IM BACK!!!! AND I BRING WITH ME THE HELLCAT CHALLENGER TO START THINGS OFF!!!!!!

   I've never made a big fuss about new cars unless i have had the opportunity to drive and observe an automobile of question. Last week i was given such an opportunity to do so with the 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat.
   Such an experience can not be spoken or relived so eloquently, or so mimicked, The Hellcat is not your everyday muscle car, its a blatant reminder and historic nostalgia of how Chrysler reveled in making their cars not only fast, powerful, and beautiful. They carefully shook our memories of why, they are car builders, to stand tall above the other  American automobile builders and challenge their innovations. Such an accomplishment has been met, with more horsepower and even better, a price tag worth going into debt for. SERIOUSLY!!!
     Given Chryslers' previous history of cars through the years with the HEMI cars rolling around, mopar was a little quiet for a good 20 years until they unveiled the smaller turbocharged Daytonas, and the very beautiful Dodge Viper. It is rather nice and heart warming to see that Dodge/Chrysler is back giving the American Car Enthusiasts what they have been craving for so long, something more powerful and vibrant, better than what the competitors are pushing, and just good old fashion horsepower.

What do you do with 707 horsepower? You look around and see what other company can give you more for less money. If nothing else comes to mind, then burnout into the sunset. But you can still buy a GT-R and love life still, I'm just saying........

RIP Paul Walker- Fast And Furious at life

    I have dodge this topic long enough and I feel it is important to the gear head community. The passing of Paul Walker has been not only a sadness to his family and friends, but a crushing blow to the tuners as well, for the pass 10 years we have all looked forward to The Fast and Furious movies since its 2001 debut. A fast pace action film combined with good actors, girls and DUH,.. CARS!! It was not only Vin diesels' portrayal of a conflicted bad ass with morals, but the cool witty and sometimes clueless character played by Paul himself. The actor brought A fierce acting characteristic to the screen that came alive every time he got behind the wheel and drove for his life. This will be missed and people are now wondering will the franchise ever be the same after so many sequels followed the success of the first movie, its just something we will have to wait and see. Of course we can not dwell on his acting prowess alone, because at the end of the day, aside from him being a son, brother, father and friend to many..... he was a car guy.

     This was a guy who in an interview said and i quote " i traded in my Porsche boxster for a Nissan Skyline. Now we personally don't care what model it was, the fact that after driving the car in 2 fast 2 furious , he stuck with the car throughout the series and as a personal vehicle in his garage. I can only imagine how many he might have owned but we may never know. He has been noticed as a generous individual, you cannot not like him. I have never met him personally but I'm sure he was a down to earth kind of guy you would want the have a beer with.  To make a long story short, He will be missed and we he has left an impact in the car world on the silver screen.

RIP PAUL, and THANK YOU!

Dodging the Competition

The Dodge Charger is clearly a classic all American automobile with style, presence, and power that is rivaled by many, but what does it mean for this car to be in a class of its own? It means that is one of kind to the Mopar fans and enthusiasts. A four door, Rear wheel drive, 8 cylinder American made sedan( despite the backing from Daimler ) it truly is the only car of its kind in The U.S. The question is " why is the Dodge Charger so popular with some people". Here is your answer.

      In the Early 1960s, Dodge built a big body 2 door vehicle that would become not only a great flagship for them but to also rival other companies such as Ford, Chevrolet to name a few. The Charger was created to captivate but failed to do so when it was introduced into the early stages of NASCAR, for not producing wins and not enough power to keep up with Chevys' own impala. In 67' The Charger was rebuilt and made over for not only more power underneath the hood but Aerodynamics. It was said " we want this car to cut through the air like a knife". Under the hood was a 389 cubic inch motor but the engine everyone fell deeply in love with was the Big Block 440 Cubic inch engine. The car was entered once more in NASCAR races and swept the podium with its speed, power and aerodynamics. In 1968, This automobile left tire tracks in the hot rodders of that generation as the go- to car for the races. An elongated nose and a tall wing on the rear deck transformed a mere Charger into the Daytona, A race car that travelled close 200 miles per hour but discontinued because the racing officials deemed it unfair for other competitors. The Charger, Charger 500, and Daytona were best sellers along with its little brother the Challenger. Soon after the Gas embargo in the late 70s, the muscle car era was over, but not for long for some companies.

  

   Ford and Chevrolet continued building their signature cars, the Ford Mustang, and the Chevy Camaro, with smaller cubic inch motors, they still produced some very impressive horsepower numbers for that time, it was around the late 80s and early 90s these cars were the only muscle cars left including Pontiacs' Trans-Am, Dodge was the only manufacturer that hasn't developed a vehicle to run up against their rivals' machines. The 80s Charger Daytona was a Turbocharged 4 cylinder that wasn't just economic but fast. It sharing the name of its predecessor, the car didn't have the poise and the presence as its older counterpart. It would be a couple of years before Dodge would create another muscle car. We thought the Dodge Viper would be the return to an affordable sports car, but wishful thinking turned to wishing on hitting the lotto. Its V10 motor wasn't counted in the V8 wars.

 After years and years of building small cars, trucks, and Revolutionizing the minivan, the rumor of Dodge Building another \Charger was enough to get people reeling for another one. In 2004, they introduced the challenger and left people stunned showing the Mopar Fans that the muscle is back at Dodge, they knew the recreation of the Charger wasn't far behind. Soon after the release of the Challenger, The Charger was built but far different than what people expected. It sported four doors instead of two and it was powered by to different V6s, and the return of the HEMI V8 that made the car popular back in its hay day. The car was well received and it was soon discovered that it was in a class of its own around the American Market. Since then the Charger has been welcomed with open arms and cheers, the muscle car disguised a full sized family sedan made smiles. So when I say the Charger was in a class of its own, it is, with perfect attendance.

New Year New Ideas

  Welcome back and what a year 2012 was. Now its Time to move forward and get things in Gear for the new year. The Chop Shop will be better with new posts, stories, and hopefully a talk show behind it. A lot of new cars and shows are coming, grander new models and racing events that I will need to attend to keep you all well informed.

Stay Tuned for new material and much more!!

Honda Civic- From Grocery Getter to Tuner Canvis

   The history of the Honda Civic goes without saying. Its a gas saver, parts are inexpensive, labor and service is easy, resale value is still high, and its CHEAP!!! That right there is the selling point to the civic. Now instead of wanting to know why and how its popular to the everyday average Joe and Jane lets jump to the point of it being a performance giant. Do not get me wrong, i am a huge Nissan and Toyota fan, but i have to give credit where its due.
   The Honda Civic is very easy to tune and modify without any restriction of age or chassis classification. Any generation of Civic is sought after for either Car Shows, Track, or just the everyday driver. From Body kits to Performance parts, even engines are easily accessible to the everyday tuner depending on what your looking for. Sad to say that for every 2JZ motor or Sr20det is bought, three high performance Honda motors are bought. ITS A FACT. The money spent for one engine can buy two for your Honda. Did i already mention the parts are cheap. What is more fascinating and frustrating at the same time is the third party aftermarket production of parts for the Civic outweighs the general parts for any other make and model car out there. More performance, suspension, computers, everything down to air fresheners are clearly high in number for Hondas, rivaling Volkswagen's aftermarket prowless. The never ending combination of engine parts between one another in the Honda library is also mind blowing, because they are interchangeable. What you need in your Civic you can take from an Integra, ( the American subsidiary to Honda ) and install in your car its that easy. Even the parts from other Hondas such as the Prelude, Accord, S2000,and Passport ( before the Pilot ) can be used on your Civic. The Tuning Capabilities are astounding from Naturally aspirated to Force Induction, with horsepower numbers reaching beyond 500hp and more. All from a small four cylinder engine. Its crazy in know, and its all that bang for your buck.
    From the other side of the fence its considered cheating and playing dirty. Some thinks its a conspiracy to help Honda destroy the competition. Lets get real here!!! To me its still all about the driver, never the car remember that. If you built it, and you can drive it, you can win. If you spend all that money and don't know how to drive the car, you wasted your money and the mechanics' time. This blog is not saying that because of the essential backing that some companies are providing for this little car that it is unbeatable, NO!! I'm making it far apparent to everyone why this car is popular to the tuner world. They are easy to come by, you can pick them up ( literally ) for dirt cheap, you can work on it yourself in your garage, that's how easy it is. Now would i buy one? NO... because i want to venture more with other cars, but it would be exciting to build a 4 cylinder again and run 9s at the local track and show it off to my friends on how fast it is. And to make a long story short it THE perfect beginners car to start with.

     The Honda Civic bottom line is a popular figure in the Automotive community, with its love/hate comparison, it lives up to its test of time legend and will continue to impress, innovate, and inspire young and old drivers alike.

  The Road is yours......

Dart off target, all turbo everything for BMW, honda to finally intro A turbocharged engine, THE FR-S

    Low and behold the auto industry could be getting some things moving but first the Dodge Dart has made a comeback but it wasn't what i expected. Aimed as a economy car to square up against the Chevrolet Cruze and Ford Focus, the Dart was built on the Alfa romeo platform due to Daimler Chrysler dealing with the trendy Italian Manufacturer, the Dart has been Dodges' econo combo back in the day. Great Gas mileage with sporty handling but that was false advertisement if i ever heard it, due to the fact that the dart back then was shadowed after the Chrysler Omni. The sad ordeal of this was the GLH omni was intended to be the GLH dart, but Chrysler preferred the omni rather than the dart. For sakes and purposes i am referring to the later 70s and 80s models of the Dodge Dart, in no comparison to the Dart from the 60s that ran rampant with the 426 under the hood, but because of the gas embargo of the flower age, the dart was transformed into a slow and frugal grocery getter. The intention of the new Dart is unclear seeming that Dodge already has a 4 door saloon line up from the Avenger to the Charger and only one coupe to the market that we call the Challenger, I'm guessing the dart is in no way shape or form aimed at the youth market, we may never know, but what  i can say is that the styling is pretty and it looks mean, but how does it drive?
   BMW on the other hand has everything under control, boost control that is. The new 3 series will be fitted with a 4 cylinder turbocharged engine producing a whopping 240hp. And the good thing about this lineup is that it comes in the entry level 328i. The inline turbo six cylinder will still be an option for the car and no word on the M3 even though its rumored that it will go back to housing a V-8, but with turbo which seems to be a little excessive but whatever. Its boost or bust.
  Honda has announced  that a 1.4 liter and a 1.8 liter turbocharged engine for the CR-Z and possibly Civic SI which could see more Honda Enthusiasts in the showroom, the 1.4 is intended for the CR-Z but the 1.8 is unclear for the 2 liter and 2.4 liter are the strongest engines they have for the vehicles, but lets go with the flow.
       Now on to bigger news, the Scion FR-S was test driven and given great reviews. If you don't know what the FR-S is then you must get the best sleep of your life under that rock of yours. The FR-S and soon to be BRZ is the flagship sports car result of the joint build of both Subaru and Toyota. We thought it would carry the Toyota Badge but it was given to Scion to build up its inventory which means the TC may not be the only affordable two door sport compact to be sold by Toyota. I just can't wait for the Aftermarket support it will receive. Toyota styling but outfitted with the flat four Boxer engine, it will push out 200 hp at 7000 RPMs making it a lively little car. more bang for your buck, i wanna test drive this car so bad, more later on this vehicle...... Drive Right, Drive Safe..

BMW 335i - Best performance BMW Ever without the M?

Now clearly speaking from a bias regime, i only speak for the 5 and 7 series of BMWs' lineup fleet of vehicles, but the 335i has grown on me significantly since its creation. Built with either a Rear wheel and All wheel drive platform, the 335i is a continuation from its early 325i counterpart years ago, from a four to six cylinder twin turbo engine, the 3 series evolves more and more. Excluding the M3 from this blog is sound because the M3 is in a class of its own, the BEST sports car money could buy in my opinion if you didn't have the budget for an NSX. Now the 335i gives you that robust feeling in your gut, the same when you drove and E30, E36, E46 and what not for the first time. ( For the noobs thats the M3 generation tags from The first generation to the third )
  The Last time i came across a turbocharged BMW was a 1989 BMW 730IL that was only sold in Europe. The year may be wrong but thats what i remember, after that experience its been aftermarket turbos on 325i's and M3 which was very rare but outstandingly fast. Handling wise, BMWs has never failed when it came to handling and suspension, that why they call it " A Driving Experience to remember ". I favor this car not only becasuse i love turbocharged vehicles ( cause i do!! ) the drive in this car blew my mind. Not the most comfortable for someone my size but wildy responsive to the drivers' needs. HMMM!!!! more on this later i just got a crazy idea.