Innehållsförteckning för May 2020 från Fast Car

I mean yeah, of course there’s still a huge choice of fast cars available to buy today, and arguably their chassis technology and all the fun stuff is better than it’s ever been. But why have all the car-makers collectively decided to kill off the traditional manual handbrake? The only reason I can figure is that they don’t want you to dick about with it, which frankly isn’t playing fair. It’s my decision how I use that handle. If I choose to, say, change my mind about which direction I’m driving in at night in a deserted car park and feel I should quickly be pointing 180-degrees the other way, that should be my lookout. If I’m having some fun up a hill on a country lane which is richly…

PIONEER SPH-EVO8TAB-BT TABLET HEADUNIT, £399 We’ve seen ‘face-off’ stereos before, but this is ridiculous… ridiculous and extremely fapping cool. Yep, clearly Pioneer aren’t ones to merely upset the audio world apple cart, they prefer to load the bastard up with Semtex and blow it into lovely little fruity pieces. So, what is it? A super-slick 8-inch tablet that mounts to a hard-wired receiver in your car, that’s what. And yes, it’s exactly as epic as it sounds. Perhaps the best thing, though, is that it’s not some sort of sales gimmick. While you still get all the audiophile-pleasing features that Pioneer is so renowned for – 13-band EQs and all that jazz – now the whole lot comes in a portable package complete with a quad-core processor, a camera, a…

LITCHFIELD PERFORMANCE STAGE UPGRADES, FROM £1185 These guys have established themselves as the UK’s premier GT-R tuners and offer a whole host of performance packages. Stage one will see power increase to 590bhp, stage 2 takes this up to 610bhp, and you can keep going until you reach stage 5 where you’ll be staring down the barrel of 775bhp! www.litchfieldmotors.com LB WORKS GT-R KIT, £11,920 We still remember the first time we saw a Liberty Walk-kitted GT-R at SEMA and our jaws have only just recovered from hitting the floor. If you think this kit has been done to death, then tell us the last time you saw one pass you on the road…! Yeah, they might be common in cyberspace but we can guarantee you won’t see another one…

We all get into mischief when we’re teenagers, that’s just life. You’ve got to push the boundaries and find the limits of what you can achieve (and what you can get away with). Although for Mark Shepstone – known to everybody as ‘Sheep’, so that’s what we’ll call him – this idea was taken rather literally. A Citroën Saxo Mischief, to be precise, the special-edition hatchback in vivid Inbetweeners-yellow that he started out with when he first got his licence. “I loved that car,” says Sheep. “As much as it was held together with rust and Irn-Bru cans, it was still my baby. It didn’t really get too many mods; the odd painted badge and new speakers, and obviously chrome Lexus lights! That car made the journey for a 1.6…

Comebacks are, more often than not, rather exciting. When Charlie Sheen returned from his rollercoaster of narcotic rants to the comforting bosom of network television, the entertainment world was on the edge of its seat. Ozzy Osbourne’s shaking form on reality TV bonanza The Osbournes showed a man visibly damaged, but undeniably triumphant. When Paul Weller knocked Wild Wood out of the park in ’93, the vagaries of the Style Council were all but forgotten as the Modfather returned reborn. It’s true to say that comebacks are, assuming you ignore the ill-fated Spice Girls musical, generally considered to be pretty stonking news. So, ladies and gentlemen, allow us to present the glorious return of the B3 Audi Coupe. Naturally, to many enthusiasts in the scene, the B3 never really went…

Name: Tom Clarke Job Role: Senior Marketer, Meguiar’s UK Has it been four weeks since my last update already? Doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun and you’ve got a build deadline approaching? To be fair, Gary at GM Bodycraft has had a very productive few weeks and I’m pleased to say the majority of the fabricating has now been completed. This includes new engine and gearbox mounts, a narrowed Volvo 240 axle and a raised subframe. Plus a new gearbox housing needed to be made to allow for the new ‘box and because the aim is to roll as low as possible, a new tunnel and diff housing were created from scratch and installed too. So yeah, some pretty big jobs have been ticked off the list. With all…

By the time you read this, we will have had our official media day, where we’ll (hopefully) have had the fastest times of the day, and not found either of the cars buried in the gravel traps. Silverstone’s International Circuit is a new one to us. In fact, none of the BTCC grid have tested here yet, so it’ll have been a blank slate for all of us. Since you last heard from us, we’ve been busy beavering away on everything from mechanical development to our newest livery and clothing designs. Contrary to what some people think, our BTCC cars don’t just appear on the grid for a few weekends a year. No, there’s a team of 10 people that work on them. Constantly. All year round. Because of the…

Badass! It’s the only way to describe it. Sitting on Des Morris’ sofa in Sarf East Landan watching videos of him literally destroying Golf Rs whilst hitting speeds that we really shouldn’t mention here, it’s soon apparent that this car is mental. “I can’t even tell the difference between high and low boost to be honest, either way it’s mad,” Des laughs. Whereas nowadays ABS sensors and ECU controlled systems are required to allow enough slip angle to make sideways tomfoolery artificially possible in modern day uber hatches, back in the late ‘70s, twin 48 carbs and head work were pretty much all you needed to go everywhere in a cloud of sideways intoxication. Rally stages echoed to the bark and mwaaarrrp of highly strung, high lift, naturally aspirated fours…

In an increasingly complex world, we could all learn a lesson from Mantas Šliogeris. Forget your app updates and your skinny vegan vanilla lattes, your FitBit targets and your relentless bloody hashtags – free your life from complexity, take things back to basics, and reap the rewards of a stress-free existence. “It seems that my no-stress approach, just trying to enjoy myself and focus on my own lap times, is paying off,” he shrugs. And given that he was recently crowned Gymkhana GRiD World Champion in an MX-5 that he drove to and from the finals (on public roads with number plates and everything), he’s probably onto something. “ he was recently crowned Gymkhana GRiD World Champion in an MX-5 that he drove to and from the finals” So how…

Not even coronavirus could stop the yearly FC pilgrimage to the quiet little corner of the West Midlands that is Telford for the genre-defining, taste sensation that is Ultimate Dubs. Every year for the past decade we’ve paid homage to the eclectic, often trendsetting tastes of the Dub scene, and 2020 was no exception. Officially the UK’s largest indoor VAG gathering, bringing together the best VW, Audi, Seat, Skoda, Porsche and Lambos from across Europe, this event never fails to impress. Thanks to the hard work of Dean Bergeson and his merry band of men and women who make this gathering happen, we keep coming back for more. This year was very much the turn of the retro machines to shine. Car of the show went to the simply sublime…

Whether you’re widening the track for better handling, helping your wheels clear enormous brake calipers, or just striving for the perfect arch-to-lip stance ratio, wheel spacers are an essential modding tool nowadays. The trouble is getting the right ones, especially on the more off-the-wall cars, can be a right pain in the bum. Let’s face it, custom spacers are ludicrously expensive, specific-fit hub-centric items can be hard to find, and those cheap universal shim jobs? Well, they’re just plain dangerous. So, all this is why we reckon these DZX kits could be a real game changer – a term we don’t use lightly. What we have here is genius of the highest order; the sort of idea that makes you wonder why no one’s actually done it before. What’s important,…

Any car can be a track car. You’ve literally just got to drive a car onto a track and bingo, you’ve already won. The first stage, really, is to teach yourself to be a track driver: adjust your methods of driving so that you’re essentially unlearning all of the good habits you use around town to be more aggressive on the circuit. Late braking, wide-open throttle, taking racing lines through corners, all the things you wouldn’t do on the way to Tesco (unless you’re some kind of terrifying menace to society). As your skills grow and you start to reach the limits of the car, you can begin to refine and optimise things to improve the experience – upgrading to some quality track-biased tyres, fitting more aggressive brake pads, uprating…

Last season Tom’s R5 GTT build just pipped Dale’s awesome W114 build. And now Dale wants his revenge. So, they’re both back with their new projects, and, of course, we’re here to document the builds. The deadline for the finished projects is Players Classic at Goodwood on the 20/06/2020. This might seem like an age away but when you find out what they’ve got planned, there’s really not much time at all. Let the battle commence……

them. But, if I’m honest, I still have my own MX-5, a shed load of spare parts, and no qualms about cheating to beat Jules. Unfortunately, Jules knows me too well and, after beating me in rock paper scissors, he won the right to modify the little Mazda. Bugger. Still never mind, eh? An MR2 it is, and I thought a nice Mk1 or a fast Mk2 would be rather wonderful. But no, what came around the corner wasn’t a MR2 at all, it was an MR-S. Okay, so that’s a technicality and I’m not saying that I don’t like the W30 because it could have been far worse, but there’s no denying that the ‘Roadster’ is perhaps the least desirable of all the MR2s. But to be honest, I…

LOOK MUM, WE’RE ON TV! If you like those little photos of us on the ‘Ed Start’ page and fancy seeing something similar that’s moving, and with sound and in colour, then boy have we got a treat for you. You’ve seen our YouTube channel, right? Of course you have, it’s right up your street. The Fast Car Entertainment channel is where we share videos of test drives, show reports, all the stuff that makes the scene tick… plus there’s a clip on there of Midge really struggling with reality after Jules forces him to eat a mashed-up octopus, so that alone is worth a look. Anyway, it’s all set to level up in 2020! In the springtime we’re going to be launching Fast Car TV, a brand new weekly…

A wide-arch, big-wing Supra built to a tight deadline in California and more than capable of pulling focus from American muscle. It’s the classic story that thrilled millions, but here in 2020 the fourth-generation Supra is a modern classic that’s commanding record auction prices. It’s time for a reboot and Toyota has obliged with the gen-five machine. Some mourn the BMW bits, others grieve that it doesn’t look quite like the concept but the fundamentals are right here and right up to date. Check these Pandem arches and it’s clear: the new model takes personalisation just as well as its predecessor. Tuners across the globe haven’t wasted a second in exploring the Toyota coupe. Sales began in May 2019 and, barely six months later, more than 25 modified Supras were…

CANCHECKED MFD28 DISPLAY, FROM £342 We love a spot of the clever stuff here at FC, it’s probably why we put up with our G banging on about quantum physics all day, and Jules talking about… er okay, that’s a bad example (hey! – Jules). But, even so, this stupidly trick CANchecked display has been blowing our noodles this month, because it’s packing more features than you can shake your proverbial gearstick at. What we like most is the almost limitless potential that these little 2.8-inch capacitive touchscreens offer for modern motors that run a dreaded CANbus interface. But, it’s not only that – these little boxes of electronic wizardry also work with just about any aftermarket ECU; even cars that use a serial interface. But, what about those features?…

Fitting Time: Give yourself a good couple of hours… and then plenty more for them to dry. Costs: From £12 Yep, you’ll be needing some tinting spray, and the most common are red or smoked products. We’ve seen blue, greens and even yellows over the years, but they haven’t exactly stood the test of time. In any case, sprays are relatively inexpensive, you can pick up a small can from your local Euro Car Parts for around 12-quid, and that should be more than enough to tint both rear clusters. The thing to think about here is first the colour, and then how dark you’ll be going. For obvious reasons, tinting sprays are designed to be used lightly, rather than totally black out your lights. In the UK at least,…

Getting your car ready for the track is job one. Start by fitting your towing eyes, if they’re the type that need fitting, and then make sure all your fluids are at the right levels. Check your tyre pressures, the state of your brakes, that your wheel nuts are done up tight, and that you haven’t left anything loose in the car that’ll start flying about. They’re the basics – oh, and you’ll be needing a helmet. And what are the best track mods to make to your car? Well, it totally depends on the car and the driver, but any of the following would be a great place to start: firstly, you need good quality brakes that you can rely on. Upgrading the pads and fluid can make a…

Okay, so it’s not strictly a new car, it’s a 12-year-old one, but you know what I mean. Since I sold my E92 last April, I’ve been craving another coupe, and I’ve always fancied Audi’s offering in the form of the A5. So when a local chap decided he wanted rid of his 2.7-litre TDi to make some room, I decided to make him a cheeky offer. He accepted, and the rest is history. That first drive home is never the most fun. When you’ve dropped a few grand on a new car, your brain goes into overdrive as you listen to every noise and expect the worst. But I didn’t have that unnerving feeling with this car because I bought it from a mechanic, so I knew it was…

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.…