Bay driver jan 17 2

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The big small carSubaru XV See page 4

The Weekend Sun Bay DriverPage 2 Friday 17 January 2014 Friday 17 January 2014Friday 17 January 2014

No.1 The Strand, PO Box 240, Tauranga 3140 www.sunlive.co.nz phone 07 578 0030 fax 07 571 1116 email [email protected]

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Reliving the muscle car era

Brought up in an engineering family in Hamilton, Dale Mathers

had oil fl owing in his veins from an early age.

The Tauranga mechanic and long-time fi gure in the Historic Muscle Car scene, was follow-ing in his father’s tracks from an early age – but instead of building farm implements, he was making mini bikes and go karts in his father’s workshop.

Weekends at the old Baypark raceway and Hamilton’s Forest Lake stadium watching his dad doing dirt track speedway racing fuelled his interest in racing. “Motorsport’s been in my blood since a young age,” says Dale, who remembers being mesmerised at 11 watching “loud and spectacular” factory Trans-Am Boss and Shelby Mustangs go head to head.

Ask too many questions about his personal background and he tries to turn the interview back around to the “real star”, the historic muscle cars. It’s the same for the Bay Driver photographer when she visits his workshop and is told to focus on his 1969 Boss 302 Mustang.

Dale followed his father into competitive dirt track speedway racing at 19. About the same time, he was building performance car engines – mainly for Anglias and Cortinas – for himself

and his friends. The passionate Ford fan had been turned on to the brand for its top performing cars at a great price.

In his early years, he went through a series of British Fords from a 105E Anglia through to Fairlanes and his fi rst Mustang, a 1968 J-code fastback he drag-raced at Baypark. In 1984 his passion for cars from the era was boosted when he worked in California for four years, follow-ing the muscle scene at major tracks in the area and exporting Mustangs back to New Zealand.

Dale remembers being impressed by the scene’s focus on fun and offering an accessible recreation outlet.

“We wanted to keep up the fun factor. It was just something not too serious and not too expensive, but there’s always going to be a bit of expense with motorsport.”

Along with Hampton Downs director Tony Roberts and saloon car racing enthusiast and blogger (www.theroaringseason.com) Steve Holmes, Dale has been a driving force behind establishing the non-competition pre-1978 historic muscle car category.

“It’s just about getting out there and having

fun,” says Dale, who himself regularly fi nishes races near the top, including in some events at last year’s New Zealand Festival of Motor Racing and recently in Queensland. He was part of a Kiwi contingent which took it to the Aussies at events in June and July.

“All our cars were competitive [in Australia] and I picked up a win myself, but that’s not what it’s really about.”

The emphasis is also on sticking with the original setup for the 1965-1978 era cars, only allowing parts and material available from the factory.

“It’s all about authenticity” says Dale, requir-ing everyone to stick to the 1967 FIA Group 2 rules for modifi ed saloons, ruling out big spoil-ers, modern brakes or suspension and requiring original body work and 15 inch wheels.

Dale, who specialises in cars from the era at Coastline Automotive, will be return-ing to the track at Hampton Downs today for the annual festival of motor racing. There will be two muscle car events every day of the festival, which runs during two weekends on January 17-19 and January 24-26.Fellow Western Bay historic

muscle car fans Peter Steven-son (Mustang), Kevin Gimblett

(Camaro) and Gary Raiti (Falcon) will be joining him on the track, with the 3000 cc-plus classics going up against the feisty Escorts, Minis and other smallbore racers in the Historic Saloon and GT class. Dale says the combination creates exciting racing, with the smaller cars faster on the corners.

Australian drivers have taken part during the last two years – including seven last year – but the grid will be limited to Kiwis this festival, with a visiting contingent every second season cutting the cost of bringing cars over.

But when it comes down to it, how do these historics stack up on the track? “It all depends on your diff settings, but I’ve done 260km/h – not bad for an old dinosaur,” says Dale, about his Mustang. By Hamish Carter

The Weekend Sun Bay Driver


SPECS

Looking for a mid-size car with a bit of funk? Something that has more

space than the standard four-door, a bit more zizz than the usual family shopping cart and looks really hip?

More importantly, do you want stunning handling that has been likened to the legendary WRX?

This is one hot little number from Subaru that could be the answer to all your questions. The WRX’s little sibling, the new XV handles as well as it looks. Okay, so it hasn’t got the grunt of big brother but man, it’s nimble! It’s based on the platform and much of the

mechanics of the Impreza, but with a stretched wheelbase, higher ride height and an underbelly on steroids. The result is a striking and stylish SUV with a look and attitude of its own, and performance to match.

The XV is loaded with features, gizmos and all the stuff that technology offers. But all that becomes secondary when you get out on the road and experience the drive. We were impressed with all of the doofl ickies when fi rst seated in the XV, but virtually forgot all about those excellent features once actually driving.

Dream to pilotThis amazing little hatchback, that Subaru

dubs “the big small car” is a dream to pilot.It has the pep of the iconic 2 litre

boxer quad cam chain drive (no cam-belt) engine, plus through a six speed Automatic SLT gear box with the option of paddle shift, for economy and performance.

I reckon the all-wheel-drive is the key to its stunning handling, by putting the power through to all wheels, means that all of the Subaru XV models simply grip and go. It feels perfectly balanced when the power is on and unlike a lot of two wheel drives, there’s absolutely no tendency to pull from side to side. Some of the smaller front wheel drives are positively dangerous, with a heap of power to just the front wheels. Not so the XV. It is so reassuringly stable it’s hard to believe this is a two litre hatch.

Subaru really pioneered the ‘crossover’ concept and have plenty of pedigree in this market, having symmetrical all-wheel-drive is standard in

all of their vehicles since 1997. It’s the sort of joy of performance that

immediately makes you want to forget about writing a review and just head for the hills. The Coromandel, the Kaimais. Even some east coast gravel. A beach or two. This little beastie just tugs at the heart strings, saying “drive me, now.”

And the snow. If ever there was a zippy little mountain machine, it is the all-wheel-drive XV. There are snowboarders in our family who would sell their father to get their mitts on the wheel of one of these.

The other stuffOkay, eventually I have to stop raving about

the handling, to tell you about the other stuff. Because it has heaps of other stuff.

Firstly, the size is really interesting. It’s a little higher than a standard hatch, so you get a bit more space inside, plus a bit better road view than the standard height car. Its ground clear-ance is 220mm, compared with the Impreza’s 145mm. Yet it’s low enough overall to easily reach to load the full length roof rails with boards or kayaks; without the driver having to be from Avatar to reach the roof.

The back seat leg room is truly impressive. You could put a leggy alien comfortably back there. With seats folded down, the cargo area is good for the overall size of the wagon.

Then there’s the features.The three models share the same drive train

and running gear. The other prices refl ect the level of gizmos and cosmetics, with about $4000 worth of difference between models.

The review car was the top-of-the-line ‘sport’ version, for $48,990 plus on-road costs. It has all the fruit, including some things us middle aged codgers hadn’t heard of. Yeah, yeah, we know about Bluetooth. However, we’d never before heard of a car that will read your texts out loud while you drive. Another feature,

a bit startling at fi rst, is its clever fuel-saving attributes which help it achieve around 7 litres/100km – turning off the engine while stopped on the foot brake at traffi c lights. Once it detects a change of pressure on the brake, it instantly and indiscernibly starts up again, ready to rock off the line.

The XV-S has the works. Leather, sunroof, tinted glass, GPS, dual climate air, heated seats… and the list goes on and on.

There’s the L model, which has some of those, priced at $44,990. Then the base model for $40,990 and a manual six speed at $38,990 (all excluding on road costs).

Our test car’s controls and displays were a delight. The moderate-size dash screen doubles as a GPS map and a backing camera, and there’s another screen display above it, set further back, with every conceivable piece of information you could possibly need. And some.

This is certainly a car for the technology fi ends out there who love to connect, interact, communicate and drive like a trendsetter. Certainly, it is well pitched to the upwardly mobile young market; yet held plenty of appeal to us ‘more seasoned’ drivers.

Happily, it’s also a car to celebrate that almost forgotten pleasure – the joy of excep-tional handling! The suspension is fi rm and perky, noticeably tuned to cope with the slightly higher centre of gravity.

You know, the buzz we used to get from tight cornering, balanced and smooth power delivery and those other tactile sensory experi-ences – before the invention of Playstation.

Right, there’s a lot more to this little big car that I just don’t have time to explain right now. Talk to Darrel at Farmer Autovillage to fi nd out more for yourself. I’m running out the door for another drive, before I have to give it back.

By Brian Rogers

The real play stationThe real play stationThe real play stationThe real play stationSubaru XV

Engine: 2.0i Horizontally-opposed Boxer

4-cylinder petrol engine.

Power and Torque: Maximum power output

(DIN) kW/rpm 110kW@6200rpm. Maximum

torque (DIN) Nm/rpm 196Nm@4200rpm.

Transmission: 6 speed SLT manual transmission,

with paddle shift.

Fuel Economy: 7.0L/ 100km

Safety: 5 Star ANCAP safety rating, 7x Airbags,

ABS, EBD and Brake Assist, Rear View Reverse

Camera.

Price: 2.0i 6 spd manual $38990. 2.0i 6 spd

SLT $40990. 2.0i-L 6 spd SLT with paddle shift

$44990. 2.0i-S 6 spd SLT with paddle shift (top

spec model) $48990.

The Weekend Sun Bay Driver Page 5Friday 17 January 2014 Friday 17 January 2014Friday 17 January 2014


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*Simply pay one third deposit, one third in 12 months and the final third at 24 months with 0% interest. Offer valid on NZ new Subaru Forester, Outback and XV models. Vehicle must be sold at RRP and is not available in conjunction with any other special, discount or promotional offer. Normal finance company lending criteria applies. Offer excludes lease, fleet, government and rental purchases. Excludes on-road costs and accessories. A Document Fee and PPSR fee of $385.00 incl GST applies. Valid until 31st March 2014 or while stocks last.


FROM

When it comes to student projects,

it doesn’t get much better

than designing your own car.

And that’s exactly what two Tauranga

engineering students have just done. Ben Jackson and Kevin Duncan completed

the fi nal year of their engineering degrees by taking to the track racing their Waikato University-designed car in Melbourne. They are part of the university’s six-member design and build team which fi nished sixth out of 23 Australasian university teams in the Formula SAE competition.

Ben says the team, the smallest in the Society of Automotive Engineers competi-tion, is delighted with their result after the university’s team fi nished 13th the previous year – and were the top-ranked Kiwis.

“We got to put into practice a lot of the skills we have learned during the last years and build a race car that performed amaz-

ingly in the Australasian event. How exciting is that.”

Teams were given a brief to design and build a single-seat open-wheeled race car that would appeal to weekend racers. Cars had to comply with set rules, including using any engine up to a maximum of 610cc. They designed and constructed the chassis, drive train, suspension, steering and bodywork to meet these regulations.

Ben is particularly impressed with how the better electric cars in the competition per-formed, with the best electric model (RMIT University) achieving 10th place overall, saying it shows they can compete against petrol cars on cost and performance.

This year Ben, who returns to Tauranga to

do a PhD in titanium powder metallurgy in conjunction with TiDA, says he also enjoyed working on the project’s commercial aspects – including attracting sponsorship, controlling costs and designing for marketable appeal. Teams are judged on design, business and cost presentations, while the cars are also put through their paces with brake, noise and tilt tests, along with an autocross, 30-lap endurance, accel-eration and skid pan events on the

track. The Waikato university team’s core six members were joined by three helpers in Melbourne.

Designed for accelera-tion rather than a high top speed (150km/h), the car’s impressive power to weight

ratio – similar to a Ferrari 360 – give it acceleration of 0 to

100km/h in under four seconds. Team members began working on the

project together last March, with Ben taking responsibility for the electrical system while Kevin took charge of dry-sumping the Suzuki GSR 600 engine so it ran more reli-ably in the car.

Ben says the project is a real team effort, including critical help from the University of Waikato as well as sponsors, Stain-less Design, Waikato Bearings, OEX and Mainfreight.

Students racing ahead

Waikato’s car and team members (from

back left) Brad Webb, Ben Jackson, Isaac Hayes, Kevin

Duncan, Sam Brien; (front left) Michael

Hoogendoorn, Daniel Lamb and Avinash Chavda. Absent; Mark Shrimpton.

Teams are judged on design, business and

ably in the car.

is a real team effort, including critical help from the University of Waikato as well as sponsors, Stain-less Design, Waikato Bearings, OEX and Mainfreight.

By Hamish Carter



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Motorsport mania is set to grip Mount Maunganui bigger than ever this weekend with an all-star line-up

of drifting and extreme sports producing New Zealand’s newest

action sports festival.This weekend sees the return of the D1NZ

National Drifting Championship to ASB Baypark – but in a highly-anticipated twist a NZ Allstars event comprising of freestyle motocross, BMX, and skate and scooter riders will make its maiden appearance.

D1NZ Events Limited chief executive Brendon White says more than 300 com-petitors will be on hand to thrill the crowd during the two days including 70 drifters,

50 BMX riders from New Zealand and Aus-tralia and 15 FMX riders. Brendon says NZ has been without an annual X Games-style extreme action sports event since the demise of Vodafone X-Air – and the unique mix of motorsport action at the combined event will fi ll the gap.

“What the X Games did in the [United] States and Vodafone X-Air did here was provide a focus for athletes from all of the different disciplines,” says Brendon.

“That's what we’d like to do with New Zealand Allstars – and that’s why we've had such a positive response from the key people in the various disciplines. The talk down in Tauranga is quite big, but the talk nationally is quite big as well.”

With pre-sales on a record high for the

star-studded event, organisers are confi dent they can accommodate a 12,000-strong crowd – up on last year’s sell out 7500.

For the new, combined event, the drift course will remain in the carpark area and there will also be FMX ramps for crowds to watch. Inside, in the 3500-capacity ASB Arena, the country’s largest temporary ramps will be set up for the BMX, skate and scooter competitions.

“It is looking like the locals are going to open their arms and come along to the event. Everyone is really keen to pitch in and help because Tauranga doesn’t have a lot of motorsport events of this nature.

“Our plan for 2015 is to grow it to have motocross at the speedway and surfi ng down at the Mount. We want it to be a

multi-sport and multi-venue event.” With such a strong Bay of Plenty drift

scene there will also be strong interest in how Tauranga’s Cole Armstrong, Drew Donovan and Jodie Verhulst will go at the event.

Tokoroa’s Nick Franklin is the rider to watch out for in the country’s fi rst real Pro-Am FMX showdown, with competi-tion set to come from Australian Truman Carroll and high profi le local riders Mitch McHardy and Luke Smith.

In keeping with the theme of action sport competition, Red Bull Thre3style champ DJ Scizzorhands will also host the inaugural New Zealand Allstars Iron Finger scratch battle inside the ASB Arena during the two days.

Current Cody’s D1NZ National Drifting

Championship leader ‘Mad Mike’ Whiddett (Red Bull/Speedhunters Mazda RX7)

leads V8 Supercar ace Shane Van Gisbergen in a battle

at the second 2013/14 series round at Whangarei. Photo

credit: Photo by Fast Company/Erron Soon

Motorsports Mount paradise

By Luke Balvert


Open: Monday-Friday 8.00am-5.30pm Saturday 9.00am-5.00pm

116 Hewletts Road, Mount Maunganui. Tel: 07 578 6017 www.farmerautovillage.co.nz


116 Hewletts Road, Mount Maunganui. Tel: 07 578 6017 www.farmerautovillage.co.nz116 Hewletts Road, Mount Maunganui, Tauranga City Tel: 07 578 6017 www.farmerautovillage.co.nz Follow us on Facebook







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With the summer season upon us, it’s never more important to take it easy on the region’s

roads, says truckie Grant Wharton.Grant, who frequently drives throughout the North

Island, including along narrow winding roads, says impatient motorists are the biggest road hazard that truck drivers face.

“Every week I have at least one close call, or have to take action to avoid a crash because of some driver who can’t wait until it’s safe to pass.”

The Graeme Wright General Carriers, of Puriri near Thames, says the Coromandel’s roads are often the worst – with other tourist-loving regions, such as the Bay of Plenty, also facing lots of traffi c during the summer holidays.

“People don’t realise we know those roads better than they do, and will pull over to let them pass when it’s safe, but many can’t wait.

“They put themselves, the truck drivers and other motorists in danger,” says Grant, who has lost count of the times he’s had to take action to prevent a collision in the last few months, let alone the 25 years that he’s been driving trucks.

Often, it’s the combined evasive actions taken by truckies and on-coming drivers which enables impatient motorists to get past without causing a crash. Grant says it makes him mad others are put in danger and have to pull over, or brake hard, to avoid some idiot who cannot wait.

“I don’t know what the answer is, but I think people have no idea how hard it is to stop a 45 tonne fully-laden truck doing 80 km. We might be able to pull up in 100 to 200 metres, but [the truck] can do a lot of damage to anything in the way in that time.”

Car drivers also don’t seem to realise how risky it is for big trucks to pull too far off the road either – as getting into loose metal or an uneven surface can cause their drivers to lose control.

Motorists can be pretty rude too, says Grant.“Sometimes, when you do fi nally have somewhere safe

to let them pass, they give you the fi ngers as they go by. They seem to think we deliberately hold them up, but we don’t. There are some places where we can’t pull over to let them pass.”

Grant’s advice to drivers is – have consideration and respect for all other road users, “and don’t take stupid risks which put their own and others’ lives in danger”.

By Elaine

Fisher

Not easy to stop – Grant Wharton says trucks, like this one he drives, can’t

be stopped quickly.

Don’t let impatience drive you to take risks

Human body not designed for high speed crashes

By Letitia AtkinsonBy Letitia Atkinson

Police are appealing to motorists to reduce their speed this summer as “the human body is not designed to handle blunt force trauma”.

Bay of Plenty district road policing manager Inspector Kevin Taylor says people need to consider the damage they can do to their bodies and other people if they are involved in a high speed crash.

A campaign, which launched in November, focuses on preventing deaths and injuries by reducing speed, alongside greater visibility of Police.

In a fi rst, the reduced speed tolerance is being extended beyond an offi cial holiday period.

A 4km/h maximum threshold will be enforced on every speed limit nationwide by Police throughout the whole of December and January.

“It’s just another step to making roads safer in New Zealand, of which Bay of Plenty is a part,” says Kevin.

“The open road speed limit of 100km/h is the maximum – it’s not a target, it’s the maximum safe speed in most circumstances you can travel.”

Kevin says police know from their experience with holiday week-ends during the last two to three years that when they introduce a lower speed tolerance, by in large, people abide by it and the results speak for themselves.

“We have had some outstanding results positively on the road toll when we have introduced that,” says Kevin.

“How it will stack up longer term, as the commissioner said, lets trial it and see what happens.”

Kevin says two months is a long time when previously the toler-ance has only been done for a long weekend, but it’s worth a try.

“If you were a family member of someone who was going to be around for the holidays, who could potentially otherwise not be here; then you would be quite thankful for it.”


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