The fog was still lying thick and cold over the countryside by the time I arrived at QR at about 8:30am. Made for some different lighting I thought. Officials deemed it sufficiently safe to send out the first couple of rounds of cars, making for smooth backgrounds.

By about 9:30, most of it had lifted, revealing a glorious cloudless day.

This brand new Porsche Cup car sounded freaking AMAZING, with an added raspy crispness in the engine note, especially on shifts. The hairs on my arm did stand on end.

This freshly restored fastback Mustang also made its way around the track a few times on its first shakedown run. Thing was mint in every way possible.

Lee next to her car, chatting with friends.

She wasn’t having the best day in terms of laptimes, but the 993 still looked fantastic out on track.

Actually now that I think about it, everyone was super friendly on the day. I spent some time hanging out with the Dellow Racing team, who were even kind enough to take me out in this 997 Cup car. If you’ve never been in one of these, find a way and do it. The traction, cornering and braking will blow your mind. After about 15 hotlaps, I actually felt a bit nauseous from the G-forces, despite a very smooth driver!

Their 996 Cup car.

I even had a chat with the owner of this incredible 599GTB, who was happy to discuss the merits of weight vs power vs torque.

Quite a bit of racing took place. This yellow and black turbo was blowing flames all day, but this proved to be incredibly hard to capture. This is the best of about 300 images.

The drivers got quite sideways too, especially for a rear-engined car, and spun a few times also. I would also like to thank Michael Harris from Promotive Engineering for letting me try out his Bigma and 7D combo.

Ferdinand Porsche would be proud.

Dellow’s 2 Cup cars on the main straight.

How good does this thing look?! Colours and decal are modelled after the Brumos Porsche RSR, which won the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1975 and ’77. Got history?

There’s just something about old school Porsches.

Some pretty rare cars out, like this special edition 996 GT3. One of only 9 in the country.

Even the Lamborghini Club came out to play, bringing a couple of Murcielagos, a few Gallardos, and even a Countach.

The best car of the day, with added stone chips. Just look at those classic lines.

The end of a big day of racing. More to come!

On the streets its not hard to spot a hybrid or electric car. Their mostly boring and attempted futuristic design makes them stick out like a sore thumb – and to most of us car people, we just can’t understand why they don’t make them look normal instead of shouting out “I’M HERE TO SAVE THE WORLD.”

However, in the last few years, car manufacturers have been pumping out some exceptions at motor shows around the world – why can’t these be transferred to road cars? One such example is the Citroen Survolt - spotted in Milan, Italy.

What makes this car special is its ability to emit ZERO emissions and sprint to 100km/h in 5 seconds and onwards to a top speed of 260km/h. Powered by two electric motors, the Survolt pushes 300HP. Not bad. Also, there’s no need to shift: it has continual acceleration driving through just the one gear.

The Survolt pushes the boundaries of what could be the future of cars. Combining both environmental friendliness and what can only be described as sexy design lines that are similar, but executed much better than the awesome Bugatti Veyron. Combine the Bugatti with some Batmobile, and you get the Survolt.

Why we don’t see more of this on our roads is beyond me. I’m sure most people would be happy to save the world if they could roll around in one of these.

The attention to detail and clean lines – amazing and breathtaking all at the same time.

Aggressive stance.

Just to gain a sense of scale – this thing is a tiny pocket rocket.

Yes it stuck out like a sore thumb, but that’s because it had a red carpet. Oh and it looks Angry all the time. But angry can be sexy too – we all knew that.

If the cars of the future keep looking like this then I’ll go out and save the world too.

Jayson Fong.

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Anyway, on with the show. One of Dellow Racing’s 997 race cars.

Red on red. Who would’ve thought it’d look this good?

One of the Coopers’ legendary 993 GT2s

997 GT3RS

The semi-flooded racetrack.

Radical

The classics

The Club President overtaking a competitor.

And last but not least, when have you last seen a 997 on TE37s? Whenever it was, it was too long ago.

The Rocklea Showgrounds would yet again have to prove itself against hundreds of car enthusiasts for the April Downshift Meet, since March numbers were approx ~800 cars. However while rain was predicted, the meet was a go-ahead with expected numbers around 500 this time.

BBQ and DJ were popular last meet and were continued at this one as well.

The meet was taken up a notch, by inviting selected vendors such as Just Car Insurance, TruBluTint, and Fulcrum Suspensions…

…getting amongst the action and crowds.

And speaking of crowds, WOW, despite the high potential for a torrential downpour, the cars just kept coming through the dates.

Charile’s MX-5 drawing a HUGE crowd, the amount of time and hard work that’s gone into it definitively not overlooked. We’ll be doing an article on this car as soon as we’re able..

The Euros making their presence felt more and more at these events, which I like to see!

Another two cars that made heads turn were Rob’s wingless R35…

And the H3KTIC widebody S15.

As usual, there are too many people to thank for putting together such a great meet…

…and these events are becoming well known for their size, but also for the quality and atmosphere they provide. Stay prepped for the next one!

You can find more photos HERE.

WPN26 is an appropriate number plate for this particular vehicle. In the build for over 2 years, this finely honed piece is now pumping out 527hp at all four wheels… But what’s even more impressive is how insanely clean it is, and the shopping list of exotic parts contained within.

Owner Gus has managed to largely undo the damage of 20 years of daily use, as well as increase the power output, reliability and attractiveness of the car. Doing all of these in the one package is orders of magnitude more difficult than just focusing on one aspect. Consider show cars, or sleepers, or track cars. It’s rare to find one vehicle that has everything sorted all-in-one.

But that’s exactly what has been achieved here. When I was writing this article and considering the parts, it dawned on me that every single part has been carefully chosen and considered. It makes you realise you’re looking at something quite special.

The outside is pretty close to standard, but that’s no bad thing when you’re talking about the R32, with its classic shape. Small improvements only involve mirrors supplied by Ganador and a few small carbon touches to highlight factory lines. The CF bonnet lip, Abflug carbon fibre front lip and N1 boot lip complete the subtle exterior changes.

19×10″ wheels fill the guards perfectly for a combination of form and function.

The engine has had quite a lot of work. The block has been decked, honed, bored, tunnelled and chemically cleaned. The crankshaft has been fully prepped with shot-peening for strength, and nitrided for surface hardness. Eagle conrods attach to forged CP pistons and rings, and ARP main studs hold the whole show together.

The top end of the engine houses 280 degree cams, Splitfire coils and HKS double valve springs. Valves have received a 3-angle grind. Stuff that’s more obvious up the top involves a polished Garrett T04Z turbo, strut brace and catch can, and colour coded intake manifold, rocker covers and strut brace ends. Looks-wise, I’d have to say this is one of the most attractively presented engine bays I’ve ever seen, with the right mix of polish and colour.

Auxiliaries include an N1 water pump, Tial BOV, 48mm Turbosmart wastegate and HKS intercooler with hard pipe kit. Lubrication is handled by a GReddy oil pump, and baffled sump.

The fuel system hasn’t been neglected, with the proven Bosch 044 pump pushing the jus through stainless fuel lines, into the motor via a billet fuel rail and Sard 870cc injectors.

Exhaust is 4″ fat all the way through a metal cat, culminating in a 5″ tip on the muffler.

Handling is taken care of by high end Bilstein coilovers and adjustable camber arms front and rear.

Interior is close to OEM, with just a few additions, such as the Turbosmart eBoost, HKS timer. A trio of Stewart Warner gauges monitor oil and water temps and pressures. The sound system is also in there with an Alpine headunit, 2 amps and Type-R speakers and sub, but to be honest, I’d rather listen to the sounds of anger coming from the engine bay.

A Mine’s OEM-look cluster finishes the fitout.

This is definitely one of the most impressive all-rounder cars we have featured over the years. Thanks are in order to Andrew Foy for his assistance, Gus for his patience on the shoot, and Sarah for her sunny demeanour. Always a pleasure guys.

This is from about the middle of the car park showing the size of the meet. You can see a blue and white building down the back, that is where the cars first parked when the meet started.

We are towards the bottom of the car park here. Designated parking spots ran out so people we parking on the grass just to fit everyone in.

Walking through the car park it was hard to decide what cars too photography, there were that many. This clean S13 caught my eye, with its simple and clean modifications.

One of the many stanced cars present at the meet. Good thing about this car is the stance is functional, car is a daily driver as well.

This clean Toyota Corona is actually running a Nissan RB20 under the bonnet. Owner got pulled over once and the cops didn’t even notice that the engine was different.

FD3S RX-7 running a full RE-Amemiya wide bodykit. This car could be spotted a mile away with the bright yellow paint and gold RE30s.

A totally unique set of wheels.. must be annoying to clean these though.

This NSX caused quite a stir on arrival and it’s easy to see why. With its loud paint and widebody kit, it’s hard not to notice it. It has a full digital dash installed and apparently is turbocharged as well.

One for the classic Z-car fans, is this work-in-progress S30 240Z. The flat grey and black work very well on the lines of this car. The wheels are not for everyone, but I reckon they suit the car.

The every popular MX-5 had a good presence at the meet and this is one of the best examples. As I was taking the photo, a guy walked past and told his mate “that car is fat, it is just fat”. Thought it sounded perfect for the car.

One for the domestic crowd, running a set of Varsstoen wheels.

A classic combination that works so well with the MX-5 platform.

Ever popular BBS wheels. Set is all custom built with bigger lips and barrels.

More BBS love for you.

Sergio recently purchased this S15 after the previous owner decided to move on after completion. The car came with a the ever popular Vertex Ridge Widebody kit an a crazy Midnight Purple paintjob. Car is running a set of SSR Professors measuring 20×10.5+5 in a custom finish.

Below you can see just how complex the midnight purple paint job is.

Overall a very successful meet from the JDMST, Top Secret Imports and Driftmob crews. There was a huge turnout and good money raised for Variety Children’s Charity. The venue was just big enough to fit the estimated 1500+ cars in attendance. Here’s hoping with some more planning and volunteers the next end of month meets can be even bigger and better!

Most of the rides were Nissans in various states of tune, from mild to hardcore.

The turbo on this was MUCH bigger than my head. Unfortunately the car seemed to be having some wiring issues on the day, so didn’t get a chance to see it tearing up.

Some of the cars out were absolutely EPIC. Nick with his 997 turbo, rocking a mixed Vorsteiner and Techart body kit. This shot was post-skidpan.

GT3 RS out doing what it does best. Check out the front clearance under braking, crazy.

Not your usual track car, but nonetheless the owner of this V8 Vantage had serious pace on the track. Posting some very fast lap times.

Dan Batchelor’s mint S15. One of the first cars I have seen in Queensland rocking the new Work Meister S1R’s, they definitely look the goods.

It may look very subtle, but this Evo VI was one of the fastest cars on the day.

Sean’s Ford Anglia with an NA SR20 and weighing just under a tonne with Sean in the driver seat. Good to see you out again mate.

Not every day you get to see something this rare. A genuine HDT VE Group A SS ‘Blue Meanie’. Easily one of the best sounding cars I have ever heard.

Loz’s S14, sporting satin pearl white paintjob.

Great drift demo by Levi after having an unlucky morning with his Soarer.

Ash came out with his K20 EG with ITBs. He placed 7th overall, out of the whole field. Awesome times man!

We even managed to drag Rory out of his cave! I think he was all over the cruise/rolling drag part of the day, surprising many cars in his Golf.

Yours truly giving the skidpan a go.

Peace!

Rad rolling shot!

Baller.

Heh heh…

How sick is this Mark 1??

Nice set man, thanks for sharing!!