Hoonigan Racing Ford F-150 RaptorTRAX Details:

Ford F-150 RaptorTRAX is world’s fastest snowcat for backcountry snowboarding

Ford Racing prepared F-150 Raptor pickup

Boats Whipple supercharged 6.2L V8, full roll cage, etc.

To become featured in vid and displayed at Winter X Games in Aspen, CO

Gymkhana legend Ken Block and Hoonigan Racing work on a new high-speed project. A backroad crusher Ford F-150 RaptorTRAX that also actually is the world’s fastest snowcat for backcountry snowboarding as claimed by builder.

This project can be something I’ve had in my head for a while now, said Block. I absolutely love my daily driver Ford Raptor, especially since I live out here in the mountains of Park City, so to build out this mountain assault vehicle with a Raptor as the base platform made total sense to me. It’s an absolute beast of a machine and I’m stoked with how it’s turned out. Next, up is for me to take it deep to the backcountry ASAP to help me and some friends slay some powder on our snowboards for a video project due out later this year.

Even if this truck is made from a Ford Racing prepared F-150 Raptor pickup, it can be further enhanced by Special Vehicle Concepts in California. It features snowboard racks, roof basket, rear-mounted winch, interior storage for snacks and drinks, exterior stereo setup for blasting music on-site, and exterior mounted Rigid Industries lighting. The truck boats a Whipple supercharged 6.2L V8, full roll cage, Recaro seats and four burly Mattracks.

Whilst the RaptorTRAX will show up in a full video later this year (winter 2014-2015), you will see it on display at the Winter X Games is Aspen, Colorado later this week with Monster Energy.

Camaraderie is one of the biggest parts of car culture; I’m sure that any of us can think back and remember the first time that we bonded with a friend or family member over the joy of machines. The coming together of like-minded individuals is really what makes the entire scene exist at all, be it the world of racing, car shows, or just cruising the streets with your buddies on a Friday night. This mentality is the root behind any car club, big or small, and as a member at large of a tightly knit car crew myself, I know how deep these roots run.

When we first met Gerard Del Dios and Johne Santos, we knew these guys were serious about their love for cars, namely the two street-sweeping gems we have before us here, deservedly coming together for a feature in Import Tuner. While these two cars share many similarities, the two men behind the builds each have unique stories that brought them together as brothers from different mothers sharing the love of these funky early ’90s Toyotas.
1991 1993 toyota MR2s 03 Photo 2/22 | 1991 & 1993 Toyota MR2 (SW20) – MR2 Squared

In the teal corner, meet Gerard. Hailing from Glendora CA, this 27-year-old nurse first began his search for a clean MR2 about five years ago. Gerard has owned plenty of other cars in his day, including a ’89 Corolla, a Miata, a Lexus G300, and a Yamaha R6 sportbike, but none of those really spoke to his personal style and taste like the MR2. Ever since I could remember I wanted to have and build an MR2, Gerard says. Growing up with an older brother who was heavily into the car scene, namely old-school Toyotas, shaped Gerard’s interest from a young age. Interestingly enough, it was Gerard’s brother who actually first located this car for sale on Craigslist, and although the teal color was not his first choice, Gerard couldn’t have been happier to see the car in his own driveway a mere matter of hours later.

Gerard’s MR2 has come quite a long way since he first picked it up with a mismatched set of wheels and minor wear and tear. Today, the car is damn near spotless inside and out. The route Gerard has gone with for exterior styling is subtle and based on a kind of OEM+ mantra; the car almost looks (aside from the wheels) like it could have rolled out of the factory this way, with its subtle aero choices and choice JDM parts. The MadPSI front lip adds a nice touch to the original front end along with amber front turn signals, and that’s pretty much the extent of the work on the body up front. Gerard isn’t going for anything crazy here, just a clean and simple look. The subtle theme continues in back by a ’94-spec upper wing and JDM Kouki taillights. Perhaps the most substantial modification to the body are the pulled fenders on all four corners, helping make room for the 18-inch Sprint Hart CPR wheels Gerard has had custom built for this application. Originally 17 inches in diameter, these CPRs have been re-barreled with a stepped lip, coming out to a final size of 18×9.5 +12mm up front and 18×11 +15mm in the rear. In person, these wheels look straight-up fantastic. They are huge, but somehow they look just right on the MR2-from a street car perspective, that is. Gerard is quick to admit that he doesn’t track this car, and there’s nothing wrong with that at all. The suspension has been modified to fit the large wheels and lower the ride height massively, thanks to a set of Tein Flex coilovers.
1993 toyota MR2 sprint hart CPR wheels 08 Photo 3/22 | 1991 & 1993 Toyota MR2 (SW20) – MR2 Squared

Even though the MR2 is not a racetrack-shredding monster, it has plenty of getup to blast through the roads. Gerard has gone with a KO Racing Street Brawler T3/T4 turbo kit with the usual supporting mods (boost controller, fuel system upgrades) to give him a bit of extra kick. This upgrade is again a modest one but good for about 260 whp, according to the manufacturer (with comparable mods), so Gerard’s MR2 is not exactly a slouch.

The interior cabin of the lean-mean-sea-foam-green machine is not heavily modified, although the right bits have been upgraded where needed. The factory tan leather seats remain, which is actually quite refreshing. The contrast is nice with the black dash, and the seat color looks very good when paired with the exterior paint color. Two-tone is not easy to pull off, but it works here. A few small gauges and a Personal steering wheel are expectantly in place, but the feel is very low impact and modest. Gerard drives this car a lot, so he wants to keep it comfortable.

1993 toyota MR2 interior 07
1993 toyota MR2 94 spec rear spoiler 09
1993 toyota MR2 HKS SSQV blow off valve 14

Now allow me to shift gears (pardon the pun) and speak a bit about the other mid-engine machine we have before us, Johne’s ’91 original-paint Crimson Red baby. Johne is no stranger to the life of building up project cars. In fact, he and Gerard met several years ago when Johne was looking to buy a lightly used set of tires for a previous build. The stance game was just starting to kick off, and at the time Johne owned a different MR2, which, in fact, was not his first MR2 either. I’m sensing a theme here; Johne likes Toyota products. Not that that’s surprising, considering he works for a large part supplying company for the mark. Over the years, Johne and Gerard stayed in touch, Johne moved on from the last MR2 (thankfully, it was yellow) and after finding his current car, the two builds began to become similar in many ways-on the surface at least. Let’s not be too quick to jump here, take a closer look.

Johne’s MR2 is propelled by the same KO Racing turbo kit that Gerard selected, although it’s supported by different auxiliary mods, making a total of (as expected) 261 whp, almost exactly on claim with the turbo kit manufacturer. Johne’s engine has also been built with Wiseco pistons and a slew of other components to keep it strong and healthy (hopefully) for a very long time. After nearly being stranded on the long drive to Las Vegas, Johne decided it would be in his best interest to build the motor well and strong. Since the KO Racing turbo kit is running very moderate boost levels, I don’t think Johne will have to be yanking the 3SGTE again anytime soon. Johne’s engine compartment has been dressed up with mostly custom-coated black components, whereas Gerard’s has a nicely polished look to it. The engine compartments may not look much alike at first glance, but the two cars are very similar from a performance standpoint.
1991 toyota MR2 work VS SS wheel 05 Photo 7/22 | 1991 & 1993 Toyota MR2 (SW20) – MR2 Squared

Looks wise, Johne has kept the body all original aside from a Holy Custom Creations front lip, a nice addition to an already great-looking car. Johne admits that he is saving up for paint and bodywork. The car is not 100 percent immaculate, but Johne wears the battle scars of daily duty with pride as he saves his pennies for a fresh coat. The MR2 body is one of the coolest early ’90s Japanese sports cars to look at, because it has all the swooping lines and low profile of the big boys of the era, yet it’s very compact. The mid-engine layout also provides a certain look by nature, which is pure race-bred, and the large side intakes on the MR2 body just look so freaking cool. Johne has pulled his rear fenders by 10 mm to help fit the enormous Work VS-SS wheels, but the body line does not really change because of the pull. It’s minimally noticeable, but necessary in order to fit the aforementioned Works, sized 18×10 +12mm up front and 18×11.5 +18mm in the rear. Although these wheels are a lot bigger and more aggressively fit than what most people would try for on this chassis, they look cool as hell. The car is slammed to the ground on Circuit Sports coilovers with K-Sport springs, and again, since Johne’s car is not tracked at all, the super low ride height and perhaps a bit overly aggressive camber settings are essentially moot points, and required for entry into the wheel game as Johne calls it. Johne loves the way the car looks and rides, and the aesthetic of the oversized white Work wheels looks, simply put, gangster.

1991 toyota MR2 nardi classic steering wheel 06
1991 toyota MR2 rear windshield 04
1991 toyota MR2 aeromotive fuel pressure regulator 21

Johne has also kept things simple on the inside, opting to replace the factory driver seat with a Recaro Sport reclinable seat, and adding the expected performance monitoring gauges. Johne has also retrofit a satellite navigation system from another Toyota model, a very cool and unique custom feature. It’s fully functional as well, so hats off to Johne for doing it right and not just for style points. Johne also drives his MR2 nearly every day, so the choice to keep things simple and functional is not a surprise at all.

Since these two guys have been friends for so long, it was a pretty fun experience to meet both Johne and Gerard in Downtown Los Angeles for our photo shoot. These guys are genuine friends, and it’s very cool to see how their cars are similar on the surface, but different in many important ways. What we have here are two unique builds, from two very unique individuals. We like that both these guys are not afraid to put miles on the cars, and would like to see a few track miles end up on each car eventually-or maybe not. It’s completely up to Johne and Gerard what they do with their cars, and whatever that ends up being it will doubtless be interesting to see where things end up.

Erik Gillund is really a car guy to the core; one examine his unique creation and it’s evident he originates from an automotive background abundant in character.

Gillund was winning dB competitions before moving on to Imports, getting his begin with mini-trucks. That was when he owned everything from Honda EG and EK hatches to cars like the Acura Integra, 350Z and even a hardcore Eclipse drag car.

Way back in 2010 I was ready for a break from your Imports and wanted something which wascomfortable and stylish, highly tunable and may accommodate our familyA vacation to the local dealer unearthed a killer deal on a 2008 Jetta 2.5L. And once he got an even better trade-in offer on his Z, the deal was completed.

Like a lot of builds, Gillund had zero intentions of modifying the Mk5… no less than, that’s what he told his better-half. I told my and myself wife i wasn’t gonna modify the auto. It would be a day-to-day driver so needed to be reliable. Yet at the back of my mind I wanted to modify it since none of my cars have ever remained stock, he laughed.

A brief two weeks after buying the car, it was already laying on the bed of air, because of a friend using a Mk3 on air-ride. May also get low, even though it only took one ride inside it for Gillund to realize it created a smooth ride that not only handled well.a set of Viair 480cc compressors and twin two-gallon tanks that have been vinyl wrapped and mounted within a custom enclosure that’s a crowd favorite at shows.

I like to keep things different. So, instead of polishing the air tanks, I decided to wrap them in vinyl when I realized they looked like drink cans; I have a Mountain Dew every day instead of coffee and I also love Bud Light, so the inspiration was easy, Gillund said. I swear, more people speak about the cans in the trunk than the wheels or front-end swap.

Speaking of the unique nose, it’s got the face of a Mk6 GTI and the derriere of any Mk5. A while ago, somebody posted a Photoshopped image on Facebook of a Mk5 with a Mk6 front-end. I fell in love with it and had to make it happen. Thus I contacted Fast Eddie’s Autobody in Manassas, VA to accomplish the swap, Gillund said.

To my knowledge, I was the second person to complete the swap at that time Gillund added. As far as I realize, only one guy in Japan had successfully done it before.Because the swap was such a rarity, Gillund was blazing a path to greatness, and Fast Eddie’s successfully grafted the Mk6 GTI front-end onto his Jetta using OEM parts.

The swap was anything but a bolt-on deal, a lot of things had to be custom modified, just like the core support, headlight brackets, bumper brackets and especially the fenders, he explained.

The GTI fenders were roughly 2 short, hence the bodyshop cut and welded the rear servings of the stock Jetta fenders to the Mk6 GTI panels for a perfect fit. If he’d started with Jetta fenders, it might have been easier, of course, hindsight is 20/20 and Gillund admits that. But, like we said, the swap was so new he was blazing his ownas well as a slammed stance, the car proceeded to see four sets of wheels until he landed on what could possibly be the defining feature of the car: its 19 Blonix Snowflakes.

It’s difficult to find a set of wheels that are different but also suit the car. But once I saw a Hyundai Genesis at SEMA 2012 with the Snowflakes, I knew they were the ones, Gillund said. I contacted Blonix concerning the rims as well as a custom set arrived four months later, he added.

Of course, the fenders must be heavily massaged. After plenty of rolling, the time and effort resulted in arches that swallow the massive mesh rims that feature 3 front and 3.5 rear lips.

Using a killer stance and unique wheels, not much more needed to be done in the way of body mods. I added Votex skirts, filled the hood notch, smoothed the upper grille and added a Dorbitz Designs lower grille. Beyond that, I didn’t go crazy together with the exterior because it already looked so good, Gillund said.compared to current Jetta!

Life inside is good due to plaid GTI seats, an NRG suede steering wheel with quick-release hub and plenty of red and black suede on the roof, pillars and door panels. Gillund also had trim pieces Hydrodipped in a wood-grain finish, while other accents were dipped in a black metalflake tint. The result is a straightforward yet effective combination of colors and finishes that finish a solid build.

Although Gillund didn’t choose the 2.0T motor, the two.5L five-cylinder is no a smaller workhorse, especially with a throaty intake howl thanks to an APR cold-air software and intake re-flash. As well as some cosmetic mods such as an Integrated Engineering polished valve cover, a light wire tuck and Porsche reservoir caps, the engine bay upgrades are concise but choice.

If one word summarized this Jetta it might be presence. It’s commands, low, clean and wide attention regardless of the company. And it’s been achieved with no mile-long mod list as further proof it’s not the quantity but rather the standard of a build that defines it.

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