Cool eye for the car guy

Apologies to Xzibit, the good people at West Coast Customs and anyone else who would have wanted to get first dibs on putting out a story about "pimping my ride" in these here shores. This particular story will, no doubt, be followed by a number of other stories from other publications who will feature a variety of vehicles in their motoring sections, all of them "pimped" by a bunch of guys any car lover would love to befriend. Just the same, you’ll read it here first.

As many car aficionados are probably aware of by now, there is a local crew who have taken up the cudgels and championed the art of "pimping rides" in the Philippines — and they unabashedly call themselves the Aftermarket Mafia. Composed of Concept One’s Sammy Liuson, A-Toy Body Kits’ Atoy Llave, Xenon Bulbs’ Benedict Go, Makna Marketing’s Arvin Lim, AUN Autosound’s Jerry Chua, Sony Xplod’s Julie Gamboa, Thule EGR Philippines’ Erwin Versoza, Winner Car Graphics’ Freddy So, ATI Group’s Butch Inducil and their official engine tuner Olson Camacho of Project O, this bunch has rekindled the public’s interest in aftermarket options for cars by banding together and introducing cool car additions galore to the country’s car loving populace. Without a doubt, the Mafia has made many a car lover drool over the past few years — as evidenced by the sheer number of vehicles that they have collectively worked on that have garnered awards in many car shows.

In a recent effort to further prove their worth, the Mafia invited members of the motoring media to field in their dilapidated cars and get them "pimped" in the process. This writer didn’t have to look very far as the worn-out 1992 Honda Civic hatchback that my wife used to drive back in college — which is now property of my brother-in-law — has actually been collecting a fair amount of dust and rust in the old garage. So while other members of the motoring media lined up their own vehicles for the pimp ride, I did my in-laws a favor and volunteered their "coding car" as the very first guinea pig for the drab-to-fab car grooming experiment. Slick, ain’t I?

Fifty Percent

Concept One’s Sammy Liuson, who is probably as close to a Vito Corleone as this bunch will get, says that a car’s aesthetic character is "fifty percent determined by its wheels". Sammy knows what he speaks of. He’s been in the wheel and tire dealing business for more than a decade, first as an integral part of Silverwind, then later as the moving force behind Concept One. For what it’s worth, Sammy pretty much defined what is cool as far as mag-wheels go in the Philippines. So when Sammy decided to replace the 13-year-old Civic’s stale 14-inch steel rims and fat tires with sleek 17-inch light alloy mag-wheels and the ultra-thin 45s, we just had to nod in agreement. The results do speak for themselves.

The Chin Is In

Atoy Llave and his body kit design shop, on the other hand, took care of pretty much the other half of the car’s exterior aesthetics. When he saw the jalopy that was the Civic, his first impulse was to insist on a chin, which he said would give the car a more aggressive look. He later fashioned out a flat back fiberglass hood with a scoop and then decided to free the car from the rust demons that had been eating up its wheel wells and corners — the better to intimidate you with. The front shot of the Civic should put any doubts to rest. A-Toy Body Kits did not become the steady OEM supplier that it is today because of pure luck. Atoy knows what’ll make a car look good — period. Winner Car Graphics’ Freddy So then added a decal design to enhance the visual effect of a car in motion while Thule/EGR Philippines’ Erwin Versoza supplied a cool new set of window visors.

Bright Lights

Though the photos don’t show it (not that any medium save for the actual experience will do), the Xenon headlamps provided by Benedict Go’s Xenon Bulbs did wonders to improve nighttime visibility within the now dark-tinted Civic. Bene, a relative new-comer into the aftermarket industry compared to Sammy and Atoy, made sure just the same that his contribution to the entirety of the project would be just as valuable. Xenon headlamps or High Intensity Discharge (HID) lamps, after all, do not only shine brighter than the already bright halogen lamps, they also offer longer bulb life, are cooler burning and have no harmful UV rays.

Twisting and Turning

Longtime basketball bud Arvin Lim, on the other hand, has always been insisting that this writer try out his company’s (Makna Marketing) H&R Springs and Bilstein shock absorbers. Too often, I politely brushed off Arvin’s offers as I had always insisted that my Nissan Cefiro did not require lowering springs. This time around, however, I indulged him and he most certainly did not disappoint. The once rather clumsy Civic now grips the road like a pro — even on nasty turns and makeshift chicanes. Driving the Civic now makes me wonder what I was thinking whenever I brushed Arvin’s offers aside before.

Boom Box

The duo of AUN Autosound’s Jerry Chua and Sony Xplod’s Julie Gamboa then took turns supplying the interior essential of any "pimped" car — the sound system. While this particular set-up is devoid of earth-shaking subwoofers, it is nonetheless capable of providing crisp sound from its simple combination of a kick-@$$ MP3-capable, high powered head unit and two pairs of full-range speakers — one strategically placed in the doors in front, and the other behind the passengers’ seats in the back. The simple set-up did wonders to enhance the drab interior settings of the Civic. This car does not only now look good, it sounds good as well.

Tweaking and Tuning

Finally, knowing full well that a car with all the looks and none of the beef underneath the hood won’t be much of a model vehicle, the Mafia decided to invite ATI Group’s Butch Inducil and Project O’s Olson Camacho to tweak and tune the car’s engine. The ATI Group is, of course, known in the local racing community for its work on many a professional racer’s car while Olson is quite the experienced mechanic as he is part of rally champion Mandy Eduque’s crew. The result, a smoother running, still fuel-friendly 1200cc hatch with just the right amount of extra juice to be able to run with the more powerful cars of today. Not bad for a 13-year-old "people’s car", eh?

In the end, it was evident that the Mafia had done an admirable job in bringing back to life the quickly antiquating simpleton of a vehicle. My biggest problem now lies with the turn over ceremonies. Just last month, my brother-in-law announced his engagement to his long-time girlfriend. They are to wed next year. The moment I give him back the keys to his now hot "spare vehicle", though, I’m afraid he’ll head right back into the hunting game. He will, after all, be armed with a vehicle backed by the expertise of the Mafia. It’s the kind of makeover that’ll earn him more than just a few brownie points with the girls, if you know what I mean. I wonder, does the Mafia offer protection from angry future sisters-in-law?