Feature: G35 Earns Interest

William Ho’s interest in cars began in high school, in the mid 90s when he and his friends were into car audio. Reading car audio magazines and seeing modified cars in person fueled his interest. Then, a few years after high school, Ho bought the first car that he could really modify: a Honda Accord. Eventually Ho modified every interior and exterior aspect of the car, from the stereo system to the suspension.

“In 1999, I had a job at a local performance shop and worked there for a couple years,” recalls Ho. “That gave me a lot of skills and experience in building my car myself.”

In 2002, his heavily modified Accord was stolen. Recovered, but totally stripped, the car was a total loss. Ho bought a replacement car as a daily driver. Then the Infiniti G35 came out the next year. Ho, by then a project manager at a bank in Dallas, TX, ordered one.

“After I bought the G35, I thought, ‘this car is really nice, looks great, it’s pretty fast compared to what I had driven before,’” explains Ho. “It’s something that I really don’t have to modify because I was afraid that my car would get stolen again. I drove the car stock for a year until the ‘mod bug’ bit me.”

Ho completed most of the work on his G35, starting with small parts such as clear corner lights, upgraded headlight bulbs and an air intake. “Of course, eventually it spiraled out of control after a couple years,” confesses Ho.

Ho’s G35 changed as his involvement in the car show scene grew and parts became available. When he first owned the car, Ho joined a local G35 club and attended their meetings and networked. “I wasn’t big into shows until I joined Team 16 NiSS (wwwteam16niss.org), and met people who were competing in car shows with top level people,” recalls Ho.

After joining Team 16 NiSS, Ho attended a lot of local shows, and then started to drive across country from Dallas, TX to compete at Hot Import Nights events, including Chicago and Indianapolis.

“I wasn’t really planning on supercharging the car, but a local guy was parting his car out and got rid of it at an insanely low price,” says Ho. "That’s when I was ramping up in the car show scene and the supercharger put me at another level.”

The G35’s Vortech supercharger puts out 8 psi and an upgraded fuel and engine management system take care of the rest. That bumped the engine’s output to a respectable 375whp and 320wtq with stock internals. Ho added an aerodynamic kit, air suspension and the audio system.

“I got to that high level of show competition and won a few awards here and there.” Ho’s investment in research, time and modifications paid off with interest in his G35. “The competition got pretty intense,” explained Ho. “I backed off spending any more money on the car after it got to a certain point.”

In addition to the local and national shows, it’s been featured on various blogs, Hella Flush, the Universal Air Suspension website (www.universalairsuspension.com) and RIX Magazine.

Ho also secured Kicker sponsorship for his audio system. “After I got into the show scene more heavily, I sent out sponsorship proposals and developed a relationship with Kicker,” explained Ho. In 2008, Kicker sponsored a full set up, including a flashy trunk setup that gathers attention at shows.

Ho recommends approaching potential sponsors in a professional manner. “If people are trying to get sponsorships, it’s almost like getting a job,” Ho advises. “You want to convey your value you can give a company in exchange for products. Be a professional and have a lot of integrity in what you say you’re going to do and following through with it.”

Ho’s Kicker sponsorship is a win-win. “I’ve been able to push the Kicker brand with my car’s online presence and I’ve showcased the product a lot, to make their name something that’s (synonymous with) quality.”

Ho offered advice to those just getting into modifying cars: “Really plan out a build instead of buying whatever is convenient at the time and within your budget,” says Ho.

“I spent a lot of money going through a lot of transitions,” Ho explains. After seven years of owning this car, it has gone through 3 different sets of wheels, 4 different aerodynamic setups, 2 different audio systems, and 2 different suspension setups. “The end result of what I wanted the car to look like would have been a lot easier if I had planned it out from the beginning.”

In addition, Ho recommends talking to different people to get their opinions and do research online about what parts are available for a particular car. “If you’re interested in competing in the show scene, a lot of one-off customization is important in getting noticed and differentiated from the masses,” advises Ho.

“You shouldn’t be afraid to do something unique, even if it’s not well received,” explains Ho. “If it’s something you like, you should go for it. You may just be a trend setter.” For example, Ho says his car’s most unique modification are its wheels with reflective gold lip with a flat black center.

As for future plans for his G35, Ho says, “The car has really reached the pinnacle of how I want to build it. The G35 has been out for seven years already and is pretty mature in its development. The prices have dropped so a lot of people have been buying and modifying them now. With that, originality is pretty hard to have when a car is owned by so many people. I’m really kind of done with the car at this point.”

Ho is preparing to start a new project, a VIP build of a 2004 Lexus LS430 that he just bought. He doesn’t plan on modifying it too heavily. But he’s said that before. Stay tuned.