Modified Magazine

The SEMA Show is like Christmas come early for me. While I don’t get to take home any parts or cars, the excitement and anticipation of seeing what’s new and innovative in our industry is more than enough to get the senses going. And unlike the doom and gloom during the recession years, this year’s show had a great vibe and upbeat feel to it. Indeed, the upswing is in full effect and ultimately, the consumer stands to reap the benefits. New and exciting technologies such as 3D printers, rapid prototyping, and ever-evolving CAD machines mean improved designs and quicker production times. Despite these new technologies, mistakes and quality control issues do still happen, but I’ve noticed a lot of enthusiasts tend to jump the gun by instantly blaming the…

Subscribers and regular readers may recall my November 2011 column titled “Turbo Renaissance,” which touched on the resurgence of turbocharging as a way for automakers to downsize engine displacement and improve fuel efficiency without sacrificing power output. This trend has certainly gained momentum over the last few years, with everything from German luxury barges to Korean grocery getters featuring efficient and powerful turbocharged engines. And now, thanks to changes to F1’s engine regulations for the ’14 season, we’re about to witness a revolutionary way of turbocharging that has far-reaching implications for the long-term future of combustion engines. Any F1 nerds reading this will probably know at least a little bit about what I’m getting on about, namely the switch for 2014 to 1.6L turbocharged V6 engines that are expected to…

This über-rare (only 500 have been made) Lexus LFA supercar is an exercise in technology and passion. It shows what Toyota can accomplish and is magnificent in so many ways. The cockpit is sublime with an ethos of race car disguised in street car trim. The styling is functional and pure, and then there’s the engine, a 553hp V10 that in itself is a work of engineering brilliance. The ridiculous (in a good way) gauge cluster presents a center-stacked digital tachometer with a glorious 9,000-rpm redline. Stab the gas pedal and the V10 responds with a bark that is music to even the deafest person’s ears. In fact, the exhaust note the LFA produces is arguably as good as the driving experience itself. There’s just no justice in explaining the…

This just in from the Department of Redundancy Department: Ryan “Party Boy” Novak likes to party. Plus, he’s a raging alcoholic, a well-documented shit disturber, and a homosexual homophobe. Also, he knows a lot about sucking and blowing, both because his company, Novak Mechanical, specializes in HVAC and because his race team, Novak Racing, has a stable of turbocharged beasts, including a Time Attack–prepped GC Impreza that’s so sexy, it makes straight men drop their pants. As if to prove his poor judgment beyond his preference in beer (Coors Light—seriously, dude?), he recently acquired one of the cheapest Ferraris ever built, a 360 Modena. As anyone who’s ever had the displeasure of owning one of these Italian hunks of scrap can attest, pose like a douche bag next to one…

Subaru manufactures a 2.0L diesel engine called the EE20, a horizontally opposed turbocharged four-banger with a 16.3:1 compression ratio you probably didn’t know existed until now. In fact, it was Frenchman Gregoire Blachon, who now lives in Tennessee and works at the Vanderbilt Medical Center designing and prototyping medical equipment for brain surgery, who introduced this Boxer diesel engine to North America by stuffing it in a $1,200 GC Impreza and racing it to the clouds at the ’13 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. But before Greg was designing equipment for cochlear implantation and transforming a run-of-the-mill Hunter Green Impreza Brighton into a Pikes Peak combatant, he was just a regular kid growing up in the projects of southern France. “At 10 years old, my parents bought me a used…

When most people think about building a dedicated track car, their knee-jerk reaction is to strap on a turbo and churn out some big power. While it’s always fun to go fast, a true racing enthusiast will tell you that your engine should be the last thing you touch in the pursuit of faster lap times. Though you might be able to shave a fair amount of seconds on the back straight, there’s no replacement for well-thought-out suspension modifications, a good set of tires, and as much time behind the wheel as possible. Jeff Ho’s E36 BMW M3 may not look entirely like a full-blown dedicated track car, nor is it intended to be. In fact, to the casual onlooker, it may look like nothing more than a classic Bimmer…