Ahh, I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t spend a couple moments out of my week to bombard you guys with some self-promotion…haha…In reality though, I love what I do and I hope you all appreciate the efforts that I put forth every month in your favorite import automotive magazine. Despite all this internet craziness with the blogs these days and car forums, and other social media sites, there still is no better feeling than looking in your mail box or going to your local convenience store and spotting the newest issue of Super Street, Honda Tuning, and Import Tuner. It’s just a cool feeling you know…I mean, it’s not like touching a hot girl’s titties or anything, but shit, you get the warm sensation inside of you (probably excitement) when you first flip through that new publication and I certainly hope you have an even better feeling when you take it up to the cash register to pay for it. That’s why I always say “SUPPORT PRINT”. We all work very hard on these magazines every single month to bring you what we feel is an amazing product. Every month I try to give you guys a good introduction to the latest issue as well as give you guys a bit of a preview of what’s inside….

With that said, I am proud to say that I can now put down “Import Tuner Magazine” on my list of publications that I have done work for. Charles Trieu, who was once a vital part of the Super Street magazine staff, has since moved onto become the head editor of Import Tuner and I guess he liked the work that I did previously, because he asked me to jump on board and do some work for IT. It’s a pretty cool feeling to say that I have written and shot for Super Street, Honda Tuning, and now Import Tuner. This month’s issue (on newstands now) marks my official debut over at Import Tuner and I’m proud to say that I am very happy with how my first two stories over at IT came out. I’ll fill you in on what exactly it is that I did further below…

On another note though, I was contacted by Jereon Willemsen (You know him from SPEEDHUNTERS) via Facebook early yesterday morning with a very pleasant surprise. He’s over in the Netherlands so it’s probably easier for him to get a hold of the mag but he let me know that The Chronicles is in the newest issue of Performance VW magazine as “The Site of The Month”. What I’m doing in a publication solely dedicated to Volkswagons is beyond me but apparently the editors over there found my site one day and enjoyed it so much that they decided give me that honor. It’s pretty crazy to think that not only is this a VW mag, but it’s also a publication that’s not even from the United States. It’s wild…I gotta say though, it is quite an honor for them to even mention me in their magazine. Jereon even sent me a couple photos of what the spread looks like…

They ran a couple of the photos from my event coverage on the page as you can see…. It’s so random but pretty amazing that they would give me that kind of recognition so I have to thank the guys over at Performance VW… They also emailed me too that same day that Jereon did and let me know that they were going to send me a copy of the magazine. If you’re from Performance VW and you’re reading this…thank you very much, I truly appreciate it….

Now, onto this month’s reading material…

If you haven’t already done so, make sure to pick up the October 2011 issue of Super Street magazine. Not only is it “The Stance” issue, which I’m sure many of you will love, it also marks the 15-year anniversary of Super Street magazine. They have a story inside with some of the more notable import models from the last 15 years and it’s a pretty good read. Also there are some pretty good shots in there so some of you guys can re-live your younger years and beat off to some classics…haha…it’s like reuniting with an old friend with your penis…

In this particular issue of SS, I shot Dennis Kongvongsai’s Subaru STi from Team Hybrid. I’m sure you guys have heard me mention his name a couple times in my coverage of events. I actually had never met the guy until that day I cruised down to San Diego to shoot his car but he is a pretty chill guy. The car looks good on those mag blue Volk RE30s and the car has a whole is a different look from most usual Subarus that you see on the road nowadays with some fucking Rotas on them and shit… The story is pretty good too where I talk about the current “state of stance” and sort of give some good insight on the whole “stance” movement…

While Super Street’s current issue deals with all style and wheel fitment, Honda Tuning this month has devoted an entire issue to all things race-related. Just like last year, Rodrez has put together “The Race Issue”. I’m sure there are those of you out there who have absolutely no idea about how to make a car go fast and only care about how your car looks but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t pick up this issue. It’s a very informative look at some of the top Honda/Acura race cars in our industry today. I did a story on a FG2 Civic race car from Segs Motorsports and even I managed to learn something during the process and I usually have zero ability to learn shit…

One of the coolest stories in this issue is about Tony Palo and Chris Miller, who today are at the top of their game in the drag racing world. They fill you in on their thoughts on drag racing and their rivalry in an interview from Rodrez himself. The cover features an Amuse widebody turbo S2000 and a K-swapped Civic hatchback, both owned by Ryan Novak. Also in the issue is a cool story about the Spoon Sports Civic Euro R democar…

My debut in Import Tuner magazine actually features a two stories, one of which I also did the photos for. Charles is always trying to feature Hondas so he hit me up to shoot a very clean Honda Civic that belongs to Brian Jacobe Arias from the AS1 crew…

Nothing crazy, just a very simple, street-spec Civic. I know there are a lot of you out there who aren’t into the track-themed builds these days or the cars with the crazy tucked bays and this is the Civic for you guys. There’s nothing trendy about this car and it’s a Civic that will probably be relevant in any era. Brian is also one of those very quiet, humble guys and he was super stoked when he found out that his car was going to be featured. He’s the type that actually appreciates stuff like this and doesn’t go out of his way to constantly ask for a feature or expect it, which is also VERY refreshing to see, especially considering how a lot of enthusiasts are these days….

The other story I did for Import Tuner was on this Lamborghini Giallo Orion Yellow widebody Amuse S2000…I personally have never seen or heard of this particular build before so when I first saw photos of it, I was pretty blown away. I mean, you see a couple Amuse S2Ks floating around these days but the thing that really impressed me about this car was the engine bay…that shit is CLEAN. You expect S2000s to always be supercharged these days with a half cluttered engine bay but this one is definitely not one of those. It’s turbocharged and the bay itself is completely shaved and tucked. I would go as far as to say that it’s probably one of the best S2000 engine bays I have ever seen. I’ll give props to Sheepey all day for having an AMAZING bay, with the crazy dump tube set-up and all, but you guys have to see the bay on this yellow S2000, it’s fucking clean. Both are very different cars but if you were to compare the engine bays…ehhh, it definitely makes things interesting. It’s not really a competition though but I’m just saying, people are going to compare… Also, there is some fucking money in this car…every aspect of this S2000 has been touched-upon; motor, aesthetics, custom audio….EVERYTHING. It’s a sick S2000 build….I would have gone a different route with the wheels but fuck it, it’s not my car…my opinion isn’t important, but seriously… If there were some bronze Volk CE28s on this car, I would spontaneously combust, haha…

***oh also, let me add this…ATS Ben brought it to my attention that the horsepower and torque numbers on this S2000 in the story are incorrect….that is not MY fault. It was an error on their part and there was a mix-up when they were doing the numbers for the Auto Select Skyline on the cover and this car…It is in no way a claim made by me or the owner of the car that it makes 800HP and 650lb-ft of torque. If that were the case with this S2000, I think the owner would either by Tony Stark aka Iron Man or Jesus…haha. Just don’t come complaining to me and thinking I’m an asshole for making up some wild numbers for this car…

Anyways, make sure to go pick up these magazines and give them a good thorough reading. It doesn’t even matter if you don’t have to shit at that particular moment, just sit on the fucking toilet and read the shit outta these magazines…SUPPORT PRINT ALWAYS!!…

Thanks also for supporting my ass… 😉