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
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!!!!!!
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
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
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
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
Roll That $h&%, Light That $h&%, Smoke That $h&%- Amuse S2000
The internet should be no stranger to this Amuse widebodied, Laguna Blue, Ap2, S2000 as very few will ever reach this level of modification. If your immediate thought is wow what a hardparker, you’ll be in disbelief to know that this beauty is used and abused.
FRENCH
photo credit: 1SlowSi (via S2ki)
RTR Porsche Club @ Watkins Glen International 2011
Watkins Glen International was “long known around the World as the home of the United States Grand Prix, which it hosted for 20 consecutive years (1961–1980), but it has been a venue to road racing of nearly every class for over 50 years, including Formula One, the World Sportscar Championship, Can-Am, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and the IndyCar Series.”
Having visited Seneca Lake on numerous occasions, I’ve always planned on one day trying my luck on the historic circuit and when an opportunity presented itself via the Riesentöter Porsche Club the ability to decline was immediately waived.
… and on that weekend not a single f$%& was given
FRENCH
Spirited driving was not the only luxury
Sean’s supercharged AP2
Surj’s track beauty
Aleksy’s weapon of choice
Brey-Krause 911 interior
A view that you might get used to
You Can Get With This or You Can Get With That
Sergey and Miss S2K are no strangers to the internet as both of them are overnight sensations. As a couple bound not only by their affection towards each other but also by tuning it appears that their is a glimmer of hope in the World. With an MR2 as such and an S2000 that would snap the neck of any on looker it’s hard to imagine who caught whose attention first.
FRENCH
Photo Credit: Ray Flores
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-
IvyLeagueEast CANZiti Meet
Being that it has been some time since our last meet we felt compelled to host another before the Summer’s end and what better location than CANZiti, a new Hooters-type restaurant.
FRENCH
Not Your First Amodeo
Today I had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Chris Amodei at his best that is pointing the finger and giving orders. His S2000 which is scheduled to make an appearance next week was looking mighty healthy as were his new wheels, exhaust and custom bodywork. If you only knew what he has planned you’d be as eager as I am to see the gum scraper do just that.
He will be giving the dumped Mazda Miata below a run for its money regarding ride height.
FRENCH
False Advertising below
Brand New B$%&*
I’m not one to see opportunity in the bleakest of situations recently but I managed to stumble upon a new* Amuse front fascia for the S2000. Comments and concerns welcome. Paint soon, just shopping
FRENCH
(Also note my Agency Power antenna. New $%&!)
Diffused S2000
Continuing on with my s2000 addiction I bring you a platinum pearl white* AP2 with a very attractive Voltex rear diffuser otherwise known as a rock collector.
FRENCH
photo credit: Viet
mmm hot
Went Pro. Video
Having seen all the hype surrounding the Go-Pro HD Hero I bit the bullet and picked up a motorsports kit, naturally. Unfortunately, in 2 days this gismo has already managed to fail. O well, I’ve heard nothing but good things about Go-Pro’s warranty program. Winning…
FRENCH
also note the exhaust tone. I recently picked up the Fujitsubo RM01A dual and mated it to a Megan test pipe preceded by the J’s racing header. bawseeeee
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
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