NZPC #270 Preview

THE ART OF BUILDING A POWERHOUSE

SCREAMING 1G MARK II WAGON

ENGINE EXPERTS:

ILD H C TARD S A AB R G E /INT X S LONG LIVE THE AE86!

N 450KW 2JZ ALTEZZA RWD INSIDE THE NISMO WORKSHOP

$10.99 INCL. GST

JUNE 2019

270 ISSUE

9

R E T U R N S

1 9

M A Y

O N

MUSCLE GARAGE

416803 800821

ULTIMATE WARRIOR EVO II RS

CONTENTS

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BALIS-TEC

HALF INTEGRA, HALF NSX, 100-PER-CENT BADASS!

FAST FACTORY

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72

EVO II GSR TARMAC-EATER

1G-GE–POWERED MARK II WAGON

2JZ-SWAPPED WIDE BODY ALTEZZA

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ULTIMATE WARRIOR themotorhood.com

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28 THE WIDE ONE

FACTORY-BUILT NIES COMPETITORS

25MM TO LIFE

CONTENTS

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006 EDITORIAL 008 ED. TEAM CHATTER 010 NEWS 014 GIG GUIDE 016 SOCIAL SLAM 027 SUBSCRIBE AND RECEIVE 042 FAST FACTS 068 ENGINE-BUILDING SPECIAL 082 D1NZ NEWS 088 WEEKEND WARRIOR 090 POWER PLANT 092 INSURANCE TIPS 094 CRUISE MODE 096 PRODUCTS 098 P’CAR BABE 100 UNDER CONSTRUCTION 102 LOCAL SPECIALISTS 104 DRAG TIMES

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56 SEEING RED 62 CELEBRATING THE LEGEND 78 INTO THE WOOLF’S DEN 84 THE ROAD TO 400MPH INSIDE THE NISMO OMORI FACTORY

86-70 COROLLA SPL ’19

RALPH WATSON MEMORIAL DAY 2019

746-PLUS-KILOWATT SR20 BUILD — PART THREE

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50 LONG LIVE

THE PARTY 2019 V 4&ROTARY JAMBOREE

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PAYING HOMAGE TO THE HOLY GRAIL OF HONDA’S LINE-UP BY MID MOUNTING ITS RUNNING GEAR INTO A DC2 TYPE R!

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1999 HONDA INTEGRA TYPE R (DC2)

WORDS: JADEN MARTIN PHOTOS: ADAM CROY

GRANT PAIK’S 2JZ ALTEZZA IS ONE MENACING 450KW DAILY-DRIVER

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WORDS: MARCUS GIBSON PHOTOS: ADAM CROY

1999 TOYOTA ALTEZZA

W

hen shopping for a new daily-driver, the car that gets you from A to B, to the shops, to the beach, or to carry out whatever menial daily task it may be on that day, you’ll typically have a list of boxes that need to be ticked before settling on a purchase.

Stuff along the lines of being tidy, reliable, cheap to run, having lots of room for the dogs, being easy to maintain; for some, even looks might come into it. Generally, the vehicle’s willingness to accept a 450kW 2JZ between the struts is not a box many are looking to tick.

This was certainly the case for 21-year-old Grant Paik, who, after one forgettable Subaru B4, was in need of a new daily — something that ticked his boxes — and, no, the 450kW box was not one of them. Well, that was until the boys got to shit talking about all the things they could and should do to it; you know: dreams of 2JZs, big turbos, and widebodies, etc. — stuff that remained dreams until about three months in, when the factory six-speed started giving Grant issues.

It was then that the fact that the car had been purchased for daily-driver duties was blocked from conscious thought, and Grant found himself ripping the Beams and six-speed from between the struts to accommodate his newly acquired 2JZ. The complete build took only a year, which is no easy feat for anyone, let alone a firsttimer. The feat becomes even more impressive when you consider some of the curve balls that Grant was thrown along the way.

factory fast

THE ENEOS NORTH ISLAND ENDURANCE SERIES FOSTERS A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT WAYS TO SKIN A LONG-DISTANCE CAT. WE TAKE A LOOK AT FOUR OF THE COOLEST ‘OFFTHE-SHELF’ FACTORY-SPEC RACE CARS IN OUR FIRST LOOK AT 2019’S STAR COMPETITORS

T

WORDS AND PHOTOS: RICHARD OPIE

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here’s a distinct team element to endurance racing.

Even among the field of the Eneos North Island Endurance Series (NIES), it’s clear that the efforts aren’t simply restricted to engineer and driver. Whether competing in the one-hour or three-hour races, pit lane is a flurry of activity, with drivers, pit crew, mechanics, and helpers swarming over an impressive variety of cars all trying to go the distance. There’s a myriad of classes catering for everything from factory-built GT3 cars to modified ’90s Hondas.

For round one, held at Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park in Taupo, we’ve decided to take a closer look at four of the factorybuilt racers brought in from offshore by their teams to compete for honours against the varied competitive field. It’s a means of getting your hands on a known quantity: a machine engineered at a worldclass level and specifically designed to run the distance without suffering any hiccups. Here, among the NIES field, they line up to battle their opposite and equal: the home-brewed hot rod. So, how do they rate?

There’s an air of clinical precision to the way a Cup car is pieced together

Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (991.2) I

s a discussion about turnkey endurance racing machines, or even endurance racing in general, even complete without mentioning Porsche? We’re talking a manufacturer with the highest winning record in Le Mans history — half a dozen more than its nearest challenger, Audi.

In years long past, buying a Porsche ‘customer’ race car might have meant obtaining a flame-spitting 935 in the 1970s or the iconic Group C curves of a 962 during the late 1980s. From 1990 onwards, for thousands of racers worldwide, it meant a 911 ‘Cup’ car. With the venerable Porsche 911 road cars as a base, the Cup cars’ inception came via one-make racing, still running today as the Porsche Supercup, supporting Formula 1 as well as a selection of regional championships.

The Supercup isn’t the only domain in which these specialist 911 GT3 race cars find themselves in door-to-door combat. Their versatility and reliability make them a mainstay of endurance competition in every corner of the globe, not least among the NIES field, with several to pick from, ranging from the 996 to the current 991.2 generation. Showcasing one was a given, but which?

Ultimately, the aesthetic of the latest-gen 991.2 No. 23 car, piloted by Paul Kelly and Anthony Leighs, won through. It’s tough to make a 911 GT3 stand out, a feat that has been achieved by a bold, slightly retro livery penned by Granger Design, recalling the 1970 Le Mans–winning Porsche 917K. It might come across as odd to define a car so much by its livery; the reality is that the Cup cars are so steadfast in their reliability and performance that it is the appearance that provides the point of difference.

This is not a criticism of the cars. With decades of experience behind it, Porsche Motorsport knows how to engineer a rock-solid racer that’ll go the distance, and do it quickly. Being a 911, it’s a flat-six out the back. With 3.8 litres to play with, Porsche has extracted 357kW breathing atmospherically. Banging gears is as simple as reaching for the sequential shifter mounted atop the tunnel, plucking one of six ratios from the dogbox.

Up front is 10 inches of rubber on the ground, and 12 inches out the back, their 18 inches of diameter covering steel dinner plates grasped by massive six-piston and four-piston monobloc calipers — all purchasable from your friendly local Porsche dealer.

There’s an air of clinical precision to the way a Cup car is pieced together; stark, purposeful interiors with perfect fit and finish, and an array of switches and instrumentation that’s unmistakably race car. The word is that they’re user-friendly and insanely reliable — all adding up to the perfect platform to challenge for honours.

DON’T LET THE LOW-KEY LOOKS FOOL YOU; WITH A JUNGLE GYM INSIDE AND A BUILT 4G63 UNDER THE HOOD, THIS WEEKEND RACER IS PREPARING FOR WAR WORDS: MARCUS GIBSON PHOTOS: ADAM CROY

DRIVELINE

GEARBOX: Factory (third box) FLYWHEEL: Standard DIFF: (F) Cusco RS one-way limited-slip, (R) factory limited-slip

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SUPPORT

STRUTS: Custom MCA Red BRAKES: Evo V brake master cylinder, Tilton brake bias; (F) Evo V four-pot Brembo calipers, Endless slotted rotors, Endless pads, Hel braided lines; (R) Evo VII two-pot calipers, Endless slotted rotors, Racefab adapters, Endless race pads, Hel braided lines EXTRA: Five-stud conversion, Hardrace camber arms, Evo IV trailing arms, custom steering arms, custom tie rods

I

Fast forward some 15-odd years, and those earlier Evos have seriously dwindled in numbers locally; some lost to rust, some to the impound, and plenty to rouge power poles and trees. Whereas once you’d not go a day without seeing one aggressively launching from the lights, it’s now the late-model Evos taking their place. But, for James, it’s one of those cars that he’s always yearned for, despite having owned, by his own admission, all manner of imports over the years. It wasn’t until he had a few too many kids to squeeze into the back of his 330kW FD that he decided it was time for a four-door — not that the Evo has a back seat anymore, but we’ll get to that later.

James sold the FD and was at a bit of a loss as to what to get next. However, as soon as long-time friend, tuner, and cohort Jacky Tse of Jtune got into James’ ear about a low kilometre Evo II GSR that had been imported into the country and was just sitting

1994 MITSUBISHI EVOLUTION II GSR

f your birth date falls somewhere before 1988, and your teen years were spent poring over Hot4s; Fast Fours and Rotaries; and, of course, this very title, then chances are you spent untold weekend nights chasing drag trains around till the wee-smalls or hitting up the likes of the Night Speed Drag Wars. For all you know, you might even have rubbed shoulders with James MacDonald, who was well deep, camcorder in hand, capturing all the action and soaking up what was a thriving culture.

At the time, the first three generations of Evo ruled the roost, second only to the GT-R, really. Evos were flooding into the country in their droves; were fairly obtainable to the average joe; and, as James puts it, “You were killing it if you had one” of these four-wheel-drive rockets. They were hard to beat in a straight line, and if you lined one up you’d best be winding that boost tap into the danger zone.

SHOES

WHEELS: 18x8.5-inch (+38) Evo X Enkei TYRES: (Street) 235/40R18 Falken RT615K+, (track) Hankook Ventus TD semi-slick

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THE ART OF BUILDING A POWERHOUSE

1G SCREAMING MARK II WAGON

ENGINE EXPERTS:

nsx

power ed!

D CHIL TARD BAS A R G /INTE NSX LONG LIVE THE AE86!

RWD 450KW 2JZ ALTEZZA

$10.99 INCL. GST

JUNE 2019

270 ISSUE

9

1 9

M A Y

O N

MUSCLE GARAGE

416803 800821

INSIDE THE NISMO WORKSHOP ULTIMATE WARRIOR EVO II RS

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