Article on Akard's monster 318iS

[UNHCLL]

Anyone know if this is Akard's current car, or his former car?? I was under the impression he sold his old car, and I thought his new car had some seriously "rolled" fenders- no bolt on flares- but wide as hell steel thanks to hours of work with a fender roller.

Anyone??

Bret.

ps- if that is his current car- I know for a fact that he paid more than $400 for it.... ;)

Rig,
That is the current car.
I watched it race here in NH 2 weeks ago.

[2002maniac]

I thought his new car had some seriously "rolled" fenders- no bolt on flares- but wide as hell steel thanks to hours of work with a fender roller.

Yes sir that is some agressive fender rolling! Not enough i guess (judging by the addition of flares.)

[motorprestige]

Looks fucking crazy in this pic. I wanna drive it.

[Skafrog]

It's fun.
Also, his current flares are the same size as the orignal prepared fenders that were originally on his car. When the Ireland flares were put on, they had less clearance than before.
The car was built up as an IP car at first, which is why the cage is designed the way it is. When the car moved up to mod and the interior taken out, the fit wasnt optimal anymore.
Oh, its street legal. According to Killboy, it's the fastest thing at the Dragon.

[jht3]

you really don't need turn signals or seatbelts in TN? really?

you are allowed to take out the interior in IP, so unless he chose to keep the headliner in, the cage should be tighter than that. i'm sure had his reasons, just something i immediately noticed. that older picture looks like he even still has the sunroof. note the huge gap between the a-pillar and bar on the pass side. looks like he was way underdeveloped for a "prepared" level car. still has the front turn signals though!

if i had all that power, i'd sure want a cage that would stiffen up the chassis and give me the best chance of walking away from an accident

[Skafrog]

you really don't need turn signals or seatbelts in TN? really?

you are allowed to take out the interior in IP, so unless he chose to keep the headliner in, the cage should be tighter than that. i'm sure had his reasons, just something i immediately noticed. that older picture looks like he even still has the sunroof. note the huge gap between the a-pillar and bar on the pass side. looks like he was way underdeveloped for a "prepared" level car. still has the front turn signals though!

if i had all that power, i'd sure want a cage that would stiffen up the chassis and give me the best chance of walking away from an accident

The car was registered when it was an IP car.
The interior was kept, as it met minumum weight (remember, its a motor swap car) with the interior intact. The sunroof was gutted, and the core was welded back into place.
You have no idea what you are talking about.

[Rigmaster]

Yes sir that is some agressive fender rolling! Not enough i guess (judging by the addition of flares.)

Different cars in these pics (???) or at least different versions of the same car. The pic above is the one I've seen- the rolled steel fenders- (not M3 type fenders), the stock side mirrors, no hood pins, winglets on the front airdam, etc. What's the story on the development of the car?? Are they the same car??

Note the M3 fenders, small side mirrors, hood pins, + winglets in this pic:



Bret.

[rwh11385]

Are they the same car??

Bret.

I am absolutely amazed. . .

[brodee]

I saw this car this past Saturday at the club races, the $400 sticker is back, but in black now. Here's some pics of it at TWS.









Check out the bad ass e34 touring in the background ;)


Bad plug or coil??






Started 1st, finished 2nd behind Munson's e46 M3

[Charlie]

Why is it, every cool idea I'm playing around with in the back of my head, Akard has already done?

Oh well, I've been playing around with doing those ricer guage pods in that spot for a while, I like its execution.

-Charlie

[jht3]

The car was registered when it was an IP car.
The interior was kept, as it met minumum weight (remember, its a motor swap car) with the interior intact. The sunroof was gutted, and the core was welded back into place.
You have no idea what you are talking about.

whoa, easy there. why do i get the feeling you think i'm attacking akard and his car? i'm discussing what i see and what i know about building cars, which is the whole point of this forum.

i said i'm sure he had his reasons. keeping the interior to meet minimum weight is an OK reason. to retain street-friendliness is a bad reason for a prepared level car. i would have pulled the interior out and used ballast weights to come back up to spec, the lower the center of gravity the better. i've seen the car in person, but never focused on it in detail. looking at pictures it DOES look like the original sunroof was left in. in the newer pictures it is obvious a panel has been welded in instead. a tight fitting cage is important to tighten up the chassis, and now that it's a mod car, he's allowed to tie into the strut towers and subframe. if his whole point is just to "run what you brung" then by all means stop there and enjoy it. but it seems he IS competing for the overall win against cars with some serious time into the builds; such as david daniels' m5 beast, andy watts' LTW, bassen's s50b32 powered e30m3, etc. these are my impressions. i have not talked to akard nor am i intimately familiar with his car

[Addissimo]

whoa, easy there. why do i get the feeling you think i'm attacking akard and his car? i'm discussing what i see and what i know about building cars, which is the whole point of this forum.

i said i'm sure he had his reasons. keeping the interior to meet minimum weight is an OK reason. to retain street-friendliness is a bad reason for a prepared level car. i would have pulled the interior out and used ballast weights to come back up to spec, the lower the center of gravity the better. i've seen the car in person, but never focused on it in detail. looking at pictures it DOES look like the original sunroof was left in. in the newer pictures it is obvious a panel has been welded in instead. a tight fitting cage is important to tighten up the chassis, and now that it's a mod car, he's allowed to tie into the strut towers and subframe. if his whole point is just to "run what you brung" then by all means stop there and enjoy it. but it seems he IS competing for the overall win against cars with some serious time into the builds; such as david daniels' m5 beast, andy watts' LTW, bassen's s50b32 powered e30m3, etc. these are my impressions. i have not talked to akard nor am i intimately familiar with his car

I think this is the most civilized "retort" I have ever seen on this forum... no personal attacks or anything!


to you my friend!

come spread your car building knowledge more often

[Vspec]

Car is a monster: has power, not esthetically pleasing for the eye just like a real monster does.

[Addissimo]

Car is a monster: has power, looks like shit just like a real monster does.

and there is his first post folks! Look out for this guy here!

[Vspec]

and there is his first post folks! Look out for this guy here!

I believe you are taking what I said a bit too literally. The car has a serious amount of power and I am pretty sure it handles as good as it what meant to be, that makes it a monster. Esthetically wise, the car is far from being pleasing for the eyes, the proportions are not flowing overall with the car with the huge fender and the tall wing. But who cares about the appearance, this is a track car, that is there to scare off bigger cars on the track. A monster is usually powerfull and not very pretty and I beleive that car acheive the goal of being a monster.

I should have used "not esthetically pleasing for the eye" instead of "looks like shit". Here I will edit my post ...