Event>> Nz Nationals Drag Cars

Sometimes people come up to us and ask "what exactly is the purpose of Speedhunters… why are we doing this? What is this project all about?" The answer to this question is not simple… on one hand "we", as in the Need for Speed team are connected into all sorts of automotive scenes, events, teams and manufacturers around the world, so we thought it would be exciting and interesting to start documenting our travels in photography, writing and video…. on the other hand, we also have this lofty goal of creating a global vision of different automotive scenes around the world, one free of dogma, boundaries and nationalities. Sounds pretentious I know….

For example… I personally find it quite interesting to look at the global state of sport compact drag racing as a whole…. On the professional side, the scene has been on a downward trend for some time in the US of A and Japan, but in the UK, Australia and New Zealand there seems to be no shortage of new, crazy Sport Compact builds tearing up the quarter mile!

While the US sport compact drag scene has always based its foundation on hoards of front wheel drive Hondas, the NZ scene is far more varied and eclectic.

This is the fastest 240Z drag car in the world BTW…. it was an 8.71 second car last year, and from what I can tell, has been heavily updated for the 2009 season.

RIPS are world famous for their RB engine builds and this 1000bhp+ monster engine is no exception…

Another member of the 8 second club is this GDS Motorsport R32 GTR. What is cool is that this is still a real car! Not a Skyline shaped tube chassis….

Last year's best time for this front and back halved drag FC was an 8.48 pass…. Look ma no wheelie bars! Wwwweeeeee!!!….

…..apparently it's methanol burning 20B rotory engine is now capable of 1500 hp thanks to a new Garrett T92 turbo…

I assume these ports are for blow off…. love the rotary theme!

You just know if a car has cyclops eyes then it's built for business….

Allister Benson lays claim to have built the world's fastest Mitsubishi Lancer GSR. Based on a 1992 shell, the car is already a member of NZ Performance Car Magazine's 9 second club.   EDIT: Oops got this one wrong…. I should have recognized the engine as a boxer… This is the Speedtech Motorsport prepped Subaru WRX owned by Matt Locke.. Tx to Pedey for the correction…

Two top level Australian drag teams shipped their cars to the NZ Nationals… This is the McKern Racing 1970 RX2 Capella.

It's one of the fastest untubbed rotaries on the planet with a best ET of 8.202 at 164 mph.

Not bad for a chassis which is about to entire its 5th decade!….

Based on the stats I can get from McKern Racing's website, the car's 13B turbo engine is good for around 650 bhp.

In the background, you can see PAC Performance's tube chassis MX6.

This car is the world's third fastest rotary drag car….. Last year it ran a 6.84 at 201 mph…. That's bloody quick!

Serious meats….

What's this? A Falken drag car?

This Intregra was the only drag Honda at the show…. I'm told this is the fastest drag Honda in NZ, but it hasn't seen any strip action for several years…. Apparently there was some connection with Falken previously, athough I didn't find out the full story….

I really like these small, highly modded classis Japanese drag cars….

They are very cool don't you think?

Perhaps you could compare the irony of these machines to the popularity of tubbed Pinto and Vega drag cars stateside….

Most seem to be in pristine condition to boot…. This Datsun "1200" was absolutely mint…

OK here we have another one of these Corollas that's just a few steps away to being the coolest thing on the planet…

What really caught my eye was this sticker…. this little Corolla is a genuine 10 second drag car…

My hosts at NZ Performance Car said that the owner has recently decided to prep the car for drifting…. Hmmmm I wonder if that means they'll get some dish happening with those wheels :>

Here's a look at the engine bay….

OK next we'll look at the drift cars from the show…

:R

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1

Glen Suckling`s Red Baron R32 GTR is the fastest Manually Shifted GTR in the world. Ronnie Lim went as fast as 9.71 if iirc. And Pedey thats Nikki Dunlop`s evo DECPTN beside the subaru not Allister Benson's SLOGSR.

2

Hey Rod,



Just a little correction there, Allister Benson's Lancer GSR is actually the car to the left of the car photographed, which is a wicked Speedtech Motorsport prepped Subaru WRX owned by Matt Locke.

3

Unsure if it was mentioned to you, the Red skyline was a contender for the world fastest GTR, but was just edged out my the other NZ one from Heat Treatments.



Red 240z was street registered to start with, I believe it ran a high 9sec pass in that trim with a 800hp "street" engine



And as for Ronnie Lims Integra, it has run a 10sec pass (9 maybe? cant remember) about 5 years ago, had a turbo B18c with 800+hp

That engine now lives in a street car

4

What motor is that in the last corolla?

5

Neil, its a 20V 4AGZE.

6

98spec, yes Ronnie Lim did run a 9 back many years ago. But weak gearboxs was his kryptonite. Held the fastest Pro-FWD record in Oceania for many years. For such a small country NZ hold numerous world records in sport compact. If you want to see some unique drag cars, NZ and Aus is the place to be.

7

Oh forgot to mention, the 240z did run faster, now down to a 8.2, with more in it. As Ryan pointed out the GDS Skyline is still a manually shifted sequential box and has run 8.02. The pilot Glenn also piloted the Croydon's R32 to a 8.55 on road legal MT tyres to become the world's fastest street legal Skyline back in 2003? (not sure if the record still stands)

8

Bit more info : [T1MID] ran a 10 by Gina Simons (fastest female in NZ in an import for a long time),partner of Andre Simons from STM (SpeedTechMotorsport) in Wellington.Think that title is now held by Nikki Dunlop in her evo after the drags on sunday,running an 8 sec pass I believe?



Pretty sure ronnie's engine is now in Gary's ex K20A EG Civic along with Ronnie's turbo setup backed up by a custom liberty gearbox.



Someone needs to buy Ronnie's integra and Jacky Tse's fully built k24a engine,hardly anyone reppin the N/A Hondas :(

9

Hey Pedey, just a correction, the car to the left of matt's wrx is Nikki's Evo, alistairs gsr wasn't at the show afaia

10

RIPS is famous for building some of the cleanest R34's, remember the Stealth Bomber?

11

Those cars are built so well. Excellent cranftmanship !

12

These our some of the tightest cars I seen before and wouldn't mind seeing them over and over since everyone around here is stuck on hondas and front wheel drive cars not that I hate on them just nice to see someone's own crazy balls out build up also it's very nice to see alot of these show cars since you no they actually get put to use.These our professonal old school builds with all the upgraded technology.

Great Pics !

13

Great selection of Drag cars. The Ronnie Lim honda was painted in Mag and Turbo LIvery, Falken was heavily involved with Mag and Turbo years back with Falken tyres sold throughout their chain. They also have drift and up until this season Sucklings GTR was also in the same livery when it ran its PB.

14

Pedey, hay, is it much of a job to fit the 20v 4age head, onto a 4agze?

Hell, it makes me wona emigrate even more to NZ hehe.



15

who is " WeAreDying "



Would of love to finish my car and drop that engine in..



but time for a change !! GO 4G63 !!





16

Nice pics. There are some very nice sport compact cars in NZ:D



That WRX is owned by Matt Locke, the Lancer to the left is Nikki Dunlop. And pedey Alistairs SLOGSR was at the show, it was in the Performance Car Hall of fame stand, where ronnie's integra was afaik

17

Why no more pics of the Mitsu who's engine you focused on in the first shot?

18

Not sure what the comment about "Skyline shaped tube chassis" is in reference to, if it is anything to do with the misconception that the Heat Treatments GTR is tube frame then you've got your wires crossed. Having a one piece front end is definitely not the same as building a tube chassis.

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