NZPC #261

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I N T E R V I E W :

H AY D E N

PA D D O N

NZ AE86 ROYALTY

261

9

416803 800821

TOU N TW GH Z’S O-L EST ITR E

ISSUE

$10.99 INCL. GST

SEP. 2018

FIFTY YEARS

OF ESCORT


628KW ON 42PSI, WITH A REDLINE OF 8500RPM

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STREET FIGHTER

EVOS DON’T COME TOUGHER

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DRIVEN TO DRIVE 86 ROYALTY

INTERVIEW WITH WRC DRIVER HAYDEN PADDON

AN ICON OF NEW ZEALAND DRIFTING

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themotorhood.com

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AIN’T NO SHOW PONY TRUE BLUE HKS STROKER RB28 R32 GT-R

RB26 POWERED NISSAN ONEVIA


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006 EDITORIAL 008 ED. TEAM CHATTER 010 NEWS 014 GIG GUIDE 033 SUBSCRIBE AND RECEIVE 066 POWER PLANT 074 SPECIAL FEATURE: VW I.D.R PIKES PEAK 076 P’CAR BABE 084 NEW PRODUCTS 092 CRUISE MODE 094 UNDERSTANDING TYRE WEAR 096 WEEKEND WARRIOR 098 DAILY DRIVEN 100 UNDER CONSTRUCTION 102 LOCAL SPECIALISTS 104 DRAG TIMES

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68

86

048 KEEPING YOUR ARSE PLANTED 058 PESKY ESKY 068 SR ALL STARS 086 STOP THAT! SELECTING THE CORRECT WING FOR YOUR PROJECT

CELEBRATING THE MK 1 AND 2 ESCORTS

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INSIDE JAPAN’S BIGGEST SR-ONLY MEETING

BRAKE SYSTEMS 101

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PLAYING PROPER

THE 2018 PLAYERS CLASSIC AT GOODWOOD


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RE ANCE ISHI L B U TS 5 MI

N VOLUTIO

OWER ORE PTUA M S K AT PARCOM DAVID O III TH F V OY E L O A DAM CR H OK T A BRUAN A LEFT GIBSON PHOTOS: A TH ARCUS

themotorhood.com

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:M WORDS

III


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he unmistakable chatter of the twin-plate clutch, the stunted yet aggressive idle of the 280/288-degree cams, and the clunk from the dog-box as first gear is engaged. These are the tell-tale signs of something far more serious than what you’re surveying when you first lay eyes on Tommie Morris’ understated Evo III. You’d be forgiven for thinking it’s a mildly modified survivor car that made it out of the early 2000s with all its panels intact and no screw holes left gaping where neons

once lit up the tarmac while pulsing to the bass on Dei Hamo’s ‘We Gon’ Ride’. Maybe owned by a guy in his mid-40s who dreamt of Saturday mornings carving backroads, and Sunday arvos cleaning every millimetre with a toothbrush. But in reality, while it might have been a stock survivor when Tommie found it, what those sounds are alluding to is the 42psi dyno-destroying 4G63 that makes this genuine Evo III perhaps the most brutal street going example you’re ever likely to find.


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HAYDEN PADDON ON RALLY, LIFE IN THE WRC, AND WHAT IT TAKES TO WIN WORDS: AARON MAI PHOTOS: MARTIN HANSSON, RED BULL

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allying is a discipline that requires a special kind of driver — jumping over blind crests in sixth gear; snaking down an icy road lined with trees; and threading the needle around the narrow roads of Corsica, perched on the very edge of a cliff, isn’t for the faint of heart. In fact, the Finnish even have a word for it — sisu. While the setting for the World Rally Championship (WRC) might require skills that are almost superhuman, rallying is very much a motorsport for the people; there are no millionaire playboy drivers or excessively technological cars with access to infinite budgets. However, the WRC has the crème de la crème of rallying’s best drivers, demanding a special set of skills from a driver and co-driver combination. The crew members on a WRC machine

are drag racers, mechanics, ice racers, tarmac gurus, drifters, endurance racers, tacticians, and navigation experts all rolled into one. With a long history of rallying in New Zealand, on a local and international level, it is without doubt that Kiwis are rally mad. With names such as Paul Adams, Blair Robson, Rod Millen, and Possum Bourne, New Zealand has a fine tradition in the sport, and now another name has joined that list. Hayden Paddon is a name that certainly needs no introduction — 2011 Production World Rally Championship champion, three-time New Zealand rally champion — he is now proudly flying the Kiwi flag on the biggest stage of all, the WRC. We sat down with Hayden right after Rally Italia Sardegna to talk all things WRC, rally, and performing at the highest level.

NZPC : Hi, Hayden. Thanks for taking the time to talk with us today. First, how old were you when you got behind the wheel for the first time? Hayden Paddon: As I grew up on a farm, it was a very young age when I was sitting on Dad’s lap, hooning around the paddocks. I first started racing a go-kart when I was six years old — which was probably powered by a chainsaw engine. That didn’t last long until we got something more powerful.

What do you think you would have done if you hadn’t ended up with motorsport as your profession? To be honest, it’s not something I ever thought about or planned for. I have been totally focused on it my whole life, which is maybe what helped us fight through the really tough moments — as there simply was no other option. When we got dropped for Rally Spain last year, this was the first time I had a wake-up call of ‘what will I do after WRC?’, and, since then, we have started building our own team, Paddon Rally Sport, here in New Zealand, to be that next step — obviously, still involved in rallying.


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WHEN A CERTIFIABLE AE86 FIEND FOR LIFE GETS HIS HANDS ON AN ICONIC CHASSIS OF DRIFTING DAYS GONE BY, THE RESULT IS A SIMULTANEOUS RESURRECTION OF HISTORY AND THE OPENING OF A NEW CHAPTER IN A LIFETIME STORY.

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edigree’ isn’t usually a word associated with cars built specifically to crank sideways, with clouds of smoke billowing from a pair of tortured treads. The tag is normally attached to a classic that maybe graced the garage of someone notable, or antique racers with a competition logbook bursting at the seams, evidence of a hard-driven past. Maybe the sport’s a little too young? Perhaps the average enthusiast is more concerned with development rather than preservation of any history? If an argument was to be made for any local drift chassis imbued with even the slightest drop of pedigree, Keisuke Nagashima’s AE86 coupe (notchback, to some) is undoubtedly a solid contender. It’s a chassis that’s seen some things in its time. It’s especially fitting that its latest guise has been shaped by Keisuke who is undoubtedly one of New Zealand’s more rabid Hachi-Roku fiends. And it’s even more intriguing, by virtue of the story so far. Being of Japanese descent, it’d be too easy to assume that Keisuke’s exposure to the AE86 began on the twisting tarmac ribbons of Japan’s highlands. Rather, it all started locally at Pukekohe. Eleven years old and strapped into the passenger seat of Andy Chui’s S14, a full session of Puke-style entries had him sold on the sport. Not even a trip into the tyre barrier at Castrol could persuade

him otherwise. From then on his pursuit was manic, owing to an education in Kiwi car culture and a subscription to this very rag. Work experience at the nowdefunct Tama Autos alongside Reo and Nao taught a budding Keisuke the basics of mechanics —especially greasy old Toyotas, as well as appreciation for the style and character of the boxy ’80s machines. Immersion in Option and Drift Tengoku coupled with late-night Initial D rituals did little to abate his AE86 pining. As Keisuke followed in the footsteps of local Toyota drift loyalists like Duncker, Gill, Pun, Skewes, and Teeboon, the pitchy 4A-GE twang was left resonating in his ears, and he spectated and shot photos trackside at every opportunity. Five years on from that initial exposure to the fledgling sideways way of life, Keisuke finally managed to indulge his Hachi craving. Fittingly, it was in his homeland. Yahoo Auctions provided the lead, and soon enough a 16-year-old Keisuke and his dad were tackling the 11-hour drive from Kobe to Tokyo at the wheel of his first of the cult Toyotas, a red panda Trueno. If the flame was ignited before, the acquisition of the Trueno escalated it to an inferno. AE86 life kicked off, with Keisuke learning suspension setup basics and car control, and eventually parting out the car. “Dismantling and assembling a car really does teach you the intricacies of the chassis!” recalled Keisuke.


1993 NISSAN SKYLINE GT-R (R32)

AIN'T NO SHOW PONY PACKING A FAMILIAR HEART WITH OVER 500KW AND THE DRIVETRAIN TO BACK IT UP, TOM MARSHALL’S GT-R IS DEFINITELY NOT ONE TO BE F**KED WITH

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WORDS: JADEN MARTIN PHOTOS: HIMI BECKHAM


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here’s no motorsport discipline quite like drifting — comprising a mad mixed field of backyard-built heroes going up against factory-backed veterans in the ultimate David-and-Goliath battle with no guarantees as to who will be standing on the podium one weekend to the next. In the earlier years of the local championship, the cars were nothing more than sketchy road-goers converted to track hacks, but, as the sport started to be taken more seriously within the wider racing community, so too did the cars that teams were building, seeing an increasingly more insane collection of big strokers, big boosters, and big-angle weapons lining up that pushed the bounds of how far drift cars can go. And while a BNR32 GT-R has never been the drift chassis of choice, not only do the bones of both this street-driven chassis and the motor that calls its engine bay home have handfuls of history within the series but so does the man that now pedals it.


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