Rally Japan is one of my favorite events this year, and in 08 is the penultimate round before Rally GB in December. Based in the forests of Hokkaido the gravel event always throws up some tricky and unique climate conditions. SS3 & SS7 have already been canned with a heavy coating of snow causing safety concerns. Just drive on it, the real stig would

Scored myself this Suzuki Swift Cup jacket for winter, its pretty damn warm thanks to the postman for leaving it outside in the rain though. It’s been roughly 4 degree’s C all day and my car didn’t fully defrost till around lunchtime.

Jay wouldn’t be impressed with how dirty my car is, pretty quiet lately I hate October-November although my Wales Rally GB tickets should be here soon.

The years pretty much winding down so I figured i’d start with my top ten cars from 2008 it takes a lot to impress me these days as i’ve seen various theme and scenes done to death over the year, yeah you might thing your edgy with chrome lipped wheels but so does every Vauxhall Corsa in the UK. This is the first of ten cars, i’ve featured it before but its worth the recap.

More often than not the best tends to be outside of the show scene and tucked up inside an enthusiasts garage like this stunning R34 GTR. I spied this at the currently defunct Guys Court meet which used to be heald monthly by some members of the Skylineowners club.

Subtle details like the Top Secret rear defuser really set the car off i’m guessing by the stance this was raised to get into the carpark but those dished Volks look hard.

Top Secret aero at this end and what look to be Top Secret bonnet pins

Nestling behind the rims are a set of Top Secret calipers

Guys is scheduled again for November, maybe i’ll see it again before the years up

Not much going on lately been doing some planning for Wales Rally GB which im super excited about, and its literally rained all week I envy you guys in Southern California right now because the garden is flooded and its pitch black outside.

Just to counteract the bad weather here’s Apex performance’s Silvia barbecue being towed by a time attack car LOL this was towed all the way from the North of england to JAE and back

So thats a table, a barbecue and a mini fridge

Last Saturday was the Scoobyteknix charity run in Blackpool followed by a run from the illuminations, if you’d read my previous report you’d know a run through the lights never really works and it didn’t this time either really.

Some pretty nice cars and a decent turnout and always with good company, the event raised a decent amount for the charity too which is great

I still dig the bugeye’s they were always the ugly duckling of the lineup but in STI form with the smoked lights they look great

I really like this car, RA’s are hot and proper wheels too

This was my first chance to take a look at Neils completed Eclipsemotorbodies Impreza some of the details on this car are superb, if you’d read the project thread on this you’d know how much time,effort and expense went into the project.

New 08 WRX STI its funny I hated these in early January but they’ve grown on me especially in white, not digging the mudflaps though.

Legacys are pretty rare round the area so its great to see one now and again

Dave’s immaculate Subaru Impreza P1

Immaculate RB320 completed with bemused passenger

Dads Impreza WRX STI he’s going for the extra downforce by having the boot open here

One of a pair of white STI Ra’s His and hers

Meets always seem to end at Mcdonalds lately and i’ve no idea why

 Ken Block took a well earned victory on the Lake Superior rally in Michigan with Kyle Sarasin taking second and Travis Pastrana taking third.

Travis is what the WRC needs right now, the sport lost a showman with Colin Mcrae’s passing, Travis is due to enter this years PWRC on Wales Rally GB after a strong 11th position last year. Both Pastrana and Block have had a tough year in the PWRC so wish them luck.

Congratulations to Travis Pastrana on wining the 2008 Rally America championship

Ken Block lights ablaze on one of the night stages i’ve a bit of a PIAA lamp fetish on the quiet, a rally car isn’t a rally car without a lamp-pod

Travis kicks up the dust with legendary American rally John Buffum co-driving, having sewn up the title Travis could really have fun on this round.

Kyle Sarasin and Mikael Johansson punch some air in their rookie season

Patrick Moro and Mike Rossey finished 6th in their production GT Impreza, I still really like the bugeye the shape was panned by critics in the UK but with the right headlights they look great

I’m really impressed with the photography from this years Rally America championship, photo’s courtesy Subaru Rally Team USA

So its only 45 days till Rally GB and I really can’t wait Rally GB is my Le Mans whilst each year the event bashing starts early and earlier on the rally forums i’ve never had a bad Wales Rally GB. This year should be fantastic, and pretty much the last Rally GB before its moved in the rotation system. I really hate the FIA

Our first winter feature see’s Garys Skoda Fabia VRS against the post apocoltypic industrial wasteland that is Earby skirting the border between Lancashire and Yorkshire

Skoda for many years were the object of ridicule in the west both for their lack of performance and more often than not poor build quality hailing from Mlada Boleslav in the Czech Republic. Skoda’s introduction into the VW group opened the brand up to a whole new demographic and demonstrated that Skoda could equal performance.

I gravitate towards projects that are different and unique whilst still adhering to the values of quality parts i’ve come to appreciate, the Fabia is one of the more unusual platforms i’ve come across. What could essentially be a Polo GTI underneath and with a diesel powerplant more often than not people chase peak horsepower figures.

But Gary has proved that torque is cheap and in abundance, 347ft lbs of torque to be exact.

By borrowing from what is a vast bin of interchangeable products from the VAG family Gary has created a true ring special for the daily.

Fast cars usually look fast betrayed by hefty brakes, vents and deep spoilers but the Fabia’s relatively mild exterior does nothing to betray the performance that lies beneath. Simple colour coding and a mesh grille finish of the exterior nicely.

The angular shape and stance make the car look aggressive from this angle

It’s all business in the rear like a wall street trader with bermuda shorts in stark contrast to the leather and soft plastics in the front the rear is dominated by the hefty bracing between the strut tops.

After a quick passenger ride the vibration from the lightened flywheel and the solid engine mounts makes me feel slightly queezy, the relatively small discs and the chassis improvements make for a responsive ride with eager turn in. A quick dab of the brake pedal and the car slows firmly and progressively.

The figure hugging leather seats are embossed with the build number in stark contrast to the rear the front has a full interior.

You’d be forgiven for thinking the brakes were left untouched but the Fabia gets 312mm discs from the Audi S3 and Ferrodo ds2500 pads. Rolling on wheels from its bigger brother the Octavia and shod in grippy Toyo T1-R’s  are more than capable of attacking the Ring or the local B-road.

By no means a pretty engine i’ll not pretend to explain what each bit does, but the Fabia borrows from the VW parts bin with a PD160 intake from the close cousin the Seat Ibiza Cupra TDI.

CHASSIS
Forge upper front strut brace
Vibra terchnics dog bone mount
Jabba rear anti roll bar
Seat ibiza cupra front wishbone bushes
Kw v1 coilovers

BRAKES
312mm Audi s3 brake conversion
ferrodo ds 2500 pads

TRANSMISSION
Peloquin atb differential
Spec stage 3+ clutch(capable of handling 600 ft lbs of torque)
Spec lightwieght ally single mass flywheel,wieghing 4 kgs(the original duel mass flywheel is over 20kgs)

ENGINE
Pd 160 Ibiza cupra intake
Pipercross pannel filter
Egr blanked off
Rev limiter raised to 5200rpm
Custom tweaked generic re map for now(estimated 176bhp/340ft lbs)

BODYWORK
Front end completly colour coded
Side rubbing strips removed
Tailgate de badged and smoothed
Milotec front grill
Hydraulic bonnet lifter kit

WHEELS AND TYRES
17″ Skoda Octavia spiders
toyo t1r’s 215/40/17

I’m fast developing a bit of a retro fetish particularly for rare and unusual J-tin, the prevalence of Ebay and the steady grow of the retro car scene continues in the UK. 2008 saw a pretty large increase in these type of cars at more mainstream shows such as Trax and Japfest, i’ll be doing a little rundown of my top cars from 2008 at some point before the end of the year.

Having been featured in both Banzai and Retro cars now and being a Mitsubishi enthusiast I really dig this car a 1979 Mitsubishi Sapporo GSR, its all in the small touches like the backlit JDM numberplate and the wheel fitment.

Check out the Hello Kitty air-freshener, + 10 Jdm points for that probably, its great so see guys and girls saving what would normally rust away

Firstly dont worry I wont be giving you a rundown of what I ate, who with, why and in what context but check out my desk, a little depressing at the moment. Ken Block desktop, Bacon Sandwich and my Mac, dont get me started on Mac’s its a love hate thing but perfect for Photoshop.

You can just about see my Tomica Swift and an old school Skyline behind, because your never too old for toycars right? Jay back me up!