SixthSpeed Issue 22 by SixthSpeed Magazine

TRINBAGO’s RUFF & TUFF UNDERGROUND

MOTION.LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE

May/ Jun 2017 + Aug/ Sep 2017 The prices are RECOMMENDED & do not reflect or include Shipping or Sales tax or Additional Charges: USD $3.50 | EC$10:00 | TT$20.00 | BDS $10.00. It’s only a rough guide people.

www.sixthspeed.com

een the News:

Che Carrington x A new Dyno x TTPBA Regatta #4 x Cars & Coffee x Local 1JZ sets Record x Dynolab Dyno Day x DRL Performance Shop x and more.

AH HEAR:

Cuz the Bachannal cyar dun!

THE RACER REMAPPED:

DEVON Bartholomew Despite the years we are almost, pretty sure that our ENGRISH & SPELING is still POOHAR!

Mor MOBILES of MANIACAL MAYHEM: Marlon’s historical red Evo Computerman’s BP Mazda Wagon Ian De Peiza’s Evolution VRG Feeaz’s WRC inspired Celica a fever pitched Yellow Charmant Shawn Briggs ziggy-dee ZX14

THE SIXTH WOMAN OF

sarah JANE GOPAUL /sixthspeedmagazine

datsun VERY BRUTAL

#sixthspeed

There are things that MOVE and there are things the MOVE us. This 1600 is one that not only does both, but does so harder than a SR20 powered backhoe pushing split peas in a fig patch.

SixthSpeed22 | www.sixthspeed.com |

NUMBERS by

the SIXTH 7,500,000,000 estimated cost to build the Point Fortin highway in 2011, which is strange considering that in this country when projects start the actual price is about 4X higher.

THE SUMP PAN

“Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope” - Robert F. Kennedy

750,000

The last asking price we were told for an original NUR Spec Nissan R34 with less that 20,000 km original on the odometer.

Be still they beating heart kids, the Sixth is here once again - FINALLY. Yes the wait was a bit long (as usual), but as you would’ve realized, the magazine has some cosmetic changes to keep it up to the time. Not only that, but it was decided that this Issue - Number 22 if you’re collecting, is supposed to be about taking it back to the roots of what the underground is all about. Keeping life simple; having fun and gingerly blading people with a periodical that you; the readers we LOVE so much have kinda grown accustomed to.

3,000

Right, that was the opening word to set the tone, now onto the rest which I have to come up with to vent my personal feelings.

Highest HP recorded by a SR20DET tuned by Techpoint and owned by Kevon Garraway

Imma be honest. Frankly typing; I don’t like the state that the motorsport and car culture is in right about now - I LURVE it - from the petty beefs, to the posers, to the bandwagonists - it’s awesome to me. Despite the fact that the majority still getting it wrong; it warms my loins to see a few; as in a handful getting projects right. That’s where I choose to put the focus and that is what gives me the hope that at some point in time, the entire scene is going to get better because of those few who are going to be the beacons that people pattern themselves after. Note I said patterned after - not carbon copy. On the flip side tho; whilst there is no shortage of enthusiasm and ambition. The car and by extension motorsport culture is heading down a REALLY shakey road that’s going to take some men to the cleaners. And with only SOME winning more than others, there is no doubt that EVERYBODY, as in the community is collectively losing. Anyways say wah lewwe go and remember according to the wise words of NAS SixthSpeed is never on schedule but always on time. Linzi.

SIXTHSPEED PRIME PARTNERS We got sponsors kids. Yay! Gotta love these folks who contribute so as to keep us blowing up the spot.

(Kevin De Leon) De Leon Construction Co Ltd. # 121 Southern Main Rd, Curepe, Trinidad | (868) 662-4622 | deleonconstruct@gmail.com

Bin Stuntin Promotions & GTees (Apparel) GTees - Branded Apparel/ T-Shirts/ Trincity Mall & Mobile Unit (POS) | (868) 724-6696

FGCL - Frank’s General Contracting Limited Abida Gardens, Bagna Trace| (868) 776-4957

Innovative Security Technologies Limited 126, Cipero Road, Victoria Village, San Fernando, Trinidad. | (868) 657-5826, 653 1412 www.innovativesecuritytech.com

how much you pay to obtain a freshly minted driver’s licence at any licensing office in Trinidad without doing the regulations or driving test.

1056 827

The most amount of traffic tickets issued in a 48 hour period by the TTPS on Sept 15th 2016. Not bad for a days work

how much police officers it took to carry out the shelling of said number of tickets.

PURE FAILMENTS

outta Timing BURNOUTS GarageFresh Photoshop Lancer fail & Sharon Inglefield Arrive Alive hadda to take a small back seat to ALL the clongs who saw it fit and proper to do burnouts and drifts on South Park compound during a recent “meet”. Putting aside that many clearly lack good car control to do a decent standstill let alone a proper circle, the whole scenario reflects badly on the ENTIRE car community. There is a time & place and while entertaining to some, actions like this has led to bans by facilities because it JEOPARDIZE them. So look at yuhself and never again wonder why the car masses can’t have nice things in certain places.

GREASE PARTNERS It’s the people who supply your SixthSpeed Fix!

UP in the NORTH Car Boutique (POS) Miniciti (Valpark) Quickbits (Curepe)

622-8193 678-7430 645-7297

DOWN in SOUTH Sheriff’s Auto Supplies (San/Do) Mileage Mack Ltd. (San/Do) QWKWHP Co. Ltd. (Debe) Princestown Auto Supplies RONS Marketing (San/Do) Torry Hosein (Gulf City Mall) Parts Solution (Princestown) Pink Noise Audio (St. Madeline) Maztune (Cocoyea) Blue Coral Racing (Princestown) Marty’s Barbershop (Mon Repos) Antix Car Care (La Brea) Lethal Auto Garage (P/ Fortin) Unipet Gas Station (Gasparillo) \

657-1687 657-1704 647-6878 655-7633 653-0778 771-1478 655-6922 688-8679 783-5064 717-4641

Street Customz (Arima) Kingston12 Garage (Pasea)

683-6065 784-6710

327-8996 295-1507

ACROSS in the EAST

RIGHT there in CENTRAL Tuner Imports (Charlieville) XR Performance (Cunupia) Custom Sound & Security (Couva) Chris Performance (Munroe Rd.) Peak Performance (Munroe Rd.) MAS Tuning Dyno (Esperanza) Realtime Imports

665-6803 735-1086 636-6997 620-6306 291-5444 636-0822 290-6278

ACROSS in ‘BAGO Keep It Real Auto

741-8707

ADVERTISERS INDEX

It’s the GREAT folks who support us in supporting you

2D Max Auto (Car Alignment & Accessories) AutoNation (Honda Parts & Service) Blue Coral Racing (Performance Shop) Boodram & Sons Ltd. (Foreign Used Parts) Cleantec (Foreign Used Vehicles) Custom Sounds & Security (Automotive Security) D&D Tyres & Auto Parts Ltd. Daily Driven Taxi Service EDs Auto Supplies (Auto Supplies) Imraj Brothers Muffler (Muffler Works) Kingston12 Performance (Mechanic Garage) Lethal Auto Garage (Mechanic Garage) Meguiar’s Car Care Nankang (Tire) Peak Performance (Performance Shop) Performance Coatings (Powder Coatings) Pink Noise (Car Audio & Auto Security) Quality Car Care (Auto Detail. & Suspension Works) Realtime Imports (Performance Shop) Reverse Concepts (Design & General Printing) SAS Racing (Performance Shop) Sheriff’s Auto Supplies (Car Parts) SMAC Limited (Car Parts) Street Concepts (Performance Shop) Total Lubricants Tuner Imports (Performance Shop) VP Racing Fuel WCIS Limited (Industrial Supplies) XR Performance (Performance Shop)

Feel Free to Call or Email the Sixth

1.868.271-5251 mysixthspeed@gmail.com #9 Ramnarine Ave., St. Margaret’s Vge. C/Bay, Trinbago W.I

The Boring Stuff

The Editorials: We endorse individual expression and free speech but we can’t publish everything; so we reserve the right to use submitted material and editorials as we see fit. All credit will be given where applicable. Also the views expressed are those of the writers and NOT the magazine so don’t shoot the messenger. The Disclaimer: At Sixth Speed we try our best to guarantee that the information in these pages are correct but we will not be held responsible if you decide to try anything and ish goes wrong. Any damages to persons and property is not our fault; that burden of responsibility rests upon your shoulders pappy.

SixthSpeed22 | www.sixthspeed.com |

SHORTShift Owner: Ian de Peiza Car: Mitsubishi Galant VRG Engine: 4G63T Power: NA Build Time: 12 months.

Overall Build: RC Tuning: 652-7678 Exhaust: Specialist 2001: 698-0009 Performance Parts: Tuner Imports: 680-9170 Electrical: Techpoint Tuning: 498-8914 Paint: Chris Straightening Garage (Buenitento Princess Town) Special Thanks to: Robert Chan & Kheyan de Peiza

When

one starts life with a 1600 box Lancer it’s obvious you come full circle back to Mitsubishi despite passing thru an EF, 1600, Honda Civic and a B13 with an SR20. The owner we speaketh of is Ian De Peiza and the come round chaser is a 1800 GDI Sharkmouth. Anywayz, while hunting for parts in Debe, Ian noticed a complete 4G93T; harness and all, lying there. Compared to NA, the boosted version delivered close to 30 hp x 30lb*tq more, so without hesitation he scooped it up. The install went as expected - flawless, but there were problems. One was, the guy who did the job left a bolt loose which found its way into the turbo. Replacing that with a SR unit; the next issue was the bad wiring of the ECU which caused failsafe mode to kick in and ended in the frying of tranny sensors. That led to the only viable option - gearbox; which he found by Bick’s alongside everything else to do a FULL conversion. Pumping as

is for 4 years, Ian happened to vibez with a fellow VR owner at RC Tuning who had done an Evo conversion in his car which at that time was rather interesting. Then; fortunately depending on which side of the fence you are on, the guy wrote off the car. Upon hearing the scene; Ian, like a true performance vulture swooped in and offered a coin for the wreck. Deciding to hold out for better, the guy refused at first, only to call Ian some time dong the road asking if he was still interested. But, of COURSE. Armed with tools and jackstands; a turn was made and upon checking the car Ian realized all the mechanicals were intact but for the AC compressor and power steering pulley; which was promptly ordered from Tuner Imports along with a boost controller. RC Tuning undertook the task of installing everything relevant which included; the 4G63T, TEIN coilovers and close ratio Mirage LSD gearbox. While the swap progressed, Ian always remembered Jesse

James (Monster Garage) saying, anytime you change displacement, you need to change brakes. Those words echoed, so he went out searching and fell upon an Evo 8 set for small money. The next problem tho, was finding a set of rims that cleared them and after looking for 2 months he got set of 17in Motegi MR116 by Gibo wheels. Marvin from TechPOINT Tuning wired up the car 8 months later in 2012 and from there is was off to Specialist 2001 Muffler for a 2 ½ in exhaust upgrade and EMS 3 ½ x 8 x 26 intercooler. Last on the list was a full matte grey paint done by Chris Straightening Garage and as that done it was full-joyment. See as a PURE daily, the build purpose was to get to work on time and staying up on the road after working those disgusting shift hours. Additional stuff planned might be management, cams, the 4WD Evo setup and a 400hp, but we doubt that will happen simply cuz the car wukkin’, it’s fun and at 12psi on the stock turbo it can more than hold it’s own.

SixthSpeed22 | www.sixthspeed.com |

SixthSPEED

SHUTTERAZZI

At the sixth we celebrate creativity and many seem to have the eye. So here we showcase a few of the COOLEST shots fresh from the Trinbago Underground that have us saying Wheyyyyyy sah!

Photo: Kevin Khan ngh Photo: Kevin Si

eodore Photo: Goodwill Th

Photo: Zeus Edwards

Photo: Kevin Fo ster

Photo: Matthew Downes

SixthSpeed22 | www.sixthspeed.com |

the

KRAKATOA Project Don’t beat ups;

we felt the exact level of internal discombobulation when Feeaz Mohommed told us it was the codename for his project. What is it and who gives their project such a weird name - like really - KRAKATOA? At the point in time were so confused that an arc off was imminent until casual revelation actually put all into perspective. See; Krakatoa was/is a volcano that erupted back in 1883 killing more than 36,000 people, wiping out more than 2/3rd of an island and unleashed the loudest sound ever heard in modern history. Aaaaahhhh - ha. To name a project that means you hadda have bountiful bags of confidence and tenacity like that doesn’t just fall from the sky dry so. Not a freshman to the game, Feeaz picked up the life from his father who was a seasoned Toyota man himself, so with de thing already inside it’s not shocking to us that the first car Feeaz chose to buy was a AE92 GT Corolla - never mind it was automatic with a 4AGE. It’s also no surprise that as the engine blew, he ran out to find a replacement which just happened to be a 20V Blacktop by D’ One Stop Auto Shop in the Bamboo (formerly D&D Auto Parts). Faster than that it was slapped in and 2 years later the 20 valve was replaced with a 5 forward, LSD, manual 3SGTE from a MR2. Two years after, he sold the car to his cousin and from there it was a DC5 Honda Integra under K20, ADVANS and TEIN. Then onto a stock AE111GT; then a AE101; then marriage; then an automatic NZE Corolla Fielder Aero; then children; then house....... If you’re astute, you would’ve realized that after the marriage part project life stopped hard and brutal like a box cart that shell out bearings in the back after hitting a stone in the road. Life decisions meant that he had to breeze out in the background until things settled down. However; as soon as that happened, Feeaz stood up in the fig patch, smelled the air and realized that the time was right to mount a comeback. The only question was, what to jump back with? As a Toyota man not known to half step, he knew he hadda come good and browsing the local for sale sites brought him the answer - an original GT-Four WRC Celica. Kids, is only 2500 they ever made, so special is definitely an understatement here. Faster than it takes condense milk to get like up by a primary school chile, Feeaz called the guy to inquire about the car. But the response was “Have? You mean HAD a GT-Four for sale.” Apparently the guy had a change of heart and decided not to sell again. Those words brought sours to the dance, but being a persistent fella he called back the guy and asked him just to see the car - daiz all. Naturally, the guy reiterated that the car wasn’t for sale anymore but Feeaz insistence just to see the car as an enthusiast led

SixthSpeed22 | www.sixthspeed.com |

after the marriage part, project life stopped hard and HARSH like a box cart that shell out bearings in the back.

SixthSpeed22 | www.sixthspeed.com |

TUNING TECHNICA 45

THIS SECTION IS SPONSORED in PART BY:

The first TEN COMMANDMENTS to DOING A PROJECT. According to the gospel of the Sixth, when God blessed man with speed - he knew that it’s what would help the sun rise; make the moon brighter and cause good babash to go down smooth with no burn. God also knew that when done PROPERLY; good speed is definitely the healing of the nation. But he also knows that man; in his stupidity, has the propensity to F**K up a good thing at will and with ease. Which is why there were certain foundationals set from the beginning in order to save man from himself. God doesn’t like to see failures since failure makes him sad especially in speed. Building a project is not easy in the least let alone good. And it’s for this reason why we see so many either unfinished or bussing on their average. However; rejoice, for we care. Not necessarily about you but rather the project - nothing hurts us more than seeing a good project waste. We are going to drop knowledge that if you CHOOSE to adhere to, your speedlife would be creamier, so open up dem waxed fill lobes kiddies - the SixthSpeed sermon is about to start in NO particular order.

1| Thou art needeth to be HONEST.

Alright, this is one of those moments where you need to sit in a quiet space, get some pen and paper and start writing. Speed is one of the last few remaining honest things in this life where there can be no pretending. Is either you’re in or you are out - there is no inbetween space. And it’s in this vein you need to be forthright but most importantly realistic from the

FRANK’S GENERAL LIMITED FGCL CONTRACTORS

thing helps you identify PURPOSE, not for you but but for the project. E.g. a fun street car is NOT necessarily a competitive race car, but the mere fact that it’s more about smiles and giggles versus all out competition make a tonnes of difference. Once you HONESTLY answer the What and the Why, you reach the How? As in how much money do you want or rather have at your disposal to spend in putting together this thing. You will hear us repeat this statement over and over so get accustom. Speed isn’t CHEAP and there is a COST to EVERYTHING - literally. Your time, the mechanic’s time, tuning (Dyno time & the tuners time), parts, replacement parts, upgrades, downgrades, niceness, the frills, etc. And unless you have money growing in the backyard; in which case we wouldn’t mind a branch. You need to appreciate all projects cost money; not only to buy, but to build, to run and henceforth to maintain. Speed is not dolly house and too many times we have seen men take the plunge into the fast life, build or attempt to build a car to meet some unrealistic goals and see nothing but pain. Some don’t have the money to run it, many more can’t keep up with the overall maintenance OR even many more can’t afford to change a part if something breaks thus causing them to use inferior substitutes which is another story. Or; like others, they simply park up the car cuz it call for thing and they couldn’t answer. Then there are some who want to build a car for all out power without considering that for a daily driver; response and driveability is MORE important than brute propulsion. Look; we can go into the many scenarios but there isn’t enuff space in the world to list the amount of mistakes that arise out of being dishonest with yourself. Speed is NOT the place to try to play around - if you want that, go in de savannah or something.

2| Thou must bat in thy crease

beginning about everything. Any project you intend to undertake requires you to ask yourself who am I building this thing for? Why am I building this thing for? What do I want out of it? What’s the PRIMARY use gonna be and how much do I really have to spend to build this thing? If you are building a car for anybody but yourself then you shouldn’t build a car; go plant trees or mine fish. Speed is a personal thing and putting it together based on what you may see your brethren doing, or what may be the in thing is CRAZY man ting. It may not be apparent but your brethren himself maybe lost OR you may not have the wherewithal to do what it takes to reach where he is at. Now, we are not saying you can’t be inspired, but you and Frank are not the same people and long eyeing down Frank project saying you want one jes so is setting yourself up. Why you’re building this

If you took the time to answer the who question, you would appreciate the statement STAY IN YOUR LANE or BAT IN YOUR CREASE. Once again, it doesn’t mean not to aspire; it means to take into account your present and future circumstance and stay within those walls. Contrary to popular belief it’s okay if you can’t afford to put out to build a car to ANY kinda level. Sometimes; stock is the best way to really enjoy a car - ask anybody who has been burned modifying. In fact, there is a saying that goes, it’s better to enjoy a slow car fast versus a fast car slow. OR; if you want to put it in perspective - a stock car all the time versus a never completed modified car none of the time. Mind you, batting in your crease doesn’t only apply to budget but your skill level as well. Not because you may have the money to jump in with the “big boys” that means you’re supposed to be in the ring with the big boys. Staying within the crease of your car and you as a person allows you to learn things and grow over a period of time thru gradual progress and development. Plus it’s financially manageable. Out there on the greens, trying to run down people who outside your pay grade will cause you to spend money that you may not be prepared to, doing things that may not need to be done. Always be practical and build with sense; your car and your wallet. We gonna preach it again; stepping out will put you in a

SixthSpeed22 | www.sixthspeed.com |

situation where your project may NEVER finish; you may NEVER have fun cuz something always breaking (cheap/ used parts) or things jes not working (cut corners) and so on. Always remember that expensive is relative - to a millionaire a $100 is nothing; but what if you don’t have $100 - then a dollar means PLENTY. Good speed is not cheap, cheap speed isn’t good and SPEED only becomes expensive when you jump out your skin. It is easy to spend or rather eff up money in this thing and dotish money is money you don’t enjoy since you get nothing back - no pleasure, no joy, no return on investment. As was stated before, is one thing to build a car but it is a TOTALLY different animal to maintain a car. E.g. We have seen endless men run down Evo only to complain when time comes to change differential oil using the proper thing. They then end up using a cheaper “alternative” and when there is premature failure they COMPLAINING. Or looking to build a 10 second car without fully understanding the running cost to compete on that level much less be consistent and properly beat people. Underestimating what it takes to put a car together right is the downfall of many, and it’s a needless downfall given the amount of information out there. Maybe you should not look to build a block if the machine shops in your area suck. Maybe you don’t need to stroke to 2.3 litres if you can’t afford to have your car down for a while and good labor to actually do the build scarce. Maybe the good labor is available but you can’t afford them and you don’t have the proper knowledge to attempt building an engine yourself. Either way, stay in your lane.

3| Thou shalt know when to lock off.

It is EASY to get carried away into thinking you need this and that when it comes to building a project, hence the reason we stress on having a goal and from that goal comes forth a solid plan. Once again, any project that’s worth it weight in iron is balanced, suited to the person doing the driving and the purpose for which it is going to be driven. Gluttony is defined as the desire to consume more than one requires and in performance it’s easy to get GREEDY and be LICKRISH. We have seen men hyper to build car because they think they need this and that only to get shaft. Do you

really need a big brake kit and everything that goes along with it when a simple pad upgrade and some DOT 4 fluid will work BETTER. Yes big brakes look awesome but is it practical for what you’re going to be using the car for. If your goal is to run 11’s, it might be better if you used less power in a lighter chassis than more power in a heavier one since there is a cost to adding more power. You need to upgrade turbo, fuel; then depending on the engine and power goal you might need to “bill out”, then there is suspension to get the power to the ground. Then if’s it an old car or one not designed well from the start, there needs to be chassis reinforcement. Then if you are using the car for dual purpose as in you want to drive it on the street there is another set of things to consider and the list goes on. Once again - a good car is a balanced car. More power than braking means you can’t stop; more power than suspension means you’re wasting time since it can’t be put to the ground. Using common sense; do you really need 600hp when you can only maintain 400. And as a person with less than stellar driving skill handle probably be able to handle onle 200. Look, do research and BE PRACTICAL in what ever you are attempting, don’t

>> Tuning Technica 45 continues on pg 42

SixthSpeed22 | www.sixthspeed.com |

When did it all start for you in Drifting? It really began after watching Option videos of drivers drifting on mountain roads in Japan. I was shocked because the cars were doing something that they were not supposed to be doing and it was unrestricted. Not only was it something different but it was something that really clicked with me.

Where did you learn to drift? You could say that I am pretty much self taught. When I bought my first car; a Toyota Corolla AE86, there was this empty back road I saw covered in dust while going to work and needless to say I was late. I probably burnt about ¼ tank of gas just sliding the car around and the more I slid the broader the smile on my face became. People were passing and the looks were what is wrong with this guy but I couldn’t be bothered, I was enjoying myself to the fullest.

What does drifting mean to you? Drifting is no longer just a sport for me, it’s not even a lifestyle - Drifting is life.

How would you describe your style of drifting? I am always focused on being as precise as possible, that’s where the wow factor is in it for me. It’s easy to get a car to drift; however, it’s a lot harder to get a car to drift on a line much less consistently. I personally find it more impressive not to go full throttle and miss the cone by a few inches than go all in and miss it by a few feet.

What do you Drift with? I drift a Toyota Supra; why I have no clue since I am always scared I damage the car. Even though I got the car at a GREAT price when I bought it I kept asking myself why did I choose a Supra - it’s a Japanese supercar - I can’t afford this. And even though I did a lot of research, everybody was telling me that Supras were crappy at drifting and are better suited for drags. Which was weird to me in that if they were so much crap, how come there were Japanese & Norwegian guys using them.

DEVON bartholomew Racers

Remapped

Driving Style: Focused Precision Sponsors: BTCL, Garage Fresh, Total Lubricants, Vijay’s Machine Shop, Unlimited Tyres Special Thanks to: Every single person that’s helped, supported, cheered or sent positive vibes. Biggup finally to the drift corp team

How is your car from then to now? When I got the Supra it was stock, manual and non turbo. The first mod I did was to drop, then I welded the diff which sounded like the car was diggin’ up concrete everytime I turned and that was it for 3 years. Now the car is turbo’d with 9psi of boost on the stock brain, the LSD diff is stock and there are some foreign used coilovers on. Oh and a small modification to get more steering lock since the Supras are shit for turning.

What is the most important part in getting a drift project right? There’s pretty much 3 ½ things that you need for a drift project; Limited Slip Differential, Rear Wheel Drive, Manual Gearbox and eventually handbrakes. To me if you get hand brakes too early, you get too dependent on it and you will actually stunt your own growth as it’s a safety net. Power; contrary to what people believe and what they go for first, isn’t that important. Yes it’s critical for showing off and getting flash points; but footwork, how comfortable you are in the car and how the car relates to you is much more relevant.

What does the public get wrong about drifting? People seem to think it’s just about smoke and wildness.

Knowing what you do now what would you have done differently? I would have gone with a platform I cared less about or rather one that I didn’t car to butcher/ cut up. As driving is progressing, the call for greater safety requirements is getting harsher. So putting a rollcage and a fixed back seat is difficult since I would like to drive my car on the street as well.

CONTRACTING

SixthSpeed22 | www.sixthspeed.com |

YELLOW Fever This rounds few

people seem understand how racing is really supposed to work. From way back when men used to run with torches, racing was never about power neither was it about who had the best time - it was purely based on shelling out licks dreader than arc eye and seeing who could reach the finish first. Larry Ragoobar is one of those from the foundation who subscribes to two simple orders; you can’t spend hundreds of thousands to build a race car then not want to run anybody AND he doesn’t need a dyno sheet to let him know he bussing your ass. With simple, straightforward ideologies like this you can tell out the gate that putting tears in men‘s eyes brings more joy than rattling numbers of a timesheet. Long before leaving Trinidad to fly across the waters, Larry was either racing his dad’s escort or the cars of friends. When he touched down on American soil he continued his burn rubber ways by putting together a 280ZX with help from Arizona Z Cars. Upon returning to Trinbago in ‘92 the urge to spree on something saw him scooping up a foreign assembled 280C with floor shifter and dropping in small mods like intake, exhaust and a lil bit of advanced ignition. For what it was the L28 ran okay, but in his heart he knew this wasn’t the ONE. Selling it 2 years later, Larry decided to go after the project he always wanted - a Daihatsu Charmant with a 6 cylinder something. To him that was the ultimate platform as the Charmant was the last of the RWD cars during that era and it was under 2000 lbs; plus there is the fact that they came from the factory with independent suspension in front and a four link setup in the rear - but who’s checking that. Finding your base is never easy and given the fact that Charmants were NOTORIOUS for rotting faster than a fresh roast bake with butter devourments you know the hunt would have been more like an expedition in the Northern Range. The trail led to the west where Peter Peake - GM of Peake Trading had one which was kinda, not really for sale. Kinda as in not really and not really as in didn’t have to. Knowing the owner and what this car was to him - a weekend toy, when Larry got the car it was toting Toyota’s flagship 2T engine except that this one had forged pistons, sidedrafts and cams so radical that the car seemed to be having a set of mini strokes. A close ratio gearbox and Koni shocks also accompanied the package, however after consulting with his man of mechanical - Laro; they decided it best to do a small rebuild to specs on the engine using 60 thou oversized, TRD 10.8:1 pistons on the basis that the car is going to be hammered. And it hadda wuk on gas mixed with toluene and methanol. Relentless as a driver, Larry was slaying the streets when one night up Valpark; a man from Point who heard about the engine came peeshu peeshu and offered a digit.

SixthSpeed22 | www.sixthspeed.com |

you can’t spend thousands to build a race car then not want to run AND HE REALLY DOESN’T need a dyno sheet to let him knowhe bussing your ass.

SixthSpeed22 | www.sixthspeed.com |

TUNING TECHNICA 46: The Driver Series

THIS SECTION IS SPONSORED in PART BY:

MANAGING the ROAD and DEALING with the TRAFFIC.

FRANK’S GENERAL LIMITED FGCL CONTRACTORS

no purpose - that cow eating grass in the middle of the bush. How does noticing that as a driver affect you in any tangible manner - it doesn’t, so why look at it. Same thing with billboard, a car parked on the side of the road of the gyal with the big bottom jogging down the street. What you need to learn to develop as a driver is a proper sequence of controlled eye movements when behind the wheel. To get this right, you need to adjust your pattern of eye movement so that you look most frequently at the most important parts of the scene. That means when you’re driving on the highway and there is little traffic your focus should be mostly on the central part of a scene and the rear view; if on the other hand you are in traffic; as in, there are other cars around you. Or driving on the main road, your eyes have to be moving pretty much across the scene/ horizon - left to right.

Humans don’t like to compare but we at the magazine do it all the time. If you look at it from a “by design” point of view, humans are not designed for speed and it shows in the way people drive. Our natural way of looking at pace has not yet caught up to the actual physics and mechanics of driving fast. It’s ONE of those reason why race drivers differ so much from regular drivers and are actually better. From birth, rapid movement for humans is generally regulated to walking speed, so it’s expected that we are geared by nature toward that, as opposed to say a cheetah, who is DESIGNED for burning up the Serengeti. That said; humans, more specifically drivers have yet to comprehend, understand and much less master the art involved in learning the kinda of heightened visual awareness necessary to move under vibes. Now this is a very broad matter, but that level of awareness is obtained through: Eye Movement Focal Distance Peripheral Vision Observation To The Rear Mental Triggers Visualisation Anticipation

EYE MOVEMENT (how much do you REALLY see?) Effective drivers by nature record MUCH MORE eye movement (both voluntary and involuntary) than your average driver, because it helps in acquiring more information so as to allow the brain to make better decisions. When you look at something, your brain takes a snapshot. The more snapshots of a scene you take visually, the clearer the overall scenario becomes. In driving, a scene changes from millisecond to millisecond, so the instant you STARE at one thing to long you end up missing big chunks of the overall picture. Now, randomly moving your eyes vikey vike is just as bad as gazing as you will be wasting time looking at things that serve

Another thing to take note of is how well you observe things and how that relates to speed. Anytime you don’t have enough time to see or take stock of all the important elements around you, it’s a clear as day indication that you are driving too fast for your surroundings. If you can’t see all you need to see in order to make precise decisions then that speed at which you are driving makes no sense. Don’t believe us - mmmkay - try driving 100 km/h in a canefield on low beam in the middle of the night and tell us HOW the experience was and what have you not noticed. Odds it’s gonna be hard to do and you will begin to second guess yourself in the process. Which will eventually lead to you taking your time for the simple reason that you don’t know what’s in the distance outside your field of view. Could be a stray dog, a cow or your wandering La Diabless. Speed is supposed to be linked with your ability to rapidly scan a scene, take in QUALITY information and process that said information so as to have proper outcomes.

FOCAL DISTANCE (Looking far ahead) Ever hear people talk about when driving, you’re supposed to look about 3 cars ahead. Well - that’s true - kinda. Looking 3 cars ahead is quite obsolete unless you are on an open road with no traffic and those 3 cars are spread out over 1½ miles. In driving, one of the easiest ways to get better at doing your thing is to look further ahead - yup it is really that simple. Looking further ahead enhances both the quality of your driving decisions, the smoothness of the resulting actions as well as driving accuracy. It gives you as the driver MORE time to make for allowances and accommodations so that you can react calmly in the event of anything long before hand. In traffic, most drivers tend to focus ONLY on the car directly ahead since; to them, that’s the one they don’t want to bounce. Now, you might be inclined to think that makes sense, but what people fail to take in account is outside of the man in front there are drivers behind as well. Usually, the last driver; the man wayyyyyy behind, will not react to a hazard until a few seconds after things up front go south. And that kiddies is what leads to what we know as a MULTIPLE car mashup, or endless bumpa to fenda. By looking well into the front of the line you will know how to adjust so that you can

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SARAH-JANE WOMEN

of the

SIXTH

GOPAUL

Jesus your hair is ab-so-lutely beautiful; why would you want to mess that up with a helmet. We always hear that rally drivers have balls of steel but judging from this angle you don’t really look like you working in the post office? LOL; no I don’t work in the post office; in fact, I’m an English teacher. As far as getting into racing; well rallying, that started in 2003 where I was a marshal in the TTRC (Trinidad & Tobago Rally Club). At events, I used to man checkpoints and see these cars coming around at ridiculously awesome speeds; throwing only dust and gravel of which I collected a big stone or two. Going home I used to be black & blue with bruises but I had the time of my life. What the…...who the hell likes to collect big stone; you izza piper or at the very least a ripe julie mango? Of course not, but like I said it was fun. After a couple years of marshaling, I then began to volunteer with a race team, helping them setup stuff, find sponsors and so on. A year later, a friend decided he wanted to upgrade his car and as it went up for sale; it seemed like a good enough idea at the time, so I bought it - that was in 2007 and since then to now I have been behind the wheel. So before diving into that rally purchase where exactly did you learn to drive manual? I started driving at a very early age; well at least learning to, around Standard 1. Before my feet could touch the pedals, my dad use to drive us to school in a manual Charmant and while on our way there he would tell me to change the gears. If I didn’t put in the correct gear - I got the look. From there it reached to the point where he wouldn’t say anything when it was time to change, you had to be paying attention. For us instead of running thru times tables we were running thru gears. Finally as I was old enough to step on the gas and brakes, he would have me take the cars in and out the yard. While taking the cars out, ever accidently ended up carrying them

IS SERIOUS

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BRIGGNESS UP IN HERE In racing;

seeing a man start from the ground is a big thing to us at the Sixth. It’s really inspiring to see that in an age where everybody wants instant fast, there are still racers who up for learning technique versus lablashing from the word go. First time out on the canefield “drag strip” in Camden for Shawn Briggs in 2008 was somewhat of an experiment. Not sure whether he wanted to dive into ¼ mile decimation OR circuit racing, Briggos tried his hand on the 1320 with a stock 2004 GSXR 1000 graced by a slip on. To say he had fun while getting accustomed to the lights and how to launch so that he got the mostest was an understatement. And what was once a 50/50 feeling concerning what to do went all the way 100 to the drags side. Now that he figured out the passion; it was time to change the machine. The 04’ Suzuki was sold and rather than go with a Hayabusa, Shawn opted for a stock 2009 Kawasaki ZX14 where he did exhaust and some light suspension work. After a few months, some personal issues stormed the scene dry like fresh Crix forcing Shawn to let go of his lil munster. However; as we have learned from the foundation folks; hard times don’t last forever. And as the skies cleared; Shawn; with the help of Rafeez Mohamed at RAF Motorsports, was able to get his hands on and take delivery of a like new, very low mileage 2013 ZX14R. Without hesitation, the ZX got the first set of lovindeers via a lowering kit, ECU flash, secondary throttle plates removal that did away with all the limiters on the engine and a slip on exhaust. That coupled with practicing to get off the line properly allowed Briggs to do 9.42 with ease, mind you there was room to dip lower. But soon after came some rough news. See, strapping down the front of a bike is good for drags as it helps eliminates wheelies thus resulting in quicker ETs and giving a bike a meaner stance. Howsoever; when the shocks are locked in with zero slack, there is no suspension travel. Soooooooo, on a bad road or in an emergency you are begging for trouble. Briggs did what any proper Trini would and begged for trouble - wholesale. While properly peppering a piece of the Solomon Hochoy, he had to pull a hard brakes to avoid a situation and touched the road - many times over. The bike was inna mess and while the physical pain was bad, the financial AGONY was worse. Ask any rider; eating babagreen with a bike is cabbage patch EXPENSIVE and what made this one a bit worse was it was a low mileage ZX that jes come out more or less. Sourcing parts all over, including steal of a deal upgrades from Jarryd Powersports, the ZX got it nice on the repairs with aftermarket steering damper, drag swingarm that was 13 inches longer than stock, lengthened stock drive-chain, elimination of the oil cooler, aftermarket oil filter with cooling fins, metal blade cooling fans and Brocks Performance Stupid Fast sidewinder titanium exhaust. Things were nice until they bounced starter to fire the ZX up and a dreadful sounding engine knock presented itself. Not for hell could either Briggs or his mechanic figure out where it t’was coming from, even after scrapping everything 5 times over the course of 3 months. It wasn’t to say that performance was affected - when wanged out the bike worked fine, it was just frustrating hearing the noise. Not one to be bothered, Briggs threw caution in the latrine and rode the bike until the cattles couldn’t cross the road anymore. For 12 months the engine got a proper workout, beating people and winning races until it eventually gave up thus opening the door for a build.

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1600 WAYS to

BLADE

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Daren Bahadur is

one of the those not so normal tuners that we at the greatest magazine ever, love to death. The one who does everything himself while understanding that the mind is a terrible thing to waste and creativity keeps it sharper than chilled Limacol with a dash of bitters. After selling his Datsun 1600 about 10 years ago Daren was dead set sure about what he wanted replace it - a Datsun 1600 like what his dad used to drive. The reason for a 1600 - his dad had one and never got to finish his since he had chirren to send to school. So Daren wanted to do one as sort of a throwback to the sacrifice his dad made for him when he was coming up. Hunting by yourself for a 1600 is not easy especially one in good condition, when looking for old cars like these it pay to tell brethrens so they could be on the lookout as well. Luck would strike when a partner called about one he saw in the papers so plans were made to go see the car Daren in no time. What greeted Daren was a watery, callaloo green specimen with 13in rims and a 120Y engine under transmission. Those characteristics would be enough to turn away somebody from the new school BUT what was right was the fact that the door frame lined up properly and everything else was straight - meaning the car wasn’t licks dong - meaning less body work to do. The asking price was $20,000; Daren offered $15,000 and the response was “Ah, go leh yuh know nah.” An answer like that is a tell tale that the owner wanted to see if somebody would offer him a better price. We suspect there were no biters as the guy called a few days later asking Daren if he was still interested - of course and with that foundation was laid. Taking it home, the first thing was to bolt on some extractors and sidedrafts to open up the breathing. On an engine putting out less than 77HP we can’t understand why anyone would want to do that BUT what we do know is that the extra lil zing had him frisky. And one night during happy hour he decided to go zero lift; X tuh board from Gasparillo all the way to Grand Bazaar after which the transmission PROMPTLY stopped working. Well unno daiz the call there. Time for a swap and what better than the 4 cylinder of 4 cylinders in Trinbago; the engine that all young men hope to own in their lifetime, the powerplant that has lined the dreams of many ah youth from ah marnin’ - the almighty SR. Copping a decent S13 redtop from the Bamboo, Daren went about the installation himself and despite being lil handy with a spanner dropping a SR inna 16 isn’t necessarily yam in pig mouth. The biggest problem Daren faced was the sump pan bouncing the cross member due to the location of the engine on the poly urethane mounts. To solve this dilemma, Daren unbolted it from where the frame attaches by the track arm and simply spun it around so that it faced in the opposite direction. We cooking. The 1st engine install by himself gave, Daren more belly so he decided to go one step and tackle the wiring himself. The wiring which an insane task; no wonder his friends wanted to know if he was crazy. Alongside that Daren had gotten around to dropping in a Suzuki Jimny power steering box graced by a custom steering column from an EK3 Civic; a six point rollcage, clutch consisting of ACT Extreme pressure plate, six puck with no spring and aluminium flywheel. A custom fitted HKS intercooler with the shortest piping run we ever saw slid in between the chassis which

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