Preview: NZ Performance Car Issue No. 255

R E S TO R I N G

R U S T Y

PA R T S

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SUPER-SLICK 180 180SX SX TOKYO AUTO SALON MAD MIKE’S SUMMER BASH D1NZ HITS THE CAPITAL D1NZ

MAR. 2018

$10.99

INCL. GST

ISSUE

255

MONSTER SMALL BLOCK S S15

CONTENTS

16 DORT D ORT SCORT S CORT

A PEELED-BACK ESCORT WITH DRIFTING ON ITS MIND

THIS IS WHERE THE OLD-SCHOOL TECH MELDS WITH THE NEW SCHOOL. A SIDE EFFECT OF THE CAR’S WEIGHT LOSS IS BANG-ON AESTHETICS, REMINISCENT OF AN OLD ESCORT RACER

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AND BAKE

522KW OF NATURALLY-ASPIRATED V8 POWER

36 MODIFIED MECCA GOING INSIDE TOKYO AUTO SALON 2018

CAPITAL STEEZ THE 2018 D1NZ SEASON OPENER

44 50 STREET SPIRIT

CHARLIE LAM’S STREETSWEEPER 180SX

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CONTENTS

006 EDITORIAL 008 ED TEAM CHATTER 010 NEWS 058 SUBSCRIBE AND RECEIVE 074 WEEKEND WARRIOR 088 CRUISE MODE 090 TECH REVIEW — DTM KIOSK 092 NEW PRODUCTS 094 UNDER CONSTRUCTION 096 GIG GUIDE 098 DRAG TIMES 100 DAILY DRIVEN 102 LOCAL SPECIALISTS 104 WHAT’S COMING NEXT MONTH

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060 MAD SCIENCE 066 DOUBLE DOSING 072 CONCEPT WE FORGOT 076 STAYING LEGIT 086 THE LONG HAUL DIY RUST REMOVAL

MAD MIKE’S SUMMER BASH 2017 TAKE TWO

MAZDA’S RX-500

A COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE LVVTA SYSTEM

BRUCE TANNOCK TURNS THE CLOCK BACK TO 2011

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1 RT MK D ESCO

OR 1973 F

NOT UT IT’S B , S M D E IN H E OF T OUR M CK OFD EVERY ON A B E H T T EACH AN WAY A BUILD ICHARD OPIE NING A O R T U S B PETU SON PHOTOS: R IDEAS GIB BUILD HAVE THE IM E V ARCUS A M : H E S L WORD WE ALTEN THAT W OF

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S15 SILVIA ISSAN 2001 N

E KNEHW INE D1NZ, H R MAC E T E N IV E IT D T N E A P S A COM ERIOU GET SEL TO BUILD O T D IDE HE WHE N DEC MPSOREINVENT T : MARCUS GIBSON O H T OTOS CARL’T NEED TO AND PH WHEN WORDS IDN D E H THAT

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TOKYO AUTO SALON 2018

WORDS: JADEN MARTIN PHOTOS: STEVEN PLASCENCIA

Perhaps one of the most recognizable styles in Japan is bosozoku — the loud, over-thetop and in-your-face stylings of outlaws who simply don’t give a f#ck. This GX61 Cresta belonged to the custom upholstery shop on crack known as ‘L-Tide’

okyo Auto Salon (TAS) is the mecca of the Japanese car-tuning world and every year the number of cars and people that cram its halls seems to skyrocket.

You know it’s happening, too, even if you live firmly under a rock for the other 362 days a year, as social feeds descend into glorified pits of jealousy from those of us who aren’t there, sitting at home and work drooling over what could possibly have been the best overseas trip we ever made.

Set near the Japanese capital, TAS 2018 kicked off a threeday triple hit on Friday, January 12, with 11 halls of all things custom automotive. Occupying the entirety of Chiba’s Makuhari Messe convention centre, this year marked the 36th anniversary of the annual event, which started back in 1983 as the ‘Tokyo Exciting Car Show’. The brainchild of Daijiro Inada, editor-inchief of tuning car magazine Option, its name was changed to TAS in 1987.

Better known in its former white guise with Breed fenders produced by SerialNine, Yuhei Baba’s 1.5JZ-powered Aristo gained notoriety after a front wheel ripped off mid-drift during the 2015 1JZ drift meeting at Fuji Speedway. Fast forward to 2018, and the Aristo now rocks club Moccoman’s vibrant yellow paintwork and is kitted to the teeth with items from the SerialNine back catalogue

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Naoto Suenaga of Team Orange kept the punters entertained outside with a demonstration of Zestino Tyres’ new red-smoke show tyres and threw down a series of tandems alongside D1GP Team RE Amemiya’s Masao Suenaga in his No. 7 RX-7

It wouldn’t be a true automotive fest without characters like Akinobu Satsukawa and Mitsuru Haraguchi, of Team A-BO Moon and 326power fame, respectively, clowning around in the way that only the Japanese can

The talk of the show this year was Wataru Kato of LB-Works (Liberty Walk) fame’s Lamborghini Miura. Sliced, diced, and on its guts, the internet was abuzz with disbelief that someone could do this to such a rare car. “How could you chop up a Miura!!” and “it’s ruined” followed photos of the Miura everywhere, but that’s just the charm of TAS — pushing the boundaries. And if it makes you feel any better, it’s only a replica ...

WORDS: NZPC PHOTOS: AARON MAI

D1NZ HIT THE CAPITAL FOR THE FIRST TIME, DOING IT IN STYLE WITH A CUSTOM BIG-BANKED TRACK esidents of the Te Marua valley didn’t know what hit them when the Link ECU D1NZ National Drifting Championship and the rest of the NZ-Xtreme Motorsport Series rolled into the capital over January 12 and 13 to kick off its season at the Max Motors Wellington Family Speedway Arena.

The week leading up saw near-round-the-clock work carried out to transform the speedway into a venue suitable for not only drifting but also rallycross, utility task vehicles (UTVs), and Super Moto. Fifty

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truckloads of concrete would end up being pumped into the venue, but not before 55 truckloads of road millings were laid, 700 sheets of ply installed, a bridge got made from three 40-foot containers, and fences and speedway walls got removed.

It was no easy feat to pull off, but, ask any of the drift drivers, and they rave about the figure-eight layout, with two long bank rides to start and complete the run, with a tighter and technical midsection.

Being the season opener, the pits were filled with new cars,

new liveries, and even some old faces making a return to the fray, including four-time champion Gaz Whiter, back in the ‘SmartCookie8’ S14, although the champ would suffer a few gremlins during the event, including a broken gearbox, hampering his return.

Plenty of new faces lined up against him in the Pro class, including Pro-Sport class of 2017 graduates Cody Pullen Burry, Ben Jenkins, and Jase Brown. All three rookies were clearly eager

to stamp their mark on the field, although Cody was forced (like many) to deal with mechanical issues. Jase made the biggest impression — if his blown 1UZ-FE S13 hadn’t done that already — qualifying sixth, with Ben closely behind in seventh. Taking out the top spot was Ben’s stablemate and the sole Aussie competing, Matty Hill, in the 4mance Automotive S15. Matty laid down a pair of killer runs, the best an 87-point run, narrowly nudging out the likes of Dave Steedman and Daynom Templeman, in what was a

The track layout proved a favourite with the drivers and produced some quality door-to-door driving, with the tight technical midsection a real lever

S t r e e t

S p i r i t

NO MATTER HOW MANY FLAVOURS OF 180SX YOU’VE COME ACROSS, YOU WON’T’VE SEEN ONE QUITE AS SLICK AS CHARLIE’S WORDS: JADEN MARTIN PHOTOS: ROD DUNN

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