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  • MODIFIED NISSAN GT-R FAMILY: SKYLINE GOALS

    The Nissan GT-R is one of the most iconic of all Japanese models. We meet Rocky, a die-hard enthusiast who has a modified Nissan GT-R family of his own, spanning across four generations of cars. 

    Feature taken from Fast Car Japanese. Words: Matt Bell. Photos: Jack Howells

    Inspired by games like Gran Turismo and of course, the Fast and Furious franchise, the Skyline range grew from strength to strength on the popularity scale in the 2000s. Then came the R35 GT-R in 2007. Although it lost the Skyline nomenclature, it didn’t lose its ability to chew up and spit out supercars.

    Japanese engineering has always been at the forefront of technological advancements and the GT-R was no different, employing a huge array of computers and electronic aids to produce a car with vast amounts of grip and ballistic performance. So, the starting block for Rocky’s love affair with Nissans was a pretty strong one.

    Modified Nissan GT-R family

    “I’ve grown up drooling over Skylines! When the R35 GT-R was Launched in 2007, that car became my ultimate life goal.

    “I bought my first GT-R (R35) in 2011. It was a very big moment in my life and a massive milestone reached! It was literally the cheapest one I could find online. I flew from London to Edinburgh to collect it and drove it back.” And here we find those famous words spoken by all car enthusiasts when they collect their new car: “I repeatedly told myself all the way back that this car ‘needs nothing!’ Well – that didn’t last very long.”

    The GT-R you see here isn’t that actual car (it was sold in 2013), but after dabbling with a few others during 2013/2014, Rocky settled with the 2014 car you see here – well, the basis of what you see here…

    Over the past six years, Rocky has gone from upping power to around 800bhp, then 1000bhp,  before reaching 1200bhp, with the desire to clock an 8-second quarter-mile pass on street tyres and full weight. Sadly, that dream never materialised, despite clocking low 9s. The trouble with running non-drag radials with such high-powered cars is the tendency for mechanicals to break, and break they did. “Upgrading the power became like a drug,” Rocky explains.

    Modified Nissan GT-R family

    So what do we have now? Well, the R35 is the cream of the crop. Power now sits at over 1600bhp; it’s clocked an 8.3-second quarter-mile (on drag tyres) and took the VMaxx 200 top spot with a 240mph pass over a standing mile, just 1mph slower than the Koenigsegg Agera RS.

    Normally we would go into great detail about how this car was built, but we’d need a book to cover off every single upgrade – and there are three other GT-Rs we need to talk about! So, let’s focus on the biggies. Under the bonnet resides a Race Developments race engine, with race heads and a T1 Racing 4.1 stroker kit. A Boost Logic 1300x turbo kit produces the huge boost levels.

    Modified Nissan GT-R family

    In order to put that power down, it now uses a Quaife front differential with a billet diff casing and Wavetrac rear differential. The transmission is a fully built PPG V3 gearbox with PPG V3 1-6 gearset, PPG input and output shaft, AWD gear and AWD billet shaft. The exhaust gases are amplified into the air in a cacophony of orchestral beauty via a Linney Titan Street 102mm titanium exhaust.

    Now, with all that go, you need to stop. Despite chopping and changing brake setups over the past few years, Rocky settled with Boost Logic ZR1 carbon ceramics with MY17 Brembo calipers in Rose Gold with Endless race pads. Wrapped around those brakes are Volk TE37 wheels.

    Modified Nissan GT-R family

    The beauty with this car is that while it has enough power to shift the gravitational pull of Earth, it’s also an out and out show car. Many of you will have seen it on TV, as the well-known team at Kream Developments are responsible for how the exterior looks, with a custom paint job for Rocky; they even named the paint after him, Purple Rocks! That sits on top of the TopSecret and DoLuck bodykit, which also happens to be his favourite mod. “I love the fact I have the only genuine MY17 TopSecret-kitted GT-R in the UK. Yes, the others are fake!” Oh, did we mention it also has a full audio boot build?

    So, what does a man with one of the fastest GT-Rs in the UK do next? Add to his collection, of course! Hence why you see four generations of GT-R here. But why GT-Rs? “Truth be told, I get bored of cars very easily. It’s the GT-R Community that has kept me in these cars. I played a part in some respectable GT-R Clubs/Groups over the years and made some life-long friends. Me and my best friend, Buzz, went on to start our own movement for the GT-R Community that we both loved so much – GTR CARTEL.” It’s clear that GT-Rs are in Rocky’s blood.

    And so to the R32, the grandad of the quartet if you will. Again, as mentioned at the beginning, Rocky likes going fast, so you didn’t expect this R32 to be stock, did you? Here is an 860bhp example, again with more parts than we have page space to talk about (you can watch us driving it here!). Under the bonnet is a Borg Warner S366 T4 turbo with twin screamer pipes and twin, side-exit exhausts. The engine features JUN pistons, HKS conrods, a JUN oil pump, and single inlet manifold, a Q45 throttle body, and an ARC intercooler.

    Midnight Racing fully ported and polished the head, then added HKS 264 camshafts, Manley valve springs and various other custom parts to get it operating smoothly. The transmission is a late R33 gearbox with a Nismo 1.5-way rear diff, Nismo gearbox mount and an OS Giken triple-plate clutch.

    The electronics are handled by an AEM map, fuel and oil sensor, as well as Race Technology Dash 2 and torque-split controller. The interior is definitely the most focused of the four, with a full Cusco roll-cage, a tablet to display the gauges, an OMP steering wheel and switches for high and low boost control and pump/race fuel.

    The exterior is hardly under-the-radar though, with a carbon bonnet and aero catches, carbon front grille, genuine N1 rear lip spoiler and carbon R34 GT-R side extensions.

    Despite being the oldest and arguably rawest of all the GT-Rs, the R32 would actually be the first car Rocky would sell if, quote, “The shit hit the fan”. That’s not to say it’s not worthy…

    Modified Nissan GT-R family

    Next up is that moody-looking R33; the ugly duckling of the Skylines – or that’s what the internet would have you believe. This R33, again, has had the works thrown at it, featuring a RIPS RB30 engine and accompanying goodies, including race head and custom intake manifold. It uses a Garrett G35-900 turbo with an OCD Works compressor whistle, because, why the hell not? This one features an external screamer pipe loud enough to unsettle the Earth’s tectonic plates and a Kakimoto exhaust.

    In order to put down that 800bhp across all four wheels there’s is a PAR Engineering-built gearbox, controlled by a Link G4+ ECU.

    Although this isn’t a 400R from factory, it does feature a full, genuine, Nismo 400R kit, which is why it looks so bloody awesome! The R33 actually takes second spot on Rocky’s list of favourites thanks to its usable performance and good looks.

    Modified Nissan GT-R family

    Now comes the model that most petrolheads dream of, the Skyline R34 GT-R – and this one is a bit special. Like the R32 and R33, it was already modified when Rocky bought it. Built by Signal Autos in Japan, it was one of the fastest GT-Rs to lap the famous Tsukuba circuit in 53.56 seconds, some 6 seconds quicker than the latest Nismo R35 GT-R…

    The engine is an HKS 2.8 Step 3 stroked unit with 87mm forged pistons, H-beam rods and a full Counter 77.7 crankshaft with N1 block. All the Japanese household names come into play here, with a Tomei 280 inlet and exhaust cam, Tomei oil pump, HKS fuel pump, ARC aluminium radiator, HKS oil cooler and TRUST T78-29D turbo and exhaust manifold.

    The wheels? You guessed it, Volk TE37s – just like the other GT-Rs in this stunning collection.

    Electronics are controlled via an HKS FCON Vpro ECU, with HKS EVC6 boost controller and circuit attack counter, a FIELD ATTESSA over controller and a Tarzan Yamada digital G sensor.

    But it’s on the inside where things get interesting, because again, like the R35, this R34 isn’t just built to go fast. It has a full, custom-quilted leather retrim in blood-red Nappa leather. Now that won’t be to everyone’s taste, but it makes this Bayside Blue beast stand out from the crowd.

    When it comes to looking after this fierce foursome, Rocky entrusts them to two well-known faces in the GT-R scene – Romain from Racecal and Jurgen at JM Imports. So which car is his favourite?

    “I love them all. If I was ever forced to choose just one, it would have to be my R34. I grew up dreaming of a Bayside Blue R34 GT-R in my life. The experience in this thing is like no other. Yes, it isn’t the fastest car I own, but it is the best experience. It just loves to be driven in anger. No matter what you put this car through – it just keeps going, and going, and going!”

    It also happens to be the car Rocky drives the most. “The R35 doesn’t really see the light of day unless I’m going to an event to compete, or putting it on display. Sometimes having the most power isn’t the be all and end all!”

    So what’s next for these cars then? “I AM DONE WITH MODIFYING, is what I keep telling myself. Who knows what the future holds? I think I am getting too old for all this stuff now – maybe it’s time to retire from big power and just relax a little.” Pfft, no chance.

    And for those asking why go to all the effort, struggle and cost of building these cars only to be able to drive one at a time, Rocky has a good answer: “Looking back at my journey, I have had so much fun; winning events, breaking records etc. As expensive as it gets, I have no regrets! Life is for living.”

    Modified Nissan GT-R family
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  • The NHRA is preparing for an electric drag racing future

    The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is the latest racing sanctioning body to take a serious look at electric cars. Organizers are asking for input on how to make electric cars a bigger part of drag racing, the association announced on Monday.

    The NHRA plans to host a series of meetings on the topic, beginning with one during the Gatornationals at Florida’s Gainesville Raceway later this month. It’s an “open invitation to interested parties to participate in an open dialogue on the topic,” the organization said in a press release Tuesday.

    That invitation, includes, but is not limited to, automakers, aftermarket parts suppliers, race-car builders, and safety-equipment manufacturers, the NHRA said. The organization hopes to gauge interest in electric drag racing, and discuss safety protocols for electric race cars.

    “When it comes to drag racing electric vehicles, we want NHRA to be the leader, not a follower,” Ned Walliser, NHRA vice president of competition, said in a statement.

    Ford Mustang Cobra Jet 1400 prototype

    Ford Mustang Cobra Jet 1400 prototype

    Electric drag racing is nothing new. The NHRA noted that electric cars and motorcycles have been included in its rulebook “for many years,” and YouTube is full of videos of Teslas humiliating internal-combustion cars at the dragstrip. Long before Tesla, drag racing was a major outlet for homebuilt EVs, with cars like the “White Zombie” 1972 Datsun 1200 showing the potential of electric power.

    However, the NHRA believes now is the time to get more invested in EVs, hoping it will bring in a younger demographic and dovetail with automaker efforts to electrify road cars. While this might make room for a class of cars like the Chevrolet eCOPO Camaro and Ford Mustang Cobra Jet 1400 prototypes, don’t expect electric cars to replace traditional dragsters anytime soon.

    “We certainly have no intentions of abandoning our current platform, which has proven to be extremely popular with racers and fans alike,” Walliser said.

    Like road cars, race cars are slowly getting greener. Formula E has carved out a niche for electric single-seater racing, and is adding the Extreme E off-road racing series. Formula One already uses hybrid powertrains, and IndyCar plans to follow suit in 2023 (one year later than planned due to coronavirus delays). NASCAR is also considering hybrid powertrains.

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  • HONDA E REVIEW: RWD WITH CONCEPT CAR LOOKS

    It looks like a concept car, it’s rear-wheel-drive and has a turning circle like a taxi – plus you can play Mario Kart on the dash. But the new Honda e isn’t as weird as you might think…

    Review taken from Fast Car magazine. Words & Photos: Dan Bevis. 

    We’ve reached a point where we, as devoted petrolheads, can generally agree that electric cars are a good thing. The milk-float stigma is long gone, as is the concern that we’d all end up driving crap like the G-Wiz; indeed, thanks to the leaps and bounds made by Tesla, we can see that electric cars can be stylish and clever and astonishingly rapid. (Shame that Teslas are so badly made, but you can’t have everything…) The inherent hurdle, then, is how to convince people like us to make the changeover. See, an electric car needs to feel like a normal car, and be just as usable as one – but then you end up with things like the e-Golf, which is perfectly fine, but compromised by the fact that the volts and wires have been shoved into a body designed for an internal combustion engine. What you need is something that’s cool and interesting but not too weird, and has been designed from the ground up to be electric. Which is what the all-new Honda e is.

    Honda e

    What you’re looking at here, in essence, is a bloody good idea. A city-sized hatchback that’s been thoughtfully designed to be premium-feeling and forward-looking, while also driving like a normal runabout. The lounge-like interior is packed full of clever tricks and toys, and the cutesy exterior looks are backed up by some surprising muscle: being rear-wheel-drive and boasting 151bhp, the fact that all of the torque (232lb.ft of it) is available immediately means that it’s amusingly quick away from the lights. And best of all, the retro styling is absolutely spot-on: there’s elements of the first-gen Civic in there, and more than a little Mk1 Golf, and yet it looks like a prop from a movie set twenty years in the future. Just the kind of EV for people like us then? Let’s see…

    Honda e

    The drive

    Quite understandably, your first question might be ‘Will it drift?’ – and the answer is, er, no. But you’ll be pleased to note that the rear end is playful enough to allow you to have a bit of fun on country lanes (or roundabouts, if the inner hooligan grabs you); we couldn’t find a button or menu option to fully disable the traction control – there most likely isn’t one – but it’s surely only a matter of time before that’s hackable.

    Performance potential in spades then, for sure; this particular car is the e Advance, which is the upper level of the two available specs. The standard Honda e has 134bhp, while the e Advance gets 151bhp along with a few trim upgrades. It’s got all the quickness you need in a city car, plus much more besides – if your commute involves a dual carriageway or bypass, you’ll soon become addicted to blowing everyone away at the traffic lights – but this car’s real party piece is the interior. It’s beautifully designed; the ethos was to create a sort of premium lounge feel, and all of the materials reflect this. The comfy seats are trimmed in quality cloth (leather is an option, but this stylish cloth suits it better), and the dash panel is a matte-effect wood like you’d find in a top-of-the-range Volvo. Best of all, the lowline dash looks like one big full-width screen, which is super-futuristic. It’s actually five separate screens: at either end is a display to mimic a wing mirror view (as this car doesn’t actually have wing mirrors, but instead has little rear-facing cameras mounted on the doors), in front of you is a customisable screen for your dials and readouts, and the rest of the dash is made up of two large widescreens. These can show a DAB display, a sat-nav screen, or numerous other options, and they can be swapped from side-to-side. You can even turn the whole thing into a big virtual fish tank. And if that’s still not enough screens, there’s a switch to flick on the central rear-view mirror to turn that into a display for yet another rear-facing camera. Tech-heavy enough for you? There’s plentiful battery power for all this too; it’s got a 35.5kWh battery, which is more than beefy enough. It’s good for a range of 137 miles, which isn’t class-leading but certainly decent – and depending on what charging options you have available, you can whack in an 80% charge in a little over half-an-hour.

    Driving the thing is simplicity itself – you just stick it in ‘Drive’ and waft along on the torque, there’s not even any gears to trouble yourself with. Flicking into Sport mode is fun for fast launches and backroad mischief, and perhaps the best part is that it really handles. Because, objectively speaking, it doesn’t need to. There were probably all sorts of meetings and focus groups at Honda HQ, concluding that the vast majority of e sales will be to city-dwellers who’ll only ever trundle to the shops… but the Honda engineers just can’t be stopped. They knew it had to be engineered to be fun and agile on twisty lanes, and that’s exactly what’s happened, all-independent suspension and everything. And when you are in the city, you’ll find it a super-helpful companion – the steering angle is absurd, giving it a taxi-like 14-foot turning circle. The e may look cute – like a wide-eyed manga character – but it’s serious under the skin.

    Verdict

    Perhaps the largest stumbling block for a lot of buyers will be the price. Because, let’s be honest, the e ain’t cheap. The base model starts at £26,160, while a Honda e Advance like this begins at £28,660, and that’s a substantial wedge for a city car. It also has a pretty small boot, and the range is bested by most of its rivals. But dwelling on these points misses the bigger picture. Let’s address them one by one. Price? Yes, the various rivals are cheaper, but do they have all of the equipment of this car, not to mention the slick and stylish design? No, they do not. Boot space? Ah, we’re spoiled these days – we may be used to Golf-sized stowage, but we grew up with Peugeot 205s and Renault 5s being perfectly acceptable family cars, so the scale is akin to that retro utility. You’d make it work. Range? Well, for the majority of journeys you’re unlikely to be going more than 137 miles; when you are, just factor in a stop-off to add some juice while you go for a wee and a sandwich. No problem.

    OK, so with the negatives despatched, we’re absolutely overwhelmed by positives. This car is seriously well-equipped – look at the lower dash and you’ll find a ridiculous number of sockets: 12v, USB, HDMI, and there’s even a standard three-pin socket like you’ve got in your house. Thanks to the clever interfaces, this does mean that you can – for example – plug in a Super Nintendo and play Mario Kart on the car’s dash screen. Isn’t it awesome living in
    the future?

    The e Advance genuinely is hilarious fun to drive, and there’s plenty of potential to modify and tune once the aftermarket jailbreaks the software. (It’ll happen, just you wait.) The crisp exterior design looks fantastic, with those gas-burner wheels and front-and-rear light bar lozenges, and when you catch sight of your reflection in shop windows you feel as if you’re driving a concept car. But best of all, this fun and cute car feels… normal. Not too normal, obviously, because all of the interior tech and surprising power gives it a frisson of specialness. But it doesn’t feel weird to step out of a petrol-powered car and into this one. If this is what the electric future feels like, maybe we don’t need to be too worried.

    Honda e
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