NZ Performance Car No 284 August 2020

Uncertainty is something that does not sit well with me, so the very fact that each and every one of us has been suspended in a state of uncertainty for the past few months, not really knowing which way is up and which way is down, has been a horrible ride. I’ve spoken about the more serious sides of this in previous editorials, and, thankfully, as we slide on down into Level 1, a lot of this uncertainty has been alleviated and we can all begin to get back to whatever we deemed normal life to be. However, the reality is that that’s just not the case for car people. Yes, we can now all get back together at the track and smash some tyres; bounce off some ripple strips; or…

I told myself that selling my weekend car and not immediately replacing it was a great idea. Imagine all the time and money I would save not having a financial drain sitting in the garage, I thought, then, when I find a car that I really want, I’ll have extra funds and certainty that I’m going to hold onto it. It was great in theory. I waved my Toyota MR2 (AW11) goodbye as the new owner drove off into the sunset and stuck the pile of cash I’d exchanged it for into the bank. Happy as Larry. What a great deal, the greatest, such a great deal. Yay. That lasted all of five minutes, if I recall correctly, and then it dawned on me, what am I going to do…

Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know that the SEMA Show was flooded with mirror-image widebody examples and that there was considerable commentary about it. Now that you’re over the hangover, we’ve got good news for you: there’s an alternative about to hit the market, courtesy of long-time widebody producer Liberty Walk. The company throws its own signature look into the mix and appears to alter the lines on damn near every panel of the fifth-gen Supra bar the roof. All four arches get the hearty serving of extended flares that we’ve come to expect from Liberty Walk, opting for an exposed hardware style. The doors receive a lower cap and feed into low and wide side skirts, while the front bumper is treated to a chunky lip fit back into the flare…

As we finally start seeing things return to normal and motorsport re-emerging from the blank calendar abyss, local governing body MotorSport New Zealand (MSNZ) has announced a massive support package for all its member clubs and competitors — to the sum of $200K. Acting CEO Elton Goonan stated that MSNZ wants to encourage member clubs to begin hosting events again and enable them to offer cheaper entry fees for competitors. There will be a 25 per cent discount on permit fees and participation levies for all events from 20 May until the end of 2020. Competitors will also receive a 25 per cent discount on competition-licence and authority-card renewals until 31 May 2021. The two-event requirement for authority-card renewals has been removed, and the safety audit period extended from 6 to…

Remember that three-part round of fuel-tax increases announced way back in 2018? Yeah, we had to think about it for a second too. This year may have felt like an eternity, but it turns out the third — and hopefully final — increase is set to come into effect in July. It means that Petrol Excise Duty goes up from just over 66 cents per litre to roughly 70 cents per litre and Road User Charges (RUCs) for light vehicles are being bumped up from $72 to $76 per 1000km. That means that you will be paying 70c Petrol Excise Duty per litre of fuel, a further 6c to the ACC Motor Vehicle Account, 66c in Local Authority Fuel Tax, and 6c for the Engine Fuel Monitoring Levy. If you’re Auckland based,…

Despite efforts to see out the final round of the Motul Honda Cup 2019–’20 season at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park, organizers have made the call to close out the season early due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The round was ultimately cancelled because the nationwide lockdown and subsequent restrictions made it too hard to determine when a revised round would be possible. This meant that champions in both the cup’s main class and the N1 category were crowned early. Palmerston North’s Bayley Walker was granted the title in the main class after former points leader Paul Muldoon was docked points after the discovery of a technical breach. Chris Hughes nabbed second place while Andrew Johnston rounded out the podium in third — the pair were separated by just nine points. In…