Table of contents for May 2021 in Fast Car

Over the years many manufacturers have claimed their special edition cars to be true ‘race cars for the road’, but realistically, this has been little more than marketing speak. But now, renowned British engineering firm, JRM, has unveiled a limited edition Nissan GT-R to celebrate a decade working with the Japanese brand, that takes the racecar for the road tagline to its most literal sense. You see, Daventry-based JRM has been at the forefront of motorsport for over a decade, including winning the GT1 World Drivers’ Championship in 2011 and finishing third in the 2012 World Endurance Championship. It’s also the brains and spanners behind the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3. So, you can be sure this is much more than just a sales slogan. Rumoured to cost an eye-watering £380,000…

How did you get into Rallycross? Growing up at Lydden Hill, the Kent-based rallycross venue owned by my family, and with my dad, Pat Doran, a famous rallycross driver, you could say it was in my blood to grow up to be a rallycross driver. Funnily enough, my dad didn’t want me to race, he actually tried to keep me from racing. But in the end he just gave up as there was no stopping me. I’ve always done whatever it takes to go racing and in 2000, when I was just 14 years-old, I started my rallycross career in a junior Mini. It’s just gone on from there really and I’ve never looked back. What has been your career highlight so far? I would have to say my first…

Supercars, by definition, inspire shock and awe wherever they go. The nature of the genre, ever since the term started to be widely thrown around with the inception of the Lamborghini Miura back in 1966, has been to offer something so far removed from the everyday automobile to make jaws drop and eyes light up every time such a thing howls into view. Everybody regresses back to a childlike level of excitement when these outlandish machines are around… or, at least, they should. It’s context-bound. Because while any production-spec Aventador or 488 GTB will stop everyone in their tracks if it were to appear in a rural Hampshire village among the Corsas and Fiestas, it’s a different story for the moneyed types cruising around Knightsbridge, Monaco or Beverly Hills. Certain…

Name: Tom Clarke Job Role: Marketer who oversees the UK marketing office, advert placement and key account marketing fulfilment Stage one complete. As far as project cars go, for me at least, the first and most important stage to get right is getting the car’s mechanicals sorted. This includes fixing any running issues with the engine, making sure the suspension is working correctly and that the chassis is up to scratch. It also includes any engine tuning and custom fabrication work that you’re planning, as this is so much easier and less stressful to undertake if you’re not concerned with damaging any freshly painted bodywork. This is the reason why we focused on getting the Amazon’s turbo-converted engine fully plumbed in and firing on all cylinders before we even thought…

If you thought that electric cars were a bit on the boring side, then check out this bonkers creation from Mini. Based on the standard Mini Electric, the wild, wide-arched creation you see before you is called the Mini Pacesetter and it’s set to become the pace car for the 2021 Formula E Series. While there’s no word of this cool concept making production any time soon, it clearly hints at a way the brand could go with an electric version of its John Cooper Works hot hatch, and that’s something to get excited about. Developed in conjunction with BMW Motorsport, the track-only Pacesetter has been designed with a focus on performance, and while the stock car’s battery and 181bhp electric powerplant has been retained, a strict diet has been…

Like the modified car scene, magic is always evolving. From the days of top hat wearing conjurers using their white-tipped wands to materialise scantily-clad women from seemingly empty boxes – or white tigers to sink their teeth into their partner’s neck – over the years magic has changed into something very different. The likes of US-based illusionist David Blaine, or the UK’s very own magic man Dynamo, have taken the art of magic to a place that doesn’t revolve around smoke and mirrors or elaborate stage shows, they’ve taken it back to wowing people close-up, with new and incredible tricks that take inspiration from the legendary magicians of the past, yet place a whole new twist on them. And modifying also continues to evolve. Trends come and go, but the…

STANCE In a world without speedbumps stanced cars are king. Ride quality and handling are compromised in pursuit of impossible lowness and awesome looks. GET LOW Height adjustable suspension is vital. This generally means adjustable coilover suspension, often the kind of equipment designed for track use. Some stanced cars run airbag suspension, or a coilover kit that contains a small airbag on the top of the strut, but for purists, that’s cheating. Negative camber will help create those vital millimetres of clearance. www.bc-racing.co.uk DO THE MATHS It is vital to get your wheel offsets right. The lower the offset, the more you push the wheels away from the car body. Negative offset, wide wheels are popular to give the impression the body has been dropped over the wheels. Skinny, stretched…

If there’s one thing in life that’s certain, it’s that things are never certain. After all, you know what they say about best laid plans… an idiom that is especially true when it comes to building a project car. You know the score, what starts off as a few light breathing mods, soon snowballs into a full-on forced induction setup complete with stripped interior and rollcage. We’ve seen it a thousand times, but few can boast such a radical departure from their original plans as happened in the case of US speed freak Shawn Bassett and his Datsun 240Z. “I wasn’t even considering building a project car at the time, much less one based on a Japanese classic,” laughs Shawn. “Most of my previous builds had been off-roaders and jacked-up…

1. Kultureshock Car Show 6th June Gateshead International Stadium, Gateshead Show cars from across the country will descend on the north east and fill the running track of Gateshead International Stadium when the Kultureshock show makes its appearance. Top cars, DJs, trade stands and food, it’s a great way to kick off 2021. www.facebook.com(search 2021 kultureshock car show) 2. Players Classic 19th June Goodwood, Chichester Held in the scenic grounds of Goodwood Motor Circuit, this is where you’ll find the UK’s most diverse mix of stunning show cars. From modified classics, to the latest circuit slayers, Player’s Classic has something for everyone. www.players-show.com 3. Modified Nationals 2-4th July East of England Showground, Peterborough A wicked weekend of wild rides, top entertainment, car clubs and camping, Modified Nationals is a blast.…

Building a modified car is a lot like baking a cake. First you have to decide what kind of cake you would like to make, then you need to get the ingredients and combine them with skill and timing. Too much of any one ingredient can throw off the whole thing, so if you want a perfect bake, you need to find a recipe that works and stick to it. In car terms, that means having a plan from the start and deciding exactly what you want to achieve. Be it a track car, a show car, or whatever your taste in modified motors, knowing the direction of your build from the start will always pay dividends, as you can then select the finest parts and blend them together for…

I’ve got into a bit of a pattern with buying and messing about with early 21st-century performance cars over the last few years. It wasn’t a conscious decision, it’s just sort of… happened. First there was a Mk2 Octavia vRS, then an EP3 Civic Type R, followed by a Mk1 Audi TT 225 and an R53 MINI Cooper S. Then I bought the EP3 back again, sold it to buy another TT 225, and now that’s gone and I’ve got the FN2. Each one of these was a logical decision, I promise. That’s what I told my wife, anyway. And whatever the car, there are always two key things that I want to address before doing anything else: tyres, and brakes. After all, these are the most important parts of…

Hot on the heels of the recently unveiled Subaru BRZ, its Toyota- badged cousin has now shown itself in the wild! The all-new GR 86, that replaces the GT86, is Toyota’s third model in its high-performance Gazoo Racing division, joining the widely acclaimed and incresingly tuner favourites, GR Supra and GR Yaris. Inheriting the same dimensions and fun-to-drive ethos as the outgoing GT86, the new car tips the scales around 50kg heavier, but gets a new, more powerful 2.4-litre boxer lump to deliver an extra 31bhp and 33lb ft of torque over the GT86’s 2.0-litre powerplant. As a result, the GR 86 knocks off 1.3 seconds from its 0-62mph sprint time, now completing the test in 6.3 seconds thanks to a 184bhp/ton power-to-weight ratio (GT86 equated to 164bhp/ton). That power…

When you think of JDM Mazda specialists, Total Car Produce (TCP) Magic might not be the first name that pops into your head, more likely it would be the likes of RE Amemiya or Fujita Engineering (FEED). Taisuke Kawato is the brainchild behind TCP Magic located in the countryside outside of Osaka. He is a one-man shop, who designs all of the intricate aero by hand, and builds everything from the standard two-rotor engine to one of the most popular RX-7s today, Mad Mike’s four-rotor, twin-turbo ‘Humbul.’…

ITG AIR FILTER PRICE: From £45.00 (Pro filter panel filter) CONTACT: itgairfilters.com Filtration specialist ITG has developed two serious motorsport orientated intakes which are nearing completion, one for a technical partner JCR and the other to be branded as ITG, but the Coventry-based intake experts are holding off on the launch of those until software experts catch up. Until then the ITG Pro filter with an exhaust and the popular DTUK tuning box is working really well with a noticeable gain in torque and throttle response whilst offering a louder and sportier induction roar. MAXTON DESIGN STYLING KIT PRICE: From £59.00 CONTACT: Maxtondesign.co.uk The GR Yaris is a brutal-looking bruiser straight out of the box but, to take things even further, Maxton Design has released a suite of 23 different…

A car’s standard battery is a seriously heavyweight piece of kit, often weighing in between 15-20kg, so it makes sense that it’s often one of the first items to consider in a bid to reduce weight. While some will simply move the battery to the rear of the car in an attempt to redress the front-to-rear weight distribution, an even better option is to get rid of it completely, and drop in one that weighs just a fraction. Fortunately, your motor’s chunky box of power can easily be replaced with a small, lightweight item such as the Odyssey PC950 Extreme Racing battery. Featuring rugged construction and packed tightly with pure lead plates, the non spillable AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) design protects against the shock and vibration that can quickly destroy…

MILLTEK SPORT GR YARIS EXHAUST SYSTEM You can always rely on UK exhaust gurus Milltek Sport to be leading the charge when it comes to producing exhaust systems for the latest hot cars to hit the market. And with the GR Yaris one of the hottest hot hatches to date, you know that they’ve been busy beavering away developing a range of systems to make it even more of a scorcher! Each option in the range is made from highly-durable T304L stainless steel with 3in bore pipework that has been precision mandrel-bent to ensure maximum gasflow with a perfect fit. The range is modular so you can add to it at a later date if your funds or performance requirements grow and starts off with either a resonated, or non-resonated…

KICKER KEY 180W FOUR-CHANNEL FULL-RANGE SMART AMPLIFIER Kicker’s Key smart amp is an extremely small and powerful four-channel amplifier with integrated digital signal processing. Once the included microphone is near ear level, start the supplied ‘pink noise’ track and press the unit’s activation button. The system will then detect speaker sizing and will apply a 24dB crossover and forty channels of equalisation, time alignment and independently aligned gain levels for each channel. The true potential of your vehicle’s sound system is revealed in a matter of seconds, delivering dramatic improvements in realism and soundstage without the need for expensive external processors or personal tuning time. Measuring less than eight inches long and only two inches high, the product fits nearly anywhere — mount it behind your radio, under the seat…