Umm…just some simple observations from IA 2011 today and then we’ll quickly move to more photos. Today’s post will have more photos than the previous 3 so if you’re on a mobile device, I suggest you put that shit down and go on a computer to view the post. An immediate thing that I noticed the moment I arrived at the La Quinta hotel is that the people are much younger than as a whole than people out here in the west. The demographic is just geared more towards the younger crowd. That’s why you have crazy ass people with people doing stupid random things and drinking all night while many of the older enthusiasts there opted to stay away from the parties and just rest. The bulk of the people that I saw were probably within the 18-25 range. They’re technically in that “college” stage so their partying and mentality reflects that. I would be lying if I didn’t see this coming, that’s why I booked a room somewhere else. The guys and I were just at the parties because we wanted to get the complete “IA experience” so to speak. We’ve heard numerous times how crazy the parties got and how it was a staple to the event so we had to check it out. I’ll talk more about the parties probably in the next post or following, but today, I’ll keep it relatively short. Like I said though, the crowd is definitely younger. There are the older guys who have the more thorough builds but you can almost tell immediately what age group the crowd predominately is. It’s cool to see that though, because you know that there is still a steady flow of enthusiasts coming up and it’s proof that the import community isn’t going to die down any time soon…

Another thing I noticed while seeing the cars there, is that many of them seem to be missing certain details. I don’t know why that is, maybe the projects aren’t complete yet or they just lack the attention to detail but even with the more popular builds over there, I see that there are definitely some short-cuts taken and details missed. I, personally, feel that it’s hard to grasp the details until you see them in person and with such a large community out there, it’s hard to just stand around and pay attention to everything a build has to offer. We are all visual learners but without the proper examples, it’s difficult to understand what goes into a well-rounded build. You have the stanced-out cars, and the crazy wild colored-bays, and people are really into the flashy things that are popular at the moment. Maybe that’s why the cars are lacking. I don’t know, I can’t really put my finger on it. Don’t get me wrong, there are A LOT of great builds out there, but as a person that’s been in the industry that often looks for well-rounded, complete builds, some cars just aren’t there yet. If you take offense to these comments or they bother you, you really don’t need to take it like that. It’s cool to hear criticisms sometimes because it helps with growth. There is a fucking load of cars out here that are missing things too so it’s a problem that exists throughout the country. Attention to detail has become a lost art, if you know what I mean. I thought it was great that I could finally see the cars out there in person for once and I can honestly say that I appreciate the builds out there and what these guys are doing…

Oh this is completely random, but a huge “FUCK YOU” goes to the individuals who decided to steal shit from the Skunk2/Sportcar Motion booth. Some jackass stole a Personal steering wheel, another guy stole like 4 lug nuts, and some other dudes ran off with some Skunk2 shift knobs and oil caps. Seriously though, I wish you horrible things in life and misfortune throughout your years. Whatever happened to working hard and paying for things?

Anyways, let’s move on with the coverage shall we?

Bon B, PGK Moe and friends getting together for a group shot…This is just an observation, but one of the guys in this photo looks a lot like Doug E. Fresh…you already know who I’m talking about…haha…

A closer look at the Civic from V Race Works…I’ve been looking around online and noticed that people were asking for shots of the engine bay…

…you’re welcome…

Cristian Loza aka “Ice Cream Sandwich” from Canibeat’s blue EP3…looks so much better on these wheels than the old SSR Formula Mesh that he had before…

Moe from PG+K’s newly K-swapped Civic. You’ll read all about it in the current issue of Honda Tuning, but that was shot back when he hadn’t done the swap yet. It’s a good looking build and Moe is my boy but damn, can we please put a windshield molding back on there please?…Haha…This reminds me of the time when DPK David was driving around with his windshield molding held on with blue tape…

This blue EG was actually one of my favorite cars at Import Alliance. It’s just a classic look…even the bay is untucked. Reminds me of the great Civic builds from the past back before all this shaved, tucked, two-tone, stance business became a standard in the scene…

Christ’s Civic on Enkei J-Speeds…

Couple more shots of this 2JZ-swapped IS300…

Side exit exhaust with a GReddy tip…

Kinda hard to see what there’s a Stack cluster lurking behind that Vertex wheel…

You can see how the massive turbo is starting to discolor the color-matched strut bar…

I really liked the paint-matched Endless brake calipers. Even the bolts on the Work VS-XX wheels have been matched….attention to detail folks!…

Loi Song at the Skunk2/Sportcar Motion booth sweating his ass off even though he spent much of the day standing inside and only stepped into the sunlight for like 10 minutes…When people were walking by, Loi could be heard saying “You wanna buy some Skunk?”…

Oh I had to take a pic of this because this shit would NEVER fly at an event out here in Cali. At the Zerolift booth, they had motors just sitting there on display for people to possibly purchase, as well as half-cut front ends of CTRs and other Hondas. You’ll never see that out here because the dude would have been hit with a taser, suplexed to the ground, and possibly shot for having so many JDM motors and parts on display. You can’t even get away with having one motor these days, imagine if this booth was on display in Cali. Their shit would have been seized in 1.5 seconds…I wonder if anyone went home with a motor that day though…haha, imagine that. “What’d you do at Import Alliance today?”…”Oh, not much, just bought a fucking engine and walked around with it while I went looking for free stickers and shit.”…

Ryan and DPK David from Rywire had a small booth with some Rywire products on display… The booth was actually right next to Zerolift though, so if you decided to buy a motor that day, you could pick up an engine harness as well…

A couple random detail shots of Nick Weir’s VW truck…here’s a shot of the color-matched valve cover and black intake manifold…

…Work CR-01 with gold bolts and matte face…

…and a Stack tachometer…why it’s at 2,000 rpm with the car off? I have no idea…Still cool to see though, nonetheless…

Skunk2 “Certified” Civic coupe that was sitting at the paddock doors leading into the Skunk2/Sportcar Motion booth…rare to see someone actually rocking real Advan RGII wheels on Hondas these days, so that was cool to see…

Another shot of Jeremy Swain’s yellow on yellow EK9…

I posted a shot of this S2 yesterday but this time I also have a shot of the bay…

A couple more shots of Joe Magushak’s Civic coupe…

Engine bay was practically flawless…

Tucked radiator with the fans pushing air into the bay instead and sitting on the opposite side of the radiator core…

Custom widebody S2000 from Illmotion…

Stephan from PG+K’s Subaru on CCWs…

One of the rare VIP-styled rides out at IA…

Integra at the Track.One booth that I opened Part 3 with…

Clean Supra again on CCWs…

Good looking S2000 at the Track.One booth…I think the mud flaps are an interesting touch…Love the blue on mag blue look..

S2000 wearing J’s Racing aero on black Enkei RPF1…

Interesting to see a Los Angeles Lakers fan out in Nashville, even reps LA on the firewall….

A couple of Hondas sitting at the CCW area…

You will probably recognize this Integra if you picked up the latest issue of Honda Tuning magazine. In the mag he is on black Volk CEs but now he has a set of all blue CCWs…

Jackson Racing supercharged…

A shot of said C-C-double-Us…

Female-built Civic hatchback…Nice touch on the license plate… “CHX BLD2″…

EBP Civic on CCWs…

Tiger’s turbo EP3 that was featured in Import Tuner magazine a couple months back…

Slammed 4WS Prelude on BBS wheels…I thought it was a really cool looking build…

…until I looked under the hood and saw how sketchy the suspension set-up was…

Accord with a similar suspension and shock tower set-up…

H22-swapped, Mugen-kitted Accord on CCWs that I’ve posted multiple photos of in the previous posts…

TSX on CCWs…

Closing it out today with this Accord from Milwaukee…

…sitting on a set of rarely used Auto Strada Pirelli wheels…

That’s it for today…back tomorrow with more so stay tuned…