Innehållsförteckning för No 275 November 2019 från NZ Performance Car

They say that the male brain thinks about sex every six minutes, on average. Well, I’m not sure where that data derived from, but it certainly did not take into account what happens between my eardrums. Replace the word ‘sex’ with ‘project’ and that would be a more accurate description of my thought processes. I have no idea why I struggle to focus on much else in life apart from whatever project or projects I’m working on, but it’s a problem that I’m unsure how to cure. I’m well aware of the problem, and have started calling it ‘brain on fire’: jumping from one project to the next, never quite finishing anything, and never being left with any sense of achievement or satisfaction. I’d love for it to stop, but,…

The nation’s ultimate pop-culture event returns to ASB Showgrounds once again this Labour Weekend (25–28 October). Armageddon is going to be massive, the only place to get your fill of all the latest games and the chance to meet the best celebrities to hit our shores — including 2019 WWE Hall of Famer, The Honky Tonk Man, considered the greatest WWE intercontinental champion of all time, with a professional wrestling career that saw him hold the Intercontinental Championship for a record 64 weeks! If The HTM wasn’t enough wrestling to get you fizzing, 2014 WWE Hall of Famer and singer Amy ‘Lita’ Dumas — known as one of the three members of Team Xtreme and four-time winner of the WWE Women’s Championship — is also headed down under. Harry Potter’s…

With next year’s inaugural Touring Car Racing (TCR) New Zealand series set to kick off in January, Queenstown-based squad M Developments has shown its early strength in the category with an updated triple threat that will compete in the Carter’s Tyre Service South Island Endurance Series. Consisting of two Volkswagen Golf GTI TCRs and a Seat Cupra TCR, all feature new aerodynamics packages as well as updated steering, while one of the Volkswagens has received a facelift. M Developments owner Barry Moore and Tim Mackersy will campaign the No. 79 Volkswagen, while Mike Driver and Phil Hood joined the team this season in the second No. 66 Volkswagen, and Ron Mackersy and Warren Good take control of the No. 275 Seat. The first year of the TCR will see a…

While it may have been going down in the mountain passes of rural Japan for decades and in numerous established series the world over, drifting has never had an international championship successfully formed. However, with the recognition of the FIA, which formed the Intercontinental Drifting Cup back in 2017, the doors looked to be opening for something bigger. Eline Berke, vice president of the FIA Drift Commission, says that changes to this year’s format are a step forward to not only securing its position as a standalone international event but also forming a united championship. The concept is to have one round in every continent, with drivers meeting in a world championship final. With established drift series already collaborating with the Cup, it wouldn’t be hard to employee each to…

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There’s an undying automotive rivalry that is as old as time itself; one that has divided the streets for as long as anyone can remember; a dispute of performance supremacy that has formed many of the great back-road face-offs that live on as urban legends: which is truly the heir to the throne, Subaru or Mitsubishi? Owners wage an ongoing war that has seen armies formed and battles go down in the dead of night, with loyal soldiers repping their brands in the face of potential defeat to prove that they are the undisputed hardest, fastest, and most ruthless four-wheel hitter to be found on the streets. With a positive shift away from getting up to no good in the public eye during those struggles for bragging rights, business partners…

HEART ENGINE: SR20DET, 2000cc, four-cylinder BLOCK: ARP main bolts, forged CP pistons, Eagle connecting rods, ACL big-end and main bearings HEAD: Tomei Poncams, HKS cam gears, Supertech valve-stem seals, BC valve springs and retainers, HKS head gasket INTAKE: Custom 600x280x100mm intercooler and piping, K&N pod filter TURBO: Garrett GTX3071R Gen I (0.63AR turbine housing) WASTEGATE: Turbosmart Gen-V 45mm Hyper-Gate FUEL: Injector Dynamics 1725cc injectors, DeatschWerks DW400 in-tank fuel pump, Turbosmart FPR1200 fuel pressure regulator (FPR) IGNITION: Nissan GT-R (R35) coil packs ELECTRICAL: Link G4+ Monsoon, MoTeC PDM, loom by NZ Wiring and Performance COOLING: GReddy TW-R radiator, Tomei oil block, Trust remote oil-filter relocation, Trust 16-row oil cooler EXTRA: SMS Fabrication custom oil catch-can, C’s Garage engine mounts “I was planning on feeling out the car, getting everything up to…

With a huge entry list, a bluebird winter’s day, and the challenge of a new track layout to run, the 2019/2020 Drift South season kicked off in spectacular fashion at Mike Pero Motorsport Park, Ruapuna in Christchurch. New and returning drivers had clearly been putting in the spanner time during the short off season. The calibre of cars on the grid has improved, with drivers coming from all corners of the South Island and Auckland to compete. The Development Series seems to be gaining great momentum, with a bumper line-up of the usual mix of newbies in road cars through to guys who should be in Pro (wink wink). Running the A Track in reverse direction for the first time ever really had the drivers thinking. Entry style and speed…

PERFORMANCE GLASSWARE One for the automotive photographers, the Tamron SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 is a four-times zoom, covering telephoto to super telephoto perspectives, and spans a versatile and long-reaching focal length range perfect for track work. Complementing the long reach is an optimized optical design that features three low dispersion (LD) glass elements to reduce chromatic aberrations and colour fringing throughout the zoom range. The lens also features a Flex Zoom Lock mechanism to permit locking the zoom position at any focal length position to prevent accidental zoom extension. To aid handheld shooting situations, Vibration Compensation (VC) is a 4.5-stop-effective image stabilization mechanism that helps to reduce the appearance of camera shake for sharper results when capturing those fast-panning corner shots at slower shutter speeds. Available in…

Forget your car-manufacturer loyalties, forget what brands you use on your car, forget the tyres you run, forget the authenticity of the wheels bolted to your hubs, forget whether you’re naturally aspirated or boosted, and forget what engine option you have; there’s one factor that’s even more preloaded with prejudice than any of those. One simple question has two far more touchy answers that, depending on who is asking, will swing serious judgement based on how you answer. Being asked, “Do you drive automatic or manual?” may as well be a question about whether you support gun control with how some react to the ‘wrong’ answer. Back when I was a pimple-faced teenager with a fresh paper licence that finally allowed me to drive on my own legally, having the…

Last year we talked about two of the biggest touring car series’, the Japanese Super GT and Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM), working to join forces in a head-to-head duke-out for supremacy. The series’ have been chatting about it since 2015, and now, after nearly four years in the making, it’s going to happen at the final race of the current DTM season (5–6 October) with three Super GT wild card entries to be sent across from Japan to Germany. The three major GT500 manufacturers will all field one car, with Kiwi driver Nick Cassidy being called on alongside current co-driver Ryo¯ Hirakawa to pilot the LC500 for Lexus. It will be the first time that Cassidy has returned to the Hockenheimring since racing in the now defunct FIA European Formula…

Heads up to anyone who has modified their car, or who intends to — which should be all of you: the Low Volume Vehicle Technical Association (LVVTA), the organization that sets certification standards, will soon open the Low Volume Vehicle Standard: Braking Systems for consultation. What that means is that you will have your chance to pass comment on the existing standard and any suggestions or issues may be taken into account when the standard is revised in the near future. The current standard can be found in the documents section of the LVVTA website (lvvta.org.nz), and all submissions received before 1 November 2019 will be analysed and, where appropriate, submissions will be incorporated into the standard. If necessary, the LVVTA will undertake further consultation with key groups, and anyone…

As the world gears up for the largest Time Attack event on the calendar, the Yokohama World Time Attack Challenge (WTAC) in Sydney, Australia, MCA Suspension has been busy testing its long-serving ‘Hammerhead’ S13. One of those testing stints at Queensland Raceways National Track with Kiwi V8 Supercars driver Andre Heimgartner has seen a 20-year standing lap record with a 1min 4.03s lap around the National Circuit. The feat eclipses the record time of 1min 4.06s set by Sam Wills in a Formula Holden Reynard 94D back in 1999. There have been numerous set-up changes, as well as the trial of new driver Heimgartner, a V8 Supercars driver for Kelly Racing, who was at the helm of Hammerhead for the session. What makes the record-breaking lap even more impressive is…

HEART ENGINE: Toyota 2JZ-GTE, 2997cc, straight-six BLOCK: Factory HEAD: Brian Crower 264-degree camshafts, OS Giken camshaft gears, Brian Crower valve springs, ARP head studs INTAKE: Elwood Parts manifold, titanium intake pipe, Fenix intercooler, stainless intercooler piping EXHAUST: Three-inch stainless system, stainless screamer pipe TURBO: Holset HX40, Walsh Motorsport stainless manifold WASTEGATE: Turbosmart Power-Gate60 BOV: Turbosmart FUEL: Bosch 1000cc injectors, Walbro 400-litres-per-hour pump, Turbosmart fuelpressure regulator (FPR) IGNITION: Microtech ignitor ECU: Link G4+ Xtreme COOLING: Fenix radiator, Fenix oil cooler EXTRA: Alloy catch-can, Chase Bays overflow, Chase Bays power-steering reservoir, Chase Bays washer reservoir, Suspicious Garage alternator-relocation bracket From the moment pen hits paper in the design room until the final second that panel steel is crushed down and melted into oblivion, a car’s life story is filling the pages of…

With conditions some of the best we’ve seen in years, the rainout of 2018 a distant memory, and the track surface so sticky that your fresh Nikes were ripped off no matter how well they had been double knotted, the 2019 Garrett Advancing Motion Brisbane Jamboree at Willowbank Raceway saw record, after record, after PB, and some of the best import drag racing action we’ve seen locally for years. Now effectively a five-day affair, with three days of testing in the lead-up to race weekend, all the serious teams arrive early to start dialling in and, for some, setting the bar extremely high straight out of the gate. As always, it was the faster classes such as Factory Extreme, Pro Turbo, and Pro Compact that all eyes were on in…

Coming into the fifth round of the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship (NZRC), all eyes were on Ben Hunt who, having won the first four rallies outright, would be able to secure the championship one round early should he be able to finish eighth or better at the Dayle ITM Goldrush Rally of Coromandel. Standing in his way would be 127km of special stages (SSs) surrounding the Whitianga township, some of the most difficult stages of the year. Overnight rain, as well as wild weather during the week leading up to SS1 in Kennedy Bay, compounded the challenge, with some very slippery surfaces to contend with. These conditions would play a significant role in 21 of the 62 starters not making it to the finish line on…

NAME: NEVILLE REID // AGE: 45 LOCATION: AUCKLAND // OCCUPATION: MECHANIC NZ Performance Car: Hi, Neville. Could you tell the readers what got you into cars and what your first was? Neville: Hi, NZPC. I started fixing cars when I was about 10 years old, with my father; we worked on a 1964 Vauxhall HA Viva. That was 35 years ago now. I got a car licence at 15 years old, and I found an old rusty Holden Gemini that I welded up to get a WOF. What made you want the Gemini? It was a car that drove! I’ve only ever owned Geminis. Over the years, I got new models, particularly the 1982, of which I’ve had four that I’ve modified over the past 30 years. I started with…

Announced in June as the latest incarnation of the Toyota Racing Series (TRS) open-wheelers, the Toyota FT-60 has finally undergone testing at two New Zealand tracks. With Hampton Downs Motorsport Park and Manfeild Circuit Chris Amon playing hosts, it’s the first time that the new machine has turned wheels since its maiden shakedown in Italy. Experienced open-wheeler and sports car driver Dan Gaunt was tasked with the testing. “There is a big difference between this car and the previous Castrol Toyota Racing Series machines. It’s a much bigger car, with more downforce, and it’s 100kg heavier with all of the modern safety equipment,” Gaunt said. “That being said, with nearly 300 horsepower [224kW] and a turbocharger, it’s an extremely quick car.” The Toyota FT-60 is set to debut in the…

Despite a failure to start at Rally Finland after crashing out in testing, Hayden Paddon has been given another World Rally Championship (WRC) shot by M-Sport with not one but two drives in the current season. The M-Sport Ford World Rally Team has confirmed that Paddon will contest WRC 2 at Wales Rally GB before stepping back up into the top tier of WRC behind the wheel of M-Sport’s new Ford Fiesta R5 MkII at Kennards Hire Rally Australia. It’s been a tough road for the Kiwi rally driver over the last year, which saw him dropped from WRC by Hyundai and struggling to get his foot back in the door. Luckily, M-Sport didn’t let the Rally Finland testing crash hinder his chances, and the latest drive announcements put Paddon…

Last month, the home-grown team behind rally champion and World Rally Championship (WRC) driver Hayden Paddon, known as ‘Paddon Rallysport Group’ (PRG), announced that it is undertaking a new project unlike anything we’ve seen locally: the design, development, and construction of one of the world’s first electric rally cars that will be capable of running full-length rallies. Based on a Hyundai Kona, the team has set itself the ambitious goal of having the first prototype running by April 2020 — just eight months away. “Alternative-energy power plants are very quickly evolving in the consumer-focused automotive sector, but the same developments are not as widespread in motorsport and certainly not in rallying,” said Paddon. “From some of the EV [electric vehicle] technology that already exists, the performance is there — some…

18-19 OCTOBER WORLD TIME ATTACK CHALLENGE 2019 SYDNEY MOTORSPORT PARK, SYDNEY The biggest Time Attack event on the world calendar, the Yokohama World Time Attack Challenge (WTAC), is a weekend of pure motorsport nirvana that would be lethal to miss for any true-blue petrol sniffer. With the likes of Japanese legends Koji ‘Madface’ Kitagawa and Under Suzuki already confirmed and a shit-ton of drivers yet to be announced, it’s promising to be one hell of a good time. It will include the wild ‘Fat Cat’ R8 1:1 from Finland, the ‘More LYFE!’ American record-breaking R35 GT-R, and the Aussie-brewed Brabham BT62 hypercar. Tell your boss you’ll be missing in action for the preceding days and book those flights and accommodation — it’s WTAC time. Check out worldtimeattack.com for full details.…

HEART ENGINE: Green Brothers race-spec 20B (D-series), 2000cc. three-rotor BLOCK: Stage-two ported plates, CNC exhaust ports, dowelled, CNC water-jacket modifications, clearanced and balanced rotors, blueprinted, oil modifications INTAKE: K&N filter, Xcessive lower intake manifold, PWR intercooler, HDi intercooler clamps EXHAUST: Four-inch stainless side-pipe TURBO: 72mm BorgWarner, V-band tail housing, stainless manifold WASTEGATE: 50mm Turbosmart BOV: Turbosmart FUEL: Six 1600cc injectors, three 2400cc injectors, custom fuel rail, Teflon lines throughout, four-litre surge tank, dual Bosch 044 main pumps, Carter lift pump IGNITION: AEM smart coils, voltage booster ECU: Link G4+ Xtreme, Black Box P30 power distribution module (PDM) COOLING: PWR radiator, PWR oil cooler EXTRA: Custom chromoly cross members, custom gated sump TO FIT THE 20B IN THE ENGINE BAY WHERE THEY WANTED IT TO GO, THE FIREWALL WAS RECESSED AND…

NAME: NICK CASSIDY AGE: 24 HOMETOWN: AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND CURRENTLY BASED: TOKYO, JAPAN DISCIPLINE(S): SUPER GT, SUPER FORMULA TOP RESULTS: 2017 SUPER GT CHAMPION, 2018 SUPER GT RUNNER-UP, 2018 SUPER FORMULA RUNNER-UP, 2015 JAPANESE F3 CHAMPION, 2014 MACAU GRAND PRIX THIRD PLACE, THREE-TIME NEW ZEALAND GRAND PRIX WINNER, TWO-TIME TOYOTA RACING SERIES WINNER NZ Performance Car: Hi, Nick. Readers will recognize your name for being a successful driver both locally and internationally, but can you tell them what sparked your interest in motorsport? Nick: Hi, NZPC. Yeah, at an early age, I was interested in Formula 1, watching races at midnight from three years old. This was helped by my father, my grandfather, and my uncle all doing their own racing, so I was exposed to motorsport from a very…

Looking good isn’t exclusive to throwing the chequebook at the car and dunking it in a vat of new, shiny hotness. Sometimes a more discerning, measured approach with a focus on subtlety can hit the spot. Some folks just have that innate eye for style, an ability bordering on the subconscious, modestly going about the business of crafting their chosen sculpture as the apple of their mind’s eye. Within the automotive sphere, it’s often a case of subtlety over ostentatiousness; indulging in the fine art of selecting just the right components, eyeballing the exact fit, and spending hours poring over whether it looks just right. It’s not necessarily a big-budget affair, either. Nailing that aesthetic, getting it bang on, is something that transcends absolute cubic amounts of currency. Sure, having…

2019 HONDA CBR300R For the less-experienced rider, the CBR300R is a solid platform for honing riding skills and packs a ton of features for the price bracket. Honda touts it as the perfect entry point into the Super Sport CBR range: a compact unit thanks to the 1380mm wheelbase, 780mm seat height, and 145mm of ground clearance, all while weighing in at just 161kg. That narrow design makes it easier to sit on the bike and get both feet on the ground. Match that with the 286ccc liquid-cooled four-stroke dual-overhead-cam single-cylinder power plant, and you’ve got a potent little package that has plenty of go when required but remains economical when commuting. The styling cues are taken straight from the Super Sport range-topping CBR1000RR, with an angular silhouette and aggressive…