For our latest installment of the “Vossen Owner Spotlight” we feature Maria Gaston (@Maril_lala on Instagram with over 200k followers!), a long time car enthusiast pursuing her law degree and currently driving a highly modified Mitsubishi Evo VIII on 19″ Vossen VFS-1 Wheels and Nitto NT05 tires. After meeting Maria for the first time we soon realized she was a true gear-head with a huge passion for cars, specifically the EVO!

Since an early age Maria has been into cars influenced by her hardcore Military based family as some of her earliest memories involved playing every car based video game around. When it came time for a vehicle, she had her heart all set on the Mitsubishi EVO! This is actually her THIRD EVO VIII and she got more involved with the build process this go round.

Taking a bit over 12 months to build and get to this point, Maria worked with DMT Tuning and AG Autosports to modify her engine, interior, suspension and exterior. One of her favorite modifications is the FP Black upgraded turbos which helped gets her from the stock 280hp rating to over 500hp! Maria’s EVO is now extremely quick and matched with the upgraded 5 speed manual offers her and everyone riding plenty of thrills!

Maria told us she needed to install new brake pads so we offered our lift for her to use and figured it would be pretty cool to capture her once again working on her car. After a quick change, she quickly got to work and before you know it the 19″ VFS-1 wheels were off and she was working on her front brake pads.

Speaking of the wheels, Maria is currently on a set of Vossen VFS-1’s in matte graphite measuring 19×9.5 front and rear and sit perfectly flush with the car. Her wheels also are a “Mid-Concave” design, offering a nice concave look instead of the usual flat faces in these widths. Credit our “Flow Forming” Technology to make this happen. The VFS-1’s are wrapped in sticky Nitto Tire NT05′s measuring 235/35ZR/19. Nitto makes some of the best tires in the high performance import tuner market and the NT05 continues a long tradition of high performance Nitto Tires.

After about an hour, Maria was all done swapping out to new brake pads and the team at Vossen saw first hand how she helps modify and build her car. Maria also wants to thank the teams at AMS Performance, Fortune Auto, RodWraps, RodSpeed and Status Racing for helping keep her build going. Whats next? How about a built block to handle over 800hp and some Vossen x Work VWS-1 wheels….stay tuned!

Maria’s Full Photo Gallery

Check out Maria’s JP Performance Feature!

PERFORMANCE PARTS:
272 kelford cams
Springs and Retainers
Ported Valve Cover
3 inch filtered oil catch can
2150cc Injectors
AMS Fuel Rail
450 Walbro fuel pump
AEM Cam gears
Gates Racing Belt
AMS 3.5 inch intercooler
Tial BOV
Koyorad radiator
Flex-A-Lite un-shrouded electric fan
Custom intake with AEM filter
FP Black BB Turbo
Custom turbo manifold
Megan racing down pipe
Custom Catless straight pipe
Megan racing muffler
Built Jack Evo 9 non ACD Transmission
Build Shep transfer case
Fortune Auto 500 series coilovers
Apexi Turbo Timer

EXTERIOR MODS:
Avery Oyster Grey full wrap
Vossen VFS-1 Wheels 19×9.5 Mid Concave
Nitto NT05 235/35ZR/19
Evo 9 front bumper
JDM rear bumper
JDM taillights

INTERIOR MODS:
Status Racing 5 point racing harness
Autopower 4 point roll cage and harness bar
Beatrush Floor bar
Carbon fiber gauge pod
AEM gauges
Defi digital cluster display
Defi boost gauge
Defi Advance control unit
Taylor aluminum battery relocation kit

///// Words: Mike Forsythe (@mike_vossen) ///// Photos: Jordan Krate (@Jordan_Krate)

///// Video: Anthony Delapaz (@dela_vossen)

The post Vossen Owners Spotlight- Maria’s 500hp LadyBuilt EVO VIII appeared first on Vossen Wheels.