This is a story about Petrus, wishes, reality, the police and tuning of course. The story begins sunday the 17th of April at noon. After Streetculture Munich/Aschheim was forbidden it was on Tuning Gear to create a new high class tuning meeting in the Munich area. And I do know from the Tuning Gear crew itself that they did prepare very well and for many month. Normally they have the parking area of the Obi do-it-yourself-store and this time they added the parking area of the very big METRO. Both together are a huge areal and it looked like it would be needed, because more than 2000 guests had already announced that they would show up. In addition to this a lot of clubs, exhibitors and events were announced. Sounds like big fun and it sounds like one of the last stories which can be written about tuning in the bavarian capitol these days.

Petrus
Unfortunately he had absolutely no sympathy for the car scene at this particular day. I was driving down to Munich from Nürnberg and the rain was already pouring down hard on me. The Autobahn changed into little or even bigger lakes. The clouds in Munich were of darkest grey and they were looking shaggy and angry – so there was no doubt about how the day will end. This alone may have discouraged a lot of people to come over. All in all I would say, it was probably only half of the people there which would have liked to come. But on the other hand it was very positive that there have been a couple of hundert cars despite the bad weather. Lucky enough, a part of the Metro parking area is under a roof and you may bet that this was the favorite spot of everybody and probably 99 percent of the guests were huddled together there. But at least, they made the best out of this cold and rainy day!

Wishes and reality
Well, there are always a lot of wishes of the promoters and of the guests of these events. A promoter hopes for nice weather, a full house, great cars, a good atmosphere and a positive feedback afterwards. The guests want to display their cars nicely and they also want a good atmosphere and sunny weather. But right here the hopes and wishes become different. For many people those events have to be packed but than on the other side they dislike it if its to packed. Some like german cars, some like import cars. Just some minutes ago I read a discussion about the event and about how family friendly tuning events are supposed to be. Obviously – even those topics seem to separate the scene. But than of course, reality always looks completely different. Probably there will never be any kind of real fast & furious style parties in our country. Streetracing is illegal, of course, car tuning can be illegal if its not made legal by our TÜV. The weather in Bavaria is almost as predictable as the lottery. And in addition to this – loud music or just one loud exhaust may cause trouble with some neighbors. This trouble usually becomes a political question and there are many examples in the past where this political questions did finish of a successful event forever. The only thing which can be done by the promoters is – following the rules and try hard to make it as good as possible and thats what the boys and girls of Tuning Gear did. They did prepare well and they are not responsible for the weather or all the laws and rules. So I have to say a big THANK YOU to the Promoters!

The police
The event was right at Munich / Bodenseestreet. This street is famous/infamous for a lot of used car dealers, some brothels and some other „Businesses“. I have to know that because I was operating a martial arts club right around the corner here for many years. So, its basically one long street which is also leading to the Autobahn. That makes it really easy for the police to control the access to the event. Today, one day after the event, I did read in a lokal newspaper that 90 cars get either tickets for speeding or they got removed from the street because of illegal tuning. So lot`s of Police out there at that day. The question is, is that good or bad? Well, for the whole car scene it`s pretty bad if some guys drive more than 100 km/h in an 50 km/h area. That approves all prejudices the police may have against tuning people and in addition it gives great headlines for newspapers, not even talking about what happens if it comes to a crash because of reckless driving. So, generally I have to say, the police is doing it`s job and safety on the street is an important point. But than of course, being just a simple little writer I could also ask some questions. But I just may remind that mostly they are no drunks, no hooligans, no gangs of burglars, no subway thugs and no terrorists are hanging out on tuning events. But thats just a little thought.

Tuning
Yes, of course, there was also some tuning going on. And even it was the perfect weather for some off-road-vehicles with a lot of fording depth I still found many hundert well done tuning cars. I would like to introduce you a little bit to 4 of them.

Dom`s VW Golf MK2
This car was build 1990 and it has got a VR6 engine. The 2.8 liter engine performs about 220 hp and was completely modified with a custom built exhaust system a Tezet header and some other modifications. Weighting in with just 810 kilograms the car is as fast as 260 km/h. The car also got a wide body and it was painted in Mercedes Benz Piano Black piano lacquer. Of course the car is lowered and it is also equipped with BBS RX215 7.5×17 with 185/35 tires. The interior was cleaned to save weight. On the other side a Wichers roll cage, Fk racing-seats, a steering wheel with snap-off and the speedo from a Golf 3 got built-in. Dom tells me that he had done all modifications by himself. This really is a great work and the car is surely a show stopper and a head turner.

Christophs Mazda 3 MPS
The engine is a 260 hp turbo basic engine of the Mazda MPS. It is painted in white crystal pearl and airbrushed on both sides from Madman Airbrush following a picture done by Christoph. The break system was completely changed to a D2 brake system and a coilover kit was also implemented. The original 18″ Rims got changed against Barracuda Tzunamee in candy puder blue. Door sill panels were illuminated, Footwell lightning was implemented as well as some other interior details. Finally the whole car audio system was changed by Megasound out of Rosenheim. A Kenwood 2din Receiver, 2 Helix Flathead Subs and an Eton amp are now responsible for perfect sound.

Andi`s BMW 330i E46
This car is also a complete and individual masterpiece. A compressor with intercooler, a header, a Schrick camshaft, 200 cpsi cat, oil cooler and some more modifications are giving the car a all over performance of 335 hp with 400 Nm (stock was 231 hp / 300 Nm). The car is also lowered 50-55mm, a strut brace, a better brake system, 19 inch wheels, wheel-spacers got added and it did get a completely repaint in 2015. The interior was also modified and the highlight is the Awron-touch-vehicle-data-Display.

Micha`s Mazda 6 2.0 Exklusiv
To describe this car completely would need an article of it`s own. Micha did buy the car 2012 and he changed it every year ever since. Bodykit, 19 inch wheels, suede and leather interior, new headlights, a complete car wrapping in matt blue metallic, engine bay flocking, better brakes and a complete car hifi system. Everything is redone and the best thing is – this many times trophy winner and famous scene car from Micha Atenza is for sale.

These are 4 very nice examples of the cars at the Tuning Gear meeting but of course there have been many more, as you may see on the pics. A lot of clubs have been there including a big chapter of JDM Muc. My personal highlight was to meet many friends from the car scene around Munich and Augsburg there. Together we had big time fun, despite the weather. I am really looking forward to the next Tuning Gear meeting and I can only say one thing to the promotors, go ahead and never back down!

Text: Andreas Leffler
Pics: Andreas Leffler