Vacation
This past weekend I had the luxury of taking a short 3 day cruise to the Bahamas with the family.. After returning we met up with some family in Coral Springs, Florida.. I then get a message from Sheldon saying he lives 10 minutes away.. This lead to us meeting up and me snapping a few photos of his nicely put together AP1… Enjoy!
Full set can be found HERE!!!!
-Chris Amodei-
Full set can be found HERE!!!!!!
Paid
After an extended weekend of debauchery and gambling in Atlantic City, NJ with French and Matt to ring in the New Year, I had the opportunity to indulge in another type of pay-off this afternoon. The fruits of my labor as entailed in this previous post did eventually lead to the purchase of this gorgeous 2010 Lotus Evora by my friend. I can not speak highly enough of this car. If you ever have the opportunity I highly suggest you get behind the wheel of one of these. It has the snappy, edge of your seat handling that has kept me (and many others) a fan of the Honda S2000 for many years, it has the looks and curb appeal of a pricey exotic, and it’s the kind of rawness and bang for the buck you get for a pre-owned Dodge Viper.
Happy New Year to you and yours.
~e
Round 2, Ashley’s Mini
Austin Powers: Your spy car’s a Mini?
Nigel Powers: It’s not the size mate, it’s how you use it.
Testifying to the “it’s not the size of the ship, it’s the motion of the ocean” phrase, Ashley has been sending waves throughout the internet with her Mini. Often times mistaken for her boyfriends car, don’t get it twisted, this gem is absolutely hers. Having already been featured by The Arthus, Here, the close knit community that is our own frequently sees reptition of cars of this caliber for obvious reasons.
Happy Holidays,
FRENCH
photos by the Amodeo formally known as Chris Amodei
Godzilla!
Today I met up with a local friend, Keith, with his GT-R. Other than the decent sized wing on the back of it, it looks somewhat stock, but this is one car you might not want to mess around with. This 600whp+ beast is one hell of a good time. The APR wing attached to the AMS dry carbon trunk lid really sets it off, in my opinion… and let me tell ya, the Meisterschaft exhaust and downpipes make this car sound AWESOME! The Tein coil overs gave it a nice drop as well… Enjoy!
-Chris Amodei-
Full set can be found here….
Full set can be found here….
First Class Fitment…
It’s a fact. Some car shows are just better than others. Case in point: Canibeat’s First Class Fitment. Over 150 cars were in attendance. Some of the best the East Coast had to offer. VIP, Euro, JDM with every sort of fitment you could imagine. Static and air. There was plenty of scraping going on. The show was held at Princeton Airport in Montgomery Township, New Jersey. In addition to the beautiful blue sky, the airplane hangars and runway were a perfect backdrop for the event. It definitely strayed from the typical parking lot events we are used to attending. Car after car lined the driveway into the main event. A hangar stacked with some of the best vehicles in the show with Liberty VIP’s crew surrounding the area just outside. The competition was fierce but my buddy Vince ended up going home with the “Best Fitment” award for his 300ZX on VIP Modular wheels. Congrats! Here are a few shots from the day.
|brian|
Flickr set HERE.
Pocono Raceway 2011
Just how many track days can we get in before the season concludes is the game that many of us are gambling on. As much as we admire the fine art of hardparking, it requires a great amount of restraint for many of us at IvyLeagueEast to pass up on a circuit day, auto-x or the classic, a quarter-mile. Having managed to put enough coin aside to hit Pocono Raceway with the PCA once again, E, Jamie and I met up with a few other S2000s owners to add a bit of color to the usually monotone roster 
FRENCH
H20i featuring Scraped.Crusaders.
Although the weekend was filled with rain, thousands still traveled down(and up) to Ocean City, Maryland for one of the biggest VW shows on the East Coast. I met a lot of new people and had the chance to see some old friends. I got the opportunity to meet some of the guys from Scraped.Crusaders. Having been a fan of Gill’s Legacy for some time now, it was exciting to finally see it in person. If you haven’t already, you will definitely be seeing Matt’s, who goes by DeathLens on Flickr, photos floating around the net. He put together an impromptu shoot on our last night down there to really give the event a nice closing. Here is the result…
brian | arthus
Check out DeathLens’ Flickr HERE.
http://scrapedcrusaders.com/
Little Devil…
When it comes down to it, the world of modifying cars is somewhat of a boys club. We spend our hard-earned dollars on those parts that will give us that edge over the next guy. Coilovers, wheels, exhaust. You know the deal. Every once in a while you come across a female that shares that mentality. It’s especially exciting when you have the pleasure of meeting a lady that has a great project to show for it.
Meet Ashley Rowland and her 2005 Mini Cooper S. The Mini was picked up earlier this year with the intention of building something new. Having previously owned a Mk4 GTI on coils and RS’s, she wanted to get out of the VW world. It all started with a 15% reduction pulley for the supercharger to add the little extra on the daily drive. The next step was a natural one. Suspension and some new shoes.
Replacing the stock springs and struts would be a set of BC Racing coilovers. After the initial install and some tweaking she realized that the stock front coilover springs were a bit too tall for her intentions. A new shorter set was ordered and installed as soon as they arrived. Now that the ride height had been sorted, a set of wheels was in order.
Using some Adaptec Speedware, Ashley fitted some 16×8.5 C4 Corvette Salad Shooters with a 205/40 Falken 512 tire for a nice stretch. The simple fact that Minis can pull off 16’s is something that I envy. The Vette wheels make for a great example. The static ride height speaks for itself and the fitment is on point.
This is only the beginning for this car. I look forward to seeing what is next to come. Ashley has already attacked the interior with some suede on the headliner and pillars. I’m sure she already has a new set of wheels in mind. Look out for this thing down at H20i. It’s a whole other experience in person.
Check out the full set HERE.
-Brian Arthus
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-
Slow and Slutty…
The Chevrolet Cobalt SS was one of GM’s entries in the world of sport compacts. With it’s Eaton supercharged 2.0L Ecotec 4 cylinder it certainly had the numbers to compete. The suspension was tuned on the famed Nürburgring in Germany. So it was safe to say it had it’s roots planted firmly in the motorsports world. Enter Mike Cosentino, a Long Island native that decided to make his Cobalt SS a little different.
Mike had a vision in mind that strayed far from the path of the average Cobalt owner. He fancied the fitment game and wanted in. There would be obstacles but nothing a creative mind and garage full of tools couldn’t tackle.
Using a set of ep3 Civic coilovers that were given to him by a friend he retrofitted the fronts and the project was underway. The Cobalt uses a solid beam for the rear suspension setup. Mike fabricated his own shims and dialed in his camber and toe by himself to get that rear fitment. He also shaped the rear fenders by himself in the driveway. Combine those two DIY mods with the addition of a mini-tub, he was able to fit the 18×9.5 -8(after adapter) Rota P45R in the rear.
Getting the front on the ground wasn’t exactly a picnic either. While the retrofitted coils allowed him to drop the front relatively easily the suspension was not happy. After going through a few axles Mike realized something had to be done to relieve the driveline of its geometrical woes. A custom lower motor mount and well as a rotated transmission mount were fabricated to solve this problem. This made for a much smoother and not so costly driving experience.
At the end of the day Mike is just another car guy doing his own thing. His build may not be everyone’s cup of tea but it is his pride and joy. Blood, sweat and tears have been poured into it via countless hours in the garage. I applaud his DIY approach and this car definitely falls under the moniker of Built not Bought.
View the full set HERE.
-Brian
Batten down the hatches!
Hurricane Irene has come and gone, and thankfully we not only maintained our cars (and our own personal well-being), it was actually a pretty good time. On Saturday afternoon we decided a keg of beer would be a great way to weather the storm, and so the ILE crew plus friends spent the evening at my apartment making good times happen. Despite weakening significantly before hitting us, the wind and the tides did their damage. But fortunately we didn’t lose power at any point, which not only kept the party going into the morning, but facilitated a well deserved day of recovery with nothing to do but scour forums. Here’s a few highlights:
Problem East Coast?
DooDoo Brown…
Mike Wasserman’s Porsche Macadamia Metallic bugeye has been one of my personal favorites for quite some time now. I was able to grab a few shots of it at this past weekend’s Island Import Day. I look forward to getting a real shoot in of it sooner than later. Take a gander at these for now.
-Brian
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
Drifties Please
Here is coverage of July’s Drift Faction event in Lebanon NY. Drift Faction is one of the locations in the northeast which offers drivers drifting pleasure. Whether it be beautiful cars sliding around the lot, to dedicated drift cars. Drift Faction is more than just a motorsport gathering. It is a place to see friends, laughs, and even family. After attending a few events, I’ve settled in and started to gain a great appreciation of the sport. Everyone should attend a drifting event at least once in their lifetime, the experience will be ever lasting.
-Huy
Video Credit goes to Chris Churchill, amazing work my friend!
Drift Faction from Chris Churchill on Vimeo.
Onto photos.
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-
Needs Moar Low
Amodeo’s (or C. Amodei to some) new haircut has me trolling the interweb looking at pictures of slammed cars. There is something about tucking tire and scraping pavement that is awesome to me. It doesn’t matter what type of car, or truck, (or vehicle for that matter…shit, slammed ATV? bauce) it is. Sure we can argue about function vs. form. Sure I’ve never had a car that low, and probably won’t as long as I live where I do (ask anyone about my driveway- it’s intense). But there’s no denying it: If it’s low, it has swag.
-E
ya’ll know what I’m talkin about:
Waterfest 17. From a different lens…
Even though it was a scorcher, much fun was had during that fine Sunday. The early morning rendezvous only meant that we would be heading home earlier that day but I was fine with that. It meant escaping the heat (sort of, my car has no AC ughhhh) and beating some traffic (not really, we live on Long Island cmonnn). Either way here are some more shots that were taken that day. (The rollers were taken by Fran Matura.)
-Brian
Full set can be found here on Flickr.
Frank’s ride for the day…
Rolling out of the heavens…
RS4′s were plentiful in NJ that day…
Did I mention it was really hot out? That might explain their lack of pants. I hope…
The BOSS…
White Knight.
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about how nice it would be to add a truck to my vehicular equation. While contemplating which I would choose if I had the option a couple came to mind; A supercharged range rover sport or perhaps a G-wagon were some of the first to come to mind. While these two would certainly fit the bill, nothing is more appealing to me than the Porsche Cayenne GTS and this one in particular is soo me. Good Morning!
-spilner
Summer Slam…
Waking up early on a Sunday is not something that I usually look forward to, but this past weekend I was headed out to Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ for the 16th annual Summer Slam. Being that my wheels were to be traded very soon I didn’t feel like risking any damage on those crappy NJ roads, so I hopped in with a friend and her Mini Cooper S. We were cruising with another friend on his Yamaha R6 so we were not alone on the drive. After some trouble with the EZ Pass and some paperwork at the toll for the Verrazano Narrows Bridge it was smooth sailing. I had never really been in a Mini for more than a short drive before so I was curious as to how the ride was going to be. Several weeks ago she had installed some BC Racing Coilovers and after we made some recent adjustments to them they rode great. Aside from some occasional rubbing from her stock wheels and giant tires everything was gravy.
After a short stop to take advantage of Jersey’s cheap gas and to scarf down some less-than-healthy BK breakfast sandwiches we pulled up to the gates at E-Town. Walking through the parking lot up to the grand stands and the pits where the show was held I could almost swear I saw the entire Rota wheel catalog. If the show was going to be anything like the lot was I was ready to head home, but I was pleasantly surprised once I walked through the pits. I was instantly bombarded with the potent aroma of combusted race gas. That combined with the style of drag cars present put a smile on my face. From the classic Toyotas, Datsuns to the old rotary Mazdas I was in awe of the actual size of these cars in person and the fact that they run sub 8 second 1/4 mile times at speeds in excess of 180 mph. From the pits we made our way over to the bulk of the show cars. Liberty VIP car club had some of the finest vehicles there. Those guys keep raising the bar every time I see them. There were a few hidden gems intertwined with the retarded sound systems and the Lambo doors.
To finish the day off, we baked ourselves in the sun on grandstands to watch some races. It started off slow but got really good as the faster classes took to the track. Watching a car dial in at 7.90 only to break out and watch the team get just as excited as if they had won was entertaining and refreshing as well. It’s that kind of excitement that let’s everyone know that they were really pushing the car to its fullest. All in all it was a great day and the event is definitely on my list for next year.
-Brian.
Check out the full set HERE.
Euro Trash Sunday!
Gawking at exotics and internet forum champions keeps me motivated. But admiring the classics always keeps me inspired. Catching this early ’70′s MGB around my home town got me thinking about what car I’d be driving if I were born 20 years earlier. This is what comes to mind.
MGB?
E-Type?
Spitfire? My old man had one of these.
Wood grain and the leather seats.
I think this would take the cake though. Not quite 100% Euro trash, but none the less an awesome car.
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.
Wicked!!
This past Saturday Spilner and I headed up north to Wicked Big Meet…..at 4am, but made some awesome time! Had to stop once on I-84 to re-fill the E-85, and knocked out (maybe killed) a little squirrel with Spilner’s front lip…. but after that, things went smooth. Here’s the shots I got and make sure you check out my Flickr for the rest of the photos!!
-Chris Amodei-
Click here for the full set!!!
And sorry to the kid that I iced!! But you took it like a champ, even though it was baking in the sun for a bit….
Like A Boss
As a car enthusiast, I am genuinely embarrassed to admit that up until this past week, I did not know the 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca existed or anything about it. Upon hearing about it from a co-worker, I had to go home and research this beast to see if what I was hearing was fact, or fiction fabricated by a couple Mustang fanatics.
Needless to say, I am impressed. Not just because of all the trick parts that make the Boss Laguna Seca a true purpose-built contender on the circuit, but the mere existence of the car. It’s inspiring for me to know that this tiny market segment is still important enough to the head-honcho’s over at Ford that time and money was devoted to making this car available. There is no way that the R&D efforts and engineering that went into building this car will pay off for Ford. And although they turned over $6.5 billion in income last year, the company as a whole is still swamped in debt with a few of it’s brands, models and manufacturing facilities facing the chopping block. With that in mind, maintaining dedication to motorsports enthusiasts by building this car is truly admirable to me.
I’ve never had a Mustang, or a Ford, and I’m not sure I ever will. They’re just not my thing. But if I ever get the opportunity to drive one of these on a track, I will be tempted.
-e
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