Innehållsförteckning för No 240 December 2016 från NZ Performance Car

This month marks a rather special occasion here at NZ Performance Car — we are turning 20 years old! That’s a whopping 240 monthly issues put together by the team, some of who have come and gone over that time. Some current staff members (myself excluded) were still in nappies back in 1996, when the very first copy rolled off the printing press. In print-magazine terms, 20 is a whopping number, and one that anyone who has ever had anything to do with this magazine — including those who actually purchased a copy now and then — should take some pride in. Let’s be honest, New Zealand is tiny, and the fact that we are still able to print a mag dedicated to performance cars when many other much bigger…

It’s been 22 years since a factory-backed Nissan GT-R stormed to victory in the Pukekohe 500 (check that car out on page 76), but 2016 could see history repeat itself when Nissan Motorsports returns to our soil with an R35 GT3 to contest the final two rounds of the Australian GT Championship at the Hampton Downs 101 and Highlands 101. Just as in the early ’90s, when the Gibson Motorsport– run Group A GT-R campaigned two events back-to-back using a machine with Bathurst-winning credentials, 2016 will see the two-time Bathurst 12 Hour podium-placing No. 35 Nismo GT-R GT3, prepared by Team Kelly, aka Nissan Motorsport Australia, fronting up to the grid. The car is being updated to the latest 2015 specifications, with the update said to bring better fuel economy,…

When we pulled it out of the paddock from the back of that pig farm in Rotorua, I never thought it would end up like this,” Steve Ellicott told us over the raucous pulsing of his 13B. This was a build that sort of fell into his lap. It was nothing but a stripped shell, rotting away on the back of a farm, when Ryan — a good mate of Steve’s — purchased the wagon purely for its gutter chrome, then gave him the shell as payment for some tube framing. Steve wasn’t looking for a project at the time, as he still owned his infamous 1300 coupe — but, with the wagon sitting in his shed, plans started to formulate inside that mind of his. Plans to build a…

When government officials changed the law to allow used Japanese vehicles to be imported into New Zealand, little did they know that a new scene would evolve because of it. The law change took place in 1984, and, before long, the range of vehicles available to drive on local roads was far greater than ever before. While originally the move offered families lower-priced runabouts, eventually, more and more performance-style cars started to land on our shores. Those performance offerings provided a bang-for-buck far beyond what was previously imaginable, and with that newfound affordable performance came a fresh generation of car lovers. A decade or so later, with the performance-car scene establishing itself, the publisher of New Zealand Classic Car magazine — Greg Vincent — saw an opportunity to capitalize on…

I very artwork begins as a blank canvas, and this was as true for a centuries-old artwork by the likes of Michelangelo or Leonardo da Vinci as it is for your typical project car. With the right amount of love; time; attention; and, of course, dollars, a simple road-goer can be transformed into a mind-blowing piece of art — we Kiwis have built a bit of a reputation worldwide for such feats, in fact. But the unfortunate truth is that not all artworks make it to completion. The creator’s interest can fade quite quickly, or their circumstances change at the flip of a coin, and it seems that 90 per cent of projects never see an end. But Kasey’s latest isn’t one of them. He’d had his heart set on…

What do you do when you have a bunch of really cool old works racing parts lying around your shed? Build a coffee table, of course! Well, that was Richard Brown’s thoughts on the matter when he took an old Datsun A12 and adorned it in parts from his late father David Brown’s racing history, in his local vintage category. The parts came off a works-built Nissan Cherry 100A that Reg Cook imported and raced in Shellsport in the 1970s. The car then sat around until 2005, when Richard’s father purchased it and undertook a ground-up rebuild, detailing it to the standard seen in this table (like father, like son). To us, the best part of the table has to be that slide throttle set-up. “When it arrived in New…

NAME: SHAY BURKHART LOCATION: NEW PLYMOUTH OCCUPATION: MECHANICAL TECHNICIAN THANKS: MY PARTNER, LARNI; MY PARENTS; AND TUNER HAYDEN WOODHEAD, FOR ALL HIS HELP MAKE/MODEL: 1989 Mazda RX-7 (FC) ENGINE: Mazda S4 13B, twin-rotor, SCR seals, K&N filter, aftermarket intake manifold, modified factory Hitachi turbo, Sinco Customs exhaust manifold, HKS BOV, TiAL 44mm wastegate, DeatschWerks 350iL primary fuel pump, Walbro 500hp lift pump, surge tank, AEM fuel-pressure regulator, Bosch 1000cc primary and 2000cc secondary fuel injectors, E85 fuel compatible, three-inch exhaust system, Adrenalin R resonator, V-mount intercooler and VL copper radiator, oil cooler, twin 305mm electric fans, Microtech LT10 ECU, Turbosmart e-Boost boost controller, Microtech digital dash DRIVETRAIN: Five-speed (series five), six-puk clutch, heavy-duty pressure plate, lightened flywheel, series-four LSD, slotted rotors, EBC Brakes pads INTERIOR: Momo fixed-back seats, Jamex six-point…

If you picked up last month’s issue, you will recall the first of our two product tests carried out in the workshop on Milwaukee’s new 9.0Ah batteries using a swag of M18 tools. One other tool that really caught my eye in the showroom was the newto-market 180mm M18 FUEL polisher, product tag M18FAP180-502B A big 180mm polisher like this takes some real grunt to power, so I was interested to see exactly how the 9.0Ah would handle it. Make no mistake — this is no plastic hobby polisher; this is a professional-grade machine, and one I couldn’t wait to put to the test. The job at hand was to give my daily-driver a cut, polish, and machine wax using Meguiar’s Ultimate range. The long wet winter had been harsh…

OWNER: BRAD KIFF LOCATION: ROTORUA OCCUPATION: ACCOUNTANT NZPC: Hey, Brad. Why did you pick an old Mazda B1600 for your daily-driver? Brad: Hi, guys. I only bought it back in February this year and had been looking for an old Mazda ute to add to the collection for a while. Plus, the wife was getting sick of her car getting nicked to be used as my parts wagon, so this filled the job nicely. So, you have a few old-school cars then? Is there something you prefer about the oldies over modern examples? I’ve always been a strong believer of ‘there’s no cool like the old school’. They are a lot easier to work on, too; no dealing with computers or electronics, etc. I just like the classic style, ya…

The prime level of domestic New Zealand motor sport is gearing up for the new season, with the top categories all set for their first round at the forthcoming Supercars event before looking ahead to their first standalone Premier meeting at Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park, Taupo, on December 10 and 11, when nine of the best categories will compete on both the Saturday and Sunday. The event at Taupo will be the first promoted and run by the Speedworks Events team and will feature all the major categories. Topping the bill will be the BNT NZ Touring Cars, with a field that should see more up-and-coming young guns in both the top SuperTourers and TLX-specification Class One cars and the older, development-level TL-specification Class Two cars. Although the Toyota single-seater…

NZ Performance Car is putting the power in your hands — decide which feature car stands above all others and most deserves to be crowned Castrol Edge Performance Car of the Year 2016. Each issue, we select three feature cars to go head-tohead for that month’s spot. Who’ll take it is up to you, so jump on themotorhood.com each month to vote for your favourite. Once we have our 12 finalists, these will be put to the vote once more, and you will get to decide who will be crowned Castrol Edge Performance Car of the Year 2016. So, what are you waiting for? Get voting, and let us know who you think should be crowned champion! 20 LUCKY VOTERS WILL EACH RECEIVE • NZ PERFORMANCE CAR POSTER BOOK…

The Yokohama World Time Attack Challenge needs no introduction these days. Over the past eight years, Ian Baker and his team have grown it into one of the mustattend car events of the year in our neck of the woods. It includes one of the broadest ranges of entertainment of any festival — thus the nickname, ‘the festival of awesome’. There’s so much action at this event that you need a couple of days to take it all in. Friday is for hardcore enthusiasts who have travelled from all over to see their favourite teams take on the challenge, and Saturday is for those enthusiasts, plus those who want to check out the madness that is this event. With the Tilton Engineering Mitsubishi Evolution we featured in NZPC 226 now…

It all started a few months back when New Zealand 3M distributor CL Auto announced its competition to win a dream wrap for your car from one of their nationwide installer network. While there may have been wrap competitions in the past, this was something a little different — a little special. Every entry had to be accompanied by a photo of your car, and a brief description of your dream wrap. Forget simple single-colour changes; we are talking about wild-out designs, and there were 100s of entries. From them, 15 finalists were chosen to work alongside their local installer to turn concept into rendition, and those then went head to head in the ultimate test: who could get the most likes on Facebook. There was a lot at stake…

PERIOD CORRECT, THE CAR WEARS THE NAMES ‘RICHARDS’ AND ‘SKAIFE’ ON THE QUARTER WINDOW — THE TWO GUYS WHO DOMINATED THE ATCC IN THE R32 CHASSIS There are very few cars in motor sport history that enjoyed the level of success that the Group A R32 GT-R did. It was unbeatable on home soil in the Japanese Touring Car Championship (JTCC), winning all 29 races in its four-season campaign. Japan was not the only place to have such success with the chassis: in Australia, the Group A R32 was just as dominant, taking three straight Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) titles — in ’90, ’91, and ’92 — before Group A was disbanded due to the high cost of these machines. Winning championships is cool and all, but the real…

Taupo was overrun with the sound of chassis hitting terra firma as Laid Out at the Lake (LOATL) rolled into town for the third year running. This is an event for those who like it low — and we mean really low. LOATL is focused on air, from mini trucks to VIP machines, with low-riders also a welcome sight. As this was the third year, the event is really gaining momentum. There was a huge turnout, with many guys using it as their ‘big unveil’ event, even if they hadn’t quite finished. This is not the type of show that’s about taking home awards; it’s more about getting together and growing the scene. But there were some clear standouts that drew big crowds all day and also earned some silverware.…

The Call of Duty franchise has always prided itself on an ability to tell a bloody good story throughout each different game. It’s like watching a movie and being so immersed in the drama that’s unfolding that when the screen changes to point-ofview and you’re holding a machine gun, you’re off on an intense mission you’d now call personal. This is what sets the Call of Duty franchise apart from the rest, and its latest, soonto-be-released game — Infinite Warfare — is said to have the best gameplay and cinematic experience yet. Are you on the edge of your seat? It’s set in the future during an undisclosed year. The player will embark on a full-scale planet-hopping war after a ruthless enemy attacks Earth. Playing as Captain Reyes, a tier-one…

NAME: MIKE ROGERS LOCATION: AUCKLAND OCCUPATION: MECHANICAL ENGINEER NZPC: Thanks for agreeing to shoot the shit with us, Mike; tell us about your car. Mike: Not a problem, guys. This is a Mitsubishi Starion EX — widebody option — with the SOHC 4G63 turbo engine. A friend of mine imported this particular example from Ireland, where it had been living as a lady’s occasional driver to her bank-teller job and then spent around 16 years locked away in a garage. Once it arrived here, and spent a bit more time in a garage, I offered to take it off my friend’s hands, and that’s how we got here today. Like a barn find, only in much better condition. Have you owned any Starions before? [Laughs] Yes, I’m a diehard ’80s…

NEW PATH Some readers may remember Dom Griffin’s S14, which we ran in Under Construction a few issues back. It was completed shortly after writing, however, he’d mentioned at the time that he’d always prefered S15s more, and would jump at the chance to build one instead. That chance came not too long ago when this shell popped up for next to nothing, and the temptation was too much for Dom not to buy it. The same ex-D1 street-legal SR20DET has been carried over from the previous car, and the forged internals remain the same, but he has opted to run the more aggressive Tomei 268-degree Procams paired up with the original Tomei cam gears. The old GReddy T517Z has been chucked on the shelf in favour of a Garrett…

GUY ‘MAD MAX’ MAXWELL If you’ve driven your car on an upper North Island race track in the past year, chances are you’ll have blasted past a guy strapped into a bucket seat on the back of a matt black ute, furiously pointing a camera at your car as he holds on for dear life. That guy is Guy, a man who has been a fixture at nearly every event we’ve attended in the past five years, with his camera in hand. But there is much more to this dude than just capturing the moment — he is also the brain behind the Rotorua hard parks, drift days, Taupo burnouts, and the famed REunion. In short, he does a ton for our scene, for which we can’t thank the cheeky…

WITH THE ADDITION OF THE TDP SUPER ANGLE KIT, THE FRONT WORK WHEELS WERE PUSHED WAY OUT, REQUIRING SOME OVER-FENDERS — ROCKET BUNNY R35 ANYONE? AT THE BACK, THE FACTORY WIDTH SWALLOWS THE 18X11-INCH (-20) WHEELS WITHOUT ANY DRAMA What does it take to build a competitive drift chassis in 2016, one capable of going headto-head with the biggest stars of the sport? Ask any of the country’s top drivers and each of them will give you a slightly different answer, but that’s what makes drifting so intriguing — the fact that, on the grid, no two cars are identical. Each team has worked out its own formula for its chosen chassis or engine combination, a formula it believes will deliver a performance advantage, and one that’s been drawn from…

Have you ever wanted a Mizuno Works Kenmeri, complete with custom deepdished steelies and with its chassis resting millimetres off the ground, but didn’t have the bank account to fund such a build? If so, scale modelling might be right up your alley. We have extensively showcased Liberty Walk here in NZPC, and, on my last visit there, I photographed Kato-san’s LB Works Kenmeri. Not long after, a Japanese scale-model company — Aoshima — released a range of Kato-san’s cars as plastic 1:24-scale models, and I just had to have one. Hobbylink Japan kindly popped one in a box for me so I could show you just how to go about constructing some pint-sized JDM goodness for your shelf. Here, I’ll give you a brief overview of what you need,…

Kiwis have always had a flair for building the unusual and often downright confusing, and Edward Porter is one of those blokes who proves it. Having rallied a number of KP Starlets over the years, Ed and his brother, Tim, floated the idea of building a rear-wheeldrive compact powered by a Hayabusa motorbike engine — over a few beers, of course. Now, most ‘good ideas’ thought up under the influence of a brew never go any further, but when Ed spotted a 1989 Suzuki Swift shell — complete with purple-flake paintwork and undercar neons — pop up for sale in the Waikato, the shed soon found a new project to fill space. A fabricator by trade, Ed has access to some useful equipment and machinery, which is probably a good…

The world of Instagram is a great one for those of us looking for a little build inspiration or simply a never-ending dose of car culture from all corners of the world. Through the use of hashtag searches, you can locate and pinpoint any damn thing you want — from something as wide reaching as ‘#drift’ to as targeted as ‘#K20swappedcivic’. If you’re not on Instagram, get on there and get yourself started! Here are six accounts we follow that we think you should, too. @TURBOBYGARRETT This account for American-based turbo giant Garrett is a corporate account through and through, set up to show how badass its own products are, and understandably so. But, putting that aside, what it really serves us well for is sharing lots of American turbo-based…

Among the many, many Altezzas we have featured in NZPC over the years, we’ve noticed that most of the higher-powered examples have been hybrids. No, we’re not talking about Prius-type petrol electrics but engine swaps — more often than not, they are powered by the factory-fitted 3S-GE’s bigger brother, the JZ, so stumbling across a heavily modified one with the Beams still in the bay is fairly rare, and it understandably piqued our interest. Even owner Trent Goodwin almost went down that road of chucking the dearly loved 3.0-litre into his own RS200 after a few too many ruthless gear changes saw the end of its turboed 3S-GE power plant: “I was racing against a turboed Honda Euro R with 250kW at Meremere [Dragway], I shifted into fifth, and it…

BIG OL’ BOV Thrashing to finish your big-boost, bigpower project in time for nats? Do it right, and add some serious sparkle to your engine bay while you’re at it, with a Turbosmart Bubba Sonic BOV. Not only does it look the part, but, with a twopiece 52mm piston, it has no problem venting excess pressure in even the highest-powered applications. The Turbosmart Bubba Sonic BOV is $539.69 from MyAutomotive, and includes free shipping New Zealand– wide. Visit myautomotive.com to check it out. HIGH-PERFORMANCE BRAIDED HOSES Believe it or not, there’s something more important than power — your brakes! Make sure you can trust your brake system by using high-quality HEL Performance brake hoses. They exceed all New Zealand specifications, and feature computer-numericalcontrol (CNC)–machined stainless components, rust- and corrosionresistant fittings,…

November 20 2016 IHRA NZ SPRING NATIONALS MEREMERE DRAGWAY, MEREMERE If you have an event you’d like to see in the Gig Guide, email editor@performancecar.co.nz with all the details NOVEMBER 4–6 ITM AUCKLAND SUPERSPRINT PUKEKOHE PARK RACEWAY, PUKEKOHE We Kiwis have long had a rivalry with the boys across the ditch, especially when it comes to motor sport. If you’re a fan of high-intensity racing, you won’t want to miss New Zealand’s only Supercar round, at which the Kiwi drivers look to dominate on their home soil. Although the ‘Godzilla’ GT-Rs have long been banned from the series, there is still plenty of action for everyone’s tastes. Tickets are available now, starting from $50, and kids under 12 are free with a paying adult. Head to ticketek.co.nz. NOVEMBER 20 AUTOMANIA…