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Street Racing Illustrated | SRMS: Cars, Coffee, and Racing 10.14.18

Story | Phillip Pratt

Photos | Gerry Burke and Phillip Pratt

Street Racing Made Safe’s 2nd Autocross event at AMR Motorplex in Homestead, Miami is exposing drivers to a whole new world of obsession.

Street Racing Illustrated | SRMS Cars, Coffee, and Racing 10.14.18Street Racing Made Safe’s (SRMS) second Autocross event hosted at the AMR Motorplex in Homestead, Miami, Florida, right outside the legendary Homestead Speedway, was a something of a culture shift. South Florida has always been a great place for auto enthusiasts. Probably why a private company is investing millions of dollars into a high-end driver’s club next to Opalocka airport. Year round sun, no snow, and very friendly emissions laws allow us to enjoy our machines day in and out. But for the most part, it’s always been about drag racing. Can’t blame anyone, it’s probably the easiest event to host.

Street Racing Illustrated | SRMS Cars, Coffee, and Racing 10.14.18Autocross has always been a niche kind of thing. Turnouts at parking lot hosted events generally have good turnouts. However, they are so few and far between, growing the event in terms of exposure was going to tough. When SRMS first teamed up with AMR and sold out all their tickets, I was impressed. It was new, and people trusted the SRMS name. It rained (or poured) that day, so it was hard to get a good read on what people really thought.

Street Racing Illustrated | SRMS Cars, Coffee, and Racing 10.14.18When they did it a second time under blue skies, I really took notice. Roughly 1/3 of their attendees were brand new. These weren’t the same hooligans from a month ago. All of a sudden the staging grounds turned into a hundred mini-pits with drivers jacking up their cars, rotating tires, comparing times, set-ups and exchanging tips. Tent’s and canopies were all over the place as families were settling in to spend the day. Autocross in Homestead isn’t fade, nor is it fly by night event. It’s growing and maturing into its own animal. There is officially more to Miami than just drag racing.

Street Racing Illustrated | SRMS Cars, Coffee, and Racing 10.14.18

Street Racing Illustrated | Kevin Zambrano | Clean Culture

Street Racing Illustrated | Clean Culture Ballpark Banger 2018

Clean Culture Ballpark Banger 2018 x Street Racing Illustrated

Story | Phillip Pratt

Photos | Kevin Zambrano

Clean Culture is no stranger to South Florida. They host two, sometimes three, shows down here every year. Even with their strong year-round presence and hordes of fans and crew members spamming the roads- it doesn’t change the hype, excitement or the buzz in the air leading up to a show… and most of the time, that’s just the night before! If nothing else, the Clean Culture crew has mastered the art of finding interesting locales to host their signature events. One of the most unique among them is dubbed the Ballpark Banger in West Palm Beach, Florida. With cars strategically staged around the FITTEAM Ballpark baseball diamond, the guys at Clean Culture do what they do best- set a bomb atmosphere that is both chill and excitement. Enjoy the photos from our coverage below- peace.

Street Racing Illustrated | Kevin Zambrano | Clean CultureStreet Racing Illustrated | Kevin Zambrano | Clean CultureStreet Racing Illustrated | Kevin Zambrano | Clean CultureStreet Racing Illustrated | Kevin Zambrano | Clean CultureStreet Racing Illustrated | Kevin Zambrano | Clean CultureStreet Racing Illustrated | Kevin Zambrano | Clean CultureStreet Racing Illustrated | Kevin Zambrano | Clean CultureStreet Racing Illustrated | Kevin Zambrano | Clean CultureStreet Racing Illustrated | Kevin Zambrano | Clean CultureStreet Racing Illustrated | Kevin Zambrano | Clean CultureStreet Racing Illustrated | Kevin Zambrano | Clean CultureStreet Racing Illustrated | Kevin Zambrano | Clean CultureStreet Racing Illustrated | Kevin Zambrano | Clean CultureStreet Racing Illustrated | Kevin Zambrano | Clean CultureStreet Racing Illustrated | Kevin Zambrano | Clean Culture

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

S2000 at SRMS' Cars, Coffee, and Racing

Street Racing Illustrated | Cars, Coffee, and Racing 08/12/2018

“Auto-Xing actually becomes more fun when it’s raining!”- Mario Ojito

Story | Phillip Pratt

 

SRMS Cars, Coffee, and RacingStreet Racing Made Safe’s inaugural Car, Coffee, and Racing was everything that SRMS President, Mario Ojito, said it would be. Even a massive speed trap on the turnpike and forty-five-minute downpour couldn’t stop the meet and races. Despite the wetter circumstances of the end of the day, the beginning was effing flawless. The racers were blessed with sunny, clear, skies as prep began and walks of the track were allowed. This isn’t a go-kart track with a tiny lane and nearly unreasonable amounts of hair-pins. AMR Motorplex supplied racers with lots of stretches to open those throttles up and get some speed going. The rain that arrived halfway through the event slowed down the meet-section, but unlike on a drag-strip, water just makes the racing more engaging. It was easy to tell the first time Auto-Xers from the seasoned vets, but as this event grows, I expect to see skills and car engineering do the same. Auto-Xing times can be viewed here. Next event will be held on September 9th, 2018 at AMR Motorplex.

 

SRMS Cars, Coffee, and Racing

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne 07.29.2018

Street Racing Illustrated | Car and Coffee Key Biscayne 07.29.2018

Cloudy weather made a chill meet, hot.

Story | Phillip Pratt

 

 

Miami is known worldwide for its amazing beaches. When you take this aspect and apply to it something like a car meet, it becomes a potent mixture that’s hard to top. Because of this, CLRDHOT/ Street Racing Made Safe’ Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne rarely disappoints. However, there is a downside to being so close to the beach. The weather. Luckily, it held up long enough for the event to thrive while keeping the blazing Miami sun at bay. The event brought in a vastly diverse crowd of Domestics, Europeans, Japanese (both legal… not so much), Classics, Exotics, Rat-rods, and bikes. This is due to the crowds drawn in by both the likes of CLRDHOT Motorsports and Street Racing Made Safe. There really is nothing like spending a couple hours appreciating some fine automobiles and then heading into the city for lunch with the same breathtaking waterfront views… even when the storm finally rolls in and nature behaves as if the world is about to end.

 

Pagani Zonda R in Miami Condo

Street Racing Illustrated | Pagani Zonda R as a room divider

There is a Zond R in a condo.

Story | Phillip Pratt

 

The Pagani Zonda R in Pablo Perez Companc’s Miami Condo Instagram page: @pperezc

 

Yeah, someone installed a Pagani Zonda R into their 8-million dollar, 4200 sq-ft, Miami condo and that someone is Pablo Perez Companc (pperezc). This isn’t a home and garden page so we won’t go much further than that, but we will admit putting up the Zonda R is quite the statement piece. Probably because only 15 of these beasts were ever made, so putting one up on a wall is really saying… something. To be clear, the car isn’t actually “up on a wall”. It took some truly ingenious engineering not to just get it up into the ocean-front property (they used a crane) but to then safely and securely fit it into place; that is hovering between the ceiling and floor smack dab into the middle of the open concept dividing it into two workable spaces (sorry, too much HGTV…). While on the concrete these things are blessed with 740HP, 6.0L V12, Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR engines. While in Mr. Companc’s living room, it’s dropping jaws and confusing people. Beats my vinyl Ryu Pop! figure.

 

The Pagani Zonda R in Pablo Perez Companc's Miami Condo Instagram page: @pperezc

The Pagani Zonda R in Pablo Perez Companc’s Miami Condo Instagram page: @pperezc

Yenko/SC 2019 Corvette Concept

Street Racing Illustrated | Yenko/SC 1000HP 2019 Corvette

A 1000HP Yenk/SC Vette is coming for all you suckas’

Story | Phillip Pratt

 

Yenko/SC 2019 Corvette Concept

Yenko/SC 2019 Corvette Concept

 

Between all these SS’s, Hellcats, Demons and Shelby’s being more and more within the reach of everyday enthusiasts, it’s becoming hard to look at “Super” and “Hyper” cars and appreciate them for more than their name and exotic looks. Well ladies and gents, Yenko/SC just made that even more difficult. Based off of the 2019 Corvette Grand Sport Coupe and drop-top, their exclusive version of the already scary fast car will sport a modified supercharged 6.8L, V8 putting out a mind-numbing 1000HP! Don’t get too excited though. At the moment they are only putting out about 25 cars with this set up they are dubbing Stage II. Yes, because there’s a “Stage II”, they will also be offering a milder “Stage I” version which will have a measly 835HP (I’m being sarcastic). Both versions of the car will be 50-state emissions friendly, so our Cali-brethren can also join in on the fun.

 

The Stage II Yenko/SC will have a bunch of Z06 goodies including 6-piston Brembos married to ginormous 14″ rotors (14.6″ in the front and 14.4″ in the rear, to be exact), a dry-sump oil set-up, and the Magnetic Ride Control. The 7-speed manual transmission will cost you $68,995 and the 8-speed automatic $77,995. Expensive, but not really. It’s still beating the GTR and is a fraction of the cost of most exotics. But if that’s the ceiling, then the Stage I Yenko/SC Corvette will be delivering all that power for presumably less than $68k. Quite a deal. Still, want to drop 500k on a Lambo?

 

Yenko/SC 2019 Corvette Concept

Yenko/SC 2019 Corvette Concept

Street Racing Illustrated | Much ado about nothing – 2019 Toyota 86 TRD Special Edition

2019 Toyota 86 TRD Special Edition available in August

Story | Phillip Pratt

 

2019 Toyota 86 TRD Special Edition

2019 Toyota 86 TRD Special Edition

 

Anyone that was hoping for something new in the 86 this year, like let’s say a factory turbocharged 4U-GSE; you’re in for an upset. It’s still ain’t in here and neither Toyota nor Subaru have announced plans to transplant the WRX’s turbocharged boxer motor inside of 86 or BRZ. Sorry. On the bright side, the 2019, 2×2 fastback coupe will have available a TRD Special Edition come this August. Still rocking it’s naturally aspirated 2.0L, 205HP and 156lb-ft of torque engine with 6-speed manual RWD transmission, the TRD 86 also receives bigger wheels in 18 x 7.5 (over stock 17 x 7) wrapped in 215/40ZR-18 Michelin Pilot Sport 4s. Brembo four-piston calipers up front and two-piston calipers in the rear cling delightfully to 12.8 inch and 12.4-inch rotors, respectively. Only available in black, the body will be equipped with a TRD specific front fascia, side skirts, rear differ and wing. The only bump in power over the base model is the TRD exhaust, which most enthusiast will probably be removing upon purchase and then reselling on eBay once the factory warranty wears out. If you’re interested in the 86, also take a look at the Subaru BRZ with its optional performance packages. Piece for piece, outside of the exclusive TRD body parts, springs and exhaust; there’s basically no difference in performance ce poste. With the TRD 86 tipping the scales at $32,420 fully equipped, you may want to give the similarly built BRZ, coming in at about $29,640, a look.

 

Tiny sensor and Battery "married" to the tire with unique adhesive | Photo Courtesy of Pirelli Tires

Street Racing Illustrated | Pirelli develops the world’s first truly “smart” tire system.

Are you ready for a Pirelli “smart” tire?

Story | Phillip Pratt

 

Pirelli P-Zero that may carry new technoology | Photo Courtesy of Pirelli Tires

Pirelli P-Zero that may carry new technology | Photo Courtesy of Pirelli Tires

 

Everything seems to be connected to the net these days. TVs, air conditioners, cameras, even wrist watches and refrigerators. Cars, however, have been linking to the web for years, but now Pirelli Tires has taken this to the next level. Getting information on tire pressure is nothing innovative. Most modern cars have the option. The Italian company is circumventing the need to invest in a $20k automobile to experience this luxury by installing a sensor in a tire they are dubbing “Connesso” (translates from Italian to English as “connected”). And get this; all this data can be available on your phone via Bluetooth. In hopes that manufacturers will also be interested in offering this to their customers they are also selling another version of it by the name of “Cyber Tire”. Catchy. The sensor will provide drivers with more than just tire pressure data, however. Everything from the vertical load and temperature will be the driver’s fingertips. This easily accessible information will allow folks to more accurately dial in suspension set-ups and better predict braking based on the situation, all without adverse effecting tire performance… and probably adding another ten-minutes of downtime between races at the track.

 

How it all works | Photo Courtesy of Pirelli Tires

How it all works | Photo Courtesy of Pirelli Tires

McLaren 720S

Street Racing Illustrated | McLaren 720S totaled 24-hours after Purchase

$300,000 1-day old, McLaren 720S collides with tree en route to Katie’s Cars and Coffee in Great Falls Virginia.

Story | Phillip Pratt

 

Wrecked McLaren 720S

PHOTO COURTESY OF FAIRFAX COUNTY POLICE

 

Cars and Coffee isn’t just a South Florida thing, it’s a worldwide event that happens pretty much in every large metropolitan area. The concept is simple enough; wake up early, wash your car and drive to the location and park it. Last Saturday a resident of Northern Virginia was doing just that with his freshly purchased, 24-hour aged $300,000 McLaren 720S. That is before he smashed it into a tree in Great Falls. Presumably, on his way to the well known Katie’s Cars and Coffee event that was close-by, the driver lost control of the exotic sports car, for reasons as the Fairfax County Police Department described simply as “speed”. Fortunately, the driver escaped the wreck and was taken to the hospital with “non-life threatening injuries”, as reported by the Fairfax PD. Check out the gallery below to see what it this thing tragically looked like prior to meeting its destiny with the Oak.

 

Wrecked McLaren 720S

PHOTO COURTESY OF FAIRFAX COUNTY POLICE