photographer: D. Proctor
Neighborhoods are the foundation of civilized society. Civilized people being courteous, watching out for each other, and always walking the straight and narrow. But there’s always that one kid; he plays his stereo loud, he dresses different, and he just seems out of place. Maybe he needs to invest in a more aggressive development—MAX Land (Good times, Euro-tuning, style, intelligence, and when we put on a neighborhood watch, there’s actually somethin’ to see.—MAX.).
Here comes a tuner now. It’s Chad Block, owner of AutoSportTuning, in his 2000 BMW 328Ci. The streaking silver Bimmer is a perfect emblem for our emerging suburb. Let’s see what makes this enthusiast an ideal resident in our neighborhood.
Speed and suspension are essential requirements for a well-tuned car, but let’s face it, first impressions are visual. This MRyde’s silver body paint provides the perfect background to accent Chad’s performance goodies (Chad claims that chicks dig it, too.—MAX). Goodie specialist Eric O’Donnell from York VW installed an MVR body kit. The kit was match-painted for continuity and to give the car its own character, banner placement was added by Impressive Signs. Aside from looks, our neighborhood has engine requirements, too.
Therefore, Chad added an intake to give his vehicle a voice. From your front porch, the deep-breathing Dinan cold-air intake lets you know somethin’ serious is coming. To achieve a better air/fuel mixture and improve engine performance, a Dinan chip was thrown in the mix. The intake, combined with the chip, ensures that every ounce of combustion is squeezed out of the fuel and that the car is able to take healthy, deep breaths to accommodate the workout. Also, a B&B Fabrication exhaust was installed so the tone can be heard as you stumble out onto the sidewalk to see what’s going on. If you are able to flag down this helpful tuner to ask what he can do for your Hyundai Accent, you’ll get a quick peek at his interior before he speeds away.
Inside this silver Bavarian beauty is a short-shift lever by AC Schnitzer. This turns ordinary errand-running into American Le Mans series-style grocery gettin’. The dash is custom-painted silver with AC Schnitzer represented on the pedals, as well.
As the car speeds off and leaves your Accent in the dust, your eyes are transfixed on five-star 19x8.5-inch MVR rims, wrapped in Pirelli P7000 235/35-19s, making you yearn even more deeply for Mr. Block’s help and an ounce of his style. The suspension is improved with H&R front and rear springs and a Dinan Performance front strut brace which combine to turn corners into straight-aways.
Those H&R Springs and that Dinan brace are more important than you might think. MAX Land has height restrictions. You can’t have your vehicle too far from the pavement. To keep his ride to code, Chad made sure the springs would drop his 328ci 1.5 inches all around. This makes all the difference when you’ve got a BMW with an AC Schnitzer short shifter and a racer behind the wheel. Did we forget to mention that other than lawyers and models, we are a neighborhood of racers? And what could be a better match than having a Star Mazda Series racer/tuning shop owner as one of our residents?
Ladies and gentlemen, let’s face the nation. Together, we can create a new world order, one MAX Land resident at a time. And you have met one of our first residents, Chad Block and his 328Ci (Neighborhood Watch schedules will be posted soon.—MAX).