This Is How We Do It

The monthly JDM Meets have become a staple diet here on Downshift, and there is a good reason for that. Not only do most of my homies roll out but also some of the raddest cars getting around the local Brisbane area front up for a good night with great people. No one, and I mean NO ONE, was expecting what happened at the recent June End of Month Meet (EOMM).

A few of us 'old school' crew always rock up to the meet early to hardpark in the prime spot and also make sure no riff raff is there before the meet starts. What we witnessed this time was in fact over 120+ cars flowing into the meeting spot for what was by far the most insane meet we have had in the 3 years we have been running it. The amount of cars and people outnumbered any previous meet by such a large margin it wasn't funny. I was blown away and so amped that so many cars fronted. It really shows that the QLD scene is taking off and that truly dope cars are around...you just have to get them out of the woodwork.

Much love:

Let's start this shit with a bang. My homie Ash's EG is easily a favorite of mine in the scene. The whole car oozes badass and unbelievably he has big things to come for it. Watch this space.

Never liked the look of Colts, but this one looks pretty rad. Funky little cars.

Charlie, the owner of this Miata, is posssibly the fastest modifier I have met...every week he has some new epic part on the car. It has progressed so far since he first took ownership, and there are only big things to come from this one.

I wouldn't put 'Best MPS in QLD' past this example. What I find funny is most people instantly assume it is owned by some dude, when in fact it is owned by a girl *cue jaw dropping*. Rachie has sick taste in car style that is for sure; just look at how those Gforces are sitting under the guards. Rotas or not it looks hell good.

This EK and S2000 were pretty popular for the crowd (I think the wheels helped). The EK was rolling on some tight as SSR Type C's and the S2000 on some suspiciously good fitting TE37s. I say suspiciously because the TE37s have no concave which gives the impression they are running spacers, but they weren't. Boggles the mind.

This FD merely had wheels on the exterior, but my god it looked good. Mazda got it sooo right when they designed this.

Bee's 35 now rockin' some coils and sitting very nice. Love the shape.

Crazy fitment on these SSR Reverse Meshes (loving the blue as well).

SRP16 never ceases to turn heads wherever it goes. Those Wedsport Bavillions look absolutely amazing under its guards. He also slides it in the exact same stance which is so killer to see.

Seems like girl's in QLD know their shit when it comes to cars. Most CRX's look so bad and are just not well looked after. Steph's, on the other hand, is almost flawless. The purple Work VS-XX's are something you definitely won't see too often, if at all. Crazy how off the wall colours just work sometimes.

Sharpy is a good bud of mine and everyone knows his 180. Big things to come from this as well, so watch this space.

Well here is a car we never see on here...yeah, not really. Brad's 2k is always changing and he was sans a roof at this past meet. Really looking forward to shooting this car whenever he feels it is finished.

Nothing really compares to a GTR. There is no denying they hold a presence unlike any other Jap import. These three definitely prove that the GTR is the Japanese Muscle car. Johno's 32 GTR rocking the BBS LM's looks so clean it could almost be factory. Having a mindblank on the owner of the 34's name (which sucks...sorry mate) but the car looks awesome none the less. LM-GT4's are no doubt one of the best wheels to slot on a GTR. Full C-West kit is something you definitely will not see everyday. Lastly, Nicks 32: now this car snapped necks all night long. Not only from the crazy teal ice-cream paint job, but also from the intense looking polished Simmons FR19's. I remember seeing this car over a year ago when it was silver with some 34 GTR wheels...oh how it has changed since then.

Was such an awesome meet. Was really great to chill with the regular homies and also meet some new ones. Always great to put names to faces and meet new bros. Oh so amped to see what the next one brings, that is for sure.

Birthday Bash

A normal birthday consists of lots of alcohol, maybe a BBQ, and held at some form of bar/restaurant/club. But imagine if you could have your birthday at a race track, with all your closest friends racing all day with the entire track to yourselves. Would be insanely awesome, right? Well that is exactly what I was invited to a few weeks back...a birthday held at Queensland's best racetrack, Lakeside.

The birthday was for Richard, who is my bud Alex's best mate Matt's Dad (now that was a mouthful). I am good friends with Matt as well and when I found out his Dad was having his birthday at Lakeside I was keen as mustard to come check it out and grab some shots of the day for him. Having a racetrack to yourself and your friends is such a cool concept because there isn't thousands of people wandering around, there's barely anyone hitting the track so tonnes of time on the asphalt, and no one is a stranger.

The quality of cars that turned out for Richards birthday was also phenomenal. I have been to public days which have less awesome cars than this, and those days probably have double and even triple the attendees. Everything was catered for, from Datsun 510's to 1 Series BMW hatches.

This little 1600 had the most intense stance to it, I was practically in love. It wasn't all that quick, but my god did it look the goods. Also those SSR's on it would be worth an absolute mint.

Totally gangster...

To be honest I am not a fan of the V8 model R8's. I feel it was a pointless car and they should have started with the V10 model and never made an 8 to begin with. But hey, that is my opinion. In saying that though, shit it looks good.

These little NB MX5s were available for those who don't have a track car, so they could jump in and thrash them around. Oh so rad.

This 2002 belongs to Richard, the birthday boy. Words can not really describe how awesome this car is. It is his dedicated track car and with those Sportmaxes under the guards it looks (and sounds) so good on full tilt around the track.

This Radical was out there carving up all day. The way the car looks on the track makes it seem so effortless to steer it to lap records. But I do doubt that is anywhere near the truth of driving it.

Richard had his other part time track car out there, his BMW 130i (probably not hard to pick Richard's favorite manufacturer). This is his daily drive, yet it has a full race cage and semi slicks. What an epic daily.

Some random snaps that I couldn't think up captions for.

My homie Alex out flying the Honda flag.

Trekking home after a long day. What a sight this is on the road.

All in all the day was heaps of fun; no drama and just a good bunch of people. Thanks to Richard for letting me come out and take shots for the event and also to Matt, Alex, Will and Ben for just hangin' all day.

Also, mad props to Ben for taking some of the pics.

Friday Night Drift Practice

Queensland Raceway holds drift practice sessions every Friday night from 6-10pm, and tonight I was able to tag along with a bunch of really cool people, whom I've only hung out with briefly at our regular JDM meets.

So I snaked my way through peak hour traffic on the motorbike (is it just me, or has it been getting a lot worse in the last few weeks?), stuffed my face with some Waldorf salad and jumped in the S15. The Ipswich Motorway in peak hour was PACKED with cars, crawling along at walking space, so we made it to QR much later than expected, but Steph's mint 2 door STi WRX certainly helped. With 252kW at all 4 wheels, it was an absolute weapon of a thing, forcing you all the way back into the seat every time she floored it! Its for sale too!

By the time we got to QR, most of the pit garages were taken, but to our collective surprise, the one closest to the control tower was available.

Jamming both Nhan's S13 and Nigs' Ceffy in there, much jacking up and swapping of wheels ensued, while I took some snaps in the pit garages and attempted to pan and focus in almost complete darkness with a nifty fifty on my 50D. About the only one that worked out well is this one. Time for new tyres?

Bumped into Rory (what a surprise, you whore!) and chatted for a bit while taking lots of pit shots.

Love this sticker Nigs!

Mmm oldschool.

Longchamp.

We were all freezing our collective asses off with temps at the track around 6-7C, which was great for the turbos but terrible for the feeling in my hands/fingers. After wrapping my frozen bits around a hot mocha, smashing it quick-smart and soaring on a caffeine high, Nhan was kind enough to hook me up with a passenger's side ride in his recently acquired S13. The stock suspension definitely didn't help with the backlash with the weight shifting, and we spun quite a few times doing about 80kph. Heaps of fun though! Luckily no damage, which is more than I can say for Nigs, who did some damage to his clutch/gearbox/input shaft/straight pipes (?). It was fun getting it back to Brisbane without using the clutch whatsoever...hope you can get it fixed soon broseph!

Other people having a shit night, like this Gazelle:

Hmm...

Thanks are in order to Steph, Nhan, Nigs, and the rest of the crew. Fun times!

-Matyi