By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

I’m not sure what’s in the water in that other hemisphere. But it seems that the New Zealanders and Australians are responsible for some of the fastest Skylines in the world. This R32 belongs to Glen Suckling from New Zealand. It is capable of an 8.02 second runs thanks to its 2.7 litre 1300bhp engine. Judging by this picture, it really jumps off the line but I wouldn’t expect any less with 1300BHP on tap. You can’t just turn up at a drag strip and think you can pull off an 8 second run. It is always a combination of things that allows you to break records. It all starts with a chassis that has been stripped of all its unnecessary metal, while panels like the hood and trunk are replaced with lighter-material items. See more pics and continue reading at Speedhunters.

-by Jeroen Willemsen

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

Back in 2008 this Scorch Racing Supra kind of raised a few eyebrows after its appearance on the Blitz stand at the Tokyo Auto Salon. At the time it seemed strange that Blitz would get involved with a drag project, as interest in the scene has died down in Japan. I originally shot it for Turbo magazine, now long gone since being axed in late 2008, and at the time the car was supposed to be raced within a few months, ready to set those record passes everyone was expecting from it. But nothing really happened for a good two years.

I was very surprised the other weekend in Sendai Hi-Land when out of nowhere it showed up at the strip. I had completely forgotten about it but it looked like the project, after a little pause, is back on track. It was the car’s first outing and it achieved what it set out to do within a few passes, so the Scorch Racing and Blitz guys were extremely happy. The car put down a series of low 9-second runs before recording a 9-sec dead at the end of its first practice day. See more pics and continue reading at Speedhunters.

-by Dino Dalle Carbonare

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

I went to the Petit back in 2008, and this gorgeous video recap of this year’s 12-hour, day-into-night enduro definitely brings back memories. If videographer Jim Perry really wanted some good engine audio, he might’ve given a little more airtime to those Compuware Corvettes, the most badass-sounding cars in the field. But I guess the mood he was going for was a little more atmospheric. Great footage! Via Speedhunters.

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

In a sea of drift S-chassis Nissans it’s not only uncommon to find a drag-prepped 240SX but one that runs 9-seconds and drives on the street is all but non-existent. Truth be told, this car may not actually see the streets anymore since its feature in Modified Mag in 2007. But to this day it still stands out as one of the wildest drag-setup street cars I have ever encountered.

Lighting up the massive 28×11.5 15-inch Hoosier slicks is done with relative ease with the TSI automatic race transmission and PTC high stall racing torque converter. That’s right this car runs a custom race built automatic transmission which helps it lay down consistent low 9-sec passes at over 157mph. Continue reading at Speedhunters

By Peter Tarach

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

I though it was quite interesting how people in Europe fit big Bentley wheels to their VW and Audis like we have seen recently in some of Jeroen’s posts. So I was rather surprised when I saw this Audi A6 Avant in the paddock at Sendai Hi-Land this past weekend sporting a similar style with 20-inch “B” marked wheels at each corner. I wonder if we will be seeing more of this at the Tokyo Auto Salon in January!

By Dino Dalle Carbonare

And how about hot bodies riding in Bentley’s like Nicole Scherzinger.

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

Great shot here of Davey Clarke’s wild turbo KE70 out of Australia. If you think the car looks cool in photos, you should see the video… Photo by Sven Bengtsson.

By Mike Garrett

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

While at Sodegaura the other weekend I was lucky enough to get shown this spotless first generation Nissan Silvia by its owner. The car was still running the first license plates it was ever issued, a rare thing to see in Japan. The original Silvia badge. Looking at such a classic and historical car, I couldn’t help but think it’s a real pity Nissan has no intention of bringing the Silvia back to the masses. With only the Mazda Roadster and upcoming FT86 in the affordable front engine/rear wheel drive market, it would seem a viable enough plan. See more views at Speedhunters.

-by Dino Dalle Carbonare

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

Now that the Honda CR-Z is finally hitting dealer lots here in the US, I’ve started to take quite an interest in the little car. I was browsing the CR-Z section of Minkara earlier today when I found this white car dropped on Buddy Club dampers and equipped with 17″ Volk TE37 SL’s. Looks great doesn’t it? The owner of this car also has an awesome AE86 Levin, so you can expect to see some cool things here.

-by Mike Garrett

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

For anyone who says that the VW scene is boring and predictable, how does this grab you? It’s a MKIII Golf which is now running an aircooled engine which can be found where the groceries used to sit. Now, I’m no expert but I can’t imagine too many scenes where somebody would move the engine from front to rear and even fewer where someone would replace an arguably faster, more reliable engine with an older, slower one. See more views at Speedhunters.

-by Paddy McGrath

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

They say you’re never supposed to shoot into the sun, but somehow this RX2 in Modified Mag came out perfect. Via Speedhunters.