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AutoCon LA 2017

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March 25, 2017

Images Courtesy of Tyler Lee @ CarNinja

 

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The Los Angeles Convention Center hosts some of the most epic automotive events in the nation. On March 25, 2017, AutoCon filled the halls with a few of the finest machines from across the country. Crowds came in droves, lining up outside the convention hall for hours, waiting for their chance to file into the grand halls of the Convention Center. For an event held on a Sunday afternoon from 1pm-to-8pm, thousands of attendees waited in lines that snaked all the way out the front of the convention hall as interest in the event and the excitement of anticipation built up to a fever pitch.

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Once inside, the fans were greeted by a balanced presentation of high quality vehicle builds ranging from vintage rides and domestic muscle to aggressive imports and European exotics. AutoCon attracts a strong following of quality builds, ensuring that everyone in attendance experiences the finest in vehicle construction. There was no shortage of eye candy and inspiration for the car lover in us all.

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Slammed chassis, custom paint, aggressive aerodynamics and numerous engine swaps could be found throughout the vast convention halls. Eye catching machines showcased the latest trends and delivered a good idea of what is popular in the scene. The bolt-on overfender styling of Rocket Bunny, Liberty Walk and RAUH-Welt BEGRIFF (RWB) continues its foothold in the scene as platforms ranging from the accessible FR-S/BRZ up to the more exotic GT-Rs and Ferraris featured wide over fenders and aggressively offset wheels.

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The “slammed and stanced” trend continued as some machines had so much negative camber that the car was rolling on its inner side walls while the outer shoulder of the tires never touched the pavement. Note the daylight shining through?

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Honda chose this particular venue, rather than a traditional main-stream auto show like Detroit or Los Angeles to debut its entry in the hot hatch category: the 2017 Civic Type-R. This machine just captured the FWD track record at the Nurburgring Nordschleife Circuit from the previous record holder, the Volkswagen GTI Clubsport, with a lap time of 7 minutes 43.8 seconds. (Check out the latest video on YouTube)

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As the night drew to a close, the grand exodus of these machines formed a procession of horsepower leading out of the halls and onto Downtown Los Angeles’ streets, a sight to truly behold. We can hardly wait for next year.

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STILLEN Event Tracking

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Skyline Syndicate Launch Event

March 11, 2017

By Richard Fong

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Ideal car meets are, at best, a fair weather experience. People lose interest quickly at the first sign of precipitation. When clear skies and warm temperatures are the first things to greet you as you walk out the front door, it’s a good bet that a great day and an even greater event await your arrival. This is especially true when the event is focused on the Nissan Skyline GT-R.

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Skyline Syndicate, which started as a group of friends with a passion for all things Skyline, quickly gained momentum and evolved into a brand of its own. On Saturday March 11, a meet to celebrate Skyline Syndicate’s Launch Event took place in the City of Industry, California. With the support of the Purist Group, led by Sean Lee, this social media-promoted event drew import and European enthusiasts of all walks, in addition to the fortunate few that own Skylines.

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Upon arrival, a walk through the parking lot gave attendees plenty to look at, including some gorgeous Supras, NSXs, BMWs and other desirable platforms. But the stars of the events were located close to the warehouse entrance. After passing a few R35 GT-Rs, we came upon a trio of R32 Skyline GT-Rs near the entrance to the warehouse.

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Once inside the warehouse, a few more R32s along with a Stagea lined the walls leading up to the heritage row. Parked side-by-side, a triumvirate of Skylines (an R32, R33 and R34) was staged up on display. Near the loading docks, a NISMO equipped R33 was positioned next to TK Taka’s red Hakosuka.

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Although the event was scheduled to last from 10am to 3pm, the camaraderie, conversations and anecdotes kept some attendees at the event to well past 6pm. As the sun set on the event, the Skyline Syndicate enjoyed a great start to its brand. We can hardly wait for the next event!

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2016 Infiniti Q50 3.0t Red Sport

The End of an Era Begins

With the introduction of the Q50 Twin Turbo and 2.0 turbo, 2016 marks the beginning of the end for the now famous Nissan VQ family of engines.

For nearly two decades, the Nissan V6 engines have been based on the VQ platform. These engines have been widely revered as powerful, fun, and innovative V6 mills with a distinctive sound – some would argue the “best” sound on the market.

STILLEN has always been fond of the VQ and its many variants; VQ35, VQ35DE, VQ35 rev-up, VQ35HR, VQ40 (found on the mini-truck and compact SUV line), and of course, the swan song VQ37 featuring Nissan’s progressive VVEL technology.

Nissan Returns to Its Roots

With deep respect and fond appreciation we say good-bye to the VQ. Now, we’re ushering in a new era by going back in history about 25 years.

Sound weird?

To our eyes anyway, Nissan appears to be returning to its performance roots. Long time Nissan fans know that the epitome of a performance Nissan engine is the VG30 3.0 liter V6 engine found in the Z32 chassis Nissan 300ZX. These cars were feared and respected in their time and are now considered timeless classics.

The latest excitement surrounding NISSAN power plants is the new VR30 3.0 liter V6.

See the resemblance?

The VR30 comes in two flavors, 300HP and 400HP. Needless to say, here at STILLEN we can’t wait to work on these engines.

However, it isn’t the only interesting new turbo engine available from Nissan/Infiniti.

The new Q50 is already available with a 4 cylinder turbo engine sourced from Mercedes.

Which leads us to the question…

One Turbo or Two?

Contrary to all the talk about the Infiniti Q50 and the all-new VR30 Twin Turbo, there’s been nothing but crickets about the Q50 2.0 Turbo that recently hit Infiniti showrooms.

Makes us wonder: is two the minimum number of turbos required to generate online chatter these days? Or is it more about engine displacement? Both?

Regardless, as usual the car with the smaller engine gets ignored. Here at STILLEN, we love underdogs because they usually embody the kind of performance challenge we love to take on.

And we know there’ll be plenty of enthusiasts who will pick up a Q50 4-banger and promptly begin to modify it.

So color us inspired!

Your 15 Seconds of Fame

Everyone dreams of owning that 500+ horsepower monster…the one that gets you daydreaming. You know the scenario: that magical day you line up on a Ferrari and live out everyone’s Fast and Furious fantasy.

The one where you:

  1. Win the race
  2. Shame the dude
  3. Get the girl

Ahhh yes…

Now that you’ve taken a second to imagine that scene from the movie, let’s return to reality. Because of real life concerns like budgets, insurance, significant others and gas mileage, lots of people will be purchasing the 2.0 Turbo version.

You know..the model that only has one turbo.

“One turbo? Old school, Bruh”.

Nah…the truth is, turbos in any quantity are back to stay and will likely usher in a golden era of automotive performance that we last enjoyed in the turbocharged 90’s.

No Replacement for Displacement?

Sure, bigger displacement motors will always be the dominant power plants in regards to hop up potential. There truly is no replacement for displacement after all.

And there seems to be a particular stigma in the Luxury Sport Sedan/Coupe scene about small displacement motors. While many owners now equate larger displacement 6 cylinder engines with luxury, let’s not forget that these 4 cylinder turbo motors aren’t that different that those found in other sporty cars.

A Weighty Decision

The weight differential between “pure” sports cars and “luxury” sport cars is less than you might think. For example: Subaru WRX – 3400 lbs, Audi S3 – 3400 lbs, Mitsubishi Evo – 3500 lbs. Granted, the Q50 2.0t weighs in around 3700 lbs. And yes, those other cars come from the factory with a lot more power.

However, there are plenty of indications that this engine is very capable of respectable output. We already know some versions of this motor (sourced from Mercedes) make 241 hp from the factory. The 208 hp version has been tuned to around 260 hp (and 302 lb-ft torque) with the stock turbo.

Needless to say, it appears there’s room for growth. If it’s possible to get the 2.0t into the 300 crank horsepower range, it will definitely be a blast to drive. It’d pretty much erase the 200 pound penalty and deliver all the real world benefits of a smaller displacement engine (insurance, gas mileage, happy girlfriend, boyfriend, spouse, etc).

Go Fast Bits – Developing Q50 Turbo Aftermarket Parts

STILLEN has already confirmed fitment of our body styling polyurethane parts (Splitter, Diffuser, Side Splitters, Roof Wing, and Deck Wing), Axle-Back Exhaust, and Rear Sway Bar. We have a cat-back exhaust in development and more goodies on the testing bench.

Handling wise, our friends at RS-R already have lowering springs and coilovers done.

So the power, performance and style parts for the 2.0t Q50 are already on tap and ready to quench your thirst.

Driving Impression: Torque to the Rescue

When Infiniti released the Q50 back in 2013 (as a 2014 model), the enthusiast community was impressed by its styling, comfort, and performance. The tried and true VQ37 provided ample power for a bit of fun and that refined feeling. It was only a matter of time before Infiniti followed the market trend and began spec’ing a small displacement turbo engine for the base model. Like most people, we thought this was a bit of a travesty (we’d grown rather fond of the raspy V6).

Now that we finally got a chance to drive the 2016 version of the small displacement Q50…it’s..not so bad.

At the bottom end, horsepower feels a bit anemic, but a dose of torque on the low end of the curve helps move things off the line.

At the other end of the spectrum, the car definitely lacks the top end power we were accustomed to with the previous engine. Once you pass about 5K rpm it feels like the motor is being reined in. The power stops building and the acceleration falls off a bit.

It isn’t terrible, but it’s a little disappointing to say the least.

Good News Travel Fast

The good new is, our initial testing with exhaust parts has definitely yielded improved feel in top end power. This hints that the car will be very responsive to mods. Who knows…maybe a STILLEN modified 2.0t will end up being faster than the VQ37 equipped Q50’s. Time will tell.

Meanwhile…

Call your STILLEN Power, Performance and Style expert at 866-250-5422. We’ll help you build the Q50 of your dreams!

 

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With so much hype around the Infiniti Q50 and the new Twin Turbo V6 it will be receiving we think some people forgot that the new Q60 was being released soon. Well, today all of you two door lovers out there got a big treat.

Infiniti released the 2017 Q60 today at the Detroit Auto Show and it is beautiful. The new Q60 will come with the same engine options as the 2017 Q50. A 400 HP (350 lb-ft) Twin Turbo V6 at the top of the line up, a 300 HP (295 lb-ft) Twin Turbo V6 will be the middle option, and the entry motor will be a 208 HP (258 lb-ft) 2.0 Turbo Inline 4 (for more analysis on the Twin Turbo V6 motor please see our blog article “An Aftermarket perspective on the new Nissan/Infiniti VR 3.0 Twin Turbo V6“).

It is not clear yet, but it seems all versions will be available with AWD. Twin Turbo V6 variants will come with the 2nd generation of the Direct Adaptive Steering (DAS) which will hopefully prove to be much better than the first generation. Infiniti is also adding a 2nd suspension option that they are calling the Dynamic Digital Suspension (Standard on Sport Models) which will allow you set you suspension for the right occasion.

All of these new options and upgrades made the Infiniti Q60 a much more appealing car in a very competitive segment. Though the 400 HP variant will probably run in the $50k range, we are certain that the mid level 300 HP Version will be able to be modified to compete with the big boys the way the BMW 435i has compared to the M3.

 

 

 

 

 

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STILLEN Attends the First Annual NissFest!!!

STILLEN is deep rooted in the Nissan/Infiniti Community. So obviously when we heard there was going to be a new annual event for Nissan & Infiniti, we had to get involved.

The 1st Annual NissFest event was held at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana. With this being the first show and also taking place a little later in the year we were still very happy with the turn out. It was great seeing a lot of the local Nissan/Infiniti Enthusiasts happy to come out, show off their cars, visit vendors, and also just admire what others had done to their cars as well. We are very much looking forward to next year and hope to see even more people attend!

It was also great to see so many cars featuring STILLEN Parts. Here are some of our favorites from the show!

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DSC03096DSC03098DSC03101 DSC03100   DSC03094 DSC03093 DSC03092 DSC03091 DSC03090 DSC03088    DSC03129  DSC03124 DSC03122 DSC03121 DSC03118 DSC03116 DSC03113 DSC03110   DSC03105 DSC03104

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STILLEN is a company that is proud to be owned and operated by automotive enthusiasts. This month’s employee spotlight is on another one of our veterans here.

Kenny Duong

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Kenny has been a performance specialist at STILLEN since 1999. Before working for STILLEN, he was already an avid car enthusiast. Kenny has owned some of the most Iconic cars from the 90’s imaginable. When he started at STILLEN he drove a FD RX-7 and has had cars like the S13 240SX and MKIV TT Supra in his stable. Now as time passes our taste in cars can change. Kenny decided to switch things up around 2012 and got himself a 997 911 Turbo, “That car is amazing!”. As many of have experienced, as we have matured our tastes in cars have changed a little, but there is that magical appeal of those dream cars from years past. Cars like the 300ZX, RX7, Supra, NSX, etc will always hold a special place in our hearts and always tempt us to bring one home. There is one car for most import tuning enthusiasts that some might call the “holy grail” which is the Nissan Skyline GTR. A performance car that was never legalized in the States and is more rare to see than almost any super car does not usually cross people’s minds when they are considering a car to purchase. We won’t go through all the details, but a handful of R32 and R33 Skylines were legalized here in the US and are very sought after.

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R33 Skyline GTR

Kenny felt that itch to own a piece of Tuner Car history and set out on a mission to buy a Skyline. After months of searching, Kenny finally found his Federal and California Legal R33 Skyline GTR. Many of us here at STILLEN could tell you about those months spent searching and we got to see the struggle as well as the excitement when the car was finally in his possession. Kenny loves owning such a rare car and is really a dream come true.

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If you ever get a chance to talk to Kenny over the phone or in person, make sure to ask him about his Skyline.

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We are pleased to announce the release of the STILLEN Infiniti Q50 Sway Bar Set.

Sway Bars are easily the biggest performance upgrade you can make to your car’s suspension. Though not as popular as lowering a vehicle because there is no aesthetic change, it is a much more noticeable and dynamic modification. Modern vehicles (especially luxury cars) are designed with comfort in mind first, and then handling is more of an afterthought with most consideration given to safety. Because of this, we often find ourselves with a car that has great potential, but has a tendency to understeer and wallow through turns.

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The STILLEN Q50 Sway Bars solve this issue by strengthening the link between both sides of the suspension. This results in less body roll, a stronger contact patch, and better balance in and out of turns. The Sway Bars are also adjustable allowing you to tune your suspension to favor Understeer or Oversteer. No matter what how you drive your Q50, the STILLEN Sway Bars are comfortable enough for everyday driving, while providing the performance you want for canyon carving and/or the occasional track day.

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STILLEN Q50 Sway Bars (304396) Feature:

  • Front Sway Bar
  • Rear Sway Bar
  • 3 or 5 way adjustable
  • Red Powder Coat Finish
  • Hollow Tube Construction for weight savings
  • Fits RWD Q50, Q50S, Q50 Hybrid, and Q50S Hybrid
  • Made in America

AWD Setup is currently in development and should be ready in the near future.

Founded in 1986, STILLEN is recognized as one of the premier tuners in the world. With Engineers and a full R&D department on location, STILLEN has long been engineering big brake kits with Brembo and AP Racing, developing superchargers with Magnuson, Edelbrock, Whipple, Vortech, and under the leadership of championship race car driver Steve Millen, trusted by thousands of enthusiasts, manufacturing STILLEN branded products and upgrades, as well as wholesale distribution and retail partners.
Contact us: info@stillen.com
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