Nick Wong, center, is a prime example of the success of Scion’s grassroots marketing strategy aimed at young, enthusiastic and industrious drivers. “I got bit by the bug, I guess,” Wong said.

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — You don’t have to meet Nick Wong in person to learn quite a lot about him and his Nautical Blue Metallic Scion tC.

On the Scion Life Web site, the mild-mannered 27-year-old computer consultant has posted photographs, detailed the dozens of modifications he made to his tC and listed the car clubs he belongs to: ScioNRG and Scikotics.

On CarDomain.com, there are videos, more photos and dozens of approving comments from other members (“Hey man, love the car!!!!!!” wrote Saint51). There is a link to Wong’s YouTube channel, which has even more videos: Wong racing the tC (on a dragstrip and a road course) and heavy-revving the car to show off the deep rumble of its exhaust system.

From its inception in 2003, Scion, a division of Toyota, has made rampant use of grassroots marketing to recruit owners like Wong — young, enthusiastic, industrious — to be the hot-rodders of tomorrow. Encouraged by Scion’s keenly directed flow of marketing dollars, which not only support car shows and track days but also hip-hop concerts, fashion shows and exhibitions of graffiti art, owners have formed close-knit social networks in the real and virtual worlds, where Wong is the very model of an alpha Scion citizen.

Asked in an instant messaging exchange whether he goes to Scion meets, Wong replied: “All the time. I have one tonight, one Friday, Saturday and Sunday this week.”

On a cold Wednesday night, less than 12 hours after that back-and-forth, Wong, insulated by two layers of Scion clothing under his jacket, was joined by five friends — fellow Scion owners — at a supersized bowling alley in suburban New Jersey. They drank soda from big foam cups and bowled four games in rapid succession — league-style, Wong explained, which means they alternated between two lanes for a single game.

Also at the meeting — representing nearly all of the Scion brand’s quirkily named models — were Lou Ianni and Bill Yuen, both owners of Scion tC coupes; Mike Stauffer, who owns one of the cubelike xBs; and Stauffer’s fiancee, Kristine Frosten, who owns a tC and an xD hatchback. Stauffer and Frosten, who sat side by side most of the night under the bright glow of fluorescent lights, said they met three years ago at a Scion meet in Pennsylvania.

“There are a lot of Scion couples,” Frosten said.

Wong’s journey to Scion diehard status was both sudden and rapid, and, one might suspect, not unique.

He bought his Scion three years ago to fill the need for a reliable work vehicle. He had never modified a car before, but he picked up a few of Scion’s factory accessories to personalize his tC.

It snowballed from there.

A year and a half later, Wong had a turbocharger installed on the car’s 2.4-liter 4-cylinder engine. The engine now makes a bit more than 250 horsepower, Wong estimates, and rumbles like a muscle car.

“I got bit by the bug, I guess,” he said.

During a short drive around New Brunswick earlier that night, the car’s deep exhaust growl was punctuated by an occasional sharp wail. Each time Wong let off the gas, the engine sounded as if it were trying to sneeze through a straw.

“That’s the blow-off valve letting off the excess boost pressure,” he said, explaining the function of a vital part in the turbocharger system. “You don’t want to let it into the engine — otherwise it will blow up.”

He kept his eyes fixed on the road as he spoke, as if speaking to someone on the other side of the windshield. The glow from three small gauges stacked on the windshield pillar illuminated his face. The instruments were also add-ons, Wong said, helping him keep track of the turbocharger boost, engine oil temperature and the air-fuel mixture.

He had his dashboard rewired to change the gauge lighting from amber to red, white and blue. He modified the headlamps, the taillights and the center brake light, and installed an aftermarket shift knob and pedals. Very little has been left untouched, and yet his wish list is long.

He wants a hood made of ultralight carbon fiber with a vent to release heat, and a methanol injection system that will let him run more turbo boost and make more power. “I want to refine the car,” he said. “Make it faster.”