Category Archives: Tuning

Tuning

Toyota Crystal Eye 60 Prius

For most of its life, the Toyota Prius has been the vehicular equivalent of beige carpet. Sensible, efficient, and about as emotionally charged as a toaster. But the current-generation Prius changed that narrative. It finally looks… good. Genuinely good. Toyota swapped the fridge-on-wheels silhouette for something sleek, low, and just edgy enough that you don’t feel like you need to apologize for driving it.

Naturally, that meant the tuners were going to get involved.

Enter the Crystal Eye 60 Prius, a one-off show car from Japan that answers a question nobody asked: What if the Prius were designed by a cyberpunk samurai with a Fast & Furious DVD collection?

The car debuted at the Tokyo Motor Show, where subtlety went to die. Built by lighting specialist Crystal Eye with help from Body Shop Kikuta, this Prius doesn’t just push the styling envelope—it shreds it into confetti and lights it on fire.

A Prius That Looks Ready to Commit Crimes

Up front, the car wears a splitter so large it could double as municipal snow-removal equipment. Above it sits a ventilated hood that suggests track-day intent, even if the powertrain underneath is still politely humming along in hybrid serenity. Wide, flat aluminum fender extensions flare outward, wrapping around 20-inch Work wheels that gleam like jewelry stolen from a supercar.

It’s the rear, though, where things really spiral into glorious madness.

A towering wing sprouts from the tailgate, flanked by angular fins that jut out like mechanical paddles. Beneath it all sits a massive rear diffuser, because nothing says “aerodynamic efficiency” like a Prius that looks like it’s about to enter a time-attack race.

And then there are the taillights: custom hexagonal LED units developed by Crystal Eye themselves. They’re sharp, futuristic, and will soon be sold to anyone who wants their own Prius—or anything else—to look like it belongs in a dystopian anime.

Laying Frame in a Hybrid

The entire thing rides on Air Rex Odin air suspension, allowing the Prius to drop to mere millimeters above the pavement when parked. It doesn’t just sit low—it lies in wait. It’s the kind of stance normally reserved for supercars and show queens, not for a plug-in hybrid whose natural habitat is the Whole Foods parking lot.

Yet here we are.

Still a Prius… Technically

Under all the carbon, aluminum, LEDs, and bosozoku-inspired chaos, the Crystal Eye 60 is still a Prius. It uses Toyota’s most powerful plug-in hybrid setup, good for 223 PS, which is respectable—but not exactly the stuff of street-racing legends. There are no turbochargers hiding beneath those vents, no engine swaps yet lurking in the shadows.

That makes this build all the more hilarious and brilliant. It looks like it should be illegal in at least three countries, yet it’s still technically road-legal in Japan.

Why It Exists

This Prius was never meant to be a production car. It’s a rolling billboard, built to showcase Crystal Eye’s lighting products and grab attention at auto shows. And it absolutely succeeds. In a sea of tastefully modified sports cars and hypercars, the most outrageous thing in the room is… a Prius.

Somehow, Toyota’s once-boring hybrid has become a blank canvas for wild creativity. And in the hands of Japan’s tuning culture, it has transformed into something that blurs the line between show car, anime villain, and rolling art installation.

If this is the future of the Prius, count us in—even if we’re still secretly laughing at it.

Source: Toyota

Tuning

The Roush F-150 Is Proof That Wheels and Tires Still Sell Trucks

Roush has built a career out of taking Ford’s greatest hits and turning the volume knob just enough to make enthusiasts notice. Its latest effort, a Roush-modified Ford F-150, follows that exact formula: subtle at first glance, aggressive once you start paying attention—and expensive once you read the price tag.

Visually, the truck walks a careful line between factory fresh and aftermarket brawler. The high-pass grille integrates cleanly into the front fascia, giving the F-150 a tougher, more technical face without screaming for attention. A lightly reworked hood adds functional heat extractors, while extended fenders give the truck a wider, more planted stance. It’s not cartoonish, but it’s definitely more “don’t tailgate me” than stock.

The biggest visual statement comes from the rolling stock. Roush fits satin black 20-inch wheels wrapped in meaty 33-inch General Tire Grabber A/TX all-terrains. Combined with a revised suspension setup—new springs, upgraded shocks, and a two-inch leveling kit—the truck sits taller and looks far more trail-ready than the average mall crawler. An active exhaust system with two modes adds some auditory theater, though Roush hasn’t said exactly how dramatic the difference is between quiet and loud.

Inside, details are scarce, but Roush promises carbon-fiber trim and a serialized plaque to remind you that this isn’t just another F-150. Aluminum pedals and an overhead auxiliary switch panel hint at future off-road ambitions, whether that means light bars, winches, or gear you haven’t bought yet.

For buyers with deeper pockets, Roush offers two upgrade paths. The Premium package brings black or tan leather seats with inserts that echo the grille pattern, embroidered headrests, and American flag graphics—because nothing says performance branding like patriotic upholstery. The Ready package is more practical, adding a console safe and an off-road kit that includes essentials like a jump box, tow straps, gloves, and D-rings.

Here’s the catch: none of this touches the engine. No supercharger, no extra horsepower, no torque bump. Just styling, suspension, and accessories. And yet, the conversion alone costs $18,995. Add the Premium package and you’re looking at $24,995 on top of the price of the truck itself.

That puts the Roush F-150 in an awkward middle ground. It looks tougher than a stock F-150 and carries a respected performance badge, but without any power upgrades, it’s more fashion statement than full-blown performance truck. For some buyers, the exclusivity and cohesive design will be enough. For others, spending nearly $25,000 on a “performance” package that doesn’t actually make the truck faster might feel less like a smart upgrade and more like a very expensive aesthetic filter.

Source: Roush

Tuning

Mansory Turns the Audi RS6 into a 1,100-HP End-of-Year Firework

If subtlety is your thing, Mansory has never been your tuning house. The German outfit built its reputation on carbon-fiber excess and visual volume set permanently to eleven. And yet, beneath the loud aesthetics, Mansory has quietly become very good at something else: making already ridiculous performance cars completely unhinged.

To close out 2025, Mansory decided the Audi RS6 still wasn’t enough.

On paper, the current RS6 Performance is already absurd—a 630-hp, twin-turbo V-8 wagon capable of embarrassing supercars while hauling groceries. Mansory’s own catalog pushes that even further, topping out with a Stage 3 package that inflates output to a frankly unnecessary 1,000 horsepower and 1,250 Nm of torque. For most tuners, that would be the mic drop.

Mansory, unsurprisingly, kept talking.

Spotted via the company’s social channels, this latest RS6 build quietly raises the stakes again. There’s no official package name, no neatly branded badge of honor—just a number stamped onto the fender vents: 1,100 hp. Torque remains unchanged from the Stage 3 setup, but the headline figure alone is enough to make Audi engineers wince.

While Mansory hasn’t published a full spec sheet, all signs point to the existing Stage 3 hardware with additional software refinement. That means a reworked ECU, upgraded turbochargers, freer-flowing intake plumbing, air-to-water intercoolers, and exhaust pipes that politely ignore the existence of catalytic converters. The speed limiter is gone, too, with Mansory claiming a top speed of 325 km/h—assuming you can find enough road, courage, and legal flexibility to confirm it.

Visually, this RS6 is pure Mansory, for better or worse. Forged carbon fiber dominates the exterior, covering everything from the hood and splitter to the side skirts, diffuser, wing, and those now-famous vented fenders. The shapes are sharp, angular, and unapologetic, right down to the aggressively pointed exhaust tips. Massive 22-inch forged wheels fill the arches, framing turquoise brake calipers that hint at what awaits inside.

And what awaits inside is… turquoise. Almost entirely. Mansory didn’t just add accent stitching or seat inserts—it went all in. Nearly every surface is wrapped in bright blue-green leather, broken only by carbon trim, glass, and the occasional strip of white hide. It’s the kind of interior that makes you wonder whether subtlety was ever considered, then immediately dismissed. Illuminated door logos and a “starry sky” headliner complete the experience, because of course they do.

Interestingly, despite the visual drama, this particular build still resembles a standard RS6 in its basic body structure. That’s notable, because Mansory has also begun teasing interest in the even rarer RS6 GT. Audi built just 660 examples of that model worldwide—fewer than 100 for the U.S.—and it introduced the 630-hp setup that later became standard. With its unique fenders and more aggressive front fascia, the RS6 GT already looks like a tuner special straight from Ingolstadt.

Mansory hasn’t announced concrete parts or packages for the GT yet, but the implication is clear: nothing with four rings and twin turbos is safe.

In the end, this 1,100-hp RS6 is peak Mansory. Loud, divisive, wildly powerful, and completely unnecessary—and that’s exactly the point. It’s a reminder that even in an era of electrification and efficiency targets, there’s still room for a carbon-clad super wagon that exists purely to shock, awe, and overwhelm.

Taste not included.

Source: Mansory