Dakota gets her first full feature on BFGoodrich Garage

Congrats to Dakota and her one of a kind Veloster!

Dakota’s 2016 Hyundai Veloster Turbo

Build

Editor’s note:Like father, like daughter. Dakota Griswold grew up around cars, and when she graduated from college, she decided it was time to build one for herself. With the help of Team Hybrid, she’s turned her Veloster into something that’s uniquely hers.

My dad was always into cars , and I remember watching him work on them all the time. When I got into high school, my main group of friends were also into cars, so we would often spend weekends in someone’s garage working on something, going to car shows, and attending Formula Drift events, which is what inspired me to start building my own car.

When I graduated from Crafton Hills College, I decided to buy my car as a graduation gift to myself. I spent quite a bit of time researching cars and figuring out what would be best for me. I wanted a car that I would be able to modify, while keeping it a practical daily driver, and that’s how I came across the Veloster.

The Veloster attracted my attention because it wasn’t something I saw driving around too often, and I loved the hidden third door. The fact that it has a backseat made it ideal for me to build, but still use it to go to school and work. Once I test drove the car, I knew it was the one for me.

The inspiration for my car is to build it as clean as possible, while still being able to daily it and add my own style to it. I want it to be a good mixture of looking aggressive and girly. So far, the modifications I have done to my car include:

Eibach lowering springs
SSR GTV02 wheels (18×8.5 +40)
BFGoodrich® g-Force COMP-2 (215/40/18 all around)
Street Aero side skirts with winglets
M&S mesh grill
Bumper quick releases
Galaxy Black 3M roof wrap
Carbon fiber Sequence wing
Carbon fiber VIS vented hood
K&N cold air intake
Custom purple coolant hoses
Carbon fiber interior wrap
Devil claws wrapped in Galaxy Black 3M wrap
Rally Armor mud flaps
Custom rhinestone mirror covers

My build is nowhere near complete, and there are still quite a few things I want to do, such as install racing seats, air ride, a front-mount intercooler, a full wrap, and get it tuned. But the reactions to my car have all been positive so far. Everyone likes the simplicity of my build, but with my own style added to it. There aren’t many Velosters — or cars in general — that have rhinestone accent pieces and sparkly wraps, so people respond well to the fact that I am building my car for me.

I have spent countless hours researching the best brands and new mods, and I’ve spent countless hours putting it all together and fixing problems that may have occurred. I love driving my car with pride and knowing that all of my hard work is paying off.

I would like to thank all of Team Hybrid for being so welcoming and allowing me to be a part of this amazing team. There is nothing out there that is comparable in consistency, quality, and quantity for over two decades. I’d especially like to thank James Lin, the founder and president of Team Hybrid, my Hybrid Family, the beautiful Hybrid Hunnyz, and plenty of Hybrid Luv to our team title sponsors: BFGoodrich® Tires, Meguiar’s, K&N Filters, AEM Intakes, AMSOIL, Whiteline, Password:JDM, NRG Innovations, Mishimoto, and Optima Batteries.ÂÂ If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with a legendary team.