Table of contents for No 295 April - May 2022 in NZ Performance Car

Destination and event chosen, flights booked, camera gear arranged and charged. Airport shuttle confirmed, parking paid, boarding commenced. Seat allocated, bags stowed, seat belt clicked — adventure mode engaged. Ah, automotive adventure abroad — remember that? There’s a crushing realisation of the time that is now for us curious car enthusiasts and the time when we could lock in an international event, crossing the deep blue sea in a rivet-heavy bird seeking high-octane hysteria. World Time Attack, Tokyo Auto Salon, Sema, Formula Drift, and so many other high-level automotive events the world over are missing out on having us Kiwis in their grandstands or in their halls. That is, of course, if those events haven’t been cancelled — or even worse, gone under. I have been thinking a lot during…

Nineteen per cent stiffer, lower, longer and VTEC turbo — the all-new Honda Civic is here in New Zealand and, according to Honda themselves, is the “most fun-to-drive Civic hatch ever”. There’s nothing quite like a Honda Civic hatch and we’ve been modifying them here in New Zealand ever since they’ve been available. Their engines and chassis lend themselves to modification, as out of the box, they’re a naturally sporty platform. Gone are the B16A, 1600cc screamer days, as they have now been replaced with a new series of engine, and in this instance, a 1.5-litre, 16-valve turbocharged VTEC engine that produces 131kW at 6000rpm and 240Nm of torque. To put the torque into perspective, compared with an older generation Honda 1500cc D15B engine it’s a staggering 110Nm more torque…

Let’s rewind six years’ worth of footage. It’s 2016, I’ve just done four years of university, earning a bachelor’s and a few other certificates. You’d think that would be enough to get a job right? Not really. Well, not in New Zealand anyway. After many, many failed applications to Seek, I managed to score an interview with the JET programme, easily the best way to get my 23-year-old self to Japan. Within a few months, I had flown 9000km and landed in a little place called Yonago, 3.5 hours west of Osaka. Waiting for me at the airport were two men in black suits with crisp black hair. An older, fatter chap with a younger, more youthful colleague. I was totally thrown in the deep end, no time to take…

If you start with a drivetrain, but have total freedom for everything surrounding it, what do you do if your end goal is to break lap records? Well, if you are Fredrik and Mikael Wiborg of Wiborg Engineering in Sweden you go ahead and build a total monster. Time attack racing has swept the world by storm. Japan, Aussie, and New Zealand are no strangers to the discipline that is snowballing in popularity. That same addiction has found its way to Europe, and Scandinavia has been bitten by the bug. Wiborg Engineering started as a way to manage the brothers’ own racing plans, then extended to include requests for design, calculation, chassis component fabrication, and simulation work from other race teams in Europe. The small business grew rapidly and soon…

Not every race car was destined to be a winner. For every McLaren MP4/4 dominating the pointy end of the pack, or Skyline GT-R monstering the podium, there’s a woefully under-engineered Minardi or an outdated, outgunned VL Commodore rattling around the lower mid pack, hitting apexes as consistently as it can and literally living the lyrics of Cake’s ’96 hit, “The Distance”. It’s not to say that these vibrant characters that could be termed a supporting cast are by any means less interesting. If anything, as time passes it’s these mid-pack warriors that generate tales just as engaging, and arguably more relatable, as those of their superstar peers. During the bulk of the 1990s, the revitalised British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) proved no exception to the above. With the two-litre…

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INSTAGRAM: @J.T.BROAD Jayden Broad — you’ve seen him on Instagram and no doubt Facebook, selling various JHonda and K-series related items. He’s a K-swapping weapon and has featured in these very pages with his mad K-swapped creations. This time, though, he’s doing something a little different, but still true to his budget Honda-building roots. There aren’t many Honda fanatics out there building Domanis, but Jayden took the chance to build something different. He stresses that, “Just because it’s budget, doesn’t mean it has got to look it.” This build is getting done to a very high standard, with a very limited budget. Currently, Jayden is freshening up and tinkering with a K24A3, which now looks like a brand-new engine and will feature a Type R oil pump and VTC, with…

Howdy! It is very cool to be this month’s Hero Contributor. My NZPC journey began 147 issues ago in 2009, while I was based in Japan. I was asked to do a monthly column, and that pushed me to explore the Japanese automotive scene and travel around Japan chasing cool people and cars to document. Some of you may remember my ramblings and adventures through ‘Tuning Japanese’, which was a total blast to produce. In many ways the pressure to have something photographed and written about every month was the real catalyst behind getting the chance to experience all the amazing cars, workshops, and iconic places spread all over Japan. It allowed me to gain lifelong friends such as Nakai-san, Miurasan, and Kato-san, to name a few. The real icing…

IF YOU HAVE AN EVENT THAT YOU’D LIKE TO SEE IN THE GIG GUIDE, EMAIL EDITOR@PERFORMANCECAR.CO.NZ WITH ALL THE DETAILS DUE TO COVID-19 ALERT LEVEL FLUCTUATIONS, ALL EVENT INFORMATION IS CORRECT AT THE TIME OF PRINTING BUT MAY BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE Like many events, the annual 4&Rotary Nationals were impacted this year, being hit in what was essentially event week by setting changes. This has given event organisers Alan and Pare Togia of Downtime Entertainment the chance for a bit of reflection and review, making a decision that has many in the community excited with a move back to Labour weekend in October. The format for 2022 will see drag racing and a track day form the core of the event, with an inside show just not being practical…

Let’s start with a question: what were you doing back in the early 2000s? Have a think for a moment. I am pretty sure for many of us the answer is pretty similar: spending way too much money on making cars loud, individual, and distinctive in the midst of what was probably the peak of the audio and interior era. I acknowledge that some readers probably weren’t even alive then or were busy mastering the delicate art of flirting at intermediate and college so this particular question doesn’t mean much to you but it sets the scene for this story. For Michael Kuoy, who is now the ripe old age of 46, his life was getting up at 3am to go “earn a crust” at his daily job as a…

Summer’s in full swing, and there’s no better way to celebrate it than by rolling burnouts of 17-inch Simmons, second-gear launches, and 10-second passes. That’s right, Mad Mike’s Rotary Summer Drags made a thrilling return to the Kiwi motoring calendar. After a rough few months of event uncertainty, postponements, and cancellations, it was a delight finally to step foot not just outside the border of Auckland, but onto a hot, prepped track ready for a day of drags celebrating all things rotary. “We had planned Summer Bash, which expands year on year, with high expectations and an international guest list. It was a hard decision to pull the pin, but allowed full focus on the Rotary Summer Drags making a huge comeback after an eight-year hiatus,” Mike Whiddett told us.…

So, what do you do if you’ve got some rad ideas but you don’t have the skill set to bring them to life? Well, this happened to me recently with my track-day machine. It was in desperate need of a shield underneath the trumpets to keep both stones and splashing water away from the inlet. You’re dreaming if you think I am chucking filters on it — it sounds way too good! However, with no sheet-metal press at home, I thought: “Why not make something accessible to me, and have it put together and produced by an engineer?” Challenge accepted! Cardboard is a wonderful thing. After chopping down a few boxes, I now had a few flat sheets that would be the perfect templates for what I was trying to…

Sure, we’ve been thrown the keys to the latest ‘R’ offering from Honda in the past. We’ve driven them in stock form on the street and the race track. What Honda released with the vicious FK8 variant is nothing short of spectacular. It’s a turbocharged 2000cc four-cylinder, front-wheel drive platform that, weirdly, pulls you forward in a straight line. Torque delivery in the factory model is impressive too, with power available throughout the rev-range — the K20C is truly an impressive engine. Well nobody in New Zealand truly knew how impressive until the mad Honda scientists at Torque Performance Developments decided to team up with a couple of reputable companies, develop their own bespoke parts, and spend 200 hours on the dyno, perfecting the set-up — dialling in a set-up…

AGE: 29//LOCATION: CHRISTCHURCH OCCUPATION: IMPORTING AND MECHANICAL, ELECTRICAL REPAIRS NZPC: Hayden, that’s one seriously cool Chaser. It’s not often you see them wide-body here in New Zealand. How long have you owned it for now? Hayden: I’ve owned it for three years now. I wide-bodied it in December last year just to have something a bit different — it was always a pain trying to run bigger wheels on with a stock body and I’m not a big fan of negative camber unless it’s necessary. Have Chasers always been a platform you have been into? If not, what were you driving before this? To be honest, I didn’t really like Chasers. I’ve had three Mark II JZX100s before this and they were my favourite. But this one popped up and…

AGE: 33 LOCATION: AUCKLAND NZPC: Hey Abrahim, what’s your history with cars? Abrahim: With my dad owning a workshop and working on cars, it came naturally to me when I was young. I’ve always had a big passion for cars — building and modifying them — and I always will. Cars are literally part of my life. I still remember the first car I owned. I’ve owned quite a few cars. Of course we progress, and the passion becomes more and more expensive as you get older. Why did you build/buy this car, and what’s its history? I’ve always been into Japanese cars. I’m currently building a supercharged Honda S2000. It gets driven on the weekends, though. At the time I was looking to buy something different. I’ve always liked…

With COVID-19 restrictions limiting shenanigans, ‘Mad Mike’ Whiddett has been hanging around New Zealand, keeping us all entertained with numerous events, rides, and social media content. However, this year there’s big things on the cards, with Mike heading over to the USA in June — his first time back since 2016. It’s no drift event this time, but he will indeed be sideways at times, as the race he’ll be contesting is the 19.99km-long, 4302m-tall Pikes Peak Hill Climb, which will be celebrating its 100th anniversary. According to Mike, the event will have plenty of well-known motorsport celebrities, along with a few other Kiwi drivers, such as the Millens. Mike will be unveiling his all-new Mazda 3, which is going to be packing a 26B quad-rotor, with twinturbos, specifically built…

Normally at this time of year, this section is full of all the happenings around the country. It is, after all, the peak of the summer event and motorsport season and many of us would have been gearing up for 4&Rotary Nationals, the new D1NZ season, REunion, and a whole host of other events run at both national and club level around the country. One thing we know from talking to event organisers is just how hard they all worked, and keep working, in the background to bring these events to us, which are months, and in some cases even years, of brand build. No option was left unexplored and we know how devastated many of you are. So, from us here at NZPC, we just wanted to take the…

Growing up in England, Will Dickinson always had an interest in cars and, as a young lad, grabbed any copy of M ower magazine he could, turning pages and dreaming of a ride inspired by the English style of big body kits, wheels, and over-the-top sound systems. With a father who was a mechanic, it was perhaps inevitable that young Will was destined for a passion for things on four wheels, as the young lad grew up around tools, grease, and learning how things both came apart and went back together. THIS AIN’T NO DIESEL ANY MORE! THERE’S NOW A 1UZ-FE V8 SLAMMED UNDER THE BONNET — GETTING IT TO FIT WAS NO EASY JOB, EITHER The family relocated to New Zealand when Will was the ripe old age of…

NO ENGINE CONVERSION IS AN EASY TASK; THIS IS A COMMON SIGHT WHEN SHOEHORNING A K-SERIES INTO A SMALL CHASSIS LIKE THE FIT So far the car has made some huge progress, with the tear-down happening almost immediately after NZPC visited, so here’s where we’re at. We started off by pulling the factory L15A and six-speed gearbox out, along with the stock cooling system, air conditioning, shifter cables, fuel lines, and ECU to create a blank canvas with which to start this project. After labelling all of the necessary bits and pieces required from the old set-up, Tony got to work on the trimming required to shoehorn in a K20A engine and six-speed gearbox. Next up, Balin and I got started with prepping the engine. Pulling the engine down to…

One question I get asked a lot is: “How do I get the water marks off my car”? This is a universal problem that effects paint, glass, chrome, and sometimes even plastic. I’m going to share some tips and tricks and products that we use in the detailing industry, but I need to start with a warning for the ‘impaired’: if you don’t have the right conditions, equipment, chemicals, or confidence to tackle this stuff, then please don’t. If you mess up some of these techniques or chemical applications, you can do some damage — permanent damage. As always, none of the following should be done in the sun or on a hot vehicle. What are water spots? Water spots are traces of minerals, salts, acids, or other contamination that…

PERSONAL: @IMPOSTER_MAYOR WORK: @NIFTY_CUSTOMS “And just like that, I found myself down that rabbit hole many car builders have experienced,” Vadim told us, after we took a closer look at his — not commonly modified here in New Zealand — Toyota Celsior VIP build. After selling his VIP Toyota Crown build, Vadim was eager to sink his teeth into another project. It was meant to be mild, though, but turned into a project that will now consume hundreds of hours of bodywork and was the turning point for him to start his own bodywork business, Nifty Customs. After custom modifying a Mode Parfume body kit, Vadim tore it down again during the first Covid-19 lockdown for another makeover. “I started by ordering K.Break front bumper and side skirts, rear Aimgain…