Eric Deng

I’ve always had a huge interest and love for cars. Even before I moved to the U.S. when I was 13, cars were already a huge part of my life. I started out watching car shows, reading car magazines and online forums when I was little. I practically grew up with the Fast and Furious Franchise, Initial D series and more. Step by step I started learning both the driving aspect and the mechanical aspect about cars. While I was going to high school in Lilburn, GA, I got the opportunity to go to many car meets in the metro Atlanta area, both legal and underground. And that further interested me in cars and the community around them. Throughout those years in high school, I got to know and become friends with a lot of awesome people and stepped into the local car scene just a little bit. Since then, I’ve been going to car meets practically every week and enjoying learning and just looking at other people's interesting cars. In May 2021, I finally saved up enough to get my first car ever. I found a deal on Facebook Marketplace and bought a pretty beat 2008 Honda Civic Si Coupe, which I named “Suki” after the girl in 2 Fast 2 Furious. Throughout the next few months, up till now, all I’ve been doing is working in and under my car. Fixing and replacing everything that has gone wrong or is broken, and making performance and cosmetic modifications. My mods/fixes list is way too long to type out here so let me just show you some examples: Skunk2 Alpha Headers, Custom test pipe and catback by Jack’s Shack, Tein Flex Z coilovers, Hybrid Racing cold air intake and battery relocation, Hybrid Racing fuel rail, Deuchtwerks 550cc injectors, Avid1 AV06 Wheels 17x8 +35 with Michelin PS4S 225/45 tires, and finally a tune with Hondata Flashpro by @EBTEC. The list could go on and on as I’ve probably spent over 200 hours working on her. Throughout the process I’ve learned so much hands-on experience with mechanical work. After I came to UGA as a Mechanical Engineering major, I joined UGA Motorsports as a member in the Champ Car-Vehicle Logistics division and now work on our race car and go to races with the team. My most recent addition to my hobby is a 2008 Volvo XC90 V8 that I got for dirt cheap with a lot of problems. Working on an European car will be another step up for me and a real challenge. Despite that, I have learned so much and enjoyed every step since I got into the car scene. And I’m definitely down to dig deeper and learn more things while enjoying the journey.