2008 Tiburon GT V6 Black Pearl





Intro





I'm Wes, a 20-year-old student at the University of San Diego. My Tibby is my first car I've ever owned, and after just a couple months of having it, I decided I wanted to make it even better than it already is. This decision lead me to NewTib, to the Southern California Regional Thread, where I lurked for a while, observing others' mod choices, popular mods, etc. The most influential people in my life when it comes to cars and modding would in fact be all of you guys and girls, the members of NT, that continued to fuel my modding craze.





Why the Tiburon

I chose the Tiburon because it's the best looking car in its class. I actually wasn't even looking into "sporty" cars at the time, in fact, I was at a Dodge dealer looking at their used cars, specifically Honda Civics and Ford Focuses, etc. That's when I saw it. A beautiful Redfire Pearl Tibby. I had never actually seen a Tiburon before, and I instantly fell in love with the car, and had to have it.



My number one reason for choosing the Tiburon was its good looks, and at the time, that was all that mattered to me haha.

(Half of those are probably people wondering just what kind of car it is haha). On the flip side, I LOVE canyon crusing/racing, especially with my new coilovers. The thrill of pushing my car to its limits combined with the scenic canyons, makes for an amazing experience. My Tibby is daily driven, so far with 56k miles, every bit driven by me. It's a great daily driver, and with its current look, turns heads every day.(Half of those are probably people wondering just what kind of car it is haha). On the flip side, I LOVE canyon crusing/racing, especially with my new coilovers. The thrill of pushing my car to its limits combined with the scenic canyons, makes for an amazing experience.

the build

Modding the Tib for me is making something beautiful even better. I like standing out, and looking stylish/clean while doing it. I wanted to show people that it is possible to work with a Hyundai and make it a great looking car, that can still stand out among the sea of Hondas, Toyotas, Nissans, etc.



I haven't actually installed any of my mods myself. But the hardest mod was trying to find a shop that was willing to go the distance and integrate my OEM fogs into my Hana bumper. It took a while, but with enough convincing, I found a shop that would do it.

Favorite mod





My favorite mod would definitely be the Hana bumper. The Hana completely changes the look of the Tiburon from a sporty coupe into a mean-looking sports car, and it's the first thing any fellow Tiburon enthusiast will recognize on the car.



My least favorite mod would also be the Hana bumper. It's a love/hate relationship with this thing, on one hand, it's the best looking bumper for the Tib, but on the other, it's really fragile. I cracked it really bad once when it was towed on a flatbed truck. Lesson learned haha. But even when driving around, there's the danger of cracks/potholes in the road, which would destroy the fragile fiberglass.

Future Plans





As of right now, I don't have any future plans for my Tib. I had been flirting with the idea of selling it for a long time now, but I just recently got coilovers due to my rear struts breaking. So, if any of my OEM parts need replacing, I'll just replace them with aftermarkets ones. Other than that, I don't plan on continuing to mod the Tib.

My Ideal Tiburon...





An ideal Tiburon to me would be a Tib that can win at shows during the first half of the day, and still go to the track/mountain during the second half.

Feedback from others...

I get both complaints and support from my friends/family. People at first thought my modding spree would just wear out, or that it was "just a phase". Well that phase lasted for three years now, and I guess that phase is coming to a close. Nowadays though, my friends and family have grown accustomed to the sight of my Tibby, and have embraced it's "uniqueness" haha.





Advice to fellow modders



My advice to Tib modders would be this: don't ever impulse buy. Make sure you want that mod and are going to be proud of it from day one, until the end. Otherwise, don't waste your money on mods that you'll later end up not liking/removing. Tibby enthusiasts should be proud of their work, not regret it.

My one and only shout-out goes to my fellow SoCal NT members. I love you guys and all the meets we have, the meets are something I look forward to every year. If and when I move on from the Tiburon, I still plan on coming out just to see you guys.







Suspension/Chassis

- ARK Rear Sway Bar

- Megan Racing Street-LP Series Coilovers

- R1 Concepts Premium Cross-Drilled & Slotted Rotors

- Hawk HPS Front Brake Pads

- 18 x 7.5 Enkei STR5 Wheels

- 215/40ZR18 Nitto Neo Gen Tires



Engine/Drivetrain



- AEM CAI



Body/Exterior



- Hana Motors Front Bumper w/ OEM Fog Lights

- Color Matched Seibon TS CF Hood

- OEM High Rise Spoiler

- 6K HID Lows/Highs/Fogs

- Shark Racing Clear Corner V4 Angel Eyes

- Shark Racing LED Gills

- Diode Dynamics LED Switchbacks

- Diode Dynamics License Plate LEDs

- SFR Tuscani Chrome Door Handles

- FFF Tuscani Trunk Emblem



Interior



- Shark Racing Tuscani LED Door Sills

- Shark Racing Aluminum Floor Mats

- Diode Dynamics Stage 3 LED Kit

- Diode Dynamics Clear Door Lenses



Multimedia/ICE



- Kenwood Excelon DNX9140 HU



Miscellaneous



- Optima Yellowtop Battery

- Raizin Voltage Stabilizer

Motivation behindShout-Outs