4WD trials has evolved in the last few years to not just be done in a strengthened Hilux with a welded diff crawling through bog holes of mud. Now the sport has bucket loads more horsepower, drivers and co-drivers with balls of steel, and some very serious looking trucks! With different classes of truck, the…
With all the excitement of summer approaching, New Zealand’s own D1NZ kicked off recently and I decided to hit the event up to see what all the fuss was about. After being immersed in the Japanese D1GP for the past few years, it’s cool to see what my home country was doing in regards to…
Rupesh is a guy who loves nothing more than old school J-tin sitting squat on the pavement. Shakotan is a Japanese tuning style that has roots linked to ‘bosozoku’ and subtle tuning flares from the crazy ‘kaido racers’ that mysteriously troll the Wangan late at night. It hasn’t spread like wildfire in New Zealand yet…
Max Fouhy has a tradition of building cars that polarise opinion and his latest creation does exactly that, all over again. Sitting pretty on a set of 14×8.5 -0 & 14 x9.5 -5 SSR mkIIs, this has all the swagger of a Bob Marley toting a couple of Tommy guns… Fatlace fans, let me introduce you…
Cherry blossoms hold a special place in Japanese peoples hearts. The ‘cotton candy’ flowers are only around for a week or so, and when Rupesh called me up with an old school ‘shakotan’ ride I knew right away that the ‘sakura’ background was the only way to go. The Japanese symbol of spring arriving is…
In 1978 Mazda released the series 1 generation of the RX7. Little did they know that they had just started something bigger than they could ever imagine. This was the car that saved Mazda, and transformed the public image of Japanese cars from cheap bargain boxes, to builders of quality affordable and accessible performance cars. It’s…
Every country has original forms of motorsport, car tuning, and events and we support them passionately. USA has Nascar, and Sprintcars, Finland has rallying, Aussie has the V8 Supercars, and New Zealand has stockcar racing. These machines might look basic although peel back the layers and there is some serious money sunk into these machines.…
It’s the kind of event which attracts the world’s most talented drivers. With smooth flowing, cambered roads the Rally New Zealand is a favourite with the drivers. Of course before the main course a slight appetiser is on the cards. Bon apetite! Ken Block showing his ‘hoonigan’ style managing to get sideways over a blind…