Innehållsförteckning för January 2016 från Fast Car

Well hello there gorgeous Fast Car reader. Pat yourself on the back and congratulate yourself for buying this magazine, because we’ve got one of the best Civics in the country, maybe the world, on the cover. Yup, with almost 400bhp, a tucked bay, mental OZ rims and a static drop that most air-ride owners would be proud of, Shaun Quinn knows a thing or two about building cool cars. And that’s exactly what he’s done here with his own hands. In fact Shaun and his Civic are no strangers to Fast Car. This is the third time the car has been featured and I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw it in these pages again at some point. Still, let’s enjoy this incarnation before he starts the inevitable rebuild! Of…

Even though James Bond himself had one, the BMW Z3 was always a bit Toni and Guy for our tastes. The original Z4 on the other hand has to be one of the most hairy-chested convertibles out there and nowadays you can get a whole one for around the price of a 60-inch telly. Ever since the E85 German bruiser hit the streets in 2003 it’s been a design icon and one of the few rag tops you can drive without getting spat on by homophobic lorry drivers. You just can’t do that in a Suzuki Cappuccino, right? There is of course the E86 Coupe version, but that’s still a fair chunk of change starting at around 8-grand. There’s also the legendary 3.2-litre, 343bhp Z4M which starts at 11k but…

Now in its 9th year and bigger and better than ever, Players once again showed that the UK’s car culture game is strong, very strong. Every make, model and style of modified car was represented, from Ken Block’s Hoonigan Mustang, to old school hot rods and trucks. The core of the show produced an eclectic mix of slammed, top-quality, German metal. They say it’s about the quality and not the quantity but, this show has both, there really isn’t another event in the UK that can boast the quantity and quality of motors on display like Players. It’s not just the cars that make Players so good, but the now famous chilled-out vibe – haters simply aren’t welcome at this show. Everyone respects each other’s style, even if they don’t…

When planning a new project most people go on the hunt for a solid base car as their foundation. Low mileage, a handful of owners, maybe even a couple of dings here and there would be okay. Anything more and you should prepare yourself for a whole load of ball-ache and lots of hard work. One man that’s not afraid of a bit of hard work is our mate, Sven, from Belgium. You see Sven’s hard-dropped 350z started life very differently to what you see here today. The Nissan was classed as a Cat C insurance write-off and was up for auction through a UK site at a low price. Despite its major issues, Sven saw potential in the car and placed what ended up being the winning bid. Sven…

SEALEY FLOODLIGHT, £42 (Christmas offer price) It’s a useful thing to have around at the best of times but due to the fact the sun buggers off about 2pm, a decent work light is an absolute necessity at this time of year. This super-bright rechargeable LED floodlight is new from Sealy but is easily one of the most powerful portable items we’ve seen to date. Constructed from die-cast aluminium with a tubular steel frame it’s certainly built tough too, and with strong magnets incorporated into the base it should come in handy for plenty of those annoying DIY winter repairs. We like the fact that it comes complete with an in-car charger, as well as the normal mains job, and we love that it’ll bang out the light for up…

If the next generation of designers are so clever, why are there still hardly any tweakable city cars out there? I’m not talking about the likes of VW’s Up!, the Ford KA or the Fiat 500 – sure they’re quite small, modder-friendly and you can drive ‘em around a city. What I mean is the really tiny stuff, the sub-compacts, what the Yanks call the microcars. They tend to get a bad rap. Here in the UK they’re often looked upon as offensive little snot-boxes more akin to your Nan’s mobility scooter than any sort of desirable motor. More a source of amusement than anything. And I don’t think that’s fair. Personally, having driven around Paris, New York and Catford high street, I can see their appeal. Their manoeuvrability, ease…

In recent years, Time Attack has become something of a testing ground for modifiers keen to squeeze every last ounce of performance out of their race-ready rides. Moreover, it’s fair to say that major aftermarket tuning part manufacturers and automotive engineering outfits have used the increasingly popular motorsport series as a playground to experiment with engine, chassis and aero configurations as they try to determine what makes for a blisteringly quick car. Enter Andreas Papageorgiou (known as ‘Andy P’ to his mates). “I’ve been involved in various well-known circuit racing events over the years, and I even spent time competing in the Porsche Carrera Cup and Britcar championships before making the move to Time Attack,” he tells us. Not exactly a stranger to the world of fast cars, then?! Andy’s…

SEMA SPECIAL: Cars of the show Huge show report Products showcase And much, much more PLUS THESE UK RIDES: Astra VXR US Spec’d Mk3 Slammed Scirocco Epic EK Saloon OUT THERE: LOWRIDERS IN LONDON We hit the big smoke in style PLUS: Fast Projects, Posters and all your regular features you know and love *Subject to change, because we might miss our flight or gamble all the budget on black…

If any car could claim to have a soul it would be this one. Having been with Shaun Quinn for nearly a decade, this Civic has grown and evolved with him, very much like a reflection of his own personality. Like Shaun, it has been through many life experiences and gained some scars and ink along the way. There have been highs and lows, but it always comes back fighting and on this day it stands bigger, bolder and stronger than ever. It’s rare enough for a car to be re-featured in Fast Car, but this is the third time we’ve got up close with this amazing EK. And no wonder. There’s nothing else quite like it. Back in 2006, Shaun’s dad surprised him with a slightly battered and bruised…

Volvos. There was a time when these stout, boxy, Swedish cars were known for two things as far as your average UK buyer was concerned; amazing safety and the ability to transport an entire antique shop across the country without breaking a sweat. Volvos were solid, dependable cars for solid, dependable people. Chances are your geography teacher had one; probably a 240 estate in that weird maroony-red they often came in, and chances are he loved it more than corduroy. Thing is, Volvos have always had a bit more going on than meets the eye. The old 240 – that most Volvo-ish of Volvos – could be had with the famous ‘red block’ turbo motor and that, coupled with its rear-wheel drive layout, equalled great hooning potential. We like Volvos.…

CALIBRE CONCAVE RANGE, FROM £600 (SET) It has to be said Calibre have covered all the angles for the larger VAG and BMW Bahnstormers with this brand new trio of top quality hoops. It’s kinda spooky, almost suspicious, as if all three are specifically designed to have the whole market totally sewn up. There’s definitely something for everyone and that’s just for the direct-fitments – with a set of PCD adaptors there’s not many motors out there that one of these designs wouldn’t look amazing on. I suppose it’s somewhat stating the obvious to say that the CC bit of their name stands for concave, although we’re not sure about the F, M and R - Feck, Me, Royally? They’ve certainly got that sort of look about them. In fact,…

Rose tinted specs are powerful things, and it isn’t hard to make a case for nostalgia being one of the most powerful driving forces behind this scene of ours. It’s nostalgia that pushes the prices of once fun, affordable fast cars to stratospheric levels, and nostalgia that bestows a kind of legendary status on cars that most of us have never sat behind the wheel of. The Mk2 Escort is a case in point; barely fifteen years ago these cars could be had fairly cheaply, particularly as classic ‘one lady owner’ examples could still be seen pottering around. Now any MOT’d two-door is a five grand car at least (normally much more), and while there’s little doubt that the second gen Essex legend is a cool car, is it really…

When it comes to car meets in the South West of England, they don’t get much better than Sweetshop Automotive’s – their gatherings are legendary. They attract car fans from all over the place, even way up north. Unfortunately though, over recent years they’ve become a victim of their own success and the last few meets have pretty much brought Bristol’s road network to a standstill. Now this may not be a problem to us car enthusiasts, but it was for the retail park at Avonmeads and its owners. The solution? To keep the peace it was decided to move the meet to a private location at South West Karting, in Cheddar, Somerset. To some this may seem like backing down, but the Sweetshop guys have always been keen to…

Being a rally spectator is hard work, certainly if you happen to live in the UK that is! You’re expected to trudge into a sodden Welsh forest in the middle of November, wear deeply unfashionable bobble hats and more often than not end up being shouted at by a marshal for not standing in the right place. For these and many other reasons, we’re massive fans of Rallyday, Castle Combe’s annual celebration of all that’s great about the anti-lag filled world of top level rallying! This year saw the show celebrate its fifteenth anniversary and the organisers pulled out all the stops to ensure it was the best yet, with dozens of iconic rally cars (including a pair of barking S1 E2 quattros) and 1981 World Rally Champion Ari Vatanen.…

It seems to be getting colder and darker every minute, so it must be about time for those essential FC tips to make motoring in the harshest of seasons a tad less soul-destroying. Now, we’ll get to all that battery testing and cold-weather tyre stuff over on page 70, but first we need to deal with the most important part of winter car preparation – protecting your paintwork. There’s all sorts of myths surrounding winter detailing, all the usual guff like having to apply 16 coats of hard wax, heating your water to exactly 36° Celsius and washing your car every 3.7 seconds. But what’s the whole truth? To get the answers we had to draft in a pro, and it just so happens that pro is Dom Colbeck, the…

AIR LIFT HONDA V2 KIT, £2000 (FULL KIT) To say this one’s been long-awaited is something of an understatement but we love being the bearers of good news so here it is – the new V2 air-ride kit for the EG and EK Civic from industry legends, Air Lift Performance. Designed to fit the CRX, Del Sol and DC2 Integra too, this awesome package has 9-way adjustable damping for all you Honda guys who lose sleep over finely-tuned chassis performance and includes absolutely everything you need to get it on the car, using only basic hand tools. No more smashed-up Mugen splitters for us – lovely. www.airliftperformance.com COOPER CS8 TYRE, £TBC Cooper’s out-going CS6 tyre was a spanking bit of sticky rubber and we were almost filled with rage to…

Unless some sort of nuclear warhead has been dropped on your local Wetherspoons since I’ve written this, I’m guessing it’s pretty cold and miserable wherever you are in the UK. Barring those who have an Eskimo fetish, you probably think the British winter sucks as much as I do. Am I right, or am I right? Now, unfortunately, we can’t all bugger off to Barbados until next April but, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t make the most of the next few months. Don’t go into modding hibernation just yet. Instead think of winter as a golden opportunity. An opportunity to bolt together your dream car, plan your next project or brush up on your snow rally skills in the local car park. To keep the smiles this season, there’s loads…

When your family business makes some of the finest VAG tuning parts on the face of the planet. And your old man and work colleagues recently shifted the scene with their awesome Berg-inspired Mk1. How do you bring your very first car into the world? For Forge’s Zac Miles, he simply turned everything up to 11. His bid to carve his own mark on the show scene displays a purity of vision that belies his tender years. I don’t know about you, but my first car didn’t look anything like as good as this. It was from the right factory – a ’72 Beetle from Wolfsburg. But as for the condition and execution, it was as you would expect for a 17 year old’s first hack. All there, but a…

RYAN’S SEAT LEON FC says : That plate may look about as legal as running over your next door neighbour because he looked at you funny. But Ryan lives in Guernsey, so it’s not only super cool but apparently it’s 100-percent plod-friendly too. The Leon is something of a rapid weekend warrior because he’s forced to drive a van for the daily grind. But ‘every cloud’ and all that, because that’s why Friday night is now officially known as ‘boost night’ and you can’t help but love that sentiment. According to the man himself, he’s kept the car practical because of the island’s tight pot-hole fi lled roads… and obviously by ‘practical’ he means ‘decked on huge wheels’. That’s some seriously nice work right there, and all done in under…