The single biggest reason people have when spending an absolute fortune on their cars must be community. Without these meets, we’d be none the wiser. However, yesterday gave me the opportunity to go and drive Pauls R34 (Silver with NISMO kit) and despite my misgivings when driving someone else’s car, for some reason I felt no reluctance on this occasion.

Pushing approximately 520BHP, it was a staggering lesson to me. I never thought a car could feel so different than mine and where the same clothes. In the world of Skylines, 520BHP is amazingly still average, when stuck on the global tuning ladder. Consider, however, that my car is a measly 400BHP, and the differences become a lot clearer. No driveability was lost with a manic rush to the red line on every gear change. So intense was each ratio, that in 2nd, I regrettably hit the rev limiter, so unawares was I of the speed we had reached in such a short time. And this is without the scramble mode switched on (a temporary increase in boost pressure, call in an afterburner, if you will).

I left dazed and confused. Again. Here I was, only a month or so after I installed the Mines ECU, only to find myself in this pitiful state of lust and wanting. That roof renovation project is just going to have to wait.