The Tuner Source Civiche

Hey everyone!

Just to keep you guys in the loop, one of the members of The Tuner Source recently acquired a 2003 Civic Hatchback Si and its time to get some real work done! Well just to give you a little heads up, we're not going to go all motor. We wanted to but something came up and we have to go turbo.

Here are the items to be installed in the next week or two:

Greddy Turbo Kit
440cc Injectors
E-Manage
Greddy Front Mount Intercooler
Greddy Boost Gauge
Greddy Type RS Blow Off Valve
www.fast-turbo.com Oil Feed & Return Line

As you can see we love Greddy! Big Ups to Greddy, Marshall J. @ Greddy, and the guys at Fast-Turbo.com.

We'll keep you updated!

Mister Philthy!

P.S. These are the BEFORE pictures!

What's money?

I'm a firm believer of the adage that "money can't buy taste." In the consumerism culture we live in nowadays, there are a bevy of celebrities (classify wealthy people as well) who have money at their spending will and it's quite sad to see what they spend their money on given the ability to buy seemingly anything.

A person that can kind of be sorted into this group that I've been fascinated with is Nigo (Tomoaki Nagao), founder of Japanese urban clothing brand A Bathing Ape, the second biggest independent brand in all of Japan. Now, to tell you the truth, the clothing his brand produces aren't exactly my cup of tea but it is more so his lifestyle that accompanies the brand that has become a marvelous depiction of envy and awe. Because of this, the empire that Nigo has built has created a subculture of consumerism that has fans, including hip-hop heavyweights Pharrell Williams and Kanye West, fanatical over.

His lifestyle is a work of legend. He lives in a 5-story mansion (I'm sure it's not his only house) that boasts cars that you can't even dream of and a collection of invaluable collectibles that would make any auction envious. Going back to the point of money not being able to buy taste, it is this image that Nigo is perpetuating but solely off his interests. He has set the bar for this image. In an interview he did with Nylon magazine, he says, "I don't ever want to do something because it makes business sense. I just want to do the things I want to do, and then hopefully they'll turn out to be successful. The crucial thing to understand about me is that the only value that money has for me is what I can do with it. I'm a collector--I just think about what I can buy, what things I can get. For me, getting new things inspires me to think of something else to do. There's a lot of value in the stuff I have...but I'm not interesting in accumulating money, at all." Here's just a list of the things he has:

- 1 of only 2 metal-topped Jean Prouv

Nordic Invasion : Specially Modified Toyota Land Cruisers

Land Cruisers like these are the types of vehicles used in the frigid North Europe and Arctic. Modificatons usually include 44 inch Dick Cepek tires, chassis/suspension lift, and heavy duty winches. The large tires are used to displace the weight of the trucks over thin ice and to promote floating if the trucks ever fall into water. The heavy duty winches obviously help in cases of falling into a deep crevice, and your buddy is right behind you to help pull you and your expensive truck out.





Modifications like these usually require specialists at modifying these bad boys. Artic Trucks in Iceland can help you with any of these special needs with Nordic flavor.

SPOCOM - LONG BEACH CONVENTION CENTER

Long Beach put your hands up!

If you go to http://www.spocomusa.com/ to purchase your tickets, use the coupon code LUSH and receive $3.00 off of your purchase.


- THAI SPYCE -

"Resumed Production In Japan..."

Last week Japanese car manufacturers Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Mazda and Mitsubishi halted production in several of their facilities following the shut-down of a key parts supplier(Riken Corp.) damaged by a major earthquake off the coast of Kashiwazaki City.

Riken Corp. restarted production of some auto parts on Monday after an extensive week of repairing, restoring, replacing equipment as well as fixing the factory's gas and water supplies.

Toyota: 20 of its 31 assembly lines have started running again. Toyota

Put it in park

So, I had lunch with my Dad and we were talking about technology and how advanced it has become (if you get the chance, you should sit down with the older generation who have seen it all and can probably write a timeline and you'll marvel at how far we've come along). Anyway, we talked about how there are cars now, namely the Lexus, that parallel parks for you! How sick is that? I mean, I'm the self-proclaimed king of parallel parking but this advancement in car technology is nuts.

Imagine that; you press a button and one of the most arduous processes in driving a car is done for you. Using computers, cameras, and your foot on the brake pedal, there are sensors around that car that help detect the cars , objects, and curbs around the car to determine the space of the parking spot and steers the car accordingly.

In 1992, Volkwagen incorporated the technology in its IRVW Futura concept car. Then in 2003, Toyota had its "Intelligent Parking Assist" for its Japanese Prius hybrid car. This Prius has yet to be used in the US.

In 2007, Toyota is the only company that has a self-parking car in the Lexus LS460 although for the last couple of years, there have been some self-parking systems in the works. Although standalone driver assisting systems are still in the works, I believe this semi-autonomous parking system is a huge leap forward to some sort of Autopia.



-Rack of Lam

Modern Day Cheap Man's 427 Shelby Cobra : Monster Miata

The Monster Miata has been around since the early 90's and was the craze for many Mazda Miata enthusiasts that wanted more power than the standard Jackson Super Charger. This car utilized the Ford Mustang 5.0 engine from the GT and LX varieties to power this car. The Ford 5.0 was a great engine with great amounts of torque. Now people use the newer Mustang 4.6 engine which is an all aluminum engine, which is great for preserving the lightweight characteristics of the Miata.


The kit without the engine retails for $3995 US, which does not come with the engine.

>

Some Monster Miata's claim to have top speed of 170 MPH. Pretty cute for a chick car.



Johnster

BMW x iPHONE

YES. That's right! BMW and Apple have once again teamed up to offer iphone capabilities in futureand current BMW vehicles. This isn't the first time BMW and Apple have collaborated. Back in 2004, BMW was one of the first car companies to have iPOD connectivity.

With the Bluetooth system in the iPHONE, you can make calls, HANDSFREE. In doing so, you can talk without having to have some dorky thing attached to your ear or having your hands occupied on your gunky phone. (People might laugh and stare at you, thinking you are singing a Journey song while driving, but who doesn't love Journey?)

Here is a sneak peak of what it MIGHT look like on BMW dashboards!




- THAI SPYCE -

"Halt Production In Japan..."

Toyota Motor Corp., temporarily stopped production in several of its factories in Japan today following the 6.8 earthquake earlier this week. The temporary halt comes after another company

And signal the gong! *GONG*

Behold the Changfeng CS6 in ALL ITS GLORY!!!!
Behold the Changfeng CS6 in ALL ITS GLORY!!!!

Well I am sure everyone has heard the rumors that China is going to try to enter the US automotive market.

Not too long ago, a couple Chinese automotive companies actually started displaying their cars in International Auto Shows.

Last year, Chinese Manufacturer Geely had an unsightly automobile sitting in front of the Detroit Auto Show, and this year a cacophonous sounding Changfeng had a slightly larger booth for the North American International Auto Show in the basement.

Since everything in the world is being manufactured in China, it was only a natural progression that automobiles would be next. As the Korean

If only we drank as much water as we use gas...

I'm thoroughly convinced that there are more cars than ants in this world. Alright, maybe that might be an exaggeration but it's really sick how many cars there are. Think about it...no matter where you drive nowadays, especially in those metropolitan cities, you can't escape the cars and the amount of cars on the highways and city roads. You've also probably pulled your hair out being stuck in traffic; traffic not due to an accident or a closed road but just because there isn't enough road to accommodate all the cars. So with this said, I wanted to provide insight into just how much gas the United States consumes in a year, being that we're the world's largest energy producer, consumer, and importer.

Lets break it down: We as a nation consume 20 million barrels of oil A DAY! A barrel of oil (about 42 gallons) gets about 20 gallons of gasoline. Doing the math, that brings us to about 400 million gallons of gasoline consumption in one day. Push the math a little further, and that rounds out to about 146 billion gallons of gasoline A YEAR!

Now these figures are amazing, but more frighteningly amazing is what happens to the gasoline when it burns and what it means to us. When gasoline burns, it turns into carbon dioxide gas...a lot of it. A gallon of gas releases about 5-6 lbs. of carbon into our atmosphere.

I'm not sure exactly how resilient the atmosphere is but at this going rate, we as a gasoline-dependent nation are really beating down the environment and it'll be interesting and daunting to see the negative effects this will all have for the future generations.

-Rack of Lam

Please Please Me : BMW 1-Series

USA is a funny place, we're the wealthiest country in the world affording to give people free ketchup, free napkins, and unlimited to refills with our Soda-Pop purchases at most fast food restaurants. When it comes to import cars it is definitely a different story, until now.



The sport of drifitng has exploded all over the United States and the faces of many avid Japanese car enthusiasts. FInding a new car affordable car that has the potential to become a drift racer has made some people turn to old cars such as the 240SX and Corolla GTS(AE86). The unfortunate part about these cars is that they're old. Old cars usually aren't reliable and don't have the wow factor for people of the opposite sex. My wish and answer to these troubles, the BMW 1-series.

The BMW 1-series is a compact sedan hatchback or a coupe that is RWD. One of these models could be had in the United Kingdom for about $32K. North America will receive a 135i, which wil be powered by the 300HP Twin Turbo Inline-6. YAY! Finally a great car at hopefully a more affordable price.



GT SPEC Racing 1 Series

HONDA "THE PRE S2000 YEARS"

For all you import fans out there. the S2000 is a gorgeous car. Don't get me wrong. But where did it all begin? It started way back in March 1964. Deemed as the first "mass marketed" Honda car in the states.

This bad boy has an engine capacity of 606 cc, a top speed of 90 mph, weighs 1576 pounds AND only 11,284 of the S600's were built between '64 and '66. Talk about limited!

You see.. I'm more of an old-school dude. New cars don't really fancy me. But try sporting this ride wherever you go. Chicks will flock. Just have the top down, some black Ray-Ban Wayfarers, long hair don't care you'll have it going on till the break of dawn, son!

But seriously if you guys have a some awesome photos of the Honda S600 send them to us! Leave us a comment!








_ THAI SPYCE _

"The Enertia"

Image courtesy of msn.com
Image courtesy of msn.com
Image courtesy of msn.com

Brammo Motorsports, a small motorsport and sportscar company formed in 2002 and based in Ashland, Oregon have created an electric motorcycle. Why? To help contribute to a cleaner enviornment.

The Enertia is a fully electric conveyance(it is not a "hybrid"). Its central structure is a carbon fiber monocoque(kind of like an exoskeleton), which serves as both the motorcycle's chassis and its battery tray. It requires no gas or oil, and thus smells like neither. It is nearly silent, has no exhaust and doesn't get hot. It has no clutch or gearbox. The bike

2008-2009 BMW M3 Concept

BMW has made many amazing cars.
From the 2002 to the newest M5, almost every car is amazing.

Yet the M3 moniker has many times disappointed me.
With the exception of the first E30 M3, the others have fallen short
like a series of substitute teachers that are fresh out of community college.

Well, hopefully the next M3 doesn't disappoint.

With the lightest V8 ever created, this 4.0L engine boasts
420 Horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque @ 3900 RPM.
And a redline of 8300RPM! Sounds like S2000 territory to me.

But the beauty of the M3 is not all in its motor and road tests
numbers have not been released.

But here are some pics and lets see what happens!

Timepieces for dimepieces

Porsche makes awesome cars and are second-to-none when it comes to performance and they're at the forefront when you think of high end European sports cars...yadda yadda yadda. Though all these things are true, Porsche may also be renowned for creating very high end EVERYTHING! The Porsche name can be found on sunglasses, luggage, and clothing and like their cars, are priced accordingly due to their precise design and assemblage. I think they got mixed up on this one though 'cause they put a price of one of their cars and applied it to their wristwatch. It's not wrong! This is Porsche's $150,000 timepiece and here are some of the reason why the price tag is the way it is...

The watch was the world's first digital automatic chronograph that operates on springs and gears...and 800 constantly moving parts. Because of that, it takes a week to build one of these watches which explains why only 50 are build throughout the year. The watch's power is supplied through a slow tension release from a wound mainspring. When the mainspring uncoils, there are gears that transfer their energy to a balance wheel, which converts the energy to measured beats like a pendulum. Also, the watch has a power-reserve indicator that'll show you how much time you have until it needs additional winding. What warrants its $150,000 price tag? "Complications." "Complications" are pretty much any mechanisms that doesn't do the time telling. Innovations in watches lead to the high pricings, such as this watch's digital display and power-reserve gauge. The most expensive modern watch, Vacheron Constantin

David Choe : Graphic Novelist colloboraton with Scion Xb

David Choe a graphic novelist colloborated with scion to develop hisown unique Scion xB.




"David has won numerous awards and been published in almost every single magazine worth reading. In 1999 he put out his self-published award winning comic/novella/zine SLOW JAMS and in 2002 his art/photo/travel journal book BRUISED FRUIT. His Murals can be found on walls, from Los Angeles, to the bay Area, to the Middle East and Asia and inside museums, galleries and peoples houses from coast to coast."






Jim Iller did the fabrication on the roll cage, truck bed, and front skid plate on the Scion. J Line prvovided the 18 inch wheels.

RALPH LAUREN: DESIGNER OR AMAZING CAR COLLECTOR?

My friends love to tease me about how I spend my money. Most of us, love to spend our money on cheap drinks during happy hour at D&B (Dave & Buster's) or on a new Marc Jacobs purse for their girlfriend (screw that idea) For me, I spend it on sick ass threads. For others they dump it all on their rides. What would the desinger Ralph Lauren do?



Here are some cars Mr. Lauren exhibited at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Enjoy!



1937 Bugatti 57SC Atlantic Coup

"Car Facts & Happy 4th of July"

As we celebrate our independence, I give to you a few tidbits of information about the inventions and people who helpped shape the automobile to what it is today. Hell, before the United States of America was even a country, concepts for a self-propelled road vehicle were already being developped in Europe.

1769 France: Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot(1725-1804)
Builds/invents the first self propelled road vehicle(which was a military tractor) for the French army utilizing steam power. It was three-wheeled and had a maximum speed of 2.5 mph.

1832-1839 Scotland: Robert Anderson
Builds/Invents the first electric carriage.

1885-1886 Germany: Karl Friedrich Benz(1844-1929)
Builds/invents First true gasoline automobile. The automobile was powered by an internal combustion engine, drove on three wheels, four cycle, and the engine and chassis formed a single unit. Germany Patent DRP No. 37435

1886 Germany: Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler(1834-1900) & Wilhelm Maybach(1846-1929) Develope the irst four wheeled, four-stroke engine known as the "Cannstatt-Daimler."

1876-1895 United States: George Baldwin Selden(1846-1922)
Combined internal combustion gasoline engine with a carriage. Patent No. 549,160. However, his invention was never manufactured but Selden still managed to collect royalties.

1893 United States: Charles Edgar Duryea(1862-1938) & his brother Frank Duryea(1870-1967)
Build/develope the first successful gas powered car. Its maximum output was 4hp(horse-power), it used a gasoline powered two-stroke motor. With this, the The Duryea brothers set up first American car manufacturing company.


~Ronski

P.S.
Happy 4th of July!!
Ka-Boom!!

Cell Phone Ban is not this MONTH!

I know a lot of people have been fooled by the e-mails that are floating around the internet, and we here at thetunersource.com were fooled as well.

In the state of California, many of the new laws that people say are floating around is not true. The fines have not gone up that drastically, and the cell phone ban is not for another year.

The cell phone non-hands free ban is not till 7/01/2008!!!!!!

Just an FYI (For Your Information)!

Optimus Prime Minister

Okay okay okay, so we're on the eve of the new Transformers movie coming out and I'm sure a lot of Gen Y kids, among others, are ecstatic right now. More so exciting is the fact that the director is Michael Bay, who's probably best fitted to direct this film because of his penchant for films with fast paced action sequences and great use of CGI. As of today, Monday, I've already heard 938471823712 recounts of the film from critics and the general populace BEFORE the film has even been released. Ah, America.

I have to admit though I'm not thoroughly excited to see this film, especially compared to a lot of the Transformers heads out there, my Optimus Prime truck was my favorite toy when I was a kid (I also had enough Transformers toys to have my own Autobots vs. Decepticon war in my living room) and I watched the cartoons avidly. So, I felt I should lace some Transformers knowledge for y'all but since I'm no Transformers know-it-all, I felt my focus should be on the differences that this film will have versus our beloved cartoon series wayyyyyy back then (my "feel old" portion of this blog entry).

1. In the cartoon, Bumblebee's car mode was a VW Beetle. In Michael Bay's film, he has been changed to a Camaro? Why? Because Mr. Bay didn't want the car being mistaken for Herbie the Love Bug.

2. There's an homage to Bumblebee's original VW Beetle-ism when Shia LaBeouf's character is going to buy the Camaro that is Bumblebee and Bernie Mac's character tries to sell he and his father a yellow VW Beetle.

3. Megatron's original alternate mode was a pistol but due to complications with Hasbro and their rights to the Transformers toys, Megatron was changed to an interstellar jet.

4. There is a song composed by Stan Bush in this film. He also composed two other songs in the 1986 Transformers movie.

5. Remember in the 1986 Transformers when Optimus Prime was going to take on Megatron and he says, "One shall stand, one shall fall"? The same line is used in the 2007 film as well. If that line doesn't give you chills and make you want to be a transforming robot, I don't know what will.

6. The promotional trailers for the film purposely showed as little of the Transformers as possible to make them more intriguing. This level of secrecy was so high that when photos of Megatron's battle mode leaked on the internet, producer Don Murphy created a new "crowned" battle mode for Megatron.

7. The Decepticon "Devastator" (the super Decepticon) is named "Bonecrusher" in the 2007 film.

Alright, all this nerd-iness is tiring me out. Enjoy your experience at the theaters tomorrow and come back and write us a comment on what you thought of the film.

-Rack of Lam