Derek Shiekhi

Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.

After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.

While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.

Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. In addition to writing for a variety of Internet Brands sites, including JK-Forum.com and Ford-Trucks.com, Derek also contributes to other outlets. He started There Will Be Cars on Instagram and Facebook to get even more automotive content out to fellow enthusiasts.

Speedlimit

Welcome to your E-home!

Evolutionm was founded by enthusiasts of the Mitsubishi Evolution competing in the World Rally Championships. Speedlimit joined the forum in 2003 and took delivery of one of the first Weightless White Evo 8’s in the Mid Atlantic. He spent the first year of ownership testing the capability of his new car and its limits. It was an exciting time as he and other EvoM members shared their chassis, motor upgrades and track results. He participated in Autocross and proudly excelled in the category of cone crushing, which was a blast with the Evo. He has been the Lead Administer since 2005 and assists members with website questions, registration, address software errors and updates by coordinating with the Internet Brands community manager.

When he is not online, his interests are three exceptional young Grandsons, aviation and high fidelity flight simulation.

Noize

Seth has been a contributor to EvolutionM since 2003. He had been active in the community for five years when he flew to Los Angeles from Nashville to purchase one of the first Evolution Xs in the USA, chronicling his journey through text and photography back home with the car over the next few days. Speedlimit asked him to moderate the new Evo X sections at that point, and over time his contributions evolved to writing articles for the front page of the site. Later, he was invited to become one of the site administrators and is very happy to serve the community in that capacity. He's owned five Evos over the years, modified and enjoyed each one, and hopes to import a Tommi Makinen Edition Evo 6.5 when they become legal in 2026.

Cars are still very much a part of his life, but they've taken a bit of a backseat to the two wonderful kids that he is watching grow up much too quickly.

MinusPrevious

MinusPrevious has been an EVO owner & a member of EvolutionM for over 10 years.

He has years of SCCA driving / officiating experience and is the current owner of a 2006 Evolution RS. His RS is track day ready, but is currently only serving street duty and hard parking at the track.

His professional life revolves around mechanical components & customer service. In his free time, he can be found on the EVOM forum boards, the race track, and church on Sundays.

JDZNate

JDZNate, or Nate, has always wanted an Evo ever since playing Gran Turismo 2 back in his military days. At the beginning of 2010, while on patrol in his police car, he spotted a blue Evo 10 at a VW dealership who had recently absorbed the neighboring Mitsubishi dealership's inventory. He bought the car the next morning. He was so excited the whole drive home that he told himself he would never mod the car- it was perfect the way it was. Needless to say, that lasted 2 weeks. Nate took the car to English Racing and they installed a set of Swift Springs. Soon after, he installed a new set of wheels and tires, and it was all down hill from there. The car mainly sits in the garage waiting for him to drive it. If he's lucky, he'll put a few hundred miles on it a year. The Evo was Nate's dream car and he'd never sell it.

heel2toe

Heel2toe has been a contributor to Evolutionm.net since 2007. Many years later he still has the same car and still is active on the boards. Thanks to a lot of what he learned on the forum and along with his experience over the years, his knowledge of the platform has grown significantly and he has also made many great friends. He can be found out racing his Evo when he gets a chance, or in his garage fixing or building something.