Subaru 216A

Taking a break from my Forza'ing/DJ Hero'ing...  Found some 'non-official, probably fake' renderings of the Subaru 216A which is basically the Subaru version of the Toyota FT86.  Looks cool so far, but what makes it interesting is that its gonna be turbo and AWD.  Can't wait to see what the finalized version looks like!

I'll probably be busy...

...for the next few days at least:

We got started pretty quickly...

Day 2 of the STI being in my brothers possession, and we start modding already. Granted, they weren't major things, but I'm a firm believer of having a bunch of small accents making a big impact on the look of a car.

First one was major, especially for our stupid climate here.  Lester picked up a used set of winter tires, and got them put on:

While he was off doing that, the car was in the garage on the jackstands, so I debadged the rear end of the 'Subaru' and 'Impreza' emblems, replaced the stock license plate bulbs with a set of hyper white LED bulbs, and also added a red pinstripe to the front grille.

Whats next? Don't know, thats up to my brother to decide.  But when he does, I'll give him a hand with it, and take pictures along the way...

People say my brother and I look alike...

... This is just gonna make things worse.  My brother Lester brought home his new toy today, and even my parents, and aunt/uncle were confused.  But people that read this blog won't be confused.

Here are some pics of the driveway today, as Jen-Ette got to meet her bigger, more powerful sibling today:

More pics of my brothers car here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aldrichevangelista/sets/72157622525594913/

And just so Jen-Ette didn't feel neglected, I got her a new toy as well:

She will be missed...

I know there are not a lot of people that check out this blog, but to my friends that do, sorry for the lack of updates.  I've been busy removing most of the aftermarket stuff I can sell off from my truck, since it is leaving me at the end of this week, early next week.

For those that don't know, I picked up Jen-Neen, a 2006 Toyota Tacoma X-Runner in October '06 to replace my old Civic (I'll post about that car in the near future).  It first caught my eye in downtown when I saw a blue one in summer '06, and I ended up picking up a red one after 3-4 months.

Here she is the night I bought her (October 6, 2006):

The very next day I took home a trophy for 'Best Sport Truck/SUV' at SCC Calgary.  Don't get it twisted though, it was given to me by default because I was the only sport truck/SUV there. :P

She was pretty quick for a stock truck (had a 15.4 pass at Race City), 6 speed manual, RWD with LSD, stock skid pad dead even with a stock 350z (.92gs), but any one that knows me knows that I can't leave things normal.  At the end of everything in her prime, the mods I did were:

-Black housing headlight assemblies

-4300K Porsche 911 HID bulbs and ballast/ignitor setup

-Yellow film on foglights

-Smoke film on headlights and taillights

-Removed 2 of the 4 catalytic converters

-Toyota window visors

-aFe Cold Air Intake

-Powercoated the stock wheels gold for winter

-18x9.5 +20 Rota P4R wheels (loved the concave) for the summer

-Lowered an extra 1.5" from stock in addition to the factory 2" drop

-Toyota Tonneau Cover

-Painted the rear X brace yellow

-Painted front Toyota emblem black

-Painted hood scoop flat black

-SpiderLite LED taillight bulbs

-Painted engine cover

I think thats it.  Here are a few pics of her in her prime:

Here's one of the last set of pics that will be taken of her while in my possession.  Took them on Saturday.  Will take on last set of pics when everything is as back to stock as possible before she goes:

Pimp Forester!

Spotted this on the 'Farm of Minds' car blog.  Check them out at http://minds-farm.blogspot.com/

I never knew the Forester could look so good, I love everything about it.  The Legacy isn't bad either, both rolling on OZs.

Driving in a Winter Wonderland!

So this will be the first full winter that I'll get to be driving the Subaru.  I have heard from other people about how fun it is, and how sure footed they are in snow and ice, but never really had a good experience with it with the exception of a quick dump of snow that melted within 2 hours early this year.  That all changed today, and boy were these people right.  Coupled with good winter tires (Kumho IcePower KW21s), the AWD system is a blast to drive in snow and ice!

Had to be at work early today to get some stuff done, so I planned on leaving home early, but left even earlier after I looked outside since I know that most Calgary drivers forget how to drive when the first snowfall hits.  And to my surprise, I got to work in 15 minutes, as opposed to the normal 20-25 minute drive I usually take.  Most of it had to do with the fact that everyone was driving so slow that I just went around everyone.  It felt like I was driving on dry pavement, I loved it!

And as a side note, anyone that lives in Calgary should definitely invest in winter tires.  They will pay for themselves in your safety and confidence.  All seasons don't cut it, and if you don't believe me, then look on the internet for some information on how well all season tires work in our kind of climate.  In short, they don't.  People say they've been fine with all seasons for so long, but after their first set, they will never drive a winter without them.  And if you hit my car and you're on all seasons, you are gonna get a big earful from me.

What awaited me this morning when I opened the garage (I was actually excited for it):

Getting worse midway through my drive to work (don't worry, I'm not stupid, you can see on the speedometer that I was stopped):

The scene where I park at work (just before I tore up the snow going in circles!):

Later on in the day, Jen-Ette in her natural element:

I am thankful...

Happy Thanksgiving to all the Canadians out there reading this.  I find it kinda weird how Thanksgiving Day is on a different day here than the US, but thats how things are in general.

I am very thankful for all the family and friends I have in my life, and am very fortunate to have what I have.  Not everyone is in such a lucky situation as most of us are.  We take for granted the food that we eat, the house, room, and bed that we sleep in, and the warmth that we have.  Take the time out to thank whomever/whatever higher being that you believe in, because if you truly believe that they exist, then they are to thank.

Had a wonderful family Thanksgiving dinner at my aunts place (as every year), so I thought I'd share a few pics.

The wonderful food my Tita Elsie made (you'd think it'd be a full Canadianized meal, but the mangos and the purple ube in the top right throw it off a little) :

Tita Elsie cutting away:

Prince wanted some food too:

Charisse, Andrew, and Nicole just about to eat:

5 minutes later, poor turkey never stood a chance:

Sheree and Lester (in the middle) showed up late:

Year end meet...

It was crazy cold today compared to the summer (obviously), but that didn't stop a bunch of us from having  our 'year end' meet.  It was originally intended to be a Honda meet, then turned into a Honda/Toyota meet, then it ended up being an 'Everyone Just Show Up' meet.  A lot of the cars were in their winter modes already (mine included), but lots of them were still in summer mode.  All in all, it was a fun day (aside from the cold), and the turnout was great.

WARNING: There was lots of wide angle abuse. :P

Heres a sample of some pics, the rest can be found here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aldrichevangelista/sets/72157622566435256/