Innehållsförteckning för June 2015 från Fast Car

Konnichiwa! For all you non-Japanese speaking folk, that means hello, or something similar. Providing Initial G isn’t lying to me! As you’ve probably guessed by now this is our annual Japanese special, the magazine that pays homage to the country that has given us so many fine cars to play with over the decades. From the humble Honda Civic to the supercar-eating GT-R, Japanese car manufacturers aren’t just a massive part of the UK car culture scene, but also the worldwide car culture movement. Most of us have owned a Jap car in the past and most of us will own another in the future and that’s why they have become such a huge part of the scene. You only need to look at the amount of dedicated shows, meets…

PNW (Pacific North West) Classics, is a captivating community of classic car fans across the Pacific North West of America. They formed just a couple of months back to unite historic cars still rolling out on the streets and my BMW 2002 has found its new home in the newly formed classics group. This was the first outing for the new crew as they brought their cars out of winter hibernation in preparation for the 2015 show season and cruised to the grand opening of the GTR Garage, a newly established hub for legal importation of these modern day classics to the States! And here are the pics from that uber-cool day… PNW Classics Founded: February 2015 Who For: Classic car fans from the Pacific North West of America Facebook:…

As big entrances go, being reversed into by an AA truck just yards from the main gate at Japfest must be up there with the worst of them. And with over 15,000 people at the event, it’s not like you can keep it quiet. “I couldn’t believe it,” says Tom. “It’d only come out of the bodyshop the day before. I was gutted.” Not a man to give up easily, he parked up his battered MX and went to join his Zilla Life buddies. “There were more pics taken of my car than ever before!” laughs Tom. After the show, he took the mullered Mazda straight back to the bodyshop for repairs. “They’d finished it on the Friday, it got smashed up on Saturday, then it was back in first…

Rota Recce Sizes: 8x17-inch PCDs: 5x100, 4x100, 4x108 Offsets: ET42-45 Finishes: Steel Grey, White, Flat Black ROTA RECCE, £160 (EACH) I think it’s fair to say that, in the world of monoblock wheels, Rota have more tasty designs, girthy sizes and unusual fitment options than just about anyone else on the planet. Their reputation is staggering, and nine times out of ten that comes from one simple concept - having the spuds to offer something completely different. This new contribution to the UK market though, is so out of the ordinary we’ve not seen anything quite like it before and, even for Rota, that makes it pretty damn special. This one’s called the Recce and we’ve heard all sorts of weird and wonderful descriptions on the forums since these landed…

As we’ve found out repeatedly over the years, from the Japanese contingent in particular, nothing finishes off the perfect wheels quite like a set of flashy lug nuts. The only problem is of course, not all cars use nuts as standard. So how can you get ’em on rides from the likes of BMW and Audi who are only set up for bolts? You can try this simple all-in-one solution from Taper Pro… PRICE: £126 (RRP) www.taperpro.co.uk IN THE BOX… It’s a little thing, I know, but just the way these are presented seems to add to the high-quality feel. Lifting the lid on the package feels like something of an event because all the bits and bobs are displayed lovingly in their own foam cut-out, like some sort of…

It’s hard to overstate the impact the Honda S2000 had on the modified car landscape when it was released in 1999. The crowning jewel in Honda’s VTEC-powered range, the S2000 was universally praised at launch for its taut chassis, superb handling and, of course, that charismatic, rev-happy buzz-bomb of an engine. These cars have gone on to become cult classics in their own right and we’ve lost track of the amount of utterly insane aftermarket additions we’ve seen them sport – everything from lairy race spec cams kits to full on LS3 crate engines have found their way under that long, low slung bonnet. Now we’re all for individuality, thinking outside the box and messing around with factory hardware (let’s face it, near enough every car in this magazine has…

IAN DOLE’S 350Z FC says : When Ian bought his 350Z three years ago he had no intention of modifying it. But as you can see from the pics he didn’t stick to this plan and has ended up building a gorgeous ride. As well as adding some Gucci parts, he’s done a lot of DIY modifying too, including colour coding the engine bay and re-colouring the leathers seats, which we think is a top touch! We’re looking forward to seeing this Z evolve over the next 12 months. Nice work Ian! TECH SPEC NISSAN 350Z TOP MODS: Nismo-style front splitter; GReddy GRacer sideskirts; Nissan rear splash guards; wrapped gloss black roof; TSW Jarama 19-inch staggered wheels; Kinetix dimpled and grooved front discs; Brembo pads all round, custom…

It doesn’t matter how amazing your car is, if you don’t keep it fresh the attention will soon shift elsewhere and leave you fading into the background. Steven Toner understands this rule and having built a stunner of a 350Z last year, in winter he was faced with the decision of hitting 2015 with the same subtle look or refreshing his ride. He could have played safe and changed the rims or added some simple touches, but instead he went balls-out! The smooth, classy quiet puppy of a Nissan show car was transformed into a loud and lairy barking rottweiler of a drift replica. No more sitting in the corner looking pretty. This 350Z now shouts in your face and says ‘look at me’. Truth be told, Steven’s 350Z in…

The modifying scene has evolved in many directions over the years, and that includes car clubs. Before the internet age really took off clubs were mostly based around car types, so if you had a Ford you joined an official Ford club. It was only at shows where you got to meet with fellow members and that meant you socialised with a random bunch. But, with only a car in common, sometimes that worked and sometimes it didn’t. Things then progressed to be internet forum based and cruise websites became like clubs, meaning it was more about where you were based. The next phase is where we are now, the Facebook era. Now like-minded enthusiasts are brought together through every aspect of cars, from type and styling preferences to what…

KINGFAB STEERING WHEELS, FROM £90 Wacky, off the hook, straight jacket sporting, foaming-at-the-mouth bonkers… Say what you like about these new wheels from UK manufacturer Kingfab, but they have to be some of the maddest interior adornments we’ve ever seen. In fact, they’re more like limited-run artworks than an essential tool to enable the relatively mundane task of going round corners, but why not eh? Sometimes you just need a little sparkle in your life! Inspired by the Japanese underground, where, to put it bluntly, they’re all a little screwball, these colourful discs are available in a vast range of insane off the shelf finishes. But there’s also the option of having your own one-off design applied too. Things don’t get any more exclusive than a limited edition of one,…

How many times have your heard your mum say, “Look with your eyes and not with your hands”? Or was that the girls in Spearmint Rhino? Either way, that just doesn’t seem to happen when it comes to nice cars. One minute they’re cleaner than a nun’s knicker drawer, the next there’s mucky stains and fingerprints everywhere, especially on the glass. Don’t even get me started with tree sap and bug splatters on windscreens either. Mother Nature should be bloody well banned. Still, that’s exactly why we have glass cleaners and probably explains why there’s so many out there. Every brand has at least one spray-on job, but what about the more retro-style glass polish? With Auto Finesse Vision, glass polish is making a comeback… PRICE: £11.95 (500ML) www.autofinesse.co.uk THE…

It’s safe to say that in the tuning scene a lot of engines are more famous than the cars. In fact some cars are only famous thanks to their engines. But the reason for this is simple – the engines have huge tuning potential. In all honesty, most of the engines aren’t amazing performers when standard. But it’s the highly tuned ones that bring the fame, and this feature is all about these engines. And how to realise their potential... Nissan RB Series The engine that gave the Nissan Skyline worldwide fame, the RB is a turbo straight six, fitted to R32 to R34 Skylines, as well as a few more unusual vehicles. The three main turbo versions, the RB20DET, the RB25DET, and the RB26DETT have long been known as…

There are certain phrases that have always hung around the modified car world like a bad smell. And no matter how untrue they may be, certain people still smugly say them like they’re stating a cool and interesting fact – usually because they heard Jeremy Clarkson say it once on TV (before he was fired, of course). “There’s no replacement for displacement.” (Erm, turbos? Superchargers? Nitrous? RPM?) “BHP sells cars, torque wins races.” (No, BHP wins races.) Those are two common ones, but probably the most common nuggets of false wisdom revolve around front-wheel drive cars with any kind of horsepower, especially turbocharged ones. “Anything over 200bhp is totally unusable in a front-wheel drive car”, is the basic statement car bores like to tell anyone who will listen, seemingly oblivious…

Held in the car park of a large shopping centre in Belgium, on the face of it Heaven on Wheels doesn’t sound that exciting. You would be forgiven for thinking it sounded more like a glorified meet or cruise than a full-on car show – it’s a long way to go for it, too. But when that meet draws in over 2,000-plus cars internationally, and is now in its 12th year and growing stronger and bigger each time, you know the organisers are clearly doing something right! We’ve been a supporter of this show for many years and can vouch that it’s growing from strength to strength; the standard of cars in attendance has continued to improve each year. Past years of the show saw ‘VIP-cars’ being placed in separate…

There were a lot of things I worried about when I was 16. Trivial but seemingly important shite like having enough Clearasil to last the week, not missing the bus and being late for school (nothing ever changes eh? – Jules) and if I’d ever manage to cop a feel of Juicy Lucy’s bangers behind the bike sheds. To my recollection though, not one of those things I had on my teenage mind was how to modify my 280-odd bhp, one-year-old Scooby. I know I’m getting on a bit now. But I’m pretty sure I’d remember that. You see, in the US of A things are a bit different. You might not legally be able to knock back a Corona until the ripe old age of 21, but you can…

SILVERLINE CLIP DRIVER, £3 If you’re a modifier that likes to get stuck in, DIY-style, and let’s face it you wouldn’t be reading this if you weren’t, this could be the best three quid you ever spend. The premise is so simple it’s pretty surprising not everyone has one of these stashed away. All it is, is a hex-driver with a flexible shaft designed specifically to get at all your hard-to-reach hose clips. Bagging one of these makes plenty of jobs far more simple for any non-contortionist and also means getting your clips highly torqued can be achieved with a minimum of slippage. Remember all that arsing about with a screwdriver? Time to put it all in the past. www.silverlinetools.com…

Some cars come bundled with a whole host of tribal implications and unwritten rules about what you can and cannot do to them. The age-old rivalry in the UK between Ford and Vauxhall is a good example, and picking a VXR over an ST means you’ve firmly nailed your colours to the mast! In fact the car scene has a habit of creating these tribal divisions wherever you happen to live, with the ongoing battle between the Mitsubishi Evo and the Subaru Impreza being a case in point. Both cars have their plus and minus points. Both can be made into ferociously quick cars with help from the staggeringly large aftermarket scene. And both boast passionate cult followings who need little encouragement to champion their respective models’ cause. Both cars…