Here’s a couple of quick videos of last weekend’s get together with the crew.  Check it…

Looks like Ryan got a pretty good fortune in his cookie hahaha.

Start’s off with Ben’s salt water tank and I guess Jun is going for the hitman hahaha

Last Saturday, the High End / AC Elite Crew decided to have a little pot luck and watch the UFC 107.  Since the defunct HIN Arizona show is already laid to rest we all decided to just chill at Ben’s house and have some good grub and catch up and bullshit each other around lol.  It’s always a kick ass time hanging out with the crew.  Although not everyone was there, since we’re all spread apart and raining, we all still had a kick ass time betting against each other on the fights.  The peeps in attendance brought more than enough food for a big town in a third world country.  Prime rib, live shrimp, tri tip wrapped in bacon, and a home made orgasmic cheese cake was a few of the dishes served that night.

The cards on UFC 107 that night was actually pretty decent.  Mir was fighting Kongo which resulted in a tap-out, or should I say Kongo blacking out a minute or so after the first round bell rang.  A vicious fight between KenFlo and Guido (Jon’s BFF BTW) which resulted in KenFlo’s win via tap out.  But of course the main even was BJ Penn defending his title against Sanches.  Did I mention that Sanches is one crazy dude?  I love how he enters the ring just yelling out “YES” to motivate and pump himself up right before the fight.  Unfortunately tho, he was no match against the Prodigy.  It was such a one sided match which was eventually ended by a kick by Penn on Sanches’ head opening up a 3″ gash on his forehead causing the stoppage on the fight.  It was intense seeing it in slow mo and watching the cut open up right after Penn’s foot left it’s mark on Sanches’ already swollen head.  I believe the word of the night was Vicious.

Good night, good fight, good food, great company.  Can’t beat it!  Even though we were missing the person that throws all our UFC parties (JR, we miss you still, and always will) it was still a shit load of fun.

Last weekend was spent with family and friends celebrating the baptism of my new nephew Anthony.  Here he is sucking on his pal Blue from Blues Clues——> Anyhoo, since I bought my Fuji Instax a few days ago I figured I should use it.  And use it I did, knowing that every shot I took cost me a bit less than $2.00 a pop.  Umm yeah it sucks.  Oh to sacrifice money for art.  Oh well.  It was a lot of fun actually.  It’s nothing like seeing your photos instantly.  Really cool stuff.  Aside from that, my buddy Carlito brought out the Holga and started taking film photos.  I’ve always wanted one of those actually but since he saw that my Polaroid camera was way cooler, he’s buying one and selling me the Holga.  Haha.  In case you’re wondering what the hell I’m talking about check out square frog for more info about holgas for more details.

Here’s some of that Polaroid fun.

Here’s a few videos I shot from the sony party.  Sony it’s a low quality video.  Ain’t got no HD camera on my just my point and shoot and iPhone =)

BTW that’s offspring playing live in the background lol

Here’s Jr’s car immortalized along with his legacy by the most popular driving game in the world.  Just sad that he didn’t make it to see his amazing car in action.  You’re always with us JR and I miss you with all my heart and soul.

Thanks to Sony Computer Entertainment America and Polyphony Digital for making this happen.  Also to Carter Jung from Import Tuner Magazine for initially picking our car as the best import.  To everyone that helped, Cusco, Aerodyne, Blitz, Mines’ APR, BASF and all the other sponsors, Thank you very much!!

High End Performance G37, Avelino “JR” Rocha, This is for you, your wife and kids.

Most next gen cell phones have camera now and some are definitely better than others. Actually some now can range up to 8mp but the quality is yet to be desired. Some have auto focus, flash and crazy filters that’ll make a camera a run for it’s money. Samsung for example has a camera with a phone (Samsung Memoir), unlike the usual phone with a camera. Since I live and breathe photography I do have an SLR Camera with the range of lenses you really can’t bring that anywhere especially on spur of the moment type of events. I do have a point and shoot camera but I can’t help but use my camera phone more often than both of those.

read more »

Automotive car shows has come and gone. Gone are the likes of NOPI, the one show wonder Auto Crave, and sadly Showoff Shows (Last show will be August 15). One show has held on and still have it’s grip on the automotive aftermarket industry. Barely at least.

The first Hot Import Nights of the year was held about a month ago (I know it’s late, Shut up) but it was supposed to be held in Los Angeles but the venue thought that the followers of the show are too gangsta’ for them. Two weeks before the show they decided to move the event to Anaheim, CA smack down in the middle of the Angels Stadium. Now with the show scene slowly withering away, HIN was held outdoors to accommodate their motor sports events which was held during the Night Shift events. A lot was changed with the show as far as judging and staff is concerned. With the confusing new judging system which was later modified (I’ll get to that later) we all threw our hands up and ask question. Oh well. It happened already.
read more »

Being with High End makes me busy on every aspect of the automotive game. Being in the retail (Among Others) side of the automotive aftermarket parts culture, I’ve come across a lot of people seeking advice and asking a very common question. So what is this mystical question that is on my mind? It is as follows.

I am always asked by customers and friends this question. “I just got a new car and what should I do first?” Realistically to me it’s basically what you want the car to be. I get the usual element of “I want a car to be faster but I want it to be street legal.” Well, plain and simple answer in my mind is you shouldn’t have bought that Civic. Buying an import car and making it faster is always a daunting task. Not unless you buy an already fast car. But to make a slow car go fast in a legal way is tough and almost impossible. With the laws bearing down on the aftermarket community’s shoulders, I don’t even think it’s remotely possible.

In my honest opinion your car can be faster in many ways but how do you define faster? Straight line speed? Cornering? Acceleration? There are many ways to do it but most are very illegal (although I don’t consider it illegal unless you get caught)

Ok so what should you do first on your car, your baby, your whip as some would call it. In my field I’ve always been around a lot of different cars but with my philosophy of building cars, simplicity is always key. Simple but sweet to say the least. Many things go into factor as far as building a car. But there are two important things that you might want to consider. Are you building this car for show or go? Ask yourself that question and go from there. Of course a mixture of both is always the best move. Why would you build a Fast looking car if it takes it 8 seconds to get from 0-60? That’s just an abomination. But if your car is already fast, let’s say you had the cash and purchased a Subaru STI for example, an already fast car with a magnificent 300 horsepower engine, you can skip on the going faster for now and go make your car look and handle better.  Get a feel for the car first before you add more go fast parts.  It’ll be worth the wait since you’re actually gonna feel the difference by adding each parts.

As far as cosmetics I always recommend giving your car the right stance. And by that I mean getting rid of that wheel gap that makes your car look like a truck. A good set of coilovers is your first step to achieve that fine looking, model like stance that I am talking about. If you are on a budget springs are fine but I would suggest saving your money first and buy a coilover system. At least a set of Tein coilovers which is a highly respectable brand. There are far better coilovers than Tein but for a man or woman on a budget, set of coilovers by Tein is a good brand to start with. Of course there are other inexpensive choices like Tanabe and basic JIC’s but expect this to run you about 700 dollars and up but since we’re talking about hypothetically building an STI, a car with an already amazing handling and maneuverability, why skimp on the parts.  Instead of buying the lower end coilovers might as well go for broke and save up a little bit more.  Why not improve on what already is an awesome start-point.  So go for some Function Xs by Zeal or with some Tanabe 7′s or go for broke and buy Bilsteins or some Aragostas that’ll cost you an arm and a leg.  Deciding which set of suspension to get is hard since you have a lot to choose from but if you have any questions, refer to online forums where people has experience on many different brands and types.  It also depends on what you decide on and what kind of car you want to build (re-read paragraph 4).  As an added bonus throwing a pair of sway bars, under chassis braces and strut bars would be cool too.  But that could get pricey and I’ll cover that later on.

Next step is to get some kick ass shoes.  It wouldn’t hurt to get some new wheels for the car but please… Keep it original. Like my buddy Jay from the JDM Ego fame would say it, “I hate your fake wheels.”  A good set of wheels and the right offset will do wonders. But please no obscene lime green or red wheels on an off color car. Make sure it matches. Kids don’t understand that if you’re rockin green Rota wheels and your car is blue, it doesn’t make it JDM. Trust me, color has nothing to do to it. You’re just being a attention whore and being one of those people that thinks he knows everything and anything about cars.  Plus cops can see you coming a mile a way.

Again if you are on a budget there are tons of wheels out there that are available for you. If you can’t afford a new one, hit the forums and look for a used set. Absolutely nothing wrong with that.  And once again time and time again I say this, if you can’t afford quality rims, DO NOT and let me say that again DO NOT buy cheap knock offs. Save your money and buy the wheels that you want later. Our philosophy in High End and my philosophy actually is “Do it right the first time.” And I’m not just hinting that get the expensive rims to show status and because they’re the shit. I’m saying this for your own safety too. Knock off companies do not do R&D and the wheels are not road tested. So they tend to crack and break without you knowing.  And on some worst cases won’t even balance and aren’t even round as wheels should be.  Why are Rays Engineering wheels ridiculously expensive? It’s because they are marketing geniuses. Aside from that, it is because they test every single wheel they have. R&D cost a lot of money and this is what expensive wheels manufacturers do. Well, most of them at least. Also there is the factor of forged and cast wheels but I am not gonna get into that right now. Maybe some other time. Another thing to consider as far as buying a good set of wheels is distinguishing whether or not they’re knock offs or they’re the real deal.  It’s not that hard just make sure they have the approval stamps like the JWL stamp for example.

So to my conclusion, first step… Setup the car’s stance and aim for the best look. Work on the suspension and get rid of that god awful gap.  Realistically by adding more suspension components to better the handling and your car will run faster and grip better around the corners.  Good wheel and offset choice is key off colored wheels and chrome spinners need not apply.  Learn the fundamentals and how to drive your new car first before adding more go fast bits.  Get a feel for your new car so that you’ll feel the difference of every single part you add on your car.  It’ll make it much more rewarding and justify you spending that ridiculous amount of money for that titanium exhaust you’ve been dreaming about.    Take it one step at a time it’s not a race… unless you want it to be.

Part II coming up if I don’t get lazy =)

What was your first car?  Actually disregard that question.  What car did you drive when you were 19 years old if not what car do you drive now?  I ask that question because unlike us normal people, we can’t afford a M6 when we’re 19… well, Mr Wang can…  And if you’re nice enough, he’ll buy you one too.  No? ok nevermind.

About a week ago I had the  chance to shoot Dennis Wang’s 3 series BMW showcar in the mountains of Santa Anita.  Dennis is part of our wrecking crew car show team, Auto Concept Elite and is also one of our top cars.  His car has recently been featured and covered both in Euro Tuner and PAS Magazine, same month last month.  As you could have guessed he’s in baller status.  Flashing two cell phones for his local and international ladies (jk) rocking Bathing Ape Clothing from head to toe, among other baller clothes that I don’t even know about coz I’m a poor lad.

Let’s bring focus back into his car and not his baller ways.  Dennis’ 3 series show car is a 2006 328i twin charged super car rocking both a super charger and turbo.  Basic idea is killing the lag with the supercharger and warping to high speed with the turbo charger on higher rpms.  Tuned and created by Groma Performance of Duarte, CA,  Groma has been known for it’s outrageous race car builds and near impossible fabrications.  It shows in the engine build of Dennis’ car.  The Wang mobile is also sporting a simple widebody and a red white and blue candy paint done up by master painter PJ Bonifacio.  So much candy that ants live in it’s crevices.

The main purpose of this car is to be a bad ass show car and it has been fulfilling that goal.  Winning top honors on the shows it attened, HIN, Spocom and Showoff shows to name a few, the Wang Mobile has been the pinnacle of BMW customization.  With electronics that will put your local Best Buy to shame this car has mobile electonics made for your living room and not on a car.  Rocking a Mac mini on the front passenger side of the car with it’s matching 24″ mac monitor that puts my personal Mac on a downward spiral because of the envy from this car the car also rocks a wide screen TV on the rear seats and a Nintendo Wii for added entertainment.  Yeah, gadgets I want for my house is chillin on the back of a car.  I feel sad now.

I shot the car for a feature for a Japanese magazine.  Honestly tho, the shots came out well but I am not very satisfied with it.  Wish we could have waited the sun to go down but as soon as it did we got attacked by swarms of flies and other bugs.  We had to run for our lives as soon as possible but not until we got some rockin rolling shots.  This car is amazingly clean and what an amazing build.  Unfortunately the car was not made for the canyons coz we left him far behind while driving back down to civilization.  Hehe.  But still he has his M6 to kick my Evo’s ass… Lame.

As a yearly tradition Nisei carshow is held in the little town called Los Angeles in a spot aptly named Little Tokyo.  Hosted by mainstream productions Nissei brings out the best of the best in the JDM Scene.  Unlike all the other shows out there, in Nisei Showoff, there is no need for crazy bling, no glitz and glamour, no prize for a fantabulous displays, but all it is is what you have in your car.  It’s a CARshow.

It was a very hot and humid day but still people flock around the awesome show cars.  We brought out 14 cars for our crew and did a pretty awesome job with the show.  Not that many awesome quality cars like past Nissei’s but there are some that certainly grabbed my attention.  One of which is this old school DA1 (correct me if i’m wrong) 86-89 integra.  Cleaaaan car.  I actually saw him cruise by on the way to the show down the 101 and immediately grabbed my attention.  Props to this car and owner.  He’s sporting an Old School HKS license plate holder too.  Not sure if he won tho but i’d give him something just for keeping that car nice and clean inside and out.  To think this car has been around for over 20 years and it’s still immaculate.  It is indeed gangsta!!

Of course there are the usual people.  There’s Lisa Uchida and the crew, Tommy Ha and his, now boosted, S2K, Albert Chang’s whored out (JK) S2K, Team Hybrid and 200 of their cars and Rudy’s Gold Plated RSX to name a few.  Since it’s Nisei there’s a plethora of Hondas, Mostly Hatches, that showed up.

A cool one that was there was a Honda Element with A K24 and ARC Bits.  Pretty cool since it’s a rare thing to see both in the show scene and on the streets. Now with the heat baring down upon us, I just want to say thank you to everybody that brought a canopy.  Also thank you Edwin from autoimportcraze[dot]com and using his brain to bring a cooler filled with ice and refreshments.  Also to Riceboy TV for giving away some Popsicles.  But just to say Fuck You to the heat, we just ended up walking to a nearby restaurant and have lunch in a AC filled room… Ended up in Ebisu… Restaurant not the circuit.  Good shit for a reasonable price.

As the day died down, so did the crowd and the time we’ve been waiting for has come upon us.  The Awarding.  We did pretty well as always clenching the best of shows and the best team awards (was there any doubt hehe jk)  and being the big asses that we are, we took one of our AC Elite Canopy and planted it right in the middle of the awarding ceremony for us and others to share the shade it provided.  After all we are nice people.  Anyhoo here’s the breakdown on how we did and what we won.

1. 2nd place Infinity – JR
2. 2nd place Acura – Cuco
3. 2nd place Scion – Arthur
4. 1st place Nissan – Angelo
5. Subaru Showoff – Jorge
6. Toyota Showoff – Richard
7. BMW Showoff – Dennis
8. S2k Showoff – Jon
9. Mitsubishi Showoff – Karen
10. Custom Showoff – Ben RX7
11. EXC Best of Show – Ben 350Z
12. Best Team Overall (Highest Point Average) – Some guys called Auto Concept Elite.  Wait that’s us.

Not too shabby I say.  But congratulations to everyone else that won.  And I just want to thank Ken Mioshi and Mainstream for another awesome show.  Hope you guys bring back Classics.

Congratulations again guys.  We rock as always!!

Check out some of the photos by clicking HERE

Congratulations to Steve (or should I say the new Owner in AZ) and his ex-Scooby for yet another Cover for Redline Magazine from the main land… Yes I’m British… JK.

You’re car has been whored out by everybody man. Now what are you gonna do next since the car is no longer yours? That kinda makes me sad since we did a lot to this car and now it’s not in our possession. So sad. Now Steve drives a Mitsubishi Evo 9 in which like before, copies everything that I do. First the RSX now this!?!? WTH man get your own ideas. Hehehe anyhooo congratulations again sir!

Well here it is. I’ve never really taken a photograph of this car complete. Finally took the snapshot of the elusive High End G37. Check it.

Boasting twin Nismo Turbo’s made for the R33 this car has been customized to the bone. Ranging from the Custom V-Mount setup and customized piping from the turbo manifold to it’s custom Cusco Roll cage and 10pt under brace. Pretty bad ass and Loud as Fuck!

After a little bit less than 2 months of acquiring the new building for High End we’ve been hard at work putting the shop together.  There’s still lots to do but we have been officially in business for the past few weeks.  Offices are done but the whole store is still yet to be finished but looking good so far.  We’ve been so busy finishing cars and working on new ones plus HIN LA is coming up in 20 days in which some of the guys are focusing on.  Still a lot to do but here are some pics of the shop.  Here’s the retail area / showroom I guess is what you can call it.

still quite a bit of a work to do but other rooms are done so that’s a good thing.  2 lifts are arriving in the next few weeks  too and the paint area is shaping up pretty nicely.  Next time i’ll show the install dept. area and offices and perhaps the 2nd floor too.  It’s a HUGE location so what you’re seeing is probably 1/6 of the shop. Laters

After a few months of waiting, we got our FD back from the shop nice and clean. As you might remember few blogs down the car was severely damaged via a tow truck coming back from sema. Whole front end was damaged bending the oil cooler and mounts with it. Really shitty considering it’s running a really rare Kazama widebody kit that they don’t even produce anymore but, thanks to the help from more-japan.com we got a hold of the kit again. Now rocking the version one fenders which in my opinion is much more aggressive than the version 2 (we have both just in case) car looks better than before. Love that color love the car. Check it out tomorrow at China Town Showoff in down town Los Angeles for it’ll be the last show this car will be attending.