Reality Check
Imagine pulling into your driveway and finding heaps of rubble and ash that once resembled your home. That's exactly what happened recently in my townhome complex in Signal Hill, CA, while I was away, wrenching on the Civic at my parents' house over the weekend. Later that day, I received a call from my girlfriend to come back home and assess fire damage caused to numerous apartments in our complex that began in a neighbor's garage when his Lincoln Town Car caught on fire. My stomach was churning from anxiety as I raced home; thoughts ran through my head, telling me, "You're f*cked, Scott. All your expensive car parts and that EJ20 engine you worked so hard to build are now a molten pile of scrap. And what about your Subaru STI you're still making payments on? You're stuck driving that Civic for life!"
Just as I pull through the front gate, I found myself staring at a row of tow trucks dragging out the carcasses of three burnt cars. I was mortified. The news was bitter sweet when I found out that four apartments were declared a total loss, one was deemed uninhabitable, and only my neighbor's and my unit were spared from the flames. Luckily, I'm covered under renters' insurance for such a catastrophe, but have yet to call my insurance agent to ask what would become of my car and aftermarket parts conveniently slewed across the garage, kitchen, living room, and bedrooms, should my townhome happen to burn down. I own a debt of gratitude to the 100 firefighters who came to our rescue and quickly knocked out the flames. Because of them, I can continue to hoard more car parts, and one day finish my never-ending projects.
Senior Editor
Scott Tsuneishi
scott@importtuner.com
Living iT
Riding Shotgun With The Editors
'09 Nissan 370z
Next on the laundry list of parts for our project Z34 is a set of ultra-mega baller Project Mu brakes. A full axle set comprised of six-piston calipers with 15-inch two-piece rotors on the front, four-piston calipers with 14-inch two-piece rotors for the rear, and Teflon-stainless brake lines, the big brake kit is ultra-mega sick-both on the track and off.
Editor
Carter Jung
'05 Subaru STI
Evasive Motorsports, located in City of Industry, CA, performed some last-minute tweaks to the Subaru's suspension before we headed to Streets of Willow, in Willow Springs, CA, for Mackin Industries' annual industry track day. Evasive Motorsports used their extensive road racing experience to dial-in the STI's suspension, using their John Bean alignment machine. We should also mention Evasive also offers corner balancing, alignment, chassis setup and race prepping. Thanks guys!
Senior Editor
Scott tsuneishi
'94 Acura Integra
Between contracting some lingering variant of H1N1, and a subsequent secondary infection of pure, inexcusable laziness, I've finally found the motivation to continue prepping my DC2 for track duty. The Suspension Techniques urethane bushing kit is done, so now I'm in the weight-reduction phase, which will bring two-fold advantages: making the car quicker at the track, and saving fuel during the daily commute. The downside is that an iPod is the new stereo, and heat, well . . . heat is for the weak!
Tech Editor
Luke munnell