CARxMEET Formula D Tech Day 2013 Coverage…Part 1 of 2…

By stickydiljoeApril 2, 2013 ( 3 )

I haven’t been out to a car-related event in awhile so I was really looking forward to going to this. That and it was down the street from where I usually hang out at on the weekend anyways so it just seemed like a good idea to go. I honestly wish I could attend more Formula D events but there was always something that came up or the timing just wasn’t right. I told myself I’d make a concentrated effort on going to both FD events this year because I like the variety of cars that FD brings out. Knowing this, I expected the Formula D Tech Day event to bring out a nice crowd and I wasn’t disappointed. I attended the same event last year as well but it just wasn’t that busy. An attempt to really push the event as a “car meet” last year just wasn’t there but they did a full 180 this year. For those that don’t know, they hold these Tech Day events at the Source Interlink offices down in Irvine, CA. Source or “SIM” as we have come to call it, is also one of my employers so I’m pretty familiar with venue. The previous year, the meet only took up the parking lot of the offices so it was surprising to see that it was over three times the size when I arrived. The adjacent lots were packed and there were food trucks on hand as well for all the foodies and others who look forward to eating the most popular truck food cuisine…

Since I washed my car earlier this week, I decided to bring it down to the meet as well to show some support to SSR wheels. I rarely bring my car out ever, but since SSR has done such a great job of taking care of me with my new wheels, I wanted to bring my Q45 out as much as I could in 2013. So I cruised down to Irvine and the meet was crackin’ already. It started up at 10 am and by the time I arrived at 11, you’d think that there was a full car show or something going on. Just shows that word of mouth and social media really does do wonders these days to help promote. The weather was also perfect that day so it just made for a good time. There hasn’t been a whole lot going on lately so a good meet really helped to bring enthusiasts together. In terms of coverage, I think I got what I wanted. I don’t think I really did a good job of showing just how big this meet was but I did capture most of the cars that caught my eye in the time that I was there. I honestly feel I could have covered more but I spent a lot of time just chatting with friends and acquaintances that I hadn’t seen in awhile. Below is the first half of what I got and tomorrow I’ll put up the rest….

Thanks for looking and enjoy… For those of you who are new to the site, please don’t ask me whether or not I took a photo of your car. Whatever I got I have already gone through and they will go up here on the site…

The event had a little bit of everything from Japanese classics, to Euros, drift-themed builds, and everything in between…

One of the first cars I spotted after I parked was this right-hand drive EG Civic. It was pretty basic in terms of styling but what caught my attention where the re-barreled Regamaster EVOs…

I thought that there was only one set that ended up in Canada but had no idea that there were other sets floating around. I believe this is one of three sets of re-barreled EVOs currently. Some hate it, some love the idea, but you’re guaranteed to get an opinion about it whenever you bring it up in conversation. I personally prefer 16-inch EVOs without the extra holes in the hub area so I can’t say I’m a fan of these. I just feel like stepping a 16-inch to a 17 would be a better look but I don’t see a whole lot of guys out there with 16’s who are down to just cut them up. 15s are a little easier to come by and probably cheaper so there is probably less hesitation in chopping the faces off of them. Either way, I wouldn’t mess-up a perfectly nice set of Regas personally. I get it though and I dig that people are down to do it…Kinda cool to see them with all the stickers too, otherwise they don’t even look like Rega EVOs anymore…

Nice clean “circuit-inspired” Integra on CCW LM5 wheels. I posted a shot of this car on my Instagra feed and I believe the owner is a guy by the name of Jon Tran…

A little fusion of Japanese/Euro style with this BMW Z4 on black Work Meister S1s…

Nissan R35 GTR with VeilSide front bumper…not entirely sure what front lip that is though…

Paul Garcia’s R35 from R-Rydes on 20-inch SSR Executor CV02…

RPS13 with JDM OEM Type X aero…

Luigi’s J’s Racing-themed AP2 Honda S2000 on Takata Green Volk TE37SL…

White Civic hatchback that looked to be a work-in-progress featuring a pair of Regamaster EVOs up front and a V6 J-swap with hood cut-out and all…

Posted right next to it was this Civic coupe that was also J-swapped but a little more “rough” around the edges… Pretty interesting to see J-swapped cars out here in California. I know you guys out east and in the midwest are pretty familiar with them but you just don’t see very many of them over here. Why? I don’t know really. People will always prefer the K-swap more and you probably won’t get very far driving around on California highways with a hood cut-out and a motor sticking out of it…

Beautifully done Infiniti G35 coupe build from R-Rydes that they have dubbed the “Blue Waffle”… Don’t bother looking up what a Blue Waffle is because it is anything but a G35, haha…Additionally, please don’t look up what a “Special Fried Rice” is either…seriously…

Krist’s Scion xB from bB Squad rocking a rare Rocket Bunny aero kit…

Kevin from Autofashion’s Scion FR-S on Volk TE37SLs. They recently just completed the vinyl graphics for it and it’s a really good look…

RHD Nissan S13 Silvia coupe…

Next to it was another S13 coupe, this one a more conventional left-hand drive one. You may or may not recognize this S13 from my Autofashion Grand Opening coverage…

Spotted photographer John Zhang aka 1013MM cruising into the lot in his BMW 1-Series on SSR Professor MS3s in silver…

Supermade S14 with newly added rear blister fenders and Supermade SL front fenders…

Amir’s Porsche 911S from Grip Whisperers…Pretty intersting Porsche track builds that you can see more photos of HERE…

Datsun 510 that for whatever reason, I didn’t get an engine bay shot of even though the hood was clearly open…Uhh, just assume there was a KA24DE in it…sure..that works…

BMW E46 drift car that was getting pushed and pulled around so that it could pass tech inspection inside the Source Interlink building…

Source Interlink’s Rocket Bunny FR-S build that was built in collaboration with Super Street, Import Tuner, and Modified magazine. It recently got an HKS Supercharger installed and you can read all about it over at the GarageFRS website….

Took a break to get some food over at the food truck line that featured the Dogzilla truck…

Hung out and chatted with friends… From left-to-right; Freddie from Autofashion, Big Mike, Charles Trieu from Import Tuner, Big Abe, and DPK David…

Formula D competitor Eric Hill’s S13 drift car with GM LSx swap…

Joon Maeng’s Lucas Oil-sponsored V8 S13…While it’s cool to see American companies supporting drifting, I can’t help but miss the D1 Grand Prix days when all the vehicles were all original Japanese drift cars built by Japanese tuning companies…