Innehållsförteckning för No 263 November 2018 från NZ Performance Car

If you’re currently kicking it in the big smoke like I’m forced to do to fund my racing habit, then chances are that you’ve attended at least one Caffeine and Classics events that our sister title kicked off with Protecta Insurance back in 2013. The formula of a monthly car park meet, an eclectic mix of cars, and some top-notch caffeinated milk to sip while strolling rows of automotive awesome is, well, awesome. Spanning everything from old Mazdas, Minis, Chevys, and BMWs to scratch-built Porsches worth moonbeams, has clearly resonated with the local scene, as the event has grown to the point that people show up hours before the scheduled and intended late start time just to secure a spot inside the car park. The problem is that the location…

12-13 OCTOBER YOKOHAMA WORLD TIME ATTACK CHALLENGE 2018 SYDNEY MOTORSPORT PARK, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA The biggest Time Attack event on the calendar, the World Time Attack Challenge, has perhaps one of the biggest line-ups to date this year, with the likes of Japanese legends Nobuteru Taniguchi, Under Suzuki, and Keiichi Tsuchiya; Australians Barton Mawer, and Warren Luff; and Kiwis ‘Fanga Dan’ Woolhouse, Carl Thompson, Jase Brown, and Jaron Olivecrona! The D1NZ team is headed over to orchestrate the Honeywell Garrett International Drifting Cup, while Taniguchi will do double duty pedalling the HKS TRB-03 — the fastest Time Attack car at Tsukuba — and the HKS 86 drift car. It’s a weekend of pure motorsport nirvana that would be lethal to miss for any true-blue petrol-sniffer. There are more driver announcements coming…

HEART ENGINE: S4 RX-7 13B turbo, 1300cc, two-rotor BLOCK: Holdsworth Automotive–built, extend ported S4 plates, 3mm apex seals, three-windowed bearings, modified oil pump INTAKE: S6 RX-7 intake manifold, S6 RX-7 throttle body, V-mounted intercooler EXHAUST: Three-inch downpipe, twin 2.5-inch stainless packed resonators, twin XForce barrels with four-inch tips TURBO: Master Power GT35 WASTEGATE: Turbosmart 48mm FUEL: Single in-tank 559-kilowatt-capable Walbro fuel pump, Tomei fuel-pressure regulator (FRP), 550cc primary and 1680cc secondary injectors IGNITION: Four NZEFI internally ignited coils ECU: Link G4 RX COOLING: V-mount set-up by DKM Fabrication, twin-pass radiator, 14-inch Spal fan, Davies Craig electric water pump (EWP), oil cooler with eight-inch electric fan EXTRA: Fully de-loomed by Jase Brown at Te Rapa Auto Electrical, custom header tank, Moroso overflow bottle, Asahi Super Dry two-litre oil catch-can, baffle plate…

There’s no easier way to change your vehicle’s colour these days than rocking down to the local signwriters and getting the panels wrapped in your choice of hue. It makes even more sense when it comes to creating all those trick liveries on race cars or simply a showstopping design that would be near-on impossible when it comes to laying down paint. It’s a bit of a dark art; while we’ve all seen an example close up out at shows and on the streets, nobody has a really good idea of how it all works and what needs to be considered when it comes to actually applying the vinyl to metal, except those that are doing it day in and day out. To get you that exclusive insider information we…

COPPER-COATED LOCKING NUTS Perfect for applications such as manifolds, these are top locking with an ovaled thread. Copper-coated steel ensures that they do not seize, which is a common occurrence with uncoated steel nuts. These nuts are available in sizes M6–M10 and are often used in conjunction with a grade-nine washer on a screw in stud for exhaust manifolds. SHANKED BOLTS These are used in high-stress applications such as suspension. The strength of shanked bolts lies in the shanked unthreaded part of the bolt, and your local cert man will require at least 80 per cent shank through the bush or joint. It’s worth noting that at least three full threads will need to show past the nut. BRASS MANIFOLD NUTS Although these are not locking nuts, the brass is…

FRESH AIR Pod, panel, and air-box filters are the kinds of filters we tend to think of when it comes to K&N, but they also make a variety of types, including cabin filters. The VF2055 is designed for a Subaru WRX and suits a number of other Subarus too. It can be recharged instead of being outright replaced, and acts to clean the air coming into the car — which you’ll be breathing — stripping it of dust, pollen, and other airborne material. For further information on the K&N VF2055, or to find a cabin filter to suit your car, head to knfilters.com. DEPENDABLE POWER When you’re chasing reliability in a car, one weak link in your system can let you down, and nothing causes more havoc throughout than a…

NAME: JOSHIE V AGE: 30 LOCATION: WILD WEST OCCUPATION: SPARKY NZ Performance Car: Hey, Josh. Tell us the yarn of how your Cressida came to be. Josh: Hi, NZPC. Well my dad bought the car around 12 years ago, completely factory after seeing Shane Crichton’s ‘1JZ 747’ Cressida not long after it was built – which is now running 7-second passes – and did a few little bits and pieces to it. But he never quite managed to finish it, you told us? Yeah, he did the brake upgrade, suspension, diff, etc, and once that was all done ripped out the 7M and bought a JZX100 motor and trans from the wreckers before most people here even knew what a JZX100 was. The running gear sat on the garage floor…

We’re all young and dumb once, and I’m no saint. At one time or another, we’ve all engaged in some silly business on the roads or done some careless stuff, but I don’t recall ever going out of my way to make the roads more dangerous than they already are for genuine road users, or disrespecting those there to enforce the laws we have broken. There’s a video doing the rounds at the moment following a recent ‘meet’ in Christchurch that shows ‘car enthusiasts’ swinging Os in clapped-out utes with dogboxes on the back in the middle of main streets and attacking responding police cars while laughing and yelling brain-dead rubbish. The irony is that it’s these same people who whinge that police are picking on them “for no reason”,…

Ever since we got our first taste of Red Bull Drift Shifters in 2012 on the streets of Auckland city, we’ve been waiting for it to go international, which it finally did in 2018, hitting the streets of Liverpool in the UK. ‘Mad Mike’ Whiddett is a man who knows how to party, and, each time he throws the event, the track layout has been built on from the previous one, taking things to the next level in terms of speed and the commitment required. Holding it on the roads surrounding the docks of Liverpool allowed a much larger layout than at previous events, with some large obstacles, such as the 80m Pier Head Wall Ride and the Mersey Tunnel entry gate. Drift Shifter classics like the Undertaker and the…

When you think fast front-wheel drives here in New Zealand, there’s one New Zealand–based car in particular springs to mind, one that’s been asserting its authority for well over a decade now. Barry Manon’s 9A-GTE-powered 1988 Toyota Levin GTZ is no stranger to this magazine, from running 10s back in 2010, before making the switch to circuit racing and focusing on Time Attack, to the development of a 400-plus-kilowatt, 20-valve 9A-GTE turbo. Focusing on his local Hampton Downs and Pukekohe Park tracks, it wasn’t long before Barry had wrangled the surprisingly simple chassis into the 1.08s around Hampton — but this was when the surge problems started. Being one of the world’s most renowned Toyota 4A-G builders through his company Manon Racing Products (MRP), Barry is no stranger to building…

There was once a time, not all that long ago, when, if you found yourself starred up in a triple-diamond neighbourhood, or vice versa, shit was about to go down heavy. This intense rivalry between Subaru and Mitsubishi owners raged almost at a gang-war level. Although, instead of rumbles at the skate park and being jumped for your shoes, in the depths of the night, those on either side of the fence put in serious work repping their brand to prove that they are the undisputed hardest, fastest, and most raw on the streets of Aotearoa. Such displays of prowess and aggression may be a little more underground than they once were, but, thanks to business partners Guy and Tony of Choice Events, last year saw a new event printed…

While it might be better known for its long white-sand beaches and promiscuous New Year’s celebrations, for rally drivers, the Coromandel Peninsula is home to some of the country’s most challenging rally stages. It’s the perfect backdrop for the Goldrush Rally of Coromandel, this year sponsored by Hyundai, Round 5 of the national championship, covering 114km over eight special stages (SSs) based in and around Whitianga. Starting off by navigating the road from Colville to Kennedy Bay for SS1 at the top of the Coromandel, before touring south to do SS2 through the well-known 309 Road, then on to the Tapu Coroglen Road for SS3, the cars then returned to Kennedy Bay for SS4 and completed the loop again, finishing off in the Whitianga township for the Super Special stage…

If you thought we were at the peak of development with the Mazda Rotary engine, especially in naturally aspirated form, you’d be dead wrong. The rise in popularity of billet alloy means that we are entering an exciting phase of development, one that Mazda itself never had the opportunity to take advantage of, uncracking a whole new level of performance and reliability in high-power applications. Long-time rotary rally driver and engine builder by trade Wade Henshaw, of Henshaw Race Engines in Christchurch, has devoted the past three years to developing his own after his experiences using billet in piston engines drove him to purchase some off-the-shelf plates to try in his 13B peripheral-port (PP). However, the quality was not what he’d expected, and, after a lengthy process of wrecking parts,…

Back in 2016, Aaron de Vries caught our attention with his crazy clean MkII Escort estate after driving the old girl from Christchurch to Auckland for the 4&Rotary Nationals. And while it would go on to nab a Cruise Mode feature in Issue No. 244, Aaron tells us that the build was certainly not over, blaming that drive on putting the plans in motion after sucking back over $1K in fuel during the journey. “It made around 187hp [139kW] at the fly on the naturally aspirated [NA] build, and don’t get me wrong, the big side-draughts sound cool, but it guzzled the gas, which wasn’t cool at all,” explains Aaron. “Mark [at NZEFI] suggested building a custom injection unit for it to fix that issue. But, regardless, it was pretty…

FALKEN ENTERS D1NZ Carl Thompson will line up for his second D1NZ season behind the wheel of his menacing V8 S15 Silvia, looking to build on what was an impressive showing in his rookie season, when he finished 10th in the Pro standings. Gone is the Talladega Nights/Wonder Bread livery, and in its place is the blue and teal of Falken Tires. This is the first time that we’ve seen the iconic livery enter D1NZ, and Carl will be running on the Falken Azenis RT615K+ — a tyre that has proved to be potent in Formula Drift in recent years. The S15 remains somewhat unchanged mechanically from last season, with new forged three-piece A13 wheels, EFI on its Marsh Motorsport small block and little less weight thanks to dry carbon…

NZ Performance Car: Hey, Jake. For those who don’t know you by name, could you please start off by introducing yourself? Jake: What’s up?! I go by the first name my parents gave me, ‘Jake’, and the last name from the family is ‘Hakaraia’, but I’ll most likely reply to any name [laughs]. It’s fair to say that drifting is a huge part of your life — when did you first discover drifting and was it love at first sight? I discovered drifting in NZPC magazine, to be fair. I was around 11 at that stage, so still pretty young. It definitely wasn’t love at first sight; I think I was too busy being in love with trying to be like Brian O’Connor or Dom Torretto when the first Fast…

Humans are creatures of habit. There’s that primal instinct locked deep inside our brains constantly urging our consciousness to stick with what we know, pleading not to risk our survival, screaming that there’s safety only in familiarity. It’s rarely escaped, and it isn’t hard to see that exact phenomenon in action when it comes to most people’s car-ownership records, whether it’s as specific as only ever owning multiple examples of the same model because that’s what you’ve learned inside out from a young age, or as simple as exclusively driving front-wheel drives because you’ve never known any different. So, when someone breaks a habit to go against everything they’ve known previously and venture into uncharted territory, things can get pretty loose inside their head, and what that frame of mind…

NZP C is no stranger to the workshop of Kei Miura, nestled away in the backblocks of Osaka, Japan. It’s a place where time has stood eerily still seemingly since the ’80s; it is a true time capsule to everything Miura-san holds dear. Despite the nostalgic, calming aura that this sleepy hollow exudes, after being thrust onto the global stage, it now has the tuning world gripped every time the CNC machine fires up. For the last few years, NZPC has been lucky to peek behind the curtain, pick Miura-san’s brain, capture his cars, and get a glimpse into daily life at TRA-Kyoto. Since the release of the beautifully simple S13 Rocket Bunny kit we all know and love, Miura-san has raised the bar regarding the complexity of his work…

NAME: BRENDON CHAPPELL AGE: 25 LOCATION: WEST AUCKLAND OCCUPATION: ELECTRICIAN NZ Performance Car: Hey, Brendon. We understand that you’ve owned this Altezza for some time now. What made you buy it in the first place? Brendon: Hi, NZPC. I had always wanted a manual rear-wheel-drive car since my first car, and, after looking around, there wasn’t much that I could get insurance for while being 18. It basically had to be non turbo, which meant an Altezza or S2000 for the most powerful naturally aspirated two-litre range. I’m more of a Toyota lover than a Honda lover, and liked the idea of the extra doors to cram in five people when necessary. This one ticked all the boxes: facelift model, TRD kit with the Neo V2 front bumper, six-speed, low…

Got Instagram? Want print fame on top of all those likes that fly your way each time you post a photo? Want to show us your whip without actually talking to us? Want to see what other readers are up to in their sheds? The answer to all these questions and why these two pages exist lies in the use of the hashtag #nzpc. Search it, use it, and thrash it! We keep a very close eye on it and will be choosing a bunch of hashtagged posts each month to print right here. And that’s not all — the best shot will earn it’s photographer a little prize for their trouble. So remember, next time you’re gram’n’, use #nzpc.…