mangchu
New Member
Yooo! My name is Matt and I've been actively lurking on this site for the past year or so and really like the vibe. There’s a lot of good, helpful knowledge floating around here. Thought I'd finally become an active member in the community! I currently reside in SoCal, around Thousand Oaks/Westlake Village. I use my car as a DD and explorer of the canyon runs that litter the mountains around me.
My family is the first and only owner of my car. My parents originally bought it for my oldest sister and I got it from her when I was 15. I loved it from the first time I drove it! I've always enjoyed cars, but never really got into the modding scene. So it was stock from then til I was about 24, which was last year hahah.
In this picture, I had already installed a Weapon R CAI, an HID conversion kit, and tinted my windows to 20%. As you can see, some of my friends were already well into the modding scene before me.
01 by mangchu, on Flickr
Then I went on a photoshoot with a couple friends and got a couple of shots taken of my car. After seeing these, I suddenly felt the need to get into the modding game.
_DSC0488 by mangchu, on Flickr
_DSC0494 no license plate by mangchu, on Flickr
Stock height with window visors added. Then I got serious about getting some drop on this car.
02 by mangchu, on Flickr
Went with Skunk2 shocks and springs
03 by mangchu, on Flickr
Got about a 2” drop with the Skunks. Decent first drop and firmed up suspension that was easily DD-able. I immediately enjoyed the direction I was taking my car. Wheels were my next big mod.
04 by mangchu, on Flickr
05 by mangchu, on Flickr
Rode around on those for a while and even took it out to a dry lake bed with a group of friends.
hereyougomatt by mangchu, on Flickr
Then I swapped out all my interior lights for LEDs. Also changed out the tail lights, reverse lights, license plate lights, and turn signals to LEDs.
07 by mangchu, on Flickr
Invested in an ebay front strut bar.
06 by mangchu, on Flickr
Did some research and landed on some Rota GT-3s. But then they were out of stock, so ended up going with some Drag DR-16s, 16x7 all around. I didn’t really care what finish they were because I had immediate plans to powder coat them bronze but…
10 by mangchu, on Flickr
11 by mangchu, on Flickr
…they turned out brown hahah I like to call them my chocolate wheels. Complete with Falken Ziex-92 tires, 205/45/16 and +40 offset. It was already a noticeably better fitment.
12 by mangchu, on Flickr
The color wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, but they slowly grew on me. I didn’t realize how much of a difference new performance tires provided. The car felt more planted to the ground and more stable in turns. (I actually wanna sell these wheels)
13 by mangchu, on Flickr
14 by mangchu, on Flickr
15 by mangchu, on Flickr
16 by mangchu, on Flickr
17 by mangchu, on Flickr
When I was driving on the freeway, I heard a super loud “PING!” and found my car like this when I got home. The fender lining had been ripped off and bent a brace connecting the panel to the body frame.
18 by mangchu, on Flickr
19 by mangchu, on Flickr
Took it over to Beach Cities Paintless Dent Removal to see if they could do anything about it, and also got a bunch of dings removed. Jeff’s work is slow and reeks of quality. Very satisfied with his touch that he provided on my car.
21 by mangchu, on Flickr
20 by mangchu, on Flickr
Got another fender liner, which ripped off in the parking lot at my work, so I said forget it and just left it off.
22 by mangchu, on Flickr
I had discovered Enkei 92s in gold and found out they were bringing back these classic style wheels and instantly fell in love with them. Then I found them on a Thanksgiving sale at my buddy’s wheel company and had to have them. Got them in 15x8, +20 offset and wrapped in Toyo Proxes4, 195/50/15 with the slightest bit of stretch.
23 by mangchu, on Flickr
24 by mangchu, on Flickr
My family is the first and only owner of my car. My parents originally bought it for my oldest sister and I got it from her when I was 15. I loved it from the first time I drove it! I've always enjoyed cars, but never really got into the modding scene. So it was stock from then til I was about 24, which was last year hahah.
In this picture, I had already installed a Weapon R CAI, an HID conversion kit, and tinted my windows to 20%. As you can see, some of my friends were already well into the modding scene before me.
01 by mangchu, on Flickr
Then I went on a photoshoot with a couple friends and got a couple of shots taken of my car. After seeing these, I suddenly felt the need to get into the modding game.
_DSC0488 by mangchu, on Flickr
_DSC0494 no license plate by mangchu, on Flickr
Stock height with window visors added. Then I got serious about getting some drop on this car.
02 by mangchu, on Flickr
Went with Skunk2 shocks and springs
03 by mangchu, on Flickr
Got about a 2” drop with the Skunks. Decent first drop and firmed up suspension that was easily DD-able. I immediately enjoyed the direction I was taking my car. Wheels were my next big mod.
04 by mangchu, on Flickr
05 by mangchu, on Flickr
Rode around on those for a while and even took it out to a dry lake bed with a group of friends.
hereyougomatt by mangchu, on Flickr
Then I swapped out all my interior lights for LEDs. Also changed out the tail lights, reverse lights, license plate lights, and turn signals to LEDs.
07 by mangchu, on Flickr
Invested in an ebay front strut bar.
06 by mangchu, on Flickr
Did some research and landed on some Rota GT-3s. But then they were out of stock, so ended up going with some Drag DR-16s, 16x7 all around. I didn’t really care what finish they were because I had immediate plans to powder coat them bronze but…
10 by mangchu, on Flickr
11 by mangchu, on Flickr
…they turned out brown hahah I like to call them my chocolate wheels. Complete with Falken Ziex-92 tires, 205/45/16 and +40 offset. It was already a noticeably better fitment.
12 by mangchu, on Flickr
The color wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, but they slowly grew on me. I didn’t realize how much of a difference new performance tires provided. The car felt more planted to the ground and more stable in turns. (I actually wanna sell these wheels)
13 by mangchu, on Flickr
14 by mangchu, on Flickr
15 by mangchu, on Flickr
16 by mangchu, on Flickr
17 by mangchu, on Flickr
When I was driving on the freeway, I heard a super loud “PING!” and found my car like this when I got home. The fender lining had been ripped off and bent a brace connecting the panel to the body frame.
18 by mangchu, on Flickr
19 by mangchu, on Flickr
Took it over to Beach Cities Paintless Dent Removal to see if they could do anything about it, and also got a bunch of dings removed. Jeff’s work is slow and reeks of quality. Very satisfied with his touch that he provided on my car.
21 by mangchu, on Flickr
20 by mangchu, on Flickr
Got another fender liner, which ripped off in the parking lot at my work, so I said forget it and just left it off.
22 by mangchu, on Flickr
I had discovered Enkei 92s in gold and found out they were bringing back these classic style wheels and instantly fell in love with them. Then I found them on a Thanksgiving sale at my buddy’s wheel company and had to have them. Got them in 15x8, +20 offset and wrapped in Toyo Proxes4, 195/50/15 with the slightest bit of stretch.
23 by mangchu, on Flickr
24 by mangchu, on Flickr
