Was a pleasure being here on the 22nd. Weather was absolutely freezing because the sun had burnt through any cloud cover. But nobody cared because the company and conversation was superb. I am very happy to find that the Skyline boys are totally cool.

Lingering memories:

Shin’s Mine’s demo car
Absolutely monstrous. With an alleged 520 BHP, this was without doubt the fastest R34 I’ve been in in that power range. As Shin says, “It’s not about power. I’m not interested in figures. What makes it for me is the application of all its components and the driveablilty”. With replacement Mines carbon propshafts and flywheels, low down pick up was drastically superior to anything else I’ve been in with that much power. Quite often you find that when going for big power figures (470BHP+) compromises are made in low down real road drivability with the turbo only really assisting the engine above 4000rpm. This Mines car had none of these compromises, foot down in 3rd gear at 2000rpm proved astonishing pick up. Running a stage 2 Mines ECU, the car also looked the part with a full repertoire of Mines carbon exterior goodies, such as the spoiler and wing mirrors. It’s cars like this that prove my theory that less is more. A decently sorted 400bhp Skyline will, in real road conditions, be substantially quicker. Where can you hit 6000rpm in 3rd in central London?
Details on Shin’s company are on his website: http://www.prospec-ms.co.uk/

Paul’s UK R34
Take a standard (!) UK Middlehurst car in silver, send it back for a 550 BHP conversion and a full Nismo bodykit and you end up with a truly juicy car. Decked in Nismo wheels, side skirts and Nismo front bumper, the car lost a lot of it’s clean lines in place of more aggression. A perhaps more suited character for this car. Looked awesome and sounded great too. Top chap too =)

Grasshopper waiters
Quite often felt like I was in an episode of Twin Peaks. Strange people.

Camaraderie
Outside of the SIDC (Subaru Impreza Drivers Club), this level of friendliness has not been evident for a while. No apparent competitiveness that is also very active in SIDC.

Just being a Skyline owner
But then this is what it’s all about, eh?