After disembarking from my late flight to Orlando and stumbling wearily to the car rental counter, I receive the pleasant surprise of an upgrade to the Dodge Charger, the speedy likes of which was tantalizingly unavailable on my last Carster of the Month excursion. Me, a Dodge Charger and the open road -- who says there's no such thing as Karma?

While DeLand, Florida is my ultimate destination, I haven't yet reached Arnon, our latest contest winner on the phone, so I point all the Dodge Charger horsepower at my disposal in the direction of Daytona Beach to kill some time and get a refresher look at Daytona USA. Having visited Daytona USA over ten years ago, I wasn't certain how my adult perspective would jive with the impressions from my pre-teen years, but I had a great time and will have more to say about it in another post, along with photos.

Then it's back to DeLand, where fifteen u-turns and five stops at gas stations for directions later, I arrive at our rendezvous point only after finding what seems like the only Starbucks for miles (and for this poor caffeine deprived soul running on too much adrenaline and too little sleep, the green and white lettering was a welcome sight, indeed).

The moment Arnon pulls into the lot, I can feel a great big grin plaster itself across my face. His Acura Integra is sweeter than the white mocha extravaganza I'm slurping, with its Japanese type-R front-end conversion, turbo charger with intercooler, VIS carbon fiber hood, VIS carbon fiber hatch lid and Volk wheels. I notice that my Dodge Charger rental, parked right next to Arnon's prize-winning Integra, is turning an ever so subtle shade of envy green (or maybe that's just me) and we haven't even popped the lid yet! But when we do, my eyes greedily seize upon the Garrett turbo, aluminum radiator, gold valve cover, MSD ignition, B&M fuel pieces and polished turbo piping, all as clean and shiny as a brand new platinum Rolex, while Arnon humbly downplays the goods, claiming his need for a paintjob, pointing out body areas that could stand some touch-up, and detailing his desire for a big brake kit that would improve the standard GSR setup.

Yeah, sure Arnon, I understand -- it's easy to see the flaws in the machine when you're the one who lives with it. To my eyes, this is one impressive ride, and the interior is just as tasty, boasting a set of popular Brides, a Greddy boost controller, turbo timers, a series of AutoMeter gauges and rear-mounted Alpine amps to match the Alpine subs, speakers and head unit. So this beast rocks as well as rolls.

To make the meeting even more of an event, Arnon and I drive to Altamonte Springs to meet up with a few friends of his who are also avid Carster members. Pulling into the Panda Express parking lot, we come grille to grille with a stealthy Mitsubishi Evo and a slammin' Honda Civic hatchback replete with pop-off steering wheel. Nice. Over some quick Chinese takeout, we discuss Cartser and internet car clubs. They tell me about everything they've poured into their cars, their various jobs, and their lives in Florida. I find out that our contest winner, Arnon, is presently a full-time nursing student and is just preparing for school to start back up in the fall. Having recently relocated from New Jersey, he's adjusting to the heat and making new friends while remaining close to his family, who also live in the area.

But the sun is starting to drop and we need to get some photo shots in, so we choose an empty lot in a business park where Arnon can burn his tires and throw a few gears for the camera. His car sounds like a street-champ with its full-throated turbo growl as he slams it through its paces, and I have to marvel at the way the tricked-out four-cylinder, front-wheel drive import handles like it's ready for an American race track.

After the photo session, I ask Arnon what he's going to do with his thousand-dollar Carster check. He says he plans on sinking it into more auto prep for the upcoming HIN in Florida, or maybe hooking up the Integra with that new paintjob and some harnesses for the seats. But you can check out the photos for yourself below, and you tell me - does his car really need anything else to be perfect?

But I have to get back to the airport and catch my return flight to California, so we say our goodbyes and I hop back into the Charger and floor it all the way to Orlando - okay, so maybe that's an exaggeration, but stomping on the pedal once or twice counts, right?

It was great to meet up with Arnon and his friends (and fellow Carster members), and the excitement of hooking up with other car enthusiasts stays with me all the way back to Santa Monica. I've now had the pleasure of presenting checks to three Carster of the Month winners, and each experience has been as memorable as the last. So thanks, Arnon, for the good time, and keep us all up-to-date on any upgrades and improvements.

-rc1320 Carster Co-Founder