Five years… What a journey its been! Downshift started as a small photo blog published by Rory… Today, it is one of the largest car communities in Australia. From hardparking meets to track days, we do it all and love every bit of it! Last weekend, we were very lucky to be able to celebrate our fifth birthday with our fans and followers. The team wanted wanted to do something next-level to thank all our fans for their support through the highs and the lows that DS has gone through. That is how Cinque was born.
DS Cinque showcased Queensland’s best modified Japanese, Euro and Australian street cars, a couple of World Time Attack race cars as well as a few exotics to mix it up a little.
Andrew who has been a part of the DS team since the beginning brought his time attack prepared Civic out to Cinque. Here it is, parked alongside Abdul’s ridiculously wild supercharged DC2 Integra.
With just under a hundred cars on display, the event was INVITE-ONLY for the cars on show. We also brought you guys something entirely new, with the inaugural Miss Downshift competition.
The Miss Downshift competition was voted on by a full panel of expert judges (trade stall holders from MR Tuning, Exclusive Wraps, and Adam, the owner of GODZLR & FAT GTR). The winner was Kayleigh, who was actually there on the day promoting Jamboree.
Tough gig, but someone has to do it.
Trophies were awarded on the day to cars in the following categories:
Best Stance was won by Jordan Naumov and his Toyota 86, aka ILL86. Sitting pretty on two piece Meisters measuring a frankly insane 18×10 +17 front and 18×10.5 +12 rear, they fit perfectly under the widebody front guards and amazingly, the standard rear guards.
The Best Wheels award went Jake Knight and his bagged Subaru Impreza on custom built BBS LMs with 17″ centers fitted to an 18″ step-lip barrel. LMs are not a very common wheel, which is a pity because they are easily one of the most iconic designs.
Best Engineered was awarded to the Mighty Mouse CRX from 101 Motorsport. Built purely for the annual World Time Attack Challenge, the CRX is a force to be reckoned with. Running a completely dry-sumped K24 with individual throttle bodies and a custom Barry Locke-designed aero kit, it is one of the premier time attack builds coming out of Queensland.
Best Engine Bay was snatched by Brad Gall and his RAMP UP RX3. With no expense spared on his bridgeported 13B build, it looks and sounds the part. Every inch of the motor has received attention, even down to the nuts and bolts being polished. It’s currently making 580rwhp and Brad is hoping for even more! It certainly has the performance to back up the style.
We were also very lucky to have a replica E9 BMW CSL art car that is based on the famous Calder Art Car on showcase at the event. This car took out the most original car of the day. It’s not hard to see why!
Best interior was won by “5KYLRK” whose owner’s focus on interior detail is just on point. The stitching in the seats and alcantara trim intricately matched to the Defi gauges’ colour theme.
The Best of Show trophy was the last one we decided on. With cars on display clearly befitting the trophy scattered throughout the entire complex, it was not an easy choice to make. But there was one car in attendance that could not be overlooked or overshadowed, the one car that truly DID tick every box.
Varun’s BNR32 GT-R is known as ’18OMU’. It is a car that truly has grown with the car scene itself, having changed many times over the years. Its current and final iteration is something only a few would dare to challenge. It sports 1000wkw (yes you read that correctly, ONE THOUSAND WHEEL KILOWATTS) thanks to a stroked RB26, now labelled as an RB28. The engine bay is a lesson in function creating form, the two big Precision 62/62 turbos sitting front and center in the bay. The purple/pink theme, which is the 101 Motorsport work shop colour, runs throughout the bay as well. The exterior is subtle styling creating an aggressive overall package. Never one to sacrifice looks for performance, Varun kept the car slammed on its Rays RE30s wrapped in Mickey Thompson ET Streets. With a custom modified drag wing and easy to remove parachute for street duties, this truly is a car built for the ultimate road warrior title in mind.
Varun has run a best of 9.53 @ 167mph before being kicked out of Willowbank Raceway. He plans to re-attend with an ANDRA accredited car and tackle the times again, but he isn’t fussed, he just loves driving it, and hard.
Jamboree were on hand with a couple of very cool cars, which was fantastic to see. Downshift’s first ever showcase was actually at the 2010 Jamboree Show & Shine, at which we took out “Best Club”.
This little Corolla was a crowd favorite on the day. Listening to the owner loading it up on the transbrake was incredibly cool.
FAT GTR has made a return after a long time away having some very serious wrench time. This is the ‘other’ 1000kw GT-R. With aspirations of 1500hp, we CANNOT WAIT to see what this car does.
With quality paramount at Cinque, there were special cars and parts to be seen everywhere. This shot is one of our favorites, showcasing OEM factory BBSs on a beautifully kept E24 M6, right next to a set of custom built and re-finished BBS RSs sitting on arguably the cleanest car of the show, and the second place runner for ‘Best of Show’, Kapil’s flawless Mk1 Golf.
Tom borrowed some Meisters, swapping out his Rotas just to get into the show. We’re glad he did as his car was on point all round. We loved the Fat Fitment display he had going on, especially the SR20 table.
Ty from Forge Wheels brought his Lexus IS250 along to the show, running an Airrex Air Suspension kit and a set of his custom Bespoke Line wheels. It looked absolutely awesome, tucking so much wheel in the rear.
Matt’s FD sounds excellent, as all rotarys should.
Arif was probably the most talked about man of the show. His infamous SKD55 VE SS showed up in a completely new look, snapping necks all day. Have to give the man props for blowing everyone’s mind.
Next to Arif was Alan in his very well known ‘FAT R8’ Maloo. Both cars were on show at the Show Off Ya Tints stand and they drew big crowds all day. Easy to see why when they have gone against the grain in both their builds respectively.
Was very cool seeing them both cruise in together.
Take a good hard look at Julian’s GT-R. It isn’t a BNR34 like you might think…
Huge thank you to Rosemarie & Tony for bringing out HAH44 and LUC34. Always fantastic to see them continuing the legacy of a true car enthusiast. Story for those unaware here.
Our good friend Jay brought his McLaren MP4-12C down to put on show. Being the nice guy he is, he left the car opened and unlocked so people could experience the feeling of sitting in a $500,000 supercar.
MR Tuning had their iconic Porsche 917 Le Mans replica car on display. Such a historic shape in racing.. And good to see people going to the effort of replicating one so people can experience it all the way over here in Australia. The crowds certainly were not expecting a car of this nature to be on show.
Steve’s R33 GT-R is a very well known car in Queensland – this is truly a no expense spared build. You first notice how involved this build is when you spot the insane Sparco M310 steering wheel and the air jack point on the rear boot. Pushing around 650whp thanks to a T88-34D it is one seriously angry sounding car.
Nathan was possibly the most unexpected entry. Being a Sydney resident we did not expect him to rock up on the day, but when I spotted his car parked in the street I contacted him to park it in the show. A very well known car in the Australian car scene, it was awesome to display it front and center.
As I leave you until next time, from Matyi, Rory, Dan, Andrew and myself, Jared, we just want to thank everybody who has supported us through the last five years. We are hoping the next five are even better!
Thank you also to contributing photographers:
Chris Howard: Sirck. Designs and Images Facebook & Website
Autoholic Photography: Facebook
Dan McColl: Facebook & Website