A4rce1 and RE5PECT are your Featured AZ'ers for November 2011!

[Anthony]

November 2011 Featured AZ'ers: A4rce1 and RE5PECT
November 3, 2011 - By Richard Melick, Photos by Mo Satarzadeh



User Names: A4rce1 and RE5PECT
Real Names: John Holdridge and Alex Andonian (respectively)
Location: Southern California, USA
Year of Vehicles: 2011
Model of Vehicles: S4
Engine of Vehicles: Supercharged 3.0 V6
Color of Vehicles: Ibis White and Phantom Black (respectively)

The brand new Audi S4 is considered by many drivers to be the perfect balance of style, power, and driveability. With so many features and styling cues presented, many look at the new S4 and consider it to be absolutely perfect as it rolls off of the showroom floor.

That is not the case for John Holdridge (AKA: A4rce1) and Alex Andonian (AKA: RE5PECT), two friends from Southern California who both recently purchased new S4s from their go-to Audi dealer in Carlsbad, CA (Hoehn Audi) and immediately saw potential for improvement. With prior experience modifying cars, both have taken the knowledge from the past and delivered two Audis that not only highlight the OEM quality of the vehicles but also improve upon the driving characteristics so often loved with the four-rings.

Alex calls it "OEM plus" and for John it's "organic tuning", but both share the same principals of not ruining the dynamics of the vehicle as it was delivered. The concept is simple; build the car beyond the US-standards to meet the much sought after European-standard in a manner that is not only organic for the vehicle but enough to set it apart from others on the road. The two Audi S4s you see here have not only reached that goal but we feel they've exceeded it with a great look and performance to match... More

• A4rce1's Modlist and Q&A
• RE5PECT's: Modlist and Q&A



• Full Article
• Article Photo Gallery

How can you be a Featured AZ'er?

[willyspub]

Is this a deleted scene from "I Love You, Man"?

All kidding aside, those cars are amazing. Well done guys. Nearly perfect... only change I would make is the stickers, particularly the windshield. And doesn't the SoCal sun roast you guys without any tint?

[Unum]

Carlsbad My 2nd home!

Awesome cars, both are stunning!

[Brick Oven]

Oh man those white P40S's are out of control. Great work guys!

[Okan509]

damn, and damn. Two sick ass S4's

[CreoSTi]

And doesn't the SoCal sun roast you guys without any tint?

I've never had an issue, but I live fairly close to the ocean...

[Blake P]

Excellent read and awesome pics. Congrats to both John and Alex!

[ilspazzaneve]

Why the cheap tires on $6000 wheels?

[Blake P]

Why the cheap tires on $6000 wheels?

Seriously?? Out of all the info posted you're going to ask a question like THAT?!

[ilspazzaneve]

Seriously?? Out of all the info posted you're going to ask a question like THAT?!

Maybe I don't understand this side of the performance scene. The cars look beautiful with the HREs and coilovers, but I'm questioning the purpose of it all when I see something that amounts to Chuck Taylors with a Zegna pinstripe 3-piece.

[Anthony]

Maybe I don't understand this side of the performance scene. The cars look beautiful with the HREs and coilovers, but I'm questioning the purpose of it all when I see something that amounts to Chuck Taylors with a Zegna pinstripe 3-piece.

Alex's (AKA: RE5PECT) family does own a tire store chain in Southern California, so I'd say he knows a thing or two about tires. If he trusts them on his wheels, they can't be that bad.

[ilspazzaneve]

I'll defer, then, to the Mod of my car's forum and the Admin of the site. But I would love to see something in a feature article like the Eurocode S4, or maybe our new 11-second champ kevkev with his custom headers, or circuittested's track S4, heck the APR racecar! ...maybe something that pushes the performance boundaries a little more.

[Pworld]

where im from we call that white one "cocained out" . both look amazing! everything done right..........

But hold on.... falken 452's are cheap tires? oh ok. *shrugs*

[RE5PECT]

Hey all!

Thanks for the comments... We love our cars... They are the perfect balance of Performance and comfort.

As far as the Tires go, My philosophy is this - If a company supports you 150%, then you do whatever is in your power to support them as well. Falken Tires have been great to us.. They have supported our operation and most importantly, they stand behind their product so we like to help them out as well!

:)

[2011_S4]

Both cars look amazing! Those P40s (both sets) are pure sex.

In regards to the Falken 452s (without trying to derail this thread) - I owned a set of these before on my Merc and was quite happy with them. I would definately buy another set without hesitation. I wouldn't consider them "cheap".

[Anthony]

I'll defer, then, to the Mod of my car's forum and the Admin of the site. But I would love to see something in a feature article like the Eurocode S4, or maybe our new 11-second champ kevkev with his custom headers, or circuittested's track S4, heck the APR racecar! ...maybe something that pushes the performance boundaries a little more.

Please bear in mind that these articles are not only to spotlight the cars, but the members. We try to go for a good balance of an interesting car plus an active upstanding member. On top of that, we mix up the years and models as much as possible, from the TT and A3 to the S8 or R8.

We're also beginning to do more feature articles on our official Audizine advertisers, where we'd spotlight cars like the Eurocode or APR shop cars. We have some great ones in the works of the boys at GMG and 034 Motorsports.

At any rate, congrats and thanks again to John and Alex for this month's article. Also to the photographer Mo for delivering some killer shots!

[A4rce1]

Is this a deleted scene from "I Love You, Man"?

All kidding aside, those cars are amazing. Well done guys. Nearly perfect... only change I would make is the stickers, particularly the windshield. And doesn't the SoCal sun roast you guys without any tint?

haha, close to it Bro Montana.

Windshield sticker is because these are fully sponsored vehicles for AWE Tuning.

Thanks for the kind words

[A4rce1]

Both cars look amazing! Those P40s (both sets) are pure sex.

In regards to the Falken 452s (without trying to derail this thread) - I owned a set of these before on my Merc and was quite happy with them. I would definately buy another set without hesitation. I wouldn't consider them "cheap".

Thanks! Totally agree - I have realized on Audizine I cannot post any of my cars or show off threads without ONE person sh*ting in the punch bowl. The award goes to ilspazzaneve.

I have run Michelin PS2, Toyo, Nitto, Continental, Pirelli, Falken, Dunlop and the Falkens on my various wheels and cars. The Falkens perform great.

[Wah]

Congratulations gents. Cars are looking tastefully modded.

[Anthony]

Thanks! Totally agree - I have realized on Audizine I cannot post any of my cars or show off threads without ONE person sh*ting in the punch bowl.

Hey now, don't single out Audizine. It's the internet.

Awaiting your phone call...

[ilspazzaneve]

Thanks! Totally agree - I have realized on Audizine I cannot post any of my cars or show off threads without ONE person sh*ting in the punch bowl. The award goes to ilspazzaneve.

I have run Michelin PS2, Toyo, Nitto, Continental, Pirelli, Falken, Dunlop and the Falkens on my various wheels and cars. The Falkens perform great.

LOL...listen, your car is beautiful, and there are quite a few members with some sweet wheel/coilover setups that look beautiful too, other that will get inspiration from your ride.

I do stand by my statement, though, esp when you put your car in a feature (or a show, or wherever) - it WILL be judged, and you will get positive and negative comments - don't be so sensitive! Mine just happened to be one of the first.

I expect a car that is being presented to us as a performance machine to be improved in any aspect that was changed or modified. Subtle things maybe to some, but $800 tires on $6000 wheels stands out. Usually people who sell wheel/tire packages throw on FK452s or Ventus V12s since they keep the package price low. I didn't realize Falken was a sponsor for the cars, it would be important to point that out. But please don't say that Falkens are not cheap, they compete for the lowest price point of the tire market in all segments.

Anthony you should be happy you have such critical and informed members! LOL. Keeps it real.

[mdma2004]

You know, I'll throw something out, when reading this thing, where's the real dedication and something special in these cars? I believe a featured true car will have heart and soul put into this and have something special to it, anyone can put their car on coilovers, buy a fukin 6K set of wheels and a few bolt-ons. The car will look great, no shit there, but is it a special gem? No in my book.
The only cool this is the ying-yang cars...sorta. Other than that, yes, good looking cars, just like the other 80% of AZ and 5% of the baller 5k + wheels :)

[A4rce1]

You know, I'll throw something out, when reading this thing, where's the real dedication and something special in these cars? I believe a featured true car will have heart and soul put into this and have something special to it, anyone can put their car on coilovers, buy a fukin 6K set of wheels and a few bolt-ons. The car will look great, no shit there, but is it a special gem? No in my book.
The only cool this is the ying-yang cars...sorta. Other than that, yes, good looking cars, just like the other 80% of AZ and 5% of the baller 5k + wheels :)

Totally, I only build soulless cars. I hear you, there is nothing special about a pair of matching B8S4s built this way for a reason.

Good call!

[Chestlock]

You know, I'll throw something out, when reading this thing, where's the real dedication and something special in these cars? I believe a featured true car will have heart and soul put into this and have something special to it, anyone can put their car on coilovers, buy a fukin 6K set of wheels and a few bolt-ons. The car will look great, no shit there, but is it a special gem? No in my book.
The only cool this is the ying-yang cars...sorta. Other than that, yes, good looking cars, just like the other 80% of AZ and 5% of the baller 5k + wheels :)

Dude, sounds like your only issue is with someone who spends more money than average on wheels. I guess the terms "organic tuning" and "OEM-plus" escaped you? Or did you even read the article.... not everything needs to be a heavily-modified 700+hp monsterized track-behemoth to be a feature. Just sayin'

Personally I wouldn't have the stones to drive around in a white car with white wheels, not really my thing, but I saw a hellova lot of "soul" poured into both cars, and if I passed them on the street - and we had real handbrakes - I'd be pulling a handbrake turn just to check 'em out a bit more


Nice work gents, I enjoyed that feature just as much as the last.

[Anthony]

I've gotta add, there's really nothing groundbreaking happening in this forum section just yet. The platform is still too new (and pricey). It'll take another few years before any truly massive builds are happening like what can be found in the B5, B6, and B7 forums. Because of that I feel it'll be awhile before we revisit the B8 S4 Forum for a Featured AZ'er article.

But, I can honestly say that I found the story of these two veteran Audizine members and their dueling S4s to be extremely interesting and absolutely worthy of a feature. I couldn't be happier with how the article turned out.

[Chestlock]

I've gotta add, there's really nothing groundbreaking happening in this forum section just yet. The platform is still too new (and pricey). It'll take another few years before any truly massive builds are happening like what can be found in the B5, B6, and B7 forums. Because of that I feel it'll be awhile before we revisit the B8 S4 Forum for a Featured AZ'er article.

But, I can honestly say that I found the story of these two veteran Audizine members and their dueling S4s to be extremely interesting and absolutely worthy of a feature. I couldn't be happier with how the article turned out.

Full on dude, I thought it was great for the B8 to be featured. But please don't ignore us completely though - I mean, hey, some people are just expecting bananas to be out for the B8S4 already


Oh, wait.....

[Anthony]

Full on dude, I thought it was great for the B8 to be featured. But please don't ignore us completely though - I mean, hey, some people are just expecting bananas to be out for the B8S4 already

We won't intentionally ignore the platform. We're always on the lookout for AZ'ers and their cars to feature. This is the basic recipe/criteria...

1/3: The Car
1/3: The Member
1/3: Timing

[mdma2004]

Well, now u can double facepalm urself there chestlock
Anthony provided the exact point I was trying to make, but he worded it much nicer than I have.

You want to see bananas? There ya go : http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...WIP?highlight=
I would consider that epic, I don't know the guy, but I can see the passion he has in his B8 A4. Another member's car I've seen in real life that touched me was Alkivar and his A5 with custom interior carbon fiber work.
Link: http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...1-Alkivar-s-A5

Thats just my opinion of the few unique individuals. Don't get me wrong, These care look GREAT and I'm sure are worth of recognition. To each their own I guess.
But as Anthony clarified, the car is only 1/3 of the puzzle.

[Chestlock]

Well, now u can double facepalm urself there chestlock
Anthony provided the exact point I was trying to make, but he worded it much nicer than I have.

You want to see bananas? There ya go : http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...WIP?highlight=
I would consider that epic, I don't know the guy, but I can see the passion he has in his B8 A4. Another member's car I've seen in real life that touched me was Alkivar and his A5 with custom interior carbon fiber work.
Link: http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...1-Alkivar-s-A5

Thats just my opinion of the few unique individuals. Don't get me wrong, These care look GREAT and I'm sure are worth of recognition. To each their own I guess.
But as Anthony clarified, the car is only 1/3 of the puzzle.

Don't get me wrong, I heard and understood what you were saying, but it was just that ya came off a wee bit harsh with the rant about spendy wheels (understatement here) hence the facepalm, and IMO in the wrong thread-type to do so. The only thing really standout on these rides are the wheels - incidently the things you raged on the most aside from bolt-ons.

Many features have leaned more towards the highlighting of performance mods, and I just thought it was refreshing, model aside, to highlight the owner's passion above mods in this one. IMO the passion belongs solely to the owner - that combined with his car is 10/10ths of the feature IMO, regardless of how many power mods the car has. It's not about finding the car "attractive" as that's purely subjective - it's all about the what, the why, and the how. Since that's how I view a feature article, I find negative criticism in a thread like this pointless, and yep, in this case I'm as guilty as you. Save the negativity for a thread posted by the owner. I'd be happy if AZ had just made the OP and locked the thread.

And by "bananas", I meant the magic dancing ones that add power and intrigue

That is all.

[ilspazzaneve]

What I've been saying is there ARE cars we are curious about and deserve a feature. APR's race car...E-code's car...(cough cough) the pursuit of 11s with any of the faster member's cars and what it takes to make it an 11-sec car (cough cough Primetime)...maybe Circuittested's car featured at VIR...

Would be disappointed if we don't see a feature on at least one of these cars soon. Yes performance is important, if you're asking what we'd like to see more of, Anthony (blue sticky at the very top)

[Chestlock]

What I've been saying is there ARE cars we are curious about and deserve a feature. APR's race car...E-code's car...(cough cough) the pursuit of 11s with any of the faster member's cars and what it takes to make it an 11-sec car (cough cough Primetime)...maybe Circuittested's car featured at VIR...

Would be disappointed if we don't see a feature on at least one of these cars soon. Yes performance is important, if you're asking what we'd like to see more of, Anthony (blue sticky at the very top)

+1

[HRE Wheels]

Awesome cars and great photos and feature.

We also posted the photo's on HRE's facebook page.

[Anthony]

Just wanted to put this in here as well...

Short video I did of Re5pect and A4rce1's cars before the wheel color change

[ilspazzaneve]

Cineskates with an SLR? Awesome video.

[1sicknickel]

16 foot Dolly and yes a 5D MKII and 60D

Cineskates with an SLR? Awesome video.

[HRE Wheels]

Nickel always rocking it :)