GTR – 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.

Invading Japan :: Day 1

Grant — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 16:06:56 +0000

Thanks to a spur of the moment ‘impulse buy’ plane ticket to Japan 3 months ago, I’m now writing to you from my very first night in Japan. In fact my very first night in another country all together!!

My trip started just 24 hours ago leaving from Melbourne, Australia.

With a flight time of just 10 hours it was on the shorter side of international flights from Australia.

As we approached Japan around 6 am we were treated to some amazing views above the clouds. The sun was just starting to rise as the moon was just disappearing.

Closer to 7am we arrived over Japan and began our decent to Narita airport still traveling close to 800kph!!

I stepped off the plan at 7:15 and stopped dead in the walkway just taking in the fact I was now over 60,000 kilometers from home and now in the northern hemisphere… This was reinforced by the sight of some of the airport support vehicles.
Only a handful of recognizable Toyota Hiace van’s way down the end of the line.

Once you get off the plane you are confronted with one of the longest corridors I have ever seen. Thankfully my aching legs were given a rest thanks to this motorized walkway.

After a small eternity you find a set of stairs that leads to… Another corridor!!

This meant another walkway and this one came with a view of the landing aircraft.

After all those corridors and clearing customs I was thirsty! I opted for the ever popular BOSS Coffee out of one of the infamous Japanese vending machines. Yum!

At 8:30am the local terminal post office at the airport had opened and I picked up our rental sim cards, we picked these bad boys up from CDJapan rental and they shipped them to a post office of our choice a few days before we were due to arrive.
After a bit of messing around I had finally setup my phone to work with the new sim and now I am running amok with unlimited 4G access here in Japan. All for around $30 AUD!!

The next step was catching the train out of the Airport, this was very daunting after only 1-2 hours sleep on the flight overnight.
We found a few very friendly people that guided us even if their directions were a little wrong we eventually found the correct platform and we’re on our way to our first location.
Only minutes out of the airport we were met with the site of classic Japanese houses and it began sinking in again… “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore…”. There was however a few familiar sights like this MacDonald’s.

After about a 3o minute train ride we arrived at Shimbashi station, our first hotel was in Ginza, Tokyo which was only a short walk from this stop.
Before we even made it out of the station we had stumbled across a local equivalent of a Bread Top bakery. This was of course sooo much better though! (Yes that is blocks of chocolate on top of a bread roll what of it?!).

We climbed the stairs to freedom and for the first time we breathed outside air! The first sight on foot was this giant tv screen playing a loop. The text on screen read “The desire won’t stop!“.

Only a hundred meters up the road we found a familiar sight some of our Sydney readers will recognize… Yep Japan has it all!!

Our hotel wouldn’t let us check in till 3pm which meant we had some serious time to kill. This is not a problem it seems with so much to see and do especially when the simple sight of a car is enough to get you excited enough to run across the street.
We spotted this Porsche dealership/service center with a beautiful red GT2 RS on show in the window… Our kind of window shopping!! It was just a little bit out of our price range though.

Out back was a small service area with two customer cars getting some work done.

It didn’t take long to spot the differences between streets here and back in Melbourne. Every square inch is practically spotless!! There’s hardly a bin in sight which makes it even harder to understand how they keep the place this clean!
There’s also bikes everywhere and we didn’t find a single bench seat all day!

Walking around we found this little guy called “Pekru”. He was sporting a cute little bee outfit and his owner was more than happy to have him pose for a photo.

Once we stopped being so distracted by all the new sights and sounds I began noticing all the cars whizzing by. This BMW M4 quickly caught my attention. It’s amazing how many European cars are over here.

I was becoming very taken by this city, every street was littered with shops and signs. It’s so densely populated there’s no wasted space whatsoever.

This white GTR sounded amazing as it approached the lights.

Once it went past it was clear to see why it sounded so good, check out those pipes!

We were still a few hours early for our Hotel check in so we headed to a place known as toy heaven!

With four levels dedicated to all things fun it was like reliving my childhood as we went up each floor moving through all the stages of my adolescent toy ownership.

The first two floors were dedicated to novelty items and stuff for the younger kids, there were stuffed animals from the farm, zoo and even underwater sea creatures! Japan does not discriminate.
We quickly found the Studio Ghibli corner, Totoro!!! There was hundreds of them!

Who else had one of these wooden train sets as a kid??

There was a display cabinet full of dancing Disney characters… It was actually kind of creepy to watch them all dance while perfectly synchronised.

As we moved up to the third and fourth floors the toys matured. There were heaps of finely detailed puzzles, look another Totoro!!

Yep all the current 5-10 year old’s favorites together… Minions, Gremlins and even a Chucky dolll!

I would not have been able to keep these bad boys in their packaging as a kid… In fact I don’t even think I could now ether!

Beetle battle!!! Yes these wind-up beetles will fight to the death for your honor!

Up the back of the very top floor we found the toy shop holy grail… A full sized 8 lane slot car race track.

With huge sloping/banking corners…

And tight hairpins it was easily the most interesting slot car track I have ever seen.

The guys working there happily chucked on an Audi R8 for a few laps for me to see it all in action. Check out the sweet action figure crowd cheering the racers on.
This shop managed to kill all the time we needed to check in to our hotel so we headed back outside.

Eventually we followed the puzzling sounds of blaring Asian-pop music to this truck with PA speakers that was “cutting” laps all over town advertising for a local company.
It actually drove straight past our hotel so we found it super easy to get back!

After an exciting yet exhausting first day in Japan we had dinner and picked up some supplies before heading in for the night. I found another reason to love Japan. This small bounty was had for less then $30 AUD!!! So cheap!!
Thanks for reading and stay tuned for loads of updates with plenty of car content coming your way!!
– Gwyn.

Custom Cars & Coffee :: Melbourne 2015

Grant — Sun, 08 Mar 2015 06:00:40 +0000

Melbourne is arguably the home of Australia’s best coffee and also home to some of the best street cars getting around, when these two things come together it means it’s once again time for Custom Cars & Coffee…

Victorian’s are a lucky bunch indeed if roasted beans and automobiles are your thing, with regular Cars & Coffee meets held by our friends over at RTR in the west every month which can see over 100 cars or more if the suns out, while “Custom Cars & Coffee” (CC&C) sees only two events a year and proves to be the bigger affair.

This was the second ‘CC&C’ meet held again at Sandown Raceway, this time the weather was undoubtedly some of Melbourne’s “finest” with frequent showers all morning… Despite the rain there was a considerable turn out in the hundreds, the ‘CC&C’ events seem to make for one of the most eclectic car shows around. I’ve not been to any other event that has anywhere near the variety you’ll see here.
One of the first cars to steal my attention was this pristine Camaro Z28, some muscle cars really don’t do it for me. This however has some of the best lines of any in it’s era.

This rusted Holden HZ premier had a few people making some puzzled faces. We loved all the little details and the ‘curb feelers’ were the icing on the cake!!

This MG MGB Roadster was a big win on the euro front, the superlite wheels really changed the demeanor of the tiny convertible. It’s nice to see some people aren’t afraid to add some character to a classic.

While on the subject of European cars ‘CC&C’ did not disappoint. There was something on display from nearly every major stable. Although it seems Germany is the country of choice for most.

There was a handful of Porches like this duo in white, a beautiful 911 and a road ready-racer GT3.

Hands down my favorite V8 powered saloon car. The Mercedes C63. The 6.2L engine creates the most euphoric noise simply by mixing petrol and air! Amazing!!

Between spats of rain when the heavens finally closed up the sun came shining down resulting in some quick costume changes for some.

Despite being on the ‘plumpier’ side compared to the old model, tipping the scales at almost two tonne. The new BMW M5 can get up to 100kph from stand still in just over 4 seconds… The M5 is definitely punching above it’s weight!!

I think I saw a bunny wabbit!! A MK1 Golf aka the Volkswagen Rabbit in the US. The original Golf has always been a charmer, before these guys “Hot Hatches” didn’t exist.

Aside from VW’s as far as the eye could see there was a healthy amount of BMW’s filling out the lines at the show. This E30 was picture perfect sitting atop it’s mesh wheels.

The Z4 M is one of the most underrated roadsters of the modern area. With a punchy straight 6 engine and great handling just add some iconic Japanese wheels and it’s winning combo in our books!

At every show there’s that one car, that one you wait just a little bit longer for people to move out of the way to make sure you get the photo…

This was ‘The car’… This stunning E92 BMW was menacing from every angle.

There’s no denying the wheels are the hero here. 3 piece Work Meisters in satin black.

The fitment is spot on, the owner is brave to be driving around like this in Melbourne for quite a few reasons!

All the cool kids rock up late these days and nothing says cooler than a fresh yellow sticker from the boys in blue. The owner of this Golf also scored some airtime on the “highway patrol – TV Show” so keep your eyes out for that episode when it airs.

It’s easy to see why it got so much attention from side on… Absolutely slammed on a set of Porsche wheels, check out that dish!!

More AMG goodness, this time a coupe. We miss hood emblems, stupid inconsiderate pedestrians ruining it for everyone!!

Another comfortable German four door packing a V8 under the hood and mated to Audi’s renowned 4WD system makes this one quite capable in corners and off the line!

Speaking of 4WD… Not many can come close to the mighty Nissan GTR. The Victorian chapter of Skylines Australia had a huge display of Japan’s greatest export on show.

Round taillights as far as the eye can see…

There was plenty of R35’s on display and amongst such a large group it didn’t take much to stand out, just some wheels and a nice drop in the ride height and this grey number was looking great!

One of the most Iconic colours for the R34’s. Bayside Blue is always a favorite of ours.

We were pleased to find two GTR’s wearing blue at the show, if they were girls at a party they would NOT be friends right now.

This track spec R33 GTR was looking nice thrown into the mix, definitely not the most popular GTR model but this one was very aggressive! It just looked like it was itching to get out onto the track!!

The V35… Some love to argue it’s not a “real” Skyline at all. Others simply see it for what it is… A sleek and sporty luxury coupe. They were a big hit in the US.

The bad weather meant many entrants were running late, cars kept flowing in all morning.

Everyone’s favorite. A Ford Mustang. The blue was great colour on the classic body and with a bigger chin than a man from a Bonds commercial too!

Now to a local hero… The Holden SL/R 5000 Torana. With hulking wheel arches from factory and the green hue it certainly was looking angry!

Remember when I said this was the most eclectic car show around? Down the front we found a giant Dodge ‘truck’, wrapped commodore and wrapped Monaro.

The ‘loud’ looks of the other wrapped cars were dulled by this gleaming Mercedes coupe. The gold wrap had a mirror finish, we were just happy the sun was tucked away behind the clouds!!

In between checking out all the cars there was often the distracting sound of some cars blasting around Sandown circuit, this was the perfect backdrop for the car show.

We don’t know why this guys been hiding from all the Classic Japan shows… A pristine Mitsubishi Galant GTO is a rare sight to be had!

Onto some more classic rides from the land of the rising sun. There were a handful of beautiful Z’s on show.

This was our favorite 270ZX of the bunch, super clean, wheel flares and dished wheels. Perfect!

There was even some quality cars for the little guys at the show! Any kid rolling around in the driveway in one of these bad boys is sure to be the envy of all the other kids in the street.

It seems there were also a few nice cars out in the car park.

We found Daniel’s MX5 adorning a few extra additions.

The new spoiler is a killer piece to finish off the look of the car.

Now we’ve all seen manga art used on a car but we’ve never seen a panel this big done entirely in manga comics.

While it’s pretty extreme it is nice to see some quality artwork up close.

One of the more ‘wild’ looking 86’s at the show, this one paying homage to Toyota Racing Developments ‘TRD’.

Hybrid and electric cars are for rain forest loving hippies right? Wrong!! Tesla has been changing people’s perception of electric powered cars since 2008. Thanks to some ingenious engineering, some 600 newton meters of torque and over 300KW of power.
While range is still the biggest issue for these types of cars speed certainly isn’t a problem anymore.

Easily one of the most curious cars at the show… The English sports car known as the Ultima GTR.

It’s offered both as a fully built road ready car and funnily enough as a (do it your self) kit car. The car is however far more advanced than it’s diy origins let on.

Utilising a tubular steel space frame with a fiberglass body it’s light, really light!! Weighing in a smidge under a 1,000KG.

Inside is one of the simplest interiors we’ve ever come across. No distractions here just some pedals, a shifter and a steering wheel. Surrounded by a generous splash of Alacantra and this is somewhere we simply refer to as our “happy” place.

The engine found in the “turnkey” version (factory built) is a small block V8 sourced from Chevrolet mated to ether a Porsche gear box or Getrag Transaxle unit. Recent builds have been putting out over 500kw… That makes for 0-100kph in about 2.6 seconds!!!!

Now the exotics. Custom Cars & Coffee really has it all. There were Lamborghini’s, Ferrari’s, and Maserati’s for all to see.

Lamborghini’s have always been the pin up poster car of choice for young enthusiasts but it wasn’t until the Murcielago came along in 2001 that Lamborghini really took the mass produced super car fight to Ferrari. Paving the way for the Gallardo which sold more in total than all previous Lamborghini’s combined! The Murcielago was however the more extreme of the two featuring the companies biggest V12 engine to date.

The Murcielago really is one of the most striking cars in person and easily one of the widest at over two meters wide!!

What would an Italian super car be with out scissors doors?! It really adds to the theater of the angry Italian bull.

The heart of the beast. A 6.5L monster of a V12. One of the last we’ll ever see thanks to stricter emission laws.

Lastly another V12 terror from the land of pizza. The Ferrari Testarossa. One of the most Iconic supercars of the 80’s and also known for it’s ridiculously large side mirrors.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Custom Cars & Coffee and can only imagine what the turnout would have been like if the weather was on the dryer side.
This is hands down the best mix of cars we’ve seen on home soil and really captures the feeling we get seeing all the photos from some of the coffee meets from Irvine, California.
We’re look forward to the next big event these guys conjure up, to keep up to date follow their Facebook page here. Customcarsandcoffeemelbourne
In the mean time if you have a craving for early mornings, roasted beans and gorgeous cars then check out the regular monthly meets held by Road Track Rally – Cars & Coffee
Thanks for reading,
– Gwyn.

MR35 :: Twin Turbo Gentleman

Grant — Wed, 21 Jan 2015 11:12:22 +0000

Ladies and gentlemen… Introducing Mr.35! He’s one mighty fine Nissan GTR from Melbourne.
Owner Charles has added some very subtle additions to the look of the car without messing up the original look, all the while making sure he stands out from the crowd.

This car is Charles’ second foray into the modified car scene. He started out with a bright orange Honda Civic coupe back in the old Autosalon car show days, but after a short break he came back bigger and stronger…

Charles’ right foot went from pushing a pedal and waiting a short eternity for petrol and air to mix, to create about 106db or 120kw (However you measure a Honda’s power) to Nissan’s fire breathing twin turbo V6 that seemingly bends the laws of physics with every press of the accelerator.

Funnily enough it wasn’t the power/performance that attracted Charles to the mighty GTR. As he recalls he was initially drawn to the look of the car and it is not hard to see why with the muscular arches and sharp lines flowing from front to back – each serving a specific purpose… Grip! This car was designed from every angle to maximize down force. Nissan left no stone unturned when designing the long awaited successor to the infamous R34 GTR.

When it came to wheels, Charles had made his mind up on a set of Advan GT Premium’s and widened the footprint of the car by an extra few inches in the process. The front measuring up at 20 x 10.5″ while the rear sits on an impressive 20 x 12″.

Running a wheel this wide has proven to be an issue when needing a quick tyre change. Interestingly, one of the only cars that run this size is actually a Lamborghini Aventador! Charles’ rubber of choice is Michelin Pilot Super Sports.
Incidentally he got a flat tyre a few days before the shoot and had a pair of stock Aventador tyres fitted to the rear, these have a chunky/bigger sidewall so he wasn’t too happy about it. Having happened a few times, Charles has found it is best to keep a complete set of spare tyres at home.

Some wheels make or break a car and we have to admit while they are not our first choice, these certainly look the part and don’t take away from the performance look of the car at all. After looking at these photos for hours on end, we can confirm these wheels have now been bumped right to the top of our list of wheels we’d have on a GTR if we could be so lucky.

Poking out through the rear diffuser are the burnt tips of the exhaust, hinting that this car has a bit more going on than just clean paint. All the pipes that help the hefty GTR exhale are 90 spec titanium from Amuse with an AMS de-catted dump pipe to keep everything flowing when push comes to shove, or just when the lights go green.

Inside the car things are as you would find them fresh out of the dealership, minus the Cobb V3 access port hand controller and Mines leather steering wheel, there really isn’t much that can be improved on here. Nissan have done an outstanding job creating this space. It is comfortable without putting you to sleep, and is a perfect blend between form and function that would suit almost anyone looking for a sports car you can live with everyday. Just don’t have more than one friend. The back ‘seat’ is best reserved for those of us who are vertically challenged or missing a few limbs.

The premium red/black seats are surprisingly comfy and even have a heater element inside for those cold mornings. It is a bit like strapping a back massager to the end of a bungee cord! How warm someones buttocks are surely is not exactly very high on their list of priorities in a car like this.

The illusive little red ‘start’ button, it’s almost a shame it only turns the car on… It looks like fun to press!!

Like any premium performance car out of Japan in the last decade, you’ll find electronic controls that can change exactly how the car behaves at the flick of a switch. The three centre switches change the 4WD system, suspension and traction control. Now the GTR isn’t just any old premium performance car is it?..

Atop the centre console, you’ll find Nissan’s latest incarnation of the multifunction display that was first found in the R34 GTR Skyline. Here you’ll find a multitude of live stats ranging from various temps, to steering angle and g-force! If you think that all seems like something from a Playstation game, you’d be right! Kazunori Yamachi of Polyphony Digital fame (Gran Tourismo game series) was enlisted to help Nissan design the GUI as they wanted it to be as easy as possible to access.

Having done the bold look with his previous car, Charles concentrated only on enhancing what was already there. Some of the first things added to the car were from the Revosport catalogue.
First in was the carbon fibre boot lid and dry carbon front lip and diffuser.

The Revosport boot lid really changes up the rear end dramatically, the hard lines of the factory spoiler are all but gone and instead this smooth flowing replacement looks like the air just slides away like water off a ducks back.

To tie in the rear of the car, Charles picked up a Top racing dry carbon rear diffuser with mesh delete, this was only fitted a few weeks before the shoot.

Take a step back and admire the simple little touches that all come together to make this such an exciting looking car.

The GTR wears its’ badge of honor everywhere you look.

Brakes to match the brawn.

Another hidden gem thanks to Revosport, these little carbon air ducts direct cold air directly into the vented brake discs… Now that’s cool! (sorry).

After his time with the car Charles says he cannot go back to a naturally aspirated car again, turbo for life he says with a grin.

We’re not really sure what Charles could ‘upgrade’ to after he’s done with the GTR… Nothing else comes close to matching the GTR’s performance in the sub $200k price bracket.

The sign of a spotlessly maintained car that is actually driven? A worn out keyring of course!!

If you aren’t green with envy already, wait until you find out how Charles affords to put petrol in every week… He owns and runs his own Mexican restaurant!! Now throw in a house on an island and that’s pretty much the best life we could hope for.
Charles’ next project on the GTR will be an e85 fuel conversion, the parts are starting to pile up and we cannot wait to see the results.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this feature and we would like to thank Charles for sharing both his car and time with us.
Thanks for reading,
– Gwyn.

WTAC 2014 :: International Visitors

Grant — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 11:51:53 +0000

Like any music festival, big name acts bring the fans in droves, especially international super stars. The World Time Attack Challenge is no different and when it comes to international guests, they’ve got you covered.
It’s no easy task to convince a race team to invest a large amount of money to send a car on a boat half way across the globe along with a small army of mechanics to go head to head with a bunch of locals who don’t want lose on their home turf.
Year after year, Ian and the team behind WTAC manage to top themselves and 2014 was the biggest field of overseas talent we’ve seen yet!

First up team America had two entries. Andrew Brilliant has now decided to keep his time attack Eclipse within Australia (originally from the USA). Having the car based here and help from GT Auto Garage his campaign for 2014 was his strongest yet.

Having won both 2009 & 2010 Super Lap Battle Limited FF titles Andrew is certainly no amateur! With the dream of being the fastest FF car at WTAC Andrew had his work cut out thanks to a little mouse that could…
Andrew’s biggest rival is none other than the QLD based Mighty Mouse CRX. With a time of 1:31.8430 the little Honda was still at much faster pace than the Eclipse this year. Not to take away from AMB Aero USA’s efforts as Andrew and the team managed to shave off a staggering 5 seconds from their previous year!!

The car has undergone many changes since 2013 but the biggest change this year has been a new Haltech ECU and Jack LeBrocq behind the wheel. The team finished with 1:35.7200 around Sydney Motorsport Park.

The second entry for Team USA, ARK Design R32 Skyline and some say this car is cursed. Two years ago at it’s first WTAC, the car was accidentally shipped to China missing the competition completely. The team took a year off, rebuilt the car from the ground up and set course for Sydney once again. This time the arrived with plenty of time to add finishing touches in prepping the car…

This is where it all began to fall apart for the ARK Design team with multiple mechanical failures and then serious issues with the ECU. It was all over for the team even before the first day of competition… The R32 limped around the track for two sessions but did not manage a timed lap. We’re hoping this just makes Team USA push harder for 2015, as we haven’t seen two teams really go head to head for the fastest lap since Sierra Sierra vs Cyber Evo in 2011.

Now from the motherland, the biggest heavy hitters in WTAC history. HKS and Top Secret, two of Japans largest tuning names brought the fight in the form of two wild R35 Nissan GTR’s

The HKS GTR piloted by Nob Taniguchi really was one of the stand outs of the entire event. With ‘out of this world’ looks, the green headlights remind us of an angry alien/insect.

HKS’ direct competitor in the GTR shoot out, Tarzan Yamada in the Top Secret R35. We found ourselves pinching our arms while gazing at these legendary machines.

These were real hero cars and nothing was more exciting than watching these two giants battle it out in the fading light on Saturday.

Once the sun dipped out of sight, these guys really started pushing hard. HKS took the win nearly a full second in front with a time of just 1:30.8380!!

Tarzan certainly gave it all he could in the Top Secret GTR finishing on 1:31.7250. You can’t say he didn’t try.

Another entry from Japan and no stranger to WTAC, the Top Fuel S2000 was back again for another shot at glory. Nob Tanaguchi was also driving the S2000 for a second year, with plenty of seat time between this car and the HKS GTR Nob was certainly dealt with plenty of track time to get things right.

Pro class is where all the time attack monsters reside, Top Fuel has dealt with pressure like this before yet with the most competitive field ever seen at the world time attack challenge this would not be an easy task for Nob.
This year Top Fuel was sporting a new aero package designed by Voltex Racing to help win the fight. But was it enough?

They were faster this year but the team missed out on a podium finish by just over a second. Over the last 3 years they have continually improved in time and in speed. Sadly the rest of the competitors have also improved! The car did suffer a few issues over the weekend and we have to wonder if the car had more to give. Looks like we will have to wait for next year.

Nob locked the s2000 in 4th place with a respectable time of just 1:26.8700.

With a name like Kyushu-Danji, you can only guess that this team is also from Japan! The immaculate BNR34 Skyline GT-R snapped necks for all that dared to lay eyes on this albino Godzilla.

Hot off the heels from fast time around Tsukuba Circuit, Kyushu-Danji was here to set records! With a car that just screams race ready and a driving style that resembles Nigel Manson!

Driver Miyata Sumihiko pushed the r34 to its limits setting a time of 1:31.6856 taking 3rd in his class.

Another return entry, the beautiful RE Amemiya RX7. The ex-autosalon demo car turned serious time attack competitor has quickly become a crowd favorite.

This year in the drivers seat was none other than Japanese racing legend Max Orido!!!

Max is considered racing royalty and featured in many tuning video’s since the 1990’s making him quite the celebrity amongst Japanese tuning enthusiasts.
Max planted his right foot and steered the RX7 to it’s fastest time yet at just 1:27.3410!!

If WTAC had a public face it would be this man, Suzuki Under has been competing for 4 years now and has become the absolute crowd favorite and under dog of the event.

Committed is one way to describe Under Suzuki, we have watched his personal creation the “Scorch Racing” S15 transform over the last 4 years with more carbon fibre and aero development than the united states air force.

While he has received a little help along the way Under is still predominantly a privateer entry in the event, no one wants the win more then Under.

This year he pushed harder than ever before and it wasn’t until the final dusk session when the track was at it’s coolest that he managed his best time ever… All with no headlights!!

Under finished 2nd with a blistering 1:24.8800!!! While over the moon with his win, he has said he will not rest until he is number one!! We cannot wait for 2015!

So when the main attractions are the fastest tuned cars in the world what do you do for entertainment between sessions?? Bring a piece of motoring history to the fans of course, the infamous Mazda 767B Le Mans car! The sound is like nothing else 4 rotors of ear shredding glory!!

To see a classic Le Mans car on track was incredible! It is great to know this isn’t just collecting dust in someones garage and still being used to bring joy to the world. The owner/driver was so excited to be sharing his prized possession with the fans, so much so that he was only meant to complete 3-5 laps but instead continued for almost 10!

From seeing this as a matchbox car in our childhood, to seeing it in reality, there are no words to explain how amazing this piece of machinery really is. Everywhere it went the crowd followed! This year Mazda was one of the major sponsors of WTAC 2014 so along with the 787B they also had a good collection of historical and influential Mazda’s both on and off the track.

If the sound of quad rotor wasn’t enough to keep you on the edge of your seat during lunch than some freestyle motorkhana driving from NZ based Alex Kelsey and his V6 powered Peugeot was sure to get the blood pumping.

This car is as custom built as they come. Starting out in a similar fashion to Nigel Petire’s drift ute. Alex’s Peugeot started out life in tiny garage.

The angry little Peugeot features a hand-built Renault Sport V6 engine and spits flames like no tomorrow. What is it with cars from New Zealand shooting flames?!
We would like to thank all our internationally guests for their continued support of our home grown series and again to the whole team behind the World Time Attack Challenge. The greatest event on the Calendar!!
Stay tuned for even more post WTAC goodness.
Until than, full results here.
Thanks for reading,
– Grant.

WTAC '14 :: Fresh Off The Boat

Grant — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 12:36:57 +0000

The 2014 chapter of the world time attack challenge is just 4 days away as we type this, months of careful preparation, shipping and planning is starting to pay off.
The hero cars from the motherland have arrived with just days to spare. All year we have been teased with snippets and photos of some of these cars and now they’re finally on our shores.
We couldn’t wait to get down and see these beautiful machines in the flesh!

These are the real deal, poster cars from any Japanese car lovers wall. The tuning gods of Japan have sent over their finest for an all out GTR battle.

These sort of aero mods help slow cars knock milliseconds off their track times, we can’t wait to see what they’ll do to an R35!

HKS have not yet had a racing entry at WTAC, they sent over their infamous red Evo purely as a static display. Now fans will really get to see what the land of the rising sun has to offer.

Scorch racing has gone from strength to strength now in it’s 3rd year of the WTAC series, still predominately a privateer entry/driver with a little help from sponsors.

Under Suzuki has hand built one of the wildest time attack cars on the planet, with blistering fast track times normally reserved for all wheel drive applications this really is a testament to what can be achieved if you’re as determined as Suzuki San.

Rocket bunny everything!!! Formally of Ben Sopra fame this over the top 180SX is now in the hands of Japanese drifter Daisuke Hasegawa. The look of this car is tame compared to what lies beneath… A HKS built VR38DETT lifted from an R35 GTR!!

Speaking of Rocket Bunny, check out kiwi drifter Mad Mike’s new look.

The car has gone through yet another massive makeover in time for it’s 3rd ever WTAC event.

Mad Mike Whiddet is not know for being quiet and reserved, this car is as loud as it looks. Mike definitely has volume knob on 11 for this one.

Same same but different, another rotary powered beast that will have the crowds on their feet with their fingers in their ears.

Ex- Le Mans racer, the legendary Mazda 767B.

This is as pure as the come, the sounds that exit the exhaust are said to be sweeter than the harp of an angel.

They don’t hit much harder than this… Max Orido, Team RS*R and a 1000 horse power Nissan V6. This is every Option DVD viewers dream live in Sydney Australia!

Some of the local talent came to check out the competition.

HKS!!! We’re going to be pinching ourselves every time this GTR flies past just to make sure we aren’t dreaming.

This must be what it’s like if you watched your parent’s wrap your Christmas presents days before you could open them… Hurry up World Time Attack we want to race now!
Do not miss out on this one, if you haven’t booked your tickets or flights do it now!!
More info – http://www.worldtimeattack.com
Thanks for reading,
Gwyn.
Photos courtesy of Roberto Mocchetti | Full Motion Photography

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

Downshift 2012 :: End Of Year Meet

Grant — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 09:26:44 +0000

Well it was the end of the working year for the lucky-some (my self included) and I was coaxed into attending only my second Downshift meet for the year, I think even the first one I didn’t even take my own car to. But none the less, it’s quite stunning to see the exponential growth of this event. You see threads and photo’s scattered over the forums post-event, but it’s just not the same, you have to be here to really appreciate how far this has come.
Myself and a few friends arrived relatively early, which is quite rare, but since I haven’t used my a camera since my last post on GSS back in 2011 I really did require a bit of warm-up work. So I started the day down from the main entry gate, turned out to be quite a nice spot!

Another cool little MX5, you see at least 5 at most meets.

This R33 was a monster, not knowing at the time of the photo but later in the day its engine bay was pulling quite a crowd!

A very very clean EVO. Although I’m not as big a fan of these as I am the VII’s and up, still credit for a clean car.

I chubbed up after this came through, the noise was just lovely.

Another tidy P-Plater, it’s cliché but I can never get tired of a clean Supra.

The DC5, this car reminds me 45SET (for the QLD Honda People).

I believe this owners name to be Paul. I’ve been familiar with the plates 57ING for about 5 years now and would see this car twice a week around the northern suburbs of Brisbane.

This Starlet belongs to Ant. I first saw this a few years ago through Boostcruising and the detail with this car really is phenomenal.

Sharpy’s SRJ37, another member of Club High Rollers.

Don’t quote me on this, but I do remember Ant (two above) having a blue 350Z and plates similar to this. Either way, big fan of it!

Another mint R32.

MCS91. I photographed this back in 2011 at one of the ADGP events IIRC.

One for the die-hards!

Tough! Great offset and the twin pipes kill it!!

It’s amazing what wheels do for a car in general. Am actually currently working on a KE38 with a close friend.

Hellllooooooo ladies!

Oh my sweet lord! If anyone from Brisbane remembers the POV crew, they definitely had a way with Hondas, looks like nothing has changed.

Another tidy FD, looks like many others agree too.

Probably my favorite P-Plater car of the day.

This E46 was just fantastic. Really I must have walked around it several times over the day.

This was definitely different, one of the only Chargespeed kitted s2000’s I’ve seen in the country.

Early model EVO, such an iconic car of the 90’s turbo heydays.

Waving the flag for the old school camp was this pristine Mazda R100 wagon, I loved all the little ‘JDM flare’ the owner had added.

I have been friends with Alex (The owner) for a few years now, and he really has done a remarkable job with this car. A lovely presented B20 EG.

As you can see, quite the cornucopia of cars on display, have seen this out at PowerCruise & PowerPlay.

That’s a nice bum!!

You all remember Mark and his NX Coupe? Past GSS feature car, still going strong!

In the words of the Joker…..”Well helllooooo beautiful”.

Charlie’s MXB055. One of the best Mazda’s in the country, so well executed!
So to be honest, I don’t venture to these events much anymore, but it really was a nice way to end my year, good friends, good cars, good times. Rory, Foy, Matyas, Alex and the other DS crew members have done a fantastic job, well done folks.
Thanks for reading,
– David.

SAU General Meet :: General Awesome!

Grant — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 05:25:07 +0000

Victoria’s finest selection of GTR skylines took this cruise
from pancakes to the beach! with a variety of cars this meet did not disappoint.

Likes this R32 GT-R, it was literally clean enough to eat off.

This R32 is in such good nick it should be in a Shannon’s museum.

With any one ‘make’ meet/cruise there are some imposters, no one seemed to mind this Evo dropping in. I find the older shape is becoming quite the classic, it won’t be long before we see them going for ‘classic’ prices!

One of the most impressive rides was this beautiful Bayside Blue R34 GT-R, cars like this have such a presence

With disc’s and calipers this big you could stop pretty much slow down the rotation of the earth.

In one word CLEAN, this is a real GT-R, and it demands respect!

Gran Turismo Racer that’s what this badge stands for, it represents years of development and performance.

This Bayside Blue R34 GT-R almost changes colour in this golden light.

That LCD screen in the background actually isnt for the kids, it displays real time information like water and oil temp! this should be standard in all performance cars!

Another clean example of a great looking GT-R with an impressive set of rays wheels.

RedBus racing is one of Melbourne most up and coming time-attack teams! it was great to see this car on it last road outing before it is comited to full time race car.

The R32 is my favorite model in the skyline range, Godzilla brought a whole new dimension to performance cars and racing in general.

Nothing but gold for this Japanese classic.

The RB26 Legend, this is with out doubt Nissan’s most successful engine, with almost unlimited tuning capability.

Some of australias rarest GTR’s in one location!

Williamstown Newport was a great location for this SAU meet, with views of melbourne and the bay.

Rollcall; R33,”present”, R34, “present”, R31 …..r31!!……”away sick”

Fully drift modified 180sx, was sitting low and tuff with some heavily flared front guards.

As the sun disappeared , the city lights reveled them self. This was a great spot, unfortunately the fisherman
werent to happy with us jamming up their carpark! the meet went late and it was great to see so many SAU members together in one place.
Next cruise should prove to be even bigger.
– Grant
P.S. Don’t forget to hit up our facebook page for more photos of this event.