Indice dei contenuti per September 2021 in Fast Car

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Nissan’s victory in the East Africa Rally in the iconic 240Z, Nissan has released sketches which show what a contemporary Nissan rally car based on the Juke crossover might look like. The road-going Juke has always been a bit of an odd-ball for petrolheads, falling into a bit of a no-mans’ land where it wasn’t butch enough to worry the traditional SUV brigade, or fast and sexy enough to lure people away from their hot hatches and coupes. But this new concept adds bags of aggression to the Juke and transforms it into a hard-hitting mug-plugger! With enlarged wheels with knobbly tailor-made off-road tyres, bolt-on arch extensions and additional LED spotlights mounted to the roof and bonnet it looks every inch the rally challenger.…

The cult of the hot hatch just wouldn’t be the same without fast Fords. Even if you’re a die-hard follower of the Golf, the 205 or the Civic (or any number of other options), it can’t be denied that Ford has always put incredible effort into making performance affordable for the person on the street, and the Fiesta sits in the centre of this game-plan. Whether it’s feisty XR2s skulking in your local drive-thru or your grandma pootling to the shops in a Popular Plus, memories of the Ford Fiesta will be inextricably intertwined with your past, which is unsurprising given that the model popped into the top-ten bestseller list back in 1977 and has pretty much stayed there ever since – it’s an enduring love affair, we just can’t…

With a rally-proven 2.0-litre turbo engine, as well as being one of the most common Japanese performance cars in the UK, tried and tested tuning parts to take the Impreza from mild to wild are plentiful – so unless you’re planning on something very unusual you won’t be stepping into the unknown. The engines are fairly strong and capable of big power increases, and while not the most bulletproof on the market, are plentiful, so replacements aren’t hard to come by, and super strong upgrades are common. However, despite being highly tunable, Imprezas are far from idiot-proof. Engine failures are common from relatively simple mistakes, so a suitably remapped ECU to match any tuning is vital. We’d recommend starting any tuning upgrades with a full turbo-back exhaust system with either…

Q. WHAT DOES ENGINE OIL DO? A. Although the main task of engine oil is to lubricate things, it also has many more jobs: it cools the engine components; it removes deposits and transports them to the oil filter; it seals the piston rings; and it protects the metal surfaces from corrosion. Q. WHAT DO THE DIFFERENT GRADES OF OIL MEAN? A. There are many different grades of oil available, and the most common measure to differentiate them still is the viscosity (e.g. 5W-30). However, this is a little outdated these days. In the past, viscosity was the defining factor to keep different oils apart, but today the world of oils has become far more complex, and viscosity is just one of many factors to consider. More important in modern…

BLACKDEATH M21K-V6 AMPLIFIER Big sounds need big amps to power them and they don’t come bigger and badder than this black beauty from Vibe Audio. Known as the Blackdeath MK21K-V6, this 21,000 watt behemoth is an Ultra Class D competition amplifier powerful enough to (as Michael Caine would say) blow your bloody doors off! It’s a full range unit, which means it can be used to power either a subwoofer or component speaker and includes both high and low pass adjustable filters to precisely tailor the output. Being a mono amplifier however, does mean there is only one output channel, so unless you fancy dropping the wedge on a pair of these bad boys, to allow true stereo sound, you are probably better off using it to power a house-sized…

Tweaking the damping settings on your coilovers can be a tricky business as the controls are often tucked away out of reach under the bonnet or in the boot via the strut tops, or attached to the damper body itself, meaning you need to try and get under the wheel arches to adjust them. With TEIN’s EDFC Active and a set of compatible TEIN coilovers however, a dash mounted electronic controller makes it possible to adjust damping force from the driver’s seat by controlling stepping motors installed on each shock absorber. Settings can be stored for race, street and comfort and recalled in an instant plus a built-in G-Sensor also allows G-force actuated automatic adjustment while driving and an additional automatic speed-sensitive adjustment feature is available with the use of…

If you were to ask me which single modification I would make to any car, my answer would always be coilovers. A good chassis setup is a characteristic I highly value, and I’ve had a history of owning small, nimble and sub-150bhp cars, as I believe the best parties are in the bends! Not only that, but lowering your car and minimising that arch gap makes any car look 10 times better in my opinion. Back in 2018 it was my very own UP GTi that was the first ever to feature a set of KW coilovers. KW began by releasing the street-focused Variant 1 coilover with factory damping settings and ride height adjustment only. Now, almost three-years later, as more and more tuners have been busy developing upgrades for…

Who doesn’t love a Renault 5 turbo? The boxy French hatch was a true ‘80s hot hatch hero. Its basic premise of a big boosted, small displacement engine in a chassis that weighed little more than an empty crisp packet (with about the same crash-protection too), was an intoxicating mix that couldn’t fail to slap grins on the faces of all that got behind the wheel. But with many meeting their ends through unplanned diversions into hedges, or simply succumbing to the dreaded red rot, it means good examples are hard to come by these days, so anyone wanting to rekindle their love-affairs with one of these French fancies will pay dearly for it, as prices have gone through the roof. But if you do have pockets deep enough to…

There’s a lot of posturing and peacocking on the show car scene. It’s natural, it goes with the territory – after all, every one of us approaches this hobby from different directions, and we all have different hopes, styles, methods and aspirations; some are interested in out-and-out speed, others prefer a pristine finish, some chase the latest fashion-forward mods, and there will always be people who root the whole thing in nostalgia and sepia-tinted yearning. It stands to reason that a certain percentage of those who build cars specifically to be show-stoppers will have an extrovert nature to their character, it’s all part of the recipe. But it truly is refreshing to speak to somebody like Phil Moore, who’s fortunate enough to own the startlingly excellent Pandem E46 you see…

As the blurb on the Players’ website says, this is the weekend where modified cars can be found “disrupting the manicured lawns and tranquillity of Goodwood Motor Circuit”. Hard to believe that the first Players Classic was way back in 2013. It quickly became a must-attend fixture on our calendars. 20-years ago in the good old days, we all revelled in the burnouts and bad behaviour of the illegal cruise movement. It was a good laugh whilst it lasted but the damage it caused to the image of modified cars was long-lasting. If you’d have predicted at the time that tuner cars would be welcome at Britain’s premier historic motor racing venue you’d have been laughed out of town. Slowly but surely public perception of our scene is changing. The…

It’s a story we hear time and time again from feature car owners, that their motoring influences have filtered down directly from their parents or guardians. It’s such a common origin tale, we’ve waxed lyrical for years about how the cars our folks were interested in so often inform those that we drive today. A psychologist might argue that, for many, this represents an impassioned yearning to return to the carefree innocence of youth, buying the car that your mum had when you were a nipper so that you can be, in part, a child once more. But sometimes it’s not that deep; sometimes it’s just an excuse for a bit of good old family bonding. Father-and-son teams who rebuild old wrecks they happen across on eBay, girls taking on…

It’s very easy to go fast in modern cars. Well, that’s a flippant generalisation; it’s easy to go fast in a lot of old cars too, and many new cars are slow; what we’re getting at is that the relentless march of consumer-pleasing in terms of soundproofing, lightness of touch and the anaesthetising of the driver experience means that the modern motorist has lost a certain sense of wonder. If it’s easily achievable for any old humdrum hatchback to crack 70mph and onwards without the driver having to hang onto the wheel for dear life and try to make their peace with the almighty as they weave between the cats-eyes, then where’s the sense of achievement? There have, of course, always been people keen to tap into the inherent adrenaline…

Car detailing has become massive business over the past decade. Gone are the days of grabbing a bucket, sponge, and your mum’s bottle of washing up liquid (whatever you do, don’t do that, it’ll cause more harm than good) and giving your car a quick wipe down. Detailing your car is an art form, but with so many products on the market like clay bars, iron removers, snow foams and ceramic coatings it’s become overwhelming to the everyday enthusiast. That’s why we’ve sat down with industry expert Tom Clarke from Meguiar’s UK, to answer all those frequently asked questions... Q) I often use my local car wash, is this detrimental to my paint finish? A) It can be, yes. Typically, the high volume of cars they are washing means they…

Classic cars have seen a huge surge in popularity of late, with just about every desirable model from the late sixties to the early nineties attracting a massive increase in value. This has pushed many of the most coveted models out of reach of all but the most wealthy of collectors. However, if you can stretch your cash to get your hands on one, it could turn out to be the most shrewd financial investment you could make, with the rates of appreciation vastly outstripping anything you could hope for from your high street bank. But aside from the initial economic reasons why these aging machines are attracting such attention, there’s also the fact that owning and driving one gives us petrolheads the kind of visceral satisfaction that you simply…

Hot Renaults can trace their roots back to the Alpines and Gordinis of the 1960s and 1970s, the 5 Alpine/Gordini of 1976 the first proper ‘modern’ La Regie hot hatch. Much more serious performance Renault hatches came in the shape of the 5 Turbo, Clio 16V and Williams, with the first official Renault Sport model being the Clio 172 of 2000. Pant-wettingly and excitingly available in Cup specification from 2002, the frippery-deleted Clio set the Renault and wider hot hatch standard of the time, as well as the template for future trés-chaud Regies to come. (History) The first RS-badged Mégane arrived in 2004, based on the Mégane II. Packing 222bhp with three or five doors, the Renault Sport Mégane 225 (a nod to its 225PS output) sprinted to 60mph in…

How did you get into motorsport? For the last 15 years I had been a regular track day enthusiast doing as many as 25 a year all over the UK and Europe through the main British organisers. But after a chance meeting with a driver coach and BTCC race engineer in 2019, a conversation of doing something more competitive was discussed. Following this a pre-arranged test with a Civic Cup race team was organised, where I was instantly on what was considered front running pace, so we went about planning to compete in 2020 for the first time. Have you raced in any other series? So far only the Civic Cup, which is organised by Maximum Motorsport. What has been your racing career highlight so far? During my first event…

“The Turbo 3 will pick up where the Turbo 2 left off but using the latest engineering tech” We all dream of one day owning a supercar and, for many, Lamborghini is the cream of the crop. The outrageous styling, ear-splitting noise and utter ridiculousness is everything a supercar should be. Unfortunately, few of us will ever be lucky enough to achieve that dream, especially if the Lambo in question is the limited edition Sian. At a cool £3 million, it’s a car that is out of reach to all but the most minted of petrolheads, however, there may be hope for us yet, and it comes from a rather unlikely place… Danish toy giant LEGO has collaborated with the Italian car guru to build a life-size Sian out of…

We just love the colour choice on Phil’s car. Soul Red Crystal is a truly beautiful OEM shade by Mazda that’s totally wasted on the likes of the CX-7 SUV, and we’ve been waiting to see when someone will apply it to a proper modded project. Soul Red has been doing the rounds on various mainstream Mazdas for a few years now, but this new Crystal variant is an evolution of the formula – a 3-stage pearl paint, the base layer contains two different types of aluminium flakes: one that reflects light like a regular metallic, and another which absorbs light, thus giving the shade an unparalleled depth. The middle coat is translucent and the top coat is clear, creating the impression of an almost liquid-like appearance. Mazda calls this…

OWNER AND CAR: Andy Devine’s Ford Mk2 Escort (AKA The Mexorcist) SPEC AT A GLANCE: Julian Godfrey aluminium Cosworth YB producing 550bhp, 6-speed sequential Quaife gearbox with air shift, genuine carbon fibre roof, bonnet and 3D printed carbon fibre dash, 16in BBS E48 centre-lock wheels from a Touring Car Sierra OWNER AND CAR: Phil Morrison’s GT1 inspired Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 (AKA The Slambo) SPEC AT A GLANCE: 6.5 V12, custom ITBs, 6-speed manual conversion, RWD, 10.5x19in and 13x20in custom 3SDM wheels OWNER AND CAR: Sean Reilly’s Renault Clio RS 200 SPEC AT A GLANCE: Mossy Green wrap, 18in Rotiform OZRs, Airlift 3P, Recaro CS seats trimmed in leather and Alcantara with yellow OEM style stitching, steering wheel reupholstered in Alcantara with matching yellow stitching OWNER AND CAR: Liam O’Brien’s BMW…

Let’s trace a line back, shall we? At the age of 12, Lincoln’s driving a car that’s 30-years old. To older readers, the MX-5 may be bracketed within the loose realm of ‘modern cars’, but it’s all about perspective. If you were 12 years old in, say, 2001, and found yourself being presented with a car of the same relative age, you could have been sliding about the place in an early Mk1 Escort or a Leyland-era MGB. In 1991? It might be a Frogeye Sprite or a PA Vauxhall Cresta with all the chrome and tailfins. Make no mistake: to Lincoln, this hardcore drift weapon is very much a classic car!…

For many couples, a little friendly rivalry keeps life interesting. It might be a competition to see who can make the best sauce, who can run the fastest 10k, or simply who can drink the most beer. But what if you’re both into fast Fords? Well, then things can get a little out of hand, especially when your other half has built some of the most sensational show cars in the UK. “I’ve always wanted a Cossie-powered Focus track car,” explains 31-year-old Hannah Ward. With an enviable collection of Blue Ovals already in her possession – including her Mk1 Focus RS aka ‘Rozie’, a red Escort RS Turbo, a red Fiesta RS Turbo, a black 3-door Sierra Cosworth, a red Escort Cosworth and another Mk1 Focus RS – it would…

While the Impreza was a big name in rallying from the very beginning, it took a few years to become a popular road car to tune. But now it is one of the best all-round Japanese cars in the scene. The original shape Impreza, commonly known as the Classic, featured four-wheel-drive and a two-litre turbocharged boxer engine. WRX versions were more performance orientated, while STi versions were built with one eye on motorsport use. Almost every year the STi models were improved upon, with stiffer suspension, stronger engine internals and uprated turbochargers. Beyond conventional STi models are the RA versions, which were specifically built with rallying in mind, adding upgrades such as close ratio gearboxes, minimal weight, driver controlled centre differentials, and roof vents. The most sought after models are…

It’s official. Cars don’t like standing idle. They long to be let free to roam the open road and gulp down super unleaded like Gazza on a gin-fuelled bender. Proof of this comes from the RX-8, which has pretty much sat untouched since March 2020, and is now beginning to protest its enforced exile with various gremlins throwing spanners into the works. First it was the oil metering pump which went kaput and needed replacing with a secondhand alternative, and now it’s the battery that has given up the ghost. Drat! We had our doubts about the vitality of the RX-8’s battery for some time, as it first showed that it wasn’t feeling at its best way back in the middle of last year, when it refused to start one…