Tis’ The Season
With the weather reflecting the likes of Spring incredibly early this year, Amodei managed to photograph his new/temporary XXR wheel set up. The phrase ‘needs more low” does not apply.
FRENCH
Follow Your Heart
“When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” - Steve Jobs
FRENCH
Vyets S2000 from Felix A. Lim and Simon Nguyen
Kris (auto) Kross
As the world anticipates the release of the I-phone 4s and repeatedly reminds us of the death of Steve Jobs through the social medium, the usual suspects and I sought sanctuary in the form of an auto-x. With Nassau Coliseum having just repaved their lot, the “million plus” square feet gauntlet transformed into a some what decent venue and little consideration was required to determine whether or not we were attending.
FRENCH
Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance
With Fall officially here as of today it incurs serious angst as few track days remain and Winter build plans begin. Having managed to destroy my Amuse front fascia within a few weeks of painting the OEM AP2 look and fitment is again looking very appealing. With a shopping list consisting of a super charger, hardtop and wing (for racing… smh and hardparkers with wings) it’s going to be a very, very costly few months.
FRENCH
photo credit unknown
Chillin’ In The Cut
Working at a local speed shop has provided me with the opportunity to meet just about anyone in the community. From tuners to locals celebs, my database of faces and names is detailed and extensive to say to least. Often the location for impromptu meets after hours I managed to take a few shops of Artie’s new project.
FRENCH
New roller’s!!
Once again I switched up my wheel setup… I found myself not being able to hold onto a set of wheels for longer than a month to a month and a half… Sure I sold my Work XD-9′s and picked up a set of replica’s (Varrstoen’s), but truthfully…. I was totally over the look of my car with the Work’s on it, so I bought an affordable, more aggressive wheel.. Spilner has not stopped breaking my balls about it, hopefully he stops soon, but knowing him… he probably wont.
The rest of the photo’s can be found here!!!!
-Chris Amodei-
Spotted: Dirty’s Old S2000
Dirty’s old S2000 has managed to find its way back to the pages of ILE via Franco in New Jersey. Looking super clean on the popular XXR wheels, it always a pleasure to see cars of this caliber survive.
FRENCH
Photographer and current owner: Franco R
Media Hype – S2000
While the East Coast reconstructs from Hurricane Irene, I’d like start the week off on a similar point. As Summer ages into Fall and most of us have enjoyed our builds alongside the warm temps, some are quick to tear our cars apart as soon as it permits, I being one. Having owned my S2000 for almost a year now it has made a number of changes and this Winter, having experienced the circuit first hand, will subject the bad broad to yet another.
FRENCH
stage 1 (minus mugen wing)
Ap2 bumper and lip
rpf1s with ventus v12s
Hard dog roll bar
Amuse front bumper with SS brake lines and Rs3 tires
Destroyed Amuse
…to be continued
Influence
First and foremost the staff at ILE are friends before anything and that being so the truth which hurts so much is communicated to the fullest of detail. Most of us owning an s2000 before or currently know how capable the platform is, but few of us know more than E. Having had 2 AP1s and a turbo AP2, his newest and 4th s2k will live its unnatural life along side mine gracing the circuit. WINNING
FRENCH
PHOTOS BY THE TALENTED: Sheldon Tran Photo
problem?
Cuatro Loko
As many readers may already know, the Nissan 370z was short lived. I’m hard pressed to describe flaws in the car- overall it’s a very nice platform. Tight handling, responsive, very sexy and the auto rev-match downshifting was pretty trick. But there was always something missing with it, that in the end was pretty straight-forward, but took me a while to figure out: it wasn’t an S2000. Plain and simple. There is something about the Honda S2000 that just connects with me. So I sold the Z to a gentleman in Texas. I only made it 888 miles with the car. Here’s a picture of that very last mile:
And so, the hunt was on for another S2000. I decided that the next S2000 (number 4!) would be one of two platforms: An S2000 “CR” or Club Racer if you’re not familiar, or an older model AP1. The reason being: FRENCH has me hooked on hitting the circuit. I got a small little taste of it earlier this year at an auto-x. I realize the season is winding down here in the Northeast, but there are few months (and track days) left. I really can’t wait to get out there.
The car is a pretty much bone stock 2001. I picked it up for a very reasonable price from a gentlemen in North NJ over the weekend, who seems to have taken good care of it. It may actually be in a little better shape than my late 2004 S2000, despite having almost double the mileage. I looked at a few prior to this, and every one in this price range seemed to have been previously wrecked, or had well over 100,000 miles on it. I think I did pretty well with it.
So now the fun begins. I am scouring the internet for a good set of square 17×9″-9.5″ track wheels for a good price, while waiting for the Tire Rack to come back in stock with Hankook Ventus RS-3′s. French is lining up my Koni and Ground Control setup, while I source out a front sway bar, stainless brake lines and good set of pads. A Hard Dog roll bar will top it all of, and that’s it. Until next season anyway.
~E~
Here’s a few shots before the transformation begins:
And here’s a few inspirational photos courtesy of the s2ki.com “Your S in track trim” thread:
Holla Dolla.
Ignore the title. It was the first thing that popped into my head. I can’t really say why. It’s not that I don’t want to, I really just don’t know. The work day is nearing it’s end and I am feeling anxious.
I met up with Mr. Amodei yesterday to get some more shots of the Saab. After a little episode at the camera shop we were on our way to the top of a local university’s parking garage. The fact that they were now charging for entrance to said parking garage seemed to irk Chris quite a bit. I manned up and payed the 2 bucks. 
Once we were up there Chris got to his thing. Then there was me with nothing else to do, so I started snapping some shots on my own of the freshly painted S2000. Whenever I leave the house I always seem to forget something. Whether it’s my sunglasses or that bagged lunch I actually prepare the night before to take to work. This time I forgot my tripod. Basically that’s my excuse for only getting a few shots. It was getting dark and I don’t have the steadiest hands. Anyway here are a couple I snapped. Check the rest in a set on my Flickr.
-Brian
Discuss: Critical
Taking moment to put not only myself but also ILE in a position of judgement from an unbiased perspective it would appear that recently we’ve been taking a rather critical position on all things automotive related amongst other subjects. Given this is a medium of which we pay for and further more control, we could just flip everyone the bird and go on with our bad self but with respect to the automotive community and our followers I’ll address the issue with tact and sincerity.
The thought came to mind as would any topic of interest would, through inspiration. A conversation, exactly, although not immediately related brought into realization how opinionated we have become, passing judgement and analyzing every detail of ones build and life. To our defense, it’s just what becomes of the enthusiast when all of his/her previous expectations are fulfilled and the fine line between what’s awesome and what is mediocre is less definitive.
An inspection of myself uncovered this query; Who am I to criticize someone’s pride and joy… besides a gentleman and scholar with great tastes (kidding… almost)? In all seriousness, the decisions people make and the lifestyle they’ve selected is solely their choice and my opinion is, well, just that.
Bringing this topic full circle. I wanted to thank everyone for contributing their $0.02 (“two cents”) via our FACEBOOK and the comments section. The energy that drives this industry is strengthened within these channels and it leads to innovation that’ll hopefully reward innovators, and not imitators, resulting in faster, more reliable, attractive, sports cars.
FRENCH
CCW, a brand that has become a standard amongst the fitment concerned, at least in my opinion, has earned its “stripes” in all avenues of tuning. Below 3 S2000′s wearing LM20s and Classics join an NA2 NSX
photo credit: unknown
About time……
The past 3 weeks of my life have been totally stressful. Before doing all the work, I thought doing a color change on an S2000 wouldn’t be that bad……………FALSE!!!! Not that it was terrible.. but it’s a serious amount of work. But in the end, it all paid off!! Also picked up a set of XD-9′s and went about an inch lower than I was on the old wheels…. Stay tuned for the full shoot/feature!!
-Chris Amodei-
EK’d EG
It’s good to see individuals doing things differently in the Honda community especially if the outcome is as such.
FRENCH
here are couple recent shots of my S
Wicked Sun Burn…
This past Saturday I headed up to Stafford Springs Connecticut for the Wicked Big Meet. Spilner and Chris were headed up a little earlier due to the fact that Spilner’s car was to be featured in the EFI booth that day. I, on the other hand, was in no rush and was on the road by about 6 am. Those that know me well know I am forever late so this was after we had planned to be on the highway by 5:30. NBD.
The drive up could have been much worse. Being on the roads that early allowed me to experience the trip through metro NY without the usual bumper to bumper traffic. Win. This also made battling the warzone-like road conditions that much better. Let me tell you, NYC commuters do not appreciate you slowing down to 10 mph to go over expansion joints on the Throggs Neck Bridge!
We actually arrived about an hour earlier than the 10 am show time so we sat around and admired what was in store for us once we entered. This being an actual Subaru show I was hard pressed to find some other “fitment” enthusiasts. I did my best and scoped out a few including the BagRiders Impreza that was there. It was nice on the other hand to see the older GC’s in attendance with the numbers on their side. Definitely the most I’ve seen in one place. Some really nice representations as well.
Overall it was a great day. The venue was certainly large enough to support the 2000+ that showed up and it was really cool to see some race prepped vehicles doing their thing on the track. The one thing I did not plan for was the sun. I went home that day the same color as a lobster. Since the vendor area was hosted on the asphalt everyone baked out there. It was all worth it though. Vendors and attendees brought out their best to show off what the East Coast has to offer. Even a few from Canada made the trip down. I will be in attendance next year for sure.
-Brian
View the full set HERE.
Limerock (& Roll)
Motivated by the remarks of Spliner and his rants about how slow my car is (in a straight line) and wanting nothing more than to be a “gentleman” and push my s2000 the its maximum potential I boldly registered for a HPDE at Lime Rock Park, CT with the PDA the evening before. Keeping ILE always in mind and being that I went “solo-dolo”, my camera was nearby to capture the action at hand. Winning
FRENCH
(my lip removed itself last week :X )
my instructor’s p-car
Summer’s Here…
With the recent heat that we have been having here on the Island, paired with the crazy hail-filled storm we were pelted with last night, I think it’s safe to say summer is in full effect. Pools are open and air conditioners are blasting. And for those of us who are “lucky” enough not to be graced with the wonder that is conditioned air, the windows are down and the breeze is blowing through our hair. Unless, of course, we are stuck in the traffic that plagues what seems to be every road traveled in the Tri-State area. Either way I am happy to see that the summer season is upon us because that means meets, cruises and car shows are here. Let’s make this year the best one yet.
-Brian
Company Policy- S2k and BMW
“Time is the friend of the wonderful company, the enemy of the mediocre.”
Summer is here and it’s time to reevaluate your friends. Cut the fat and move forward with energetic individuals.
This hellaflush, sebring silver S2000 is complemented by the good grace of a gorgeous E36 M3.
FRENCH
photocredit: travis cuykendal
Evasive’s Apex Blue S2000
“If you don’t use it, you lose it” may not apply to owning a “high” performance car but if your ownership is leaning towards the conservative side of things than you are only doing yourself a disservice.
FRENCH
Evasive takes this Apex Blue S2000 to the a new level of performance with Spoon aero pieces amongst other performance parts.
New Perspective: Chris Amodei’s S2000
Chris Amodei’s photography challenges the abilities of many published photographers but his automotive lifestyle runs far beyond the lens. Working in the industry and attending any and every meet within reason, you may have already seen his ebony S scattered across the forums or on his own personal flick’r. Having met up with him the other day after work, I made a small effort to at least be on par with his shoots.
FRENCH
a little mugen lip action
some staggered blitz wheels are always a secure investment
sabre-skulls will be available next week <3
Cover Up: Ralph’s Italian Ice Meet
The moment we committed to hosting a meet on Saturday all elements seemed to stack against us. Pressed for time and a rainy forecast, we expected the worst and hoped for the best. Shortly before 2pm, the other contributors to ILE and I met and washed each others cars but our arrival to Ralph’s Italian Ice in Patchogue was kindly met by a female police officer. The foul weather receded but now we had to deal with the firm lady hand of the law, clearly. Eating our ices as courteous as possible, she left on her own terms and you could feel the tension vanish. In high spirits due to the fact that there were absolutely no ricers, NONE, yeah OMFG, no f$%king way, and the awesome weather, we took advantage and advanced the cruise time to 4 instead of 4:30PM so to not press our luck.
FRENCH
Video Coming Soon
Passion
Few days exist in my life where at least one conversation doesn’t involve something automotive related and I love it. I can honestly say that automotive performance is something I can’t imagine my life without and I’m incredibly happy that I have this medium to share with you all-things related that I enjoy. Using that as a transition to express that I f#$&ing hate our web designer, Ryan Richmond, for ,#1, being one of the most unprofessional individuals I’ve ever dealt with in any business transaction and ,#2, interfering with my bread&butter, as we have sponsors anticipating the second development of the site (one of which is our vinyl sponsor for all those curious as to where the sabre-skulls are), I am looking for a competent web designer to, as you could imagine, redesign ILE. Please submit proposals and inquiries to contact@ivyleagueeast.com
FRENCH
photo credit: unknown
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