Innehållsförteckning för No 253 January 2018 från NZ Performance Car

Hard work, it’s the backbone of this colonial strip of paradise we call home. Kiwis as a whole are by no means lazy people, and for someone like myself surrounded by folk constantly building cars or working on race teams, this is something that’s very evident. I’m actually humbled on a regular basis by what guys and girls are achieving, and it’s become more and more obvious that when it comes to age, gender, financial disposition, and mechanical skill level, no matter where on the spectrum you are, one common denominator ties everyone together — and that’s knowing the effort that went into any one project. Building cars is not easy, it’s not a walk in the park, and it can be one of the most testing processes you go…

With the new-look V 4&Rotary Nationals format kicking off in January, the Show and Shine at ASB Showgrounds on Saturday, and the all-new Ultimate Track Day at Pukekohe Park on Sunday, we’re super excited to join forces with our mates at 4&Rotary to give your Nats experience the ultimate upgrade. Picture this: your car parked in the NZPC pit garage, where you will enjoy VIP treatment, including fast-lane access to the track for all events, and the best thing is that you can also bring along your best mate and their car to join in. The only trick is that you will have had to already purchased your entry to the Ultimate Track Day from 4&Rotary.co.nz. Once you have entered for Sunday, jump onto themotorhood.com where you will find the…

If you’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting ‘Fanga’ Dan Woolhouse, you’ll likely attest that the dude has passion for what he does — passion which oozes out in bucketloads. It’d be fair to say that drifting in New Zealand is damn well lucky to have him on its side, as this dude quite simply lives, breathes, eats and sleeps the sport of drifting. If he’s not in the car, killing a set of Tri-Ace semi-slick rubber, he’s in the shed preparing to do so, or perfecting a car before his next tyre-frying session. Fanga has been there since day one in New Zealand, and has always been that dude you knew would be knocking on the door any time he was in the chase position. He has always been…

“I only wanted to build something which I could drive to work and back,” admits Wellingtonian native Michael Kim. These would become famous last words for Mike, as what he now sits behind the wheel of is far from anything that resembles a ‘just a drive to work’ car — unless you’re accustomed to pedalling 440kW on the daily, that is. Mike was once a self-confessed Honda boy through and through, and recalls that it was close mate Peka Pietkiewicz who brought him over to the so-called dark side that is Mitsubishi: “It was how raw the Mitsis feel. They are real aggressive, I can’t explain it,” Mike says, “The feeling is a lot different to the Hondas I used to drive.” He credits Peka as being the catalyst behind…

The pages of history tell us the story of a practice so brutal that it now sits firmly amongst the most serious of war crimes. It was a practice used to brutalize, weaken, demoralize, and even destroy enemies during wartime, a practice which quickly become known as the ‘death march’. However, while neither this particular March nor its owner/driver, Glenn Hodges, plan to end up on an international war criminal list, the car itself is the physical embodiment of what a death march aims to achieve — striking unprecedented fear into the hearts of any being that may cross its path — and Glenn intends to use it to destroy the competition at the local time-attack series. Regular readers may recall seeing the car’s first incarnation back in NZ Performance…

NAME: JOSH PENNY AGE:LOCATION: AUCKLAND 27 OCCUPATION: PROPERTY MANAGER NZ Performance Car: Hey, Josh. You’ve been racing for a few years now, how did you get into it? Josh: Hi guys. My dad has always been into cars and built me a 125cc two-stroke go-kart for Christmas when I was six years old. It was painted metallic blue as at the time the Subaru WRC Group A cars were the best thing out, in my eyes. That, and watching my dad do the Targa in a Ford Escort MK1 back in 2001, and again in 2008 driving an ’83 Toyota Celica with 1G-GTE. So motorsport has always been around, and I’ve always ended up helping people work on their cars for racing. Entrenched in the bloodline then. We understand that…

NAME: MICHELLE DENT // AGE: 26 LOCATION: AUCKLAND // OCCUPATION: LENDING MANAGER NZ Performance Car: Hey, Michelle. Sweet JZX. Have you always been into cars? Michelle: Hi guys. Yeah, I grew up in New Plymouth and the car scene there is sick. The drags used to go off so that’s where I’d spend most of my Friday and Saturday nights. That’s where I ended up meeting my partner nearly 10 years ago. The love of cars just grew from there. Nice. What was your first car and how did you come to own the JZX? Well, my first car was a 190E Merc with cut springs and all [laughs]. But that was a long time ago, and as for the JZX, I had my eye on them for a wee…

Protects the best High-performance engines need high-performance engine oil, and Gulf Western’s Comp-R range fits the bill. Developed especially for engines with a high output, the Comp-R range protects engines on the road and on the track, and is compatible with all road fuels as well as common racing fuels such as avgas, nitromethane, and methanol. This oil also offers protection from enhanced levels of zinc and moly. The Comp-R range includes 30 (5W-03), 40 (10W-40), 50 (25W-50), and 70 (25W-70), so regardless of your engine’s requirements, you can take advantage of this exceptional engine protection. For more information, contact Automotive Supplies on 0800 275 888, Extreme Automotive Parts Distributors on 0800 498 7363, Autostop on 0800 288 678, or other leading Gulf Western Oil distributors. BALLIN’ ON A BUDGET…

If you have an event you’d like to see in the Gig Guide, mail editor@performancecar.co.nz with all the details 2017 RALLY NEW ZEALAND (NZRC FINALE), TAURANGA Rally New Zealand remains the longest-running world championship–level rally in the Southern Hemisphere — it was first held as a round of WRC back in 1977. We may have been snubbed by the WRC organizing committee for a grand return to the calendar this time around, but 2017 will still mark the 43rd running of the event. It’s based at the host city of Tauranga, and from there drivers will campaign 14 special stages covering 280km over the weekend. Ticket information can be found at rallynz.org.nz. MAD MIKE’S SUMMER BASH, HAMPTON DOWNS Local drift hero ‘Mad Mike’ Whiddett has again teamed up with Hampton…

As the number of candles on my birthday cakes continue to grow, so does the size of the must-attend list of car events I have tucked in my back pocket. Like all fresh-faced kids, I wanted to see it all long before I even held a licence of my own. In the early days it was all about seeing real-life versions of the hot wheels and tuner cars we enthusiastically pushed around makeshift race tracks at the back of our classroom, when we really should have been practicing our ABCs and 123s. Over the years I’ve been lucky enough to chip away at big chunks of that list, mostly from those scribbled messily underneath the ‘local’ column, and I have now reached a point where I’m spoiled for choice when…

Back when Ford released the new Focus RS, which included a ‘drift mode’, people started to lose their minds. It was a feature right out of left field for the car’s core demographic. Sure, Ken Block smashes powerslides in his Gymkhanaprepped Focus RS RX rally cars all the time, but how often was Joe public going to be doing the same out on the roads? Nonetheless, it was a cool feature if you wanted to cut loose on the back roads of Mexico, if you catch my drift. The latest news out of Ford Performance assures us that there really is some madman in the design department spending his days coming up with ways to get your licence suspended, as the company have announced the release of a ‘Drift Stick’.…

Glenn Inkster and co-driver Spencer Winn have secured their fourth consecutive Targa with another dominating win in the Ecolight Evo VII. This latest victory puts the Auckland-based pair only one win away from matching Tony Quinn’s five-peat record. The pair won the majority of the stages throughout the week after establishing a lead on day one. A cracked turbo manifold on day two cost the pair a 40-second penalty, but barely made a dent in their overall performance, finishing ahead of Nic De Waal and Shane Reynolds in their WRX STI and past winners Jason Gill and Mark Robinson. Quickest of the rear-wheel drives, coming fourth place and first in class, was the BMW 318ti of Steven Kirk-Burnnand and Mike Hay who were saved by the bell when the final…

HEART ENGINE: Nissan R35 VR38DETT, 3800cc, six cylinder BLOCK: Factory HEAD: Factory INTAKE: PWR intercooler EX HAUST: Four-inch to twin three-inch straight through TURBO: Twin GCG spec Garrett GTX3076R GEN II, ceramic coated housings, Pace Innovations high-mount manifold WASTEGATE: Twin Turbosmart Pro-Gate50 FUEL: Fuel Safe Endurance cell, Bosch 1000cc injectors, Edelbrock fuel-pressure regulator IGNITION: Factory ECU: MoTeC M150 GPR, PDM15, LTCD 4.9 COOLING: PWR VR38 radiator, PWR oil cooler, PWR gearbox cooler EXTRA: Custom dry sump pan, Dailey Engineering pump, Peterson oil tank, Aero fittings, lines, and hoses POWER WAS NEVER THE MAJOR CONCERN WITH THE BUILD, THE FOCUS WAS TORQUE, SOMETHING AN R35 IS NOT SHORT OF. A PAIR OF GEN II GARRETT GTX3076R TURBOS SIT ON CUSTOM MANIFOLDS, WHILE INTERNALLY THE BLOCK REMAINS FACTORY The world of competitive…

The ’80s were a massive boom period in the world of automakers, and in a bid to outdo one another, concept cars became boardroom measuring contests of bigwig executives’ proverbial members, and the major shows their strutting grounds. Cash money was poured into developing the latest and greatest technology and although little made it to a proper production run, many did contribute vital systems still in use today. In the spring of 1984 at Nissan, that job landed on the desk of Shinichiro Sakurai, a chassis engineer at Prince since the ’50s. All but a year later, and Sakurai had developed Nissan’s answer to the Ferrari Testarossa — the MID4. An abbreviation for ‘Mid-Engine Four Wheel Drive’, it took a lot of creative licence from the Italian sports car in…

As you sit back comfortably in an air-conditioned room, staring mindlessly into the depths of your computer screen, clicking away furiously on one of the thousands of part-slanging websites simply to watch a pile of awesome arrive at your doorstep a few days later, it’s easy to forget: we have it good, people — damn good. In terms of car building, those that were doing what we do now in years gone by had it a whole lot harder than we will ever know today. Step back 20-odd years to when building a car wasn’t as simple as googling how to squeeze a whole lot of kilowatts out of your 13B, with direct links to each individual component needed to get you there, and being only 16 digits away from…

’It's a concept that has been around since the dawn of car modification — showing off what you have spent countless hours slaving away on in the garage. And while there are other events like it further north by the dozen, the team at Christchurch-based car club Chachacha felt that their local was lacking. This brought about the first of their Coffee and Cars meets, which took place November 5. While it was only ever intended to be a simple affair — a few mates hanging out at the local cafe — what eventuated was something else altogether; something I hadn’t experienced back home in California. Spinning a yarn with the head of the club, Andrew Harteveld- Turnbull, it was evident that these guys simply wanted to enjoy what they…

Over the last few weeks, the small town of Waimate, population about 3000, watched the annual installation of concrete barriers, tyre bundles, crowd fencing, and curtain sides that could only mean one thing: Labour Weekend was coming, and with it the evocatively resonant sound of high-performance mayhem echoing through its quiet surrounding streets. For South Canterbury, it was that time of year again; time for the McKeown Petroleum Waimate 50. On Friday evening the weekend of motorsport kicked off. John Britten’s legendary V1000 sat staunchly on display in the ITM auto show, and about two minutes out of town, 31 drivers put their hillclimbing skills to the test in the Vines Hill Climb. By a margin of just two tenths of a second, Tim Cook wrestled his Evo III to…

NAME: DYLAN MARTIN AGE: 22 LOCATION: AUCKLAND OCCUPATION: BUILDER NZ Performance Car: Hi, Dylan. Sweet STi, how did you end up with it? Dylan: Hi, PCar. I got into cars through mates and through reading NZPC, and I set a very strict criteria of what I wanted before I went looking for a new car. First, it had to be completely factory, and second, I had to be the first New Zealand owner — two almost impossible things, which made me look overseas. So you imported this one yourself? Yeah, I did. Originally I wasn’t even looking at STis, instead I wanted a 1JZ Chaser or Soarer, but I ended up coming across this genuine Type RA with all the cool factory parts. It had 90,000 kilometers on the clock…

Ken Block is a media machine, spitting straight-fire content out like it ain’t nothing. But the more we see it, the more we expect from the next instalment. And with Gymkhana 10 lurking in the shadows, Block is going to have to pull something huge out of the bag — perhaps the plans that Hoonigan has been dropping subtle hints at over the last few weeks. From what we can gather, Gymkhana 10 will centre around five Gymkhana cars, one on the same level as the flame-spitting Hoonicorn, and hit five different locations. Teasers have hinted at all five being all-wheeldrive monsters built off Ford bones, and we suspect that Block’s V.2 Hoonicorn — now running an ethanol-fed twin-turbocharged Roush Yates engine pumping out roughly 1400hp — will make an…

After sitting out the national competition, four-time champion Gaz Whiter will make a return to the D1NZ grid next year, now backed by Smartcookie8.com. Gaz will be driving his latest build, an S14 that he never intended to contest D1NZ, but with father Tony Whiter carrying out a host of upgrades, the car should be a serious contender come January. The S14 runs a Hytech Engines–built LS3, which has gained a K1 Technologies stroker kit, and Harrop supercharger. However, the real talking point concerns the custom eight-into-one headers, fabricated by Greg Smith Engineering and Western Blasters. With two-inch primaries merging into a 3.5-inch collector, before entering a four-inch system, this thing sounds insane! With the eight-into-one collector taking pride of place in the front of the engine, the radiator has…

While they’ve remained on the quieter side for the last few years, anyone that has been out of diapers for more than two digits would have heard the name, Circle Jerk Crew — often referred to as CJC or simply, ‘jerks’ — thrown around in a conversation or two. The group has had a profound impact on the local scene. Members are recognized by their impeccable cars, unapologetic views on car modification, unique sense of humour, and notably, their standout displays at the 4&Rotary Nationals. However, with the latter, the jerks have been absent since 2013 — until now, that is. The word has gone out following their annual bash, Jerkfest, that the jerks will once again look to dominate the biggest show on the modified car calendar in 2018.…

With one round of the all new 4Guys Autobarn Fast and Furious Racing left to go at Mad Mike’s Summer Bash, all eyes are on the grand prize of a 2010 Chevrolet Camaro worth $52,000. The format for Fast and Furious Racing is the brainchild of Tony Quinn. The 3x3 format will see cars line up on the grid for the race start as usual. The twist is that after three laps, the cars will come together behind a safety car for a rolling restart, and another threelap sprint to the finish line. The action will be fast paced, exciting, and ensure that essentially all the best parts of a traditional race will be condensed into six laps, in an event that is open to all comers. Each round will…

"Dude, you absolutely need to experience that weekend.” For the hordes of time-attack devotees who make the annual pilgrimage to Sydney Motorsport Park every October, explaining the weekend’s experience is surely linked with such an exhortation. The continued growth of the Yokohama World Time Attack Challenge, now in its eighth year, is a phenomenon that almost defies logic, especially when you pitch it to the traditional motorsport fan. Unfamiliar with the concept? It’s pretty simple. Take a field of more than 80 track-focused creations, across four distinct classes, ranging from ultra-wild to near street specification. On a weekend in the middle of October, assemble this esoteric gaggle of machines — some from half a globe away — along the hot tarmac of the Sydney track. Finally, let them loose on…

For many years Colin McRae spread gravel, dust, car parts, and thrills all over the world, and in doing so he captured the hearts and minds of fans everywhere. 2017 marks ten years since the fateful helicopter accident that claimed his life, although his legacy lived on through the Colin McRae Tribute at the 15th annual Rallylegend. The narrow twisting ribbons of patchy tarmac around San Marino echoed the sound of cars from the greatest eras of rallying, piloted by those who went toe-to-toe with the legendary Scot out on the stages. When you mention the name ‘Colin McRae’ in parc fermé you get a raft of reactions, and all the greatest drivers have a story, and their own special interpretation of the flamboyant Scot. With such a raft of…

You’re probably sitting there wondering what the hell a not-so-polished Holden HQ is doing in in the pages of NZPC, right? The look on your face right now is probably very similar to that of everyone at this year’s Chrome Expression Session when said HQ blasted past, leaving that distinct 20B note in the air. It was undoubtedly one of the most talked-about cars of the event, with everyone asking the same damn question, what the actual f#ck?! To be fair, the idea of a rotary-powered Kingi is nothing new — it’s something the Japanese actually produced in the 1970s, purchasing HJ and HX Premier shells from Holden and then dropping 13Bs in-between the struts, and calling them Roadpacers. Although the name suggested some kind of speed machine, the naturally…

Before we begin, let’s get this straight. Yes, we’ve previously run an article about using Plasti Dip to coat a set of wheels, and it worked damn well, proving to be easy to apply and durable. We ran the product on the wheels for a few years without drama. And when it came time to remove the coating, it was done so without too much distress. However, we’ve recently been seeing more and more people using it for simple detail changes like your badges, so we decided to give it a go ourselves. Essentially, the easiest way to describe the product is that it is like a rubberized spray paint, which can be removed if and when required. The can promotes it as being flexible, durable, peelable, and an insulator,…