NWMotiv HondafestNW 7.28.24
This year marks the 10th Anniversary for HondafestNW, brought to you by NWMotiv. I missed out last year since I was out of town, but I’ve attended a few of these shows in the past and it’s definitely the best Honda gatherings we have up here. Since Honda-Tech isn’t really a thing anymore, someone had to fill in the gap to host these type of meets. Vinnie Nguyen has been doing a great job this past decade with the car community and getting people together. It’s people like him who I give mad respect to when it comes to this subject. So whenever you see him, you gotta give him props since the man can do it all.
Going back to the event, it was another great time with all the Honda enthusiasts. I originally planned to go there early with the bro, Long, so I can get some early roll-in coverage. Unfortunately one of the homies that was supposed to work the event ended up getting sick, so Vinnie asked if I could judge the ‘94 & up Integra and NSX category. Put my inclusive criticism to use for once in the NW? EASY! Just playin lol… But it was definitely a nice change for once. I’ve helped judge and put in my 2 cents here and there, but not to this level. Felt pretty damn good though meeting and hearing some of these guys’ stories. I’d do it again lol. I didn’t get the chance to take as many photos as I wanted since I spent a solid chunk of time working, but it’s all good. It was a nice turnout overall with a big attendance. Shoutout again to the bro Vinnie for holding it down and still staying true to his passion while being a family man. Much love brotha!
We arrived around 6 am, which is the earliest I’ve ever been to a car show lol.
The man with the plan & Mr. NWMotiv himself, Vinnie Nguyen, laying things out to the staff.
Long hard at work with the comfy Berks….
Austin Hironaka had a rough morning on the way to the venue, but that didn’t stop him from having a good time. He recently pulled the motor out of the Del Sol to make some slight changes, and managed to run it in time for the event. Austin didn’t register or have a booth this year, but he was a perfect addition to help judge the show.
First car that caught my eye during roll-in was this Prelude owned & built by Joshua Luquette. He went hoodless this time to show off the engine bay more easier.
AJ Rodriguez never fails to attend with his OEM+ EM1. I’m not sure if he changed anything since Wekfest, but I think I noticed him either unloading or loading in a rear bumper lol.
Fatboi got a lot going on with his EG hatch. Love the DevSport splitter paired with the classic Rocket Dancer lip. Apparently he built this car in 2 months, and I give him props along with the rest of the 505 StreetPerformance guys.
Mike unfortunately got into an incident in his previous Boost Blue FL5, but came up on this Sonic Gray Type R shortly after. I guess you can say it’s a particular chassis he loves, but also maybe finish what he barely started. I like the subtle drop on Hyper Green TE37SL’s. Just needs a lip in my opinion.
Tuan Vu gets down on the track with his TSX. The CL7 Euro-R lip kit goes hard with the aggressive SSR Type C’s up front & OG CE28’s in the rear. This was the first time meeting him, and he’s a real energetic guy.
Tuan’s wife, Hannah, also hits the track with her Fit on TE’s. Couple goals for sure!
Brian Miller has all the cool toys. He’s actually the original owner of this clean GS-R. Not many people can say that. The Mugen kit isn’t for everyone, but I like it. Of course he had to have JDM one piece headlights, and the CE28 Club Racers are very subtle. Not overly done, but well executed.
Brian had a friend bring in his NA2 NSX. The MF10’s were the perfect replacement from the Advan RS wheels he’s had on for a while.
Ken “Radar” Edwards’ DC2 Integra Type-R looking good & shiny as always, even under the gloomy weather.
A couple of sweet FA5’s rolling in to represent Never Content.
Super clean FA5 fitted with a FEEL’S front bumper.
Kyle Moore’s old sedan definitely went to a good home. Jack Raible continues to adjust the FA5 to his liking for the track. The INGS N-Spec front bumper is fire, and the aggressive staggered RPF1’s shows he means business.
Alex Tran never really had a reason to attend Hondafest, but now he finally does with his Del Sol. He’ll always be a winner in my opinion 😁
Ben Malla dumped his EF sedan and came up on these BBR Competition wheels from the homie Sharky. The Backyard Boogie CEO stays switching up wheels like a real sneakerhead.
It’s been a while since Caspar Hill showed out. A while as in I’ve never posted him on the blog before lol. He made a few changes mechanically wise, but the aesthetics is pretty much the same. The Rocket Dancer lip goes with the Livesports wing, and the bronze RE30’s are heat.
The real heavy hitters all in one photo. Not the best shot of Ken Sugawara’s EK, but he threw the SE37’s back on and I love it.
Quite a few Canadians came down to participate in the show including Jason Tong and his Mugen equipped EG hatch.
Khit Lim brought in his Uncle David’s well put-together EG loaded with a K-swap, Spoon lip & brakes, and MF10’s. The headlight covers are what turned my head to be honest lol.
Flame Red FK8 Type-R with a Mugen lip kit on white TE37SL’s owned by Andy Nguyen.
Lester De Gracia cheesing in his full Varis equipped FK8 during roll-in.
Sam Preng switched up the blue TE’s and repurposed the bronze CE’s for this show. I messed up again by not getting a shot of his bay since I was busy, but he scored first place ‘‘93 and Older Integra’ and it was well deserved.
After roll-in, I spent a solid 2-3 hours judging & talking to everyone. I had to take a break and check out the packed stands.
The SpeedFactory EG continues to kill it and dominate world records.
A couple of OG’s in the pit… They only came out to kick it and chill, but I’m sure if they registered for the show they would’ve took home some big hardware lol.
Ron Khamphouvong literally has one of the best DC2 Type-Rs ever. A wild build with parts not many people are running such as a Crowhouse front bumper paired with ARC Magic winglets and rare Airwalker sideskirts. The J’s Racing fenders go well with the Ganador mirrors and Mugen Gen 2 wing. The double staggered CE28’s are definitely a neck breaker, since a lot of people are scared to run 17’s nowadays. Everything just flows so well with this car, which makes it one of my favorites.
I’m most likely gonna do a solo feature of Ron’s car eventually, but until then just enjoy this shot of his bay involving a K-swap utilizing Hayward Performance ITBs and quite a few ARC goodies like the coil pack cover and strut bar.
Mikee Andrada’s EK coupe is another favorite of mine. It doesn’t seem like much has changed for him except that he lost a shit ton of weight on a personal side lol. But yeah his car is still fire, and the RSZ-Rs definitely makes it the best look for me so far.
The Backyard Boogie booth was poppin all day! Glad to see everyone supporting the brand.
Same with the Filthy booth as well! I know a lot of spectators and show goers were messing with the new reservoir covers Caspar recently launched.
Like I mentioned, Caspar went through some nice mechanical changes to his EG like some minor internals for his head and obviously a fat ass turbo. He got a tune at Reliable Wrenchers before the show and ran some nice numbers: 400 hp/257 tq. Stupid quick yo! The car sounds pretty badass too. Caspar scored the ‘Best Vendor Car’ award and it was well deserved.
The Boogie lineup always looking good and proper.
All of the judges making a final decision…
Joshua Luquette is running a crazy twincharged set-up on his H22. Something I haven’t seen up here, but it’s fucking badass.
Daniel Bortolazzo made the drive down from BC in his boosted EK hatch. I met him last month at Wekfest Seattle along with a few other Canadians. He’ll be going under the knife with this project, and I’m looking forward to seeing what he has planned.
I first met Jason Tong last year at Wekfest. Real chill guy, and his EG hatch is money. The Mugen front lip already speaks for itself. He opted for some OG 15” MF10s instead of the OG 15” M7s he was on before. Go look through his instagram and be amazed because a real solid wheel collection like a true enthusiast.
Jason also switched up the J’s Racing valve cover to a simple wrinkle red Type-R one.
This ‘91 Prelude was pretty damn sick. From keeping mostly everything original to a nice K-swap, it was something we all appreciated and something we didn’t expect to see. We ended up giving this car the “Judges Choice” award.
Lex Le is another OG in the community. He’s had this Midori EK for a long time and continues to add minor touches to it like the SiR bumpers and Exceed lip. Lex recently came up on the NSX with low mileage and sold the S2000 to his brother. As you can tell, his favorite wheels are Regamasters and we definitely get along lol.
Nice display of trophies for this year’s show…
And all the winners that took a W. Ben was lazy to go back to his booth to retrieve award lol.
A good combination of the Boogie & Filthy staff with true supporters.
I had to bother Radar real quick to get some shots of his bay as he was warming up his car. He ditched the Jackson Racing Supercharger and is now running Kinsler ITBs. Ken also got his M-FAB headers cerakoted as well.
According to Radar, the car is running A LOT better now and he can finally enjoy it without having to run into issues. Happy for the bro!
It was a tough choice, but I had to give the ‘Best NSX’ award to Dan Nguyen. He pretty much has everything on the list, and his presentation is up to par.
I was confused because Mikey Legaspi was supposed to bring the DC5R since I was gonna judge it, but he ended up bringing the Midori since he wanted to break it in during lead & follow. No complaints though. Mikey came up on the hatch from the bro, Anton Madamba, and he wasted no time adding some personal touches to it. He did a lot so far such a B-series swap, some interior upgrades, slapped on a Spoon lip & carbon hood, and came up on a nice set of SSR Type C’s from Manong Al Michael Franco. Looking good my dawg!
Finally got a shot of Ken’s bay. You know he had to keep the Mugen theme going. Super clean JDM K20A swap that he got from Toto Deleon. My favorite piece has to be the limited M-FAB strut bar. Ken actually scored the ‘First Place ‘96 & Up Civic’ award. Congrats par!
I was telling Tam Le that his NSX kind of reminded me of Michael Mao’s car from back in the day. The Shine Auto front bumper with CF canards gave it that similar look, and the Downforce GTS front fenders with Taitec rear quarters were a nice touch to house the nicely concaved TE37SLs. Tam is also another OG in the scene, and we had a great convo about mutual homies, cars, Lexus’, and such as well.
Properly executed S2000 owned & built by Hiro Hero. The car used to have a full ASM look, but switched it to an Amuse Legalo front bumper with paint matched canards. He also installed the Legalo fenders and Amuse R1 hood as well, but still attained the ASM rear over fenders & bumper. The Endless brakes definitely pop behind the Diamond Black CE28s. So good!
Noah Olivares brought out this pretty cool Honda Acty Kei Truck to post up next to the Stancewars trailer.
And here’s the 2024 HondafestNW ‘Best of Show’ winner, Amadeo Funaro with his immaculate UK DC2 Integra Type-R! It was a collaborative decision between all the judges, yet we all had the same idea. Although I kinda called it from the get before the event even started lol. Congrats again bro! 🏆
Finally got the chance to properly meet Daniel Yeh. This guy will do whatever it takes to attend a show down here, mainly because he prefers them over the ones in Canada. To each their own! I still gotta come up for once and witness myself. Maybe Midnight REVUP…
Franky Chan decided to roll on the Anniversary Mugen MR-5’s for the show, and to be honest I think they look a little better on his car than Ben’s lol. The wheels with the OG Endless brakes are a fire combo!
LCM Tony Dau doing what he does best by highlighting everyone’s unique features.
One of the coolest dogs you’ll ever meet, Li’l Dinner the pocket bully, looking fly as hell.
I didn’t get a proper photo of Sammy Nguyen on grind mode during the event, but here’s a quick snap of her fixing them lashes… Volume on point, homegirl! Also, hi Tam ✌🏼
Ended the day with a nice kickback at Hiro’s Hotrods HQ where I took a nice 15 min power nap…
Thanks for reading! I gotta get ready for this upcoming Backyard Boogie x Filthy ‘Southend Summer Classic’ event, so stay tuned for that!
