Innehållsförteckning för No 246 June 2017 från NZ Performance Car

So far, 2017 is serving up a bit of a banger for me — or perhaps I’m serving it up myself, having actually got to the point where I have driven both the E36 and C10 projects. I can honestly say that I feel as if a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Both of these have been full-scale builds from the frame up, and that weighs heavy on a man’s mind when trying to handle every damn thing yourself. It’s a feeling that many of you will relate to — that guilt in the pit of your stomach when you’re not in the shed spinning spanners or throwing sparks — because that b*tch ain’t going to finish itself. The day after REunion I was full steam into…

You’ve heard the hype, the new Dodge Demon cuts the quarter mile at a mind-blowing 9.65 seconds at 140mph straight off the factory floor. However you can’t conduct such a run from this street-legal production drag car, as the NHRA has officially banned it — but only in its stock form. Dodge is pushing that quarter-mile time as a selling point, but the standard car isn’t legal to race in the USA, as a competition licence and roll cage are mandatory there, and are not offered by Dodge. That said, anyone in New Zealand who gets their hands on one will be able to take it to the drag strip and make a pass — but the time that you set would decide whether it can run again. So in…

Split it whichever way you want — 12 months, 52 weeks, or 365 days — it still sure sounds like a long time, but, in carbuilding terms, that span can ebb away without so much as spinning a spanner. So, when we learned that that’s all it took for Sven Highman to take a dilapidated left-hook RX-2 coupe and turn it into something truly showstopping, we were floored. Why? Because this was no ‘slap-on-some-paint-and-wheels-and-call-it-a-day’ affair. No sir, this was a complete ‘tear-down-to-a-bare-shell, mount-it-on-a-rotisserie, and media-blast-it’ restoration. While most sane people would have set a realistic goal of a few years to complete such a mammoth project, Sven had other ideas, and pinned a target of 12 months to go from rags to riches. We suspect this was because he had…

When drifting burst onto the scene here in New Zealand, the sport was new the world over: it was cheap; attainable; and, most important, that sh*t was exciting. It was a young man’s sport that proudly pointed the middle finger at traditional motorsport aficionados, and then rubbed their faces in it as crowd numbers swelled and sponsors flocked to get on the drift bandwagon. For many young Kiwis, drifting was an opportunity not to be turned down, and with training classes held regularly, the sport exploded here. Brad Smith was among the converted youth who fell head over heels for drifting and dreamed of making it to the big time — the world stage. Even if he admits that at his first track day he couldn’t so much as keep…

Name: Jared Buckett Age: 24 Location: Lower Hutt, Wellington Occupation: Manager at Unleashed Automotive NZ Performance Car: Hi, Jared. You don’t see many slammed Tri’ 2000s — how did you come to own it? Jared: Hey, NZ Performance Car. A family friend owned quite a few of these and gave me one as a farm car when I was younger to learn how to drive in. From there, I was always thinking… up how to make one look kind of cool — when it came time to buy a proper first car once I had my licence, I decided it was a smart idea to look for something simple and reliable like a Primera, but this popped up first (somehow under a Primera search) and I had to have it…

Name: Stacey Liu Age: 19 Location: Auckland Occupation: Retail manager Thanks: mum, my partner Krisneel, Advance Panel and Paint, Romeet, Roneet, Ash, and Zain! NZ Performance Car: Hi, Stacey. How did you come to daily your Type R? Stacey: Hey, NZ Performance Car ! From a young age I’ve always been in love with Hondas and dreamed of owning my own one day — probably because I’ve always been around them, as a lot of my cousins owned Euro Rs and Type Rs. That’s cool; work with what you know. What do you think of the Honda ownership base, and do you think it’s on the rise? [Laughs] I can’t imagine myself with any other car — I’ve tried so many times but can’t seem to leave the Honda. I…

Budgeting: there really is nothing scarier than talking money when it comes to building a car. I refuse to do the maths needed for the stack of invoices I’ve got sitting in the bottom drawer. It’s even more scary when you’re keeping that invoice folder securely tucked away from those who would contest the exorbitant amounts of money being poured into it — RIP all the lads out there who have had their missus find it. The difference between how much you want to spend versus how much you can actually afford to spend can put a dampener on any build, and, when you do come into a little bit of coin, a proper budget could help save you from, well ... yourself. The longer I’ve spent building my own…

The SMS Fabrication FD RX-7 which featured on the cover of issue 238 had something of a rocky start, thanks to annoying teething issues with the engine, ECU, and diff. But with those ironed out the car is starting to show some real promise with Graeme behind the wheel. “It took us six months to get the car running right. It was extremely frustrating — to the point I nearly gave up.” But his perseverance has finally paid off, and the bridge-ported 13B has shown a record-setting pace at both Hamptons and Taupo. The FD ran in the SS2000 final round at Taupo earlier this month and set the lap record for SS2000 twice over the weekend, with a best lap of 1.34.4 along with a pole position and race…

Japanese legend Naoki Nakamura is coming to NZ, and drifters must be pinching themselves at news the man many believe to be the world’s best drifter is flying over, as it can only mean good things for the local scene. He’s here for the Pink Style GP event which will take place at Meremere Dragway and Hampton Downs Club Circuit on June 24 and 25,hosted by the team at D-Club & C’s Garage.i Attendees at the two-day festival will see Naka drive a freshly built S13 that the boys at C’s Garage are piecing together specially for the Japanese driver. “It will have his signature Stance coilovers, his Origin Labo kit, and the 265 wide Zestinos that he normally drives on, it’s essentially built like his personal cars but in…

NZ Performance Car: Hey Ash, welcome to the hot seat. Please begin by introducing yourself to our readers. Ash: Hey, my name is Ashley Westmoreland. I’m a designer for Hero Prints. I illustrate drift cars mostly, and I also design liveries. Cars are clearly a big part of your life; do you recall what first got you into the automotive culture? Ever since I was a little kid, that’s all I can remember — being stoked on cars. My dad has always liked cars — we were forever changing cars when I was young. My grandfather was also really into cars. He had a Ferrari, and he also had a Porsche at one point. So, yeah, it’s always been a part of my life. When did drawing/art become a part…

The pursuit of speed can mean different things for different folk. Some want to watch the needle go off the clock, while others would rather set lap records at their local, but, for the better part of a century, one thing that has remained the proving ground of anything fast is the quarter-mile. Yep, we’re talking drag racing. It’s helped forge the New Zealand car scene into what it is today — namely, super-tough street weapons that hit the strip looking for anything and everything to line up. The quest to run quicker than ever before has delivered a succession of everfaster builds over the years. However, one chassis has become a cult classic among one community and caused confusion in another, due to parts from a mishmash of manufacturers,…

Yes, it was a premiere, but it was a premiere with a difference — as the first showing of Life after Birth to 12 Hours of Racing was as exclusive as the cars on which it focuses. It wasn’t all that long ago that Akira Nakai was an unknown face, quietly working away in suburban Kashiwa in a dimly lit workshop, crafting fibreglass widebody air-cooled Porsches. Little did we know when we first met him in 2006 that the next 11 years would see a vast transition for this man of few words, and the king of ‘fat porkers’ would go from being an fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) master to a truly international automotive phenomenon. Automotive movie masterpieces are certainly not commonplace, and while RAUH-Welt Begriff (RWB) is no stranger to…

BIG IMPACT Those with a good memory will recall the build feature we ran on the rear-mounted VQ35- powered March back in NZPC 241. But you may not be aware that on its debut the car took a brutal hit into the wall at Hampton Downs. Builder and driver Glenn Hodges was at the helm that day, and said that the crash was down to a number of factors. A few setbacks along the way had put pressure on the desired deadline — to be at the NZ Superlap Series round on December 3 — but, by 2am that morning, he was ready for a handful of shakedown laps. The car was showing huge potential, and it rattled off a 1.20s lap time, though he was only giving it the…

NEW PB FOR PROWEAR R100 The NZ Fastest Street Car list is dominated by the V8 camp, as you’ll see if you flick to page 99 of this issue, but a few import cars hold their own, and make waves as they climb the ladder. Azhar Bhamji’s 13B turbo Mazda R100 is one of the import front runners, though it’s only attended two meetings this season, thanks to a switch to an HGT fivespeed sequential. The car was running a Tremec TKO, but was plagued by problems when shifting from third to fourth. Azhar did not want to go auto, and figured a sequential was the ideal solution to still permit street-driving activities — which this car sees regularly. NZ based HGT Precision Gearboxes custom-built a five-speed with ratios that…

Andy Duffin and the 3 Rotor Racing team will return to Sydney Motorsport Park this October to contest the Yokohama World Time Attack Open Class. This will be the third consecutive campaign for the FD RX-7, though this time the team will focus on dialling in the current set-up rather than making a raft of changes before heading over. “We don’t have any big changes planned this year, we know we had the pace last year, so will focus on dialling what we have. Unfortunately we have some damage to repair from the Leadfoot crash, but luckily that’s all bolt-on stuff — mainly steering and suspension. Dave [Higgins] has a few aero changes in the front planned, but nothing major,” Andy explained. Last year the team debuted the nitrous setup…

New Zealand’s most hardcore Honda drag chassis is currently being dusted off in anticipation for a return to the strip following a seven-year hiatus. Built by the team at Kelford Cams in 2009, the ex cover car (NZPC 104) weighed in at 750kg and sported a very serious H22A. At the time the car ran a best of 10.88, and the team is keen to see how much faster the package can go with some modern tweaks — as you can imagine, technology has moved on a lot since then. The H22A will remain along with the PPG gearset, although as Josh from Kelford explained, the engine is now a 2.4. “We are still using the same H22A sleeved block we had last time the car ran, we are increasing…

NZ Performance Car would not dare to miss the annual trip down to Feilding for the V 4&Rotary Nationals North Island Jamboree — I mean, how could we not check out the best of what the lower North Island has to offer? Needless to say, when the Ed said, “You’re going”, I hopped aboard a plane damn quick and got my arse straight to Manfeild first thing Saturday morning. The weather wasn’t all that pretty, straight off the bat — which seemed to delay the arrival of a few competitors until later in the day and caused its fair share of offs out on the track; regardless, the circuit reeked of what I enjoy most about any event: good vibes. The pits were swarming with all the familiar faces; many,…

It’s a slightly cool but completely pleasant afternoon among the rolling plains somewhere south of Timaru. Idyllic, serene — pick whatever adjective you like. Hell, the aroma of freshly cut grass even hangs about in the late afternoon air, as the sun drops closer to the horizon by the second. Everything is pretty damn all right with the world, as Richard Brown clambers over the door bar and slouches into the Racetech bucket of his striking little Datsun 510 two-door race car. But forget the tranquil setting; the moment that starter button is pressed, it all changes. The clunk of the starter solenoid, the unmistakable whizz of a reduction-gear starter, and the grumpy L-series four-pot hammers into life … well, almost. In the way that only a highly strung nostalgia…

Name: Sheng Lu Age: 24 Location: Wellington Occupation: Project manager NZ Performance Car: Hi, Sheng. Your batty is super sleek — what made you buy it? Sheng: Hey, NZ Performance Car. I actually swapped my C-notched ’05 Courier for it, which I had picked up cheap anyway, and, since the RX-7 had just had a fresh rebuild from Stu Lawton — and I know he builds some of the toughest rotaries in New Zealand — it sounded like a sweet deal to me. Not bad at all! Were the Equips hard to get your hands on in those sizes? Yeah, I ended up having to buy them as pairs — one of which was black centred and the other polished. They were stripped down, refurbed to remove any damage, and…

ENEOS NORTH ISLAND ENDURANCE SERIES ROUND 1 BRUCE MCLAREN MOTORSPORT PARK If you’re all about motorsport and want to get the best bang for your buck, get your arse along to the first round of the newly renamed Eneos North Island Endurance Series in Taupo. The line-up will see competitors piloting anything from factory production cars to GT3 monsters from Europe, and, with racing lasting for up to 12 hours, you’ll get a big whack of a petrol-fuelled fix. As an added bonus, the pits will be open the entire event, so you’ll be able to get up close and personal with some of New Zealand’s fastest drivers. For more information, head to nierdc.com or search ‘North Island Endurance Series’ on Facebook. MUDFEST 2017 MEREMERE MUD PARK What self-respecting car…