Monthly Archives: November 2012

LM GT4’s and old school RG’s at the Import Monster tent. Lovely.

V8 in this 180sx. Check the pod filter! It’s the biggest I’ve ever seen!

This R35 was a nice streeter.

HRE Wheels looked real nice .

Quick scrutineering…

…and I was free to play.

Rob and I snuck out of the office today to check out the Import Monster Skylines Australia Nationals 2012 at Wakefield Park. The SAU Nats go for 3 days. Track Day Friday, Drags on Saturday and Show n’ Shine Sunday. A massive weekend for the Skyline obsessed.

Rob and I planned to get there at around lunch time. This morning people on facebook were already reporting rainfall at Wakefield. I hadn’t fired up the GT-R in over 5 months, it needed a wash so I gave it one, in the rain!

A block out of Maroubra and I couldn’t see a thing. My windshield had fogged up bad and I don’t have a demister, so I had to drop the windows which got my interior pretty damn wet! I had thoughts of turning around and jumping in the EVO… but I pressed on.

Driving on the highway on Semi slicks is bad enough as it is, add rain and it’s a pretty shit experience. I hooked up with Rob at the Mobil on Pheasants Nest, he then jumped in the GT-R and we were off to Wakies. With the windows cracked open (to stop the windshield from fogging up!) and the road noise from the semis we had to shout to chat (haha). No stereo either, because race car.

Amazingly when we got to Wakefield the sky opened up and the sun came out to play. I got a session in. I was never going to belt out a PB so I didn’t bother with a transponder. I also opted to drop in to group 3 with guys who were doing around 1.15/lap and had a blast. Fresh tarmac meant slippery corner exits on turn 2 and the fish hook especially. Was fun to keep the boot in and have the wheels spinning out of turn 2 though. :)

A great day out despite the conditions. Many rad photographers out there today so be on the lookout for more pictures on the net over the next few weeks.

More of my pics and commentary on Zen Garage.

I always try to stay back a little before leaving work. If I leave at 5pm sharp the traffic is stupid, 5.30 is a little better, 6.30PM it’s usually a great run home. Tonight was one of those nights where I dunked a beer and stayed back a little. Just when I exited Zen Garage there was a Paddy Wagon in the left lane. They were going left. I was going right onto Balmain road, but once the light went green they flashed their lights and followed me left.

I pulled over in a bus lane and a young male cop came up to the window and said my wheels were too big. In a calm fashion I explained that they’re of a legal size. He asked if I had anything to drink, yes I had, breath test, AOK. He then got me to hop out of my car. At this stage his partner, a young female, was quite excited at how low my car was, and was pointing at the rear tyre and guard. They were concerned that the tyre was underneath the guard, she then started trying to poke her pen into a non-existant gap.

I tried to explain that whilst yes, the car is lowered, the lowest point of the car exceeds 10cm. She was trying to tell me the gap between the tyres and the guard was not 10cm… I tried a few more times to explain that it has nothing to do with the wheel gap, but the distance form the lowest point of the car to the ground. At this stage he mentioned he’d have to give me a defect, to which I mentioned that I run Zen Garage around the corner, and insisted that it’s not about the gap between the tyre and the wheel arch, and I asked them to please check my record, it’s clean. I’m 37, and I’m not a hoon.

He ended up checking my record, and came back to let me know that he’s not a mechanic, so he called highway patrol, who would be there in 10 minutes. 15 minutes later (felt a LOT longer as Balmain road is crazy busy and I copped a lot of stares form cyclist, pedestrians and drivers sitting in traffic) hwy patrol got there, had a few laughs with the cops that pulled me over, then proceeded to check my car from behind.

They asked me to pop my bonnet, which I took as an opportunity to hop out of my car to have a chat. Factory intake, nothing out of the norm here sir. Car is lowered so it corners better on the circuit, it’s not lowered for looks alone, the younger of the two hwy officers understood this. I also explained that the car looks lower in the rear, but it’s not, the chassis is parallell to the ground. I re-iterated all that stuff about my age, that it has been set up for fun on the circuit, that the tyres don’t rub as they’re damn expensive tyres, and that the car is dead quiet. He asked me to turn the car on, we moved to the back of the car and he agreed, it was quiet enough. I mention the 10cm rule, and he grabbed a plastic breathalizer tube, which he said was 10cm, and said this should fit under your lip. It juuuust fit. I shat my pants a little, but laughed out loud (what a relief), and suggested that yup, I knew what I was doing!

He then proceeded to tell me that they’re great cars these EVOs, and that he does pull over a few of them, but more because their owners are driving recklessly. I told them all I understood why they pulled me over, it’s low, has a big wing, etc… and that if I had the cash I’d be driving something more invisible, like a C63!

The young officer who initially pulled me over thanked me for being patient for the HWY Patrol to get there, and then apologised for wasting my time, and then I was free to go.