B20Vtec build

2011 BMW M3 - Frosty Welcome

You might have already seen “Another Shade of M” – a pulsing online video featuring two M3s in Verde Ithaca green and matte Reventon gray, both supercharged by Miami specialists, Active Autowerke.

One of those cars – this gray one – belongs to Omar Murray, Active’s own director of sales and marketing. And as awesome as it looks, he originally planned to let BMW modify his E92.

Customizing a BMW at the factory is possible with BMW’s Individual program. It features tons of options for buyers to change the exterior color, interior trim, leather seats and everything in between. However, Omar’s intention was to buy the limited-edition Frozen gray E92 M3 with DCT and Fox red interior that BMW released last year. He would then utilize the Individual program to order a six-speed manual instead of the DCT. Unfortunately, the 30 cars in North America were quickly snatched up, leaving Omar in their dust.

Not discouraged, he decided to simply build his own gray BMW E92 M3, adding Active’s 625hp supercharger conversion to crank up the volume. So the M3 was ordered and shipped directly to Martino Auto Concepts in Glen Cove, NY.

The company first added Vorsteiner’s carbon/kevlar GTS3 front bumper with a matching front splitter. Next came the company’s vented carbon/kevlar race hood, trunk and rear diffuser.

MAC regularly works on exotic cars, so Omar’s M3 naturally went the Lamborghini route, using the matte Reventon gray paint, followed by accents in Verde Ithica green on select parts – the same paint Joe Lapadula from Martino Auto Concepts would use on his own M3 (see Bimmerfest East report in this issue). The vivid green was applied to the rollcage, the six- and four-piston StopTech calipers on all four corners as well as the intake plenum under the composite hood.

The car was then shipped to Maimi where Active’s engineers carried out their modifications with only eight miles on the eight-cylinder engine!

The crew installed the HKS GTS8550 supercharger system with an eight-rib drive belt, front-mount intercooler as well as AA blow-off and bypass valves fitted to the vibrant green plenum with eight high-flow velocity stacks inside. With Active’s software controlling larger Bosch injectors, the blown 4.0 V8 puts out an astonishing 625hp and 450 lb-ft of torque at 6.5psi boost pressure.

Supercharged 4.0 V8 boasts 625hp with 450 lb-ft at 6.5psi

“The system works great; the power is linear like the stock powerband, only it has so much more thrust,” Omar told us.

The Active crew then turned its attention to the interior, replacing the stock seats with Recaro Profi XL chairs and the painted cage. Flicking through the BMW Performance catalog, they also specified its flat-bottomed, alcantara Type 2 steering wheel and shift knob along with an Active S1 short shifter.

The rims were replaced by aggressive 20x9.5" front and 20x11" rear ADV.1 5.0 Track Spec wheels. The wheel manufacturer finished the centers in matte black with polished gunmetal lips. They were then wrapped in Nitto Invo rubber tucked under the fenders by KW Clubsport coilovers.

As we mentioned, the M3 wears green StopTech Trophy calipers that clamp drilled 380mm front and 355mm rear rotors.

After everything was fitted and the M3 had completed its 1200-mile bed-in, it was time to star in the viral video. The shop photographer had noticed a location close to Miami airport used to test aircraft engines. So with the owner’s permission, the two M3s positioned themselves in one of the test bays for the first shots. As the cameras rolled, the location became darker when a tropical rain storm rolled in, allowing the drivers to pull donuts, accompanied by the roar of Active-tuned V8s.

Shooting video takes an incredibly long time, but the building owners gave Omar and his crew their keys and asked them to lockup when they finished! It’s nice to know there are still such generous people out there.

“Another Shade of M” does a great job to capturing these two highly modified M3s, so check the video out for yourself online at www.activeautowerke.com/shadeofm/

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1989 VW Fox Wagon - Armed & Dangerous

You can say a lot of things about the Euro scene: it’s repetitive, too competitive, expanding, improving, diverse. One thing’s for sure, though, we can all take things a bit too seriously.

We’ve all been there, on a forum where we see a comment that raises our ire and we feel impelled to respond. But why do that? Why be a hater?

Take a look at this Fox Wagon, for example. It’s guaranteed to split opinions about whether it’s cool and whether builder/owner John Ludwick should be applauded. But the best thing about John is that he and his buddies are having too much fun to care what you think!

A BMX pro from Center Harbor, NH, John didn’t select the most likely magazine candidate when he chose the Fox. Nor did he go the usual route to modify it.

He didn’t use off-the-shelf parts (not that many are available), and there’s no power swap. It’s pure DIY enthusiasm and a little hard work on a very modest budget. “I’ve got about $2500 into the car altogether,” John said. “Everything’s been built not bought.”

Influenced by his father, John Ludwick Sr, who used to ice-race in Mk1 Rabbits for years, Junior chose the Fox because of an affinity for wagons over his preference for muscle cars. Not to mention, his first car was a Fox Wagon – it was supposed to become an ice racer and he always wanted another. “The first one was a bone-stock rust-bucket. I found this one online belonging to a 95 year-old man who’d bought it brand-new – I’ve got the original window sticker and everything. It’s been babied it’s entire life. I got my hands on it and kinda wrecked it!” he laughed.

All joking aside, the car was pristine, but the original silver paint was faded badly. The solution was a quick re-spray in a flat tan, with a black roof and accents.

John wasn’t going to leave the stock ride height for long, but with no suspension systems commercially available, he had to get creative. “The spindle and strut combo is different to most other VWs, so we had to go a different route,” he explained. “We took a set of coilovers and modified them for the Fox, after which we had to modify more parts to get the suspension to work. But with some cutting and welding, we were finally able to get it to sit right.”

At the rear, John built 3" steel drop plates to match the front and maintain some suspension travel for ride comfort. As you can see, the result is one of the lowest static drops we’ve ever seen on a Fox, with the lowest points of the chassis only 1" off the pavement. Believe it or not, this is also John’s daily driver! “It’s my only vehicle. I drive it to work everyday,” he said.

The New Hampshire police haven’t found much they like about the car, and John has the tickets to prove it. “They’re not scared to slap you with a ticket!” he said. “Live free or die! You can do a lot of things, but you can’t lower you car below 16 inches…”

The slammed stance isn’t purely suspension: the tiny 13x6" wheels with 175/50 tires play their part as well. If the wheels look different, it’s because they’re two-tone steelies from a ’70s Chevy Vega. “My father ran them on his Mk1 when he was racing. On the ice, you ran tires chains and he always had problems with the chains hitting the strut bodies. So he ran Vega wheels with more offset. I grew up seeing this and wanted the same on my build.”

The wheels lend a unique look, and sit nicely in the arches, which were “self clearanced” on the tires. It’s a decidedly ratty look, but certainly adds to the overall theme.

“When we first built the suspension, we took it for a shakedown run at 3am and didn’t even make it out of the driveway because the exhaust got ripped off!” John said.

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1988 VW GTI 16V - Doing It Right

When you paint your Mk2 GTI in Lamborghini orange, you better be sure of two things: you like attention and you do it right. Fortunately, Peter Amaral from Berkely, MA is a professional autobody technician working on high-end exotic cars, so he had the skills to pull it off.

But it hasn’t been an overnight sensation for the 32 year-old. He’s owned the car since 1996, going out with his father to buy it when he was 17: “I’ve always been a VW fan and had fallen in love with the 2.0L 16v but it was way out of my price range at the time,” he told us. “So I settled for the 1.8L 16v that was about half the price with its small bumpers and Teardrop wheels.”

It was more than a year before he’d start ripping into the car, developing his taste in Euros as he learnt the body trade. “I took the car apart and painted it Porsche Polar silver,” he recalled. “At the time I thought it was an amazing job, but looking back now I realize it wasn’t the best in the world…” Yet it maintained his enthusiasm for the Mk2, even after he lost his license for a year.

With the car sat in the garage unable to be used, it presented Pete with another opportunity to work on it. He tore into the GTI, stripping it fully and discarding many parts that needed replacing. However, he also got distracted by a string of other cars, including a Rabbit, some Jettas and a VR6. He bought a house along the way and found the project dragging on almost five years. “I told myself to finish or sell it but, since I didn’t want to part with it, I got to work.”

Over time, parts he’d thrown out had become difficult to find and Pete spent months trying to source things: “There’s very few aftermarket parts on the car,” he told us. “I spent most of my time waiting for OEM parts to arrive so I could build it the way I wanted it.” The “big” bumpers, for example, were imported from Europe along with the G60 fenders flares. He chose to retain the stock headlights, but dressed them with a badgeless three-bar grille and eyebrow. He also deleted the rubbing strips, rear seams, badges, rear wiper and washer nozzle.

The body was sprayed Lambo’s three-stage Atlas orange after Pete painted a friend’s GSX-R the same color. “I liked the PPG paint but, dealing with exotic cars all day, I knew it would look better on four-wheels,” he told us.

The grille, bumper trim and flares were then painted in a catalyzed black base coat to avoid the unsightly fading that occurs when the plastic is left in the sun.

Once painted, Pete drove the car for a year or so with its stock 1.8L CIS engine. “I cleaned the motor and it looked immaculate but I struggled to keep up with friends. I needed more power, so removed the engine and had it rebuilt by Rui Mauricio at RM Pro Tune (before the company apparently closed). He installed 9:1 forged JE pistons, custom I-beam rods and an OE forged crank. Up top, a Euro intake cam was fitted along with a Bahn Brenner intake manifold, fuel rail and 440cc injectors.

The built motor was in preparation for the Garrett T3/T4 57-trim turbo Rui pulled off his shelf along with a cast exhaust manifold and front-mount intercooler. He then fabricated all the plumbing while Pete helped rewire the car to OBD2.

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2002 Mini Cooper S - Cooperman

After running into Randy Terwilliger with his ’02 Cooper S for several years at numerous events, we finally arranged a photo shoot with the man and his Mini in the LA canyons.

The 61 year-old tuner was able to get his hands on one of the first US-bound Cooper S, which later became an R&D tool for his company and hobby, M7 Tuning.

Eventually taking the Cooper S to the racetrack and even a wind tunnel, the guys started developing a range of performance parts in 2003. These now include items like a sequential shifter system, which controls gear selection in the stock six-speed transmission with paddles or a bumpstick, and incorporates an LED gear display and a clutch.

As you’d expect, the sequential system provides lightning gear selection. However, it also allows you to stack gears. “For example,” Randy explained, “you’re in fifth gear, coming into a third gear corner. Simply disengage the clutch, use the paddles or bumpstick to go down two gears, then engage the clutch and the computer in the back commands solenoids to select the chosen gear in 400 milliseconds.” The system provides sequential shifting for the stock transmission and is thrilling in the canyons!

R&D
Randy and partner Peter Horvath at M7 also designed parts like their 16% supercharger reduction pulley that allows boost to start earlier and climb higher than stock. It’s combined with a 2% larger crank pulley that’s lighter to increase throttle response.

The intercooler and hood scoop on Randy’s car were designed to channel air more efficiently through the intercooler, exiting from an extraction vent on the hood – a solution that’s since been patented by the company.

They also used 400cc injectors and a 65/62mm throttle body. The extra power is then tempered by an Alky Control that triggers methanol injection at 8psi boost to keep intake temperatures consistent, avoiding detonation.

Steve’s Auto Clinic in North Hills, CA provided Randy with a shop to help with the heavy stuff. “If it’s not at M7, it’s being worked on at Steve’s,” Randy said.

Steve’s shop fitted a Quaife LSD, ported and polished both the head and supercharger, installed a Schrick cam and a Jackson Racing header before Vitesse Pro tuned the ECU with Dimsport software.

In total, the engine modifications amount to 230hp at the wheels and 190 lb-ft of torque on the LAPD dyno in Chatsworth, CA. Of course, this doesn’t include the meth or nitrous systems that kicks in at full throttle for extra punch!

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2003 BMW M3 - Strip Teaser

When we asked Marcus Olson what it’s like to drive a 800hp BMW M3 he answered, “It feels like a normal car unless you want to turn it into a death machine. I’ve driven fast cars, but this type of fast seems to bend the seat as you accelerate. Nothing is comparable.”

Marcus has been a BMW fanatic since the age of nine. His dad still uses the home garage to restore BMWs, including an ongoing ’78 E24 Alpina project imported from Germany.

Marcus’ first BMW was a yellow E36 M3 Convertible, which he owned for five years, put 170,000 miles on it, and even used it to move from Minnesota to California.

When it came time for another M, he wanted a Laguna Seca blue E46 M3 with a manual six-speed, black interior and brushed aluminum. After looking for years he happened to drive past a dealership as the exact M3 was being traded in about a mile from his house.

Having bought it, the very first thing Marcus did was install staggered 19x8.5” and 19x10.5” COR Concord wheels with barrels painted by SIK Industries in Sunnyvale, CA to match the factory Laguna Seca blue.

The freshly-painted wheels were mounted with 245/35 front and 275/30 rear Falken tires. Even though the paint is relatively fragile and needs to be looked after, he was thrilled when some Hells Angels randomly complimented the look.

Marcus figured he couldn’t do any better than the stock exterior of the E46 M3, so he made his car stand out from the crowd by investing everything he had into the suspension and engine.

The plan was to create a quarter-mile car: Everybody said a 10sec E46 couldn’t be done, but HorsepowerFreaks in Portland, OR were more then willing to prove them wrong.

Working with David Nguygen at HPF, nothing seemed impossible as they planned to transform the six-cylinder S54 engine into an 800hp monster.

The work began by fitting Darton sleeves into the cylinders for the low-compression, forged pistons on stronger rods as part of HPF’s stage three turbo kit. The S54 was then ready for the Precision T71 billet turbo that pushes through a black-anodized intercooler and color-matched blue intake manifold.

The kit also includes 1200cc injectors and uprated fuel system, a carbon intake, Okada ignition coils, stainless steel exhaust, twin HKS BOVs and a 44mm TiAL wastegate, as well as an oil scavenge pump and new wiring harness among the never-ending list of parts.

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1988 VW Caddy - Marty Pants

By Claes Nilsson/cnfoto.se, Photography by Claes Nilsson/cnfoto.se

While most people can’t assemble an Ikea bookcase, some individuals rise above the rest, creating a masterpiece with their hands. Marty Cronvall from southern Sweden is the latter – a skilled fabricator with a humble approach and simple hardware who has created greatness. Transforming a beat-up poor man’s workhorse into an awe-inspiring street machine that would look at home next to a Group B rally car.

As a truck mechanic, Marty had all the technical knowledge, along with a knack for brute functionality and no-bullshit construction.

His building technique was especially cunning. While big car companies use CAD-software with advanced modeling, Marty kept it simple, developing the chassis mock-up in Lego so he could get a feel for the construction.

Armed with a Lego Technic-kit he constructed a plastic framework to evaluate the rigidity and function of the proposed chassis. Bending and flexing the prototype, he made changes until he thought a functional, real-world frame was ready to be built.

Steel tubes were laid out on the garage floor, measured, cut and welded to match the scale model. Armed with an electric saw and TIG-welder, he cut up the body of his ’88 VW Caddy and integrated the tubular chassis. A car was born.

Originally, the plan was to build a Golf truck – a GTI with a flatbed in the rear and lots of performance. It had to be unique, fast and (most importantly) a Volkswagen. But with a Volvo 240 rear axle in the garage, power slides were a major component in the plan.

Built to play on the drag strip, capable of time trials and drifting, but street-legal, the demands on this project were enormous. But as work progressed, it took a turn for the unexpected.

Volvo power
Having previously built several VWs, Marty found the small engines fragile and hard to tune. Being a Swede, he had access to an infinite number of Volvo engines, so this was deemed a much better choice.

After all, the parts could be found almost anywhere and everywhere in Sweden. Plus the favored 211hp B5204T engine from the Volvo 850 T5 was well documented, thoroughly built and very easily tuned.

As a result, a donor Volvo V70 was purchased and gutted to harvest its powerplant. But problems arose when trying to fit the turbocharged five-cylinder in the stock location.

“Fitting the engine up front was a tight fit,” Marty explained. “I’m quite tall, so there wasn’t room for my legs with the five-cylinder notched under the firewall. So I took a step back and decided to put it in the back, subframe and all!”

‘‘Taking the transverse-mounted, front-wheel driven, subframe-equipped Volvo engine and putting it in the back actually required ...

This was a stroke of genius. Taking the transverse-mounted, front-wheel driven, subframe-equipped Volvo engine and putting it in the back actually required minimal modifications. It also improved weight balance and made it possible to use the stock transmission, essentially making the Caddy a mid-engine supercar.

Bolting the subframe into his tubular chassis, the project started to look more Le Mans than Wolfsburg. And by putting a Porsche steering rack in the front, the Caddy got even more exotic.

Finding some rust during the teardown, Marty simply cut the roof out and replaced it with a custom composite panel, shaving top-heavy weight. He also created a thin fiberglass rear hatch to lighten the car further. And there’s still enough room to fit a few bags of cement in the rear if Marty should ever need to!

For now, the engine remains stone-cold stock, with the exception of the stainless steel exhaust needed for this one-off installation. And while 211hp is plenty of horsepower for this lightweight, rear-wheel drive machine, the owner is itching to play with the turbo and software…

Simple sophistication
As Leonardo da Vinci said, “sophistication is the ultimate form of simplicity.” Just as simple and cunning was the construction of the rear chassis bracing, which tied together the engine, shock towers and chassis.

The process involved creating a rope web to connect suspension points before replicating it in steel tubing for a triangulated rear chassis with supreme stiffness.

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