Reinis Babrovskis Photography: Dubshed 2014

Dubshed 2014

Text and photos: Reinis Babrovskis

For me Spring is the favourite time of the year – the sun is shining, flowers and trees blossom, animals come out from their hide-outs and so do the sports cars and petrol heads - realizing the show season is approaching in the fast line. Panic and chaos amongst the social media can just mean one thing – the largest Ireland’s VAG show is here.

5th and 6th April marks the fifth return of the Dubshed 2014. Hosted in the Kings Hall venue in Belfast, Northern Ireland it can attract dub lovers from all over UK, Ireland and Europe with a force of gravity. More than 5 thousand people walked through the gates to have a look at some of the finest VAG cars UK and Ireland has to offer.

The organizers have always made sure the show is all about variety, thus appealing to a variety of petrolheads – be it a teenager, their dad or even the granddad they dragged with them; there will be a car they will stop at and go “Daaaaaamn!” Air-Cooled, Water-cooled, supercharged, turbocharged, stock, modified, lowered, raised, air, coil overs it is all there – you name it.

With the show having such a high standard, rolling up with a lowered golf with 6X9” speakers in the boot just won’t do anymore. Many of the cars on display required years of hard work, sweat and tears and a bank account of Richard Branson.

These boys and girls are not afraid of getting their hands dirty and most of the hard work has been done by themselves during the cold winter months; therefore, this is an important show to them. Everybody hopes to impress the judges and their rivals, quietly hoping they can leave the event with a prize in their pocket.

Being a 2 day format day 1 was all about preparing their cars for the show. Armed with the detailing products and sponges, the cars were lining up for a quick wash outside the kings hall, followed by heavy OCD cleaning.

The show was spread across 3 halls and large outdoor parking area. If I am honest here - the main hall alone is worth the trip, but there were some hidden gems to be seen everywhere.

As always GTINI made sure that there is plenty of activities and entertainment to keep the crowds happy. The Red Bull girls kept the thirsty people happy, while Room2Race and BWG offered a chance to sit behind a racing car in their racing simulators. Kleen Freaks and other auto cleaning trade stands were present to make sure everybody could bring a small present back to their own rides.

The attention to detail on the cars was mind blowing and I'd say it wasn't easy for the judges to choose a winner. Amongst the favorites for me were John's air'ed Porshe 964, an uber clean stanced VW Up, and the Paintworx "Kermit" RS4 as well as the supercharged RS that got everybody talking - love it or hate, it is a damn cool ride.

Awesome details you say? What about a kettle in the boot for the tea when you fancy a break? Or a leather engine cover? What about a dub trike on the roof? Lego themed boot build anybody? Or harlequin themed engine bay? It's all here - every car had something eye cacthing!

Obviously being a dub show it was all about the "stance" - no arch gaps to be seen anywhere; whether it was air'ed or slammed on coil-overs. All the cars had been dressed in lovely shoes as well - CCW Rotiform, BBS you name it, everything was present. My personal favorite - Le Mans styled brake cooling system on the BBS, how awesome is that?

Once I had walked around the cars, it was time to look inside them - you were able to spot the most bonkers Porsche GT3, Audi RS seats, stunning trims, engine bays you could eat from, boots where you would never dare to put a shopping bag in.