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May 30, 2009

Does Hellaflush Form Follow Function?

StreetFire.net

Let me preface this by saying how much I love the look that’s being perpetrated by certain members of the TunerCarDomain. Guys like Marc Arcenal of Fatlace/Hellaflush fame and Speedhunters Antonio Alvendia and Linhbergh Nguyen who not only talk the talk but jock the look on their rides.

Perhaps you aren’t familiar with this (life) style that involves dramatically lowered rides combined with aggressively offset wheels and stretched tire fitments allowing the outermost lip of the wheel to sit (hella) flush with the fender. Of course the lo-los have been stretching Vogue radials over 14-inch Ds for decades now and as an Eighties mini-trucker I can attest to the existence of elastic fantastic Fuldas over polished Centerlines. Within the tuner world the look first gained prominence in select enclaves of the JDM and Euro tuner communities most notably within the underground world of J-spec drifting outside of D1.

As this style gains frame-scraping ground Stateside I often dream about rolling in a Rauh-Welt matte S15 poured over a set of Bright Chrome Super Advan Racing Ver. 2s. Although I would probably ruin the look by rocking a Tap Out hoodie over an Affliction T. Damn, even in my dreams I’m a dork. But there’s another reason why this dream won’t work for me – form must follow function in my world.

I prefer a car with a proper set-up. Good wheel fitment, rubber with a proper aspect ratio, corner-balanced alignment with the just the right amount of ride height and suspension travel. This is what stiffens my strut bar, if you know what I’m saying. But what do you say? Am I off base here or is looking good just as important as being good?

Permalink:

Posted at 7:57 pm in Hella Flush

Comments

simon_r_gris
Jun 23, 2009 at 11:10 pm

OOPs I meant an ’89 B2200, my bad.

simon_r_gris
Jun 23, 2009 at 11:08 pm

In 1993 I had a ’99 Mazda B2200 with this type of set up, It rubbed but looked “chido” as my Latino homies used to put it.

palefacetsw
Jun 9, 2009 at 11:52 am

hellaflush used to be called VIP style in japan…..

FordRacer1989
Jun 3, 2009 at 7:45 am

I preffere function. Show is nice but it’s not for me. My car might not be the flashiest but will still haul some down the road. It’s the racing way.

RockShox
Jun 3, 2009 at 7:21 am

Hey com’on it’s a show, like you’d expect Optimus and BumbleBee on the freeway next to you transforms and runs and jumps to the opposite lane. You wouldn’t see these lows on the road… its a show.

THE-WRENCH
Jun 2, 2009 at 9:29 pm

What happens when you turn?

2digits
Jun 2, 2009 at 7:20 pm

Shameless self promotion http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3132834

XTZTwinTurbo
Jun 2, 2009 at 6:51 pm

It’s a hella fad. It will come and go the way of the lambo doors. Now a flying car would be nice.

shadowfox1761
Jun 2, 2009 at 2:20 pm

i don’t mind that on a bagged truck thats parked but driving around?
also it should have normal tires for when its raised back up to driving height

BoydZCustomZ
Jun 2, 2009 at 8:51 am

What a waste.

pttransamdriver
Jun 2, 2009 at 6:44 am

Thats just ugly I think. Whatever happend to puttin more rubber on the road?

Biggee72
Jun 2, 2009 at 6:31 am

I could never see the point of wasting a perfectly good car…

kbevere
Jun 2, 2009 at 4:12 am

I guess its ok if ur going for just the look, but to drive around like that i would not.

Vuurwa
Jun 2, 2009 at 3:37 am

Always loved deep dish rims!..very nice indeed!

CWBETB
Jun 2, 2009 at 3:19 am

Love the look. I think it all comes down to what you built your car for, looks vs performance.

scrizz
Jun 1, 2009 at 7:04 pm

I like rims how I like titties… pokin out.

___nes___
Jun 1, 2009 at 5:30 pm

This trend is very nice if done properly! Most people don’t like it because the first that comes into mind is the 80′s chevy or Ford truck with 14′s sticking out a full foot off the fender!

Richter-Scale
Jun 1, 2009 at 4:11 pm

Cool Stuff, seen a few in Toronto

tyndago
Jun 1, 2009 at 10:23 am

Wider wheel puts more tire to the ground, thats the theory. As far as performance, you won’t see a race car with a setup like this. You will see drift cars setup like this, but part of what they do is try and look good doing what they do.

If you can find anything for them to fit, we had some 17×13 and 17 x 14 Work Equips at RB. http://jdmwheels.blogspot.com/2008/12/more-pictures-work-equip-17-x-13-17-x.html

YuraB
Jun 1, 2009 at 7:34 am

I think this whole trend is terrible.
The wheels stick out too much and take away from the car. Also, I think it looks about as cool as 5 foot spoiler on a honda civic.

whtfocus77
May 31, 2009 at 8:10 pm

love that trend, it looks amazing on old skool german cars. like rabbits, bmw 2002 , audi 100 coupe.. sooo sweet.

Cinomed
May 31, 2009 at 4:47 am

I have been pondering this very situation a bit myself, as I dream of my “fun” car in a year or two…
I think the Subbie guys have the best idea so far, if you want performance and looks, Coil overs, and to take it a step further, another set of wheels/tires.
Even as an autocrosser I used to have 2 sets, you could sport three, one stretched set for when you crank the coilovers all the way down for a show or cruise night, one daily driver set on summer tires, then a ultra light set with some sort of racing rubber for track/drift/xcross days.

Unless you just want somthing that looks like this and is drivable, then airbag it

racerjim
May 30, 2009 at 10:25 pm

Looks like there needs to be some alignin’ done in these here parts…

PureBusiness
May 30, 2009 at 9:15 pm

I can appreciate the tight specs from the 80′s just like anybody else… Looks as though even a reputable to the industry company can kick out a re-trend every now and then too!

oldscoob
May 30, 2009 at 8:48 pm

I thought hellaflush was functon maximizing form. If not is sucks, and it is bringing a mixed crowd of true functions in with it.The last photo meet I saw had some really nice rides, some were really dumb. Function is the way to go. BMW has had the real function for more than 2 decades, and even little subarus tortured by wrong wheels since the 1970s found some rare mates meeting function. It is drivetrain, shallow offset, flush to most often, unibodies. If that needs a genre and name call it heaven flush. Real function, real engineering. The goofy looks don’t click with me and actually, my entire northeast that I have noticed. Maybe some 3 block area in the big apple is going for it, ready to spread like a disease…

Steve Neill
May 30, 2009 at 8:03 pm

John Naderi….

I know that from somewhere…

NADS?

Previously From Super Street? Is that you man? Haha. I used to love your articles!

As for the flush style, it’s really JDM VIP, and I dig it alot, but to be completely honest, I see it fading fast. In Japan, you see it everywhere on Mercedes and such, but on a Honda Civic, it just looks outdated. In any case, I’d love to see clean JDM come back. You know? Like how the cars looked and performed just when they came off the line. I’d like to see someone with a bone stock BNR32 GT-R just because they like it like that. Real fresh…