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Street Racing Illustrated | Unusual Suspect – Joshua Rodriguez’s Track-Bred CTS-V

Joshua Rodriguez’s ferocious 2009 Cadillac CTS-V

Story | Phillip Pratt

Photos | Gerry Burke & Phillip Pratt

Joshua Rodriguez's 2009 Cadillac CTS-V

The name Cadillac denotes visions of old-school American luxury. It’s the car that an entire generation of working-class Americans strove to afford. The prize that’s bought at the end of a long career, or after a big raise. It’s the trophy that’s loving parked in a garage and washed every weekend, whether it’s dirty or not, outside of a two-story house surrounded by a white picket fence. I’m envisioning a shady street or a cul-de-sac of some sort (stay with me). The last thing anyone expects to hear when a Cadi is fired up is a ruckus so violent, and sonically disruptive it drowns out just about anything and anyone within a 100-feet. While Joshua Rodriguez, the owner of a 09’ CTS-V admits that he originally bought his Cadi as a fun daily, if you’ve been around his car while it’s running, it’s no secret that he’s gone far beyond that intent.

Joshua Rodriguez's 2009 Cadillac CTS-V

It’s easy to forget that Cadillac, an automobile-line for the middle and upper class, is made by GM. The same company that produces Chevrolet, and in turn, one of the fastest production cars in America, the Corvette. I bring this up because the CTS-V shares something in common with it. The engine. Inside the bay of this luxury sports sedan lies the 6.2L, 556 HP, heart of an American supercar. The supercharged LSA V8 (a detuned version of the Corvette’s LS9) inside of Joshua’s CTS-V is similar to the one that powered the C6 ZR1, but with a few parts implemented to tame the beast; such as hypereutectic pistons versus the forged pieces found in the LS9. While the CTS-V is about 849lbs heavier than its Chevy cousin, coming in at around 4222lbs from the factory, the power provided by the LSA is more than enough to keep it faster than most other factory-tuned vehicles… but friends, Josh’s Cady ain’t stock.

Joshua Rodriguez's 2009 Cadillac CTS-V

The initial intention for Josh’s CTS-V was to keep it in its original state. I mean, who wouldn’t be happy with a 500+ HP car to drive back and forth to work? Josh… that’s who. “I was looking for a nice, powerful, daily driver…” Josh explained. “I had an Injen air-intake on the car within a week of bringing it home.” From the aforementioned noise, his LSA makes, Josh obviously didn’t stop there. Over the span of 3-years Josh dove headfirst into making his Cadi a firebreather. Not satisfied with engine’s stock levels of boost, he upgraded his factory supplied 1.9L blower to a ported Joker Performance Stage 5 unit. Allowing the greater volume of air to enter is a TPIS 102mm throttle body mated to a 5-inch charge pipe.

Holding the lion’s share of work on the powerplant are the ported cylinder heads, with all it’s valvetrain pieces sourced from Brian Tooley Racing, along with a Stage 3 PDS Camshaft (the culprit responsible for its rowdy idle). A 2.38 upper pulley and a 9.1 lower pulley on an ATI Super Damper help complete the set-up while Injector Dynamics 850cc fuel injectors and a JMS pump booster ensure the LS is supplied with ample amounts of E85. At the time of the writing this piece, Josh hasn’t made too many passes with this set-up, but prior to upgrading the supercharger and related pieces, the CTS-V did a 10.24-second pass at 135 MPH on around 715 WHP. On the current set-up, we’d assume the car is quite faster and will probably break 9-seconds on the next trip to the track.

Joshua Rodriguez's 2009 Cadillac CTS-V

With the firepower available to him Josh was able to rise to as high #4 on the SRMS Top 10 List, which is no simple task with the amounts of fast cars that come out for the monthly event. However, the success didn’t come without its pitfalls. At an event, last fall, Josh’s tranny broke “I only had a few weeks to source a built transmission and carbon driveshaft…” Josh recalls. “I also had to get the car to Fastproms in Tampa to have it tuned. Finished 2-days before the event!” Luckily, most of the work on the Cadi is done in-house by himself and his crew known as “Theory Garage”. So, some labor and time are saved there. The Pitbull-like stance of the Cadillac is aggressively complimented by a staggered set of Weld RT-S wheels wrapped in luscious Mickey Thompson Street Radials.

It’s amazing what we gearheads do when a project falls into our laps. Within 3-years of owning it, Josh’s Cadi went from daily driver to being amongst the fastest street cars in South Florida. The itch for velocity coupled with the satisfaction of building a machine up with your own hands can be all-consuming. Might even classify it as an obsession. Even with the neck pains, raw knuckles, and dirty, broken, fingernails that come from wrenching on cars; I don’t think there are many other things that Josh would rather spend his nights doing.

Joshua Rodriguez's 2009 Cadillac CTS-V

Instagram: @blazin07ss

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne

Street Racing Illustrated | Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne 03.25.18

Beautiful weather and an awesome locale make Cars n Coffee Key Biscayne a ‘must go’.

Story & Photos | Phillip Pratt

 

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne | Majestics reppin’ at C&C Key Biscayne

 

There really is no backdrop like the aqua-color waters of Miami Beach on a clear morning. Even with the controlled vehicular chaos that was created by the Miami Open Tennis tournament taking place just across the Causeway, it was hard to let the laidback vibe be diluted. Outside of the beautiful location, the biggest standout was the eclectic mix of cars, bikes, and enthusiasts in attendance. It was impossible to say what kind of meet it was; import, domestic, classic, bikes, exotics… but I guess that’s the point of a Cars n Coffee meet. It’s intentionally nondescript by design, in turn, draws in a vastly diverse crowd. From the custom hot-rods, pocket bikes, modern muscle cars, to the rows of GTRs (both old and new) and the random bicycle hooligans; C&C Key Biscayne doesn’t disappoint. If nothing else, the view coming over the bridge is almost worth the drive by itself.

 

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne | Crew of Pocket Bikes showed up in mass

 

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne | Classic and Clean

 

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne | Hoods up

 

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne | Beauty in motion

 

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne | A Bug done right

 

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne

 

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne | Everyone is a Hoonigan

 

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne | Some mean muscle in attendance

 

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne | When the wheels match the backdrop

 

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne | Cars even love the view

 

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne

 

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne

Street Racing Illustrated | Evolution of the Beast

EVOLUTION OF THE BEAST

Fr8train’s journey from contender to king and back.

Story | Phillip Pratt

Photos | Phillip Pratt / Gerry Burke

 

Evolution of the Beast | C&S Transmissions in Miramar, FL

Carlos’ Firebird “Fr8train” | Home at C&S Transmissions in Miramar, Florida

 

When the word “evolution” is mentioned, at least in the circles we run in any way, most immediately relate it to other words like “Mitsubishi”, “Lancer”, the engine code “4G63”, or, if you’re a die-hard Subie driver, “@#$% you!”. But to the rest of the sane world, the word “evolution”, derived from the word “evolve”, is the gradual development of something, especially from a simple form to a more complex one. It’s typically a slow process that begins to help an organism survive in whatever ecosystem it lives within, as the environment or other organisms around it change. Some develop rock-hard shells or the ability to change their color, maybe even to secrete venomous slim from their skin; it’s all done to better their chances in a world that’s out to kill and probably consume them.

 

Evolution of the Beast | Twin-Turbo LS

Carlos’ Firebird “Fr8train” | Original Twin-Turbo Set-Up, utilizing the stock ECU

 

Carlos, owner of the Trans Am named “Fr8train”, and the former king of the SRMS (Street Racing Made Safe) Top 10 List down in South Florida, knows this process all too well. Anyone familiar with the SRMS program in SoFlo knows his tenuous rise the top of the pack. The low-profile Firebird went from contender to top dog defeating every challenger put in its way. Having anywhere between 700 to 850-wheel horsepower, provided by a twin-turbo LS powerplant would generally make this a reality. That power combined with a rock-solid transmission built to necessity, in-house, by C&S (Carlos’ transmission shop) in Miramar, led to several run-ins with the ever-popular Danny “Frustrate” Rodriguez and his then B-Series powered, EG Civic. Losing to Frustrate during that friendly rivalry was enough to trigger Fr8train’s growth, but it most definitely wouldn’t be the last.

 

Evolution of the Beast | Carlo's Twin-Turbo Firebird

Carlos’ Firebird “Fr8train” | Party’s Over Indeed

 

The car wasn’t purchased as we see it. It was acquired by Carlos’ father as a mere shell. From there, they decided to drop in the 5.7L LS V8 that’d you’d typically find in a WS6 but built it out with forged internals stroking it out to a healthy 393. Instead of going down the familiar avenue of a bottle nitrous (something they were used to) and calling it a day, they decided to go turbo. And not just a single snail either, two big boys. Utilizing the stock ECU (yes, the stock computer) and manual boost controller, they tuned it out to a ripe 711-wheel horsepower on only 3lbs of boost! That was enough to get him into the top five, and on the way, set up dances with several impressive contenders including a couple ridiculous Fox Body Mustangs, big power Supras and a wicked Evo or two. By the time Carlos was ready to challenge for a top-three spot, he’d turned up Trans Am to about 8lbs making more than 900-wheel horsepower. Finally, he was set to face-off with his target; Frustrate, and his boosted EG, who much like him had fought his way up the list over the last few months and wasn’t interested in letting go his crown. It was a close race, but Frustrate held on and did so for several months and just as many races. It forced Carlos to take his Firebird back into the lab.

 

Evolution of the Beast | Carlo's Twin-Turbo Firebird

Carlos’ Firebird “Fr8train”

 

The next time we saw Carlos, a couple things had changed. At a Super Chevy show, he snapped the timing chain on the Trans Am cz-lekarna.com://https. It turned out to be a blessing-in-disguise as it led him to switch from a hydraulic to a solid roller which allowed the car to shift at higher RPMs and make a little more than 150 extra horsepower. This pushed the Trans Am well into the 1k+ club. That, combined with some needed track testing, was enough to dethrone the “People’s Champ”, Frustrate, at the next event and hold onto the #1 spot for quite some time. He even took the show on the road with a trip to Orlando Speed World. After some heated back-and-forths and the changing of the day (the race happened several minutes past midnight, in front of a handful of people), Carlos and Fr8train walked a local LS-powered Fox-body, with no more than two wheels on the ground for half of the 1320.

 

Evolution of the Beast | Firebird Vs Civic

Carlos’ Firebird “Fr8train” | Facing off against “The People’s Champ”, Daniel “Frustrate” Rodriguez

 

Carlos’ success didn’t go noticed, however. There were several groups from around the area that wanted a shot at him. Even Frustrate returned with a new set-up. This time utilizing a fully-built turbo-charged K-series motor. He was most certainly faster than before, but it still wasn’t enough to dethrone Carlos, who since their last meeting, had pushed the Trans Am to hold more than 1200 horsepower, converted to an automatic tranny and by then was consistently popping up on two wheels… and still had A/C. It wasn’t until weeks later, when Miami Performance Inc. and Fabshop Miami (no relation) showed up with their frighteningly fast GTRs, was anybody able to contend for Carlos’ crown. Ultimately, the younger, more advanced cars proved too much for the Trans Am and both, at one time or another, bested Carlos, controversy on roll-speeds and jumps notwithstanding, mind you.

 

Evolution of the Beast | Carlo's Twin-Turbo Firebird

Carlos’ Firebird “Fr8train” | Warming up the tires on a cold night in Orlando

 

With all that behind them, the boys at C&S are looking forward. They hadn’t originally built the Trans Am to be a “world-beater”. It was a passion project. Something to play around with on the weekends. Even after the big pressure contests, he endured against his friend Frustrate, it was just always just about fun at the end of the day. Now it’s a little different. During Carlos’ bouts against the MPI (Miami Performance Inc.) GTR there were a couple of dust-ups between the two crews. Ok, maybe more than a couple. Just about every time these guys got near each other there were most certainly words and always the chance of an altercation or two. I don’t want to claim it’s “personal” but I’m also not going to assume it’s just about going fast anymore.

 

Evolution of the Beast | Carlo's Twin-Turbo Firebird

Carlos’ Firebird “Fr8train”

 

With the intention of making a comeback, C&S have completely torn down the Trans Am; A stiffened-up chassis, a completely new rear-end, and a more advanced, substantially larger engine that will put out more than 2000-wheel horsepower (shhh…). The only thing that will remain from the previous power/drivetrain is the tranny because you know… C&S is a tranny shop. Carlos doesn’t plan to be present at the beginning of the new season of races in West Palm Beach. However, he does plan to be offer takers both rolls and digs, and promises “When I do come, they’ll know.”

 

Evolution of the Beast | Carlo's Twin-Turbo Firebird

Carlos’ Firebird “Fr8train”