Tuner Bash

Miracle Park, Panama City Beach[March 13-14, 2004]

Over 40,000 people (and 300 vehicles) attended our Tuner Bash event the second weekend of March. Sound quality fanatics, car enthusiasts, spring breakers, and various companies, including Nitrous Express, Meguiar's and Toyo Tires, were on hand. The magazine's first Sound & Style event was a great success. We "beta-tested" our first competition, judging over 30 vehicles for installation quality, looking at criteria such as integration, fitment, finish, placement and creativity. There are a lot of car enthusiasts who love their multimedia or stereo setups. Our event gave them a chance to garner some attention for their A/V aesthetics, and gave us an opportunity to educate them about sound quality, sound competitions and their systems. The winner of the event, Gabriel Smith, won a mini-feature in the mag, check it out below. And we hope to see you out there again next year! The event and prizes promise to be even bigger and better.

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93 Toyota Supra TT
In a parking lot full of cool vehicles Gabriel Smith's Supra stood out with its re-fabbed dash, 'glassed out trunk area and perfect exterior. Even without sound equipment this is a hot car. On the performance side it's loaded with the Greddy 3-row intercooler, HKS Super Sequential blow-off valve, HKS Super Mega Flow intake, Tanabe downpipe, and Greddy Race Titanium exhaust. The suspension is handled by Tokico gas shocks and the car rides on 19" Racing Hart CR's and Dunlop Sport 9000 tires. Helping Gabriel stop on a dime in style are Brembo cross-drilled rotors, Project Mu b-force brake pads and Corvette red painted calipers. But the reason why this Supra won the magazine's contest was determined by what is inside. The beautifully re-done and perfectly angled cockpit features an Eclipse CD8051 head unit that plays out to Eclipse's SC8362 component speakers and two 12" Eclipse Aluminum Series subwoofers in a custom fiberglass enclosure by Jack Szelepka. The speakers are powered by two JL Audio 500/1 and a 300/2 amps. Complementing the interior audio setup is a Momo steering wheel and two-tone racing seats. Gabriel is a Sargent in the Marines, and clearly when this connoisseur of fine vehicles lays down an order the job gets done right. Kudos to his installer for great execution. Our congratulations to both.