A few weekends back we took our Porsche GT3 to Roebling Road in Savannah for another great DE event with the Florida Citrus Region of the Porsche Club of America. Most of our fans know us from our days drag racing, but truth be told in our off time we enjoy spending time on various road courses around the Southeast any chance we can get. There are many great organizations such as Porsche Club of America, PBOC, Chin and SCCA who offer affordable opportunities to get started on driving on the track. Contrary to popular belief track driving initially isn’t as expensive as most make it out to be, as a first timer or introductory track driver you can get on track with a well maintained vehicle with nothing more than some high temperature brake fluid and standard performance tires. Most organizations will offer or provide experience instructors to help escalate your learning curve and keep you save on track for your first track experience and the many more that are likely to follow once you get hooked. We provide the necessary pre-track inspections here at Titan Motorsports and can provide any pre-track work needed to make sure you weekend is a success.

Titan Motorsports attended the Simply Clean 4 meet at Destination Daytona in Ormond Beach. This meet has grown over the years as it caters to a wide array of enthusiasts looking to meet other like individuals and bridge the gap between specific make shows and appreciate all uniquely modified vehicles. After outgrowing and having to deal with the closing of their previous facility Route 46 in Sanford, the show was looking for a new home to accommodate their growing following and found it at Destination Daytona in Ormond Beach. While this facility was much larger than the previous host, cars of all different genres packed every square inch of the venue proving that the success of the show may require an even large venue next year. At one point the local authorities had to to shut down the interstate exit leading to the show in an effort to control the influx of cars still looking to attend the show. From stanced Volkswagens,leather-es wrapped Saab Wagon,tuned exotics to slammed Honda Ruckuses the show had it all. There were plenty of clean cars and unique trends exhibited at the show, and while we may not agree or understand all of them, this show continues to be one we look forward to attending, until SC5 enjoy the coverage below.

There is an old saying that even a bad day at the track is better than a good day in the office. If that statement rings true, then a great day the track is even better, and thanks to great weather and an invite from Porsche, I’ll agree. Yesterday we left Orlando bright and early for a 10:00AM tee time at Sebring International Raceway for an invite only Porsche event, The Porsche World Roadshow.

The day started with a meet and great followed by a tech session on the basics of performance driving from Porsche Sport Driving School’s Chief instructor Cass Whitehead. After the quick classroom session was over we paired up and headed to a large autocross course where we got to put the newly released Boxster through its paces. I typically prefer more pure driving sports cars, however I was quite impressed with the technology in the Boxster after playing with it’s Sport settings and electronic suspension dampening. The performance of the car could be greatly changed for the conditions simply by pressing a few buttons located next to the shifter.

A second autocross course was setup for the Technology drive featuring the Panamera and Cayenne Hybrids and V8 Counterparts. On the short course we were encouraged to go full throttle on multiple occasions and test the throttle response to compare the differences between the 2. When you think Hybrid you typically think of slow Toyota Priuses clogging the left lane, the Porsche version couldn’t be further than the opposite. The Porsche Hybrid delivers amazing throttle response and low end torque thanks to it’s electric motors assisting a powerful NA engine, which delivers a driving experience that sticks to Porsches pursuit of ultimate performance, all while improving fuel efficiency.

With the performance drive completed it was off to the big track for what most participants traveled long and far to experience, driving the latest Porsches on the famed Sebring International Raceway. The format was a lead follow session on the Sebring modified course in the Panamera GTS, Porsche 991, and the 991S. While the driving was done in a somewhat controlled environment, it still allowed us to push the cars through their paces for a few laps each. I left quite impressed with the new 991, which makes the most of recent technology to deliver a great drive, adding new creature comforts not found in the previous model. All of the models we drove were equipped with Porsches new PDK transmission, something as a purist I should hate, however its a phenomenal piece of equipment and for 99% of the drivers out there exactly what they need. A big thanks to Porsche North America for putting on this event and our good friend Andreas at Porsche Orlando for the invite (If you’re in the market give him a ring). This was the ultimate way to test the newest models and draw our own opinions on them, most of which were positive!

This weekend Palm Beach International Raceway was a busy place with FormulaD, Slammed Society, and Global Time Attack all hosting events at the track. We were on hand supporting our good friend Jon Miller with his brand new Scion FRS, the first to enter Time Attack competition here in the states. Just prior to the event taking place we installed a set of Hawk Blue Pads and performed a brake flush on the car, beyond that the car remained primarily stock and was entered into the Street RWD Class. The car handled great and logged as many laps as any other car out there, however it was outgunned on the long straights by cars with 2-3 times the horsepower output of the bone stock boxer power plant and just missed the podium finishing 4th.

The car show was a testament to the dedicated fans of FormulaD who braved the scatted thunderstorms that peppered the track throughout the day. Our good friends at HRE brought out an amazing Ferrari F458, Audi R8 V10 and their latest wheel releases and finishes.

FormulaD put on an amazing event, the course change from last year made for plenty of action and great tandem battles. We where rooting for our local friend Chelsea Denofa in his M3, who eventually lost to event winner Daigo Saito after colliding on an insane entry. I was quite impressed with the SC430 of Saito (and the smoke screens he was leaving his chasers in),powered by a 3.4L 2JZ which uses nitrous to help keep the turbo spooling quickly during transition.

The event was a great success and the changes PBIR made to the track allowed for an increased number of grandstands that were packed most of the weekend. I’m a huge fan of drifting and with each successful event I attend I begin to wonder when one day those internet rumors of us fielding a team will become a reality, only time will tell.

Xtreme Drift Circuit held the Orlando stop of it’s national event tour this weekend at Central Florida Racing Complex and brought Hot Import Nights along with them. Titan Motorsports was in attendance with our E92 M3 and one of our Gallardo Twin Turbos for show goers to get closer look at. Check out the full gallery of photos from this weekends XDC / HIN Event at CFRC Below :

This weekend Festivals of Speed put on another one of its great Motorsports and Luxury Lifestyle showcases at Mission Inn Resort in Howey in the Hills. On display in front of the beautiful Mission Bay clubhouse was DVH’s Black Twin Turbo Gallardo and our customers Speed Yellow 996tt.

I was first exposed to RAUH-Welt Begriff, better known now as RWB, a little over a year ago when a picture of one of their 964s painted camouflage hit my email box. Having spray bombed our own 996tt in a similar motif, I spent many hours researching more about RWB and the man behind these wild Japanese creations Nakai San. Last summer I contemplated having one of my own built, but finding a clean 993 donor car proved to be a difficult challenge and I settled on a 996 GT3 instead. Fast forward to last November when RWB posted a picture of a 993 with the caption “RWB Florida” coming soon on their Facebook page. My internet detective skills immediately went into motion and a familiar hood in the background of that image led me to realize the car was owned by Chad, a mutual acquaintance of mine from the track. At the 48 Hour of Sebring in January I approached Chad about the build and told him of my interest in the project, and he invited me to watch build in person when Nakai made his way to Tampa. Yesterday I was lucky enough to take him up on his offer and spent the afternoon watching the master at work, taking Chad’s beautiful 993 and turning it into the latest RWB car, only the 5th in the United STates.

To get things started I’ll talk a bit about the process from what I gathered that afternoon in both talking to Chad and Nakai. Chad originally contacted RWB Japan and bought the kit and appropriate Work wheels directly from them with some help from Marc at RWB USA. The body kits arrive unfinished and must be painted by a local paint shop prior to Nakai arriving. The build is then fit into Nakai’s busy schedule so that he can be on site to fit and install the entire kit and set the ride height of the vehicle appropriately. All off the cutting, fitting, drilling and installation happen on an already prepped and painted car, a true testament to the craftsmanship required (which can also be difficult to watch as Chad had to look away many times).

Nakai’s work ethic is second to none, he spends countless hours finessing the car making sure it’s perfect. Even when he is not physically working on the car, he’s standing close by focusing on it piece by piece with a cigarette in hand. His passion for building these cars is very apparent, he is not a fancy man by any means. On this particular build he arrived in an economy rent a car and rather than sleep in a fancy hotel he chose to sleep outside of the shop in Chad’s car hauler so that he could work late into the night. There were no elaborate 5 star dinners either, meals consisted of a quick trip to McDonalds or the local Denny’s. As fancy as we got was Logan’s Texas Steakhouse last evening where we shared stories of Porsches, travel, racing, and of course the history of RWB. There is definitely a language barrier, but it’s easy to work through it thanks to Nakai’s great understanding of the English language, I can’t think things would have gone as smoothly if the roles were reversed. Many question the pricing of the kits and what goes into the installation, but anyone who has seen the man in the process of installation will understand that he’s not just transforming the appearance of the car, he’s giving it a new soul.

The coveted Rauh Welt windshield banner and Idlers stencil to be installed at the completion of the build. This stencil will be left with the car for touch ups and application on fresh tires for the future.

There was some question as to what tools would need to be provided for the build. Nakai got off the plane with this suitcase filled with many nuts, bolts, tools, basically anything he would need to complete the car as if he were at his home workshop. It’s also wild to see the shop stickers and airport tags documenting his travels across the world creating RWB Porsches.

Nakai is defiantly a chain smoker and not often will you find him with a cigarette, this particular trip his smoke of choice was Winston. He also enjoys traveling around the areas he visits for his build, he spent quite a bit of his free time exploring local Tampa and enjoyed watching the beautiful Sunsets over the Gulf of Mexico. He takes in all of his surroundings while traveling, and spends many hours with the owner asking them their opinion to help make sure the car is just right and a reflection of them.

The fitment of the body creates fender/tire clearance that is paper thin, countless hours of the process are spent perfecting the suspension travel and body gaps to ensure they look as if they are rubbing, without hitting.

The buildout is very raw, here you can see Nakai painting the mesh inserts black using a spray can and tape. These parts had just arrived from the body shop after a fresh color sand and buff, and still remain overspray free after being spray bombed thanks to clever tape and newspaper work. It’s moments like these that can be difficult for the owner to see but are just part of the process of transforming the car.

Very little measuring is done using traditional measuring tape, instead everything is eye balled over and over until just right and then permanently attached or cut, a testament to the eye for detail Nakai possess.

The nearly project in all her glory, just installing the canards and windshield banner remain. She currently remains nameless, it’s up to the owner to decide if they want the car named. As of today Chad is still up in the air on this particular detail but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a name christened once Nakai returns to Japan.

I personally want to thank Chad for inviting me out to see the build, it was truly an inspiration and honor to see Nakai work. The trip to Tampa may have cast some doubts into my decision to buy a 996 GT3 over building an RWB 993, however after quizzing Nakai a bit I may get to experience the best of both worlds in the near future.

This past weekend our team loaded up our newly refreshed Copper super and headed to Texas for TX2K12. We’ve attended this meet since it’s inception and this year had the largest spectator attendance of any prior years. With a great showing of Supra’s, 2JZ swapped vehicles and a large amount of GTR’s in attendance this event has evolved from being a yearly Supra meet to a tuner and super car shootout. In addition the large number of Supra’s and GTR’s the Lamborghini Gallardo TT contingent was there with a strong presence. The dyno day crew did the unbelievable and managed to dyno over 80 cars on 2 dynos over the course of a day, with many breaking the 1,000hp barrier.

Drag Racing was held on Saturday and Sunday, with many records broken including the GTR drag racing record with an 8.63. The Titan Copper Supra seemed to be the talk of the drag days and with testing commencing it showed great promise. The whole community watched as Team Titan worked aggressively at making sure the car was able to make runs and continued to improve the new combination. When the first full 1/4 mile pass was made it yielded a 7.59 @ 186 with the doors literally flying off. While the crew worked to repair and service the car between rounds, a pair of replacement doors was borrowed from fellow competitor Ross Baird so the car would attempt another run. We want to thank Ross for his great sportsmanship and hope to return the favor in another fashion in the future! This year was a great event as the pictures below show, and we look forward to seeing even more people out at TX2K13 next year!

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March 10th marked our annual open house event here at Titan Motorsports. This now annual event allows our great customers and fans an opportunity to see whats new at Titan Motorsports, all while raising money for charity. This years event was a huge success with a total of 52 car show contestants an an energetic crowd throughout the day. We were able to raise $5,500 for Just in Queso Foundation, doubling the donation we were able to make last year.

We want to thank all the great supporters and sponsors that helped make our 2012 open house a great success :

Mr Gasket, Manley, NGK, Bosch, Performance Poly, Simply Clean, Highway Star Garage, Koyo, Hawk, Tijuana flats, Florida Trophy, Stages Plus. We’d also like to thank the models who helped promote throughout the day Ednyr Marie, Carolina Spidel, Beatriz, Jessica Le, Bridget Tran, Rachel Loka.

A very special thanks goes out to our very own Nikki Contenti who spent countless hours planning and making sure the event was as successful as possible. We look forward to next years event and raising even more money for such a great cause.