It was just after 8am. The weather was looking good. Big Mike and other staffers were hauling the goodie bags out to the welcome tent. Although we still had about an hour to go before the start of Dyno Day 2011, the first cars were already rolling up. The Urban Disturbance car club had arrived early, and they had big plans for the day. They settled into choice parking spots and set up a portable tent of their own (complete with their website URL). Throughout the day the members would impress the hundreds of attendees with their clean builds and jaw-dropping dyno runs. By day's end, Urban Disturbance proudly picked up the lion's share of awards. Their members took home awards from 3 of the 5 categories: Spirit of JDM, People's Choice, and King of the Dyno. From start to finish, this club stole the show.

Who is Urban Disturbance? We interviewed their members about its influential club, their rides, and their connection to King Motorsports.

How did Urban Disturbance start?

Urban Disturbance (UD) Car Club started in 1998 with mini trucks and low rider styled vehicles.

The club was formed by Chris McCauley (now referred to as ‘The God Father’) along with a group of friends: Jon Jezo, Chuck Glissendorf, Kris Walker, and Matt York. It all started right from the roots of many of today’s enthusiasts: custom built vehicles, built in a driveway garage with no luxuries, special tools, or sugar daddies.

How many members do you have today? What kind of cars do they drive?

Currently we have 25 official members. Most of them have sport compact cars but there are vehicles of all types -- trucks and bikes too. Although we dominate with Hondas, we are receiving applications from all makes and models on a daily basis.

Which members and cars are the most influential in the club?

As a club we are all influential to each other, we push everyone to do bigger and better. Spaz is known as our head mechanic, most people bring their cars to his garage for modifications and repairs. Spaz has an '05 RSX K24 swapped, supercharged and tucked. Chuck (aka “Chucks Tucks”) is influential for many who want that clean tucked engine bay -- they go to him. Ole (2x "Spirit of JDM" & "People’s Choice" award winners) has a shaved & tucked, RHD true JDM ITR DC2 that everyone drools over. And our club President, Jezo, has built a 500+whp 4cyl beast RSX that gets plenty of attention (2x "King of the Dyno" winner).

Were there any runner-ups names for the club?

"Driveway Customs" & "Disturbed Customs."

Are there requirements to join the club, and how does someone join?

Anyone can apply to join by simply filling out our online application and sending three photos of their ride. Our requirements consist of a vehicle that is complete, street ready or a quality build with progress demonstrated.  New members have a probation period in which they must attend 3 events in a season, such as car shows, meets, track days, etc. (at least one event being with your ride). 

What kind of events and outings does the club attend and how often?

Our club enjoys going to local, regional, and national auto events to show or race our rides and to just look at the latest trends and styles. We also love track days at the local autoX spot, drifting spot, or Union Grove Great Lakes Dragaway (Import Wars) and Byron Race Tracks.  This year our club attended a huge event called Import Alliance with over 10,000 other enthusiasts in Nashville, Tennessee. Almost every weekend day you can find our members at an event of some type.

Is there a city that the club calls home base?

Janesville, WI is the home base of UD.  We now have an Illinois chapter and are accepting applications for new members and chapters everywhere!

What makes Urban Disturbance different from other car clubs?

We try to keep a good strong mix of everything. From high horsepower builds, to full engine shave and tucking, to full custom air ride, track, autocross, drifting etc. This way our club can get out, adapt and grow everywhere we can.  We take great pride in our rides and want to support the scene in a classy manner.

How did you come to know and work with King Motorsports?

Anyone truly passionate about Hondas knows the famous King Motorsports. Since we're mostly in the Honda scene, we are all fans of King Motorsports. Several members have bought parts, gotten tuned, and visited the facility. Also King is one of the few tuner shops that you can order quality parts from... including official Mugen parts. 

You guys really cleaned up the awards at King’s Dyno Day 2011!  Any advice for people who want to create award-winning builds?

Come to us! LOL. Seriously though, just take your time and do things right. The problem with builds we see online is there are too many people buying cheap "eBay knock-off" parts. Everyone buys a Honda and says "yeah I’m gonna boost it…blah blah blah," but talk is cheap. Money is the issue. So take your time, build it right. Better quality parts = better results every time.

Over the years, what type of tuning or work has King done on member rides?

King was the influence for Spaz doing an Electronic Power steering swap in his DC5. According to the forums the 2005+ RSX-S cannot use EPS without a speedo healer converter but with the help of King Motorsports they were able to figure it out and his EPS works great.   Another member, Ahmad, has gone through King Motorsports for a lot if not all his parts.

What makes King different from other shops like it?

Quality. King Motorsports is the high end of dealers, mechanics, and engineers. There are plenty of tuners and shops, but none of them with the reliability and reputation as a place like yours. To most people, when you see a car built by King you knows it’s quality and built right!

Do you have any stories about King Motorsports you'd like to share?

Anyone who hasn’t been to King Motorsports for their annual Dyno Day needs to check it out!

Parting thoughts?

No matter what happens in life you can’t let it get you down.  If cars are one of your passions don’t let it get away from you.  Cars come and go but the passion remains, find it and keep the scene alive.

To all the other Honda, import, and auto enthusiasts out there: Please remember to support the scene, give back to the next gen, and skip that last helping of rice.

>> For more information about Urban Disturbance (including membership, show calendar, forum and club store) look them up at urbandisturbance.net.

John Hinrichs really likes his Honda CR-Z. Apparently he also really likes Mugen.

For his fourth major Mugen modification on his CR-Z, John opted for a set of Mugen 17x7 GP wheels in Gunmetal. As with his other mods, John worked directly with King Motorsports President and CEO, Scott Zellner. Scott: "The color of the Gunmetal GP's are a perfect compliment to the Black CR-Z." John is equally happy with his purchase, "I love the way these wheels look!" After each upgrade, John usually sends a picture and a note, or stops by to show us the results, as he did recently with after the GP wheels were installed.

John's other Mugen mods are the Mugen 5-Way Sport Suspension, Mugen Carbon-Fiber Air Intake and Mugen Cat-Back Exhaust.

**

George Doganis is a Rally and Solo/Pro Solo Racer and long-time customer of King Motorsports.

He has multiple championships including:
4 California Rally Series Class Championships ('06,'07,'08,'10)
Bilstein Rally Cup(2010)
4 SCCA Solo National Championships
2 SCCA Pro Solo National Championships

George's rally car is a fully-prepped EK hatch. His latest King-supplied additions include WPC-Treated Gear-X close-ratio gears, Mugen Limited Slip Differential, and AEM adjustable cam gears.

Other notes on his car:
The car is built with an FIA-standards cage for Rally America/NASA 2WD class. The shell has been seam welded and strengthened in critical areas. Suspension has been reinforced and some of the links have been replaced with heim-jointed, chrome-moly custom pieces. Shocks are modified Bilstein units. Steering quickener was added and PS pump modified. Engine is 2-liter B-series VTEC. Trans has Gear-X gears (WPC’ d as well) and Mugen LSD. Brakes are Fastbrakes 11” F&R. Gravel tires are Pirelli(as of the next event) on Team Dynamics Pro Rally 1 wheels.

Congratulations on all of your success George!

** We just got this note and review from John Hinrichs for the Mugen High Performance Air Intake System (Carbon Fiber) for CR-Z - Thanks John! **

Scott,
 
Just got back from making the holiday rounds. Driving through five states visiting friends and family (and showing off my car, of course).
 
Some of the people I visited are car guys, some just thought it was pretty, most loved the way it sounds (thanks, by the way) (Mugen Exhaust, ed.) , but everyone had something to say once the hood went up.  Even with all that's going on under the bonnet of a CR-Z, with the normal engine stuff and all the extra IMA wiring, the first thing everyone locked on to was the Mugen intake. That smooth expanse of carbon fiber had everyone interested, and I can't blame 'em, it is gorgeous. 
 
Not only does it look great, but under load the intake provides just enough extra sound to balance the tone of the Mugen exhaust.  Its obvious these two pieces were designed for each other: Subtle with a hint of badass.
 
Special thanks to Mike for doing such a great job on the install.
 
Happy Holidays! 
 
-John Hinrichs

** Long-time King supporter Dewi sent this product review in... Thanks Dewi! **

My family are Honda/Mugen nuts and we import all of our Mugen goodies from King Motorsports to Scotland, so when we found out we were having a baby girl we started our DB8 (4 door Integra Type R) project as our family car.  It came as no surprise we wanted the right JDM parts to finish it off. This consisted of a baby Recaro in grey to match the car and whilst trawling King’s website we came across a black Mugen fleece blanket, so we ordered it up for car and stroller duties. 

The blanket is lightweight but warm, also very easy to keep clean if any spillages occur and our daughter loves the softness of the fleece. When it’s all tucked in, it keeps her very warm and she sleeps well without irritation.  We like to call her the ‘Mugen Slug’ so from a happy mum and dad we rate this product 5 stars for Mugen pervyness and 5 stars for performance and functionality.  Thank you very much King Motorsport for supplying us with this awesome quality product.

** This was sent in by Perry W... Thanks Perry! **

Gotta send a big thanks to Scott and the guys at King for their help picking out new rims for my 2002 Civic Si hatchback (EP3).

Because the 02-03 model Si has a 4x100 bolt pattern, wheel options are limited. Scott pointed me to Volk and Enkei -- but ultimately I had my heart set on the rarity and heritage of the forged Mugen rims.

My ideal Mugen rim (for my bolt pattern) was long out of stock: the Mugen MF-8. Those would have been awesome. But just as ideal would be the MF-8's big brother: the Mugen MF-10 (10 spokes instead of 8, with a deeper "webbing" where the spokes converge around the center). King has limited number of these -- in stock and on sale -- so I snatched a set up.

But there was a catch. In order to mount these beautiful new rims, I would have to convert my Si from a 4-lug bolt pattern to a 5-lug bolt pattern (the MF-10s are a 5x114 bolt pattern). More on this later.

First let's talk about these magestic MF-10s.

The set of MF-10s arrived a few days later from King: 16"x6", in bronze, complete with valve stems and black center caps. They look terrific and have a semi-machined lip that reminds me of the fine workmanship that goes into the Mugen shift knobs. The spokes of the MF-10 have a matte texture that offset the lip. These rims are a work of art and perfection. You can fall into a JDM-induced trance staring into the rich bronze color.  I love these rims so much I even recorded The World's First Mugen MF-10 Unboxing Video for YouTube.

I couldn't wait to get these on my car. But I would have to. I had to do that 5-lug conversion, all by myself. In my garage. I live roughly 2000 miles from King's shop. So driving out there wasn't an option. I don't really trust any of the shops out here yet. So it was up to me.

At this point I should stop to say that I have absolutely ZERO experience with suspensions. I think I might have rotated tires once. The most technical thing I ever did to the exterior was install side skirts, a wing, a short-ram air intake. Easy stuff.

I kept replaying the two comments Scott had given me:

The encouraging: "Just do a 5-lug conversion. It's not that bad."

Then the more ominous: "There's definitely a lot involved for the conversion. It's not for the faint of heart."

So I started by planning. I bought myself a shop manual, read every forum thread I could find about the 5-lug swap. I bought a bunch of tools, a breaker bar, fluids, ball joint puller etc. I was stocking up and studying nearly every night!

The 5-lug came from a donor car in Tennessee -- a 2003 RSX Type-S (DC5). The DC5 shares many of the same parts as my EP3, so the swap is possible and has been done by many EP3 owners. Because the donor car was a Type-S (not the base model), I had the benefit of getting much larger front calipers & rotors as a bonus. But that bonus was offset by the need for new axles (to fit the larger Type-S splines).

Here's a picture of the donor RSX parts before they were shipped to me:

Assembling all my tools and parts took about 3 weeks. Lots of mail order, and help from Big Mike and Jude. Jude's advice was something about using beer and copious amounts of swearing. That turned out to be good advice.

The actual install happened over 2 weeks, nights and weekends... I lost half a week when I realized the ball joint puller I had purchased was inadequate for the job. And had to hire a mobile mechanic to help me with a stuck axle (lesson learned: get a "BFH," bigger floor jack, bigger jack stands).

Picture of the work in progress. You can see the original 4-lug assemblies still on the car. On the floor is the new 5-lug, a fresh socket set, and an old rim (bronze C8).

A picture of the stock EP3 front rotor next to the larger RSX Type-S replacement:

New replacement axles from an RSX Type-S:

My tires are dismounted from my C8's and re-mounted to the MF-10 set! The de-throned old rims shrink back in shame.

Conversion is complete now, and my shiny MF-10s finally mounted on the car. Here are pictures of my dirt-covered EP3 in the fading dusk light. Look closely to see my smiling face in the reflections!!

** We just got this note and review from John Hinrichs - Thanks John! **

This afternoon I was able to take my CR-Z out for its first fun drive since I picked it up from KMS.  I've driven 30 minutes home, eaten dinner, made myself comfortable on my couch and there is still a big goofy grin on my face.  As much as i love the car itself, I have to give credit for this persistent smile to the Mugen suspension and exhaust you installed.

The factory suspension on the CR-Z was skewed to the comfort side.  Nice for running up and down the interstate, but when it came to corners the car would roll to the outside before it set into the turn.  With the Mugen system the car just turns in. 

Before I set off, I set all four shocks to 5 (full hard).  On the way to my choice bit of road, an area of backroads just south of Friess Lake, I rode over miles of lumpy concrete highways, chewed up blacktop side roads, and more than a few potholes.  The Mugen suspension let me know exactly what kind of surface I was on, but it was never harsh or abrupt. 

The roads I set out to drive are not the newest.  A patched, narrow, blacktop ring of roads that wind around and over the wooded hills of the area -- including a beautifully tight little switchback (which is a rare thing in southeastern Wisconsin).  The car just devoured it, staying flat and collected throughout.  Even in places where the corners were pieced together and uneven, the tires were held down tight, following the rough pavement without any hint of the skittishness that comes with a tire bouncing over the bumps I knew were there.

After driving the 7 mile loop once in each direction, I pulled over to set the shocks to full soft.  Five minutes later I was driving the loop for a third time just to listen to my car.  The stock exhaust note isn't non-existent, and the Mugen system isn't overly loud (I don't get complaints from the neighbors when I get called out to work at 2am like i do with my CRX), it just dials up the bass a couple notches.  In the last few weeks of commuting it has never been intrusive or droning.  I didn't even have to adjust the volume on the stereo.  But on these roads, full throttle from 4k to 6k RPM, the sound echoing off the trees was incredible.  It makes me want to find a tunnel just to listen.

Oh, and in regular highway driving I'm up 2 MPG since the new exhaust was installed.  Win/win.

Thanks for everything,
John Hinrichs