Howdy webriders! Hope you laughed a bit at my little April Fools joke. I am still Dr. VW, and I’m here to lead you on the latest Auto Adventure! If you like Girls, Girls, and more-uhm- cars, hit the jump to check out the latest from…

Hot Import Nights!

Now firstly, Hot Import Nights is not the opening scene from any of the Fast and the Furious movies. There are no bright pink or lime green cars, and there are most definitely no scantily clad women wearing lots of glitter and angel wings. This is a respectable get together of the best import tuners from all over the world…

And I would be lying. There are, in fact, MANY scantily clad girls and bright pink, lime green, and banana yellow seem to be the colors of choice when building these crazy machines. Perhaps its because of this that Hot Import Nights is one of those events that just always seems to piss off one group or another. Many “respectable” cliques of the auto world like to bash on the “ricer” scene. Domestic Muscle scoffs at the notion that a lowly “POS econo-box” could possibly spank them on the track, while snooty Euro-tuners view themselves as the more mature, hotter sister to the import scene. Let’s not even get into the Hot Rodder or the Purist Restorer, who are as much at odds with each others philosophies as they are with the “Ricer” scene.

What’s wrong with the Rice I say?! Many import tuners are actually offended by the designation of being a “Ricer” while others wear it as a badge of honor. No matter how you feel about it, HIN is a rice event, on the whole. The usual common denominators are there: Imports, bright colors, under body lights, flashy graphics, body mods, and accessories, and of course, the hottest scantily clad women found anywhere near a car. Whats wrong with that? This is always a can of worms, and everyone’s a critic. Nevertheless, we’re going to muddle through the good, the bad, and the downright gorgeous.

So without further ado, lets pick apart my favorite ride from this years batch of HIN videos!

Joe Ninobia’s bright yellow 2000 “new” Beetle!

This car is downright sweet. Now usually, I hate the the new beetle on principle. I’m all about the classics, and the new Beetle will never compare with the mojo of the original. However Joe is a man after my heart with this ride. Lots of interesting, functional, and I’ll even go so far as to say, unique modifications were made to this sick Beetle.

The first thing that caught my eye was the hood and rear sound system modifications. Rarely do you see a hood that can lift up, and swing completely out of the way. To a fellow tuner, this is one of the more tasteful body mods that, for once, actually increases the ease of working on the car. Far too often body kits and mods get in the way of everyday use, and here Joe makes working and showing off his engine a lot easier.

The sound system is a whole other animal, but the ability to lift the entire rear housing, speakers, amps and all, out of the trunk for viewing is a neat trick to say the least. The custom door panels with speaker housings are tasteful and designed well, with real attention to detail. The modular design of the stereo system really blows me away, with the ability to remove 250lbs of stereo equipment in just a few minutes to get it ready for the track! It’s not everyday that you see a ride with that kind of versatility.

The engine of course, was the clincher. Able to run 12’s in the quarter mile with its 2.0 turbo engine, Joe’s ride is capable of 320-330 HP at the wheels! An impressive feat for a “new” Beetle to say the least. It’ll be interesting to see if he makes his 500 HP goal with his next turbo…

Plus. Its a VW. Whats not to like?

Anyways, thats it for todays Auto Adventure. Tune in for the next installment, where I’ll give my pick for “worst in show”. Be sure to leave a comment, and check out the forums, where there’s going to be a lot of discussion about these and other rides. This is Dr. VW- out.