Gram Lights Wheels 57NR
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Text: Wooley // Photos: Sean Bradford

A lot of people vibe with this magazine (or don’t) because we celebrate cars that are different, or typically unpopular. Cars that other print mags wouldn’t risk it with. The tricky thing is, as an editor… is that it can be a double-edged sword. Or more accurately, it can be a vibrating double-edged sword.

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Think about it from a magazine’s perspective. First of all – every car that goes into the magazine defines us. Whether it’s a full feature, or a single picture from event coverage… it defines us as a magazine. Meaning – it defines ‘S3’. And that’s a gift AND a curse. Run one too many Hondas in a row… and you get labeled as a ‘Honda mag’. Run too much low, and the track guys call you soft. Run a few too many RWD cars, and you automatically get pigeon-holed as a drift mag. It’s difficult to balance it all out and make all the subcultures & cliques happy… it really is guys. Because the truth is – we’re none of those things, and we’re all of those things. So our formula has kind of adapted into a ‘fuck it’ mentality… and we try not to get caught up in all the restrictive hype. To us, it doesn’t really matter what you build. Yeah, some cars have more performance potential than others, that’s just a fact.

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But we recognize, and love the theory that ‘variety is what keeps a lot of us entertained & involved’. Variety is what keeps you from knowing the final outcome… before you even start the project. It’s what makes you get up in the morning. For some people, it’s about numbers, getting the most power or balance out of the best chassis with the most aftermarket support – end of story. For these kinds of people, the car is a tool. A means to get to a goal. And that’s TOTALLY ok. Racers, drifters, even shit-talkers – use their car as a…

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Purchase Issue 30 here to read the rest of this story

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