Big Guns

Here in sunny Queensland Australia at the start of June all the way up until the middle of November is the biggest time for motoring events. All the most looked forward too and anticipated shows that everyone goes mental in preparation for start. Now we do realize that we are a few months behind in terms of posting, but that is due to starting in May and having to catch up all of the prior months, but we are getting there haha. Technically the big events are kicked off by the Annual Honda Cruise which we covered last month, but as you all probably know, Honda's are not enjoyed by everyone unfortunately so most people say that Powerplay is the kick start of the big events, and boy is one hell of a kick.

For those uneducated in the awesomeness of Powerplay here is a bit of a description. Powerplay is considered by many (myself included) as the best event on the motoring calender, and for many reasons. It was started by the creators of Powercruise, a similiar event that runs in September (Powerplay is June) and is a 4 day epic event of car madness, however the event is primarily V8's and alot of the Import and Euro scene boys cried foul about this, so Powerplay was started as a lead up to Powercruise and only running for one day. It is considered the best event as it is not only the toughest V8's that come out for some action but also the top dog Imports and in recent years Euro's. So you could call it a culmination of our culture and scene, or a massive battle royale, take your pick...

Now your are probably picturing a drag strip and lot's of fast cars, which is fine, however Powerplay is run quite differently, which is why it has become such a dominate event in terms of attendance, with Powerplay seeing over 550 cars entered on one day. Queensland Raceway (QR) is our premier track, and quite a boring one at that, however Powerplay makes use of its 4 long straights and the ability to see the entire track from pit wall. The event is based around the track and the activities are as follows:
Cruise Sessions:
These are the back bone of the event, it allows about 40 cars to hit the track at once, with as many passengers as they like. It is a re-creation of the typical street scene, but with the safety of the track.




Off Street Drags:
Kinda explains itself, the first time you see it, with a girl flagging cars down on the main straight reminds you of the first race in 2Fast 2Furious, just need Ludacris to make a draw bridge go up at the end.




Powerskid Comp:
A powerskid is basically you start from a stand still and have to try and hold the skid or 'Burnout' for as far as possible without using the brakes. An Aussie invention dominated by v8's with 4 million torques.




Show 'n' Shine:
We all know what this is...







Dyno Comp:
Pretty good to go and watch when some cars are pumping out figures around 1400rwhp, and then going out and cruising on the track.






Powerplay is considered on of the best events due mainly to the diverse nature of the infield, with Imports Vs V8's Vs the odd Euro. There are blown and injected V8s running exhausts that end at the front wheels and enough horsepower to tow the Queen Mary II, Imports with Turbo's so big that if children under the age of 4 are close by they will be sucked in, and Euro's that cost upwards of $120,000 doing burnouts and drifting all day long, as you can see it is a pretty ridiculous event. Of course being an Import based site we are slightly biased to the cars in attendance so do forgive us, our coverage of Powercruise is much more vast and diverse. The obvious top of show for us was one of the big gun GTR's that show up, the noise, the speed, the intenseness of these animals is beyond my metaphor relating ability. Mark's maroon, Australian delivered R32 GTR, 'GODZLA' is my favorite, just because it is in essence how a GTR should look and perfection in my eyes. Some of the other boys picked Marawans gun metal R33 GTR 'TOPRPM' the best of show due to the 1250hp at the engine figure, also noted was Adam's pearl R32 GTR 'FATGTR' T51r + 700hp = win and a unknown never before seen Sti called 'HAU15' which made 540awhp and did limiter launches all day till it blew a head gasket, we didn't see it get beaten all day long. A mention must also go to Chris's IWIN Midnight Purple 33 GTR and Gus's Bayside(ish looking) Blue 32 GTR as well. We are not beeing biased towards Nissan here, it's just the toughest imports...were Nissan's haha.

It did rain during the event, but that didn't seem to effect anyone, except of course the boys on semi slicks who as soon as they went out spun...inevitable really. Watching the GTRs dominate was truly amazing, hearing the V8s was truly...painful but awesome and just the atmosphere is fantastic, I recommend everyone who loves cars to attend in 2010 and anyone looking to come to Aus to do it it around June 2010...seriously it is worth it.

Shout out to Sharpy for driving us out, and providing laughs all day long and to Jay and Brad for taking me around the track to get shots during cruise sessions...which didn't really turn out haha. Here are the rest of the pics;

Sharpy showing us a comparison of his fist with a custom Garrett Turbo that helps this particular GTR make 1152rwhp. Scary stuff..

Gus's awesome 32 GTR, the colour is amazing in person, kind of a lighter more metallic shade of bayside blue. One of our picks of the day.

When this FD opened up its 450+rwhp it sounded so damn good, nothing beats the noise of rotor on full tilt.

Sharpy photo-bombing the mentalist 'TOPRPM' 1000hp daily

350awhp + stuff all weight + AWD = One hell of a Pulsar GTi-R

Easily my favorite car of the day, and maybe even in Queensland, Mark knows where it is at when building the perfect GTR. Twin T66's and a fuel system that is a homage to the fabled Group A racers.

Super Clean GTS-T...

...who's gearbox went bang