Author Archive

It’s KHR31 heaven this week on Goo.

The R31 Skyline packed on the pounds and shed a lot of the raw edge that made its predecessor the R30 such a thrill to drive – making it more subdued and quite possibly the black sheep of the ‘modern’ era of Skyline – but it made up for this by virtue of its HICAS and 4WAS technological wizardry, brand-spanking new RB inline six with ceramic turbo for instant boost response, and carrying over the mega-angular styling cues of the R30 while other manufacturers began inclining towards more rounded, graceful shapes.

Exhibit A: 1986 Skyline GTS-X turbo

KHR31

How is it so slammed?

Yours for the sum of 598,000 yen, complete with “panel board” rear spoiler and slammed on 14″ XR4s :D

…which is a point of minor contention, really. I know there are folks out there who like ridiculously small wheels and stretched licorice-strip tyres, but from a purely aesthetic point of view a car the size of a R31 really deserves some larger diameter XR4s with bigger profile tyres; 195/50R15s would be perfect (plus you get to keep your stretch!)

Exhibit B: 1987 Skyline GTS-X turbo

KHR31

You'd better hope that front spoiler don't catch on nothing.

this one’s a ‘facelift’ KHR31, identifiable by the snazzy projector bulb headlights and covered tail lamps. The retractable front spoiler receives mixed reactions, but I for one like it. At 580,000 yen it’s a smidge cheaper than the example above, but you know as well as I do that it’s simply crying out for some less ugly wheels!

Radical ’80s!

April 10, 2009

fans of big chunky ’80s Jap turbo cars (like me) will enjoy reading this official English translation of OPTION magazine’s Oct 2006 article titled RADICAL ’80s: Tuned Cars From The Previous Era!

The article holds a definite Nissan slant, as six of the seven vehicles covered are of that marque (no less than half being Z-cars!) with the remaining one being Toyota. But even if you aren’t a Nissan person, and even whilst a purist like myself may not agree with engine conversions (as I think they completely ruin a vehicle’s originality), it’s interesting to read about how Japanese tuners utilize modern tech to keep these older cars competitive in terms of horsepower and handling.

Must admit seeing a R31 wagon fitted with a RB25DET and GTS-X slope-nose front is strangely inspiring. It’s what the Stagea could/should/would have been in a previous life!

From R31 Skyline wagon... to GC34 Stagea

From R31 Skyline wagon... to GC34 Stagea

>> RADICAL ’80s: Tuned Cars From The Previous Era!

AW yeah.

April 1, 2009

I couldn’t help myself, and the price was right. So here it is, AW11 number four (and the first supercharged one I’ve owned). The goods: LSD ‘box, pulley upgrade, and ABV mod; suffice to say it tears up the roads with ease, and the way the blower spits out all that torque from down low is phenomenal compared to all those turbo vehicles I own. Why I ever wasted time piddling around in atmo 4A-GE AW11s I’ll never know…

also has some incredibly lightweight 14″ wheels of unknown description, which pleasantly surprised me when I picked one up.

Presently it has a hole in the exhaust flexi joint, so sounds like a tractor – I must attend to that before its next warrant of fitness. But in summary, most fun daily evar!

AW11

wedgey goodness

ok, so it’s up on stands in the photo…. but as you’ll note, that was taken in the pits at Taupo. damn supercharger belt had a bad case of the slip that day :(

But still… whee!

AW11

flying doorstop express

Where is the droid socket?

March 28, 2009

Holy crap. this guy deserves those ROGLDR plates more than I do.

AW11

My scope shows the tower, but I can't see the exhaust port!

all it needs now are a set of S-foils, an R2 unit riding shotgun and a death star in the background…

more photos of this monstrosity here, halfway down the page.

Last month Michael made a brief mention of his catalogues arriving from zeppan.jp; now it’s my turn :D

seeing as this would be the last time I’d ever get a chance to order a batch of items from Takeshi, I decided to splash out… exchange rate be damned!

catalogues

car kitsch for Africa!

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