GT-R – Gripshiftslide

Fun 2 Drive :: Meet Your Heroes

Grant — Mon, 12 Oct 2015 02:32:34 +0000

I’m not one to jump in the deep end, yet here I was on my first ever overseas trip, two hours from Tokyo, standing in front of a rental car shop.
There were no boring hatchbacks or sedans in front of me, no, these cars weren’t your standard A to B affair. I was at a shop called Fun2Drive and all the cars on offer here were straight out of my boyhood dreams.
Have you ever wanted to drive a GT-R, RX7 or an NSX for a day? This is the place to come!
Having driven less than 3 hours in Japan in total at this point, the nerves were setting in. What had I done? Signing the insurance paperwork, I worried if I had bitten off more than I could chew…

Tucked away in the serene mountains around Hakone/Lake Ashi this is the last thing you would expect to find, a rental car shop that specialises in sports cars.

Fun2Drive has an amazing mix of cars available, and just like any rental car you can rent them by the hour or even days at a time. Drivers can also choose to partake in tours which take you along some breathtaking roads, some made famous by the Initial D anime series. This is a great option to try out a heap of cars and have a tonne of fun trying to keep up with the instructor.
Booking these cars was a walk in the park. Just a quick google translation of the website and a few emails back and forth with the friendly owner, Chikara, was all it took. He spoke perfect English and made the whole process incredibly easy. On the day, I was met by Yoshi. He was super friendly and also spoke great English which was a huge relief being the ignorant traveler I was, I didn’t learn much more than “Hello” “Excuse me” and ” Thank you” before I set off on the trip to Japan.

First I had to complete a quick 10 minute driving test with Yoshi to see if I could be trusted with their precious cars. I was a little nervous, it had been more than 10 years since I was in a car with any sort of instructor. Thankfully I passed with flying colours. After dropping Yoshi back off at the shop, I set off.
I chose to go it alone and didn’t book a tour, I decided I would take 3 cars for 3 hours each. A sample box of Japan’s finest if you will. No maps, no guides, I was just hitting the open road.

I also decided to rent the cars in chronological order. So first up was a beautiful Hakosuka Skyline. After a quick drive, I pulled over to let that sink in for a minute…
Me, driving, Japan, Hakosuka… Bucket list? TICK !!

This KGC10 Skyline was a stunning example even though this was a replica GT-R. With my hands wrapped around the steering wheel and foot planted on the accelerator, I couldn’t tell and neither could passerby’s.

I found myself torn between staring at it and actually driving it. I must have walked around the car at least 8 times before I finally snapped out of it and jumped back in the drivers seat.

Back behind the wheel I was happy because the roads were just as beautiful as the car!! I was in driving bliss! The smells, vibrations and sounds of the throaty 2.0 litre engine as it powered up the hill were intoxicating.

The closest car I’ve driven in terms of age was a 1970’s MG coupe. While not without it’s charms, I didn’t walk away feeling an empty hole that could only be filled by purchasing a classic sports car. No, I just felt like I’d had a fleeting experience with something novel from a time I didn’t understand. It felt like a chore to wrestle around the corners and the engine response was a little underwhelming. I’m sure in its day, many a necks were broken if one came whizzing by.

The Skyline on the other hand, I found from the turn of the key to be something truly special. The initial sound of the fuel pump, then the engine coming to life sending a shock wave of vibrations from the front to the rear of the car, left me in a dizzying high before I’d even set off down the road.

Like most older cars, the steering was clunky and heavy at low speed. Once it was up and moving along though it felt very responsive and the suspension was quite a lot stiffer than I had expected.

I also really enjoyed the slight delay when pressing the accelerator before the car would begin moving. It didn’t feel like that annoying lag you get in an under powered or automatic car. It felt ‘mechanical’ like a million little pieces were coming together to thrust the car forward. It didn’t build up either, it was simply on power or off. This really made shifting down a gear before blasting up a mountain an addictive cocktail, like lighting the fuse of a rocket and jumping on.

Before long I was starting to feel comfortable behind the wheel and I began to just drive the car, I wasn’t premeditating my next move anymore or worrying if I would break this 40+ year old car. It was amazing to just lose myself in the car, the roads and the country.

After only a couple of hours with this Skyline, driving through a few towns it became apparent that this was no ordinary car… It was a national icon! Everywhere I went people were pointing, giving the thumbs up and gesturing to rev the engine.
People young and old were instantly taken by the car. Everywhere I stopped someone would come over and start taking photos of it. At one point an entire family came over and took a group photo with it!

After just 3 hours it was time to say goodbye to one of the best cars I’ve ever driven. I was dreading driving back to the shop. I was feeling like a kid returning to school after the holidays until I realised there were still two more cars to drive! My vacation wasn’t over!!

Flash forward 20 minutes and some 20 years of technology, and motoring in Japan had changed quite a bit! My car for the next 3 hours was this striking Honda NSX, in the ever popular Formula Red factory paint no less. As a self proclaimed Honda geek, I was in heaven!!

While booking my trip, I was easily most excited by the prospect of driving an NSX. This is the holy grail for Honda fans. This was as much Formula One tech Honda could cram into a road legal car at the time.

What could be better than driving around in your hero car on roads with this view?!!

With the giant Mt Fuji in the background everywhere I looked, I was constantly pulling over to snap away like crazy at the two amazing Japanese icons.

We all know how good the NSX’s looks… But how was it to drive? Did it live up to the dream? In one word, YES! I have never experienced such a well balanced car with so much feedback from the road before. The steering was manual and surprisingly light and the suspension was spot on. It never felt awkward, even at speed through corners.

The closest car I’ve driven before with a mid mount engine was a Toyota SW20 MR2 Turbo. The MR2 was from the same era and while plenty of things about the NSX reminded me of the MR2, like the interior, pop-up headlights and bright red paint. However, they were worlds apart. Taking the price difference out of the equation from new, they were both Japanese mid-mount sports cars. The MR2 felt awkward and snappy through corners, the turbo had lag and most of all the shift linkage felt very detached. The gear changing in the MR2 was probably my least favorite characteristic.

Now behind the wheel of the NSX, I was happy to report the handling was brilliant and the gear changes perfect! I’d read once that the NSX was known for having one of the best feeling gear changes. I couldn’t agree more.
As for the power? Funnily enough after reading countless comments on social media pages in response to those “what would you rather own?” type of pictures of some Japanese sports cars, comment after comment would say they wouldn’t touch an NSX because they’re slow, N/A etc etc. I guess the stigma of non-turbo cars got to me and I was not expecting anything exciting…

Oh how I was wrong, they were all so wrong. The response from this engine was amazing. Right from the get go, through to the high RPM, the power is constant and linear.
It didn’t suffer down low like most infamous high horse power Honda engines, there was no need to wait for this magical ‘VTEC’ to kick in and propel me down the road, which I think most of us are guilty of associating with angry loud noises and not actual increases in speed.

This was different, and the sound was phenomenal! It was literally singing as I carved up the mountain, radio off, windows down, just listening to the soundtrack of the C30A engine growling away. I was ecstatic! At one point I was following a convertible Ferrari 458 Italia. Let’s just say the driving was ‘spirited’ and the NSX was well and truly holding it’s own against the Italian thoroughbred.

All this from a 25 year old sports car, truly a marvel of it’s time. If you’re not into Honda’s or the NSX, do some reading and you soon will be. It has an aluminum body, the interior and windows were heavily inspired by the 360 view from an F-16 fighter jets’ cockpit. Even the late Aryton Senna played a part in the NSX’s development, giving the final advice on the tuning of the suspension and handling. Ladies and gentleman, the stars were aligned the day this rolled out of the factory.

Billed as the “affordable” super car, I get it. I really do. I came across a recent article of a man who owns one of the first NSX’s that came out of the dealership in 1990. Currently with over 400,000 kms on the clock, the car and owner are still just as happy as that first day. He was apparently from the Hakone area as well. I could not imagine a greater car to own in an even greater place.

Now after my 3 hours it was time to say goodbye to my new friend, I think I genuinely felt sad about handing the keys back. This time I’d somehow convinced myself in the short window of time that this was MY car, I’d fallen in love. Everything about this car was just so right. I thoroughly enjoyed my time driving the NSX and given the opportunity I’d own one in a heartbeat.

Now it was of course time to trade the NSX in for the third installment of my Japanese motoring sampler box, the mighty Nissan GT-R.

Not many cars can claim to simultaneously be both the topdog and the underdog. Nissan not only created the ultimate “tuner” car, which has been running rampant since it’s release in 2007 as a king among Japanese performance cars, it is also the indisputable underdog against the likes of many of Europe’s finest. Known to take down some heavyweight bulls, horses and even the odd German or two. The GT-R is nothing to turn your nose up at.

Truly a feat of engineering, this car shouldn’t be fast, it’s big, heavy and boxy. Thanks to some very clever thinkers over at Nissan/Renault (and two turbos) this car is capable of some neck snapping speeds!
The hulking car uses it’s muscular lines to channel air down over the bodywork, the suspension is active and changes to help make this small mountain feel like a sports car. It even has nitrogen filled tyres from factory because oxygen is too unstable!! So I’ve read the brochures, seen the videos, read the reviews etc… But what was it like behind the wheel?! Bloody good fun!!

While the NSX I was driving just moments before made me feel like there was harmony between man and machine, I felt like I was working along side the car to go faster and faster. In the GT-R I was definitely just along for the ride. Once you push that accelerator you’re just holding on. It goes from standstill to warp 5 in the blink of an eye. Roads just aren’t long enough, not even highways. While driving the GT-R, acceleration was the drug and I was hooked! I was slowing down every chance I got just to accelerate again.

The backdrop of Mt Fuji once again set the scene, now later in the day, the clouds had settled and things got a bit dark and angry as I finished my day with an equally dark and angry car.

After attempting my first parking job at the wheel of the GT-R one thing was apparent, this thing is huge!! No really, until you try to park one you cannot appreciate how truly large these cars are. I thought this might not translate well into the corners, I was however pleasantly surprised. While it certainly lacked the feedback of the NSX, this thing was quite nimble and the brakes were out of this world. It stops nearly as quickly as it takes off. This of course helped build my confidence when using the accelerator, god it was fast!!

After circling the same section of freeway (the on ramp was just way too much fun) it was time to pull over and spend some quiet time with the car, which of course isn’t possible until you come to a complete stop as the gearbox sounds like someone stuffed a Milo tin with firecrackers and rocks and then chucked it in the boot. I’ve been in quieter race cars! I’ve actually read that there’s a disclaimer when purchasing the car new that the gearbox is noisy and that you cannot take it back to the dealership to complain.

Would that stop me from buying one if I had the money? Hell no! This car made me feel like I was 5 years old again. Every time I pushed the accelerator I could feel the weight of my everyday problems lifting from my shoulders, to the back of my head where my tongue and eyes now were. This thing is just ungodly fast.

I was also infatuated with the flappy paddle gearbox, I loved it! Every chance I got coming to a stop, I would hit the paddle to downshift.
Like a rat in a cage pressing the button on a food dispenser, I was rewarded. Rewarded with the ‘eargasmic’ sound of the crackle and pop from the exhaust as the gear changed down. Every time the beautiful sound faded as quickly as it came, back to the deafening sound of the rocks in the Milo tin. That is until I pushed the “go fast” peddle again.

With the day nearly over, I sat quietly looking at the car for moment.
Here I was with a Nissan GT-R, a picturesque town, at the foot of a giant mountain, in one of the greatest countries on Earth. Until I experience the joys of parenthood, I think this will be the happiest day of my life. I really do mean that, I was truly free, keys in hand, I could drive this amazing machine wherever I wanted. That is, until my 3 hours were up.

As much as I’ve tried, I don’t think I can put my experience into words. So please go do it for yourself.
Visit http://fun2drive.co.jp/ and speak with Chikara and Yoshi and make your dreams come true, even it is only for a few hours.
Thanks for reading,
– Gwyn.

Japan Day 2 :: Daikoku Futo PA

Grant — Mon, 06 Apr 2015 09:32:31 +0000

After 36 hours in Japan we finally hit up some car action at none other than Daikoku Futo PA! This tiny car park in the middle of a man made island in the Yokohama harbor is a thing of legend. If you’re into Japanese cars chances are you’ve seen more than a few photos from this location. Here car owners from different walks of life all gather and soak up the experience that is Daikoku Futo any night of the week and during the day on weekends.

Staying in Yokohama meant the parking area was just 15 minutes from our hotel. So hurried back after dinner and set off on our adventure.

The very first sight we were greeted by as we drove down the long spiraling off ramp into the parking area. This ‘Tron’ looking BMW convertible that had light glowing from everywhere. We parked up and ran around like kids in a candy store.

I can’t explain the ‘fizzy’ feeling you get standing in this spot at night… The cars, the orange light and the sound of engines revving is just unlike any car meet at home. The scale of the freeway ramps that circle you create this theater filled with the sounds of cars entering and leaving the car park. It really is just massive!!

The amount of cars even on a quiet night like this was staggering, cars were coming and going all the time. It was impossible to keep up when shooting on a tripod.

These three where all friends.

We loved this bumper-less Crown. It was also refreshing to see a modified Crown after the sea of Japanese Taxi’s getting around Tokyo!

The wheels were on the smaller side for a car of this size bit it still looked great all together.

Our second night in Japan and we were already treated to the sight of a Hako Skyline.

It was beautiful!!

This matte green air-cooled Porsche was a very cool sight amongst all the domestic cars.

There was a small army of MX-5’s out in force.

I’ve only ever seen one or two cool looking MX-5’s together at home so it was awesome to see more than 5 at the same place.

This little dark green one was rocking some wide wheels on the rear. Photos don’t do it justice!

Our favorite MX-5 had to be this BN Sports kitted black number. The level of dish was high with this one!

There was a few Honda’s out and about too.

This little blue EG Civic was sitting stupidly low, it looked awesome from every angle.

The greatest Civic Type R in our eyes… The EK9. These things are just pure awesome!

Another Type R on the same TE 37 wheels.

Over in the corner some local bosozoku bikers were meeting and revving their bikes. When I got closer I realised they were playing songs. They had each made up their own song and began reciting them one after another simply using their engines.

This was one of the coolest aspects of the parking area, getting up close to these amazing machines/people I’ve heard so much about.

Old Suzuki’s and Honda’s seemed the bikes of choice and they all had their own personal touches.

Our personal favorite of the entire night had to be Kazuki’s flawless 86.

The subtle red glitter in the paintwork was beautiful. We were digging the mismatched wheels. Work Equips up front.

TE37V in the rear.

This is seriously one very cool street driven hachiroku!!

Not to far away we found some very nice looking Infiniti’s.

This FX was dropped on it’s airbag suspension while it was parked and had heaps of top end audio gear inside. The roof racks had a very cool flower wrap on them too.

The G-Series sedan was sitting low on a set of 3SDM 0.08 wheels.

These wheels looked the business gleaming away under the street lights.

As it turns out the Toyota Prius is one of the most modified cars in Japan, seriously every second one we saw had blacked out taillights, wheels and an exhaust. This one was a little bit different and certainly had a bigger budget then most sitting pretty atop a set of fifteen52 Tarmac wheels. This thing looked killer.

From big budget to low budget this ‘diy’ Legacy wagon would look at home at most grass root race events. The matte black paint and custom front splitter design along with the rear wing made for a menacing looking street car.

One of the few Supra’s we saw, this was definitely the more wild looking of the bunch. Check out the rear diffuser setup!!

The car park fell quiet for a short time, the silence was quickly interrupted by the unique burble of this Porsche arriving. The sound stuck out like a chip packet being opened in a church.

One for the rotary fans. This spotless white FD RX-7 was certainly worthy of a few photos.

The body kit seemed like a simple lip kit at first but became all the more extreme when you got closer. The rear diffuser alone was a work of carbon art!

A late and brief attendee was this Evo wagon, such a shame we don’t see more of these in Australia. I’ve only ever seen one in real life before this.

This Scion XB was pushing the camber out on the rear wheels, lots of character here. mismatched panels, rusted bonnet and stone chips galore. This was cool!

This tiny Suzuki Alto was just tucking these 14″ mesh wheels in the rear.

It had some patched up fender damage on the front from running so low around Tokyo’s streets.

Later in the evening another cool 86 arrived, this time a coupe!!

In the infamous two tonne black & white combination and on a set of Watanabe wheels… Perfect!

It doesn’t get much cooler than this, sitting behind an idling Toyota Sprinter in Yokohama.

There was truck loads of Toyota’s by this point. Check out the crazy fitment on this Crown.

This Chaser was in pristine condition and funnily enough had the loudest sub woofer I’ve heard on the street. It was ridiculous!!

It had a nice amount of dish too!

One of the toughest looking cars of the night had to be this black Nissan Cima.

The big chunky wheels set it off perfectly.

It’s hard to describe this car without using the word “gangster”…

Even more Toyota Crowns!! They’re literally everywhere here! We were about ready to call it a night before the police did it for us After a few too many cars got a bit loose when leaving the car park.

Then this arrived… The hero car of the night. a sky blue liberty Walk R35 GT-R.

The huge over fenders of the rocket bunny kit perfectly covered the massive rear wheels.

This thing was big!!

Seeing a car like this here in Japan was really a special moment for me, I stood still just enjoying it not even touching my camera for a few minutes before I felt the pain in my feet that comes from a 15 hour day of walking none stop.
So that was that we called it a night and headed back to our hotel.
Thanks for reading,
– Gwyn.

SAU Dyno Day :: Over 5000 Killer Wasps

Grant — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 11:43:46 +0000

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

Imports Only :: Saturday Night Cruise

Grant — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 06:03:14 +0000

Two weeks into the year and things are already back on track for Melbourne’s modified car community, with several meets and events coming up in 2012 it is going to be one hell of year!
Over the Christmas/New Years break it was nice to relax but I couldn’t get rid of the itch that something was missing. So whilst enjoying a meal at a friends place Saturday night, I got a message that a cruise was happening and the turn out was likely to be pretty decent.

With keys and camera in hand, I made my way down to the Monash Uni carpark where I was greeted by a handful of Skylines, a few Evo’s and even a couple VW’s.
This Civic was one of the first Honda’s at the meeting point, it had all the extras like a carbon hood, bonnet mask and even a cup holder!

Yep an external cup holder, what will they think of next?!

What started off at around 15 cars soon got to 50+ as word about the cruise had spread like wildfire among the Skyline community, with nearly 20 Skylines attending in total.

After the Skylines, the meetup was dominated by the AWD Mitsubishi’s and Subaru’s. From the clean and simple like this…

To the slightly more wild Evo’s.

And finally the very, very menacing looking Evo X.

Not many Toyota’s were out in force at the cruise, this Chaser was one of only three Toyota’s there!

It did however have spot on wheel choice, Work SP1’s work on nearly any car!

This interesting looking Evo had gone for a friendlier look than most and it did look very clean.

The wingless look while not for everyone, can work really well. I really liked this one, but I have seen some bad examples too!

Now to some euro goodness, this Golf had a wicked colour scheme with the factory red pin-striping continuing onto the bonnet around the carbon fiber.

One of the stars of the meet up was this little Mk1 Golf, sporting an engine swap and a host of other goodies.

Keep your eyes peeled as you might be seeing some more of this little guy.

Lighting conditions in the car park were pretty horrid for photos, some had pretty fancy setups using strobe flashes.

While others including my self, opted for some lower shutter speeds and a tripod.

One car that has been getting around is this GS Lexus, the ride height on it was perfect!

An old relic form the old car show days?

Not to everyone’s taste, this show RX-7 has had some serious coin spent on it and definitely has the engine work to back up the paint!

The show stopping moment for the evening was this KE70 Corolla arriving.

Making quite a noise thanks to an SR swap. Along with the engine, this car has had quite the handling upgrade thanks to some components from an S15 including new brakes!

This was the cars first outing as the owner has been very busy building it for the upcoming Drift Matsuri in Feb.

Announcing the little KE’s arrival were these awesome ‘drift’ pipes.

As the lighting didn’t help the photos, everyone moved into an adjacent multi-level car park.

It wasn’t great but anything was an improvement. Here you can see a few of the Skylines together and there really were quite a few!

It took a little bit of maneuvering to get everyone in the right spots.

How’s this for rare, a genuine Tommy Kaira R34!
Improving on what the Gt-R had as standard with tune up of the engine and suspension system…

…And some very serious aero modifications. It was very imposing sitting next to a regular GT-R!
I overheard the owner mention this was build number 79 from the Tommy Kaira workshop.

A few of the Subaru kids parked off by themselves.

This green machine had an interesting body kit along with a carbon bonnet.

This R34 has had extensive engine work and is setup for the drag strip, I believe the owner is selling it at the moment.

Hate it or love it, the quality of the airbrushing on this Mazda is superb, the graphics also bring back the nostalgia of playing Tekken on the old Playstation. And that’s never a bad thing!

In just over an hour the cars had moved on for a cruise through the mountains, I had to get back home as dessert was still waiting!
What was a originally a relativity small meet, ended up with a great turn out! There was a great range of cars and some seriously rare ones too and I hope that’s a sign that things in 2012 are going to be bigger and better.
Thanks for reading,
– Gwyn.

SAU :: Show 'N' Shine

Grant — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 01:54:07 +0000

The Vic boys and girls from SAU put on a show ‘n’ shine event down at the Docklands in Melbourne over the weekend, before I made it into the event I was stuck looking at this very clean Nur Spec R34 for quite some time…

Sitting perfectly on some Rays CE28N Genesis, this car was beautiful!

Not far from the R34, was one of Melbourne’s toughest R32 GT-Rs. Sometime later I eventually made it into the show.

The event itself was fairly small however the quality of cars on show was fantastic and there was plenty of variation.

From the simply clean.

To the ruff and tough.

Looking down the line-up of the usual suspects.

I kept coming back to this R34, incredibly well put together and the F1 style mirrors made it!

Oh my…

Check out those brakes!!

Love it or hate it, sticker bombing is here to stay! I personally like a bit of tasteful bombing.

A Mitsubishi Evo found its way into the Skyline show, it looked so good that nobody seemed to care.

Melbourne’s Docklands provided a great backdrop.

Cars on show ranged from Street, JDM to full blown track cars like this ‘Bathurst R32 Skyline’.

Also in the racing corner we had the Red Bus R33, you may remember it from the recent Track Battle at Calder Park.

I have never seen Enkei RPF’s on a Skyline before but somehow it just works.

One very serious Onevia, daily driven too!

Pretty in pink and black?

Oh Herro!

A truly perfect GT-R, if I owned an R32 it would look pretty much just like this.

This R34 looked angry and hungry, almost like it could devour people as they passed by.

Needless to say, I kept my distance from it’s mouth.

It doesn’t get much better then this, V-Spec II Nur edition. only 750 made and three showed up for this event!

The heart of any Skyline, the mightyRB26.
It was great to see modified cars on show in a public place like this, in such terrible times for owners of modified cars it’s great to show the care and pride most owners have for these cars. Great work by the organisers!
I hope more of these events can happen next year, owners of modified cars need to change the opinions of the public before it’s too late and they are all banned.
Thanks for reading,
– Gwyn.