Premier Hawaii

Jonstairs — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:00:16 +0000

Before reaching our destination of Oahu, Kama, was one of the people I was in touch with regularly prior to the trip. Over the past couple months the shop formally known as STS808, went through some internal changes and wanted to have a grand re-opening as Premier. Kama took it upon himself to go ahead and get it all lined up for the week we were going to be in town.

Kama hooked it up alot, he even went pretty far out of his way Sunday morning to pick us all up from the hotel in his wifes avant before arriving at the shop to help the rest of the guys setup.

When we pulled into the parking lot it we were greeted by the rest of the guys from Premier and friends and they went back to setting up tents and tables. During that time I started lurking around the shop, and was very impressed. The thing that was awesome about it is its a one stop shop. They have a paint booth, they do big turbo setups, air installs, wheels, tires, you name it they can tackle it. One of the more recent builds they completed was the MK4 jetta they have named, the stink bug. sporting a full GLI kit and trim, a fresh respray and a big turbo setup, and a wire tuck. In general having an all inclusive shop is something that is often times overlooked. But for someone who wants to to a full overhaul it adds a huge level of convenience to the whole build.

Back to the tables and tents, FOOD FOR DAYS! These dudes do not mess around. This was a pot luck GTG so everyone that attended brought tons of amazing food, everything from pizzas, to local favorites such as pulled pork, spam musubi, Leonard’s malasadas. There was a feeling of community at this event that is unexplainable. Obviously on a small Island most people into cars do know eachother, but the fact that the european enthusiasts stay this close is awesome.

Throughout the day there were alot of fun activities going on. Premier had some new shirts they decided to raffle off, I donated a couple gengstout goodies, and Kevin brought some Euro Image shirts as well. The raffle is always a good fall back, but it can get boring. To get around this the guys at premier thought of a couple good ways to find a true, deserving winner. First, a race….a running race. Shortly after an eating contest, which was the probably the funniest part of the day, especially the when the vomiting at the end occurred.

Alot of cars made it out to the event, as you can see in the pictures. To someone from the East coast, comparing this to our events, it might not seem like much but for Hawaii a small event like this with short notice this turnout and sense of community is phenomenal.

Id like to give a HUGE thanks to our friend Anthony Nguyen for sending his pictures from Premier over for us to use. Being the second day into our trip I didnt take as many photos as I should have!

MK1 fun in the sun: Chris’s big turbo 1.8t Jetta

Jonstairs — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:00:32 +0000

As some of you may know, I recently returned from my favorite place, Hawaii. This trip was different than the rest for alot of reasons, but mainly because of all the great people I was able to meet along the way. Our third day into the trip we attended a gathering/grand re-opening for Premier Auto service and Performance(formally STS808). Thanks to a ton of people, the event was great. There will be a post soon with the event coverage.

While at the event I was able to hang out with all the people I had been in touch with during the planning of our trip. Mainly Kama, who was nice enough to get all the planning for the event worked out and even picked all four of us up from the hotel to bring us which was great since we opted against a rental, and Chris, who is a former East Coast enthusiast who has been on the Island for about 4 years now.

Luckily for us, he had some time off and offered to bring us all around the Island. Other than being an amazing tour guide since he knew the island so well, we also had the opportunity to be driven around in what I consider, one of the most thrilling cars i’ve experienced.

For anyone who has driven, or been in a MK1, you’d know that it isn’t a vehicle that you would normally consider fast, or thrilling, while its rat packed with 5 people. Chris’s car proved us all wrong, very wrong as a matter of fact. During our first ride we had a small taste of what it was capable of, at half throttle. After my stomach returned to its original location, I looked into the back seat to see if Kevin and the girls had the same reaction that I was had in the cockpit to verify the reality of what we had just felt. What im getting at, is that no words, photos, or videos can describe what this amount of power (442HP/338) feels like in a MK1 Jetta, and while its happening being able to view some of the most beautiful coast lines and beaches in the world. Its actually quite ironic, because the speed limit throughout Oahu, is rarely over 55 so Chris needs to be selective with his 3rd gear highway pulls.

The other great feature of this car is something so simple, yet we all often times forget about it. They are meant to be driven, and this car is a daily driver. Right now your thinking, “So what, its in hawaii its nice everyday.” Well, unfortunately that thought will do you no justice at this point since the car was driven from Washington DC where Chris had originally finished the swap, to California on Hawaii plates, in the winter. His wife, being from Hawaii, had only seen small portions of the mainland so when we needed to bring the car to his new paradise, or residence if you will, He figured he might as well give her a proper tour of some other states over the course of a couple weeks and ship the car to Hawaii from the west coast instead. If anything proves the reliability of a car, a cross country journey through all the ever changing climates the US does the trick.

Throughout the week Chris brought us to some of the most amazing parts of the island, that I had not seen, and it some cases didn’t even know about from my previous two trips to hawaii. Everything to the famous surf capital of the world North Shore, Haleiwa, Waimea Bay, Hanauma Bay, the lagoons, waterfalls, west side, you name it, we saw it. And I can confidently saw even with a rental car, without Chris this trip wouldnt have accomplished even half of what he showed us. Luckily at all these great locations we were in the Jetta, so I grabbed some pics of it during our adventures, enjoy!

Normally we dont go into this much detail with ‘specs’ here at Gengstout, but I know the power junkies reading this will want some info on the build. so here ya go!

AEB head, ported,bowl work, 034 valve springs, ferrera stainless valves, cat billet 3651 cams.
AWP block and pistons, OEM rings, IE rods, OEM bearings, ARP fasteners.
TDi 02J 5 speed, cable conversion, Peloquin diff w/arp hardware.
SouthBend Stg5 clutch/PP, stainless 13lb flywheel
Siemens matched 630cc injectors
SEM largeport(port matched) intake manifold
80mm v3 Hemi TB
Treadstone exhaust manifold
billet gt3071r .63(pagparts wheel)
Tial 50mm BOV & 38mm WG atmospheric dump
full 304 hand TIG’d 3″ exhaust, all v-banded with Flowmaster SuperDelta 40 muffler and intercooler piping
Custom AWIC setup
Unitronic 630 BT software 92 oct
Snow Performance stg2 WMI

Remembrance

GoshJarcia — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 23:06:38 +0000

At this time last year the VW Community suffered a great loss. In order to pay tribute to Alexi I asked a good friend of his to say a few words.

In honor of Alexi with love from Tobias and Danielle Aldrich.

On January 29th, 2011, we lost a great friend, Alexi Derochambeau. As a community, the support that was given to his family during this difficult time was quite impressive. Friends traveled to honor Alexi and pay their respects to the wonderful things he had done. His parents were thrilled to see how many lives Alexi had touched and became all the more proud of their son.
It had been quite apparent to his parents that Alexi had an overwhelming passion for all things Volkswagen. Before he passed, Alexi had been working on some innovative upgrades to his MK3 and the project was not quite finished. His parents, knowing how much it would have meant to Alexi, decided to see the rest of the work carried out.

This was no easy task. There were many final decisions to be made. Notes with Alexi’s ideas and thoughts scattered about. Different parts to the project were in the hands of vendors and friends alike. The goal was to be sure that the MK3 was finished precisely the way Alexi would have wanted. His Mom, Nancy, kept in touch with friends and made sense of notes and ideas that would become “the master plan.”
Nancy wanted to be able to trailer the car to the majority of the VW shows in the Northeast. She wanted to continue to allow the community to admire Alexi’s work and ideas in person. The first goal was to have the car rolling and in proper shape for The New England Dustoff. Each Sunday for weeks, many friends would gather to slowly pick away at the project. Vendors were contacted and pieces of the puzzle began to fall together.
While working on the project, Alexi’s parents and friends decided to set up a website in remembrance of Alexi and all the things he has done that have influenced us all. The site, Foundation-Blue, shows a chronicle of the various stages of the MK3 project. There are shirts and accessories that are for sale in memory of Alexi. The funds go toward monies needed to complete the project as well as transfer costs to get the car to shows.

Fortunately the Alexi-mobile was able to make it to several events this year. It saw The Dustoff, Dubs in The Sand, Vag Fair, and H2Oi. The car was on full display at each show and admired by many. At each event, Alexi’s father, Mark, presented the “Alexi Award.” The award as given to the vehicle that Mark viewed as something innovative and creative and most importantly, something Alexi would have appreciated.

As the year continued, more work on the project was completed and the details began to fall into place. The big reveal, where the most change was apparent, was of course at the mecca, H2Oi. Alexi had designed his own 3 piece wheels and submitted the design to Matt Crooke over at fifteen52. The wheels were first seen by the public eye in Ocean City. To say that they drew a bit of attention is an understatement. It was truly great to see the progress the car had made and how proud his parents both were. This is a wonderful group of people to be a part of, and the support that Alexi’s family and friends receive is an obvious example of this. We miss our friend every day and every event, G2G and VWfiends video reminds us of what a great guy he was. Cheers to Alexi.

Thanks to: “MK1Tink” Chris Johnson, Banchwerks, Euro Auto Source, fifteen52, and countless others who has lent a hand or support to foundation-blue.

The New England Auto Show

GoshJarcia — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:06:13 +0000

The cold has finally set in. We have been fortunate enough to not be snowed in..Yet… I will however remain hopeful, The Spring is close and we will be pushing lots of great things when the good weather comes. In looking for things to shoot I figured I would gather some of the fella’s and head into the city for the NE Auto Show. It was rumored there were some not so often seen cars that I had to check out. Jon and I roamed the lot and snapped a few shots of some of the ones that grabbed our attention!

First on my list to see was the Lexus LFA.

Now I’m sure many of you hate JDM’s but this is a thing of beauty, overpriced yes, But nonetheless this car is crazy in person. I do wish I had gotten to hear it breathe.

Probably my favorite car to be manufactured in the past few years. The 1M has my heart.

There were many good cars to take a look at and see up close. After the we of course went for a drink!!

Spring can’t come soon enough.