My Name is Ryan and I’m 22 years old. I live in Long Island, New York and go to college in Chicago, Illinois for Traditional animation, which means drawing is my favorite hobby and then cars.
At first I didn’t want to go to college because of majority of students graduating with debt, so I took off two years after High school working two full-time jobs. Which is where the source of my money came from to heavily modify my car.
A couple years ago I didnt know too much about cars and had no plans to mod my car, but being around friends who were extrememly in the tuner scene, it influenced me.
How long have you owned your Spectra?
I’m the only owner of this car since June of 2005.
What cars did you own before?
Previously I owned a $400 1993 Pontiac Grand Am.
Honestly, what was your intention when you bought your Spectra?
Well my grand ams transmission failed after I replaced it so I was lookng for a car with better conditions. I was originally looking for a used daily driver, and a 2004 Suzuki Forenza fit my description at the time.
As I was at the Suzuki dealership a salesman was offering me to purchase a 2004 Kia Optima, I noticed this black car sitting alone in the corner as if I were meant to purchase it.
In a few words, describe the style of your Spectra?
Sleek and Sexy. I love BMW’s, so the style of those cars attracts me a lot and was my influence.
What do you like the most about Spectra?
I like it because it’s black. I have a fetish for black vehicles.
Is there anything you don’t like about it?
Even though it’s supercharged it’s still slow, but I had no intentions to make it fast to begin with. I just wanted more kick in the engine. With every car that looks good, there are a group of haters who hate that specific car, so I hate them and hate that about owning a ”nice” car with personal style.
What is it that makes your Spectra look unique?
I think it looks unique because it resembles a few cars out there and has a very clean show car look to it.
What accessories have you installed so far?
So far I have a:
-10psi MP45 supercharger w/ 2.5” pulley
-ported supercharger inlet to 65mm,
-65mm throttle body, headers,
-short ram intake,
-full 2.5” catback exhaust system,
-polyurethane motor mounts,
-Tension bodykit with SRS front bumper,
-changed every interior LED from green to blue,
-gas powered hood lifts,
-H&R lowering springs,
-rear strut bar & rear sway bar,front sway bar,
-R1-GTR-10 18” rims,
-Twin projected angel eye headlamps,
-KFX grill,
-oil cooler, oil catch can, transmission cooler,
-2900cc fuel injectors,
-aluminum performance radiator,
-aluminum pulley system,
-glowshift gauges, boost, air to fuel,
-transmission temperature gauge,
-custom shiftkit,
-Hifonics amplifier,
-tinted tail lights,
-one mtx 12” subwoofer, hifonics amplifier,
-Kenwood excelon 4 channel amplifier,
-dvd/gps touch screen in dash monitor and kenwood excelon speakers all around.
There’s more, but other minor stuff that I can’t remember.
What’s next?
Nothing as of now, I think my mod list says enough is enough. But I do have one more modification to do. I need to install my new headlamps that I just received.
Who helped modify your Spectra?
Most of the mods I did myself but the supercharger install was done by Maximum Tuning in Seacliff, NY. It was a bitch to put in, 3-4 hours & 100% bolt on my ass…
Products of which tuning company did you use?
Seouful Racing, KFX, LC Engineering, Red Line Tuning, Ark, Glowshift, Kenwood Excelon, MTX, Hifonics, Accolade Bodykit and K&N.
How would you rate your car; on a scale from 1 to 10?
Looks I give it a 10, performance well you be the judge.
How would you pimp your ride if you had no limits?
I would build my car into a road legal, 12 second quarter mile car. I would definitly want to turn it into the utimate street sleeper.
What do people say about your Spectra?(get any comments?)
Yes all the time. People think no one is crazy enough to modify a kia so it mistakenly gets called a BMW, a Scion tc, a Saab, and a imported Honda Civic all the time. When people do find out it’s a Kia they are pretty shocked.
thats one kik ass bodykit! this is the best kia mod ive seen! bring us more, himi!
this car is cool! 🙂 I like it.
Hey guys, I see there is a lot of interest about Kia future models, so this week, I will search for some informations about future Kia vehicles and post an article on blog.
I was thinking if you could tell me more about this interview and Ryan’s Spectra. Do you like it? What do you like about his car…
himi-the article about Ryan’s Spectra is fantastic. I love his black Spectra and I started modding my ’99 Sephia by getting the 70,000 mile Yokohama radials and Konig Diva wheels. I loved my ’99 Kia Sephia after that(hence my Edmund.com forums nickname!!)and it really changed the handling of the rig. I could toss it much more after those tires and wheels.
As for more Kia future building information, we could always use it. I look forward to more. Also, I may be wrong here, but k-Sport’s post above does not mention actually starting production on a Kia Kee Coupe. Not quite yet.
Hey Ryan, welcome to Kia-world!Despite all of the off-topic talk, I still think your Spectra is one of the best and most unique Kia I have ever seen. You have showed our readers that Kias can be fun and look cool just as any other Honda, BMW or anyother sporty car!
I hope this interview will encourage others to modify their Kias too in the future!
Again. thanks for participating in an interview!
Hi I’m also interested how did you change color on dashboard.I have 2005 Kia Spectra and i hate that green color.
Hey I love the car. Where’d you get your headlights done like that???
where did you find the angel eye headlamps for the kia spectra
has any one had problems getting the correct front wheel bearing for a 2004 kia spectra sedan?
You guys are so lucky. You have great access to modding stuff in the US. In the UK no-one wants to know Kia. Standard parts are hard enough to get hold of and if I asked anyone about body kits and angel eys they’d laugh at me. Hardly anyone knows what my Cerato is when I tell them what I’ve got. I need to get some good contacts in the US who would be prepared to ship stuff to the UK or point me in the right direction over here. That is one serious Cerato. When will mine look like that!
dude ive been trying to change the color of my intirour bulbs on my 05 spectra that green blows but i dont wanna fuck up anythign got any tips on how to change teh color?
Where did u get them headlights. I have been trying to find some for my kia spectra and also where did u get that body kit.
The headlights!!! I love them! If you decide to make them for sale I would buy you some pairs to re-sell in here.
Nice, i just got one my self its an 05′ SX but one question…
Where the hell did you find headlights like those? i looked all over the web and ebay and i’ve seen them on other Spectra’s online but nobody ever posts where or how they got them? did you custom set the halos in stock lights?
hi where do you get Headlights kia projactor i want to buy them for my car so can you tell me???