Innehållsförteckning för No 268 April 2019 från NZ Performance Car

If you’ve been reading this magazine for as long as I’ve worked here, you might recall many moons ago that I mooted the idea of an import orientated Beach Hop. Back then, I was openly dubious that it would work, given the number of guys in the scene who seemed to be unable to resist the urge to pop the clutch at any given opportunity, the bigger the public crowd the better, as if it was going to get them laid or something. Now, I’m not saying that the V8 crowd are a bunch of saints compared with them — just search #mustangthings if you need proof of that — but we tend to go a little harder — like, sit-the-car-on-the-spotand-pop-a-set-in-Maccas hard. But, over the past few years, as more…

With the Nexen Tyre Mazda Pro7 Racing national championship run over two hotly contested rounds at Highlands Motorsport Park and Manfeild Circuit, Keith Wilkinson has secured the RX-8 New Zealand championship title for the 2018–2019 season. ‘Hotly contested’ is an understatement, with conditions at each event soaring to 30°C air temperature and track temperatures reaching over 60°C. Despite the harsh conditions, Pro7 club captain Leo Bult says the winners — including Pro7 Plus winner Dylan Smith — had standout drives and pace. “In Race 2, Wilkinson was seen parked with a water hose on the car and an overheating problem. He knew he needed to complete 75 per cent of the race to be classified, so continued at 50kph to complete eight of the 10 laps. These are very testing…

You may have grown up with dreams of pushing the limits of a Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, or Porsche on the famous German highway system known as the ‘Autobahn’, but those dreams may be over if a government committee on the future of transport gets its way. The country’s decades-old motorway network is famous for having no-speed-limit sections where drivers can legally reach speeds that would see you sent straight to jail anywhere else. The Autobahn has a total length of about 12,996km, and reports indicate that up to 55 per cent of it is currently classed as unrestricted — limits are posted and enforced in areas that are urbanized, substandard, accident-prone, or under construction. In response to increasing emissions and a push towards cleaner transport, a leaked report reveals that…

15 MARCH NZHONDAS NORTH ISLAND TRACKDAY HAMPTON DOWNS MOTORSPORT PARK If you love all things high revving, lightweight, that go ‘dort-dort’, and are circuit-ready street racers, get a load of the calendar staple that is the annual NZHondas North Island Track Day at Hampton Downs’ National Circuit. Last year saw a solid 60 cars in attendance, and, no matter the model you prefer — Civic, Integra, Accord, or other — there’ll be some form of it there. Whether you’re a novice or a seasoned racer, the track day caters for all levels of talent. Details can be found on Facebook by searching ‘NZHondas North Island Trackday 2019’. 2019 TOYOTA FESTIVAL HAMPTON DOWNS MOTORSPORT PARK It’s arguably one of the most popular automakers in the country, and now Toyota brings its…

A silhouette body draped over a purpose-built tubeframe chassis, 850hp (634kW) of carburetted 18-degree V8, zero driver aids, and 14-inch-wide rear slicks — these are the hallmarks of the cars built to race in the series known as ‘Trans-Am’. At first glance, you might assume that this is exactly one of those, but, ladies and gentlemen, what we have here is not a Trans-Am — well, at least, not in the traditional sense. Read on, and you will discover that this is a machine of far greater capabilities — although numerous people told owner Cameron Jones that he was a dead-set idiot for trying to make this combination work. To understand how Cameron came to shoehorn a 20B peripheral-port (PP) turbo into a Trans-Am, we first need to wind the…

The ‘diff ratio’ (or ‘final-drive ratio’) is effectively a measure of how many times the pinion gear must turn — thus turning the crown wheel — in order to turn the driven wheels one complete rotation. So, if a diff ratio is 3.08:1, we know that the pinion gear must rotate 3.08 times for each full rotation of the crown wheel. The easiest way to get an idea of diff ratio, when the diff is still in the car, is to mark a line on the pinion and diff housing, and a line on the tyre and a constant surface (such as the guard), or the hub and a constant surface (such as the brake caliper). With the transmission in neutral, spin the driveshaft — which is directly attached to…

ROUND TWO RESULTS TRACK: WELLINGTON FAMILY SPEEDWAY, WELLINGTON WHEN: 15–16 FEBRUARY 2019 PRO CLASS 1. BEN JENKINS— Toyota 86 (2JZ) 2. ANDREW REDWARD— Mazda RX-7 (LSX) 3. ADAM DAVIES— Nissan 180SX (13BT) PRO-SPORT CLASS 1. SHAUN POTROZ— Nissan S14 (RB25) 2. KURT BLACKIE— Nissan R32 (RB25) 3. MICHAEL THORLEY— Nissan C33 (RB25) ROUND THREE: HAMPTON DOWNS MOTORSPORT PARK, 16–17 MARCH Using the Hampton Downs Club Circuit, drivers will compete over a section that starts with a fast entry but will see drivers scrub off speed as they head 90 degrees into the hairpin right-hander. The first switch takes the drifters into a tight cambered left-hander before attacking a 180-degree sweeping righthander towards a rolling finish. Drivers have said in the past that you need decent power to maintain your momentum…

NAME: DOYLE LYNCH // AGE: 21LOCATION: CHRISTCHURCH // OCCUPATION: PANEL BEATER NZ Performance Car: Hey, Doyle. We hear this was your first proper car. Tell us how long you’ve had it and what made you want to buy it. Doyle: Yo, NZPC. Yeah this is my first proper build. I bought it when I was 18 and have been building it to my taste ever since. The JZX is so reliable, a proven setup that can make easy power. I’m all about being able to take the boys out for cruises, so a four-door was a must, and, at the time, it was something different that not many people in New Zealand owned. What was the aim for the car when you started? I aimed to make a modest 230kW…

STYLIN’ When you think ‘steering wheel’ on a street car, there’s only one name that should come to mind, and it’s all Italian made, baby. Yep, we’re talking Nardi! Crafted by pizza-makers of old and loved in the land of the rising sun, they’re still one of the most popular options here and abroad. Luckily for us Kiwis, North Shore Toyota (NST) Parts have just been announced as the official local distributor. There’s nothing quite like unwrapping a fresh example that only your hands have ever had the pleasure of touching. Now available to be purchased exclusively through NST, call the team on 09 444 8825 for further information and pricing FITMENT Featuring a super deep concave design with reputedly the most unique wheel widths on the market, the XXR…

The Grand Theft Auto (GTA) franchise has claim over more of my time, pissed away sitting in front of a screen with controller in hand, than any other game ever released. From sneaking over to my neighbour’s house as a young buck to drop that original red-topped disc into the PlayStation 1 so I could run people over and jump stolen-ass cars over the Schelchberg Bridge, to repping my Grove Street set out the side of a low-rider in San Andreas as CJ, living out Eastern European mob vibes as Niko Bellic in GTA IV, and exploring the massive world that was GTA V for hours. It’s a solid franchise that I’ve literally grown up playing (and haven’t gone on any shooting sprees like the mainstream US media liked to…

On 2 February 2019, the sport of drag racing in New Zealand stood still. An incident involving a motorbike at Meremere Dragway resulted in the death of a competitor. This was the first time that a fatality has occurred at the track since it opened back in 1973. Laurie Webster, a 66-year-old drag bike rider from Pukekohe was making a solo qualifying pass when he came off his bike towards the end of the strip and succumbed to his injuries. The competitors, crews, and officials involved with drag racing are a very close-knit community, and, unsurprisingly, there has been an outpouring of sadness online in response to the news. Fellow drag bike competitor Ian Wilkins posted on his company After Burner Racing’s Facebook page thanking the Meremere track staff for…

For those who have never seen the hard graft of endurance racing in the flesh, let us tell you that, for even the most-seasoned of drivers, it’s not a walk in the park. Shane Van Gisbergen (SVG) and his Team Triple Eight showed us exactly why it can be so tough at the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour in the No. 888 Mercedes-AMG GT3, over 1–3 February. The team had been fighting a braking issue all weekend; SVG was involved with an “unavoidable” crash during practice; and, during the main event, co-driver Craig Lowndes reported that the helmet fan had stopped. Rising temperatures and the need for two-foot braking, combined with a hard push from seventh back to fourth, saw SVG collapse on the ground following his solid final stint…

Disclaimer: We aren’t here to f**k around, so let’s hit the nail on the head before we get into this yarn. You’ll all recognize this car for the same reason. It may not be for the right reason, but we aren’t trying to spark any debate here and will simply point out that, at one time or another, almost all of you will have engaged in similar indiscretions. So let’s allow this feature to stand on the merits of the car itself, as it should be. Fair? Good. Discovering boost for the first time is a surreal experience. Like the story of misspent adolescence engaging in acts that your parents would probably have belted you for, we all remember our first time. Whether it came by way of the super…

There is no denying that the import scene is huge in Christchurch. The city has two diverse groups: the boy racers, who prefer to spend their weekends at the end of a cul-de-sac in a deserted industrial estate causing havoc, and then there are those that spend a lot of time and money on their whips and take pride in them — the true enthusiasts. It was a group of seven mates from the latter group, who are all about promoting the minitruck scene in the south, who got together to form South Island Minitruckin, a group to be based on organizing family-friendly events. The group is big on showing the sport in a good light, which led to it holding its first get-together on 16 February: the Minitruck and…

Ah, the humble utility vehicle. Affectionately known simply as ‘utes’, these infinitely versatile machines have become a staple in New Zealand’s automotive culture. Whether you’re into jacking them up and running over anything in your path; cutting the chassis to bits to slam it into the ground and watch it collect cat’s eyes everywhere you go; or simply hauling around an array of parts, tools, and whatever else may find itself thrown in the tray, you really can’t go past a solid ute! So, when you’ve spent more years than you can count driving them on the daily for work and found yourself fascinated with how good they can look with the right minimal modifications but disillusioned with their inability to go fast when chucking in the jandal, what do…

South Africa might be the last place you’d expect to find the world’s fastest BMW, but that’s exactly where the Budler Motorsport M5 pro-mod calls home. With a quickest pass to date of 6.53 seconds at 216mph (348kph), many would suspect the M5-bodied RJ Chassis pro-mod to be 2JZ powered, but the billet block is actually based on a BMW S38 found in an E38 M5. Budler is a BMW specialist and no stranger to pushing the limits of Bavarian engines, having previously pushed over 1300hp (969kW) from the factory S38 block run in its E30 drag car (which is the world’s fastest E30). For the pro-mod, PPT Pro Billet machined the new closed-deck billet block, based off the S38. The block features some unique pieces, such as the external…

Unless you’ve worked for an insurance company, getting your insurance sussed can be a bit of a mystery. When you start chucking around terms like ‘market value’, ‘sum insured’, and ‘agreed value’, the process can seem pretty daunting. Owning a modified car doesn’t help the cause either. So, to help you out, we’re getting the rundown on insurance from the team at NAC Insurance and passing that golden knowledge on to you to make it all a bit easier. This month, we’re looking at how an insurer settles a total loss (aka ‘write-off’). All insurance policies will have something that sets out what they will pay if you need to claim. The part we’re interested in is the piece that talks about if the car is unable to be repaired…

No stranger to a driver’s seat with a cage wrapped around it, or the inner workings of Honda-badged steel, Elliot Osborne tells us that he has flicked off his previous DC2 project in favour of a fresh base, as it was too heavy and underpowered for what he hoped to achieve. Staying with a similar vein with the new chassis, only a truckload lighter, he’s opted for an EG hatch that has been stripped back to a bare basics, cut to shit, and seen damn near anything second hand or perishable replaced, with a do-it-now-rather-than-later-when-it-breaks ethos in mind. With polycarbonate windows, fibreglass bonnet and boot, gutted doors, unboosted alloy Wilwood calipers, and a manual steering rack, it’s set to weigh roughly 850–880kg at most, even with the eight-point roll cage…

The end of last year brought bad news for Kiwi rallying talent Hayden Paddon after his World Rally Championship (WRC) team, Hyundai, essentially dropped him from their driver line-up for 2019. It wasn’t the result that we had all hoped for after a reduced 2018 season. Paddon, however, isn’t looking to let it dampen his driving on an international level, instead jumping ship to pedal full-time in a slightly different series. He has announced that he will compete in the door-banging, dirt-hussing, tarmac-slaying, dog-fight that is the Global Rallycross (GRC) Europe series! “I have been in rallying for a long time, so rallycross is not completely new to me, but I will have to adapt to cars racing alongside me,” said Paddon. “GRC Europe will be a new challenge, and…

Do you love a good rental racer? Forget having to go on holiday to throw away all mechanical sympathy and get up to no good in a car you don’t own — the company behind the infamous Lime scooters is looking to replicate its success with full-sized cars! Jokes aside, the ride-share craze has hit Kiwiland heavy, and streets of the main centres have been overrun with white, black, and green pathwaypesters. That same concept could soon be transferred to a two-seater car that you locate on a smartphone app, hire by the minute, then leave at the nearest car park when you are done. These ‘LimePods’ are the latest venture from Lime’s corporate headquarters, and the company has said that it plans to obtain permission from the Auckland Council…

Kicking off their 2019 rally season, Mike Young and Malcolm Read claimed a solid third-place podium finish at the International Rally of Tsumagoi in Gunma Prefecture, north-west of Tokyo, Japan. The 18-stage rally, which kicked off the 2019 Japan Super Rally Series, was a three-day affair with 83.65km of stages. The pairing traded in record summer temps for a winter wonderland in Japan’s mountains, where temperatures were plummeting to–20°C at night. It was the first time on snow for both Young and Read, and they faced up against Asia-Pacific Rally Championship regulars such as Mitsuhiro Aoki and fellow Cusco team driver Yasushi Aoyama. The Kiwi pair banked a series of solid times and several stage wins, all while shaking down their development AP4 Cusco TRD Yaris in preparation for the…

NZ Performance Car: Hi, Mike. Thanks for taking the time out of your schedule to yarn with us. Can you quickly tell the readers who you are and what you do? Mike: Hey, guys. I’m Mike Young, a 26-year-old rally driver from Opotiki, New Zealand. I’m currently based in Perth, Australia, and I compete in the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) with Cusco Racing and TRD [Toyota Racing Development]. What sparked your interest in motorsport, and how did you end up driving? My dad, Brian Young, has been photographing and filming motorsport all his life, and we used to go to events as a family. He tried to get me to take up a camera to follow in his footsteps, which I did for a while, but I didn’t want…

Bonneville is a place that Reg Cook swore that he’d never return to after his first record in COOKIE back in 2011, because of the extreme hot and dry conditions drivers and crew are forced to endure over Bonneville Speed Week. However, it’s now become an obsession, and one that Cook Motor Racing (CMR) is working hard at year in, year out to achieve the team’s ultimate goal of running over 500mph (373kW) — faster than any human ever has in a piston engine, wheel-driven streamliner. But, unlike other teams that spend years perfecting one combination to an ultimate goal, Reg and his crew are playing catch-up, running on borrowed time and a small budget in comparison to the competition. That has meant that, each year, they spend the off-season…

Cars on grass. One of those default rules of photographing cars is that you just don’t pop them among some leafy blades and bang out a few shutters. For a number of simple reasons, it’s just not the done thing. Unless, of course, that grass is the finely manicured lawns of a classic car concours d’élégance. If you’ve been anywhere near popular international websites of the automotive persuasion, you might be familiar with some of the big names, such as the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, which is maybe the best known classic car show in the world. Here in Kiwiland, we’ve got the Ellerslie Classic Car Show, itself hosting a concours d’élégance aimed at showcasing the cream of New Zealand’s classic crop, since 1972. ‘Concours d’élégance’ is French for ‘competition…

NAME: BRAD GREER // AGE: 24LOCATION: BLENHEIM // OCCUPATION: VINEYARD MANAGER NZ Performance Car: Hi, Brad. Tell us how you got into modifying cars and what you’ve owned in the past. Brad: Hey, team. My family has always been into cars, so it didn’t take much. My first car was a ’77 Honda Civic, and I’ve owned anything from VTEC Hondas through to XB Falcon wagons. In the past, I’ve built an R33 GT25T coupe, [an] S13, and [an] S14. So, what was it about the R34 that made you want to buy one? I like the way they look and perform. My dream car has always been an R34 GT-R so this is close enough! It was originally up in Auckland with 20-inch chrome wheels and Lambo doors, which…

NAME: KHRUNAL MAHENDRA // AGE: 25LOCATION: WELLINGTON // OCCUPATION: ANZ PERSONAL BANKER NZ Performance Car: Hey, Khrunal. With a car like your NZPC Issue No. 254 cover–making Evo X to live up to, what drew you to the 86 for daily duties? Khrunal: I was initially looking for something quite sleek; something that would stand out from the hoards of mundane cars on the road; and, overall, something with a bit of fuel efficiency. I already knew that the 86 was the most cheatable car in the world — you can get parts for them left, right, and centre with the snap of your fingers — but I still bought it in the hope that I wouldn’t modify it at all. That’s what the Evo was for — but two…