Q & A with Troy Wilhite, Owner of Group 5 Motorsport

myMBonline.com will be conducting an interview with the owner of Group 5 Motorsport, Troy Wilhite. He will provide some personal insight on why he chose to enter into this line of business and will provide some information on the heritage of the company most know as Group 5 Motorsport.

myMBonline: Troy, can please you tell us why Group5 was established?

Troy Wilhite: Group 5 Motorsport started shortly after meeting Ben Ma at a detail shop named Detail Works in San Diego. At the time, I had just stopped working at a local tuner shop. For the old school folks who might recall, the place was called Dillinger’s. They had gone out of business which left me with no other viable shop locally. Ben was part owner of the detail shop at the time and would notice my car (1995 BMW M3) had more modifications every time I dropped by so he proceeded to ask me where I got my work done.

myMBonline: So where did you purchase your mods and who installed them on your car if there were no shops locally?

Troy Wilhite: I explained to him that I had to drive over 100 miles to LA to get mods done or buy parts since there were no tuning shops in San Diego that offered the selection of parts or level of service I expected. This must have sparked something in Ben’s mind because the next time I showed up at the detail shop, he asked me if there was a need for a good tuner shop in San Diego. I obviously answered, “Yes”, and he then asked if I would be interested in working for him if he opened one.

At that time I had my own business dealing with saltwater reef tanks which involved sourcing the corals and organisms from the Sea of Cortez so I informed Ben I could only work three days a week. From 1996 to early 1999, I worked for Ben and we established Group 5 Motorsport.

myMBonline: Many of us have heard about Group 5’s successes and achievements back in the heyday of Import Racing and the show scene. The industry has obviously evolved into what it is today. Please tell us more about the history of the company and how you have contributed to those past achievements.

Troy Wilhite: We were mainly an Asian Import tuning shop with some emphasis on European (my M3!). I was basically the only Euro salesperson on staff. During the time Ben owned Group 5, there were many great things that were accomplished — (Some of which are listed below or mentioned later in this interview).

I have always been a car nut so, during the time I worked for Ben, I started going to car shows. Not only to attend but to compete. I was disappointed after attending my first show where we did not even place. When I got home, it was on! We promptly supercharged my M3, had La Jolla Audio do full Audio/Video/Playstation (the Playstation was way back when only one or two others had done this) and modded everything on the car within my budget.

After that, we started to place at every single event entered, placing first in many of them. We continued to consistently win the Euro division from 1997-2002. Group 5 Motorsport and I monopolized the Euro division by winning almost every event during that time period. We had more trophies than I could ever imagine. That success placed the M3 in the Import Showoff EXC class where we were up against ALL of the wild sponsored show cars whereas our car was funded out of pocket with our own money. The only thing the M3 was ever sponsored for were Michelin tires. We somehow managed to consistently compete and place 2nd and 3rd multiple times in a division where we were huge underdogs. (See list in accomplishments section).

We also had a 1996 Honda Civic DX where we did a complete Spoon motor swap and basically did EVERYTHING Spoon offered — plus a Zeal body kit and a full Audio/Video setup from La Jolla Audio. The entire interior was redone to include Sparco front seats and matching fabric for the rear seats. This car took home many awards and was featured in multiple magazine articles until it was retired and sold to the next owner. Many will still remember the vivid purple metallic Civic with Volk III wheels and the yellow Spoon valve cover peering out of the engine bay.

Next up was the itch to get into racing. Group 5 Motorsport built an All-Motor naturally aspirated Honda CRX that competed with Skunk2 for the fastest All-Motor FWD Honda. Driven by Roger Sangco, we started off running in the high 12-second range and, over time, we were able to get the car down to a then record setting pass of 10.951 seconds at 119.62 MPH!  We continued to battle back and forth with Skunk2 with both teams setting world records along the way until we finally retired the car.

myMBonline: We’ve noticed Group 5 has accomplished quite a bit with Asian Imports in the past. How has Group 5 evolved in these changing times?

Troy Wilhite:  As time went on, we changed our focus to adapt to industry changes.  We’ve moved to a more even blend between Euro and Asian imports as Euro’s become more popular amongst Enthusiasts. Those same Enthusiasts, who were the heart and soul of the Asian Import industry, have shifted into the European scene bringing with them a similar culture and knack for modifying their newly acquired cars. That includes Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and VW just to name a few.

myMBonline: The list of past and present clientele is quite impressive. Some shops will name drop every chance they get if a high profile client steps through their door to buy little things, say, air fresheners. Give us some examples regarding the detail of work that Group 5 has been entrusted to do or have done in the past to some of these high profile client cars.

Troy Wilhite: We have numerous high profile clients who have come to us with high performance European cars wanting to squeeze even more performance out of their cars.

A prime example is Danny Way (Pro Skater for those who are clueless) and brother, Damon Way (Co-founder of DC Shoes). They both happen to be frequent customers of ours. Danny will leave his car with us for days or weeks at a time while he is on tour so that he can have something new to play with once he returns. We recently did a complete makeover of his M3 where we installed a VF supercharger kit, Brembo brakes, Vorsteiner carbon fiber body parts, HRE Wheels, and KW Coilover suspension to name a few.

One car and client that might be of particular interest to the members of myMBonline is the notorious matte black Brabus Rocket CLS belonging to Ken Block of DC Shoes. It just so happens to be sitting in one of our work bays right now waiting to have some work done to it. I cannot disclose the full details of the work being done but let’s just say Mr. Block drives the car the way it is supposed to be driven. (Have you guys seen his flying Subaru videos??) Well, sometimes the result of that enthusiasm mixed with off-road adventures does not produce the prettiest of results. Rest assured, his car will be back to its original condition in no time and could be featured for a future article on myMBonline. BTW, Ling is going to kill me for spoiling the surprise but the cat is now out of the bag! =P

Another car we’ve worked on that has some name recognition is Craig Lieberman’s Audi RS4. (Craig Lieberman, for those not familiar, is/was a consultant for the movie “The Fast and the Furious” – yeah he is the one responsible for starting the craze – and was also the owner of the orange Toyota Supra in the movie.) We did the installation of the KW Variant 3 coilover suspension, Milltek exhaust, and various Hotchkis suspension components for a tech feature in Modified Luxury and Exotics magazine.

Then, of course, there are various cars we’ve worked on that most myMBonline members are familiar with. Both of the C55’s on BBS LM’s, KW Variant 2 coilovers, and Euroteck carbon fiber front lips (Ling and Ken’s) were done by Group 5. Ali’s silver E55, that was part of the photoshoot done by Ling in May was completely modified by us as well along with Mike La’s S55 just to name a few. The 2008 CL550 build-up was also another car we recently modified.

myMBonline: Well, there you have it folks. If you all have any questions for Troy, please feel free to post them up in the comments thread for this article located here. Otherwise, if you're in the area, don't hesitate to swing by Group 5 and pay the guys a visit. Address info is listed below.

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