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Pippa’s USC Diary

Dotz Mods Live at USC!

By Pippa

When I knew that the team were all going to be working at USC – I was pretty excited. It’s always a great atmosphere, and after a hard day on the stand, there’s always plenty to do in the evenings with decent acts and DJs – and plenty of room to dance!

Thankfully, regular readers will be glad to learn that I turned up on time and with no wardrobe malfunctions this time. Which, to be fair, is more than could be said for our mechanical ace Paul Cooper, who had decided to take the (very) scenic route from Cornwall and managed to miss the entire first day of the build! Oops!

Joining me as my partner in crime for the entire three days was my good friend Abbey. We kind of figured, one blonde, one brunette. Something for everyone!

The first day was busy, with the lads setting up a superb VIP area, complete with DOTZ beanbags, and Cristal chilling in the fridge.. or it may have been Cava. We keep it real.. MD Kev was using the whole thing as one big excuse just to break out his decks and blow the dust off some very choice vinyl. I can think of worse ways to spend a working day! What with a few bubbles in the fridge, and even the occasional blast from the smoke machine – at least they assured us that’s what it was – the lads kept us all entertained us for hours, while we got on with the serious business of handing out the DOTZ mags and freebie bags. Somebody had to do some proper work – and you can’t leave it up to the fellas..

This point was well proven later in the weekend when Kev decided to demonstrate his ‘hands-on’ management style by joining in the product throw out into the crowd. A good idea you might think, with the T-shirts and hats going down an absolute storm. Unfortunately, Kev decided to throw a few DOTZ bottle openers out there too … and in a Ninja-esque moment actually managed to draw blood from some unlucky guest! Luckily he was an understanding sort and the doctors say it won’t scar…

As well as the usual DOTZ goodness on site, we also had the added attraction of our 3 day live Fiesta ST build which was keeping us all entertained. Not only did techy Paul put in an epic performance once he finally did grace us with his presence, but we also had to be on best behaviour all day, thanks to the semi-permanent residency of the Motors/Eurosport crew on hand at all times. If you haven’t seen the show already, watch out for it on both of those channels. Who knows?. you might even see me!

So after a long few days of talking wheels, rides and endless photos, it was good to kick back for a meal out with the team. After building a superb boot install in our build Fiesta, we thought it rude not to take the boys from Huets Car Audio out as well, so as you can imagine, many tall tales were told over a cold one or five.

We even managed to catch a bit of the USC nightlife in there somewhere! DJ Luck and MC Neat and Chart-toppers ‘Roll Deep’, no less. Providing a perfect soundtrack to round out a busy old weekend. If you came up to the stand, thanks for stopping by! I hope to catch you all at our next gig!

See you soon

Pippa x

USC? Unbelievably Sorted Car..

USC. Three little letters that spell out big things to any European petrolhead. As the acronym for Ultimate Street Car, USC has built itself something of an enviable reputation over the years – and rightly so. With almost 35,000 enthusiasts turning up to party, race, dance, pull, swap, buy, fettle and talk cods in equal measure.. it’s a very pleasant way to spend three days of your life.

This year’s event between the 6^th and 8^th of August didn’t fail to hit the spot and needless to say, your favourite wheel brand was there, wading in with our size 11s – and taking the whole place over.

Blame it on too many beers, but MD Kev had come up with the bright idea that we should mod a car live over the three days. ‘Take a standard scene classic… like a Fiesta ST,’ he slurred one evening at the bar.. ‘and hit it with everything live at the show!’ Seconds later he disappeared in a haze of tequila. We assumed that he was joking of course, and come the morning’s sober dawn, it would all be forgotten. He wasn’t… Arse!

What followed was a series of calls and mails to our chums in the trade. In-keeping within our ethos for the finer things in life, we only wanted to partner up with the most respected brands in the business, and I’m delighted to report and much pleading – and occasionally, mild threats to publish compromising pictures on the net – a plethora of utterly choice components were soon winging their way to Dotz HQ. It was like Christmas most mornings here, with first a choice set of Corbeau seats turning up, followed by Eibach springs, Powerflex bushes.. you name it!

The day before the show and a rented van saw this eclectic wish-list of mods whisked up the motorway to Santa Pod to be readied for the build. Never one to hide our light under a bushel, not only were we going to work in a fully branded build area, but the whole thing was going to be filmed for Eurosport and Motors TV, as a kind of ‘Pimp My Ride’ live.. with much better looking staff, obviously…

Believe it or not, our artisan for this build was the incredibly talented Paul Cooper; a man that makes the Williams pit crew look lethargic and a veritable mine of useless automotive information. He was confident that he could finish the build in the three days.. or he was until he missed the entire first day after getting held up in Cornwall. Double Arse!

Although we eventually got him started, time was always going to be an issue, and despite Kev’s best efforts to raise morale with some club-quality tunes, the stress levels were high from the outset! Luckily, our technical partner’s components fitted like an absolute dream, meaning that what we had lost on day one, Paul could claw back over the two days.

As well as the superb componentry going onto the Fezzer, Audio legends Huets were on hand to endow the Fiesta with an OEM+ bootbuild that gave it some decent bass to match its stance and new found pace. Building everything from scratch on site, their work was simply sublime. It didn’t half sound good too!

So what did we fit? Well, grab a cuppa.. and we’ll talk you through it!

Chassis duties were ably dispatched thanks to the superb fitment of the Eibach Pro-Kit. Lowering the car by around 30mm, but keeping the ride, this was a great touch and greatly assisted with a full set of Powerflex bushes.

Braking was tweaked with a set of Goodridge braided lines from our friends at the Performance Company, and then topped off with a full set of uprated disks and pads from Tarox. No guesses where the wheels came from. A set of our own Shuriken, wrapped in Cooper rubber.

Under the bonnet a Pipercross induction kit, Spec R tank and full Samco kit made a real difference, as did the Richbrook official Ford caps. Not to be outdone, A Scorpion half system extracted the gasses in a most tuneful manner, adding a few horses along the way.

Inside, Yet more Richbrook goodies lifted the interior.. and made it smell nice! A set of stunning Corbeau perches and Luke harnesses made the whole job much more comfortable – and safe, and with the Huets tunes ringing in our ears.. It was all looking and sounding the absolute business.

And when the whole job was done, we even washed up with Fast Orange hand cleaner.. Phew..!

The result, we hope you agree, is a car that looks better, goes better and showcases some of the best brands on the scene today. Although none of them pretend to be the cheapest, our advice after having to fit them all under great duress, is that they are all easily worth the extra. You get what you pay for, and the quality of these mods will stand the test of time. Our mantra all the way!!!

A massive thanks to everyone that helped, everybody that shouted encouragement along the way and of course, a ridiculously huge thank you to our build partners. We really couldn’t have done it without you!

Catch the build and the whole show in the TV show ‘Santa Pod Extravaganza’ on Motors TV.

Modified Nationals.. It’s What Bank Holidays Were Made For…

Aaah, the fabled second May Bank Holiday weekend. Question is, what are you gonna do? There’s a trip out to Skeg.. A couple of pints in an anonymous boozer with some buddies – or, if you have even an ounce of petrol in your veins, you should get you, your mates and your motors down to the Modified Nationals over the weeeeeeeeeeekend of the 28^th to 30^th of May. Believe me, it’s this last option that ticks all the boxes. Stick it in your phone now. Peterborough Showground. Miss it.. Miss out..

Mod Nats is one of those truly epic ‘must do’ shows, like Fast Show, ISTS or USC. You can’t really count yourself as a true enthusiast until you’ve been there, sampled the atmosphere, done the shots and slept in the same t-shirt for the whole three days. It’s mental, mental, chicken oriental and the true believers will be there from early doors on the 28^th to pack in every precious party moment. Some of them will even get a couple of hours sleep!! The lightweights!

Naturally the Dotz massive will be there with bells on. Not only are we sponsoring Miss Max Power (hey, it’s a tough job.. but somebody has to do it!) but we’re also the official wheel sponsor of the whole shooting match, which means basically we’re there to party for the whole three days… and possibly longer, if boss Kev will let us all take the Tuesday off. So, what can you expect? Girls figure very highly I’m delighted to announce – but don’t think that’s all this show is about.. There are both indoor and outdoor show car areas, a live action arena, show and shine, Kiss live stage, Car Clinic, Max Power stage – and best bit of all, a full-on nightclub after dark which means you can be making shapes into the wee-smalls and practising your best chat-up lines with the many models getting down!

But, I digress.. the main reason to Mod Nats is the cars. Very few shows manage the eclectic mix that this show does with Old-Skool classics rubbing arches with the latest and greatest New-wave machinery and OEM+ masterpieces. I guarantee that no matter which church of modifying you pray to, there’s bound to be a near-religious experience in terms of quality and quantity of metal. If you can’t find at least one truly inspirational ride on site, I will personally refund your entrance fee.. so there!

Whether you make it just for the day, or better still, manage to blitz the entire three glorious days, just remember the essentials. Car. Cash. Mates. Cleaning Kit. Better still, park up for the whole three days and get seriously shipwrecked with us. With banging tuneage on the Dotz stand all weekend and some seriously eye-friendly staff (no, I don’t mean Dave and Kev) plus of course, some of the freshest rims on the planet, I guarantee that it’s a very pleasant place to while away an hour or two – and we promise not to try and sell you any wheels whilst your there. OK, that last bit was a lie, but the rest is gospel…..

So, fill up your tanks, empty your bank account and charge up your party power… We’ll see you there. Check it all out at www.modifiednationals.co.uk

It’s inspired us to do some similar videos in a time-lapse style. So what would be your favourite DOTZ wheel/car time lapse video (and we’ll try and make it happen!).

Take coffee, for example. It wasn’t all that long ago that a weary traveller, stopping at the average services, would have been happy with a choice of one lukewarm brown drink, entitled simply ‘Coffee’. Usually hideously overpriced and horrendously underwarmed, it could usually be likened to tar.. although slightly less tasty. If you wanted to spice things up, you could go mad and add sugar..and if you really wanted to mix things up,… you ordered tea. These days though, two steps off any motorway exists the latest crop of coffee houses that boast a drinks list longer than most movie credits and the opportunity to embarrass yourself whilst ordering the world’s most ridiculously entitled Italian beverage. ‘Two doublebubblemochaskinneymegalattefinocinos, please.’ Honestly, some of these places require you to take an Italian degree, just to be able to place an order.

Thing is though, although I’d much rather give it a miss and go and have a cuppa, you have to admit that what Starsucks, Costalot and their brethren have all spotted is that these days, we do expect a bit of a choice in everything we do. And whilst 85 different coffees, 35 toppings and a personally tailored muffin solution seem a bit like overkill, you have to admit, it does allow you to get exactly what you want. And ultimately, this is a good thing..

Sandwiches are another. Gone are the dark mornings when your Gran packed you up with a cellophane parcel, containing last night’s dinner between two bits of aged bread. These days, there’s a sub for that.. And pretty much anything that you can imagine that can be legally inserted into a footlong loaf – and probably a few things that you can’t – can be ordered in the blink of an eye, and the swipe of a card.

It’s nothing new of course. The fashion industry has been doing it for centuries. Here’s one industry that realised almost back in Jurassic times that if all your neighbours were wearing mammoth, then you’d look pretty flippin’ special rocking up in a sabre-tooth two-piece. And so it went on. We’ve all been able to pick our wardrobes to suit our personalities since Mum stopped dressing us (at the age of 27 in my case) and this freedom extends to our homes, where even the aesthetically challenged are free to roam B&Q, picking god-awful combinations of fixtures and fittings. Vive le difference!.. as the French say..

The funny thing is, when you examine our beloved car scene, it’s strange that no-one has ever really taken the opportunity to allow personalisation to accommodate the most minute of details.. until now, that is.  Sure, you can choose which car you drive.. and then you can make it your own with the right suspension, the right wheels, the right accessories. But, the manufacturer still dictates what colour and size you get.. and that’s it. If you want to make it truly personal, you need to resort to doing it yourself – or farming it out to a third party specialist. And then, you can never be sure of the results.

Thankfully, someone at Dotz saw this coming, and knowing what a picky bunch we all are, came up with a cunning plan that should mean, once you’ve exercised your artistic talents, you will be able to create a truly one-off set off rims – and all under the warm, fuzzy glow of a factory warranty.

A quick click to www.dotzmag.com and the Custom Program reveals a world of choice based around 4 stunning wheel designs. The Tupac, Freeride Peak, Touge Graphite and Mugello. Not only are these good-looking rims available in a massive variety of fitments, but thanks to teaming with respected fashionistas Foliatec, Dotz can provide this in pretty much any colour way you can imagine. Over 200 Custom caps, inlays and rims finishes can all be ordered, making for an incredible 2,000 possible different combinations, meaning you have no excuse for not having things exactly the way you want them.

The online configurator lets you have your Picasso moment. Trying out all the different colourways from the comfort of your armchair, before you make your choice. It’s amazing that no-one has thought of it before, really. We spend hours poring over colour and trim charts before we choose our motors and then seem happy to accept our rims in vanilla flavour. But not anymore. Whether you’re feeling a hot-rod vibe, a bit of flower power, or maybe you’re just chasing show and shine trophies or magazine covers. Whatever. There’s A Dotz for that…