Innehållsförteckning för February 2018 från Fast Car

Built not bought. What does this term mean for you exactly? Well, we happen to think it represents anything that someone has bought and made changes to. We ask because in the past we’ve known people to criticise others for buying cars that are part built or perhaps slightly modified and we think it’s (to put it bluntly) bollocks. Any car can be fiddled with slightly. It doesn’t mean it’s built. Sam Curtis bought this Volkswagen Mk2 Golf back in May 2015, having already received the engine conversion and a full respray. But did it look the same as it does laid out here in all its glory across these glossy sheets of paper? Nah, did it ’eck. Sam has always been into cars, but (admittedly) had never really been…

FEATURES • 165bar/2400PSI Max Pressure • 2100 Watts • Air-cooled Induction Motor • Auto Stop/Start • 5M Pressure Hose on Reel • Pressure Variable Spray Pattern • Detergent Dispenser Even if you’ve never opened a bonnet or picked up a spanner in your life, there’s one tool that tops the list of must-haves for any car nut, and that’s a decent pressure washer. Now, you don’t have to be some sort authority on detailing to see the advantage of having one of these stashed away, especially at this time of year. But there always seems to be a triple trade-off between the three Ps – price, power and practicality. After all, the more car-focused pressure washers are usually premium products, particularly if you’re looking for a large, professional-style item that’s…

The cult of the sleeper is well established: cars that appear unassuming but harbour secret depths of hidden firepower. You know the kind of thing: the Volvo 850 T5 Estate, Mitsubishi Galant VR-4, VW Passat W8, Lancia Thema 8.32 (y’know, that humdrum saloon with the Ferrari V8 shoved into it). But that’s not quite what we’re talking about here. No, we’re looking at the cars that are generally sidelined for being a bit ordinary, not terribly exciting, but have hidden potential to be tuned up to improbable and spooky levels. Not factory sleepers. DIY sleepers! You see, engines exist in families. You may find a detuned version in a lowly model, which can be very easily either modified to be as powerful as the top-of-the-line sport variant, or just simply…

Building a project car is much like playing a game of high-stakes poker. You’ve always got to be mindful not to give away your hand, not to exhibit a giveaway tell, not to let anyone know how powerful your finish will be until the time is right. It also requires a lot of whisky, a dimly lit room, an opponent named Knuckles of questionable moral virtue, and… Actually no, it isn’t like poker at all. It is all very ‘Too soon, junior…’ though. When you’re at the planning stage, it’s exciting to visualise the finished product, to rush through it and cut a few corners in order to show everyone your big idea. But you have to be patient, play the long game, do things properly. Otherwise you’ll always be…

The Ignition Show exploded onto the scene in 2016 with the Red Bull F1 team, Mark Webber and David Coulthard being the headline act. This time it was the rally gods taking Glasgow by storm. The list of WRC-winning legends included Ari Vatanen, Stig Blomqvist, Markku Alén, Miki Biasion, and Timo Salonen. They were all let loose in their legendary rally cars and proved they can still put on a mighty show. The live action was presented by F1’s Lee McKenzie and BTCC star Paul O’Neill and included classic F1 cars, hypercars, supercars, muscle cars, drift cars, race cars, modified cars and hotrods. You name it. They were all here burning rubber! As well as the full-on, live line-up, this three-day event has a strong indoor element too. Manufacturers lined…

One thing we always find is that SEMA is packed with personal inspiration for our own projects. In that respect, me and Jules are just like any other petrolheads, and most adapt at boring the pants off each other, banging on about the cars we’d like to own and what we’d do to them. The point is every year we come away with different tit bits, favourite cars and personal inspiration. So, just in case you were wondering, here’s ours… Jules “It’s no secret that I’m a Beemer man through and through and my favourite car of the show was the unbelievably immaculate ‘70s BMW CS on the Toyo stand. A close second though has to be the awesome RMD Garage E30 M3, which was right outside the entrance. I…

LUMILOR ELECTROLUMINESCENT PAINT, From £690 (starter kit) Many, many weird and wonderful paint finishes have hit the pages of FC over the years, everything from chameleons and flips to metal flakes and full-on rusty paint. In fact, we thought we really had seen it all by now. But it turns out we were wrong. This people, is what happens when a little bit of science and a whole lot of magic gets involved. LumiLor simply blew everyone away at SEMA with this stuff, even bagging its creator the prestigious Innovator of the Year Award. What they’ve come up with is the world’s very first electroluminescent paint. Basically speaking, it’s a Light Emitting Coating (LEC), or a paint that glows like a bastard when you apply a small electrical current. Now,…

“I popped in to test drive it and the rest is history! I fell in love with the colour” Fans of Peep Show will recognise there are two types of people. The Mark types: never entering a room without first mapping out where the exits are, always knowing for sure that they’ve got clean pants for the morning, never running out of milk. And the Jez types: ambling about in a blissful haze, just seeing where life takes them. Matt Vanstone, the fella behind this spiffy S3, is a Jez. “I’ve always loved the modified car scene, but never really knew what I wanted to mess around with,” he admits. “I had a few Fords, and when the Euro-look come out I did a Fiesta ST with a Euro theme.…

It’s hard to fully appreciate the impact cars like the first-generation VW Scirocco had on the automotive landscape when launched back in 1974. Its wedge-y shape and Giugiaro-penned lines weren’t just stunning, they looked quite unlike anything else you were likely to encounter on the road at the time (unless you lived down the road from Maranello). It didn’t matter that the Mk1 Scirocco was little more than a Golf in a (very) pretty dress, its stunning styling ensured that it sold like the proverbial hot-cakes, taking off where the Karmann Ghia left off and spawning a line of cars that continues to this day. Fast forward over four decades and the Mk1 looks, if anything, even better. The same styling which enabled it to stand out amongst its boxy…

Some of the most impressive creatures have ludicrously long gestation periods. Baby giraffes can gestate for 15 months. Dolphins? Call it 18 months. Elephants might keep their mothers hanging around for nearly two years. If you’ve ever spent any time with a heavily pregnant woman, you’ll know that this is a heinously long time to go without wine and brie. (Do elephants eat brie? Guess that’s just one of life’s mysteries.) But all of this is knocked neatly into a cocked hat by the second-generation Honda NSX, which took an impressive nine years to develop. Even in the automotive sphere, this is a ridiculously long time. The Lexus LFA used to hold the crown for most-anticipated-supercar, taking so long to craft that they had to start again from scratch halfway…

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. The phrase describes our tendency to longingly view the objects or lifestyles we don’t possess through rose-tinted spectacles. It’s one of the biggest problems us humans suffer from. And probably isn’t helped by the constant bombardment of advertisements for shiny new products that are constantly shoved under our noses. But if you can learn to love what you already have, and even accept that things aren’t necessarily going to instantly be 10 times more amazing if you buy something new, that’s when you know you’re really winning at life. One young man who’s realised this the hard way recently is Nino here. He parted ways with his beloved modified Nissan 370Z a year or so ago to fulfil…

“AirREX struts and AccuAir e-Level mean it’ll happily psssh-psssh at will” It’s pretty well established that limes are a strong source of vitamin C. That’s why drinking gin-and-tonics is good for you. But what happens when you overdose on vitamin C? Well, something like this chlorophyll-fest S2000 arrives to taunt your psyche. Avoiding clichés, you see, is like not shooting fish in a barrel. There are a lot of car mags out there, and we pride ourselves in setting Fast Car apart from the white noise on the shelves by being a little more discerning, thoughtful, considered. Not just bringing you the finest modified motors the world has to offer, but also telling you interesting things about them. Piquing your intrigue. Laying out the facts like a delicious picnic, ready…

SCS is now one of Scotland’s biggest, best and long-established shows and for over a decade it has been a one-day event. This time though, the organisers took the plunge and stretched it out over a full weekend. As always with change, there was support as well as criticism, but overall it was still well attended and gave us some fine machinery to drool over. Other than having an extra day to enjoy the show, the format remained the same as before. The Top 50 and car clubs displayed indoor, while outside was taken over by more club displays and traders. Live entertainment was courtesy of the Vertical Trix Stunt Team, drift taxis and supercar rides. It all provided plenty to see and do and all done in a great…

ADAM MUSGROVE’S CIVIC TYPE R FC says : Anyone who reckons there’s an age where you should stop tinkering with modified cars should take a good long look at our proud owner Adam here. “I’m 48 years old now, and my missus told me I could do with a hobby, so here it is!” He smiles as he explains what’s been done to his beautifully crafted Milano Red EP3. “It was purchased completely standard two years ago, and if you ask me I’m only halfway through the build,” he reveals, with the car already sporting a host of top bits that help to make it even more fun to drive and own. Aiding performance and adding to that epic VTEC soundtrack are comprehensive intake and exhaust systems, starting with an…

Feature Cars: UK’s Best BM 335i (Really? Is that because it’s yours Jules? – G) Stanced Honda EK Smoking Nissan PS13 Orange SEAT Leon Mental Mk2 Golf Retro-tastic Mitsi Starion Out There: Ultimate Stance We head to Telford to see some stanced motors. Wahooo Special Feature: All our features are special but we’ll be doing an extra special one next month. We just don’t know what it is yet. Plus: Product tests, Carnography, Fast Projects, and loads of other cool stuff #391 On Sale Friday January 5th *Subject to change because Jules might not get back from Lapland, ho ho ho.…