NZ Performance Car

For most of you, by the time you’re reading this, work/study will be over for the year and summer will be welcoming you with open arms. My summer holidays will involve plenty of methanol, dirt, prepping between races, and heading to the beach with my

Look, there’s no easy way to tell you this; it’s not something that I ever thought would happen to me and I’m at a loss for words. One minute you’re living a healthy, normal life, and the next you wake up to the crushing realization that it’s all goi

Central Otago is set to receive a new gravel hill-climb event thanks to Kiwi rally hero Hayden Paddon. Run by his Paddon Rallysport Group, the Ben Nevis Station Golden 1200 Hillclimb in Cromwell will take place over 7–8 March 2020. It is intended to

It may not be NZ Performance Car’s specific rodeo, but if you’re based in the North Island and anything like any of the thousands of people who flood the gate every year, then you’ve grown up with the iconic Kumeu Classic Car and Hot Rod Show. The ev

In a refreshed season opener that saw the D1NZ National Drifting Championship Pro-Sport class run separately from the Pros and hosted at the Drift Matsuri Spring Break, Waiuku drifter Russell Vare claimed a seemingly unlikely win to kick off his 2019

ENGINE: Billet VR38DET, 3800cc, V6 BLOCK: Custom DMS billet block, Bill Miller Engineering (BME) forged alloy drag rods, Diamond pistons, heavy-duty diamond-coated wrist pins, Bryant billet crankshaft HEAD: DMS drag package, CNC ported heads, custom

No car goes harder and takes more abuse than the one you don’t own! Whether it’s a rental racer, a company thrasher, or a family loan — as long as your name isn’t scribbled on the ownership papers and your credit card isn’t wearing the repair costs,

Andre Simon is no stranger to these pages, but when a recent yarn with the legendary Kiwi tuner/ex-NZPC tech expert swung towards the ‘good old days’ and the fact that plenty of our younger readers probably didn’t even exist when Andre strapped his f

We live in one hell of a beautiful country. There’s upwards of 18km2 of land per person on offer and most of that is swarming with wonders that the rest of the world can only dream of having on their doorstep. At the heart of that lushness are the of

There are not many companies in the motorsport world that can make ‘win on Sunday and sell on Monday’ happen across a range of motorsport disciplines, but UK-based Prodrive has turned this talent into a way of life. Many of us know the brand for its

Within the linguistic space of our little automotive community, there’s an unassuming three-letter acronym. It simultaneously ignites heated debate and awakens passion and inspiration. Those three letters: RWB. If you’ve pried open these pages, you p

Mad Mike’s Summer Bash attracts New Zealand’s top drift talent as they compete for a spot in the ‘Superclass’ top 16, which follows the traditional battle tree format to crown an eventual champion. The event is generally Mad Mike’s only competition o

WHEELS: 18x9.5-inch (+12) Rays TE37 TYRES: Toyo T1 Sports There’s an age when a small amount of freedom and the issuing of a certain plastic card convinces us that we’re completely invincible. Those teenage years make you feel as though you could go

Getting lost in a big-dollar car build that spans years and swallows the entire contents of your wallet, time and time again, is something that is all well and good if you have the budget and patience, but what if you had limited funds and wanted the

NAME: BROOKE BURMESTER // AGE: 20 LOCATION: CHRISTCHURCH // OCCUPATION: SALES NZ Performance Car: Hi, Brooke. Tell us how you got into cars? Brooke: Hey, NZPC. Since I was young, my dad has always had nice cars, motorbikes, and jet skis — basically a

NAME: DOMINIC GRIFFIN // AGE: 24 LOCATION: TAURANGA // OCCUPATION: ELECTRICIAN NZ Performance Car: Hi, Dom. Can you recall when you first discovered drifting? Dom: Hey, NZPC. Yeah, I used to go along with mates to a few of those old gymkhana days at

At Paddon Rallysport Group (PRG), the past month has been full on with various motorsport projects on the go at our Highlands Motorsport Park facility. Our core project — New Zealand Electric Vehicle Rally Car 1 (NZEVRC1) — has been making steady pro

NAME: JAMES HORNER // AGE: 25 LOCATION: CHRISTCHURCH // OCCUPATION: ENGINEER NZ Performance Car: Hi, James. You’ve owned your fair share of Toyota steel. What made you buy this KE35 and how long have you had it? James: Hey NZPC. I’ve always wanted a

In a field of much newer, far bigger-budget cars, Chris Henderson and his Midway Motors LS-powered AE86 were the underdog that delivered a violent attack to its competition in the South Island Endurance Series (SIES). For their efforts, they tucked t