John Lei from Texas sent me pics of his 350Z sitting on some AME Circlar Spec R’s in BBF finish. The B’s don’t stand for “blinding bling” either.
He went mo’ aggro than usual on the fitment, 19×9+10 on the front and 19×10+0 on the rear. Fat lips like the Pharcyde.
High pad fronts clear Z Brembo no problem.
I like AME’s centercaps cause they’re secured with 5 bolts, rather than pop in style on other brands (that makes it easier to fall out or get stolen). His wheels stay on the car via a set of Kics Project R40 lug nuts in Neo Chrome finish.
Besides his Z, he’s also got a stupid clean Starion, which he also repainted a similar color (Fiji Blue). I’ve always loved Starions for their body lines (i.e fenders) and their wheel fitment. You can go super gangster wide and low offset on these things, which when paired with the fenders equals a killer combo.
…you can also see your friends graduate! Congrats out to the homey Lindsay Ross for graduating from Art Center Pasadena. His major, if you can’t tell, is transportation design, and last Friday I went out to the campus to check out his projects on display. I especially liked his BMW LMR (Le Mans Racer) concept, which was intended to be a fusion between F1 and the BMW M series.
While I’m not terribly familiar with Transportation design, the LMR concept he did was cool because it seemed realistic, rather than some comic book race car. Also, since he builds cars and races (real cars) in his free time, I think a lot of his motorsports background helps to give him a realistic, purpose driven approach to his work.
He also did a few other cars, including the Lotus project shown in the bottom right as well as another SUV concept. For some of these projects, I’d had seen them from time to time when he was building them (or in drawing phase), so to see it completed brings it full circle.
His Maserati project was stunning, which from my understanding mimics the fluidity of moving cloth, specifically in the way its displayed on marble statues. 
I’d be trippin balls if I found myself following this on the 5 freeway. LOL. 
The wheels were made from a 3D molding machine, which actually is able to form 3D objects in real time, layer by layer. I might be totally wrong, and I sure didn’t attend Art Center, so don’t quote me on it. Either way it’s cool and super concave! 
Some of the members of Team Droo-P came into town today to help Yoshioka prep and tune the car for this weekend. Kojima-san of Team Droo-P is shown here setting the backlash / preload for the ring and pinion BY HAND. Super OG.
Shot of the Toda Racing header, which I was told is a one-off custom unit. 
Japanese Tentacle pronz! 
Shot of his fuel setup. Peep the computer fans on the fuel cooler, suuu-whate!
Last D1GP USA at Irwindale, I guess Yoshioka was pullin so many G’z on the bank, it caused low oil pressure / starvation to the motor. As a result, they yanked the motor and sent it back to Japan, and then sent it back in the most perfect engine crate I’ve ever seen (shown partially disassembled obviously). I believe he’ll be going to a dry sump setup on this car as well in the future.
Corolla guys are investing in stock with pants companies right now. Engine work was done by Prime Garage in Japan. 
This is what an empty engine bay looks like. Yes that’s an ARC radiator in a Rolla.
And through the magic of television, would you look at how tender and moi….err, I mean, look at how fast he put the motor in. Nah, after you’ve been a Corolla guy for the majority of your life, this is child’s play. 
This is where he either a) dropped his keys, or b) was tightening down the motor mounts.
Since he’ll be competing this year in Formula D as well, he had to cut out and remove his previous Safety 21 / custom cage to meet the tubing wall thickness requirements. All you Yoshioka fans will notice the underlying blue paint, which was from his Espelir paint scheme a few years back.
Cage work was done by a shop A-Tech here in Socal. The boxes, welds, and tolerance came out well, and was recently passed this past weekend at Formula D tech.
Oxymoron of the day: An 1986 Toyota Corolla with Project Mu calipers and Volk Racing CE28’s. 
When you are a true O.G double O.G D1GP driver, Works Bell Japan makes you a special edition Rapfix II quick release. Horn button (cover) I believe was made by one of his friends, custom laser etched.
The XL version of the Toshiking sticker. Wish him good luck this year in Formula D!