Zach Horne is a senior at SBHS and drives a 2013 BMW ActiveHybrid 3, which his dad bought used and sold to Zach for $10,000. Zach paid for his car by working at Chomp Burger, Patxi’s Pizza, and Finch and Fork. He does all of the modifications himself, and is slowly transforming what once was a sensible hybrid family car into a carbon-fiber-clad racing machine.

In Horne’s opinion, the car was pretty fast when he got it around two years ago, but he loves modifying it to become a little bit faster each time he works on it. Horne is all about speed and sound when it comes to his car, that’s why he’s installed a high-flow catalytic converter, axle back exhaust, and performed a Stage 1 tune (a reprogramming of the car’s engine control unit, making spark plugs, fuel injection, and timing more efficient). 

The most notable visual component of the car is the partially completed matte black wrap that Horne is putting on himself. He’d like everyone to know that the wrap is still in progress due to the fact that the front and back of the car are difficult to apply wrap on and that he “ran out of money” halfway through the job. Horne has also installed sharp-looking side view mirror caps in his continuous effort of creating a completely blacked out car complete with a rear diffuser and spoiler. 

The most common compliment Horne receives about his car is that it sounds nice, and the most common question he gets is, “when are you going to finish wrapping your car?” His favorite things to do in his car include “cutting up with [his] friends at Gibraltar” and driving around his passenger princess, Abbey.

Horne has transformed his hybrid from 2013 into the car of his dreams, and the fact that he’s altering every aspect of its performance to his preference is definitely an impressive feat. 

Zach Horne with his whip [Image Credit: Kelly Meeder]