The cat is out of the bag!

Actually not really – I wasn’t technically trying to hide anything from anyone. I just wanted it to be a secret/surprise until I got it on my car. I know when I first started building the car, I was SET on doing Varis. But by the time I got around to finally deciding on what kit I wanted, Reggie had gone and killed the Varis game by pairing it with Rocket Bunny and I absolutely love it even to this day. It’s one of the more recognizable builds mainly because he was one of the first to start the mix and match and go down the route of doing something different.

While his build is great, I didn’t want to “copy” him. I put quotes around the word because I use it and mean it very loosely. Copying a build is one thing – it’s trying to mimic another person’s build and in one way, it can be very flattering, but more often than not it’s – in the most polite way I can say it – annoying. There’s nothing worse than someone driving around with a car that looks just like yours. On the other hand, there’s no way to avoid it unless you go custom everything. It’s the nature of the beast and you have to take it for what it is…

Instead, I wanted to build something that suited my tastes and my needs. In this case – I’m a ricer and I love it. Of course, there are plenty of ways to be a ricer – cheap knockoffs or quality… But that’s a different story.

While the Arise Sport kit is fairly rare and not really talked about on the forums, mainly because people are all caught in the Rocket Bunny hype, it’s one of the best looking kits out there next to Rocket Bunny and Varis. It flows with the lines of the car, it brings out the more aggressive side of the FRS/BRZ without being too obnoxious. That’s why Rocket Bunny and Varis are kings of this world. They accentuate the car perfectly in every way.

The first time I saw the kit was on Ben’s BRZ – owner of AJ-R in Vancouver. He’s built his car in one of the cleanest possible ways that I’ve seen and I’ve envied it as well as many of his other cars. When the time came for me to choose what kit I wanted, it came down to this and Ben was spectacular in getting this for me!

I ordered this kit way back in August through Jackie Law and Ben and it showed up at my doorstep last night – a perfect Christmas present along with all the other car parts that happened to show up around this time. It was a long-awaited moment and now that all the parts that take FOREVER to show up are finally here, the only part left is to get it painted and installed before Spring.

One of the reasons the Arise Sport kit is so unheard of is because the company itself is a small company in Japan. Even googling it will require some work so it’s not exactly in the eyes of the bigger crowd. To be honest, if Ben didn’t have it on his car, I would still probably not know much about them.

It’s a shame really… Because the quality of Arise Sport is very good. The design is also at the same level as Varis/RB. Maybe it’s expected as it’s not from Seibon or a knock off company here in North America.

Either way, how I pictured my build to come together almost a year and a half ago is now becoming a reality. It’s amazing to see it all fit so perfectly and it really makes you fall in love with the car again.

I’ll likely have the kit painted and installed by early March so that it’s ready to go in the spring.

A shot of the inside – to prove this isn’t no knock-off 🙂

Beautiful.

I’m really digging how this looks. I could stand in my garage all day if it weren’t so damn cold out. I’m waiting for one more part to complete the look and I think I’ll call it a day for this year.

My goal of coming out with a completely different look is pretty much done. I want to give a huge thanks to Jackie and Ben for helping me get this kit. I never thought I’d see the day come… Especially when you’re waiting 3+ months, sometimes it seems like forever has come and gone.

Also thanks to Ben for the decals to put on once I’ve got everything finalized. It’ll be the icing on the cake!