Words and Photos by Charlie Scott for StanceWorks.com

What’s the first thing you notice on this car? I bet it’s probably nothing that’s actually on the car. It’s the reflection in those wheels. Whoever developed these wheels for Image must have liked looking at himself…ALOT. They’re Image Billet 19’s, 18×8.5 et 32 in the front and 18×9.5 et 19 in the rear. 8mm spacers in the front, no spacers in the rear, no adapters, just perfect fitment.

If you don’t see the reflection in the wheels, you’ll probably notice it in the paint. Luis did most the prep work for paint himself including pulling parts and wet sanding and David at D&C Body shop flawlessly re-sprayed the car in Mercedes platinum blue metallic. The plan was to go with something clean and simple, yet out of the norm. The car got a full re-spray and it was ready for suspension work.

The ‘04 Jetta, formerly painted platinum gray,  has always been a show car. The dealership that Luis bought the car from used it as a Waterfest show car. It had a full Votex kit on it and everyone at the show thought it was the new GLI. Like I said previously, it didn’t stay that way for long. Luis said $#@& this and ripped the car apart and made it his own, made it unique, made it perfect.

A friend suggested I post this up for a desktop background, so here you are. Click for full-res. If you want another size, post in the comments.

Words and Photos by Mike Burroughs for StanceWorks.com

I’ll start by saying that if you don’t know who Robert F’in Garrett is, you have some learning to do, youngin’. If you do know who RFG is, you may remember this car. If you’re still confused, worry not, because none of the above, including the title, is relevant. I just felt like bringing it up.

What you’re looking at is Fluid MotorUnion’s M-Roadster. It’s a simple car. No bling, no shine, no ground clearance. It’s not too often that you get to say your car can drive under an 18-wheeler’s trailer, especially if you don’t drive a slammed-to-hell miata, but such is the case for this M-Roady. It’s honestly one of the lowest cars I’ve ridden in. If the pictures don’t show it, the marks left on the ground damn near everywhere it goes should do the trick. Driving down the road becomes a masterfully balanced ballet of dodging, looking ahead, and saying “oh shit.”

The stance comes from a mashup of parts to produce a bastard-coilover so “out-there” that even the guys at fluid aren’t quite sure what parts put this car at sea-level. The wheels are factory Road-stars but with a twist. Rear wheels are mounted up front, and coming in at 17×9 et9, they might signify that the rear is a bit of a special recipe. Widened out 2″, the rears wheels are a set of rear road-stars that measure 17×11 with an offset somewhere around -16. Some stretched rubber allows the setup to clear by hardly more than a credit card’s width. It’s somewhat surprising the paint isn’t bubbled to be honest.

The roadster’s engine is also packing some heat. The S52 has been modified to accept S54 throttle bodies, and the engine internals have been replaced with forged goodies, with a complete package allowing for a redline somewhere near the 9000rpm neighborhood. The sound is phenomenal, throaty but reserved. The growl of the stacks is fantastic as always, meaning keeping your foot out of it is even tougher than expected.

The car as a whole is a wonderfully simple package. Love it or hate it, it does what it does very well… sweeping the dust off of the shop floor…. err wait, that’s not right.