Innehållsförteckning för September 2019 från Fast Car

Brackley-based BBR has been tweaking Mazda MX-5s from the start, and when they develop an upgrade package you know it’s going to be good. The ND-generation model has been with us for a few years now, which has allowed plenty of time for the aftermarket to really refine their offerings as well as the used value of these cars to dip to some pretty acceptable levels. The upshot of all this is that you can pick up an early ND for under £10k, then talk to BBR about tweaking it up above the desirable 100bhp-per-litre level. The company also claim that this is the first time they’ve been able to make these numbers without having to change any engine internals, which tells you how good those new-gen SkyActiv engines are……

“THE MOST IMPRESSIVE FIGURES DON’T COME FROM THE ENGINE BUT THE CHASSIS” Are you bored of reading about the new Toyota Supra yet? No, well that’s good because this is the only review you need to base your opinion on. Obviously the mainstream press has gone for the ‘it’s a rebadged BMW Z4’ angle, and, to be fair, it’s a valid point as it shares a huge amount of hardware including the platform and in line 6-pot engine. But to be honest, that’s too easy and we’re not really bothered by the BMW Z4. For us, the Supra has always been Toyota’s answer to the Nissan Skyline. It’s one of the age-old debates that still rages on today. Being the editor of this fine publication, I’ll always try to remain…

There was a time when the Nissan GT-R offered a cut-price alternative to the premium sports car market; a way to bloody the noses of Porsche 911 drivers and say ‘Yeah, I’m quicker than you, and I spent half as much’. That, er, isn’t so much the case any more. Look at the forthcoming GT-R NISMO – it’s going to cost £174,995. That’s rather a lot of money. Pretty astonishing car, though, it has to be said. It takes everything we know about the GT-R and makes it even angrier. It’s got new turbos pinched from the GT3 race car (the vanes are 0.3 millimetres thinner, ooh…), a revised titanium exhaust system, a carbon fibre roof, new Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes, specially developed lightweight RAYS wheels, and retuned Bilstein DampTronic shocks.…

We’ve seen a lot of weird stuff done to wheels over the years, but this might be the first time Fast Car has seen rims trimmed in leather. Max put these together with the help of buddy Laurence Burchall, taking a pattern of the custom split-rim Porsche cookie cutters’ centres, cutting it out in leather, stitching it together, then twin-stitching in contrasting thread. The beautifully finished faces of the wheels then had to be savagely scuffed up to enable the adhesive to stick properly, and then it was a case of very slowly and painstakingly applying the new leather covers to the wheels. Looks awesome, doesn’t it? No wonder Max recently walked away with a Top Ten award at the Players Classic… The original centre caps were trimmed to match,…

The creative tension between form and function has sat at the core of project car builds from the very beginning of modifying itself. Ever since Karl Benz looked at his Patent-Motorwagen back in 1885 and thought, “You know what, I might stick another wheel on that” [facts may vary, consult a historian], there’s been a quagmire of internal wrangling: do I make it go faster, or look better? Of course, if you’re doing it properly, it’s entirely possible to achieve both at once. Behold the Mk2 Fiesta hillclimber you see before you. Staggeringly attractive, isn’t it? It looks like the sort of thing Darth Vader would tear about in when he grows weary of annihilating planets and pops off for half an hour to obliterate some hydrocarbons instead. And yet,…

We all know that any car needs regular servicing to keep it in tip-top shape, that’s why most cars have a 10-12K mile, or yearly interval where you need to take it in to a garage to get your book stamped. The truth is though, you can never really service a car too often, and that goes double if it’s hard driven, you cover far more than the average miles in a year, or if you are partial to the odd track day. What we’re doing this time is a simple home oil service. We’re not suggesting that you never take your car to the professionals of course. Many will check the whole thing over and advise on other work that needs doing. But, when you know that all is…

The Subaru Impreza is a lot of things. A rally icon, a B-road hooligan, an appreciating modern classic, a practical family car that’s also a ballistic weapon. One thing it isn’t however, is a drift car. That’s not to say it hasn’t been done, there are a few drifters out there who’ve converted Scoobs to RWD and gone out to run the wall and drop a few jaws, but it’s fair to say that this revered Japanese everyday-hero has almost always been chalked up as ‘grip’ rather than ‘slip’ on the performance ledger. In this particular case, the Impreza has taken on yet another function: a soothing tonic, a mopping cloth for the fevered brow, a rewire for a fused brain. Because when the black dog on Perry Feighan’s shoulder…

It’s fair to say the car show calendar has become somewhat congested over recent years, as it seems every man and his blog launches some new ‘must go to’ show. The thing is, it’s never been easier to launch a show. You can chuck a website up in five minutes, set up some social media channels in even less time and then there’s the promo video. In this day and age, you can film, edit and publish a fairly decent offering using nothing more than your smartphone and a few drone shots. A few years back you’d need a helicopter for the latter! But, one thing you can’t build quickly is trust and a reputation for delivering a great show year on year. But, where many have tried and failed,…

SLIM JULES’ SUZUKI ALTO The Suzuki and Jules prepare for battle at Donington! But will Jules’ measly modifying efforts pay dividend? MAIN MODS : BC COILOVERS • NANKANGAR-1 TYRES• ROTA RB •TYRE STICKERS • CUSTOM FRONT ARCHES MIDGE’S DAIHATSU SIRION The problem with these next two challenges is they require driver skill, which Midge doesn’t have. MAIN MODS: BC COILOVERS • NANKANG AR-1 TYRES• ROLL CAGE • POLYCARBONATE WINDOWS•COBRA BUCKET SEAT SLIM JULES’ BMW E91 Jules has given his daily a thoroughly good service (I think you’ll find I did that – Midge) MAIN INCH : BC COILOVERS • 3SDM 0.04 WHEELS • HYDRO-DIPPED INTERIOR • TINTS • CARBON M SPORT WHEEL…

So at Japfest Donington the challenge was to take on the handling course but this time the cars would be piloted by the same driver – yeah that tall bloke off the telly and friend of Fast Car, Mr Paul Cowland. The reason for this? Because Midge couldn’t actually make the show due to his brother-in-law’s wedding, although we suspect other reasons for the whistle and flute, with the most likely explanation being a court appearance. So as we handed over the keys to Paul, it was now time to see if all the changes the boys had made since Japfest Silverstone had paid off with the two editors employing different strategies. Jules seems to have done very little to the Alto, apart from sticking some arches on the front…

It’s often said that cars have a face. You can see the logic of it really – two headlights representing the eyes, a grille for the mouth (or sometimes the nostrils); some cars, like the 2nd-gen Mazda3 and the Austin Healey Frogeye Sprite, look dementedly happy. The rear end of the SEAT Altea XL looks incredibly sad, like a clinically depressed robot. And the Model A Ford we have here? Well, it doesn’t so much have a face as a personality, an aura: a really bloody scary one. This is the kind of car that’d give small children nightmares. Hell, it’s making our palms sweat, and we’ve seen the Scream trilogy twice and hardly hid behind the sofa at all. Its nickname is ‘The Marauder’, a term which describes those…

SLIM JULES EDITOR “My favourite car in this issue? I’ve already said above. But if I had to choose I’d take the Model A.” MIDGE CONTRIBUTING EDITOR “My favourite car in this issue is obviously my Daihatsu Sirion – but the Mk2 Fiesta is definitely a close second!” INITIAL G ART EDITOR “It’s the Model A for me too. I had one as my first car when they first rolled off the production line.” GLENDA WEBSITE EDITOR “Well, there’s no Audis in here this month, so I’ll have to go for Max’s Golf as that’s the nearest thing to Germany’s finest.”…

Well, we didn’t see this one coming. You see, Lotus has always been aligned to a very strict set of principles; we all know the maxims coined by company founder Colin Chapman – ‘Simplify, then add lightness’, ‘Adding power makes you faster on the straights; subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere’… The whole point of a Lotus is that it doesn’t need to be hugely powerful, it just needs to be light enough to exploit that power effectively. So we really didn’t expect Lotus to suddenly announce that it was about to start building the world’s most powerful production car. What’s happened here is that the new Chinese management, Geely Auto, has injected a huge amount of cash and enabled Lotus to build a clean-sheet electric hypercar, which is totally unprecedented. The target…

Fans of the boxfresh Supra will be pleased to learn that it’s officially got a date with the track: Toyota has announced that the Supra GT4 will compete in global GT4 racing series as a customer racer. Developed by in-house competition arm Gazoo Racing, the track-honed version is lower and sleeker with much more aggressive aero, and, as you’d expect, the interior’s been torn out and replaced with a mighty rollcage and single bucket seat. The chassis gets race-spec springs, dampers and ARBs along with vast Brembo brakes and lightweight OZ Racing wheels. Interestingly, the aero parts aren’t made of carbon fibre, but sustainable materials including flax and hemp – so it may be a hardcore race car, but it’s good for the environment too. Kinda.…

I’m not talking about the ‘Merit’ sticker on your old Nova, or anything gummed on by the manufacturer – no, it’s the things people decide to stick onto their own rear ends that’s been getting my goat. I mean sure, stickers can be cool – an obscure JDM brand logo on your ricer road-racer, or an ironic National Trust sticker on your V8-toting sleeper, or something to signify a club you’re in or a show-and-shine you’ve won… and yes, some people have a problem with those little stickers showing your Instagram handle, although I’m totally cool with those. You can look up the car, find out more about it, and that’s fine. But I think there’s a formula for how many stickers you can have on your back window; it’s…

Name: Max Hawkes Age: 22 Occupation: Automotive Trimmer at d:class Instagram: @max.3.5 First car: VW Lupo Favourite car: Mazda RX-7 Favourite mod on your car: The full retrim – people underestimate how much difference it makes within a car Favourite show: Players Classic Track day or show-and-shine? Show and shine Lessons learned from this project: 1) Not to waste money on four unusable ornaments; 2) Don’t stress, it’s only a car – someone will know what to do; 3) It’s much more fun and satisfying to do things yourself What’s next? 20VT engine swap in my Mk2 Golf, and a full nut-and-bolt restoration of my 1965 Beetle, hopefully to a standard that goes beyond even this car…

KLEERS HELMET SANITISER, £5 What self-respecting 21st Century gentleman doesn’t need some of this in their life? (You speak for yourself son! – Jules) Stop sniggering though, because this rather novel helmet sanitiser will not only make your sweaty… er, let’s just say ‘lid’, smell all nice and fresh. But it also uses silver ions to kill bacteria and help stop it re-growing in-between the most hardcore of sessions. Apparently, the ladies can use it too… www.aaoil.co.uk DIRENZA GOLF GTD DPF DELETE, £190 We all know that turbo diesel motors are silly-tuneable, and we see more and more hitting the circuit these days… and not just Audi’s Le Mans winning oil-burners either. VAG diesels have always been some of the best though, and this new DPF delete for the popular…

Noblechairs EPIC Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Motorsport Edition, £349.99 These new Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS edition noblechairs might be aimed at the gaming market and F1 enthusiasts but we think they’re exactly what every home office in the UK needs, too! Key features include high-grade faux leather, PETRONAS green stitching, carbon-effect side bolsters and those comfy embroidered neck and lumbar pillows. The design characteristics take inspiration from the F1 W09 EQ Power+ Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Motorsport F1™ car. The ergonomic design of noblechairs EPIC series is EN-1335 certified for prolonged office use and features a solid steel frame and cold-cure foam to ensure long-lasting comfort. Basically they’ll make those ‘working-from-home’ days fly past. www.overclockers.co.uk Your Motor Cushion, £50.00 Technological advancement is going at a crazy rate; you can now have the favourite picture of your…

Fitting Time: Give yourself a couple of hours, just to be safe. Cost: Oil filter, from £5 Pollen filter, from £8 Air filter, from £9 Oil, from £30 Sump plugs/washers, from £1 Our Costs: BMW 325i E91 Oil filter – £11.49 Pollen filter – £25.49 Air filter – £26.99 5w40 (6-litres) oil - £68.48 Sump plug - £2.29 All the parts you need will be vehicle-specific, even the oil has to be the correct grade. The essential thing is to make sure that you have the right gear, parts that are designed to fit your car exactly. There’s nothing worse than getting halfway through a job like an oil change and finding you have the wrong filter, it’s not like you can use the car to go get a new…

Mention the word “Thailand” to most people and they’ll think of unspoiled golden beaches, amazing food and a nightlife that’s best described as lively. It’s the chosen destination for many Brits who want a taste of paradise or for those looking to party hard. If you’ve never been to Thailand, you may think the locals all drive tuk-tuks, and to be fair, a lot of them do. But away from the bustling streets, there’s a vibrant car scene. That’s because the Thais are bang into their modified cars – the more unusual, the better. There’s something hugely satisfying about taking a mundane vehicle and transforming it into something that stops folk in their tracks; the kind of thing that gets non-car people asking “what is it?” And “why did you…

ZERO EV TESLA-POWERED R32 DRIFTER Has the EV Skyline finally run out of battery? Nope, they’ve just been busy moving into their new unit. MAIN MODS : TESLA ELECTRIC MOTOR • PB COILOVERS • JAFFA CAKES • 19-INCH WHEELS MIDGE’S AUDI TT After suffering a humiliating defeat to Jules at Donington, Midge has been too depressed to talk let alone modify his TT. MAIN MODS: 3M WRAP I • VOSSEN P N WHEELS • AIR LIFT SUSPENSION • TUNED S ENGINE • ICE INSTALL GLENDA’S AUDI RS4 It’s been so long since we’ve seen the RS4, we’re not sure if it is missing in action or if it’s actually dead… MAIN MODS: MILLTEK EXHAUST • KW COILOVERS • KENWOOD HEADUNIT MIDGE’S BEETLE 1.8T The Beetle has suffered the same fate…

With Midge back from court, er, we mean his brother-in-law’s wedding, it was time for the guys to climb back into their respective cars and head out onto the famous Donington tarmac… Both, Jules and Midge seemed rather nervous about the situation due to issues with tyre scrubbing in the handling course. Jules said: “I’m rather nervous about the situation due to tyre-scrubbing issues that the car suffered in the handling course.” We told them both to man up, stop making excuses and get out there. Anyone who’s been on a track day will know that you’re not allowed to time your laps so this one would be judged on the visual gap and amount of laps the guys would do on their dedicated 20-minute slot. That’s right, like the…

The Chevrolet Corvette is such an important and iconic feature of the motoring landscape; it’s hard to imagine a world without it. The name first appeared way back in 1953 on a pretty little roadster, named after a warship and toting a choice of straight-six or V8 motors, and it kicked off a tradition that’s been underpinning automotive culture ever since. Whatever else has been happening in the world, we’ve always been able to rely on the fact that the Corvette is a plastic-bodied sports car with a big engine in the front, power going to the back, and so much baked-in Americana that it might as well be made from apple pie. …Until now, that is. Because the all new C8 Corvette is here to shake things up. It…

Then: £27,325 Now: £9,500 The GT86 is one of our favourite cars right now, and its increasing affordability means that it’s becoming more and more popular in the modding scene. It’s still a current model in the Toyota showrooms and the price of a brand new unoptioned one starts at £27,325, but we’re starting to see early 2012/2013 cars on the market dipping under the £9,500 mark, which is incredible value for money. This was a model developed in tandem by Toyota and Subaru, which is why you sometimes see these cars wearing Subaru BRZ badges instead – they’re essentially the same car, aside from a few minor bumper design changes and alterations to spring rates. (In factory-stock form the Subaru’s set up for grip, whereas the Toyota’s designed to…

The pursuit of effortlessness is something that really characterises the modern world. A huge amount of effort goes into the act of making life simpler – just look at the radically reworked interior of Max Hawkes Mk3.5 Golf cabrio for proof. He can take his phone out of his pocket and leave it on his custom wireless charger, and it’ll automatically start working with the wireless CarPlay function on his cutting-edge Kenwood headunit. How clever is that? This act of casual simplicity is shored up by an incredible level of complexity and effort, and that serves as a symbol for the car as a whole. Classy, crisp, tastefully finished… what appears at first glance to simply be a nicely looked after 1990s Golf reveals ever-deeper layers of graft and sweat…

Gone are the days when everyone wanted an enormous heavy showpiece of an amplifier in their boot to impress their mates. The world has moved on and crucially so has the technology. Nowadays the power that used to take the sort of hardware that needed a Eddie Stobart special to cart around can be served up in a minuscule package. And this duo of brand-new 4-channel units from Pioneer are clearly some of the best examples to be found in 2019. These compact full-system amps are called the GM-D8704 and GM-D9704, so obviously the silly names from back in the day (like ‘Bowel Buster’ and ‘Inhalator’) have gone too. But what’s most important here is that they’re only about the size of this page, which is not only tiny for…

When did the world turn greyscale? Look out of the window right now, we can guarantee that about ninety-percent of the cars you can see will be white, black or silver. Where’s the fun in that? It used to be the case that the most popular choice was ‘resale red’, but the buying public are far too conservative these days. That’s not to say that manufacturers aren’t having their fun, of course. While the Smiths next door may be most likely to spec their Qashqai in something anonymous and inoffensive, there are still plenty of unusual paint shades populating the colour charts if you dig deep enough; the enduring popularity of matte and satin finishes means that BMW will happily sell you an M4 in Frozen Grey, Bentley offer a…

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 to be featured in the best modified car mag on the planet! So, if you own a cool-as-a-cucumber car you think is worthy of Fast Car, we’d love to see it. Please send a selection of good quality images and a spec to jules.truss@kelsey.co.uk, with ‘Feature Car’ as the subject. If we like it, we’ll get back to you to arrange a photoshoot. Simples.…

That’s right people, I’ve reached a point with my E91 where I’m not sure what to do next. It’s now a really nice daily driver and perfect for doing the jobs I bought it for while also looking relatively pretty on the road. The inside is a nice place to be and the JVC KW-M745DBT headunit is an absolute joy to use. But do I carry on spending money on the car, making it more impractical with each modification and diluting the car’s sole purpose, or do I sell up and start again? I keep finding myself searching for retro Japanese cars on eBay. Don’t ask me why but I really fancy a second generation Honda Legend – in particular the coupé version, and, of course, my 300zx itch still…

KALLUM SPENCER’S HONDA CIVIC FC says: We’re guessing our friend Kallum here isn’t the subtlest of guys judging by the crazy livery on his EJ2 Civic Coupe! Kallum has been a long-time reader of Fast Car and believes his car deserves a Readers’ Ride spot because it’s different to a lot of cars currently doing the rounds – and you know what Kallum? You’re not wrong, hence why we are giving you the main spot this issue. As well as that custom livery, Kallum has added a bunch of exterior enhancements too, including the Mugen-style splitter and carbon bonnet. But perhaps the most work has taken place under the bonnet – not only has Kallum swapped out the engine for a B16a2, he’s also given it a tidy power…

Hot Stuff What’s that, the hottest July on record? You ain’t kidding. What we can’t understand though, is why our Midge, a bloke who goes on holiday every 27-seconds, was complaining about it being a little ‘tropical’ in his gaff. Then again, he always did claim that he was hot stuff in the bedroom… a view that’s definitely not shared by his missus. How’s Your Luck? Our Glenda may have thought he was showing off somewhat when he sent us this wonderful, and just a little smug, selfie of him at a Spanish cathedral. But what he didn’t realise is that we were experiencing a heatwave at the time, we were all in the pub, and it was hotter in Pontefract than Palma. Still, at least he’s not one to…