Leigh Kelly – Gripshiftslide

Nic Wilson's Drift JZX 100 Build :: Part 1

Grant — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 12:04:50 +0000

Nic Wilson is no stranger to professional drifting, nor to the ever capable Toyota JZX chassis. Competing both locally in Australia and abroad in Japan year in-year out, Nic has built a reputation for throwing these sleek Japanese sedans sideways with his trademark aggressive Australian style. Now with the clock ticking Nic is in the midst of a brand new drift build of exceptional quality.

Competing in the next Australian Drifting GP season Nic is set to raise the bar with his new rig. This particular JZX100 chassis has sat on Nic’s property for years, waiting for an opportune moment to be rebuilt and driven hard. With the build well and truly under way now, he’s on track to debut the car at ADGP round 1 this September.

We’ve been granted exclusive access during all stages of the build , we’ll be updating you frequently as Nic and his sponsors charge towards that first blast around the dome at Calder Park, Melbourne on September 5th.

To kick things off, Nic and his team of sponsors and supporters started with the handling package. The car was stripped to a bare shell and fully seam-welded, a race-spec cage was installed by Black Spade Fabrication Co.

Further stiffening the body you’ll find a Cusco underbody triangle brace and Tom’s underbody rear brace.

The suspension comprises a set of Arogosta coilovers set to 22kg at the Front and 10kg at the Rear along with some Kazama auto rear arms.

In the back you’ll find an unmistakeable ATL 15 gallon fuel cell featuring a Bosch 044 pump and an inbult surge tank, this was test fitted in its own custom mount before being removed before painting takes place.

For the super-wide steering angle that we’ve come to know Nic for, we’ll be seeing him utilise a Heyman products 800ps knuckle lock kit. Between Nic and the road are these impressive 18×10.5 ET+12 Gaia wheels on all four corners.

Rounding out the current wave of installations is a Bride racing seat & rail…

A requisite for all serious drift cars!

This weekend the car will be sent to Rusty’s Restorations for a bold new paint scheme. Stay tuned for our next update to see what Nic has chosen. We can’t wait to see it in the flesh!

As for the drive line… We’re staying tight-lipped for now, until a later update.

Nic would like to thank his Sponsors and Supporters:
PowerVehicles.com
Japanese Parts and Performance Gold Coast
Black Spade Fabrication Co.
Rusty’s Restorations
Jaustech Automotive
Imajess Photography

We would like to thank Nic for sharing his build with us, it’s shaping up to be an amazing machine with some very skilled people behind it. Keep your eyes out for part 2!!
Thanks for reading,
Leigh.
Photos courtesy of : http://whereisleigh.com/

GSS x Japan :: Autumn Drift Matsuri

Grant — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 09:36:42 +0000

Last month, GSS visited Japan for the Ebisu G1GP and Autumn Matsuri for the trip of a lifetime.
I set off in the early hours of the morning for Melbourne Airport, and off we went.
After being awake for over 36 hours, two flights, a lot of waiting, and catching trains, we headed straight for our hotel rooms and called it a day.

The next morning saw some sneaky shopping opportunities, then yet another train ride, which took me way up north into the small town of Nihonmatsu. This was to be our central hub for the next week at Ebisu circuit…

The following morning, we finally made it to the circuit complex. My first impression of Ebisu Circuit is that the photos do not do it justice. This place is huge.
We met up with PowerVehicles, who took us down to the ‘graveyard’ where we collected the cars that we would be thrashing on the various courses over the next week.

My friend Evan was more than a little excited to pick up his C35 Laurel with an R34 RB25DET conversion. Unfortunately, this car was to be plagued with issues after the first couple of days, which saw Evan spending most of his time off track trying to get it running right again.

After a quick tune-up of the cars, we headed straight for the ‘school course’. This was a large rectangular circuit with several roundabouts in the centre, some NASTY ripple-strip drops and two concrete walls at 90 degrees to each other for good measure. Don’t let the name deceive you though, this course laid claim to more cars than any other in the entire complex.

Another popular course was the Togue course. consisting of a short and long loop, this is a faithful recreation of the mountain-pass type roads that the local street drifters adore so much.

Proceeding to the North Course – the uppermost course in the complex. This is an absolute power-circuit, with wide, sweeping turns, and a technical S-bend and hairpin section. Of course, there’s also a hefty pit-wall for those classic Ebisu wall-tap moments.

After a few days practicing and working on the cars, by Friday it was time for G1GP. This was the last round in the series, and included a “Super Class” demonstration from some of the country’s best drivers. Naoki Nakamura and his S13 were a crowd favourite.

Moving in for a closer look, I was amazed by the sheer detail in his bonnet artwork.

Heading down the Nishi Course pitlane towards the G1 event, I bumped into this beautiful JZX90 Mark II. I’m often surprised at how few of these we see in Australia either on the road or on track, since they’re such a capable chassis. Needless to say, they were EVERYWHERE at Ebisu Circuit.

The JZX100 chassis were also very popular here. This was my favourite, with it’s low-mount wing and huge widebody conversion.

Love it or Hate it, the JZX110 Verossa is an absolute powerhouse after a little modification. I tried to capture it’s best angle, then remembered it doesn’t have one.

They say you’ll never forget the moment you met your true love. Readers, what you see here is that precise moment in time for me. While standing mesmerised, watching what has to be the world’s most beautiful Mark II being drifted perfectly around every bend at full noise, I realised I had to have one. As soon as I returned home, I started putting plans into action to acquire one.

As part of the G1GP festivities, the Super Class demonstration was mind-blowing. Seeing in person drivers such as Andy Gray, Nakamura-San, and Suenaga-San that I’d read about in blogs for years, was a surreal experience.

All of these drivers have skill and speed in abundance. How’s that for proximity.

At the end of the Super Class battles, Suenaga-San of Team Orange was declared the winner. From there, it was time to head back to the other courses and start preparing for matsuri.

While I’m sure you’re all familiar with the matsuri concept, they do things a little differently in Japan. Where your local circuit will turn the lights off at 9 or 10pm due to noise regulations, Ebisu stays open, under lights, for a full 36 hours. The night before, there was a line at the gate of Japanese drivers, sleeping in their cars to ensure they got the best pit garages when gates opened in the morning.

By this time, the cars were starting to look a little worse for wear. Battle scars (or trophies as the drivers saw it) showed perfectly executed wall-taps, scrapes and bumps with other cars.

I found that one of the best things about Ebisu, was also very reflective of the Japanese psyche. Anything goes and everyone is accepted exactly the way they, cars included. This little Kei car was kicking it around the togue course with all the big-bad JZX, S, and R chassis, and nobody had a problem with it.

Did I mention Ebisu Circuit is also home to a Safari Park? Only in Japan.

The end of Matsuri concluded our stint in Nihonmatsu. With the cars beaten, bruised, and covered in tyre marks from super-close tandems, ( Check out Taylor Wright’s awesome Matsuri video to see just how close – Click here.) it was time to pack up the tools, hop in the vans and head for Tokyo. On the drive back south, we wanted to stop by Nikko circuit, just to check it out. We had no idea if it would even be open, and we weren’t even sure if we were in the right place.

That was until we found this S15, a tell-tale sign that we were going in the right direction.

There just so happened to be a great little monday-afternoon drift meet, with close to 30 of the cleanest, straightest drift cars you’ve ever seen. This C34 Laurel might look to be more stance or VIP than drift, but it’s driver was pushing it as hard as any of the other cars on track that day.

Walking the pit lane, I spotted this cool little Toyota Starlet…

And this Battleship grey S15.

Speaking of S15s, As soon as I saw that two-tone paint, I knew I’d seen this car before, but I couldn’t quite place it. Walking around to the front, I immediately clicked.

That’s not two different cars you’re looking at. You may remember this S15 with E46 front end doing the rounds on the interweb a few months back. Again, while it looks like a mint condition show-car, the driver was not holding back at all out on track.

I was blown away by the sheer entry speed all the drivers were carrying into the turns.

Walking back through the pits to head off, I had to have a quick snap of this S15. The little details were what made this car. Like the green ring around the projectors and the air-horns tucked into the bumper.

Once back in tokyo, it was time to relax, shop, and start preparing for our flights home in the coming days. That said, we made time for the Toyota-sponsored Motoring History museum, complete with vintage Toyotas, this Ferrari Dino, and…

This immaculate KPGC10 GT-R. Seeing this iconic car in person, in such great condition, was a surreal experience.

On my last night, I met up with a local friend for some drinks at an Irish pub. Heading back to the hotel to start getting ready to go home, there was no mistaking that I was still in Japan. Only there would you see an original H1 Hummer towing two I-don’t-even-know-what’s behind it.
This concludes my coverage for GSS of what was for me, the trip of a lifetime.
In the coming weeks I’ll have some additional images over on my personal page – http://www.facebook.com/leighkellyphoto.
Thanks for reading,
– Leigh.

JDMST :: Melbourne Meet June

Grant — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 08:33:02 +0000

Well another month done means another end of month meet for the JDMStyletuning crew, with record numbers at every meet things are still looking good for Melbourne’s car scene… Despite some very frosty weather there was around 300 cars at the meet!!

With those kind of numbers the small area under the Bolte Bridge was soon packed fence to fence, finding a parking spot was becoming extremely difficult with cars pouring out onto the street!

Regardless of the ‘JDM’ in the name, the meet always get its fair share of euros as well!
With a healthy amount of v dubbers in attendance there was more then enough variety for those bored of the Japanese cars on show.

It was really good to see an SW20 turbo at the meet, their popularity has really dropped off in the last 5 years and that is a real shame.
They are such a nice car and the GT model has one of the best interiors of the 90’s!

S15 Varietta, it’s a love hate for some…
We like anything that is different, with the roof down it is still one very attractive car!

Sticker bombing on a whole new level!
Next we will see a whole car… It’s only a matter of time.

Finally the brand new Toyota 86 makes it’s JDMST debut here in Melbourne!

From here you can gauge the scale of how small this car really is, being very similar dimensions to the mx5 which is a very good thing!

The hero car of 2012!
It’s vital that the FT86 succeeds worldwide to remind the Japanese auto manufactures that they need to sell performance based vehicles and they should never leave their heritage to die.

The Galant VR4 is often a car that gets overlooked, they’re an aggressive car with plenty of bang for buck and a heaps of boot space!
So much carbon fiber goodness too!!

Classic Toyota styling and one hell of a colour combo!

The perks of running an older car… Club registration!!

Sometimes simply really is best, factory lip kit, nice wheels and one of the best paint colours to roll of a showroom floor!

Yes its is the famous crazy loud RS Impreza, with a brand new set of teeth, the owner tells me that these teeth have already tasted blood!
Watch out for the feature on this car coming in the next few months!!

Ex Auto Salon car, check out this crazy interior!

There is nothing like a little sun shower in the middle of the day, Melbourne living up to it’s bizarre weather patterns like always.

A very shiny intake manifold on this Alfa, Everybody stopped to stare.

The little red AW11 MR2, still clean as hell from the last meet!

Old school with a touch of luxury, this Creseida would make for a killer daily!

Happy Euro is happy!

With nearly 300 cars at just one time there was nearly 600 people running around, ridiculous numbers for such an informal event!

This KE70 has graced our pages a few times, it’s great to see owners so active and attending so many events.

The cars kept creeping through all afternoon, trying to find that special empty spot.

This R34 was utterly perfect, such a rare colour for a GT-R and the wheel fitment and colour combo was spot on!!

Everyone dressed warm, those that didn’t huddled in cars for fear of dying in the sub 10 degree weather!!

Talk about setting a parking trend.

We spotted these gangster as valve caps on this little MX5, it’s the little details that make a car.

The Nissan S15’s seem to double in numbers at every meet.

The cars made full use of the area, bumper to bumper parking meant it was extremely hard to get a shot of just one car in particular!

A wild pack of Subaru’s appeared

There where no more sun showers, soon the sun faded and the rain came down hard!

Despite the downpour the cars remained and the show went on.

One of the good old Evos, these always remind me of the PS1 game Colin Macre 2

It’s a shame there is a fence between the meet and the water, this space would make for some awesome photo opportunities!

Some of the clouds passed just to tease us with a few final minutes of the setting sun.

Vyet’s track spec s2000 stopped the show for many who were in awe of this deadly little convertible, absolutely no hard parking here… This car gets driven!!

Awesome little Datsun 1200 Ute now with a new engine too!

GSS contributor, Melvin Tang’s Subbie hatch sitting very well on some Enkie wheels.

One of the We heart Car comp winners, Lon in her impressive little black MX5.
No wonder she won a prize!

New wheels for this familiar looking Datsun wagon, we are really digging the new look!

After some unsavory behavior from some people leaving the event, the meet was quickly over and cars started to leave.
A reminder to all those attending, don’t act like dick’s, dropping burnouts and the police will leave us alone.
With a massive turnout in spite of some rain and freezing temperatures we can’t wait for summer!!
Thanks for looking,
– Grant / Gwyn
Guest Photographer :Leigh Kelly
www.facebook.com/leighkellyphoto
www.whereisleigh.com