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15000
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12000
members - 03/04 |
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10000
members - 10/03 |
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9,000
members - 07/03 |
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7,000
members - 01/03 |
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5,000
members - 06/02 |
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3,000
members - 12/01 |
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B5
of the Month – January 2004
Alvin Chao (Ture 7)
Queens,
NY USA
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First off, it is an honor and a privilege to be chosen as B5 of
the Month! Well, I have a lot to say, so let’s get right into
it. My journey began in February of 1999 when the car I was
driving was totaled. I started looking around for another car to
replace it. I checked the usual suspects: ’99 Accord Coupe EX
V6, ’99 Nissan Maxima SE, ’99 Acura 3.2 TL, even a ’99
Subaru Legacy 2.5 GT Limited Edition and an Impreza 2.5RS. They
were all nice cars and after about 2 months of comparing and
test driving, I heard about the new VW’s. They changed the
shape away from the boxy look to a sleeker more aerodynamic
design. I was very interested in the new shape, so I started to
do some research on the engine. I joined VWVortex and found some
interesting info on the 1.8t. Further research revealed that I
could mod this engine to gain 47hp 60 lbs of torque quite
easily. Then the next step would be the K04 up rated turbo that
would look nearly identical to the K03. I found out that this
motor was also very reliable in Europe and thus my choice was
made! Came June 1999, I made the purchase on my 1999 Bright
Green VW Passat GLS with a 5speed manual, beige leather, luxury
package and cold weather package all without a test drive!
About 4-5 months later, I had her chipped, but I wanted more
performance on the track, so I saved up as much as I could
during the Y2K. I purchased KW Variant II Coilovers, Neuspeed
Cat back straight tip exhaust with cutout, and one of the early
beta AWE Tuning K04 kits. I was now happy at the track, but
lacked the time to go and practice.
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During the summer of 2000, I then met PJ
(barrelman17), and shortly afterwards, Joe (Triple777 aka
BoeserBlick), Jon (JonBoy), Willie (nycpassat), and Jack (Meph).
Planning for project “Athena” began with the support of my
friends. The problem was saving the money to create the dream
that was in my head. Planning and purchasing of parts took about
3 years (’00-‘03) and creating Athena took over a year
(4/02-10/03).
I enlisted the help of Tony, the owner of
www.auto-fix.com in LI, NY to help with the creation of this
complicated project. I wanted to create a unique vehicle to be different without looking too “ricey” I
know that there will be some guys out there who will trash the
way my project looks, but I feel that I have tastefully captured
the European essence with my choice of mods.
I have always loved the way the BMW’s
look with the blacked out housings and angel eyes. I had created
my own version of blackout headlights with K2 Vision HID’s,
but for the project, I had to have the real deal, so, I imported
euro spec M5 Xenon headlights with the clear corners. I also
liked the M3 mirrors, but the Hagus ones do not look like the
real thing. So I got a set that was made for a BMW 3series that
retained power, heat, and had a sidemarker on it. I was going to
get Z8 vents, but it costed over $400 for plastic, so genuine Z3
vents. I felt the euro look encompasses some kind of wide body,
so I had Steve @ Auto-fix create baby Porsche Carrera flares
from factory sheet metal. Now I could fit the massive 20x8.5”
Branzach ZEO BZ-11 wheels
(Kumho 712 255/35ZR20) in the wells. 15mm H&R Trak+ spacers
were used in front because the 35mm offset was not enough to
clear the suspension knuckle. 25mm H&R Trak+ spacers were
used in the rear to make the car look even with the front.
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Almost everything on the car had to be
custom fabricated to fit. The only thing on the car that was
“bolt on” was the Rieger Infinity side skirts, the wheels,
and the mini aluminum antenna.
I am proud of the fact that I was able to
create this with no other outside help. No sponsors, no industry
help, just a will to create. I didn’t do this for anyone or
for any show; it was done only for me. I wanted to show that it
was possible for a regular person on the east coast to create
something unique like the west coast guys.
Athena isn’t only show, she has GO also!
Sub 14’s in the ¼mile with approximately 204.4 wheel hp.
(before custom downpipe+high flow cat) Athena is by no means
complete. I wish I could say that she was done, but as you can
tell, there are a few visible things she needs still. I won’t
mention the stuff you don’t or can’t see. Hehe LOL.
I think this time; I will take my time, allowing my
wallet to heal first!
There will be some people who say, why did you spend all that
money when, you could have bought a 540i. While that is true,
It’s like this, If I were to buy a BMW 540i, I would have
modded that too, making the cost even higher! I’m not made of
money, so that’s another reason why. ;)
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It’s about freedom of expression
and individuality. No 2 persons on earth are alike, everyone is
different in some way, well, that’s the way I feel about my
car! J
She does not need to be like everyone else. I take pride in the
fact that I created Athena to be who she is today! So don’t
mess with the Goddess of War and Wisdom. J
I have to give mad thanks to my family: LetsAudi (Sid), Howard, Uncle
Dennis, and Kelly, for all the help and support they have given
me! Other thanks/shout outs to the remainder of Team EEP: Meph (Jack+Joanna),
nycpassat (Willie+Anita), barrelman17 (Peej), ajchenmph (Andy),
Fluid (Fran), JonBoy (Jon), RoxyB5 (Gianna), Jwil (Jeff) and
last but not least, the original Team EEP gangsta, BoeserBlick
(Joe)! I have mad love for you guys! Thanks to many peeps and
Moderators on Clubb5 and for their input and advice. Big thanks
to Willie @ Autobahnfluids.com, Steve @ Auto-Fix for taking the
time to get the details right and thanks to the rest of the
Auto-Fix crew!
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