The Land Of Opportunity

I've been enjoying the States for a while. The burgers, the pizza, the humidity, Mustangs, Camaros and whatnot. You get your fair share of JDM goodness to, a few R35s, Evos, STIs, BRZs, 86s, S13s, usual stuff. That is why:







Here's my baby getting unloaded. This was my anonymous purchase. 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI Type S (GRB). EJ207. Has around 48,000km. Well kept. And yes, this was the car I've been driving around. Marc's short-lived daily.





She has arrived, and she's ready to be driven! YEET





Going around, walking through stores in the US is fun as it can be. But man, driving around in one of your favorite rides? That's another thing.





The handling of this thing, the tail happy behavior, the power that feels more like 400hp than 300hp, and each satisfying shift through all 6 quick ratio gears. It's pure bliss.

But sometimes, that's just enough. Therefore, in the past few days I've been doing some things at this garage I rented.

- Fortune Auto 500 Series Coilovers (V$1,225)
- HKS Super Turbo Muffler with Center Pipe (V$1,216)
- Work Emotion XT7 18x9.5 +38 (V$900)

JOY OF MACHINE

Can't wait to hoon this thing around town with the boys!

Finances:

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V$41,563.34 - V$1,225 - V$1,216 - V$900 = V$38,222.34

REVIVAL but not really smh

I just got word from VStanced Garage that my vehicular Audi A5 unit is now finishing up bodywork, getting ready for paint. At this point I think it's time to show you guys my plan for this car.













Full RS5 Body Conversion. Set me back V$9,000 for everything including materials and parts. But it was well worth it. With this car making upwards of 320hp (leaning into making actual RS5 power in the latter part of this year), it's time it looked the part. AGGRESSION TIME.

MEANWHILE IN FREEDOMLAND

If you haven't dropped by Yuan's (BigSmoke) and Ben's (Phonexius) threads yet, you are TOTALLY missing out. Go and check em out NOW, then come back here. Anyways, we all know how Muzahid's (Niatross) E92 335i came to be (epic day of birth!). But if you check out Muzahid's thread, you'll see that we bought Marc (Macaron_moon) an S197a GT for his troubles. This is pretty much part 2 and part 0 of that. I'll be sharing the backstory behind the purchase and how we got to give it to him.

But before that, I put together a quick render of how his car would look in my hands, being the creative kid that I am.









M3 bumpers, some nice Brembos, TE37RTs, LCI stuff. Simple, but it works. And the car looks WILD.

Anyway, now that's over with, let's delve into the story, shall we?

We sort of felt bad for Marc since:
1. We only got him parts for his birthday
2. He was a bit left out on the USA Trip since he had some errands to attend to
3. He's been having some family issues

That is why Muzahid and I motioned to get him a car he's always been talking about since his arrival in the States. A crowdkiller.

Let's start.



First, I stored my GRB inside a secret remote garage.



AND then, I rode inside Muzahid's E92, and we were off.





We called up the owner, asked if we could take a look at it. Thanks to the traffic and the fact that WE GOT LOST. We arrived, super late.

TIME CHECK: 2:40AM

We met up with the owner, an older married dude with a wife and 2 kids. He upgraded to an S550 Mustang so this one had no more use to him.

Everything was within our expectations. We were looking at a 2013 Ford Mustang GT 5.0 with around 50,000 miles. It started up smooth as butter and purred like a kitten. I asked if we could take it out for a spin, and we were allowed to do so as long as he was in the back.





A few spins out there had me SURE on the purchase. So we bought the car for the final agreed V$18,000 tag price, splitting the amount with each other 50:50.

Yeah, I'm gonna take my horse to the old town road

HELLO MARC I ENJOYED YOUR HORSE PONY CAR THING BEFORE YOU DID AND IT WAS EPIC

I've been driving it for the past few days to get a feel for how it drives, and for what needs to be done. And so far, everything is fine, when you put your foot down it ROARS like a tiger.





This thing is WILD. Super fun to drive, smooth power band all the way up to redline, and it's just, BIG MUSCLE.



















Interior is PERFECTLY new. No chips, just pristine. Shifts are crisp, and everything feels well taken care of.

MODIFICATION TIME FOR (NOT MY) CAR

TE37 Sagas!! Everything else is still stock, Muzahid just wanted to give the car some more FLARE. And that we did.

MEETING PLACE

One fine morning, I had Marc convinced we were having a casual breakfast session at the local Burger King. Riding shotgun in my GRB, little did he know he was going to be driving home an actual Mustang H U E .

And so we arrived at the place.



Muzahid was already there, with Yuan riding shotgun. I parked next to him and then we started eating. After a stomach-fulfilling breakfast, we proceeded to our usual conversation and small talk, until we heard Ben's LOUD R35 making some noice outside. We rushed outside and we saw Ben parking his car, with Lagano, who rode shotgun, guiding him so that he wouldn't scrape his new rear diffuser. Marc was admiring at all, but what really caught his eye was the Mustang.











Admiring the car up close, Muzahid went ahead, and did the honors of taking the keys from the owner who was kind enough to drive it to Burger King for us, and he gave it to Marc. Something along the lines of Marc saying, "FUCK, I really want a Mustang, something that would be unique in Japan, and I've always had a soft sport for American Muscle." TO which Muzahid replied, "Well, look no further my dude," as he literally hands Marc the keys. Marc was like NO FUCKING WAY and he was still in SHOCK HAHAHAHAHA. After a mere 4 minutes of taking it all in, he screamed so loud everyone within the Burger King premises looked at him!! HAHAHAHA he was jumping up and down and cheering.

And as they say in the books, the rest is history. After the mini-meet and the photoshoot, we all went home HAPPY as BEANS. We couldn't thank the owner enough for the car and his hospitality.

Enjoy the rest of the pictures, and thank you for reading! There's a drift day we went to as well, make sure to keep your eyes peeled on Lagano's Thread for the coverage coming real soon.

Finances:

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V$38,222.34 + V$940 (Weekly Paycheck x1) - V$9,000 = V$30,162.34

LET'S DO DRIFT CAR THINGS! (Mini-update)

After getting the Mustang, Marc (Macaron_moon) had a talk with me about the drift day. He was gonna drift the Mustang, I was gonna, well, try to do Ken Block things in the GRB STI and Muzahid (Niatross) was gonna drift his 335i. But like everything in the world, things never really go as planned. Marc pushed for the decision to get Muzahid a drift car to hoon in the USA! It'll also get shipped to Japan right after the drift day so all of us can do fun things to it/with it. Onto the goods!!

What better car to give to Muzahid than his DREAM. An FD3S.







What's on your screen right now is a 1993 Mazda RX-7 base. Original Montego Blue Pearl Paint. All the stock aero bits, save for a custom front bumper from some Jap-American called Aki Kimura. Apparently he was famous in like 2007 or something.







Mileage as it sits is 111,467 miles. Interior is PRISTINE, also RHD converted!! With all genuine JDM FD3S parts. Tasteful mods included JDM FD3S Spirit-R Seats, and a Nardi Torino steering wheel.





At 111,000 miles, you really shouldn't expect the factory 13B-REW to still be in the bay. The owner gave up on the oil pump failure and apex seal madness, as well as the dead turbos and swapped it some of that good American Pony Power. That in the bay is a Chevrolet LS2 Engine out of a totaled C6 Corvette. With 6.0L of pure American displacement (no replacement!), this thing makes a healthy 400hp and 400lb-ft.





Other upgrades are Endless BBKs, Work Emotion T7Rs, HKS Hipermax Coilovers, a custom rear diffuser, and an HKS Twin Titanium Tip Muffler.





With the settled price of V$8,000. The car was ours. The owner really wasn't looking to earn any money, he just wanted the car to go to a good owner who will treat it right. Safe to say, he doesn't have to worry.





On the way to the agreed Burger King meeting place Muzahid, Marc, and I agreed upon, I started to get a good impression of this car. It makes A LOT of power, a bit front heavy, but still handles very much like an RX-7. The sound this engine makes though, pure MUSCLE. It ROARS, much louder than Marc's S197a, and it's SCARY AF. HAHAHAHAH I LUV IT.



I was the early bird at the meeting place, but they then arrived a bit after and... Well, you're gonna have to wait for Marc and Muzahid's update to find out what happened next. Welp, thanks for reading!!

Finances:

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V$30,162.34 - V$4,000 (Other 50% of V$8k FD3S price shouldered by Marc (Macaron_moon)) = V$26,162.34