AutoCity Imports is always on the lookout for cool events to get involved with, and we’re really excited to share details about one in particular: the Club4G 2012 Route 75 Cruise to Tampa. It will be Club4G’s biggest meet ever, and the event seems to be growing every day.

Club4G, a forum for fourth-generation Eclipse (2006-2012) enthusiasts, will kick off the cruise in Cincinnati this summer and head south to Florida. “It’s going to be amazing to see all of those fourth-gen Eclipses at once,” said event founder Jason Willis, who goes by OrangeDemon on the forum. “Our cars are hard to come by and modify. Out of all the Eclipses, our generation is most rare.” As the rally heads south, Club4G will keep picking up members in major cities along the route, ending the cruise with a weekend of events in Florida.

When Willis originally pitched the idea on the forum, he expected maybe 15 people to join him. It ended up blowing up, a growing number of now 50+ are planning to participate, with members from all over the U.S. joining in on the event. After leaving Cincinnati June 28, they’ll makes stops in Lexington, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Atlanta and Gainsville before finally ending in Tampa. After the cruise, a Club4G members-only event will be held on June 30, followed by an all-Florida meet that’s open to all imports. The forum members also rented two houses on Apollo Beach to continue the fun.

More 4g Eclipse participants are welcome and encouraged to join. For more information on the cruise visit the link below…

Link – 2012 Cruise to Tampa – Club4g

All car clubs are welcome to the “All Florida Beach Meet” on June 30th. This part of the event is being organized by Emanual Reyes, MannyGT with Extreme Events. Eclipse or not, all other clubs are invited to join in and have a great time. It will be held at Fort DeSoto Beach in Tierra Verde. For more info on the beach meet check out the link below…

Link – All Florida Beach Meet – Extreme Events

It’s been exciting to watch this event grow since it was first pitched, and AutoCity Imports is proud to sponsor the Cruise to Tampa. Club4G member Chad Powell, or freakydeaky, designed decals and T-shirts for the cruise, and Jesse Bridges, TheFootofGod, organized the house rentals. Richie Morales, RichieM22, is planning the members-only party.

We recently started carrying vinyl wraps for hoods, trunks, interior components and entire vehicles, but our roof kits are by far the most popular. We’ve taken some of the guesswork out of the purchase for you by pre-measuring roof vinyls for many different vehicles, and our customer service reps have studied up thoroughly to help you navigate the different grade films we offer. The link below is our current line of automotive vinyl options, including roof wraps, as well as vinyl by the foot for custom applications.

Link: Automotive Vinyl Roof Wraps

We carry matte, gloss, carbon and brushed metal film in both standard and premium grade. Any option will give you the look you want, but there are a few differences in the products. 3M Scotchprint 1080 and Oracal 970RA are our premium grades, which both allow you to do a dry installation. These are specially-designed vinyls for automotive use that easily conform to the contours of your car. The adhesive is pressure activated, which means you can lift and reposition the vinyl film until it’s lined up perfectly, and non-visible air release channels prevent any air bubbles from appearing.

Our standard grade vinyl is made by Avery, and even though these don’t feature the air channels or pressure-activated adhesive found on our premium grades, you can still expect great results. For this product, you’ll need to do a wet install, which involves spraying soapy water on the vehicle surface so the vinyl slides into position.

We’re here to answer any questions you may have about the products or the installation process, but if you want to see for yourself how simple it is, check out our install video below. Thanks to AutoCity customer Jason Ostrowski for letting us borrow his Honda Fit to demonstrate a dry installation.

About 8 months back we sat down and had a meeting about the CR-Z Tuning scene and what, if any, our involvement would be with this market. Beyond the CR-Z being an aesthetically pleasing re-birth of the CRX, there’s so much potential with this chassis, we couldn’t wait to get involved. Bringing some CR-Z parts on hand was the start, but teaming up with CRZForum.com is where the fun began. CRZForum is one of strongest communities of owners, manufacturers, and supporters of Honda’s newest platform, and with only 5 months in, being a supporting vendor has already lead us to some great projects and new friends.

Our CR-Z parts page link: 2011+ Honda CR-Z Performance Parts & Tuning Page
Our CRZForum vendor section: AutoCity Imports CRZForum Vendor Section

We recently started working with Rodrigo Baluyot out of San Jose California, and can’t say too much about the future direction on his CR-Z project but bagged and sitting proper is just the start. Rod stays very active in the Southern, Central, and Northern California car scene and was featured on Canibeat earlier this month. We attached a few pictures below but check out the full shoot at the Canibeat link below. Photography was done by Pat Lauder.

Canibeat Link: New Frontiers: Rod Baluyot’s Bagged Honda CR-Z | Canibeat

As Rod’s build progresses we’ll post updates to our AutoCity Imports Facebook Page and we’ll be sure to post some additional blog entries along the way.

We’ve recently expanded our Lamin-X line and added many more pre-cut lens film options. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Lamin-X, it’s an American-made line of taillight, headlight and foglight protective film. It’s a great way to protect your lights, but also really polishes off the look of the vehicle with a glossy finish or colored tint. Lamin-X is available in Charcoal, Smoke, Gun Smoke, Tint, Optic Blue, Yellow or Clear for invisible protection.

The vehicle specific lens film options are cut to fit precisely over the light and make for a simple do it yourself installation. Lamin-X uses a thick durable film and features high-quality adhesive that’s very forgiving if you make a mistake while applying it. This allows you to re-install if you make a mistake the first time around. Many cheaper tinting films on the market are thinner with inferior adhesive, making for a much trickier installation, especially on curved surfaces.

Lamin-X Manufacturer Section: Lamin-X Protective Lens Film

If you don’t see a pre-cut option for your car, give us a call and we’ll help you create a custom application using a sheet or roll of uncut Lamin-X film.

Nissan 370z Lamin-X Headlight Film installed (Customer used the “Tint” film)

Nissan 370z Lamin-X Tail Light Film installed (Customer used the “Gunsmoke” film)

AutoCity Imports keeps a close eye on our product lines and industry news, but there’s an important component involved in keeping our lines full with the newest and best parts available.

We wouldn’t be where we are today without the support and partnership of some of the import scene’s best car clubs, who keep us on our toes about new products for different applications. In return, they benefit from deep club discounts, some free swag and support for their local events.

AutoCity has been working with the guys over at South Florida Lancer Club since 2008, and it’s been exciting to watch them grow. SoFLancer was founded in 2007 by a group of friends, Eric Jablon, Tom Goldscheck and brothers Tony and Chris Palmer, and now has more than 100 members in its community of Lancer, Ralliart and Evolution enthusiasts.

“We all started looking for a club for our specific cars, due to them being the hottest new car for Mitsubishi,” Tony Palmer said. “It had created a new style for the Lancer family, and then Ralliart/Evolution.”
The club expanded outward from Broward County and across Florida. SoFLancer launched a Facebook page and forum to attract new recruits, and meets bi-weekly in Broward and Miami.

You can catch the club in south Florida at Tower Shoppes, the SoFLa Annual BBQ, Miami Auto Show, Hot Import Nights and Boost for Boobs, a cancer awareness fundraiser.

“The ’08 Lancer market is a really interesting niche,” said Joe Tiano of AutoCity Imports. “The South Florida Lancer Team is a really loyal community, but it’s not always easy for them to find parts because the application is sometimes overlooked. The club helps suggest certain parts to stock and even had hand in us manufacturing some exclusive parts. This relationship really allows us to cater to a market we enjoy being a part of.”

SoFLancer co-owner Chris Palmer summed the sponsorship pretty well. “We take care of them as they would take care of us, like a family,” Palmer said.

We value our relationship with SoFLancer and all of the other car clubs we sponsor. We rely on our clubs for feedback about new parts and product lines, and often get some of our best photos and videos from club customers’ installs.

We’re currently looking for some new clubs to get involved with for the 2012 season.

- 9th Gen Mitsubishi Lancer
- 4th Gen Mitsubishi Eclipse
- 8th Gen Honda Civic
- Honda CR-Z
- General Honda & Acura Clubs
- General Nissan & Infiniti Clubs
- General Mitsubishi Clubs

If you’re active in any clubs that match what we’ve listed please give us a call at (586) 797-9083 or drop an email to joe@autocityimports.com to learn more about club sponsorship.

Check out SoFLancer at www.soflancer.com, pop in on the forum at www.soflancer.com/forum or visit them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/groups/South.Florida.Lancers/. Anyone with a Mitsubishi is welcome to join.

Happy New Year to the AutoCity Imports community! We’d like to send a big THANK YOU to all our loyal customers who helped make 2011 a banner year for the company. Last year, our New Year’s resolution was move into a much-needed larger location and bring in some new hires. The move came in May along with the addition of Brad Lenard and Scott Lenard to our team. More space and larger staff has allowed us to work more efficiently as well as focus on expanding our product selection and availability.

In 2011 we stayed more involved with the 8th Gen Honda Civic and Honda CR-Z communities – two groups we love working with and can’t wait to do more for. We’ve added tons of 2006+ Honda Civic Performance Parts and 2011+ Honda CR-Z Performance Parts and are focused to continue this support into 2012. Come say hi to us at 8thCivic.com and CRZForum.com in our vendor sections.

We’re starting off the New Year with lots of ideas and goals to continue growing. We’ve been in touch with new manufacturers and are working on new accounts that will bring some cool parts we’ve never carried before. We also have a handful of projects lined up to offer parts and services that will be exclusive to AutoCity customers. – stay tuned!

You all probably have your own big plans and goals for 2012, and if you’re a car guy (or girl) a lot of those goals are about fixing your car up. Comment on this post and tell us what car you drive and share a few short sentences what your goals are for your car in 2012. At the end of January we’ll be selecting one of the comments posted and will send out a $50 gift card to help get one of your projects rolling for the New Year.

Let’s make this year a good one. Cheers!

AutoCity Imports prides itself in carrying high-quality performance lines for our customers, but in SPEC Clutches and Flywheels we’ve found an added bonus: the ability to offer a line of clutches that are fully engineered and built in the United States.

SPEC has been manufacturing clutches for more than 20 years using advanced methods, and today has the industry’s largest performance application listing for street and track use. AutoCity Imports has carried SPEC products in limited applications for some time, but we are excited to announce we’ve recently expanded our offerings to include applications for even more makes and models. Because SPEC clutches are manufactured onsite at the company’s Alabama headquarters, our customers benefit from extremely quick availability. If we don’t have a part in stock, SPEC will build and ship it within 48 hours. The speed of production and shipment never comes at the expense of quality, since SPEC maintains very high standards. Check out our full selection of SPEC Clutches and Flywheels at the link below.

Link: SPEC Clutches and Flywheels Manufacturer Page

SPEC manufactures performance clutches in five stages for the best possible drivability for all levels of power capacity, regardless of your budget. SPEC also offers multi-disc clutches, tuned billet flywheels and pressure plates. AutoCity Imports is proud to support a company that offers American-made products.

SEMA 2011 is now in full swing and we’re excited to finally get a closer look at the 2012 Honda Civic Si built by Fox Marketing. Full-Race Motorsports stepped in and helped this build hit 450hp of reliable power on the stock K24Z7 motor. Below you’ll see some photos of the car, a video of Brian Fox talking about the project, and the vehicle specifications from FoxMarketingCars.com.

We plan to work closely with the 9th Generation Civic community just as we did with the 8th Generation over the years, although we have yet to make headway in this market. The delay of the Civic Si coming to the U.S. caused us to hold off on working with it. But now that it has landed and is gaining attention from the aftermarket industry, we will be growing in our support of this platform. For now we have a very selective selection of aftermarket parts available for the 2012+ Civic but check out the link below to see what we have for now and keep an eye out for much more to come very soon.

Link: 2012+ Honda Civic Performance Parts and Accessories

- Build specs quoted below are directly from FoxMarketingCars.com -
The main focus of this build was to showcase the reliability, and performance capability from Honda’s new K24Z7 power plant. With a properly engineered turbo kit the new Civic Si can consistently provide an enthusiast with over 450 horsepower for 100,000+ reliable miles without blinking an eye. Because the K24Z7 is so strong from the factory, we added a new Full-Race intercooled turbo kit. This turbo kit features the BorgWarner EFR turbo as seen in Honda’s LMP1/LMP2 engine program, and 2012 Indycar teams. To properly and accurately tune the vehicle, Hondata FlashPro was selected to control Injector Dynamic 1000cc fuel injectors and the 255lph fuel pump, all made possible with the Chasebays Engine Harness. For additional power and durability, the stock plastic K24Z7 intake manifold was replaced with a Honda RRC intake manifold (euro Accord Type-R) sourced from ImportDPS. Since the car has these types of power numbers we need serious traction – so a 10.5 inch wide Vossen wheel with Toyo Tire will put the power to the ground. We then hand-built the widebody kit around the wheel and tire set up, and painted the civic BASF R-M Ultrasonic Blue Pearl, a new-school take on the classic Civic Si electron-blue-pearl. The interior was upgraded with Yonaka Ronin Racing Seats with factory Civic Si fabric inserts front, and rear. We hope you enjoy our vision for this new Si.

With car manufactures heavily focused on creating more eco-friendly vehicles, hybrid tuning is becoming more common, and as of late the Honda CR-Z seems to be the poster child for this movement. Honda enthusiasts didn’t seem to embrace the challenges of hybrid tuning immediately, but with the overwhelming support from the performance parts industry many are coming around and adapting to these changes. Check out the link below for our selection of CR-Z Performance Parts and accessories.

Link: 2011+ Honda CR-Z Performance Parts

We are extremely excited to be involved with the Honda CR-Z community and proud to be a supporting vendor on CRZForum.com. For those not familiar, CRZForum.com is an online community where you can interact with other CR-Z enthusiasts. You’ll find everything from tech support, reviews, news, photos, and specs on the sport hybrid CR-Z. We have a dedicated section on the forum where we’ll announce new product releases, showoff customer rides, and offer tech support.

Link: CRZForum.com Home Page
Link: CRZ Forum – AutoCity Imports Vendor Section

We have a great selection of CR-Z Performance Parts with many more on the way, including some harder to find JDM parts. Stay connected with us on our facebook page for updates on our CR-Z selection as well as take advantage of some facebook only specials and giveaways.

More Honda CR-Z news to come, thank you for your support!!!