Hello all, my name is Nic from Chicago IL. I've been a drift nerd since first witnessing Ueno's Soarer at the D1GP Soldier Field event circa 2009. I will attempt to make this as complete as possible since I've half assed build threads in the past. Apologies in advance for the length.
PARTS LIST
ENGINE: 1JZGTE VVTi (JZX110), Garrett G25-660 .72 AR turbo, Docrace single scroll v-band manifold, Turbosmart Hypergate45 external wastegate, Tial Q blow off valve, Blitz front mount intercooler, Greddy Profec B EBC, Aeromotive 340 in-tank fuel pump, fuel pressure regulator, Injector Dynamics 1050x injectors, Koyo radiator, oil cooler, power steering cooler, D Style fan shroud and overflow, twin SPAL fans, Circuit Sport power steering reservoir, 3" downpipe into straight pipe exhaust, Weld coilpack cover, Driftmotion billet pulleys, Fluidampr crank pulley, Carbing radiator plate
DRIVETRAIN: CD009 transmission with Serialnine CD-PRO adapter kit, CD999 shifter, crossmember, Energy transmission mount, custom lightweight aluminum flywheel, Clutchmasters FX400 8 puck clutch, Tilton 3/4" clutch master cylinder, 1 piece steel driveshaft by South Bay Driveline, Kaaz 2 way differential, Weir Performance 3.5 ring & pinion
ENGINE MANAGEMENT: Apexi Power FC D-Jetro - tuned by Unrivaled Tuning
SUSPENSION & CHASSIS: Stance SS coilovers with 24k/20k Swift springs, Serialnine front upper control arms, rear lower control arms, differential bushings, solid subframe bushings, KTS roll center adjusters, Rival knuckle, shortened spindles, Cusco front & rear strut tower bars, front & rear lower brace, Battle Version rear upper control arms, traction & toe links, SuperPro poly steering rack, #1 LCA bushings, Hotchkis front & rear sway bars, FIGS front and rear sway endlinks, subframe brace bar, powdercoated subframe by Prestige Coatings
BRAKES: Chase Bays ABS delete & proportioning valve, Stoptech stainless brake lines, front slotted rotors, Hawk HPS brake pads front/rear, Project Mu ebrake shoes
WHEELS & TIRES: SSR Premium 18x9" +24 front, 18x10 +12 rear wheels; Falken RT615K+ 215/40/18 front, Kenda Kaiser KR20A 255/35/18 rear tires
EXTERIOR: Elixir front bumper, side skirts, rear lip, Vertex front fenders, hood lip, tow strap, gas cap cover, RS Hamada Silhouette Magic carbon fiber hood, carbon fiber trunk garnish, carbon fiber taillight covers, Wald eyelids, Gialla Corsa trunk spoiler, Ganador blue glass power mirrors, black housing headlights, clear fog housings, custom LED tails, LED fender markers, Altezza window visors, shorty antenna, front grille, reshaped rear quarter panel by Pro Shop Noble, Mazda Deep Crystal Blue Mica paint
INTERIOR: Vertex Bride Zeta III driver seat on stock electric rail, King of Vertex 330mm steering wheel, shift + ebrake leather boot, Works Bell Splash hub, Rapfix quick release, Bride Brix passenger seat on Bride RO rails, rear Bride headrests, Serialnine SK-3 short shift knob, Willans Saloon 4 point harness, Pioneer AVH-X4700BS double din, Magellan nav retrofit in motorized housing, Rockville sun visor monitors, JBL Basspro Hub subwoofer, Revel water temp, oil temp, oil pressure gauges, Stack wideband gauge, Dashmat faux suede dash cover, Safety21 six-point bolt in rollcage, Cusco steel door bars, harness bar, TRD door strike plates
PART 1
After years of tagging along with the southside Chicago pals (now Tracker/Vanish/Link/etc) while in college, I ended up meeting Derek Slyter (one of the best dudes if you don't know him) at Final Bout 1. As luck would have it, he was selling his daily OEM 5 speed IS300 and I was in LA for spring break circa 2015 (fun fact, later found out a previous iteration of the car looked like this, which I used to dork out over:)
The car had blown Stance coils, a rep Bride Lowmax, Megan exhaust, rep TRD kit and a few other things - ended up buying it from him on the spot and shipped it back to Chicago. After some initial maintenance, I immediately threw a set of Weds Kranze ERM's I had bought ahead of time upon arrival.
Derek was also kind enough to throw in a full Vertex rep kit at the time due to wear and tear on the kit it came with, and subsequently the Kranze ERM's were traded for a full set of OG CR Kai's. Proceeded to hit my first event (DDay52) at USAir, was instantly hooked. Drove the car like this until summer of 2015 when I moved to San Jose CA for a work internship and left the car behind for the summer.
Josh Buado was a good pal and took care of getting the kit painted while I was gone, and the car was basically done in my head at the time. Summer 2015 in California was full of meeting the west coast pals, attending events (CLub Drift, RIP)/camping nonstop, eating hella good food.... the list goes on.
Decided at that point to move out that way after finishing grad school in 2016 and took a job offer straight out of school. In the meantime, I continued to drive as much as possible once events started back up. Bought a set of SSR Gartmaiers to rebuild at some point and proceeded to destroy the front end suspension at US41/D1MC/Muchachos in Morocco right before the winter.
Put the car away for the winter after that and began stockpiling over the winter. I'm a huge Vertex dork so I did the full Vertex interior treatment - driver's seat, shift/ebrake boots and steering wheel
Also decided to start upgrading a few things in the car. Bought a new set of Stance SS coils with Swift springs (24k/20k) to replace the blown set on the car, as well as Serialnine FUCA's, roll center adjusters, Hotchkis sways, FIGS endlinks, a Kaaz 2 way to replace the factory Torsen + 3.9 final drive, poly bushings, and Battle Version rear toe/traction links
More updates in Part 2.
Good friend, driver, and roommate