Indholdsfortegnelse for April 2017 i Fast Car

Hybrids’ engines are only good in shopping cars.” It’s an all-too familiar reaction often heard when mentioning these futuristically powered vehicles to someone who’s had their head in the sand a little too long. Try repeating that phrase to the last five consecutive teams to win at Le Mans, or the owner of a LaFerrari. We doubt they’ll appreciate such a statement being bandied around so carelessly... As the benefits of electrifying cars steadily creep into the mainstream, we’re starting to see some awesome examples of modified hybrids taking to the streets. Not with the humble Honda CR-Z, the big H’s predecessor to the legendary CR-X, which is only being fully appreciated now it’s recently gone out of production. Let’s get one thing straight: hybrids can be all sorts of…

SIMPLE OEM SWAPS People have been making OEM upgrades since the beginning of time and that’s because it’s generally pretty easy. Manufacturers typically use the same PCDs with similar centrebores and offsets throughout their ranges, so the alloys off the GTi, ST or RS variant will often fit the more entry level models. Handy if you’d like to fit, say Escort Cosworth rims, on a Mk3 Fiesta, they’re both 4x108. Just about every model of BMW is a 5x120PCD too. It’s the same story with cars built on similar platforms – Audi TT, Golf Mk4, SEAT Ibiza and many more use a 5x100 PCD, making the wheels pretty much interchangeable. VW Passats, Audi A4s and the odd Merc share the 5x112 PCD and even Bentley Continental or Maybach rims will…

The acid-green vision you see before you is the product of passion and heritage, of vintage methods and new-wave thinking. You may be familiar with the cult of the RAUH-Welt Begriff (RWB) Porsche. But do you know just how deep the rabbit-hole goes? The whole trippy merry-go-round is a million miles from simply buying and fitting a bodykit – it involves the synthesis and fusion of sensibilities, a personal commitment in time from Akira Nakai himself (for he is the enigmatic figure behind RWB), and a mind-boggling array of decisions in order to arrive at something unique. RWB cars are rare fruit indeed. This car, which began life as a 993 Carrera 2, is the proud possession of Ben Harmony, Philadelphia resident and seasoned car modifier. His roots lie in…

MATT JONES' ASTRA FC says: It’s fitting that in the Wheel Special, we have a car that’s defining mods are the wheels under its arches. Matt Jones is the man responsible and has owned the car for the past four-years; initially bought to be his daily-driver until things got serious with hydraulic suspension and the Breytons that have defined its build. They were Matt’s ‘mega dream wheels for the car’ and he had them built and adapted to his exact specs. He reckons his Mk5 is the only Astra running OZ Breytons and we certainly can’t remember seeing another one either. Well played, Matt! Pictures: Jordan Clarke SPEC: ASTRA MAIN MODS Colour coded Opel conversion grille; smoothed front and rear SRi XP bumpers; USDM front indicator conversion; US spec auto…

As the world’s first ever purpose-built motor racing circuit, Brooklands has a lot of juicy heritage to trade on. Unfortunately, quite a lot of that is mired in misfortune, given that it’s not a whole circuit any more, and hasn’t been since it was bombed in World War II. Today it exists as an excellent museum (and the similarly excellent Mercedes-Benz World is just next door), as well as a historic venue for motoring meets. And if you go with easily-bored kids (or Midge – Jules) the café has a soft-play area, too. Motorsport Day is the museum’s way of looking at the past and to the present (and hell, why not the future too?) by pulling together anything with a vaguely motorsporty theme – along with oodles of supercars,…

In the writing-about-cars game, we sometimes get to drive some pretty cool stuff. Sure, it’s mostly just late nights, low wages and panic attacks about misspelled words or typos. But every now and then you get tossed the keys to something like a brand new Mercedes-Benz GLA45 AMG and suddenly the world is all sunshine and roses for a bit. Imagine a slightly scaled-up version of the revered and utterly manic A45 AMG. You get the same engine and 4WD system along with a bit more legroom in the back and a bigger boot. It has a hand-built 2.0-litre turbo motor producing a frankly rather silly 360bhp as standard, which is mated to a paddle-shift seven-speed DCT ’box. The optional AMG exhaust – which you can spot by its central…

In the modified car scene, there are certain ways of doing things. At least, that’s what people will tell you. VXR Vauxhalls need to be Arden Blue, Mk1 Escorts need to have bubble arches and Cibies, Mk4 Golfs need to be dumped over wheels that are worth more than the whole car. These are the perceived immutable constants of modern modding. What a load of cobblers. If you’re building your car to impress other people, you’re doing it wrong; sure, it’s nice to receive admiring glances and friendly compliments on the showground, and winning the odd trophy is a wonderful reward for your hard work, but when you pull it all down to brass tacks, you’re the one that owns the thing. The only person you need to please is…

Just because your car didn’t come with a top-notch music system as standard, does not mean that your car audio experience needs to be anything but the absolute future. Enter Kenwood with their new 2017 product line. When you spend most of your time sat inside your car driving, it makes perfect sense to have a great music system. Technology is constantly evolving, and with smartphones changing the way we live our lives, Kenwood’s great value products offer the ultimate in connectivity. These systems are great if you’re a minimalistic clutter-free freak! ‘Why?’ You may ask. Well, once connected, you can hide your phone in the glovebox or somewhere else out of sight and even hear spoken route directions via your mapping apps, so if you’re as OCD as us…

Every year, the humble town of Essen plays host to one of Europe’s largest tuning shows, known as the Essen Motor Show. Think of›it as Europe’s equivalent of SEMA, albeit with a little less gambling and a LOT more red meat. That’s high praise, especially when going against Vegas. Just like SEMA, Essen has been around forever, with the›first show kicking off back in 1968. Initially it was crammed into a space of just›7,000 m›, while attracting›over 50,000 visitors. Essen now occupies an exhibition space exceeding 100,000 m› with more than›400,000 visitors making the trek every year. That’s flippin’ huge! Car tuning in Germany is serious business. Our Bavarian cousins don’t just fit any old products to their cars – aftermarket upgrades need to be built to OEM levels of…

The very start of the year. A time when most of us are too busy recovering from the festive turkey overdose or nursing New Year’s Eve hangovers to even think about doing anything remotely productive. But it seems the automotive scene never sleeps, if the Autosport International show is anything to go by. Held over one of the first weekends of January each year at Birmingham’s frankly enormous NEC arena, the car show is about as big as it gets in the UK, and houses exciting new launches as manufacturers and tuning brands hint at what’s to come for the new year. From brand new supercars to top fuel dragsters, along with a whole host of fresh performance car parts, we popped over to see what was new for 2017……

WHY HAVE ALLOYS? Aside from looks, which let’s face it is the top priority for many, alloy wheels are all about performance. Pressed steel wheels are still produced, of course, but many of the larger car manufacturers have phased-out their use (particularly on base model vehicles) purely for aesthetic reasons. Then again alloys have their roots in the racing world, which means that they come with a few inherent performance benefits. Handy. Perhaps the most important is that wheel manufacturers can match the strength of steel, but with much lower overall weight. This reduction in rotating mass is not only ideal for performance and handling (power to weight is everything after all), but it also helps with the longevity of the other chassis components. Greater efficiency in heat conduction is…

In words, at least, this is a car that will almost certainly evoke a sigh or two. It has all the right (or wrong, depending on how you choose to look at it) ingredients for a drift car: an LS V8 motor, a Rocket Bunny kit, some SSR mesh wheels and Air Lift Performance suspension. There was a time when this combination would have blown people away, but now it’s almost the expected, and maybe the proven choice for a fun street/track car. But, we’ve long since learned that it’s not how you stand by your car, it’s how you race your car. This may not be the very first time you’ve seen this S14. This particular car has appeared on the internet and done the round on Instagram, but…

Modifying fashions evolve. That’s just human nature. The 1970s were all about shagpile carpets, airbrushing and porthole windows. The ’80s brought us zebra stripes and Testarossa side-strakes. And the ’90? Well, all bets were off in the ’90s. Wide-ass bodykits, outrageous stereo installs, neon lights, lurid colours. It was all about ostentation. Then The Fast and the Furious happened and knocked the scene into freefall through the 2000s. Before we emerged blinking into the light of the teenies with a clearer focus on stance and OEM+ styling. Each previous generation exists as its own historical marker. All rules have their exceptions, of course, and Iain Maple’s 206 is a case in point. A bona fide turn-of-the-century survivor, this boisterous French throwback has been evolving on its own terms. Not following…

Let’s face it, cars are great. You lot clearly think so or you’d not be sitting there reading Fast Car, but the reasons why we all think cars are great, can be hugely varied. Some people want styling, others like performance, but most people want a bit of both. Even the most hardcore performance enthusiast subconsciously cares about styling – they still want to be seen in a nice looking motor. But what if you really, honestly, didn’t give a toss what your car looked like? What if you wanted a fast car that looks slow or un-cool? Well, that’s a ‘thing’ too. It’s called a sleeper, and they can be a hell of a lot of fun, as Tom Hudson, who built this insane, supercar-slaying Lada, can testify. So…