IDA Drift day

So a few weeks ago there was an IDA drift day that hit wakefield park in goulburn and i thought i'd might as well post up a few pics.

Photos are courtosy of the ever talented Chelsey Kosalka, if you want to check out some of her other fine work, hit up her facebook.

 

 

 

A somewhat wet and miserable day, though time spent on track beats time off any day of the week.

With any luck by the next drift day we'll have some stickers for you guys to bomb with, so keep checking back here to know what to look for!

 Stay sideways

-Willie

Question of Questions

If, like us here at BadNewsPanda you like cars, you’ve pondered over a particular question, plunged down that dark rabbit hole into a world that many of us have been through, do we go for ease of column A, the cool of column B or the ever elusive column C?  Such is the predicament of us in the automotive scene, it doesn’t matter what religion you follow be it hurtling down the 1320, smashing corners in a track demon or hitting an apex at 120 sideways, which car should I do it in?  The question of which platform to go with is sometimes a hard one, though if your loyal to a specific automotive stable the decision becomes much simpler. 

Brett of Reborn and Newgel fame, wants a car in which to drift, and as a man with a penchant for Nissans he has shortlisted his decision, and this decision, dear reader, will ultimately be yours.  Oh yes friends!  You’re the one that ultimately decides his drifting fate.  But whoa ho! Let’s not get to the amazing amazement just yet, as there were a few more front runners vying for some well-deserved sideways love.

Having owned a Mazda previously, Brett was quite familiar with rotors, also handy when you work down the street from a well renowned rotary tuner.  As such, he looked around and did a bit of research on FC rx7’s, although a totally different chassis to the series 2 he owned prior, he felt it wouldn’t take too much to get used to the motor and its handling.  However the FC wasn’t to be as this car is to be streeted, and driving a ported, flame throwing rotor to work every morning would garner too much attention from the local PD, not to mention the massive hole in his pocket due to petrol prices.  Send in the next one!

Another runner up was the ever classic KE70 corolla.  Having recently discovered the nimble goodness the old rolla possesses and being quite impressed by a little yellow example at a recent drift comp, Brett quickly started more of his research.   Sure the 4AGE is quite the screamer and gets up when it wants to but Brett didn’t feel it had quite the power he was after.  scratch that one

 

So the decision was made to go with the trusty ol’ Nissans, more specifically, those of the S chassis.  I can hear you from here, and I know there are already plenty of Nissans out on track but hey! You can’t really beat the ease and workability of the chassis, not to mention how cost effective they are, too many off the shelf parts to pick from, a plethora of body parts at your disposal and racks upon racks of spares, because let’s face it, shits breaks.

Now that Nissans are the order of the day, three come straight to mind.

S13 Silvia

180SX

S14 200SX (series 2)

The choices pretty much speak for themselves, 180s and Silvia’s are more or less the same, however the prices clearly aren’t.  In my opinion 180s look the goods regardless but you really can’t go past a Silvia on pricing, 200s on the other hand are coming down in price lately and a good one won’t be too far off, however they do have more to offer than the latter two.  One thing is certain, they must be manual and SR powered.  That being said, if a cheap Silvia pops up and Brett finds himself a suitable candidate for a heart transplant, which could well be on the cards. 

 

So it’s up to YOU planet earth, what car will Brett and the team from NewGel be dealt with??

 

Hit up our Facebook to vote, and like our shit while you’re at it!!!  

-Willie

Zenki....the story so far

Ok, so its about time I threw up some photos of my beloved 200.

She was bought off a friend of mine after he picked it up as a stolen recovered vehicle, needed a few things here and there, though things looked pretty good, it was a standard burgundy affair and things looked pretty .... standard

Being in my first year as an apprentice spray painter I was quite eager to get my hands dirty, I needed something a little different, a bit of love or hate kind of swag would do the trick.  Being obsessed with the Fatlace S14 at the time and I knew I wanted some matte happenings.

So this happened...

So the poor old girl sat around for a few years, sometimes being driven, most of the time not, as it was stolen twice since I've owned it (curse green anyone?).  After moving house a few times and just watching a few track days I knew I had to do something about this thing in my driveway.  So with the meagre funds I have at my disposal i bought myself some 2nd hand supermade goodness, and my lovely girlfriend bought me some lows in the form of brand new crisp BC coilovers last Christmas.

So the old girl looks like this...

And so the saga continues, more will be done to this magnificent magnificence in the future, as well as updating pics, however I have a trip to Bali to save for at the moment, so these things will have to wait.

Also thinking of changing the colour.....Thoughts?

- Willie

take to the streets

yo, ok, so i know things have been prrrty slow around here but thats only because things have been going so fast... or something.  working on my own car would be one, pics coming soon, also a small project im painting for a mate happens to be taking residency in the garage, pics also coming soon.  ive also started my new job at Newgel, after starting my apprenticship there i knew that getting asked back was a big deal for me, career and otherwise, i know that they're a crazy good bunch of people and i look forward to working with them again.  check out their website here.

so while your waiting, ive thrown together a few photos i have from a cruise a few of the boys went on a while ago. enjoy

-Willie

HEY YOU

PROJECT SIR LANCE-A-LOT COMING TO A BLOG NEAR YOU!!!!!!

MOAR low, a little moar low

New guy at work has something coo… me wants

 

Rhys picked up this special little truck with much of the hard work done, including the notch, bags and tubbing.

 

 Like I said in the last post, unfinished projects can be a wonderful thing, providing you’re happy with the mods undertaken. 

 

However those bastard gremlins have a nasty habit of peeking their heads out after the purchase has been made.

 

Not happy with the airbags, Rhys had them replaced with slammed specialties items.  As with the bags, the front end received a well-earned face lift with an SR5 replacing the standard panels.

 

 With the new front end on, Rhys felt like it was about due for a full on respray, and BAM!!!  The boring white duco was thrown out the door and covered up with a nice Celestial Blue from the Mazda line up. 

 

Currently the only power mod is a 2 ¾ mandrel bent exhaust system, this is said to change eventually, either in the form of boost or in a grumpy V8 guise.  

 

Upcoming mods include a set of billet rims to fill up those massive arches and accompanying steering wheel.  Though we all know how it goes, it never ends.

-willie

Teaser pic to get you guys interested

-willie

Brett's VP

It started out life in the 80’s as a boring old dunnydore, the staple of the Australian motoring scene and still is to some.  Many died, being thrashed, trashed or just uncared for.  Their relative inexpensive served as a viable tool for young p platers looking for mischievous skulduggery.  Only a few decent examples have survived, one of which is Brett’s VP.

When Brett handed over his hard earned for this commodore he knew he was onto something, to everyone else it looked like another beaten up, stock as a rock VP. But to Brett it wasn’t so, you see he came across this vehicle just at the right time, with Taurus in place with Sagittarius and Venus aligned with mars, magic happens. 

The previous owner had fitted airbags all round and had even made it all legit, unfortunately for him he came into monetary woes. Unfinished projects can be a great thing, especially if the previous owner has done it right and this one was not a bad pick up by any stretch of the imagination.

Coupled with a set of 22’s he had from an old car, the grin on his chin was a mile wide.  Handy then he was a painter by trade.  All that was needed was a slight flare on the front guards and we’re in business.  Slammed ride? Check. Tucked 22’s? Check.  Custom paint? Check.  And with that he pulled the bomb from the brink of motoring oblivion, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the commodore can cruise and hardpark in style once again.

More quality pics to come

-willie

Grey Matter

Well here it is, another automotive blog on everyones favourite Internet, and despite growing concern about North Korea, dramas in Lybia and Kim Kardashians rear quarters I find myself torn.  This creation, the FT-86... or is it the BRZ... Being sold as a Scion something or other.  Well whatever the case may be it seems they're all trying to jump on board the 'lets try and re-create the turbo sportscar era of the 90s'.  Don't get me wrong the new car line ups these days are lacking in decent 2 door sports cars and too focused on white econo-boxes, I'm all about my supras and rx7's but I'm not quite sold on this new era of performance cars.  However you cant argue that, say the R35, isn't fast because it is, I just like things different.  Once upon a time I thought all the old blokes banging on about four speeds and carbies were just not 'getting it' but i guess thats just part of it all.

Call me a purist or whatever but i like my GTR's bare bones, give me an R32 taking Bathurst anyday, or the atmo scream of a stripped EG.  I can hear it now 'but willie, we like our track cars for the daily commute as well, it needs to be comfortable".  For me, this track car in a business suit is boulderdash.

Mind you I'll change my mind next week.

-willie

First and foremost

So as its my first blog entry i thought i'd throw up something half decent.

A while ago i helped a mate of mine paint his commodore,  now i'm not a massive fan of the commodore scene but i'll make an exception for this one, nice paint, kit, bagged with 22's? yes please.

Build pics will follow as soon as i figure out this blogging caper, as will my very own S14, might even swindle some more build pics from a few mates and workshops, see how it goes.

-willie