renegade motorsports
Author: Kai Her - July 13th, 2024
I am long over due for another coverage. I am finally back and settled from my trip to the Pacific North West in Washington. What an amazing trip it was to spend it with Aimee and get away from the hot California weather for a minute. While stationed there for a week, we had a chance to hike and ate out as much as we could. Especially me, I immearsed myself to every sushi restaurant I could find during lunch or dinner hours. If anything, everything we planned in the itinerary was met! Even my big visit to Renegade Motorsports!
Our hotel was in Tacoma, WA. I have wanted to plan the trip a weekend earlier just so I could make it in time for Wekfest Seattle. However, with timing, and not being able to get our plane tickets secured, we missed the show and arrived a week after. One of my main reasons why I wanted to visit Wekfest Seattle was to go visit Renegade Motorsport’s vendor and grab some merch because I have been extremely fascinated by their products lately. I enjoy how a lot of their parts have been gratifying towards the S2000!
Since I couldn’t visit Renegade Motorsports in Wekfest Seattle, the only other option was to contact them and schedule a visit at their home office. As luck would have it, Aimee and I had a free day on our vacation so I kindly asked if she would allow me to visit Renegade Motorsports. To my surprise, I was under the impression Renegade’s office was in Washington. They are actually stationed in Oregon. After Hiep (owner of Renegade) sent me their address, it was about a two hour and 30 minute drive from my hotel to their office. That wasn’t too far, considering I have driven down to Los Angeles multiple times and that is approximately a four hour drive (depending on traffic) from Merced.
Hiep is the owner of Renegade Motorsports. I was also introduced to Andy (Enjin Haus, co-owner) when I visited. Ethan (CAD/printibg) was also at the shop designing new products and parts. I have to say, it was nice to see him in action as Hiep walked with me and gave me a tour around their office and enormous shop right behind it. These guys were so chill, you’ll definitely just feel welcomed because they were so kind. They were a humble and hard working bunch! First impression is everything and they really went above and beyond to allow me to visit their office for almost two whole hours! Hiep allowed me to explore the office and shop all by myself after the tour and I was able to capture as much pictures as I could during that time when I was alone. I just hope that my first impression on them was the same. LOL
Thank you guys, for accommodating my vacation hours and making time for me to come visit you during your work hours. Words cannot express how much it meant to me to be allowed to meet you all and visit your office.
Since I was traveling using airlines, I decided to borrow Aimee’s Fugifilm X-T100 camera. It was my first time actually shooting with this camera. It’s a light weight camera and conveniently easy to the touch. Once I adjusted the right ISO and shutter speed, it was an ease to shoot with. Since it had a touch screen capability to capture shots, I took that mechanism to my advantage and took as much photos as I could.
When I arrived, my GPS took me to the back of their shop. I buzzed the door bell and Ethan came out being distracted by my visit. Hiep walked on over and introductions were exchanged. Thereafter, he gave me a tour around the back shop and the office. Like I mentioned earlier, after the tour, I was allowed to walk around the shop and capture some photos. Above is a set of Dash White Ce28’s! I am presuming they were to be mounted onto the Civic right behind it.
Here is wider view of how the back shop looked like. A very clean work space. Hiep apologized for the mess, but my garage is 20 times smaller and is not as neat as this! A bit embarrassed to mention that, I continued capturing more content.
This Berlina Black AP1 caught my attention immediately. Wearing a J’s Racing front spoiler and pair of Spoon Sports mirrors, the S2000 was equipped with various Renegade Motorsports parts.
The front caliper had been switched to the Renegade big brake kit! I have asked Hiep about the collaboration with APG. He informed me APG reached out to him with the collaboration. Therefore, the forged calipers wore the Renegade “checkered” logo and their name engraved onto the front of the caliper.
It seemed like Hiep and the crew was test fitting which wheels would clear their brake kit. This in particular was their rear big brake kit. I remember spacers were stacked behind the center hub just so it can clear the calipers. OG Regamaster’s have pretty poor brake caliper clearance (from my own experience) so it was understandable to see what they had to do to experiment and make fit.
Furthermore, what was most interesting about this rear big brake kit was that it still retained e-brake capabilities! The caliper is still integrated to keep the e-brake cables. Compared to their competitors, it’s quite tough to find a rear big brake kit that still upholds some OEM abilities to the car. I thought it was an amazing feature. I’m used to seeing rear big brake kits eliminating the e-brakes, so it’s quite pleasant to see a kit still clinging onto the e-brake cables.
In case if you didn’t know, Renegade Motorsports is all about in-house development! They have their own resources inside their shop which they can utilize to 3D scan and print and develop new prototypes or parts! Heip’s vision was that he wanted to create most of his parts in-house. Therefore, most of everything you see inside the shop is designed by the Renegade crew.
Like this carbon Mode Parfume style side mirror. I believe the mirrors were still in development to make fit and be functional onto a Porsche 997.
To the corner of the shop was a lift. I recall both S2000’s were owned by Hiep. The one underneath was a S2000 he purchased just so he can develop parts for the S2000 chassis. The S2000 on top is actually Heip’s track car! The S2000 is equipped with a 2.7 stroker! Can you spy the single exhaust exit in the middle of the rear bumper? That thing is insane! It must be nice to own a car that serves a different purpose to your needs and entertainment.
Hiep and Ethan at the corner probably conversing about a possible new part for the S2000? I didn’t want to eavesdrop and should mind my own business as I have already done enough just to visit them during work hours. I quickly captured them working and then continued my exploration throughout their shop.
Recently, Renegade have expanded their shop to another room. With this huge space, Hiep parked his Porsche inside. Wearing the prototype mirrors you saw earlier, the German vehicle had some Japanese influence on it. Evidently, you can see the Yokohama / Advan GT’s on the car!
If you further study what was behind the wheel, you can explicitly see a Renegade big brake kit behind it. I don’t quite remember if Hiep said the brake kit was in the market, but in my opinion, the caliper looked well designed that it was a perfect match to the wheel and chassis! Plus, the gold rotor gave off that extra flare! Talk about Japanese execution on a German car.
On the other side of this room was the famous NFR S2000 you have been seeing floating around the Renegade Motorsport Instagram page. It was one of the vehicles I was excited to see upon my arrival to Renegade. If I didn’t get a chance to see this car, I think I would have been pretty bummed. LOL, that’s my honest feeling.
The S2000 was also equipped with the Renegade big brake kit. The S2000 (like mine) wore a Spoon S-Tai bumper and the lines connected to the Spoon Sport fenders very well because the fender extensions you see on the side of the bumper was not originally from Spoon Sport. Actually, Renegade have developed their own extension that was longer and flowed to the bumper better than the short stubby ones from Spoon. Lastly, I just want to note, the Titanium Silver Te37’s suit the red nicely. I don’t think my S2000 can pull it off as good as this one.
With further investigation, you can see the new side mirror developed by Renegade Motorsports themselves. Like what it had done to me, it have captured much attention in the S2000 community as well. The side mirror is still in development as we speak and I believe Renegade just announced that if there is enough interest of the side mirror, a batch will be in development. A prime example onto how Renegade keeps their parts in-house!
I love my Spoon side mirrors! However, if I was going to make a switch, this will only be the other side mirror I will rock on my S2000.
I realized the S2000 had some side markers on, but as I took a closer look, I immediately realized it’s not the Honda OEM rectangular side marker. Instead, it have been swapped out to a Ferrari side marker. I actually dig the look! It subtle, hidden, and not so visible. A mod I may consider doing, not to the S2000, but possibly the Civic project I picked up. I wonder what Kong will think of it?
Before I left this room to the front office, I just had to get another picture of this wheel and caliper combo! It goes so hard! The beefy Falken RT660’s wrapped around the Te37’s was an effortless look, but paired with the right colored lug nut and big brake kit, it’s a cherry on top!
Right before I entered through the back door to the front office, I decided to capture Ethan’s work space. The multiple 3D machines may look like an overkill, but actually next to it was a “Godzilla” size 3D printer that can even print bigger items (fenders, etc.) Although the work area seemed to be surrounded by boxes and unfinished projects, ironically, I think it still looks well organized and underwhelming.
As I entered the the office through the back door, I was welcomed to a colorful assortment of Willans racing seat belt. Yet, another collaboration with Renegade.
The office seemed messy, but it was like an organized messy. Therefore, it didn’t look messy at all. Everything seemed to be well placed and there were still plenty of space to walk around the office and get to your destination.
Right in the middle of the office was a small lounge area. Behind it was a glass box in which displayed a lot of miscellaneous parts neatly shelfed. As I walked into the office space, the aura I was getting was just how peaceful it was. There was no music playing in the background, everything looked new, pleasantly placed, and you just get the sense of wanting to get in front of a computer screen and begin creating content.
Adjacent to the front windows in the office were three racing simulation systems! How cool is that, right!? I believe they even brought these simulations out to their displays during the Wekfest attendance and even allowed people to actually test out the rig themselves. You can also see that they have utilized their racing seat bracket to the rig. And as if there was no better spot for a Renegade tote box, the tote looked like it belonged to be set next to the simulation. Very well thought out and creative, guys!
If I have all the money I could spend, I would have grabbed everything I could possibly carry back with me to the airplane; but I don’t, so during my visit, I purchased their raw titanium finished lug nuts. I initially purchased a set of Project Kics lug nuts in black that I was going to pair with the Nardo Grey Te37’s. However, during my visit, I made a shift and thought it would be a lot better to run the Renegade lug nuts, rather than the Project Kics.
A wheel rack was set up to hide the office space behind it. If there was anything Renegade Motorsports and I have in common, I believe it’ll be our taste in OG wheels! You can easily see the OG Regamaster MP on the top right corner of the rack and next to it was an gold/blue Advan RG. Another RG was on the bottom shelf, but in the white/blue finish. Hiep, may I suggest another RG in the silver/blue finish to further complete the collection?
Ray’s Volk wheels alongside the Mugen Cast 10 (MC10) was seen on the rack. Perhaps a set of rebarreled MF10’s will do this rack nicely as well. Luckily, I know someone (myself) who has a set for sale. LOL!
In front of the wheel rack was this beautiful craftsmanship of Renegade Motorsport’s exhaust. I wonder if it’s a universal fit? I was tossing around the idea on what exhaust kit to get for my Civic project and I like how this exhaust looked like, compared to many other aftermarket exhaust systems out there.
Leaning against the cabinet was a fender Renegade was toiling with. Can anyone guess which chassis this fender will mock up to? The aero features on the fender was aggressive and I’m trying to envision how it will look like on the car when it’s finally developed to its last stages.
I peeked over and discreetly took a picture of Andy and Hiep’s work space as they were creating new content on their screens. If you take a quick glance to Hiep’s work space, above were some Wekfest awards they acquired this and last year.
I believe they were awarded for best vendor for Wekfest last year and this year. Not just that, their featured cars at their vendors also took home some hardware as well.
To the side was an entertainment corner with an arcade. It seemed to be off, but I can see Ryu from Street Fighter in front of the box. I wouldn’t mind hitting a few rounds with the guys the next time if they weren’t so busy.
As I ventured off to the last corner of the office, there was a section dedicated to their clothing brand. Various designs and merchandise were set out for display and for purchase.
I purchased some merchandise and had one last conservation with Andy and Hiep before I made my leave. As much as I wanted to just talk more about cars and get to know them better, I was already using too much of their time.
Before I left, I thanked Hiep and Andy for allowing me to visit. They were such cool guys. Extremely kind and just so transparent in sharing everything they do and they know. I really felt that from Renegade Motorsports.
I informed them the next time when I come back for a visit, I would like to drag the NnovatioN brothers with me. I believe they will enjoy it as much as did. Thank you for everything, Renegade!
Well, that’s my visit, guys! It was an astounding adventure I took aside from the various outdoor activities Aimee and I planned for. Wekfest San Jose was last week so now I’m going to have to sort through the pictures in that album and edit them before I can come back on here and write another blog for you guys. Thank you for following me! If you haven’t already, feel free to hit that follow button and receive the latest update from Xplicit Projects!
