Another article on VIPstyle (SEMA)
12-06-06, 10:34 PM
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Another article on VIPstyle (SEMA)
http://www.sema.org/main/semaorghome.aspx?id=56236
Trendspotting: VIP Style
Japan Exports Another Auto-Cultural Trend
First came slapping turbo kits on Hondas, then came drifting. Now meet VIP, the latest trend from Japan to take root with American enthusiasts. VIP style tuning—pronounced “bippu” in Japanese—transforms stock Japanese sedans into vessels of luxury and class using a choice selection of specialty equipment parts.
Less a pursuit of speed than a personal statement, VIP arrives in the U.S. as the first wave of sport-compact enthusiasts—now into their 30s—trade in their boosted four-cylinders for sedan refinement. It’s as much an aesthetic choice as a personal one.
“The import industry, with the exception of drifting, is stagnant,” said Nick Fousekis, Falken Tire brand manager. “Many guys don’t want to build a track or drift car. You don’t always want to drive [an Acura Integra] GS-R. You grow up, maybe have a family and want a little more room. But you don’t want a four-door Corolla, and you don’t want to break the bank just to get into a decent sedan.”
Fousekis saw VIP’s potential early. He helped launch the FK series tire, Falken’s luxury segment offering, at the 2005 SEMA Show and earlier this year sponsored a VIP-themed car show in downtown L.A. Falken followed that with a VIP-themed party at the 2006 SEMA Show.
Fousekis himself represents a typical VIP enthusiast. He owns a 2001 Infiniti Q45 purchased for under $20,000 he says, into which he’s put another $10,000 worth of wheels, suspension, body kit and accessories. Herein lies VIP’s appeal: for the price of a new, bone-stock BMW 3-Series, an enthusiast can get into a V6 or V8 sedan with money left over to personalize.
VIP has its own set of conventions: wide wheels with aggressive offsets, body kits faithful to factory lines, low-slung suspensions, deep-tinted windows.
American enthusiasts like to exaggerate VIP’s connection to the Japanese mafia, but the two are not unrelated. Wallets fat from a cash-flush 1980s Japan, yakuza bosses imported European style with AMG Mercedes-Benzes trimmed with expensive wheels and blacked-out windows. Junior Mafiosi (“bosozoku”), emulating the boss’s style with cheaper Japanese sedans, helped birth today’s trend.
VIP went mainstream in Japan long ago. Several magazines cover the scene, enthusiasts come from all corners of society, and the fearsome mob boss of today drives an anonymous pearl white S-Class. And although purists qualify only select Japanese rear-drive sedans as VIP— chief among them the Toyota Celsior (Lexus LS in the U.S.) or Nissan Cedric/Gloria (precursor to the Infiniti M-Series)—the scene has spread to include wagons and minivans.
“VIP is sleek and understated, without extravagant paint jobs or body kits,” Fousekis explains. “The main emphasis is on aggressive wheel fitment, bringing the rim right out to the fender to give the deepest look possible.”
Indeed, VIP enthusiasts prefer tires narrower than the rim, stretching sidewalls to the limit, allowing the rubber to tuck inside the fender well when the car is dropped. It’s an aesthetic detail that concerns tire guys like Fousekis and a mounting practice that most shops won’t perform.
“Wheel fitment is the number-one aspect of VIP,” said Dominic Chen, executive director of Endless/AME, the U.S. importer of Japan’s AME wheels. “Wheels need to be completely flush with the fenders. One or two millimeters make all the difference.”
Running a close second in aesthetic importance are suspension and body-kit choices. Air suspensions—particularly Airrunnner—are popular with American enthusiasts, although Chen noted a recent shift in Japan to conventional coil-over setups by TEIN and HKS, among others. Body kits must integrate seamlessly, a technique perfected by VIP companies like Junction Produce, Wald and Fabulous.
“They’re very, very subtle,” Chen explained. “They’re clean and don’t exaggerate the factory body lines.”
Newer cars won’t require much interior work, but the typical VIP car within an enthusiast’s reach is seven or eight years old. Given the preference for leather and wood trims among the VIP set, fresh opportunities exist for upholsterers and materials companies.
And any VIP car worth its fusa (a decorative accessory) hosts a thunderous audio/video system, an installation that like the exterior should integrate imperceptibly with its surroundings. Required equipment includes video monitors and a navigation system, while amps, subs and speakers should be heard and felt more than seen.
So how does VIP differ from the so-called “DUB” scene, so named for the magazine that highlights it? In many ways, it doesn’t. Both styles play off the image of moneyed outlaws. Both foster the impression of wealth and luxury. But key distinctions include the canvas, with VIP limited to Japanese cars while DUB typically uses American metal —Escalades, Hummers, Dodge Chargers.
“There are subtle differences,” Chen explained. “Here in the U.S., it’s a little more gaudy and flashy. DUB has more of a bling factor. But it’s hard to draw the lines.”
Fousekis puts it down to one key difference: “With VIP, it’s not about stuffing the largest-diameter wheel under the fender.”
Earlier this year, Fousekis took a few Falken-sponsored VIP cars to DUB and Hot Import Nights car shows. Nearly all of the Falken cars were trimmed with body kits and wheels from Junction Produce, the Japanese company widely credited with growing the VIP movement and with whom Falken has entered into a promotional endorsement. He was a little surprised at the reaction from the DUB crowd.
“People were very impressed with the Junction Produce kits,” he said. “They saw that there’s another way to go in an executive-style sedan.”
But many wonder about VIP’s longevity. Does it have the kind of legs we saw with the first sport compact boom? The jury is still out, but the enthusiasts are not, particularly as they age.
“[VIP] is a maturity of the import scene,” said Kelvin Tohar, Supervisor of Dealer Training and Events for Falken Tire. Like Fousekis, Tohar is a core enthusiast who started out long ago with a Honda. He’s witnessing VIP’s growth firsthand in places like Nashville and Atlanta, as he travels to car shows and dealer visits.
“These guys don’t aspire to buy another Civic. But VIP is from Japan, it’s ‘JDM,’ and it still gives them a niche. It’s for the guy who still has the tuner bug in him.”
Fousekis and Chen both agree that specific models or platforms will define VIP less and less.
“I don’t think the car matters too much,” Chen said. “What matters is: Are the wheels flush? Are the [body] kits subtle and clean? It’s more of a mindset and a tuning goal.”
Trendspotting: VIP Style
Japan Exports Another Auto-Cultural Trend
First came slapping turbo kits on Hondas, then came drifting. Now meet VIP, the latest trend from Japan to take root with American enthusiasts. VIP style tuning—pronounced “bippu” in Japanese—transforms stock Japanese sedans into vessels of luxury and class using a choice selection of specialty equipment parts.
Less a pursuit of speed than a personal statement, VIP arrives in the U.S. as the first wave of sport-compact enthusiasts—now into their 30s—trade in their boosted four-cylinders for sedan refinement. It’s as much an aesthetic choice as a personal one.
“The import industry, with the exception of drifting, is stagnant,” said Nick Fousekis, Falken Tire brand manager. “Many guys don’t want to build a track or drift car. You don’t always want to drive [an Acura Integra] GS-R. You grow up, maybe have a family and want a little more room. But you don’t want a four-door Corolla, and you don’t want to break the bank just to get into a decent sedan.”
Fousekis saw VIP’s potential early. He helped launch the FK series tire, Falken’s luxury segment offering, at the 2005 SEMA Show and earlier this year sponsored a VIP-themed car show in downtown L.A. Falken followed that with a VIP-themed party at the 2006 SEMA Show.
Fousekis himself represents a typical VIP enthusiast. He owns a 2001 Infiniti Q45 purchased for under $20,000 he says, into which he’s put another $10,000 worth of wheels, suspension, body kit and accessories. Herein lies VIP’s appeal: for the price of a new, bone-stock BMW 3-Series, an enthusiast can get into a V6 or V8 sedan with money left over to personalize.
VIP has its own set of conventions: wide wheels with aggressive offsets, body kits faithful to factory lines, low-slung suspensions, deep-tinted windows.
American enthusiasts like to exaggerate VIP’s connection to the Japanese mafia, but the two are not unrelated. Wallets fat from a cash-flush 1980s Japan, yakuza bosses imported European style with AMG Mercedes-Benzes trimmed with expensive wheels and blacked-out windows. Junior Mafiosi (“bosozoku”), emulating the boss’s style with cheaper Japanese sedans, helped birth today’s trend.
VIP went mainstream in Japan long ago. Several magazines cover the scene, enthusiasts come from all corners of society, and the fearsome mob boss of today drives an anonymous pearl white S-Class. And although purists qualify only select Japanese rear-drive sedans as VIP— chief among them the Toyota Celsior (Lexus LS in the U.S.) or Nissan Cedric/Gloria (precursor to the Infiniti M-Series)—the scene has spread to include wagons and minivans.
“VIP is sleek and understated, without extravagant paint jobs or body kits,” Fousekis explains. “The main emphasis is on aggressive wheel fitment, bringing the rim right out to the fender to give the deepest look possible.”
Indeed, VIP enthusiasts prefer tires narrower than the rim, stretching sidewalls to the limit, allowing the rubber to tuck inside the fender well when the car is dropped. It’s an aesthetic detail that concerns tire guys like Fousekis and a mounting practice that most shops won’t perform.
“Wheel fitment is the number-one aspect of VIP,” said Dominic Chen, executive director of Endless/AME, the U.S. importer of Japan’s AME wheels. “Wheels need to be completely flush with the fenders. One or two millimeters make all the difference.”
Running a close second in aesthetic importance are suspension and body-kit choices. Air suspensions—particularly Airrunnner—are popular with American enthusiasts, although Chen noted a recent shift in Japan to conventional coil-over setups by TEIN and HKS, among others. Body kits must integrate seamlessly, a technique perfected by VIP companies like Junction Produce, Wald and Fabulous.
“They’re very, very subtle,” Chen explained. “They’re clean and don’t exaggerate the factory body lines.”
Newer cars won’t require much interior work, but the typical VIP car within an enthusiast’s reach is seven or eight years old. Given the preference for leather and wood trims among the VIP set, fresh opportunities exist for upholsterers and materials companies.
And any VIP car worth its fusa (a decorative accessory) hosts a thunderous audio/video system, an installation that like the exterior should integrate imperceptibly with its surroundings. Required equipment includes video monitors and a navigation system, while amps, subs and speakers should be heard and felt more than seen.
So how does VIP differ from the so-called “DUB” scene, so named for the magazine that highlights it? In many ways, it doesn’t. Both styles play off the image of moneyed outlaws. Both foster the impression of wealth and luxury. But key distinctions include the canvas, with VIP limited to Japanese cars while DUB typically uses American metal —Escalades, Hummers, Dodge Chargers.
“There are subtle differences,” Chen explained. “Here in the U.S., it’s a little more gaudy and flashy. DUB has more of a bling factor. But it’s hard to draw the lines.”
Fousekis puts it down to one key difference: “With VIP, it’s not about stuffing the largest-diameter wheel under the fender.”
Earlier this year, Fousekis took a few Falken-sponsored VIP cars to DUB and Hot Import Nights car shows. Nearly all of the Falken cars were trimmed with body kits and wheels from Junction Produce, the Japanese company widely credited with growing the VIP movement and with whom Falken has entered into a promotional endorsement. He was a little surprised at the reaction from the DUB crowd.
“People were very impressed with the Junction Produce kits,” he said. “They saw that there’s another way to go in an executive-style sedan.”
But many wonder about VIP’s longevity. Does it have the kind of legs we saw with the first sport compact boom? The jury is still out, but the enthusiasts are not, particularly as they age.
“[VIP] is a maturity of the import scene,” said Kelvin Tohar, Supervisor of Dealer Training and Events for Falken Tire. Like Fousekis, Tohar is a core enthusiast who started out long ago with a Honda. He’s witnessing VIP’s growth firsthand in places like Nashville and Atlanta, as he travels to car shows and dealer visits.
“These guys don’t aspire to buy another Civic. But VIP is from Japan, it’s ‘JDM,’ and it still gives them a niche. It’s for the guy who still has the tuner bug in him.”
Fousekis and Chen both agree that specific models or platforms will define VIP less and less.
“I don’t think the car matters too much,” Chen said. “What matters is: Are the wheels flush? Are the [body] kits subtle and clean? It’s more of a mindset and a tuning goal.”
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12-08-06, 04:23 PM
#8
Fousekis and Chen both agree that specific models or platforms will define VIP less and less.
“I don’t think the car matters too much,” Chen said.
“I don’t think the car matters too much,” Chen said.
People that think that should be shot
12-08-06, 05:28 PM
#9
Bippu
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12-11-06, 06:16 AM
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You wont see them buliding a Honda and Bragging look at my VIPcar cause they know better. But will sell a Fusa in a heart beat for the VW bug. Its all good cause in the end those other folks dont get a thumbs up from the True Underground Fans of VIpstyle. They wont have been a hit at Sema w/ non VIPcars.
In the last yr all I hear now is faulken tires are best for VIP.... In Japan they still rock every brand there is.
In the last yr all I hear now is faulken tires are best for VIP.... In Japan they still rock every brand there is.
