On Throttle New Zealand

So I've had the Project MR2 for about a month now, and so far it hasn't died on me yet, which makes me think that the engine might not be completely on the way out just yet. The time has been pretty fun learning to drive the MR2. It is without a doubt the best handling car I have owned which is amazing considering how much effort I put into sorting out my previous 2 cars, both Subarus. However it still isn't perfect, it shudders while driving at 110kph  and shudders while making right turns at over 90kph so a trip to my local Beaurepairs is in order for a wheel alignment and balance. Now when I took ownership I was told that it burns a bit of oil, so I put some oil thickener in the engine to hopefully stop this, amazingly it worked and I had no oil burning in the last month/300km, but since I haven't serviced it yet and it was sitting for a while I took advantage of the local Repco having a sale and scored some engine oil and a filter for a great price, along with a...

This week I had the opportunity for a quick drive in the new Ford Fiesta ST and it didn't take long to see the appeal of the hot-hatch category. Until now I'd never driven a real hot-hatch, I'd always thought they had the potential but they had never really been high on my radar. All it took for the Fiesta ST to turn that view on its head however was 1minute in the hot seat near Riverhead. Equipped with a 1.6L Ecoboost engine coupled with a 6speed manual gearbox the little Ford was a blast to drive around the country roads just outside Auckland's North Shore. A few things we noted was that at highway speeds the OE tyres were a little noisy but around town at slower speeds you would be forgiven for thinking the wee Fiesta was having a siesta or more like a hybrid than a hot-hatch. Ground clearance was also potentially problematic for NZ conditions, with the very cool ST only bumpers scraping when we tried to take the ST off into gravel dumps during our photoshoo...

So as per my post a few weeks ago I decided to get myself a project car. Now previously to me a project car has been a car with the end goal of enormous amounts of grunt and cool factor, but this one will be a little different. The car itself is a 1993 Toyota MR2 Targa Top (removeable roof panels) with a manual transmission, 16inch wheels and not a great amount of anything going for it. But that will change. The first plans with this car are to get it road legal. In the state I took ownership it was in a bit of a sad state, lacking in a sealed roof, Warrant of Fitness and registration. Upon taking it to my handy WoF guy Andy @Millhouse Motors in Ashfield Road in Glenfield (09-444-7115) we found the MR2 to be in very good condition, with the only thing needed to get it road legal were tightening the Hand Brake/E-Brake (depending on your philosophical bent) and an update of its Registration licensing fees. The plan for this car is pretty simple. A car that is simple, rel...

Last week I got to drive the new variation of the Toyota 86 during a photoshoot and started thinking about racetracks. So For the next couple of weeks I'm going to try and cover all the aspects of getting yourself and your car onto a local track for the absolute thrill of taking your car to its limits or for a bit of motorsport. This week I'm covering the most basic part of getting onto the track, the track day. So to get started, you first need to pick a track day to participate. www.playdayontrack.co.nz is a great place to start, as well as local car clubs, and in some cases, racetracks themselves host open track days like Hampton Downs in the North Waikato  http://hamptondowns.co.nz/pages/201/car-track-days.htm . Once you have decided on when to hit the track there are a few things you should have covered before you leave the house. 1. Is the car in general good condition?  In order to be allowed out on the track there are basic rules you need to adhere to and ...