Innehållsförteckning för June 2018 från Fast Car

Entries close at midnight on Thursday 24 May 2018. The draw is final and no correspondence will be entered into. Entry is free. Open to residents of the UK aged over 18. Employees of Kelsey Media and their family members are not eligible to win. Only one entry permitted per person. No bulk entries will be accepted. There is no cash alternative and the prize is not transferable. If any prize or product is lost or damaged during the course of delivery to the recipient, Kelsey Media will provide reasonable assistance in seeking to resolve the problem. However, it will not always be possible to obtain replacements for lost or damaged goods, and in that event, no financial compensation would be payable by Kelsey Media or their affiliates. We reserve…

LINK G4+ KUROFUNE ECU, FROM £1,320 Anyone who’s ever thought of tuning an Evo, in fact, anyone who’s ever looked at an Evo, knows that Link fully-programmable ECUs are pretty much standard equipment nowadays. Have a look at a random selection at Japfest and we reckon 80 percent of ’em will be rocking one of Link’s finest. And there’s good reason for that. The Kiwi fellas really know what they’re on about. Link Engine Management are perhaps most famous for their direct-replacement, plug-in units too, but this Kurofune job is their very first ECU designed to work off the common aftermarket adapter looms you’ll often find in Supras, Chasers, Aristos, S2Ks and a whole load of other Japanese metal. What it does, unlike the piggyback ECUs you’ll usually discover plugged…

When it comes to performance cars, you can separate them in to various categories. Hot hatches, 4WD rally weapons, RWD beasts, and so on, with each category of car feeling totally different to the next. And after driving any of the cars, you’re totally clear of what type of car it is. In any of these categories engine swaps are commonplace too. In a lot of cases it’s the cheapest and easiest way to the performance you want. But even with an engine swap, these cars tend to stay the same kind of performance car they always were. Just faster. But what about this car? The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution is a world famous car, and any car fan would put this straight in the ‘4WD rally weapon’ category, even if…

Expect the unexpected. It’s a phrase you hear a lot. And it’s nonsense really, isn’t it? It’s physically impossible. The human brain is not conditioned to expect something that is not expected. Sure, life loves to blindside us – let’s say, for example, that you’re biting into a tasty jam sandwich, and after a few microseconds your brain says ‘Hang on, this isn’t jam – it’s Marmite’. Or your boss calls you into his office and you think he’s going to offer you a payrise, and instead he tells you you’re fired for gross misconduct because of that incident with the intern in the postroom. But that’s not expecting the unexpected, is it? That’s just preparing for alternatives. Or not. This Toyota Hilux is another example of how life enjoys…

Busy, busy, busy. That’s what I’ve been over the last few weeks, bloody busy (You mean, you’re going on holiday, again – Jules). Still, just because my workshop is rammed with all the projects that make up the never-ending to-do list, and a rather tasty black 350Z that has just arrived on the fleet for us to give away at TRAX in October (more on that in the next issue), doesn’t mean I’m allowed to neglect the Beetle for yet another month. So, as winter is kind of over and the newspaper said it would be a lovely 18›C (hotter than Barcelona, no less) for our deadline week, I geared myself up for a whole 13 minutes of modifying graft. I know, I know. This amount of sweat and toil…

The allure of the Z car is one of those perennial constants in the cosmos. Like photosynthesis, gravity and those fiddly little ketchup cups you get in McDonald’s, it’s ever-present, ubiquitous and inextricably interwoven into the very fabric of the universe itself. For many of you, the Datsun 240Z will need no introduction. But if you’re in the mood for a history lesson, here it is in a nutshell: in 1969, Datsun’s S30 series emerged onto the global motoring scene like some glorious butterfly from an intricately crafted Japanese chrysalis. It was so beautiful, so perfectly proportioned, that it slightly shifted the Earth from its axis, and countless onlookers swooned to the floor, overwhelmed by its majesty (probably). Sold as the Nissan Fairlady Z in Japan and the Datsun 240Z…

If you look at the cover of this magazine, you’ll see the issue number FC395 printed in the bottom right corner. This means in just five magazines time we’ll be celebrating our 400th issue! That officially makes us bloody old. But unlike our auntie Ethel, we’ve somehow still got all of our faculties and only piss our pants once a week. To celebrate this, we’ve got lots planned, but our party piece is the gigantic car display we are planning for TRAX Silverstone on 7 October. The FC Car Culture Collection will this year morph into the FC Top 400. That’s right folks, we are rounding up 400 of the UK’s best cars and putting them in one place. It’s going to be mental! And if you’ve got a show…

We’re not a bangernomics mag by any stretch of the imagination. But what if we told you that you could pick up one of the best driver’s cars of the early 2000s for about £2,500? And that it came complete with a race-derived motor, Recaro seats and an LSD? That, ladies and gents, is the Honda Accord Type R. Amusingly, so-called enthusiasts tend to sideline this curious creation as ‘not a proper Type R’ – which is absurd, as the specialists (who know what they’re talking about) all say this is every bit as much of a driver’s car as, say, an EP3 Civic. Poised, balletic, eager to please and ready to thrill, it offers all of the silliness of a hot hatch, with an extra set of doors and…

What is it about older cars? The Japanese gems of the nineties have stolen a significant slice of our hearts, and it seems people just can’t get enough of cars like the Skyline GT-R now. All this attention is driving up prices and getting your hands on affordable examples has become a gamble. But what happens if you aren’t prepared to risk it? When only the best will do? When getting your hands on something truly unique is the only thing that matters? We’ve met up with a company that has taken a slightly different approach to sourcing and selling cars. Welcome to Garage Active, the Singer of the Skyline GT-R. Tuner-built complete cars are nothing new. From the old days of Tommykaira versions of the GT-Rs to the legendary…

The third-generation Subaru Impreza was a car that really annoyed a lot of people. The cult of the Impreza had reached a full-on, frothy fever pitch in the late 1990s and through into the new millennium. The Subaru versus Mitsubishi gravel wars raging with ever-increasing ferocity. Every fresh variant of the Impreza seemed to ramp the insanity up a level – cleverer tech, more versatile and adjustable chassis, spiralling power levels, seemingly unfathomable specific-output figures. It was nuts. If it was painted World Rally Blue and had gold Speedlines, you knew it was a thing you shouldn’t mess with at the traffic lights, or more to the point, down a twisty B-road. The ballistic three-box saloon reinforced the everyman aspiration of having a sensible family car that was actually a…

For me, a V8 should sound like a V8. But, the exhaust system on the RS4 B7 is a pretty understated affair. In fact, until you stick your foot to the floor and the exhaust valves open, there’s not much noise at all. Don’t get me wrong, it sounds superb at times, but it kind of lacks that sense of occasion you expect when you hit the push start on a V8. So a new exhaust has been high up on my list of first mods. There are quite a few available options for the RS4 B7, but after a lot of research and plenty of recommendations on the Audi forums it seemed pretty clear the best choice for me was going to be a Milltek Sport system. It’s a…

I’ve owned the RX-7 for nearly four years now, which is a pretty significant milestone for me. It’s the longest I’ve EVER owned a car. I don’t know if that’s because I’m prone to blowing ’em up, or simply because I get bored easily. What I do know is, I try not to get too attached to cars, because there’s so many left to own and experience, it’d be a shame to just have the one… Which is why the decision to get rid of the RX-7 hasn’t been an easy one. I’ve got nothing but good memories of that car, but after nearly four years of (relatively) trouble-free mileage it’s time for a change. But why now? For a start, I’ve run out of things to do to it.…

LEWIS FORD’S GLANZA V FC says : The fascinating story of how owner Lewis here managed to transform his once ropey, turbocharged Starlet hatchback into something really rather awesome is one that all of us could do with taking some inspiration from. “I haven’t thrown money at someone else to build a car for me; I tried to instead do most of the work myself and as a result have learnt so much from building the car. I hope others appreciate it as much as I do!” A painter by trade, perhaps the most impressive change comes from that stunning re-spray performed in a military-inspired shade of khaki green. The bodywork also benefits from those JDM Livesports front wings, as well as a set of instantly recognisable three-spoked Advan alloys,…

A couple of months ago we gave away 500 quids’ worth of Japfest Silverstone tickets, and guess what? We’re going one better this time by giving away 10 pairs of WEEKEND passes to Fast Car Entertainment’s brand-spanking-new events, Japfest and TRAX Donington! That’s £720 worth of tickets we are giving away for free. Japfest Donington takes place on Saturday 30 June, and following it, TRAX Donington will be on Sunday 1 July. The winners will also receive a special-edition of Banzai and Fast Car magazine and two free T-shirts. That’s 72 pounds’ worth of stuff for simply hitting the link below and entering your details. We’re not even going to ask you a silly question, like how do you spell Nissan. It’s really that simple and easy. If you don’t…

The niche verb ‘to 86’ is a useful one to have in your vocabulary. It means to get rid of something or someone, and it’s one of those age-old terms whose origins have been all but lost. Some claim it came from 1930s numeric restaurant slang, where number 86 meant ‘we’re all out of it’. Others say it came form Prohibition-era New York City and specifically a bar called Chumley’s, which had a separate exit at 86 Bedford Street for the punters to leg it out of when the feds arrived – when there was a raid, they’d 86 the customers. Whatever the truth, it’s a handy phrase to know. Of course, to petrolheads like us, that number has an entirely different meaning. Eighty-six translates to hachi-roku in Japanese, and…

AAM COMPETITION TWIN TURBO KIT, £9,995 What’s this? The sexiest coffee table known to man? Well, sure, slap a sheet of glass on top and it probably would be. But for once at least that’s not the most important thing. Nope, what we’ve got here is the first fully-integrated, bolt-on turbo kit for the big, bad Nissan V6 you’ll find in the 350Z, 370Z and the odd (massively underrated) Infiniti G35 or 37. It’s arguably an engine that’s always been begging for some nutter to slap a metal snail on each side… even though it pushes some serious grunt as standard. In this case the boost is provided by a couple of BorgWarner’s finest water-cooled blowers, and AAM are the nutters that have designed a comprehensive kit containing everything you…

The Mitsubishi Evolution, Subaru Impreza and Mazda RX-7 are iconic Japanese cars made famous by their highly tunable turbocharged engines. Ironic then, that it’s not the original engines that make these examples good, but the aftermarket swaps that have propelled them into greatness. The Toyota Hilux in this section has also been propelled to new levels, but this classic pick-up needed more than an engine swap to grace these pages, let’s just say there’s now as much Mazda MX-5 in this retro Hilux as there’s Toyota. Intrigued? So you should be. Enjoy……

There’s no doubt the Mazda rotary engine is an awesome piece of kit. Nobody could think any differently if they experienced a really good one. Which is why rotary fans are fanatical – usually disgusted by the mere thought of swapping a piston engine in to a RX-7. The trouble is, the rotary engine is temperamental at best, a nightmare at worst, and more suited to a race car than an every day road car. So probably more people have experienced the bad sides to them than the good, and that’s given them a somewhat undeservedly bad reputation. The engines might scare off a lot of people. But the rest of the car, well, nobody in their right mind can say they’re anything but awesome. Stunning looks, big brakes, great…

Now you have seen the first issue of this build you probably either love it or hate it. But either way, I bet you’re still reading this... Anyway, back to the build. The drive unit does not just work straight out of the Tesla. It needs a specially developed control board from Zero EV which gives complete control and removes Tesla’s software parameters. In English, this means I can push the motor past its normal limits, meaning even more power and torque than any Tesla out there. And who doesn’t like the idea of more POWER? No one! In order to get more power and torque you need batteries that can provide enough juice. The best option for this project are Chevy Volt battery packs. We just need to work…

Nope, we’re not going to offer you half the trade price for your car like those websites, instead we want to give you the chance of being featured in the best modified car mag on the planet! So if you own a cool as a cucumber car and think it’s worthy of the pages of Fast Car, then we’d love to see it. Please send a selection of good quality images, and a spec to jules.truss@kelseymedia.co.uk and use ‘Feature Car’ in the subject. If we like it, we’ll get back to you to arrange a photoshoot. Simples.…

Spot the mistake The big man is always going on about how Initial G likes to test him on the regular, but we didn’t believe him, until he sent us these un-proofed examples. Good job Jules is a bit on the eagle-eyed side, eh? Would you have spotted these the first time around? FC Nutritional Advice, part 2 Last month we promised we’d bring you more nutritional advice from our very own three-time Slimming World Slimmer of the Week. So, with a full sin-free fry-up for breakfast already in your belly, the way to brunch like a champ is to hit the fruit hard. You can have as many of your five-a-day as you want (even if it’s actually 10-a-day) and there’s no sins to worry about at all. You…