Table of contents for No 298 October - November 2022 in NZ Performance Car

Life’s a funny one. One minute you’re packing up your life to move out to the countryside, then the next, you’re moving those same packed boxes into the centre of town. Yep, that’s me — I am back in the city, no longer building my dream shed. I have learned quite a few life lessons lately. At 31, there’s still plenty left to learn. There are a multitude of reasons for the shed build not eventuating, none of which I will mention here, but moving into the city better suits the lifestyle I am trying to live, being the editor of this epic magazine — being closer to and at the centre of the action. I have never really lived in Auckland’s centre before, beyond a short stint in my…

With cruising-style events soaring in popularity here in New Zealand, more and more enthusiasts are pushing their cars to limits they haven’t yet seen on the street. Unfortunately, one of the by-products of this newfound circuit-based fun is heat. Because we aren’t building these cars as track cars — but rather just to send it with our mates — having some form of basic fire suppression in the vehicle is quite often overlooked. Compatible with virtually every modern classic performance, JDM, and Euro, The Bracketeer makes having a fire extinguisher mounted in your car much more accessible, with a universal fire extinguisher bracket. Never before has it been so simple to mount a smaller 1–1.5kg fire extinguisher in your pride and joy in case the worst should happen. The more…

You’d be right in saying that there hasn’t been a new vehicle platform to New Zealand’s D1NZ for some time now. It’s been three to four years since the last new platform was introduced to the sport of competitive drifting here in New Zealand, so the D1NZ franchise decided it was time to build their own — a car in which professional overseas drivers could contest the series, and it would double as a car the series could use to promote just how a modern pro-level build should be, to be competitive here in New Zealand. Here in the NZPC office, we’ve been hanging out for a new D1NZ build to cover that isn’t your generic Nissan-based platform, so when we caught wind some time ago D1NZ would build a…

ANDREW WANTED THE R32 GT-R TO BE A TRUE STREET CAR, SO HE HAD THE VELO FIXED-BACK, SEATS RETRIMMED IN A NICER MATERIAL, WITH THE DOOR CARDS AND DASH MAT MATCHING. THERE’S STILL A STEREO, TOO! When you’ve made some of the biggest claims world, and single-handedly produced what is probably the most GT-R content on the planet, what do you in the GT-R tuning scene, myth-busted some of the most common GT-R modifications, hosted the biggest GT-R-specific events in the world, and single-handedly produced what is probably the most GT-R content on the planet, what do you drive? Well, obviously a GT-R of some description — but with such knowledge, such experience, and such a reputation, what does your own personal GT-R look and go like? Andrew Hawkins’ GT-R…

Imagine for a moment it is nearly 20 years ago and you are out car shopping for what you think you want. All you need is a reliable daily driver — perhaps something like a VR-4, because you’ve always been a bit of a car guy, but you know you need to be sensible. When you get to the car yard, something catches your eye — and it isn’t the VR-4 you think you want; you just can’t stop looking at a MkIV Toyota Supra. It has to be yours, because there is just something about those lines. So began Auckland-based David’s journey with this car. here at NZPC have to admit that, right from when we first pulled up, we noticed this is a car that has a presence…

With Japanese performance cars skyrocketing in value around the world, we’re seeing more and more Japanese cars getting the full restoration treatment to restore or maintain their value. Others owners though, such as Dave Higgins, are tackling such tasks just out of pure OCD. Dave acquired this low-kilometre 2000-model Mazda RX-7 Type RZ from Japan late last year. It’s one of only 325 produced — Dave said Mazda originally planned to produce only 175 units. However, because of the car’s popularity, more were built. “The turbos were leaking oil, so the whole project started. Because of that and my OCD, it just snowballed into a full concours-level restoration. It’s having absolutely everything done — the engine rebuilt by Green Brothers Racing, the gearbox rebuilt by Willy Green, and the original…

Having followed NZ Performance Car since my early teens, when the opportunity presented itself for me to join Parkside Media two years ago, I was immediately convinced it was meant to be. I am a graphic designer by trade, and have always had a keen DIY attitude. I absolutely love getting stuck in to have a tutu with anything and everything. I started at Parkside in the design team, helping to put together the magazines, but have since moved into the digital space, where I am responsible for overseeing our brand’s digital presence. When I’m not behind the screens, you’ll find me in the garage spinning spanners on my Evo — or more than likely, to be honest, on one of my friends’ cars. On the days I do get…

The lads at Wholesome World put on their third private drift day at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park’s Club Circuit, with a few rules in place: low cars, big body kits, and working headlights. With the exception of Christchurch, it’s not often one sees such street-spec tyre slayers being (mostly) driven to the track to undergo hours of gruelling limit bashing. I spent the day talking about all things drifting and happily snapping away at the machines on show. Their mantra: ‘Be stylish, drive your best, and have fun!’ I can confidently say that those three objectives were well met! WILL KIRK Hello, my name is Willy K and I drive a 180SX. My first experience with drifting was when I was a child playing Need for Speed and Forza Motorsport.…

If there was a category for ‘unlikeliest feature rig ever’, surely a Toyota Camry would rank somewhere near the top of the list, if not at the absolute apex of that metric. The mere utterance of the name ‘Camry’ generally kick-starts a wave of joking and derision, at least from a performance standpoint. After all, the Camry has come to stand for nothing more than dependable transport for a few generations of taxi drivers, sales reps, and, of course, grandparents across the nation. We could even go so far as to say the platform is the automotive representation of the word ‘beige’. They’re not especially offensive in any sense; it ’s just more that the Camry has never really made even the slightest case for exciting motoring — at least…

DRIVEN BY PASSION FOR 100 YEARS The original The Fast and the Furious film can be an infuriating affair for an enthusiast due to its now-infamous inaccuracies, but it inspired a new generation into the world of tuning. Front and centre of the film is the Toyota Supra driven by undercover cop Brian O’Conner, or ‘Spilner’, played by Paul Walker. How the Supra became a boy racer’s dream is an interesting tale. Rented for the movie, just like all the hero models featured as part of Dom Toretto’s (played by Vin Diesel) street racing crew, the Supra in fact belonged to technical advisor Craig Lieberman and was one of the first to be cast for the film. In the storyline of the film, the orange Supra replaces O’Conner’s original Mitsubishi…

IS IT A LOLLY? IS IT A PLANE? IT’S A FRAGRANCE! Make your car smell good enough to eat with a lolly-style jet plane air freshener. Jelly Jets come in six ‘flavours’ in the Hang-It version — bubble gum, cherry, blueberry, green apple, vanilla, and strawberry — and three fragrances in the Clip-It form: bubble gum, cherry, blueberry. To be fair, the Clip-It version also offers six variants, in that the three flavours are also available with sparkles. Jelly Jets are available from leading automotive and hardware stores. For more information, stockists, and pricing, see jellyjets.co.nz. S8 CAR STEREO Head unit performance redefined! We’re in a new era of head unit performance with modern-car technology and more available in double-din style units for our performance cars, and ATOTO is leading…

In a bit of a plot twist, Honda has unveiled its latest generation Honda Civic Type R, to be launched in 2023, and it looks a lot less wild than the previous generation. With what is said to be the same chassis with some slight modifications, Honda has seemed to have calmed the exterior styling down for the newest release, with less edgy, aggressive lines over the vehicle. That doesn’t mean everything has been tamed, though, as the engine is set to produce more power than the current model does. The wheels — which were previously 20-inch — are now 19 inches and shod in larger-profile rubber. One of the most exciting features in our eyes is the interior, which is more minimalist in design and features red seats and…

THERE’S SOMETHING SO SYMMETRICAL ABOUT THE GT-R ENGINE BAY, YET SOME PEOPLE GET IT SO WRONG. MOUNTED WHERE IT IS, THE BORGWARNER IN OUR EYES IS PLACED PERFECTLY AND BALANCES OUT THE INTAKE SIDE BEAUTIFULLY. IT’S NOT ALL SHOW, THOUGH, THE RB26 PACKS A SERIOUS PUNCH WITH 483KW AT THE WHEELS “Ha, yeah bro, that was me.” We love a yarn that sta rts with a laugh, and that’s how it was as NZPC sat down with Tramay ne, aka the infamous SWAGER — yep, that ’s the one. As much as I hate the phrase, ‘If you know, you know’, this is an approp riate use of the say ing. With that out of the way, let us pre sent his latest creation to wear the name: a 483kW…

The purest beauty within car culture lies in the diversity of our global scene; each country brings an individual, special taste to the automotive smorgasbord. New Zealand serves up some proper pure car culture, yet, as we all know, variety is truly the spice of life. Keisuke Nagashima knows this all too well; being born in Japan yet raised in New Zealand has given him a unique perspective on car culture that many of us would kill for. With his Japanese roots and his ‘chur bro’ attitude in the Kiwi drift scene, NZPC decided he would be an interesting yarn so we had just that! NZPC: Cheers for sitting down with us! Tell us a bit about your early memories that got you hooked on cars. Keisuke: Cheers! I guess…

It’s been said before, and it will be said again: is there anything more Kiwi than chucking a rotary engine into something and just doing skids for the heck of it? Hawke’s Bay-based Luke Cox and his family certainly agree; there’s nothing better for them than taking their blown ’78 Mazda B1600 ute out and doing some laps of the local main street or the racetrack, or blowing a set of tyres off on the burnout pad. Luke tells us he’d always wanted a rotor as a younger lad but just couldn’t make it work so, as he got older and funding allowed, he began acquiring cars and tinkering. As fate would have it, this particular vehicle came on the market and already had a 12A engine in it. The…

NZPC: Hey Marco, thanks for showing us your build. Where did your passion for cars start, and how did you end up with a Euro? Marco: It started when I was a little kid; the dad of one of my mates had an Audi and I thought it was the coolest car ever — always loved the four rings. My first car was an Audi and the bug just kinda bit me. I can appreciate any other Euro but Audi stands out to me: class and also performance. With the Audi RS3 being a performance-based platform, what made you go down the airbagged, more ‘stance’ route? Bags can still be performance-based. It actually made handling a lot better than the way it handled with factory springs and shocks. For one,…

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