Month: August 2015

Saving money is an important concern for nearly anyone getting ready to buy a new car. Not just are cars a huge investment up front so that as you make payments, but they set you back money over the life of the automobile in fuel, maintenance, and eventual repairs. Buying a quality vehicle can go a long way toward saving you money in the future, and that’s exactly what happens when you invest in a Fiat.

The Fiat family searches for other ways to save you money too, although furthermore Fiats help you save money by being so affordable. You’re assured it can last longer than other vehicles, and you’ll put less time and money into repairs on it in the future, by buying a car that’s very well made. There are lots of other methods for you to save at the same time. Fiat is proud to provide current or retired members of the armed services a price reduction on any new Fiat. We’re proud to support our troops and glad to provide something away from the total of your own new vehicle. fiat cerritos also offers a lump sum toward modifications for anyone with a permanent disability who may need changes made to an automobile to make it ideal for them, together with a hand control break system, among other things. If you’re considering seeing each of the specials provided by the dealership be sure to visit www.ocfiat.com gain access to information about our weekly specials, specials on maintenance, and even parts. We certainly have various sales throughout the year, often coinciding with major holidays, and always maintain the website updated with current information. You can also get information about financing options and know if you’re pre-approved prior to visiting the car lot. Our sales staff will try and get the best deal.

It was three years ago I purchased my first taste of any V12 Vantage. That was the first time Aston Martin shoehorned its biggest engine into its smallest car, and it was mated to your six-speed manual gearbox. Fast forward to today and we’re getting our first taste of Aston’s latest incarnation of the same vehicle: the V12 Vantage S.

After 36 months, you expect change and the Vantage delivers. Fortunately, the company didn’t stray not even close to its winning combination of striking good looks, both inside and out. It’s also provided a more powerful V12 engine.

In reality, Aston Martin managed to squeeze another 55hp and 37 lb-ft to yourWhen first introduced, the V12 Vantage only came with a manual gearbox, however the V12 Vantage S has only a rear/mid-mounted Sportshift llI seven-speed automated manual transmission with electronic shift-by-wire control system. That’s a long-winded method to describe one particular-clutch semi-automated transmission…

During spirited driving, the Vantage S feels much better than the original. They have great steering feel and weight, quick turn-in, incredible front-end grip (far more than you expect) and an engine that pulls hard. It’s eager to rev and encourages quick shifts from the new transmission at redline.

2015 aston martin v12 vantage s driver side front view 07

2015 aston martin v12 vantage s interior 06

2015 aston martin v12 vantage s front fascia 03

With all the current front grip, it’s super easy to kick out the rear-end if you’re a little too aggressive with the throttle exiting a corner, which can be always a good thing. In stop-and-go traffic, or just cruising around town, though but my issue with the Vantage S comes not when revving out the melodious V12 on the canyon run. Having to stop for lights and signage is where the new transmission shows its weakness.

The gearbox caused us to laugh on several occasion while we discovered the way it works in daily driving conditions. When pulling away from a stop sign or light, the clutch engages slowly. In reality, you can hear and feel it slipping. So, when the shifts happen, unless you push yourself in to the seat, your body and head bob forward and back with each shift. What seemed funny in the beginning was soon incredibly annoying, since this is exactly how the car will probably be driven 95% of the time. For me, this became definitely an agreement-breaker.

Since Aston Martin claims it can’t accommodate a dual-clutch trans in the car, please just give me either a traditional auto or the manual they used in the very firstAlong with the limited gear shifting options, the V12 Vantage S only comes along with carbon-ceramic brake rotors. These aren’t exactly cheap to put and, in my opinion, are completely unnecessary to the V12 S. Good old steel rotors with sports pads would be over adequate to many situations. Since the V12 S will rarely see a track, there’s no need for them, although a track-oriented car can make a case for carbon-ceramic brakes.

The brakes are wasted on multiple levels: they’re more expensive to fit, more to service and, when not hot, tend to be grabby. They’re also noisy, which isn’t something most Aston Martin buyers will appreciate.

Change is a necessity, preventing stagnation, but not all change is great. And in the case of the Aston Martin V12 Vantage S, we now have great enhancements made to the styling, as well as the extra power is always appreciated, but the transmission was a bad decision. It’s outdated technology and almost ruins a vehicle that looks, sounds, otherwise and drives beautifully.

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The camaraderie that exists among Honda enthusiasts is what makes this community so great. Our capability to communicate and share ideas with each other has helped push the boundaries of Honda modification to unprecedented heights. It is actually our willingness to share that information which is key, despite the fact that of course the advent of the Internet has certainly reshaped the landscape of the subculture for better or worse. When we all remained secretive and kept our ideas to ourselves, our closely-knit community can be stagnant and unimaginative. We’ve been able to thrive as a result of our eagerness to support one other.

There are a variety of methods to help your fellow motor head, but nothing beats that ageless means of just standing by one’s side and wrenching together. Countless memories and great bonds form as a result of this easy task, with a vehicle build coming almost as an afterthought. Brad Urbas and Jordan Twigg know all about the solidarity that comes from sharing a love for Hondas; they both possess their own unique builds but both have come as a result of their kinship.

Brad is no stranger to Hondas. He credits another friend of his, Josh Minnick, for introducing him to the brand, and in the 10-year span in which he’s been tinkering with them he’s owned an absolute of 12 different Hondas. How he came to own the current ’93 Si the thing is here is an intriguing tale in and of itself. I first spotted this Civic back in 2004 with a local college parking lot, as Urbas explains. A kid named Zack owned it and he had just moved into town. It absolutely was one of the cleanest I had ever seen back then and that i later have got to know Zack. Several years later, he ended up being selling the automobile to my good friend Josh, who had been the same guy that first got me into Hondas. I had an S2000 at the time and wanted a daily commuter. By the time Josh had it, the car had gone downhill. It was rusty and the paint had faded drastically. Before I purchased it off of him for $2500, Josh’s dad even used it as a winter car to get a year. It’s crazy because I utilized to drool over this car back then, not being totally sure at all that it would later be mine, Urbas states.

He immediately begun to tear the vehicle down and used his self-taught autobody skills to re-invent the Civic. He massaged the shell back to its former greatness before re-spraying it in a dark silver metallic finish from your BMW paint book. Being that he had already owned so many other Civics and Integras in past times, he had already developed a nice assortment of parts over time. Before deciding on a JDM B18C Type R, he even went through a few different motor swaps.

His build came together pretty quickly thanks to the assistance of his best friend Jordan Twigg. Jordan was responsible for shaving and wire-tucking the engine bay of the Civic while Urbas spent time working on Twigg’s 1994 del Sol VTEC. That’s precisely how we are, Twigg explains. Our company is always helping and pushing the other person with every new build. Brad also painted the engine bay on my old K20-swapped Civic. I loved that car, but I had to sell it to acquire a family SUV since I was expecting the birth of my daughter. I needed something simpler and so i came to the decision to build and attempt a del Sol. I got myself it from an old lady for $1400 away from Craigslist. If it was an EG2 VTEC model, she had no idea what she had so I actually asked her to text me a photo of the engine bay so that I could positively identify. Sure enough it had been and I leaped at the opportunity. The only bad thing about it was that it was wrecked. I needed to tear the whole car down completely; engine, sub-frame, interior, and all so I could build through the ground-up. Before we painted the del Sol in Audi’s Nimbus Grey tone.””, brad was good with autobody repair so he helped me straighten the chassis out””Jordan’s previous three Honda builds consisted mostly of going fast, but since he was a full-fledged family man now, he wanted his next Honda to have a simpler, more street-friendly approach. Together with the del Sol, he aimed to create a Japanese FEEL’s Twincam-themed cruiser with factory B16A3 motor intact. Claims that he’d rather spend his money on authentic aesthetic components this time around in favor of just going fast. That’s why you’re more likely to find more JDM OEM CR-X del Sol body add-ons and FEEL’s dress-up items on his EG2 than any significant power-adders, though he hasn’t eliminated the possibility of doing another K-swap with Brad.

He doesn’t really care too much about being fast nowadays but I remember when he had been a big V8 guy that absolutely hated imports! Brad proclaims. One evening back 2005 he was taunting me inside a friend’s supercharged Pontiac GTP. I got tired with them badgering me and so i raced them in my GS-R swapped Civic and pulled away from them by no less thanneeded to explain to me that he wasn’t running anything out of the ordinary because I didn’t know anything about Hondas. I thought he was running some alcohol-injected, high-compression motor or something. I then realized the potential that Hondas had and the rest is history; I built a turbocharged (Civic) coupe after, a K-swapped Civic, and now this del Sol.

Generally If I hadn’t raced him that night, Urbas iterates, We still laugh about it today but there is a good chance that he’d still be driving a muscle car around. Good thing I did because we’ve been building our cars together [for the last 9 years] ever since.

Buying a car is tough simply because you always think that you’re getting ripped off. Here’s the thing: you will be. You are always getting ripped off. The sales person is always inside the driver’s seat, so to speak, and no matter what, you are getting the shaft, the short end in the stick, using up the bumper so to speak. Exactly what can you do to be sure that, even though you’re getting cheated, you’re getting ripped off under you might otherwise? Here are some steps you can take to be best prepared to tackle the untackleable, even though it’s a tough go.

The hardest part is to ensure you’re as informed as is possible. We are a lazy people, this is why fastfood exists. We literally align in our cars without even getting out and moving our legs to be able to cram this fake plastic food into our faces because we are that lazy, even though here they are selling us food that we know, definitively and scientifically, is terrible to suit your needs, even unfit for human consumption. We really just don’t care. Therefore I understand that doing research on cars is virtually an impossible task. But you either spend a certain amount of extra money and forego the research (not really a terrible thing, it is just money in the end), or you plug into some websites and discover what other dealerships or private sellers can sell the car you desire for. As soon as you get an idea of a fair and good price for the car, you can head into the dealer.

So, say you head into santa ana jeep with your eye on a sporty new Jeep. The dealer, remember, knows exactly what they paid for the vehicle so they’ll know precisely how much they have to arrive at turn a fair profit. Also remember that whenever they say “we can’t…” they may, and when people say “”for you, I’ll do it” means they would do it for literally anyone – you are not special. You can drive the price down because you can contact them out on it, armed with that knowledge: I understand that price isn’t special for me, I really walked in here. If you really want to help make me feel special, produce an actual special price, don’t patronize me or I walk out of here. Allow them to have a little taste of their own medicine and put them on the defense. Play their own game right at them. Make a price comparison at their internet site, www.ocauto.com, with those off their competitors.

Then remember as well that there is a lot of wiggle room on your trade in. They literally will be able to give you more than they initially offer. Never under any circumstances accept the first offer. You are able to usually double it, is a great rule of thumb. I once was offered $2500 on a trade it, and I said no, what about $5000, and they also agreed just about instantaneously. For that reason I knew I was still getting cheated, but not as much as had I accepted $2500!

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Leave well enough alone. Be grateful. It’s adequate for government work. Work together with what you have. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Don’t you know kids are starving in Africa? For many, whatever they have-what they’ve been given, what they’ve been able to scrape together through their particular means-is enough.

And then there are the outliers who demand more, and push themselves to attain it. To them, standard-issue is merely a starting point. Where there’s the chance to make something one’s own, they seize it and obtain to work on realizing their vision, though not that what they have is insufficient. If and thumbnail and spitball; they’re so busy working that only when they look up would they realize just how far they’ve come, they tinker and tweak and what-. Frequently, their efforts become a tangible reflection of the experience in addition to their determination. Done right, the result is additionally reflective from the journey it took to get there.

Scott Kanemura is among one of these outliers. Inevitably, the Torrance, California-based promotions-company owner starts small: a splash of ink on his arm, a lowered (if dilapidated) early Toyota Hilux in the driveway. Next, thing you know, his entire back is a mural combining Japanese and Christian imagery, and his awesome little Hilux is pumping out 641 and 739hp lb-ft (at 24psi) to the rear wheels.and also the names of most of my siblings tattooed on his arms,” Scott recalled, “and after he passed in 2006, I got his name in kanji on my small arm.” Soon Scott added a koi, a brocaded carp that is a Japanese symbol of hard work, having a name that is a homonym for affection. Quickly his ink expanded to a pair of half-sleeves, until finally he went for the big one: a complete back piece. “I’m not the smartest person around, so I’m willing to continue to work harder and more than most. [Once again] I picked a koi. If you look at the tattoo, there exists a dragon’s go on a koi, in the bible, the devil is referred to as a dragon or serpent;. That’s my inner self: sometimes a hard working koi, and quite often influenced by not-so-great things turning me into a dragon. The samurai is God; He is killing the dragon-headed koi. When you know what you’re looking at, the meaning [is my desire] to kill my inner evil before it gets to be a dragon and to bring me back on the path to be a nice person.” The story tells itself. If it’s not based exactly in the bible.?, in spite of this, “I really don’t give a crap as to what other people think, or?

Scott’s “inksperience” will give you an idea of precisely what happened with his slightly mental Hilux. “My tattoos snowballed from a little kanji character into two half sleeves and my whole back. Likewise, the truck was supposed to be something to tinker with and it also snowballed into this import-style monster.”

Now, a word about “import style” here. Scott has been into the import scene for better than 30 years now, so he’s seen a lot of trends and styles go are available. “You understand how lowriders aren’t just a car, they’re a way of life? It got diluted over the years, though it was exactly the same thing with import style. If this was a Toyota, a [US-made] Pinto or perhaps a [European-built] Capri… back in the day, it was a little more about style; lowered, with widest rims you may fit, and of course power, once we were growing up, it didn’t matter. If it’s created in Compton or Japan, provided that the parts are quality and funky, it didn’t matter in which the parts came from; it doesn’t matter. Nowadays it’s JDM this or USDM that, but… I’m trying to bring import-style toAnd others roots mean getting the right parts for the position, wherever they are available from. Initially, the little pickup was only being lowered and treated into a rebuilt 18R-G; things spiraled out of control when Scott chose to drop an extra 2JZ in between the fenderwells. A couple of things send off alarm bells here. First, he enjoyed a spare, built-up 2JZ just lying around? And second, he did this because, believe it or not, he thought it would be the cheap way out. Wrap your face around that. “I’m creating a ’69 Toyota Crown with ADF (Advanced Design and Fabrication in Whittier, CA) to compete for the Ridler award at the Detroit Autorama, and I had this 2JZ built for it. Then we changed our minds and decided to go with a Century V12 in thea few years ago, I thought, there’s not a way I can sell this engine for what We have into it. No-one will buy it in this economy. Simultaneously, I didn’t want to buy a rebuilt 18R-G for the Hilux for $1,300. So, instead of buying another motor, I dropped the 2JZ into the Hilux.” Even Scott doesn’t want to calculate the costs involved, instead describing as his “left right and arm testicle.” Yet this decision informed everything he’s completed to get his Hilux in the state the truth is it here.

Luckily, the Hilux’s chassis was a sturdy starting point. “The frame was already boxed from the factory; it’s not that flimsy C-channel stuff. [But] not much of your original frame is left at this stage; the front clip is original, but narrowed, and beneath the bed the frame has been C-notched to decrease it. The only part not modified is under the cab.” Which includes a rear suspension that’s been converted from leaf springs to a completely fabricated four-link trailing arm system with QA1 coilovers.

Getting back to Scott’s definition of “import style,” there are also a surprising amount of non-Japanese mechanical parts on this Hilux. The engine sports Carillo connecting rods. The rear end, a Ford 9-inch unit with a 3.53 final drive, was built by Currie Enterprises and uses Strange axles. The front suspension is based on Ford Mustang II architecture. The radiator has come from Ohio’s favorite speed parts dealer, Summit Racing. Less so in the context of the “rat rod” movement which has taken such a your hands on the old-school American hot-rod world over the last handful of decades, even though there’s even the untreated primer, rust and white exterior, a shocker in the world of imports. “Gives it character, and no one else would have everything rust and primer and paint,” Scott says.

Unsurprisingly, Scott’s Hilux remains a operate in progress. Already, since these photos were taken, the bed is mini-tubbed, and much more plans are afoot. So that you can smooth all of it out.” Which means that for the man who thinks this too much is never enough, this story is significantly from over, “Next up, we’re putting suicide doors on it and shaving off of the cab’s rain gutters.