GT class is by far my favorite to watch and photograph. There’s a certain appeal about seeing race cars that you can also see street versions of

Corvette Racing C6-Rs are nothing to be trifled with.

Their unrestricted V8s produce a roar that you feel down your spine.

The RLL Z4 GTEs are fresh chassis this year. This is only the second race the black and white Z4 coupes competed in

Love the contrast between the two.

It never ceases to amaze me how gorgeous GT cars are. Despite all the logos cluttering it up the widebody kit is spectacular. Proof that there is plenty of beauty in racing.

Ah the Viper GTS-R, where to begin.

These cars have been jumped in and performed beautifully in GT class. Well enough to claim pole in qualifying.

I will never look at their street car counterparts the same again after experiencing this. It’s a beast on the street, but on the track it is a whole other animal.

Oh the Risi car. The previous F430 was truly a sight to see. But the Risi team has outdone themselves with the modifications to the 458. It is downright sinister looking and pure ear candy.

The battle between SRT and Falken was intense, this photo captures the essence perfectly.

My love affair with the Falken GT3RSR continues. Timeless livery on such a ridiculous car. Now that the Flying Lizard team has migrated to GTC, they are the only GT3RSR widebodied in ALMS.

A 1st place GT finish is quite a way to end the 2nd race of the season for the RLL BMW team. Bill Auberlen and Dirk Mueller put their new chassis through the proving grounds of the Streets of Long Beach and came out with a 1st and 2nd place finish. Definitely looking forward to what this team has in store for future races.

My initial reaction was “damn, that’s a big car”.  The 2013 S5 looks big, and heavy.  But don’t let that fool you as it performs quite the contrary.  There was unfortunately no manual gear box so I made do with paddle shifters in sport mode.  They responded exceptionally well and let me shift exactly when I wanted maybe 90% of the time.  The power from the 3.0 turbo 6 is more than adequate and stock exhaust gives a decent amount of ear candy, especially at WOT.

There are a LOT of aesthetic ques in this car that i love.  As usual, Audi is on point with their lighting game.  The interior is typical Audi; red illuminated gauges that gives amble visibility without being overwhelming at night.  The exterior has a number of flattering angles.  The deck lid has a molded lip spoiler which accents the rear perfectly.  An OEM rear valance combined with quad exhaust tips gives the car an aggressive look.

Factory 5-spoke wheels look good…for factory wheels.  I could only imagine how amazing this car would look on lowered suspension and a set of aftermarket 5 spokes with a nice deep lip in the rear.  I’m sure in due time we’ll start seeing modded ’13 S5′s pop up all over the internet.  I look forward to it.

The front of this car just looks intimidating.  Again, would love to see this car lowered with that lip scraping on the ground.  I don’t think the aftermarket could do much to improve upon what Audi has done here aside from a front lip/diffuser.

My favorite angle on this car.

Showed up bright an early to SCS and met up with Dave @ Audi who was pushing an S5 cab.

I was soon eating a nice slice of humble pie in the presence of one of my all time favorite supercars, and in a fantastic color at that.

One of the highlights of the show was this MP4-12C.  Privately owned, and enjoying every minute of it.  It just looks so damn good, especially in white.

This was my first spotting of a Ferrari FF!  It looks odd…ya know…a 4 seater Ferrari.  A looker none the less.

Speaking of Ferrari, loving the color on this California.

One day I will own a 993.  And this is why.  They just look so damn good even stock.  Diggin this plate, also!

The real show stopper for me was this MB 300SL, in MINT condition!   I’m hoping to contact the owner about doing a new vs old shoot with a new SLS in black.

It even came equipped with MB factory designed interior-matching luggage!

It doesn’t get much better.  This is why I love Supercar Saturdays, because you never know what’s going to show up.

Great seeing everyone yesterday, and an special thanks to FJ Audi of Chicago for providing such a sweet ride and as usual check out Supercar Saturday’s website for more event info!

That GT3 RS…om nom nom

Obligatory Aventador shot

A nice selection of Lotus.  That pearl white up front was absolutely gorgeous.

IND’s Green Hell

Kristin’s M Coupe.  Watch for a full feature on this car soon!

Ridiculously clean Cressida!

Love this color on Ferraris.  And I absolutely love 599s

Factory 5 GTM

Chicago Motor Cars brought out a fleet of high ticket items.  SLS AMG, Phantom, R8 Spyder, Gallardo.  Well played sirs.

For more info on the next event check out Supercar Saturday’s website.

On Friday when we were in SF I had the chance to meet up with JP and Jeff and their badass S2000′s. The cool thing about these two cars is that they’re both the same color car (silverstone) on the same color wheels (white) but both built two different ways. JP’s S2K is one mean track car that also sees its share of street time, while on the other hand Jeff’s S2k is slammed and has one clean stance for sure. Being a stance guy I can tell you the setup is pretty dope!

Let’s start with JP’s Car (front), this thing is just sick! I have a huge love for Honda’s being an owner myself. His track inspired build is definitely a clean one for sure. From top to bottom this car is fitted with the best parts an S2000 can have. When you look at the smiling face of this custom Amuse front bumper fitted with a one-off Evasive Motorsports Carbon Splitter and seeing that J’s Racing hood it already has that look of get the f*** out of my way. One of my favorite S2000 modifications are the ASM fenders which are fitted on this car and damn can he pull them off! Filling the wheel wells is a set of Volk Ce28n Time Attack wheels 17×9+35 on all corners wrapped in 255/40 Hankook RS3 Tires to keep this go-kart on the track. Behind those wheels you’ll notice the Spoon Calipers which really set this car off in my opinion.

Underneath the Mugen Hardtop lies a Mugen Roll Bar and a pair of Bride Zeta III seats. I love every inch of this car!

The meticulous build hasn’t stopped there. Under the hood lies a bunch of JDM goodies that any S2000 enthusiast would love to get their hands on. A J’s Racing header to an ASM SS 70mm exhaust makes this one great sounding car. I would truly love to see this thing on the track doing what it does best. This is one clean build for sure. From top to bottom every bit of it is just awesome.

Now on to Jeff”s car. This thing is badass too, the stance on this car is clean for sure. It looks straight intimidating coming down the road with that Spoon Super Taikyu front bumper just an inch off the ground. The stance is made possible by Function & Form Type 2.5 coilovers on Work Meister S1 wheels in an aggressive 18×9.5/10.5 setup.

Just like Jp’s car this also has the Mugen Hardtop and Downforce side diffusers. Jeff went for a very simple and very clean look on this car and i dig it!

JP and Jeff both have badass s2000′s and they fact that they’re matching makes it even better! Can’t wait to go back to SF and hopefully get the chance to shoot these cars again… during the day =) Enjoy!

The last time Larry used this particular dyno, he BARELY got the car on it.  So to make sure we didn’t waste time trying to get the car up on the rollers and got to spend all the time working with the tuning, some steps were taken.  Front bumper and sideskirts were completely removed and his Stance coilovers were raised.  To maximize traction the guys swapped out the Forged Specialties wheels wrapped in rubber bands for a set of OEM Nismo 370 wheels with some more meat on them.

Prepped and ready to head to the dyno.

Our destination was Mobile One, an Audi and VW performance shop in Glenview IL.

Made it up onto the rollers with zero issues.

The car was showing great numbers, and they were right around what the guys hoped they would see.

Project X’s Eli worked to squeeze as much power out as he could with the 18G Greddy Kit turbos being the limiting factors.

Not too shabby for 18lbs of boost.

Larry still wants more.

Until spring!

I’ve known Larry since he was working out of his home garage.  He’s now part-owner of a rapidly developing shop  that we all know here in Chicago as Project X.  They’ve repeatedly done fantastic work for me and are routinely active in the local community.  These factors are what made it extra awesome that I was able to shoot his Twin Turbo 350z  for the April issue of Import Tuner Magazine.

Larry is pretty hardcore, coming up from the Pittsburg hardcore scene it’s only fitting that his car looks like it wants to kick you in the face as well.

It’s not a trailer queen,  this car gets driven on a regular basis when we aren’t suffering through Chicago winter’s here.  Letting 518rwhp sit neglected in the garage is a terrible waste.   You’ll regularly see Larry’s monster at Chicagoland car get-togethers as well as shows like Another Level, Wekfest Chicago, and most recently at Tuner Galleria .

Larry’s car boasts a 1 of 2 front exit plenum setup.  The other is currently on the Fontana Racing Nissan 350z.  This combined with a custom front mounted intercooler setup makes this 350z an extremely unique street car.

Larry was running a pretty aggressive wheel setup last season, this one is even more aggressive.  He’s rocking a set of Forged Specialties SC-6 wheels.

Stopping power is provided by a 15″ rotor setup and a WP Pro 8 piston caliper up front, 6 in the rear.

If Larry had one wish it would probably be to GT wing the world.  If you ever talk to Larry at the shop or at a meet, 1 out of the 3 of the first things he’ll probably say to you are “hey, you know what you should do to your car?  Put a GT Wing on it. ”  And if it were physically possible, I’m pretty sure he’d try to attach a GT Wing to Eli’s beard.

So all that said, you should go to your local magazine stand and pick up a copy of the April issue of Import Tuner Magazine and read up even more on Larry’s car and see even more photos.  You should then head to Project X in Schaumburg and ask Larry to sign it.  Because he loves that kind of sh*t.  While you’re there give Eli’s beard a tug and see if they can do something cool to your car for you.  Congrats again, Larry!

Michael Brauner was generous enough to let us use his Evo X in the project.  Always been a huge fan of this car.  And I’m VERY excited to hear Mike talk about which direction he wants to go with it for next season.  I think it’s safe to say his car will be back up on this blog looking even more bad-ass in the future.  But enough about Mike’s car.

It’s all about these two ladies.  Both beautiful, both a joy to work with, and the best part is both of them are car chicks at heart.

Lauren recently told me she’s considering only continuing to model if it’s with cars.  I failed to see a problem with this.

Cherry is a sweetheart.  But then she also tells me she’s going to steal my cat.  I am unsure.

Lauren’s heels almost matched the Evo perfectly.

I showed up to find a group of people who had also caught the news gathered around it.  My instinctive reaction was to start setting gear up.  The entire time I wanted to just stop and enjoy the view, as everyone else was.  But I knew there’d be plenty of time for that.   The car had just arrived from Detriot, I was told.  My first assumption was “auto show”.  But after checking out some coverage of the show I didn’t see this particular car there.  My guess is it was a demo car at the auto show.  But again, pure speculation.

The first thing I noticed was the Designo Matted finish.  Some love the flat finish, some hate it, i personally think it’s fantastic and is always a joy when using flash photography.  European plates were either for show or proof that this was a demo car shipped here from MB that was still plated for Europe.    Google searching showed a few cars with similar plates, in Germany.

There were no badges on it.  No indication of what trim of SL it would be.  But going by the MB website, the only future SL model is a 550.

A quick peek under the hood revealed a potent little powerplant.

V8 bi-turbo was pretty clear at this point.  MB’s website quotes a 4.6l bi-turbo v8 that puts out 429hp and 516ft/lb of torque which rockets the aluminum body to 60mph in 4.5 seconds.

With that kind of performance from a SL550, I get giddy when I think about what an AMG package would have in store.

Stylish 5 spokes filled up nicely with drilled rotors and a decently sized caliper.

The interior is everything you expect from a new Mercedes.  Leather wrapped everything, brushed aluminum, and gloss finishes.

Everything driver oriented, but as expected, no manual transmission here.

Definitely one for the portfolio.