This issue is the reward for those chosen few who have made it through the gauntlet, that is PASMAG's Tuner Battlegrounds, and come out on top as the People's Champion! The time around, Andre Klebleyev and his BMW M3 tribute to the M3 GTR from our childhoods spent with Need For Speed: Most Wanted earned the crown, and in turn, the front cover of this magazine. Congratulations, Andre! We can't wait to see what 2019 has in store for you and your car.
Also, in a rare case of being able to photograph each Tuner Battlegrounds Championship finalists’ car before all the inspiration they’ve amassed at SEMA causes them to rip their car apart as soon as it hits their driveway back home, we have TBG runner-up Rachel Ellingsen’s WRX STI featured as well. This may be the first time we’ve had both in the same issue, which is exciting for us, and makes it easy to flip between features to dive into all the details that made Klebleyev and Ellingsen the champs they are.
You thought we were done with TBG? We’re never done with TBG! We’ve got eight TBG Live Winner features lined up in this book to give you a taste of who’s winning and what they’re running, all across North America. We also reached back into the archives to lay out a bit of history for Tuner Battlegrounds, spanning from the first Championship in 2013, all the way to now: six years later! See how the competition has evolved into the monster it is today.
To round things out, we have some extensive photo coverage of 2019’s Tokyo Auto Salon, some
choice spotlighted builds from our trusted dealers, and the wrap up of Associate Editor, Adam Gordon’s, “Reverse Entry” S13 project for those of you following along. There’s even more inside on top of that!
Before you do get to flipping through the pages, I’d like to say thank you and goodbye. This issue will be my last with PASMAG as Editor. For whatever reason, you guys liked the crazy things I put down on paper enough that I could do this as a job, and I’ll be forever grateful for that. Everyone’s story I’ve been able to tell, everyone who has contributed to bring those stories to life, and anyone that has enjoyed those stories, you’ve made these last five years with PAS a unique and memorable experience that I’ll never forget. Thank you so much.
See you around!
Micky Slinger
PASMAG Editor
editor@pasmag.com