Guest Blog: Modified Mag>> January Preview

This month’s Modified Magazine is truly a special issue since it marks Modified’s 10 year anniversary. In such an adverse economy and uncertain print industry, for us to survive through all the cut backs makes me proud to know that we are at least doing more right than wrong. If you like our product support us by purchasing it and you can bet we’ll be around for another 10 years to come.

It’s been a very long time since a Nissan 240SX has graced our cover and truth be told, I had been searching for the perfect S13 cover car for a long time but nothing really stood out to me until I stumbled upon Toby Broadfield and Damon Young’s street machines while surfing Zilvia.net.

Truth be told, I’m a less is more kind of car guy so above all I look for cars that are subtle and clean rather than cars with aggressive body kits and heavy sticker work. Toby’s S13 is probably my favorite coupe out there. With nothing more than a set of 18-inch Work Meister S1 3-piece wheels and a proper stance, this has to be the perfect looking coupe, don't you think? 

The same can be said about the engine bay where an immaculate S15 SR20DET engine with a top mounted Garrett 3076R reside.

Much of the same cleanliness carries inside the vehicle where if you look closely you can see Toby’s custom made Defi gauge cluster setup.

If Toby’s car is the Ying, then Damon’s S13 hatch is definitely the Yang. It too is built in a seemingly clean fashion with only a 180SX Type-X body kit and 17×9 front and 18×9.5 rear Work CR Kai wheels lending to the otherwise stock visual cues.

The interior is tastefully done for a real street car that Damon drives regularly. This isn’t a shop built car, rather Damon has done all the work himself and with the help of some friends. I admire that more than any shop built car but that’s just me.

Every time I look at these two Nissans it captures what I love about modifying automobiles. Taking an already aging platform and turning it into a new modern age hot rod that looks as good and performs better than most vehicles on the road today.

Brian Lee’s S2000 tops my list of what a street version S2K should look like with nothing but the best in JDM parts all around. The white on white theme may be a bit much for some but on this S2000 it looks nice and proper.

Inside the engine bay you’ll find the F20C has been given a helping hand with the addition of a Comptech supercharger and plenty of chrome.

I’ve never particularly been a fan of dark green colored cars but this RX7 pulls it off amazingly well. Yet another reason as to why wheel choice is so important, the 18-inch AME Tracer rims make this car in my opinion.

The RX7 could be one of the finest examples of JDM styling to ever grace us. Just look at the way the lines of this car flow, perfection comes to mind.

This R32 Skyline track bruiser hails from the all the way up in Alberta, Canada where it regularly destroys cars two or three times its cost. After some bad luck with a few motors, the current motor makes well in excess of 500hp and more importantly is pretty much bulletproof.

Scion has just recently launched its brand new, fully redesigned, 2011 tC and if you dismissed the tC in the past, this version will change your opinion.

Thanks to the Bondurant Driving School and Goodyear tire, we had the opportunity to compete in an editor driving challenge against some of the top magazines in the country.

If you’re in the market for some new wheels then we got a slew of options for you to consider in our annual performance wheel guide.

Looking to get into racing or maybe a couple of track days, we explain what to look for in a helmet and how to properly fit one to your head.

I had the rare opportunity to go and participate in a motorsports welding program put together by Lincoln Electric.

The program not only taught us how to weld such metals as aluminum, chromoly, and stainless steel but how to apply them in the world of professional racing. I highly recommend this course for anyone looking to raise his or her skills in welding.

Yes, that’s a Honda Civic loaded up with a trailer. It’s the only way to get around in the One Lap of America competition. We follow two engineers and their twincharged (turbo and supercharger) SOHC Honda Civic as they make their way across the USA competing against scores of super cars in one of the most grueling events put on. You won’t believe how well they place, this story is one you won’t want to stop reading.

We push the limits on a stock EVO X’s turbo as we test a Snow Performance water/methanol injection kit and pump out almost 400whp and 400ft-lbs of torque.

Our S2000 project gets the full engine rebuild treatment preparing it for some serious turbo boost.

Some exhaust tuning helps our RX-8 breathe a little better but doesn’t solve the flat upper power band issue we’ve been having since we’ve started this project.

- Peter Tarach

Modified Magazine

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1

This magazine looks amazing.

It's annoying it cost over twice as much for an international subscription :(

2

Congrats, Damon!!! Your car looks great!!!

3

I got the mag yesterday (I already read all of it)....kinda disappointed.

The mag lost a lot of tech articles, and in-depth content, and it simply gets thinner and thinner every month.

Not to sound like an ass, but if the mag continues in this direction, it sure will be axed.

4

Kouki bumper FTW

5

Thanks for the positive vibes, Alex. You're a peach.

6

Actually I agree with Alex, the magazine has lost it's touch in the past few years. I was a subscriber for 3 years and eventually cancelled my subscription once the issues started becoming smaller then even "super street". I still read my back issues all the time, with most of them featuring 150+ pages of content, but I can't see myself buying a Modified again...

7

how exciting yet another S13 post

8

Not to flame here but wow, just wow, Modified's tenth year eh? I find it ironic how Turbo mag, SCC, 0-60, and many others have gone out of print, yet the magazine that's built upon pictures of half naked azn chicks, and massive bodykits manages to survive. No wonder so many people don't take the "import" scene seriously. This latest feature looks cool, but it's hard to believe modified made it to ten years when so many others failed.

9

I need to pick up a copy of this issue asap!

10

Anonymous - You can thank Joe public for that. If Turbo, SCC, and even 0-60 were to survive they needed people buying the magazine, yet no one did hence their demise. It's not like some exec woke up one day and said "I think Im going to close Turbo Mag because I can." It's a business and at the time Modified, Super Street and Import Tuner were actually being bought hence why SCC and Turbo were closed.



Just like you I was sad to see all the titles I grew up with fall and I do echo some of your feelings but it goes to show that the fluff in the books sells better then real content. We struggle with that every month. To show cars like the ones above or go for the safe thing, a GTR, EVO, or STI on the cover.



If you want to see more pages in Modified, then start sending emails, I complain about it every month but if enough readers complain then maybe I can do something about it. Email me at Peter@modified.com

11

Way too many oversaturated photos, especially on the white on white s2000.



Also to the anonymous guy above me, the half naked chicks are why they are still in business.

12

wow sr s13's never seen that before.



homie plug for interesting cars. http://www.driftunion.com

13

Yawn..........

14

Shout out to Toby for making it! I've read his blog awhile back and new this man had talents, The time and effort he put it to this car showed me how enthusiastic he is in the car scene.

15

Broadfield's car is siiiiiiick, but how does he possibly sit and drive with his seat like that?!?!

16

O live near Toby and i can say this is the nicest 240sx you will ever see. Ands its his daily driver. Also had the pleasure to meet Damon aswell, great guy and car. Toby Broadfield's custom clusters are amazing aswell

17

Modified is a great mag!! But hey, haters gunna hate. I wish each mag was 500 pages!! But I understand with the economy and all... Just keep doing the best you can. Love your work. And I would love it if you featured a couple more grass roots drift events. Because that is alot closer to reality for most if us then the pro drivers in their rwd converted scions.

18

I thought I recognized the black one. Saw it at the Official Unofficial Xceed BBQ. Congrats to the owner!

19

Dam this mag looks sick, ship some to New Zealand! we love clean cars not ugly bodykits 2!!!!!

20

I agree with Alex on the point that there are almost no more good tech articles, at best there are reviews of a single product (such as the neck brace in this issue), i would rather learn about the physics involved in some part of the car, like the awesome suspension articles that you had before. And MR. Anonymous, you a douche. Modified doesn't have any "half naked azn chicks" or "massive bodykits" now if you wanna hate, at least put it to the right thing, it sounds a lot more like you hate SS or D-sport than Modified...

21

Apparently you guys don't know the state of the print industry, not to mention the global economy. There is a reason that Modified has gotten slimmer over the last couple of years- we are lucky to even have them around at all anymore.



As for the comment about "pictures of half naked azn chicks, and massive bodykits," it's glaringly obvious that you have not read an issue of Modified in years. There have not been models of any kind present in this publication for several years now. And strangely enough, the cover story this month is of two cars featuring OEM optional aero. In fact, there isn't a feature car in the issue with a cheap or gaudy aero kit.



Riveting tale, old chap.



I tip my hat to you, Modified, for weathering the storm and managing to still be putting out a magazine in this day and age. The writing and photography, as well as the caliber of the cars featured, are top notch in my opinion.



Gators gonna 'gait...

22

i feel the same every month the magazine gets thinner and thinner. Also i think the rims on the RX-7 break the car, its the only thing i don't like on this car.

23

I miss SCC, they had good articles.

24

Lookin good! I love the down to earth feature cars so I think I'll pick this one up. Good job Peter, and thanks for sticking with it.

25

Modified hasn't had naked chicks in it in years...maybe you're thinking about Import Tuner? The pictures from the cover feature look great, didn't look at much else.



I picked up 3 issues, one for me and 2 for some friends.

26

this issure looks interesting accept the scion, that car looks so terrible as do all scions

27

Haters gonna hate, Peter and Dave. Keep up the good work. I enjoy the mag and have for a few years now. I made it into the reader mail section a couple issues ago so I'm here to say they do listen and respond to reader input. With the economic climate, everyone is having to cut back, but Modified keeps chugging along. With 5 project cars and continuously well written tech articles, I know they'll keep putting out a good mag.

28

Broadfields car is sick! should have been featured like 2 years ago when he finished it though :P.

29

Does this magazine exist just to make Super Street look better. Do people really read magazines for tech articles? Come on guys it's easy to look at these comments and say things like, "haters gonna hate" but the real comment should be, "consumers are going to critique." And there shouldn't be anything more relevant to the editorial staff. This is dribble, and that's not based on the lower page count, or the cheaper card stock you guys are using now a days. It's based on the content.

30

Thanks for all the positive comments guys! The one thing I want to point out is the complaints about the size of the magazine... We wish we had more pages to work with, but we'll need more sales and reader support to rally for that. So go out and buy some mags! (also FWIW, you'll find that SS and IT are always within just a few pages as our mag, size wise)

31

to "damn" none of the people bitching here about tech articles are consumers. they're the dudes the feature of the two S13 mentions when they're talking about "Low balls so low they make somali pirates blush". They're not consumers, they're windowshoppers.

32

I am going to have to buy this issue just for the S13s

33

Now those are two S chassis cars done right! Not just crazy offset drifters.... That civic race car story looks cool too haha

34

Broadfields car is the best coupe dude. it looks so mean.

35

This magazine, like many of the forums which I visit, have good information, but it's getting ever more sparse. The big forums are getting over run with bad HID kit installs, and much more 'form over function" stuff. It makes me sad, I'd like more motorsports related stuff, and I don't count drifting as a motorsport, it's more figure skating than speed skating, more about the show than the performance.

36

Thanks Jeremy, but my car is never done. I just finished the new stance, wheels, front fenders etc, this past spring. It's looking like this winter will be a V8 swap... Broadfield style!

37

Damon is just killing it out there, looks so good. So well done.

38

that black car is riding on ksport coilovers, a spec clutch, and uses wheel spacers....pretty much as cheap as you can get...a lot of his other parts are excellent, but it seems kinda half-baked....

although wheels are often up for debate, i really don't like the look of the 18in miesters on the coupe...for the sake of function, i don't think an s-chassis should have anything bigger than 17, and honestly the wheels look way meaner than the rest of the car...its like a little kid wearing his dad's shoes, those wheels would look PERFECT on the larger z33 chassis or something, but hey power to him for everything else, especially the custom clusters, i'll have to look into having him do mine....

39

Congrats Damon! Your S13 is hands down one of the cleanest rides I've seen. Take note professional car builders; attention to the smallest details has the same "wow-factor" as fancy custom work.

40

Thanks for the positive feedback I have gotten from everyone! And big thanks to Modified and Peter for the feature!



@done properly?- K Sports are a ways from the "cheapest you can get," but I do agree that they are not the most baller coilover brand out there. Despite owning three sets of K-Sports on three different cars and never having an issue with them, I am probably going to replace them with a set of Stance coilovers this winter. That should keep the fan boys happy. :) lol.



And as for using wheel spacers, H&R hubcentric spacers with extended studs are just about the safest wheel spacers you can run. I'm not sure if you are at all familiar with the s-chassis community, but a 5mm spacer is absolutely nothing in this community. You should be happy I am not running 2" bolt on spacers! LOL. The lowest offset Work CR Kai wheels come in for a 17x9 is +17. Sometimes a spacer is needed to get the desired look and fitment.



My car is far from a typical "magazine car." It frequently makes the 70 mile round trip to and from work in the summer months, and sits on the street just like any other car. It might not be the perfect, high dollar, big budget car that you are used to seeing- but for a true street, daily-driven car built by an average kid out of college, I think it's pretty NEAT. :)

41

You searched the Zilvia forum for a car you not only wanted to feature, but feature on the cover of your magazine. Do you see how counter productive this is. What does the modified feature have that I can't just hop over to Zilvia and find? You guys have a huge audience here at Speedhunters, a very vocal audience but these web previews could honestly be hurting you guys. I pre know that there's no reason to check out this months issue. The s2000 time attack build up you guys are following is very interesting, as well as Sasha's 350z articles.



I don't want to tell anyone how to run their magazine, but your feature cars are boring, no one wants to pay $5 to see ordinary cars. Modified used to be a must buy for me when I was at the airport. It had so much content & the magazine really had it's own identity as far as import mags go. Feature some cars you didn't find on the internet, follow more high end builds(your personal cars parts/scam are boring) tour some race shops, tour some local shops, what's happening in the pro drift off season? There's alot of room for improvement, you guys can do it. Good luck! -Damien Blackfoot

42

"done properly?"-



I went with 18's because, well, 17's wouldn't fit over my front brakes. But hey, if you want to comment on things you know nothing about, feel free. I'm not even sure why I'm defending myself... I NEVER give a rats ass what other people think. I always modify my cars exactly how I want to. A lot of people don't realize how much time and modifications I have into my car... stuff that's not listed on my "mod" list. People just see the stock body and think it's just an S13 with nice wheels.



Everyone else, thanks for the compliments.



43

You guys really need to hire other photographers. Too much post editing, HDR ish photos are not cool. Do yourselves a favor and go pick up Drift tengoku magazine and look at how they take pictures.



44

Post proc is a part of the photographer's style, I think it's cool to see what others are doing. The S2K has a very "showy" post proc. That style is super popular in NAmerican magazines. Look at Super Street, waaay more processed but looks SO good, because it's their style.

45

First paragraph comment is a really saddening given the news today...

"If you like our product support us by purchasing it and you can bet we’ll be around for another 10 years to come."

46

that type x was my inspiration, my exact build but yellow and a pignose front end and white cr kai rims. Sad news to see this Magazine go out.

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