The ninth of January, 2010 will always stand out as a great day in my life.
On a par with playing my first set as a dj, or getting any of my licences. I'd
been looking forward to the Cannonball run for a while now and today was
the day. I'd mentioned it to my Father-in-law and he'd signed up for it too,
taking their bright yellow MR-S. So it was, my flatmate, Drew, and cousin-in
law, Cameron, all woke up at quater to dot in in the morning and headed out.
The start/finish of the run was at the Albany Pub, on the north shore, so
was a bit of a hike to get there, but at that time of the morning, it was plain
sailing. I swear, nothing beats an empty mototrway, should say, wasn't speeding,
just so nice to have a clean run without all the muppets...

 We arrived sometime around 7:20ish to a sight that will stay with me for the
rest of my life. Pulling into the carpark we were greeted by a massive collection
of petrolheads and their beloved rides. Everything was represented, American
Muscle, European penache, Aussie GT cars and of course, Japanese tuners. I've
been to car shows before but this was different, I suppose because we were
going to be driving them, rather than just stand around looking at them! You could
feel the anticipation of the event and above all, a sort of comaraderie if you like,
of people united in the love of internal combustion...

 Ok ok, I'm getting a little wooly here, but it's hard to express the impact of the
day. After a safety brief from the event organizers, we returned to our cars and
started them up. I've heard few things as epic as a hundred odd pperformance
cars starting their engines at once!

 We were one of the last to set off and, after a brief Pit Stop at the local Albany
mall, we were on our way.

 I love it when you forget about stuff. It seems, as you get older, your memory
disappears almost as fast as your size M gear. Sigh. I negleted t mention something
quite important regarding the rebuilt turbo and should mention that initially I was
looking at a DC 5 Integra.

 Three things put me off the DC5: First the driving position being so low down,
meant visibility was very limited. Second, it was FF, not what I was after. Third
was price, same as a GTT. Sure it's a bit newer, but you do the math...

 Next, the turbo. When I took her in to get re-tuned, Bob asked where I had it
rebuilt. When I mentioned the guy's name to Bob, he looked at me as if I'd just
taken a dump on his shop floor. This is the moment I realisedthat Bob may not be
100% on the level with me, as everyone I'd spoken to, reccomended the guy I
went through, except Bob.

Ok, re-cap over, let's get on with things...

 Performance versus style. A lot of people will go all out for style. Form over
function if you will. For me though this never made much sense and my Levin
was a testament to that. 15" Rims, lower profile wider tread tyres (205-50-R15)
stiffer suspension, lowering springs and a Pod Filter.

 The same is true for my R34. After the first lot of mods and fix ups, an incident
in a carpark (a big thanks to the guys out at Botany that tried to steal my
car on my wife's birthday, couldn't, so stole her birthday presents instead)
I'd decided it was time to look at footwork.

 As previously stated, I'd found a set of Nismo S-Tune suspension. It was
specifically designed for the GTT and looked great! I got Bob to order some
in for me and sat back to wait...
 I hate waiting. I won't bore you with the psychological intricacies of why
I hate waiting. That is to say, I know why I hate waiting but it's one of those
things I've always struggled to overcome. About three weeks later I got a
call from Bob saying there'd be a delay of about six months for them.
 Six months!
 
Given that was a stupid amount of time, i tried my parts sites in Japan, but
they came back with the same thing. This was a tad annoying, but as it turns
out, for the best.

 After a bit of searching, I was put in touch with some suspension guys in
Mount Wellington. It turned out, once again, that things were falling into place
as was meant to be, as they were, literally, straight opposite my work's old
premises. Again, for the sake of the story, I'll change the names. I had a chat
to Sven about cars and things in general. He got a feel for what I was trying to
do and after a bit of careful erring and umming suggested a package of Tein
springs and Bilstein shocks.
Apparantly, these were waiting for another client of his, but the guy hadn't shown
up or returned any calls or emails. Sven quoted me a four figure sum and was a bit
taken back when I said: Is Wednesday good for you?

 I guess I should feel bad that I snaked the poor guy's gear, but as Sven said: If he
wanted it, he'd have come back to him. Something to note, and I'm sure that I'll be
asked this, I'm not a fan of adjustable suspension for road cars, it's un-necessary
in 90% of cases and even Sven agreed with me. He said that he'd happily put it in
someones car if they insisted, but he usually found that most normal road vehicles
worked just as well with improved, non adjustables. Hell, he even told me he knows
a good many pro drivers that use non adjustables! Crazy!

 The car was in and out in a day, the result being custom lowered and fitted, 25mm
lower at the front and 20mm at the rear. The handling response was improved hugely,
losing a lot of the body roll that was throwing me off in the corners. Absolutely
stoaked with the result and thoroughly reccomend Sven and his team...

 Sadly, this is where things start to go downhill...

 Isn't it odd that the damndest things can set off child hood memories. I'm old,
so I remember collecting the points from the back of original Transformers and
GI Joes, sending them off with one of mum's cheques and a few weeks later,
getting a parcel in the mail. It was the best feeling ever and, correct me if I'm
wrong, but one of the only experiences that NEVER gets old or boring. When the
first box showed up at work with my apexi tail silencer, shortly followed by the
Power FC and boost control unit, I was totally stoaked.

 Now, I know what you're thinking, why would anyone throw a silencer into a race
exhaust. To answer this, you need to know that this exhaust was the loudest exhaust
I've ever heard. My wife, on her Monday's off, could hear me coming about 3-4km away
and as much as i loved it when it got up high, the bass droning was too much. I went
in search of a silencer that would allow me to put it in and leave it in, without a
drastic effect on performance and that's exactly what i got. See the way the apex'i
active silencer works; it has a spring loaded plate that opens under high pressure exhaust,
meaning I get the howl, without the annoying low end rumble. My concerns about the
performance were releaved earlier this year on a dyno run, where removing it made a gain
of about fifty watts, not kilowatts, fifty watts.

 So a quick trip back to Bob's and we were sorted. Well Kinda.

 The tune went well, but of course, there was a problem. There's ALWAYS a problem right?
Apparantly, he didn't want to push things too far, as the turbo was making a pretty audible
whine. He Reccomended I get it rebuilt and reccomended some guys on the shore. Still, i
couldn't complain about the results of the tune. The car was running much more smoothly with
more power as well, can't grumble about that!

 So, now I had the car in a much happier state, it was on to a the footwork and looking
for a good price to get my huffer rebuilt. Bob reccomended a company on the shore so I
set out to give them a call, I'd also tracked down some Nismo suspension online that I
thought I'd look into. All up, things were looking good.

 Heh.

Right, so shortly, I'll continue on, but for today, we'll do a Q&A...

So fire away!

 There are few things in this world that actually give me pause. I've spent enough time
in the inner city to not get freaked out by drag queens or homeless people. In fact
it's kinda fun to stop and have a chat to society's more colourful people from time to
time! Likewise celerities don't give me the willies anymore, I guess when you get to a
certain age, you realise their just doing a job, like you or me, sitting at work at our
desks or respective other activities. Sure, their seen more publicly, but other than
that, their just well paid workers, so in my book, their no different to me. All that
goes out the window when I'm walking through a carpark or car yard.I honestly don't
know when it happened, but I've found more and more that I check out nice or
interesting cars parked nearby. I'm sure it looks pretty dodgy too, but there's nothing
in it, I'm just appreciating the machinery of the vehicle and the ideas of other
people, when looking at 'ricer' and tuned cars anyhow. It's getting worse too, since
I've started giving thumbs ups to and even chatting with people at traffic lights or
just whilst driving. It's a strange reality I find myself in, as my family aren't
really car people, with the exception being my wife...

 The car we pulled in next to would have easily fallen into the "Hang on a minute I
wanna have a nosey" category. A completely stock 2000 R34 GTT. The first of the series
two shape, so a bit nicer interior and slightly different body. Either way, it had the
big round tail lights and a factory pearescent blue paint. We piled out of the Legacy
and my first thought was: It looks just like a matchbox car, made bigger!
 Initial shock and awe subsiding, we started chatting with the owner. As on the phone,
he was a really great guy, very down to earth and I think more than a little sad to
think he might be selling the car. After having a chat about his reasons for selling
(upgrading to a new HSV clubsport!) and a bit about the cars (his and the flatmates)

 We got in and went for a run.

 I took it down the road, about a kilometer, then the mechanic/flatty took it back to the cafe.
This was what was missing from the previous. It came on power better, was much smoother
down low, had a nicer feel to it and just felt more solid. Oh yeah, did i mention the
exhaust? The only mod done to this beast was a Kakimoto N1 spec straight through
exhaust. I'd find out later the exact size was 3" leading to a whopping 4.25" tip. To
say it was loud would be like saying that it gets a bit cold in Antarctica. Still, this
felt right, I got that sense that this was the car I'd been looking for. We got back
and i had a brief pow wow with my flatties. Another chat to the owner later, a price
was agreed upon, a call to the bank, a call to the insurance company and done. We
waited with him til a mate picked him up. I really felt for him as he drove off,
staring out the window. He requested that I look after the car and believe me,
that's exactly what I intended to do.

 This was to be my first time out in an R34, so decided not to go too crazy,
especially since the owner's dad was coming along with me (fair enough
really!) I was actually pretty nervous as I adjusted the seat, but they
say small things comfort! Over the last few years, I've really come to
appreciate orange as a colour, I guess it had something to do with a
favorite pari of pants I have, which are an Orange Camoflage pattern. I
know, not overly useful in everyday life, but I love them! Anyhow,
sitting there in someone elses R34 GTT and you start thinking "What if I
break it? What if I lose it around a corner? What if a Piano falls on
it?" it was a lot to take in! Not to mention it was dark out, so flipped
on the lights and was greeted by a bright orange dash. I've never been a
great believer in portents, signs from the universe or gods or powers
that be or whatever, that we're on the right track but lately, I've
started to wonder if there's more to that way of thinking. This was
definately one of those moments!
 
Handbrake down, gear in, clutch out and we were off. out of his drive,
hooked a left, down to a roundabout, another left then up into a 70km
zone.
To be honest, I played a lil bit! How could you not though. The inline
six was great down low very responsive and pulled cleanly into the
turbo's power band. I suppose the biggest shock for me was how similar in
handling the car was to my Levin, which is almost an absurd thought,
given the difference in drive train! The turn in was a little sharper and
crisper, but the overall feel of it was very similar, to this day, I
can't explain it! Whilst I was completely sold on the car, I had my
doubts about this particular one. Things felt a little sluggy for me,
like it was struggling to do the basics.

We got back to the sellers place and I gave the keys over to my flatmate,
who again, went for a wander around the block. He got back and we said
thanks and headed on our merry way home. During the trip, we had a
chat and all felt that something didn't add up. It didn't feel like the
thoroughbred sports car it should have been. To this day, I can't put my finger
on what was wrong, but the end result was that it wasn't the car I was after,
but it had given me enough info to make my mind up about them.
So it was back to Trademe that night to see if we could find one somewhere
that was more true to its original form...

Ahh Trademe, never a dull experience! My advice for anyone looking there, especially if you're
looking at cars, know what you're looking for!!! By this, I guess I mean that you need to check
out the specs and details of the item you're after before jumping on trademe and doubly so for
ebay, but we'll get to ebay later. Essentialy, learn everything there is to know about the car/
device/ person/ animal/ non-terrestrial item you're looking at buying, as you can NEVER trust a
product description. Well, after doing some Wiki-ing I found out enough to know what to look for
wear and tear wise, as well as the aforementioned dodgy mods. I found a white R34 GTT beastie in
West Auckland, gave the guy a text and arranged to have a look see and a drive. My wife and pet
mechanic (and flatmate) went on the mission out to that side of Auckland (always an experience!)
My flatmate runs a manual 2003 Legacy GT, in which he demonstrated one of the best features of a
car I've ever seen, just for sheer comic value, the 'ECO' button. Whilst most auto drivers may
be familiar with this lil guy, it's a bit of an enigma in a manual. When the button is pressed,
a light on the dash comes on to let you know you're driving economically. If you put the boot
in, it turns off again.

Thats. It.

It does nothing to the fuel mix, nothing to the intake or cam profiles, just lights up to tell
you you're not driving fast enough. Heh, I think it's main use would be on the track, where if
it comes on, you know you're not pushing hard enough! :p
Anyhow, got out to the place, met the owners father, pretty decent guy, selling the car on behalf
of his son who'd recently gone for a holiday in Aus and decided to stay.
The car, a white R34 GTT was in good nick, with a pretty nice aftermarket body kit and decent rims.
Interior was in pretty good condition too, but the aftermarket boost guage was cause for concern.
So, the only thing for it was to take it out on the road and see what it was like!

So building a nissan engine to scare the bejesus out of people is kinda a straight forward thing, hell even going out and
buying a GTR or Spec R S15 will get you good results, but how about the road less travelled?

Last year I found myself with a bit of spare change, so had the opportunity to retire my (now scrapped) well maintained
and much loved '92 Toyota Levin.
But what to get?
I'd narrowed the field down to four different coupe's:

First off; the Nissan 200sx Sylvia S15 R spec
A fantastic looking car, great engine and great spec, BUT...
when we think about it, how much time do we spend looking at our car, rather than being in it and driving? I was all
set to take one for a test drive when I had a look at the interior. To say it's bad isn't right, it's not bad, but it's not good either!
I found it bland and boring, so had to discount it!

On to option number two; Mazda RX7 series 6 on...
Truth be told, this was the car that made me sit up and take notice of cars! Low slung, great curves and an interior to match.
Of course, the downside imo is the rotary. Whilst I don't have a problem with the engine itself, as long as it hasn't been ruined
by porting, it's more the associated scene that goes along with the rotary engine. As I'm now needing to dye my hair out of
necessity, rather than for fun, I really don't wanna run with the rotor boys and their associates, so sadly the RX7 was a no go.

Numero tres: Toyota Supra Mk IV
The fact I almost bought a Supra as my first car speaks volumes about how I feel towards them. One of the most classic of
Japan's offerings, the Supra has always (since becoming a petrolhead at least) held a special place in my heart. The 2JZ
engine is as much a legend as the Supra, being highly sought after the world over by import tuning enthusiasts. Whilst I know
the engine is bulletproof in every way, sadly, I couldn't bring myself to spend a considerable amount of money on a car of that age.

So, that left one logical choice...