Winter!
While I don’t agree, I can sort of understand where the majority of our population is coming from when they say dumping thousands of dollars into a car is an awful investment. Sure you won’t see that money again but for us car enthusiasts every penny spent comes with an extremely high dividend in the personal enjoyment sector. However sometimes even we make mistakes by purchasing an unnecessary part or ordering the wrong thing completely. For myself, purchasing a set of dedicated winter wheels with blizzack’s(the best snow tires money can buy) was appearing to be one of those mistakes given our incredibly mild winter. Until Saturday that is.
All week I had been watching the weather hoping and praying for even a couple inches of powder. As Thursday dawned upon us my hopes had been confirmed. Tomorrow, Friday night, would be the day my dreams come true. In final preparation I removed my carbon fiber front lip and side skirts to ensure they wouldn’t get torn off in the event of a repeat of last years storm and raised the car about an inch. I was still low, but ready. Friday night came and went without even the slightest threat of snow. Had the forecasters screwed us once again with one of their all to common mistakes or were the densely packed clouds simply stuck in some sort of climate traffic jam? I eventually went to bed disappointed but when I woke up and saw 8 unread text messages from every close friend with an AWD car I knew something was up. I rolled over, pulled the blinds to uncover what was just outside, peered out my window and there it was, SNOW!
The fourth quarter earnings on my investment had finally come in and just like that I was a millionaire(In that personal enjoyment department I mentioned earlier 
). I hopped out of bed, took the quickest shower of my life and was out the door without so much as a jacket. My cousin, Ryan, jumped in with me and we were off to the Smith Haven mall to partake in some sideways shenanigans.
When I arrived I was pleasantly surprised. Entire sections of the enormous parking lot had yet to be touched and it was as smooth as glass. Being that I’m familiar with this parking lot I knew there were no curbs to worry about and lucky enough for me I wasn’t the only one who chose this destination. Within a matter of minutes more than 7 cars had shown up ranging from Evo’s to Audi’s and even Max showed up in his Legacy. It was time to party.
It quickly appeared that I didn’t raise the car enough so after 30 minutes or so it was time to take a break and clear some snow out from behind my front bumper. During that time security stopped taking photo’s and decided it was time to kick us out. Not wanting to call it a day we traveled to a state park that was about 20 minutes away. Obviously we steered away from the main roads and took the curvy route that was predicted to be void of traffic. It was.
After a couple hours I had managed to burn through 3/4 of a tank of precious e85 so it was time to head back. I left Max with a parting gift and decided to head home where hot chocolate and fresh, out of the oven brownies were waiting for me. All and all it ended up being one of the best weekends since the summer. It was everything I had been waiting for and on the list of fun ways to spend my afternoon this without a doubt falls in my top 3. While the thought of selling my precious Subaru to upgrade into a Porsche or a GT-R has crossed my mind a bunch of times, it’s safe to say this weekend has ensured at least a few more months before that thought reoccurs. It’s time for me to get back to work but I’ll leave you with a few parting shots, which were all taken by professional photographer Will Mayer for his company Primary Visions. Enjoy your week!
-Matt Henderson
Patrice’s STi
The year came and went before I had an opportunity to blink. With meets and track days usually scheduled back to back during the season, a promise to Patrice to shoot his STi for a feature sat low on the list of priorities. But having heard that he planned to unload the Work XD-9′s due to their increasing popularity locally I knew that time was of the essence and it quickly became a priority. His portfolio of past ownerships would reveal his allegiance to the Honda/Acura moniker but his take on Subaru’s flagship vehicle would silence most insulting remarks. And now to the feature presentation…
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Specs Sheet:
2006 Subaru WRX STi
BC Coilovers
HTA68 Turbo
Perrin Stealth Front Mount
Work XD9s 18×10 +18
PNP Headers
740cc Injectors
Defi Gauges
TGV Deletes
Invidia Downpipe
GReddy TIC catback exhaust system
Covered: Evo Vs. STi at Englishtown October 17, 2011
Englishtown Raceway, NJ once again played host to Evo vs STi. Although the event was scheduled the same day as First Class Fitment, competition always sparked our interest as creeping on another bro’s fitment isn’t as eventful as one would think. That being so the usual suspects, sans the Arthus and Huy who photographed FCF, and I advanced towards the 1320 early Saturday morning. After Spilner, Dirty, and F.Millan made respectable passes and quelled the doubts of a few, we packed up and made way to Atlantic City for an evening of debauchery and risk.
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Sunday.
When I woke up this morning with sunshine bursting through every slit in my window curtains I decided it would be a beautiful day to take a long trip out east and clear my head. It’s not too often that I get a chance to sit for a while and think about not only my past but my present as well, mostly because I’m so concentrated on my future, but every so often I feel as though I need to take some time to simply sit and think about things. When this time comes I head to a place that hardly anyone I’ve ever met knows about, a marina way out in Greenport where my family’s boat used to be docked. With nothing but car keys, an iced tea and my iphone 4(to take some photo’s along the way) I headed out around 10:45am.
Having forgot that we’re now in the month of October I was a bit surprised to see dozens of “Pick-Your-Own-Pumpkin” stands buzzing with families. While I didn’t pick any pumpkins for myself I took a minute to pull over and think back to my days of walking through corn mazes and riding hay rides. After a couple minutes of people watching however it was time to continue onward towards my destination. I still had a while to go.
Sod farms, dirt roads, tractors left and right, there’s something beautiful about eastern Long Island. It’s almost mind blowing to see how different life can be considering how near we are to the hustle and bustle of New York City. If you were to blindfold a typical New Yorker and drive out here they would probably assume they were taken to a place somewhere in the Mid-West. As my journey continued I came around the last few bends and arrived around 12pm. The weather began to change as clouds came overhead and the intense sunshine from a few miles back shifted into a dimly lit setting which was a bit strange, but aided in my attempt to take some cool pictures. These two were taken on the long driveway into the marina itself.
When I pulled into the marina parking lot I drove towards the private beach. My legs were begging for a rest thanks to my newly installed ACT 6puck, so I walked down to the water and sat on a conveniently placed bench. Thanks to Mother Nature the sun came back overhead about as fast and strangely as it had left and the temperature had to have increased about 10degrees. That’s what it felt like at least. After sitting on that bench just thinking and relaxing for about 40minutes I decided to see if any good pictures were to be had.
Having felt as though I succeeded in my attempt to have a mental degaussing, I got back into the drivers seat and shoved off. The drive home didn’t take as long as I thought it would and a part of me wished it would have taken longer. Now I’m back at my desk with a textbook laid open to my left and a copy of The Wall Street Journal on my right. Reality is back and it’s time to start studying for an unavoidable test that will be waiting for me at 7:30 tomorrow morning. I hate mondayssssss. I’ll leave you with a couple last shots, all of which were taken with my iphone! (camera + app.)
Photography by myself, Matt Henderson!
-spilner
Dynamic STI
Having already shared BBS LMs on about every make and model, it is of no surprise that this black 04-05 STi looks so appealing. WINNING
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photo credit: unknown
Hawk.
Stumbled upon this on the Long Island Subaru Club board. I can’t get over how good these SBC RPF1′s look on this color hawkeye. Thumbs up.
Photo’s by Aaron.
-spilner
Taking A Walk on the Wild Side
If you’ve been hesitant to join us on our most eventful facebook page you’ve probably managed to miss this video. Don’t wait any longer.
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Feature Presentation- Botti’s STI
Builds of this caliber usually come with the help of sponsors or some sort of immediate financial gain in the form of an inheritance, the lottery, settlement or perhaps the result of someone’s hard work. This lovely example of a hawkeye STI comes to us by means of a local privateer otherwise known as Botti, a name that should resonate with most people in the Long Island Subaru Club, if not local and distant familiarize yourself.
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Just The Tip- Botti’s STI
This weekend I had the pleasure of shooting a friend of mine’s STI that’s been up and down for as long as I’ve known of the car. Like any photographer taking enough shots to satisfy an appetite always seems to be a good idea, that is until you need to edit them after the fact… Full post tomorrow
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Lunch Break.
Being that I got screwed by my school into a 5pm class when I was originally supposed to finish my day at 12, I now find myself sitting around trying to concoct ways to pass time. Studying seems to be my main solution but being that the semester has only just begun the work load is still relatively minute so here I am, surfing the internet on a quest to find something new and interesting to share with you guys and gals. Finding something new and interesting, however, is sort of beginning to become a difficult task… kinda like Long Island girls. For some while now my senses have started to notice people modifying their cars in an effort to be “cool” and to fit in with everyone else as opposed to doing it for themselves. Jumping on bandwagons and riding the stance train has become the standard for much of the community and in my particular area it’s becoming evident that some people just don’t have heart. The spirit of competition is something that’s necessary in any environment, don’t get me wrong, but taking the easy/cheap way out and running off at the mouth the minute some minor progress is made shouldn’t be taking place. In society as a whole there are originators and imitators and respect should be acknowledged in accordance with that. Logan is one of originators and while I’ve posted pictures of his car before, here are some that haven’t made it on here prior to this post. He’s pretty lucky that to this day he’s got something unique and even if the main reason is the fact that his budget is pretty astronomical it doesn’t change little things like his JDM roof vent and being one of the only people I have ever seen to remove the black vinyl around the door frames. I remember when I first got my setup and was the only person with it. womp.
Photo’s by Logan himself
-spilner
Value Wheels
The image below displays a wheel that divides the house into two parties, one of which appreciates the appearance and price of the XXR wheel and the other, a party who will attempt to list every dissatisfaction with life (and death) that could possibly be related to the mag. In my opinion, as if counts anything anywhere but here, XXR has managed to release a wheel that not only works with the most budget minded tuner but is also relatively unique in comparison to their previous offerings and the products of other economy wheel companies. Win, Lose, or Draw? Win
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photocredit: unknown
Shaggin’ Wagon
This thing is awesome. Few things stand in your way between yourself and your dream girl if you’re driving this. One of such items would be your physique, your wallet… yeah the wallet thing concludes that list.
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masterpiece belongs to TTyphoon
Swaggin’ Wagons
For as long as I can remember, I’ve had an interest in one day riding a station wagon with swag for a daily. I’m not talking about a wood-body-paneled Buick Roadmaster here. I’m talking a Suby wagon, or something Euro, low, on wide wheels. Plus, the more balls, the better. My recent decision to purchase an inexpensive, dedicated track car instead of a fancy weekend car that can also do track duty has me seriously considering fulfilling this fantasy now. Our own Brian Arthus and Spilner have the Saab/Suby wagon thing down…plus I wasn’t particularly fond of my previous ’08 STi. Because it will see daily commuter duty, it’s got to be comfy. A little luxury would be nice. Decent on gas would be nice too, as I’ve become very accustomed to filling my Hybrid Civic up once a week and squeezing 400+ miles out of a tank of gas. Also, automatic (traffic, derp). So with that in mind, I am narrowing down my choices to an Audi A4 Avant wagon. B7 or B8 preferably. Which in turn has me scouring the interweb looking at pictures. Here’s a select few that’ve inspired me.
-e
Worthless Words
Nowadays with expanding forums and internet discussion boards voicing your individual opinion for the world to see has never been easier and having the ability to hide behind an anonymous username while doing so gives people the confidence to speak their truth, right or wrong. However, the longer you hang out on these virtual chat rooms the more you tend to realize that with certain websites the people who speak the most typically know the least about what they’re arguing. Web trolls enjoy sitting on their computers accomplishing nothing each and every day except for ranting and raving in threads, filling them with useless information that nobody except themselves care about. Useless posts eventually lead to threads getting closed and while the troll feels as though he won, the only thing he did was make himself look pathetic. My good friend Vlad and his custom painted bugeye can certainly attest to these types. Good thing for us he possesses confidence and that “I don’t give a f*ck” attitude, which has awarded him ton’s of praise as well as a top 3 finish in the infamous “Top Scoob” competition on NASIOC. I’m happy to announce that Vlad’s Rota G-forces have come off and were replaced with a super deep dish set of Work xd9′s, which he was waiting months for. The car IMO looks spectacular. Kudos!
Photography by none other than Quan Duong.
-spilner
My kinda internet troll
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
Man Up
Take responsibility for your actions. If the outcome you’ve arrived at is a result of your own inputs then accept it. Stop communicating shit and expect the outcome to change.
As many of you may or may not know I’ve manage to destroy my Amuse front bumper within 3 weeks of ownership… unlike a boss. Am I upset, not particularly, but a reflection upon my actions would suggest that I “track out” more when exiting those “hairy” turns. Challenge accepted
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What’s Next?
Time is running out, summer 2k11 is nearing an end, and within the next couple weeks I’ll be back sitting at my desk writing essays and figuring out 20+ step statistical equations in order to determine the best way a corporation should manage their financial risk. Soon the warm summer breeze will disappear once again for what seems like forever and the green grass covering my front lawn with vanish beneath inches of powdery white snow. Previously, when mother nature decided it was time to create ice skating rinks of our highways and back country ski slopes of our local roads my STi found itself forcibly sitting in the warm comfortable garage while others were out partying. Being that my gal sits only a couple inches off the ground and the procrastination to buy a winter wheel/tire setup got the best of me, I didn’t have much of a choice. But this winter I reckon things will be a bit different. This afternoon I found myself rummaging through winter threads on NASIOC and for the first time in a while I honestly got excited for the changing seasons.
Being that I want to move to South Beach or California within the next couple years this notition of excitement was a bit peculiar for even myself. When I was younger, as with any child, I loved nothing more than a snowball fight and an igloo build, but as I aged snow became nothing more than an inconvience to my lower back compliments of shoveling and a house arrest sentence being that I couldn’t drive anywhere without risking damage to my precious car. While I felt good about the fact that my car wasn’t getting pounded with salt and sand, I still felt like a bit of a piker seeing all my friends out and about snow drifting till early hours of the morning.
So after a little while on NASIOC I left and proceeded straight to google. My research has commenced and with a local set of 04-07 STi bbs stockers for sale it appears that this winter “Candice” will get to play with her Subaru friends. The coilovers will come off and get replaced with the stock suspension and if all goes to plan a roof rack will get fitted and my k2 ski’s will get thrown up top. I’d love to make it to Vermont more than a handful of times unlike previous seasons and closer Mountains like Mt. Creek will hopefully turn into my weekend home away from home. I might be jumping the gun with these thoughts being that September hasn’t even began but who ever said proper planning was a bad thing? Later!
-spilner
Winners Circle
The IvyLeagueEast family has grown far beyond its britches into realms that we’ve never thought were within reason a year ago. Having been featured on the “super-blogs” such as SpeedHunters, Canibeat and Just Stance the growth has been exponential and the experiences have been worth sharing.
Living in close proximity to the Hamptons, as you already know, Spliner, E, the most recent of age, Chris Amodei, and I made an appearance at Beach Bar, our Friday night shindig. Always planning ahead, E sourced two Four Lokos to alleviate Spilner’s race inspired driving but the alcohol only succeeded in developing unique conversational topics for the drive LOL.
The night slowly transitioned into early morning and winning is the only word that would accurately describe the evening. As I woke this morning I recalled that I had won a trip, for TWO, to a private island concert on behalf of BudLight. Without needing to further describe our Friday I’ll close with a most attractive hawk-eye STi equipped with classic BBS LMs amongst other complementary aero parts.
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The night
Be a Hero, Go Pro
Stopped by NLM today and picked up a Go Pro…. Shot this quick before sunset, much more to come from all the Ivy League East wolf pack…. for now here is my VF48 WRX, tuned by EFI Logics doing some pulls to 100… Enjoy!
-Dirty
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.
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Enkei NT03 and STI = Love
Much like the S2000 and the Enkei RPF1, it seems that the STI (any generation) and the NT03 are a match made in heaven. What I admire most about Enkei is the brand provides quality light weight wheels at a reasonable cost. Might I add that they also have unique designs? Winning!
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Arceo Photos
Wicked Big Beattttttt (Meat, er Meet)
Last weekend, Stafford Springs, CT played host to North America’s Largest gathering of Subarus. As you could imagine my assumption that the lot would be filled with “stage 2″ WRXs and STIs was completely accurate but that’s what helps define what is genuinely special. Without black, there would be no white, without shitty friends there wouldn’t be best friends, you get the idea. That said below are some cars and people that I felt required some special attention.
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beyond the clouds there is a sunny day
Alan and JNA STIs arguably the best GRs this side of the country
white on white s2k :drool:
loyalty
bagged
the arthus breaking necks
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.
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