packages.

Thank you Joesph and Tire Outlet for opening their doors for the local community.

Tire Outlet

2240 Alum Rock Ave

San Jose, CA

(408) 258-1639

Inside Showroom

The waiting room is Street Fighter Ready

Joseph: Tire Outlet

Joseph's Lexus IS350 supercharged engine bay

Chad, the Godzilla

Forged technology by WORK wheels on Lloyd's GS430

Sharpie IS350

Jeff of PhotoshootMyCar.com had an entire crew working the strobes and reflectors

Fatlace & VIP AutoSalon

The Perfect Wheel Fitment explained

This is a perfect example on how to truly test wheel width, offset, camber and stance. So many people ask for the miracle numbers for that perfect stance, flushness, whatever. But what you need to know is all of the above works in conjunction with one another.

My steps to achieving the perfect stance, offset, camber, wheel, tire combo:

- Buy double adjustable coilovers, it has height adjustment separate to preload.

- Determine your wheel diameter. Keep in mind the bigger the wheel, the less you are able to lower the car which also means the less camber achieved. The smaller the wheel, the lower the stance which means the more natural camber that leads to tucking and wider wheels or lower offsets.

- Pick a wheel width based on wheel diameter. If your not hardcore VIP running 20s and up then a 19x10.5 is more than enough. Plus, going 19s will keep your tire cost lower than a Dub and above.

- Here is where the picture above comes in handy. Put a borrowed wheel in those sizes on the car without any tires and jack up the bottom of the rim until the outer wheel lip reaches the fender lip. At that point, you can clearly see a starting point. This is when you determine offset, go out more, go in more.. up to you.

- If more camber is needed, you may have to purchase lower control arms to have more adjustments over stock.

- Tires are tricky b/c the same size tire in another brand can yield different results. I would recommend TOYO, FALKEN, DUNLOP for the safe stretch. Usually Michelin, BF Goodrich, and NITTO have thicker sidewalls.

- Once you have determine the correct offset, wheel size and width, you are now ready to place that order. 4 months later, your newly JDM wheels have arrived and you are dying to slap on the tires. During the 4 month wait, do enough research on different tire sizes and stretches so you are ready to go.

- Remember to shave off the inner fender lip. By doing so, you are avoiding any serious rubbing and getting that perfect flush look.

- Often times, other obstacles comes to play, for example on my IS300 the rear tire would rub on the rear bumper bolt. That is the case with many modern cars today since the bumper hangs way higher up to the rear quarter panel. That is one thing to look out for.

Just remember, coilover stance, wheel diameter and width, plus offset, camber, and tire size all play a huge factor on achieving total Flushness or that Perfect Wheel fitment.


Godspeed.

Ruckus Attack!!

Everytime I see a Ruckus, I wanna build one. But have you ever seen a 200 lb and 6'1" ride a Ruckus..

Not sure if that looks hot..

Drive Low or Go Home

The Miata guys are pretty hardcore. Let's get the facts, its a tiny goKart that weights near to nothing, complete 2 seater, without a top, inline 4 banger and rear wheel drive.. can the formula get any better? Oh, that's right, there's a ton of ways to go boost add a sick cage and did I mention, looks ridiculous slammed.

Miata owners drive low and they really dun give a flying-fish what others think. If only the Lexus community would start thinking like these guys.

Drive low. All the time.

Modded Altezza Sportcross

The Altezza Sportcross wagon is a rare car, so to see one actually modified is truly sweet. Here you see the Vertex Type S bumper, Cwest vented hood, Airwalker skirts and possible a custom rear lip on a freshly painted gold Altezza. The Advan wheels and front mount also indicate that this car is packing some heat.

C'mon ppl... think outside the box and build 'em cars!!!

All Carbon Fiber '69 Camaro build

A coworker is planning on purchasing this already built custom '69 Camaro body. The end result would be on a custom Roadster Shop chassis, Wilwood 6/4 BBKs, Intro wheels, BF Goodrich rubber and yes, all carbon fiber body.

Check out the custom rear and lip. Notice the diffusers directly built into the rear bumper. This is gonna be something else!!

New Tees @ DUBKORP

BBS and VW go perfectly like TE37 and Honda. The newest shirts from DUBKORP has the BBS RS series first launched in 1983 and still it is one of the most respected and collected wheel today.

$20 a shirt @ DUBKORP

Hellaflush III

FINALLY. HELLAFLUSH III is here. Saturday, November 14th 11-5pm. Hosted by Fatlace & BlackTrax Performance in Milpitas California.

Also we’d like to turn this event into a fundraiser to help out the people that have lost everything from the natural disasters that have been occurring this past week. We will be requesting a $20 Donation when you arrive at the event. From the Philippines, Vietnam, American Samoa and Indonesia, please send your prayers to the families who’ve lost loved ones and prayers and support for those fighting to survive. Storms, floods, typhoons and earthquakes have taken the lives of hundreds this week. Do what you can to help out those less fortunate than you…from the way things are going, it doesn’t look like it’s going to get any better.

Spread the word. You know this is going to be an event not to miss. Thanks all for supporting us for the past couple years.

Fatlace Velocity by Meister

I designed this timepiece right after the CMGK release. This one is the complete opposite of that watch being it’s High Polished Stainless Steel with a Carbon Fiber Face and with anodized purple and green accent colors. I also opted for the best glass in the business, Sapphire Crystal which isnt seen in other Meisters.

Numbered to 100, these limited watches also come with a surprise Medicom Toy made specifically for this timepiece.

Here’s a peak at the timepiece shot in the studio with the Undercover Bear by Kaw (not sold with the watch). The release date is set for November 13th, the day of our 10 Year Anniversary Party at the store.

From Fatlace

Transparent LF-A Sculpture

Next to the Lexus LFA display at this week's Tokyo Motor Show is a separate room displaying brand-themed art. At first, we didn't bother going in, but we went back here on day two, and we're sure glad we did.

Inside, we found this amazing full-size transparent sculpture of Lexus' new $375,000 LFA supercar that was constructed by Scu Fujimoto, a noted Japanese architect. The sculpture was first displayed at the Milan Design Week earlier this year and is simply stunning to look at. What's most impressive is that details like the seats, instrument panel, engine, suspension, and transaxle can all be seen.

According to Lexus, the sculpture is constructed from transparent acrylic boards that have been sanded and polished. You can learn more about this unique piece of automotive art at Lexus' L-Finesse web site, but make sure to check out its stunning icy hotness in our high-res gallery below.













Article found on Auto Blog

Dipped in White Paint

I cannot get enough of white cars. Strange I use to hate white cars, b/c it lacked in color and character. But after owning a Pearl white Lexus, I am now a believer. White with Black is the strongest of contrast in the color spectrum. White on a car is just so damn clean. Not to mention way easier to clean with less noticeable swirl marks. When building cars, it is about contrast and you cannot get any better than white on black.

Enjoy my collection of dipped in white painted cars.

Lingenfelter SEMA project

Lingenfelter is building this radical looking Camaro for SEMA. Love it or hate it, post your comments.

Panamera @ Blackhawk Museum

Last night a local dealership had a private showing of the Porsche Panamera at the Blackhawk Museum. Only a select few were able to attend this invite-only event and I was trilled to be one of them. When news floaded the internet with a 4-door Porsche, many flammed and cursed the sedan. I too was not exactly thrilled about the idea, but seeing the car up close and personal sure changed much of my doubts.

Initial reaction was, it looked very much like the SUV Canyenne but stretched longer and slammed to the ground. Surely the rear hatchback will have to grow on me, but overall this car is nothing less than what to expect from the German Porsche brains. They had 3 models inside the museum. The standard, the S and the Turbo version. The Turbo version had the $8k extra carbon ceramic brakes and the auto height adjustment features. A wing on the rear hatch also extends for some downforce. The wheels are massive 20" inch rollers and with a twin turbo V8, you can expect 0-60 runs in less than 5 seconds and 500 pounds of torque. Surely amazing considering the mighty size of the sedan. What you may not know is, the Panamera weights 1,500 pounds less than the SUV Cayenne.

The interior is all Porsche luxury with an array of buttons in the middle console. Infact it was quite similar to the Mercedes S-class. The Panamera is truly a 4 seater. The rear seats can completely fold down allowing plywood runs to Home Depot. Seats are firm with plenty of fine luxury leather. The rear seats have plenty of headroom even for 3 full sized adults. The rear hatch has a push button for easy open and closing, similar to the Lexus RX350.

Porsche served drinks and had tiny bites throughout the night. Porsche reps were there to answer any questions about this first of its kind, sedan and one lady had a fake accent trying to be more authentic.

My overall impression, beautiful car. Plenty of power with all the motor choices, perfectly designed interior, all the goodies and extras expected from Porsches and their heritage. $122k for the non-turbo is quite pricey for a sedan. Surely this car has a very specific demographic inmind, but dont expect to see too many on the roads, especially the Turbo model at a whopping $185k each. My advice, wait a few years and a get one for second hand at half the $$$.

Enjoy the images:

Fancy Invites


Panamera S


Panamera S motor


Panamera Turbo


LED


Interior: Front


Interior: Rear


The hated Rear hatch


Porsche Eyekandy


Drinks on the house


Thanks for looking!

LFA Finally uncovered

News hit late last night of the LFA debuting in Tokyo, Japan. What people did not expect is a video and images of an actual LFA on the streets in Florida. Check it out!

The long-awaited supercar from Lexus has broken cover. The LFA two-seater supercar is scheduled to enter production at the end of 2010. The model will be hand-assembled at the Motomachi plant in Toyota City, at a maximum rate of 20 per month.

The model measures 4,505mm long, 1,895mm wide, and 1,220mm high, with a 2,605mm wheelbase. Pre-sales have already started. A prototype is currently on display at the Tokyo Motor Show.

Powered by a 4.8-litre V10 and boasting 552bhp of power and maximum torque of 480Nm, the rear-wheel drive LFA is the fastest Lexus model ever offered. The car takes just 3.7 seconds to accelerate from 0 to 62mph and offers a top speed of 202mph. The engine is mated to a rear-mounted six-speed automated sequential gearbox.

To keep weight at a minimum, engineers switched from aluminium to carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) for the chassis and bodywork. The CFRP structure, built in-house, saves about 100kg in weight compared to an equivalent aluminium body. CFRP accounts for 65% of the body-in-white, with aluminium alloy used for the remaining 35%.

Info From: Automotive World

Pleasanton AutoMall Car Show

Pleasanton AutoMall Car Show

At 12:30 noon, I get a text from Arie asking where I was parked.. Parked? What are you talking about, I wrote back. Pleasanton Automall car show.. everyone is here.. Then it dawned on me that I have wasted my entire morning lounging around the house nor helping the wife clean and the car show was happening right in my backyard. So I quickly made my way over to Omega Werks, picked up the boyz, snuck up the rear entrance, and parked the LS.

Quickly I realized the amount of cars present were of top quality not to mention of the different makes and models all together jiving for the love of the automotive industry.

Check out the coverage for yourself:

This Honda Odessey was blasting crazy beat, a lip kit, chopped springs and 20" wheels. I know less than a handfull of VANS in the Bay Area.. sure makes me wanna build one:




Ryan's super clean RSX was sporting a full MUGEN kit and traditional HART wheels. Next, I need to pursuade him on steplip and lower offset.



Status Elite was on hand with their ridiculous Z06 that is boosting almost 600hp. You gotta hear this machine, incredible.



CCW on a Pantera. The latest HONDA movement!!



One of the nicest cars at the show was this VW MK2 Golf rocking a set of 1983 BBS RS wheels, original Recaro seats and a full restoration. I love how the gen2's all had extreme fender arches already in the body. If only it had a bit more stretch and about 2" inches lower.. HAWT





To continue the VW love, check out this ultra rare '65 Utility BUS complete with OEM roof rack, Mag5 wheels, a full Wilwood bbk system and Airride. It truly doesn't get any better than this.





This replica '65 Cobra was begging to be driven. The owner took top honors in the Domestic category. Funny he was a Japanese guy with lots of Domestic love.



Three guys that need not any introductions.. Joseph @ Tire Outlet, Vincent @ Omega Werks, and Bruce @ Nomura Tuning and Design.



Super clean G37 with SSR Professor MS1 in 20's.. Joseph says it will take 4 months to acquire.



SSBC 6-piston BBK stopping power:



Don, the proud owner of the stainless steel vinyl wrapped BMW 335 educates interested by-standards about the laminate process and dry-wrapping.




PhotoShootMyCar was killing time playing BS while Stella worked on her Area51 foil pants.. no no, she ran half a marathon that morning and still came to support her husband in the freezing cold. Jeff and Chad were promoting their car show plaques, photos, designed, framed and all, for $350. They were also reaping for Heavy Hitters magazine with their GT-R R33 Vspec II and the All show Matrix rocking 285s in the rear.





Out of nowhere came this ridicous Datsun 510 with a complete SR20DET motor swap, upgraded intake manifold, turbo, SSR wheels, Brembo calipers, Endless 2-piston brakes, a full Recaro interior and stunning blue paint.




A pair of super clean EK hatches with traditional wheel offsets:



There were an entire roll of CB7 Accords. Check out this ultra clean H22A swap, JDM black housing headlights, Mugen grill, 5Zigen wheels, NSK calipers and shaved door moldings.. not to mention the "Illest" decal. HAWT setup!!



Joesph and the only US TOM's supercharged IS350. Fully backed with SSR Viena wheels, Endless 6/4 BBK, ZEAL coilovers, JDM fogs, a $15k sound system and it sits in the garage… Damn you for having too much $$$.



Scott and Agie drove out from Livermore with their his and her Japanese and Domestic muscle machines. Scott has a track ready Datsun 280Z with a complete 350 cubic inch swap, Wilwood brakes, 10.5 and 11.5 wide wheels and a full racing cage ready to take on the 2010 season. Agie has a full Saleen Mustang. Both are regulars at the Goodguys events.




@po Crew came all the way from SF with their hella aggressive fitment cars: A E46, twin EVO9 and a RX8. These guys were just featured on Hellaflush. I especially appreciated the "Hag Gow" license plate. Sweet cars indeed.





Nasty A4 was featured on GoWithSolo awhile back. He was on-hand with another A4 reaping the AUDI world. DPE wheels and BREMBOS = YUMMY



Fixed Gears.. sweet handle bars and gold accents.



Lastly I leave you with this, he is new, just hired blocks away before entering the show.. the cleaning crew.

Omega Werks: Just another Day

After work today, I rolled by Omega Werks in Pleasanton to chop-it-up with the owner Vincent. To my surprise he was finishing tint on 1 of 2 local vinyl-wrapped matte-black Nissan GT-Rs. So I got my camera out and went to town:














Even the wheels were powder-coated in a textured matte dark gray to match the vinyl:



This owner is a GT-R fanatic.. this is his third GT-R and he as a 2010 on order aswell. He was super lucky to get the white leather seat combo:



So this entire car was wrapped in a true Flat Matte Vinyl by a fellow from SoCal. It's a very flat color with little to no reflective in the shine. The owner was super cool as we chatted about vinyl and the import scene. Nice guy and one very incredible machine, as expected.

Here he is testing out a matte clear vinyl on the headlights:



So just when things couldnt get any better, into the driveway came a tow truck with a brand spanking new 2009 Lexus LS460 behind.






Simon, was super cool. He even remembered to use paper spacers between the rear tailights that stick onto the truck lid:



Here is the LS fully unloaded and ready for some clear plastic protective film. Better yet, let's wrap this matte white!!






Who's LS460 does this belong to?.. I hear talk about a complete Aero and wheel package plans already. My guess, SSR wheels, Tanabe Sus tec, and a rare INGs kit. Only time will tell. :D


Just another day @ Omega Werks

Yakima + Fix gear + Altezza = HellaFresh

A few weeks back at the Friday night Milpitas meet, CL member Bryant and his woman rolled through in one of their white Altezzas. Bryant had a Yakima and a new fixed-gear bike attached. To my surprise Bryant let me ride my first fix-gear around the parking lot. Surely it was a virgin moment when i got up to speed and wanted to spin the gears and cruise. Nonetheless, here's his daily driver and his ultra-cool bike. I see the VW movement has finally hit the Lexus scene.

Clean ASS Celsior

A good friend owns one of the cleanest gen1 Celsiors in the States. His screen name is EXE.UCF10 on CL and it is my pleasure to showcase this incredible build with you all. I first meet the owner and the car over 3 yrs ago. The car was just freshly completed and 3 weeks ago at The Pursuit at Toyota Speedway in Irwindale, CA there it was slammed in the parking lot with it's still radiant white paint. What is amazing about this Celsior is the age and the fact the owner actually drives this car on a daily basis. We always make fun of trailer gueens and this is far from it. So how do you keep that custom painted front bumper so clean without any rock chips especially driving in SoCal..? It's the sacrific as builder/driver's go though painting our bumpers once every year.

Excellent build and mad respect for driving the whip all over town. Time for a road trip up to Norcal homie!

This Celsior gets the Solo seal of approval.

Specs

Exterior:
Wald Exchange V3 front and rear bumpers
Admiration Type III sides
Wald grill adapter
Toyota Celsior one piece headlights
Crystal clear turn signals
Black Chromium grill
Anceltion bonnet/top/roof/trunk spoilers
Crossroads chrome handles
Stainless steel pillars
Chrome trunk bar
VIP Style rear plate mount
Red/Clear tails
LED puddle lights

Interior:
Grace Trim rear view mirror
Full LED/SMD interior lighting

Exhaust:
Magnaflow SS mufflers with VIP Style S-5 muffler cutters

Suspension:
UAS Aerosport bags over KYB shocks
EasyStreet Auto Pilot Digital Air Management System

Wheels:
Work Euroline DH 19x8.5 and 19x10

MK4 GOLF FLusness

Specs right now:

F - 18x9.5 et 15 215/40/18
R - 18x9.5 et 10 215/40/18

From effsixtwo.

Toyota F1 New World Record at Laguna Seca

It really doesnt get any better than this:

New Track record at Laguna Seca: Devon GTX (production car)

Very nice video:

Greddy Genesis for SEMA 2009

Greddy USA with Hyundai has built a 350 hp turbo 4 cylinder Genesis ready to debut at SEMA in less than a month. Last year, HKS had their rendition of the Genesis. I give respect to the Korean automaker for making a big splash during these failing automotive industry.

Personally, this car looks fantastic and I cannot wait to see it in up close and personal.

Greddy USA