Interview with Dino

I got a short interview with Dino LoDico, owner of the tuning and part company SpeedCircuit.  SpeedCircuit focuses on the tuning of Mazdas and the Evo X.

ME: How long have you been modding cars?

Dino: About 7 years.

What got you in to modding cars?

I wanted to do what was necessary to get the performance out of my car that I wanted.

How long have you had SpeedCircuit?

Just over three years.

What made you decide to take your hobby into a profession?

Due to the fact that the car that I was modifying (to an extreme level) was not a very popular “tuner’s car”, it forced me to make many of the systems and parts from scratch. Some of these systems required a lot of research and experimentation in order to design effectively.

Due to my efforts, dedication, and the groundbreaking work I was doing on the car, I quickly earned a good reputation among fellow tuners. My friends would come to me for help with their cars, and I continued to learn more. In the meantime, the quality of the businesses in the community began to slump (or arguably show their true colors), which upset me. For that very reason, combined with the skills and knowledge I had acquired, I decided it was in the community’s best interest for me to throw my hat into the ring. Thus, SpeedCircuit was born.

What are your favorite parts of modding/tuning?

The results. Knowing that a part that I designed or tweaked had a positive impact on a car. It’s also rewarding to see people become excited at the thought of said parts.

What are your least favorite parts of modding/tuning?

Waiting for what seems like eons for parts to show up. Hard, backbreaking labor. Dealing with companies that are either dishonest, incompetent, or both.

What car have you enjoyed working on the most?

So far, the Evolution X. Not that it’s particularly enjoyable to work on, but it’s not too bad, and the gains realized from the modifications are well worth the effort.

What car have you enjoyed working on the least?

Hands down, the Mazdaspeed3. The Volkswagen GTI isn’t too far behind, though.

If you could have any car what would it be?

Without spending the next four straight hours in thought, I’ll be vague and say a highly tweaked and customized European Supercar.

He leaves us with mystery.  I wonder what that European Supercar is?

Varis Front Lip Installed

Got the baby installed!  Really great fit and great quality.

Ahh, my baby is looking sexy now!  She does need a drop though… but that’s a project for when I have more money.

missing pics

Here they are!  Again, I am sorry for taking so long.

In the world of sad news, it was raining today… so I did not get to install the front splitter.  Hopefully Sunday will be a better day.  Once it’s on pics will be coming this way!  Saturday I am getting an alignment and transimission fluid changed.  I may or may not be doing the tranny fluid at home.  That all depends on how much the shop wants to charge me and how the weather/my free time look.

New stuff

My Varis front lip arrived via M1 Autosport.  Not my car but the same lip on the same color car.  Can’t wait to get it on.  Hopefully Thursday will be my install day.  Once I do get it on I will post up the new pics.  I have a feeling when I get it on I’m really going to need a drop.  Nothing drastic, just about an inch.  I don’t really want lowering springs… so I will have to save up for coilovers (full suspension to lower the car and increase handling).

The parts for my AEM Wideband arrived and with them I successfully fixed the gauge.  Now I’m ready for my tune!

Lastly, I installed my Project Mu HC++ brake pads.  Wow… they squeak like you wouldn’t believe.  This isn’t unexpected as they are very aggressive pads.  Speaking of them being aggressive, while doing the initial hard brakes to break them in it felt like my face was getting pulled off.  These things stop on a dime.  I am very happy with them so far.

I promise I will get the pics from the slideshow up eventually.  I keep forgetting every time I am at home!

Seibon Matte Carbon Fiber

Found an interesting picture today.  A CF hood from Seibon that is not clear coated.  Looks really good with the Graphite Grey car.  Would look pretty awful on my Octane Blue… but it’s not on my car so that doesn’t matter.  Owner of the car is xbox4414 on the forums.

Beyond that, poor Dino from SpeedCircuit is having some vendor issues.  As quickly as he gets anything done someone else always holds him up!  He is still waiting for the new exhaust to come back from the bender.  As soon as these arrive at his shop I will be getting it on my car and getting a video.  Look forward to it!

what’s new

First of all, I have to apologize for the strange happenings in the slideshow.  For some reason a few of the pictures lost quality when they were converted.  I tried to re-upload the whole thing a few times with no luck.  I’ll re-post the pictures once I’m home again so you can get a better view of the car.

Xtremeboost, makers of a great sounding o2 dump downpipe, are now making a recirculating downpipe for those who want a quieter option.

[Image was removed from Host.  SORRY!]

This is the current prototype.  Another great looking product!

And now for updates on the broken gauge from my earlier post!  After contacting AEM, I’ve learned what I need to replace.  The wire for the gauge runs from it’s location on the A-Pillar through the dashboard and the firewall(the wall that separates the engine bay from the inside of the car).  Once there, the wire runs down underneath the car to where the exhaust is.  Down here there is a harness and than the sensor that attaches to the test-pipe(replacement for a catalytic converter).  The harness is what is broken as we discovered at the shop.

This is a problem because AEM does sell the harness by itself.  So I have to buy the wire that runs to the gauge just to get the female half of the harness… and re-buy the sensor to get the male half.  So I need to get $100 worth of parts to replace a $10 harness.  Atleast At least I’ll have a back-up sensor if the one on the car ever goes bad!

A Day at the Shop

This weekend I went to Dino’s shop, SpeedCircuit, to help out and have my car checked out.  My wideband air-fuel ratio gauge has been failing to properly work.  It has just been displaying 14.9ish and not fluctuating.  We checked it out and decided the connector harness went bad so now I’m going to call AEM and see if I can get a replacement. While there we also put new Eibach lowering springs on his Evo and cleaned up the shop a bit.

Blue Beast

Sitting at home being sick and I found some older pics of my car.  Not up to date, but decent pics anywho!

ViS

ViS Racing now offers a full CF body for the X.  The only thing not out yet is a CF roof and according to Rene Viniegra of M1 Autosport, they are actually making one right now!  Here’s a shot of the front and rear portions of the kit.

Good looking parts.  Not something I would do as The weight savings probably aren’t drastic.  Nonetheless, these are a great choice for those looking into a full CF body.

Speaking of stuff for sale… Anyone looking for a test pipe?  Got one right here!