Finishing builds and resolving teething issues has kept us off road and otherwise occupied but to celebrate the final realisation of all the effort and expenditure, we made our way for a double dose of Melbourne car culture with our friends at MK Motorsports and Mines Australia.
Kicking off the day with the grand opening of MK’s truly performance orientated tire, wheel fitment and alignment centre, backed by the full weight of both Michelin and Rays Engineering parent companies.
Upon close examination it was apparent that only the latest technology was being utilised throughout MK’s new custom fitted facility. From wall to wall we see quality Hunter Engineering equipment used by OEM’s such as AMG, Bentley and BMW. Attention to detail is impeccable and using things like a leverless tyre changer means less risk of damaging the lip of your fresh rims! Additionally and perhaps most importantly, the lifts are recessed into pits in the concrete allowing it to accommodate for any ride height. All this demonstrates the kind of long range thinking and planning that only experience of delivering optimal solutions for whatever manufacturer platform you choose to run.
Fitment and stance are areas often overlooked when considering modifying our vehicles. We aren’t necessarily talking about a slammed S Chassis with sideways wheels, and we aren’t saying that isn’t a legitimate style either, but where overall grip is a factor in the kinds of driving we can do with these cars (legally, of course…) on the road or during track events, striking the balance between optimal cornering and grip performance and transforming the entire look and presence of the vehicle is the key to having the kind of unique neck snapping look we all covet. After enjoying some complimentary St Burgs, Coffee and mandatory discussion on all things automotive we headed for an afternoon at the first ever Mines Australia Mini Meet featuring a collection of genuine Mines built GTR’s whose only parallel could be said to be in Mines Japan itself.
For many of us, the Mines R34 GTR was made infamous by the Gran Turismo series, where it’s standout Mines pinstriping and race car like performance burned images of unwavering domination into our retina’s after many hundreds of virtual laps.
Seeing a childhood icon like that up close and personal is a privilege that cannot be overstated as it’s simply such an uncommon vehicle and with so many die hard fans of the marque, most will never have the opportunity to experience such a car in such detail outside of a digital venue.
Not limiting itself to only one brand, the Mines meet attracted cars from a wide range of aesthetic tastes and countries of origin, some notable standouts being the track ready Porsche GT3 RS, a pair of immaculately presented low mileage FD RX-7’s, both first and latest generation Honda NSX, track ready R35 GTR, a quadruple of Millennium Jade Mines R34’s, the rarest of the rare Nismo 400R with the crown jewel of this illustrious collection still on it’s way and possibly the subject of a future article.
Huge thanks to both MK motorsports and Mines for putting on these events, opening their doors to the public and supporting the local car community with their businesses.
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