Well the Skylines Australia Victorian chapter has blown our socks off once again with another awesome event, this time with the help of Road Track Rally and Motul Australia!
When SAU Vic have an event, they don’t mess about! The day was full of ear punishing, limiter bashing dyno fun!!
Hosted at the unbelievably clean Road Track Rally (RTR) workshop in Melbourne’s south east, the crowd was treated to a full day of peak power runs from 25 cars, ranging from Subaru’s, Mitsubishi’s, various euros and of course a large amount of Nissan Skylines!!


The day kicked off bright and early at 9am sharp, a testament not only to the dedication from the boys and girls behind SAU Vic but the boys from RTR as well for being up and running with the first car on the rollers that early on a Sunday!!

Outside the packed workshop, we were treated to a feast of immaculate Skylines that you would hope to see at any good SAU Vic event.

Midway through the day (proving of course that it is always cooler to rock up fashionably late) 4 R35 GT-R’s arrived within minutes of each other drawing quite the crowd.

Nismoo!! (We think this plate would work better with some black vinyl spots all over the car to make it look like a cow!)

Even though we have had more than a few chances to get up close and personal with GT-R’s, I spent some time looking at the latest model. I still find myself getting lost in all the detail, the bulging front fenders, sinister headlights and of course the way the roof comes down so aggressively towards the rear. All of this had me walking around it for minutes before I even thought to press the shutter button on my camera!

It seems we’re not the only ones who are distracted by the looks of the hulking Skyline.

Back inside the workshop was the Mainline Dyno that would see over 5,000KW pushed through it’s rollers across the entire day!

Most of the cars went on with ease however this 370ZX struggled to hide it’s girth after it needed a couple of adjustments to get it on comfortably.

The 370ZX belted out a respectable 204KW at the wheels from the naturally aspirated V6, not bad at all!!

The crowd was kept informed throughout the day by this 46″ display, complete with a leader board that was constantly being updated as each car showed us what it was made of. The SAU Vic kids do not mess about!

We saw run after run, but none impressed quite like Rob’s R33’s effort to shoot three foot flames after hitting a peak power of 221kw’s from the rear wheels.

Back outside the growing crowd was invited to ‘guess the power’ of this R32 GT-R.

Owner Samir remained tight lipped so as not to ruin the game.  All the guests had to go on was the visual cues from the intimidating exhaust and a host of goodies tucked away under the bonnet of the GT-R.

We’re big fans of Samir’s approach with the car and would love to feature it in the near future.

The crowd waited in anticipation to see if their guess was on the prize…

After getting strapped down by the RTR crew, Samir’s R32 put down 313.4kw at all four wheels! The most powerful car on the day excluding the R35 GT-R’s. We reckon that isn’t something to turn your nose up at!!

From the most powerful car to the wooden spoon of the day… David’s tongue-in-cheek Hyundai Excel certainly turned a few heads as it rolled onto the dyno.

While it certainly didn’t break any records it was the most consistent car of the day putting down 45kw flat for three consecutive runs.

While waiting for cars to come and go from the dyno I found myself lost in the workshop once again. At every event I’ve ever attended at Road Track Rally I end up getting caught up in exploring all the corners of the factory.
From expensive tyres mounted and ready for the next track day or shakedown test of the teams Evo X race car…

To the unseen beauty of the undercarriage of a customers Mitsubishi Evolution X.

The Evo X on the hoist was also getting it’s brakes freshened up so I got a good look at its’ stopping power.

At the far end of the workshop, I spotted this Subaru Forester missing a vital component…

I found the engine not far away looking just as clean as the car itself, my mind wonders thinking about what work the engine is getting done!

Back up the front another customers car, this time an Evo 9.
The boys at Road Track Rally are synonymous with Mitsubishi Evo’s, both maintenance and performance wise. So if you get excited by Mitsubishi AWD turbos then you probably need to know the guys down at RTR.

Back out the front there were heaps of cars coming and going and one car in particular stole our attention, well the wheels caught our eye would be a more accurate description of events.

It was Nick’s diesel Golf, now sporting some uber-cool Land Rover wheels. Nicks’ Golf wasn’t there just to look pretty though as it also made an appearance on the dyno!
It managed a respectable 108kw at the wheels! While this might not be at the top of the leader board, remember it is a diesel powered Golf so torques the game and this little guy wins with almost the same amount of torque as a 200KW Mitsubishi Evo!!
So next time you hear a tractor at the lights next to you, have a second thought.

Out on the street there was some more Euro action, with a pair of black VW Bora’s. Bora by name but not by looks… These two had a touch of VIP flair with some killer wheel choices and fitment!

Further up the street I spotted this white S15 trying to find a park with his matching white S15 buddy, this is the perfect look on this car in my eyes. ‘Keep it simple stupid’ has never been more fitting!!

Something we don’t see enough of here on GSS, more cars with horses for emblems! However this is no prancing Italian horse!

The first generation Ford Mustang! I must say this is one of the finest examples I have seen with my own eyes! If you know the owner then please get them to contact us at enq@gripshiftslide.com! We love this car!

Not too far away I spotted a stickered up Infinity Skyline, extra points for the Gripshiftslide sticker and world famous Kebabhunters sticker. (Both available from our online store, http://store.gripshiftslide.com)

After my short stroll around the street I headed back to find this driven and enjoyed R33 GT-R, there were a few giveaways this car gets to see it’s fair amount of track days. Like the serious looking Advan A050 tyres, the not so stupidly low ride height and of course the giant numbers on the rear quarter window!

Back inside the team had just finished running Samir’s ‘Guess the power’ R32 before the lunch break. The boys and girls from SAU Vic had a free BBQ for all the hungry mouths that attended and this was no easy feat, but the team managed to feed everyone there!!

After the short break it was back to work and the dyno was up and running cars in just a few minutes.

While we were paying attention to all the nice cars on show we spotted a few bits of street wear, (shameless plug) like this gripshiftslide cap!

Also this super cool and impossible to get Stanceworks Australia hoodie, seriously you can’t get them… We tried!

Before the long awaited dyno shootout between the four R35 GT-R’s in the afternoon, SAU Vic president John ‘Richo’ handed out a few prize packs, including some products from Motul Australia who are big supporters of the club.

So it is true what they say, winners are grinners!!

Some of the Motul gear on offer for those lucky enough to win a prize.

With the crowd the largest we’d seen it all day, something special must have been happening…

That of course was finally getting to see some modern Japanese muscle stretch its’ legs on the dyno.

One after another we saw all four go head to head.

The sound the twin turbo V6 makes is mental anywhere in the room, I was brave (read stupid enough) to stand only one meter away… Needless to say it is a sound that will stay with me for some time!

All eyes were on ‘Nismoo’ who was tipped to be a favorite for the highest power on the day.

Landing an impressive best run of 389kw at the wheels, painfully though only loosing by 1kw to Sam’s black R35. That just goes to show what a few bolt ons can do to improve performance with the lowest rated R35 on the day hitting 320kw.

The excitement in the room as ‘Nismoo’ pulled out of the workshop was insane, every man, woman and child was in awe of the white beast.

Easily our favorite event of the year so far (aside from our own of course!)
We cannot express how well run the SAU events are and we hope to learn a thing from John and the team for our future events and we look forward to anything that has those three letters attached to it – ‘SAU’.
A big thanks goes out to Dan and the team at Road Track Rally for providing the perfect backdrop and workshop for these events and support the car scene here in Melbourne.
Thanks for reading,
– Gwyn.
Additional images : Andrew Nguyen | AN Photography

A couple of weeks ago a few members from the JDM Style Tuning forums managed to sweet talk the guys from the Road Track Rally into having JDMST dyno day at their workshop, the attending list on the forum was full and the workshop was filled with some truly amazing Japanese machinery on the day!


With the even running all day, car came and went so parking wasn’t an issue in the tiny back streets of Dandenong.
We snapped a few shots of Reece’s Camry while there was no other cars or a crowd around it (which is a rare sight at a JDMST meet).

This car receives a lot of praise for it’s stupidly low ride height and aggressive offset.

The SSR MS1 wheels are a perfect match for this unique entry into the stance scene.

The wild card for the day went to Tim and his SR20DET powered Club Man, this lightweight open wheeler coupled with the performance of the punchy boosted Nissan 2 liter engine would be one hell of a handful under full throttle!

Once one the rollers the little guy belted out an impressive 152Kw at the wheels!!

While the boys were slaving away in the dyno booth the workshop was filled with some beautiful street cars, loving the Ralliart mud flaps on this Evo!

This Evo sits a little closer to the functional side of the fence with a not so unfriendly ride height, some very wide wheels to offer a little extra grip and a healthy amount of poke to the little punchy sedan.

Every time we visit the RTR workshop we are always so blown away by how clean it is!
Upstairs we found a set of Nismo wheels holding this wall up, we wondered if anyone would notice if they went missing…

The immaculate RTR Evo X is another mind blowing experience walking into this workshop hidden away in Melbourne’s outer eastern suburbs, We also crack a massive smile when we spot the GSS stickers on the bumper!!

Hidden in the back we found Trae’s Evo 7, now it seems it wasn’t actually there to go the dyno at all but in fact staying for a sleepover getting some things finished under the hood…

We’re not exactly sure what else could be done to improve this engine bay!!

Our favorite car on the day had to be this immaculate R34 GT-R!!

Bayside Blue and white wheels is a match made in heaven!

Shaun’s Skyline conquered the day with an impressive 292.8kw!!
More than enough for any fun street car.

All in all it was a great day out, very relaxed compared to the chaos of some of the bigger meets of late that have seen plenty of police trouble.
This was a breathe of fresh air and everyone who participated enjoyed testing the performance of their cars in a safe and legal manner and we’re hoping there are many more ‘activity’ based meets in the future as standing around cars in a car park can get stale.
Well done to the organisers and RTR for hosting such good day!
Thanks for reading,
– Gwyn.
Photos : Andrew Nguyen | AN Photography 

Just a few days ago with the help of the team at Import Monster here in Melbourne, Gripshiftslide and Co hosted our first event, ever!!
Not really knowing what to expect and also relying on our less than desirable organisational skills, we weren’t holding our breath.
Here is the day through 5 different photographers lenses…


With a few months of planning and casual chats with Aaron from Import Monster he happily (read – stupidly) allowed us to host our little event at the ‘IM’ Factory in Melbournes eastern suburbs.
The idea was simple; invite people, cook sausages, sell clothing from stalls and race some RC cars…  We could never have prepared for the actual turnout the event received!

The event kicked off at 12pm with most of the team arriving at around 10:30am to start setting up. We invited a few friends to come along to be part of our very first event including : Saint Side, Ilovedrift, De Croft, Driven Threads, WOT Hobbies and Immaculate Reflections.
By around 11:30am a few cars started rolling into the once empty street, by 12pm it was next to impossible to park on the main street and soon cars were pouring into side streets and factory carparks.
By this point we knew one thing… We needed more sausages!

One of the perks of hosting an event at Import Monster was that there was tonnes of cool wheels and Jap parts for sale on the day. This was just the outside wheel collection for all the stuff that wouldn’t fit in the shop!!

It wasn’t long before there were literally hundreds of people filling the tiny Import Monster driveway and we knew we had a hit on our hands.

Helping keep the cool vibe and fun we had Luke taking care of the tunes for over 4 straight hours!! Massive thank you goes out to this guy, word on the street is he forgot to ‘slip, slop, slap’ and looked like a lobster the next day.
Thanks Luke!

Across from the DJ we had WOT Hobbies with a makeshift drift track and heaps of cool RC shells.

These guys didn’t stop all day long and were the last to leave! A few people even brought their own RC cars along for a few friendly competitions with the crew.

Holden VE UTES are even finding their way into the RC drift scene now too!
We wish someone would actually build one to look exactly like this RC version.

We had plenty of cars make the trip from Geelong, Ballarat and even Bendigo!

Walking out onto the street everywhere you looked there were cars, people and more cars!
There were a few huffy sliders enjoying the wide industrial estate roads too.

Some cars managed to make their own parking spots on the grassy banks across the road. Here Todd’s Skoda wagon was looking great but will soon be looking even better after winning a $600 detailing package in our raffle/giveaway thanks to Immaculate Reflections.

After walking around for 30 minutes we found a few groups creating their own mini meets, we spotted this awesome group of Honda S2000’s.

We have to admit this one stole most of our attention. If the owner sees this, you sir, are doing it right!

Perfect and simple additions like classic bronze TE37 wheels make this S2K a massive neck breaker!

Further up one of the side streets this group of white cars decided it was a perfect opportunity for an impromptu photo shoot…

Obviously we were keen to hang around and see the result!
Somehow this sneaky black civic managed to squeeze in but we still enjoyed the lineup.

This is one of our favorite 370Z’s in Melbourne and we were lucky enough to have it attend our meet!

Even though the parking was scattered we couldn’t believe how social this meet was, everyone was mingling and hanging out.

One thing that surprised us given our strong Japanese car following was the amount of Euro’s that came along as well.

There was so much on offer and in the days after the event we have been seeing photos all over the web of cars we didn’t event see at the event! There was just way too much to take it all in!

One of the standouts was this Audi convertible, something you really don’t see a lot of here but it was certainly living up to the stance works sticker on the windshield with this perfect set of BBS RM wheels.

Fresh on the scene, Michael’s E30 wagon has only just recently acquired these new wheels and is already becoming a local internet sensation!

Now it seems Michael’s 2nd attempt at a daily isn’t exactly going to plan!

Hidden in a driveway nearby was the polar opposite of Michael’s E30 BMW. Now both cars are white and have some decent wheels, but the similarity’s stop there!
This one has a full roll cage, more suspension mods then you can poke a stick at and oh yeah, a Nissan RB30 motor!

Denis’s E30 is built for drift and only days after the engine was in and running the car was off to Winton for the Vicdrift summer matsuri!!

To make this humble little event catchy we decided to name it “Summerdays and Enginebays” so it wouldn’t have been complete without a few popped bonnets!

We spotted everyone chatting and checking out each others cars and setups. With the relaxed nature of the meet more people were taking the time to walk around and actually enjoy the cars on show rather than be ready with keys in hand in case the police paid a visit.

Some of the cars had a few surprises up their sleeves and the level of finish and fab work that some of these street cars had was astounding, Melbourne definitely had us very impressed!

Proving that it is still cool to be late at around 3Pm Thien brought down his unfinished Honda ‘K’ powered Mini, once unloaded of the trailer it was impossible to take a photo with out a bunch of heads peering into this little blue car.
This is shaping up to be one of the most exciting builds and we hope we can convince Thein into showing us a little more once it is close to completion.

We still can’t believe the amount of people that were there!

Back to car spotting we found Nick’s 86 now sporting a tofu inspired two tone colour scheme paying homage to the classic older brother.

The area isn’t exactly friendly when it comes to low cars and driveways so there was plenty of angled exits and shrieks of pain from on lookers when the all too familiar SCRAAAPPPEE!!! came from underneath the cars.

So this Corolla wagon is about as tough as they get, we can’t decide if it needs the red ‘A Team’ strip more or just a sticker that says “free candy”.

Dale’s rig when he is not drifting his Tuffcore purple 180SX.

Soon the afternoon was coming to an end and some of the crowd began to shrink.

So a last minute dash was in order to get as many photos before the day was done and dusted.

Aside from 50 million Toyota Supra’s and a few Skyline’s we found a heap of Honda’s made it out despite ClubITR having their end of year cruise on the same day.

Some more of that driveway carnage!!

This Chaser gets more and more track orientated every time we see it, now rocking a air intake, bucket seat and unpainted front bar… We are liking where this is going!!!

There was some of impressive R31’s parked together, these older Skylines are falling into the shadows as the years go by and newer models get cheaper and cheaper. Thankfully there is a dedicated bunch that are holding onto these older Nissan’s and for that we salute you!

I wondered if this 180SX will be at any future drift meets, we’re excited to see what it can do after it’s engine rebuild.

Even THE STU made it down for the afternoon, unfortunately after a few too many heroes the inevitable happened and the boys in blue came along.
They didn’t seem to approve of Stu’s ride height 🙁

We counted about 10 Supra’s so we were pretty happy with that!

Rolling in late in the arvo was this VIP Aristo, black and chrome is always going to work on big Japanese sedans!

This is why we can’t have nice things!!!
Up until this point, this was one of the best behaved car meets of the year but of course with huge numbers there is bound to be some idiots.
The downside is once the smoke has cleared only the real enthusiasts and business owners are left to be seen by all the law enforcement called to the scene after reports of burnouts and the dreaded word… ‘Hooning’.
With over 200 cars, only 3-4 idiots is a sign that Melbourne is heading in the right direction.
So we will endevour to host many more events just like this in the near future, so thank you to each and every one of you who made this day one to remember!!
– Team GSS
Photos by :
Grant
Gwyn
Brendan | Blacktop Images
Andrew | AN Photography
Victor | MX Photography