Chances are you've seen them. They're hard to miss. An ever-increasing number of modified, Japanese import vehicles have taken to the streets with modified suspensions, large-diameter wheels on low-profile tires, and horsepower-boosting performance parts.
Some flaunt wild, attention-grabbing visual enhancements as well, such as fashionable blue headlights and clear taillights, large logos draped across the car or bulging, exaggerated bodylines.
Import-tuning enthusiasts have long suffered a black eye, however.
Deservedly or not, many people associate modified sport-compacts with illegal street racing, blatant disregard for speed limits and safety, and obnoxious, annoyingly loud subwoofers and exhaust systems.
Take heart -- the members of the Apex Import Racing team want you to know they¿re nothing like the characters depicted in last summer's movie blockbuster hit, "The Fast and the Furious."
"We don't really fit the stereotype that goes with people our age who drive cars like we do," said Griffin Barbula, 20, who drives a '97 Acura Integra GSR.
"Movies like 'The Fast and the Furious' gave import cars and their owners a bad rap in general," said Aaron Elson, a former CU student. "I hear it all the time -- 'You drive an import, where's your aluminum wing and vinyl graphics?'"
"There's always that group out there, so-called 'ricers,' who focus on accessorizing their vehicle, and leave it at that," said Alex Baumgartner, a CU junior pursuing a degree in operational management. "They don't appreciate having modifications that have a purpose."
Elson graduated in December with a degree in computer information systems and finance. He's one of the key people in Apex Import Racing, a car club that the other members agree was mostly his brainchild.
Elson was also instrumental in the creation of the club Web site at www.apeximportracing.com.
About half of the members are current or recently graduated CU students.
Elson says that the club, founded this spring, was a result of the members' shared enthusiasm for spirited driving -- off the street.
"We all had the same interest, the same kind of cars -- we all were into modifying them," Elson said. "We started hanging out at BBQs, working on suspension modifications together, and doing autocross."
"Autocross"? What's that?
Autocross is the activity that Apex Import Racing is all about. Also referred to as "Solo II," autocross is a type of competitive driving event sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America, a nationwide organization founded in 1944.
According to SCCA rulebook, autocross is "a non-speed driving skill contest ... on short courses that emphasize car handling and agility rather than speed and power. Competition licenses are not required, and hazards to spectators, participants, and property do not exceed those encountered in normal, legal highway driving."
The SCCA's snooze-inducing official description understandably avoids any use of that scary word that makes liability underwriters break out in cold sweats -- "racing."
It's much more exciting than you would imagine, say the Apex team members, all of whom have driven their cars at local events.
Ryan Baumgartner, a junior at CU majoring in economics, says that what he loves about autocross events is the thrill of driving his '98 Honda Prelude to its handling limit. He also enjoys seeing progressive improvements in his abilities as he participates in more events.
"I'd say the competitive nature of the events makes me come back, whether it's comparing my performance to my friends, or against the other drivers in my class," Baumgartner said.
Autocrosses are competitive driving events held in large parking lots or unused airfields. Locally, the Coors Field auxiliary parking lot in downtown Denver and the parking lot for World Arena in Colorado Springs become miniature race courses on selected Sundays. Volunteer event organizers create twisting, temporary courses defined by orange traffic cones and chalk lines within the open expanses of pavement.
Electronic timers with thousandth-of-a-second precision measure how long it takes each competitor to navigate the course. Two-second penalties are assessed against the driver's time for each course marker disturbed, so precision is just as important as speed.
Each competitor only gets three timed runs on the course. Unlike almost all other forms of motorsport, no practice driving is allowed. As a result, much of the challenge in autocross is accurately assessing the course without driving it, and then summoning your best performance in three tries.
Barbula, a first-year student at CU double-majoring in chem and bio-chem, says the only bad thing about autocross is the limited "seat time" he gets in his Integra at each event.
"I've read books about autocross and driving theory, but other than that, there isn't really much you can do to practice," Barbula said. "That's one of the downsides of the sport -- it's so much fun and you want to drive more, but you really can't until the next event rolls around."
Like any organized sport, autocross is subject to a litany of nit-picking rules that can be overwhelming to the casual observer.
Generally speaking, though, the name of the game is "fastest car from point A to point B wins."
Such a simple thing can become an obsession for some.
It's one of the most addicting things I've ever done," said Elson.
He described with some pride that at his first autocross event, he had a faster time on the course in his '94 Acura Integra RS than a Dodge Viper.
"There's no other racing format I could do that," Elson said with a laugh.
"All my money pretty much goes to cars," said Alex, who once owned an Integra like many of the Apex Import Racing members, but now drives a turbocharged '91 Toyota MR2.
"If the bug bites you and you get heavily involved in it, the expenses can go right through the roof, with tires, wheels, bolt-on parts, and engine work," warned Ryan, twin brother to Alex.
Like most of the Apex team, Ryan has installed upgraded suspension parts like stiffer struts, springs, and sway bars on his car, as well as engine enhancements like a cold-air intake system and exhaust headers.
Some of Apex members have purchased a dedicated set of lightweight wheels with sticky tires for race day as well.
Most of the Apex Import Racing members learned about autocross -- and even met initially -- over the Internet on import-specific Web sites and messageboards, such as www.honda-tech.com and www.teamintegra.net.
The Internet has literally thousands of automotive peformance sites, catering to specific manufacturers' vehicles or an isolated model. A seemingly endless number of online merchants clamor for sport-compact car owners' attention, offering a dizzying selection of parts and accessories with which to customize and improve their vehicle.
When it comes to popular import vehicles made by Honda, Toyota, Mazda and Nissan, enthusiasts have many different sites with overlapping focuses to choose from.
The current existence of myriad sport-compact car Internet sites merely mirrors the interests of today's automotive consumer.
In the early-to-mid 1990's, U.S. auto manufacturers stopped producing inexpensive sporty cars when it became clear that the public would rather buy trucks and SUV's.
Now, almost all of the big players are bringing affordable performance cars back into American showrooms.
No longer deemed a fad, the exploding import and sport-compact street scene has convinced domestic and import car companies alike to introduce low-cost, performance-oriented compact cars to the North American market.
Examples include the Dodge Neon SRT-4, Mazdaspeed Protege, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8, Subaru WRX and Toyota MR-S; most of these new vehicles utilize turbochargers to boost power output to impressive levels.
While the import performance rage may be approaching common knowledge, the Apex members agree that SCCA autocross events are well below the radar of the average person.
"Most people don't have a clue what it is," said Alex.
"When I talk to my co-workers and friends (about autocross), they have a hard time grasping what it is -- they're dumbfounded, even after I explain it thoroughly," said Alex.
"If the Internet wasn't available, I don't know how I would have run across autocrossing," said Ryan.
The Apex Import Racing team -- named for the key point in a turn, the "apex" -- is not affiliated with CU.
Most of the Apex members felt that CU does not seem to have many students who are car enthusiasts.
"I think the common culture at CU is mainly about partying," Alex said.
Ryan said he thought CU students who are into their vehicles are more likely to own four-wheelers and Jeeps.
"CU doesn't have much of that 'import culture' -- generally people in Boulder don't get into that stuff," said Barbula. He said that he didn't know of any car clubs at CU, aside from Formula SAE (Society for Automotive Engineers), who build a single-seat, open-wheel race vehicle as an engineering project.
Elson wasn't so sure.
"Well, the school is so big, there's somebody there who's interested in the same thing (you are), somewhere," said Elson. "I think the interest is there, but no one's every started a club yet."
"Somebody just has to start it," Elson continued. "I'm not the one to do it, since I've already graduated, but one of the other members could."
The Apex Import Racing members hope that their small club will take off and introduce other enthusiasts to the sport of autocross. They also enjoy comparing event results and sharing pictures of themselves competing at events on their website.
Elson says that while all the Apex members are friendly with each other on race day, "we're real competitive, but not in a bad way -- we never dog anyone for being slow."
Elson explained that because most of the team members drive similar, front-wheel-drive Hondas, it's constructive to compare notes on driving strategy and car set-up.
While Apex Import Racing is potentially open to any performance driving enthusiasts and is not limited to CU students or Boulder residents, the team members do say that they reserve the right to say "no" to those who participate in street racing or other illegal activities.
"We don't want a member in Apex that will present that 'Fast and the Furious' image -- being an idiot on the street, trying to prove something in the wrong place," Alex said.
"We don't want our image tarnished, because it kinda already is, just because our name has the words 'import' and 'racing' in it," Elson added.
For more information about Apex Import Racing, visit their website at www.apeximportracing.com. For information about getting involved with local autocross events, visit www.rmsolo.org.
Copyright 2003 Colorado Daily (U. Colorado), May, 2003.
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