NZ Performance Car is a monthly automobile magazine and website, and is the biggest selling automotive and men's lifestyle magazine in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. As

Parkside Media Parkside Media is a diversified media organization involved in print, television and online publishing as well as advertising, event management and public relations, among other client services. Magazines It is one of the country’s largest ind ...

's second title, it has eclipsed the success of NZ Classic Car. NZ Performance Car has evolved with the times, promoting the import

drag racing Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, most c ...

scene, building the drifting scene and supporting modified car events such as Auto Salon and

dB Drag Racing dB drag racing is a competition rewarding the person who can produce the loudest sound inside a vehicle. The "dB" means decibels of sound pressure level (SPL). In these competitions, SPL of over 140 decibels is common; and the international record ...

. Issue 1 of the magazine was bundled free with NZ Classic Car issue 66 (June 1996), and featured a Series 4 Mazda RX-7 on the cover.

Change in focus

The magazine's focus has evolved from initially covering all high performance cars, including Australian V8s, to Japanese import cars, and more recently import car culture and associated activities (

BMX BMX, an abbreviation for bicycle motocross or bike motocross, is a cycle sport performed on BMX bikes, either in competitive BMX racing or freestyle BMX, or else in general street or off-road recreation. History BMX began during the earl ...

, FMX, interviews with local and international musicians, etc.). Early issues featured cars such as

Holden Torana The Holden Torana is a mid-sized car that was manufactured by Holden from 1967 to 1980. The name apparently comes from an word meaning "to fly" in an unconfirmed Aboriginal Australian language. The original HB series Torana was released in 19 ...

s alongside

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...

Galant VR4s.

Typical cars featured in NZ Performance Car

Nissan Skyline GT-R The is a sports car based on the Nissan Skyline range. The first cars named "Skyline GT-R" were produced between 1969 and 1972 under the model code KPGC10, and were successful in Japanese touring car racing events. This model was followed by ...

Nissan Silvia The is the series of small sports cars produced by Nissan. Versions of the Silvia have been marketed as the 200SX or 240SX for export, with some export versions being sold under the Datsun brand. The name "Silvia" is derived from Sylvia, th ...

Nissan Pulsar GTI-R The is a line of automobiles produced by the Japanese automaker Nissan from 1978 until 2000, when it was replaced by the Nissan Bluebird Sylphy in the Japanese market. Between 2000 and 2005, the name "Pulsar" has been used in Australia and N ...

* Nissan 300ZX *

Nissan 350Z : The Nissan 350Z (known as Nissan Fairlady Z (Z33) in Japan) is a two-door, two-seater sports car that was manufactured by Nissan Motor Corporation from 2002 until 2009 and marks the fifth generation of Nissan's Z-car line. The 350Z entered prod ...

* Nissan Laurel *

Subaru WRX The Subaru WRX is an all-wheel drive sport compact car manufactured by the Japanese automaker Subaru, originally based on the Impreza created for the World Rally Championship in 1992. Subaru claimed the name WRX stands for "World Rally eXperim ...

* Subaru Legacy * Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution *

Honda Integra The , marketed in North America as the Acura Integra, is an automobile produced by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Honda from 1985 until 2006, and then since 2021. It succeeded the Quint as a more luxurious and sport-oriented derivative o ...

Honda Civic The is a series of automobiles manufactured by Honda since 1972. Since 2000, the Civic has been categorized as a compact car, while previously it occupied the subcompact class. , the Civic is positioned between the Honda Fit/City and Honda Acc ...

Honda S2000 The Honda S2000 is an Roadster (automobile), open top sports car that was manufactured by Japanese automobile manufacturer Honda, from 1999 until 2009. First shown as a concept car called the SSM at the Tokyo Motor Show#1995, Tokyo Motor Show in ...

* Toyota Celica * Toyota Supra * Toyota Levin AE86 *

Toyota Altezza The is a compact executive car sold by Lexus, a luxury division of Toyota since 1999. The IS was originally sold under the nameplate in Japan from 1998 (the word ''Altezza'' is Italian for 'height' or 'highness'). The IS was introduced as an e ...

* Mazda RX-7 * Mazda 323 *

Mitsubishi Galant VR4 The Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 (Viscous Realtime 4WD) was the range-topping version of Mitsubishi Motors' Galant model, available in the sixth (1987–93), seventh (1993–96) and eighth (1996–2002) generations of the vehicle. Originally introduced to ...

Toyota Hilux The , stylized as HiLux and historically as Hi-Lux, is a series of pickup trucks produced and marketed by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. The majority of these vehicles are sold as pickup truck or cab chassis variants, although they ...

* Mazda GTX

Magazine contents

Modified car features

The extent that a car is required to be modified has steadily increased since the first issues. While 300 hp was considered to be a huge amount of power when the magazine started, 300 kW may not even secure a spot as a feature car, unless the rest of the car is outstanding or unusual. This is not to say that NZ Performance Car solely focuses on power, but power figures are part of a more holistic approach considered when modifying a car.

New car features

Less common are new car road tests. Recent examples have included the

Mazda RX-8 The Mazda RX-8 is a sports car manufactured by Japanese automobile manufacturer Mazda between 2002 and 2012. It was first shown in 2001 at the North American International Auto Show. It is the successor to the RX-7 and, like its predecessors in ...

, Mini Cooper John Cooper Works (JCW), and

BMW 135i The BMW 1 Series is a range of subcompact executive cars (C-segment) manufactured by BMW since 2004. It is the successor to the BMW 3 Series Compact and is currently in its third generation. Positioned as the entry level model in BMW range of pr ...

Cover girls

Female nudity in association with the magazine has polarised readers. The magazine took an online poll at the end of 2008, the results of which found that more than 80% of readers wanted to keep the cover girl. Cars were originally graded using a Jane-o-meter (a picture of Jane with a ranking from one to ten). This method was scrapped after car owners became reluctant to have their cars featured in case it received a low mark.

Poster

Two posters (a double-sided A2) have been included in most issues of the magazine since issue 80.

Event coverage

Drag racing Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, most c ...

, drifting,

rallying Rally is a wide-ranging form of motorsport with various competitive motoring elements such as speed tests (often called ''rally racing),'' navigation tests, or the ability to reach waypoints or a destination at a prescribed time or average speed. ...

, Super Lap, Japanese

Super GT Super GT (stylized as SUPER GT) is a grand touring car racing series that began in 1993. Launched as the , generally referred to as either the JGTC or the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship, the series was renamed to Super GT in 2005. It is ...

, hillclimbing,

touring cars Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition with heavily modified road-going cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States. While the cars do not move ...

, auto salon,

auto show An auto show, also known as a motor show or car show, is a public exhibition of current automobile models, debuts, concept cars, or out-of-production classics. It is attended by automotive industry representatives, dealers, auto journalists a ...

s and club events are covered, as long as the racing includes Japanese cars.

Driver and celebrity interviews

Local and international drivers have been interviewed such as

Ken Block Kenneth Paul Block (November 21, 1967 – January 2, 2023) was an American professional rally driver with the Hoonigan Racing Division, formerly known as the Monster World Rally Team. Block was also one of the co-founders of DC Shoes. He also ...

, Rhys Millen,

Mike Whiddett Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documenta ...

, Sébastien Loeb,

Linkin Park Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. The band's current lineup comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave Farrell, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn and drummer ...

/ Fort Minor and Nathalie Kelly (from Fast n Furious Tokyo Drift),

Regular sections

Readers' letters, a technical question and answer section, equipment information, CD/DVD/game reviews, and a lifestyle section with clothing and related culture.

Chop shop

A monthly Photoshop competition is run. An image of a standard car is modified in Photoshop to adopt a certain theme or style, such as hakosuka, rally, etc. In issue 144 readers were invited to Photoshop a Chevrolet Volt into a Pro Import drag racing vehicle.

Growth

Readership peaked at 336,000 in 2007. To address the fall in readership since then NZ Performance Car was relaunched with perfect binding, a new logo, and a broader focus on the import car culture in issue 132, December 2007

Notable contributors

Karl Burnett,

Ewen Gilmour David Ewen Gilmour (22 January 1963 – 3 October 2014), commonly known as Ewen Gilmour, was a New Zealand comedian and television presenter. Usually sporting long brown hair with a goatee and wearing a jacket and jeans, he was a self-describ ...

Special issues

Drop! (previous Street Style)

''Drop!'' features hardcore modified show cars, auto salon features, and

SPL SPL may refer to: Association football * Saudi Professional League * Scottish Premier League * SportPesa Premier League, Kenya * Singapore Premier League * RoboCup Standard Platform League, matches between autonomous robots Computing Program ...

competitions (

dB drag racing dB drag racing is a competition rewarding the person who can produce the loudest sound inside a vehicle. The "dB" means decibels of sound pressure level (SPL). In these competitions, SPL of over 140 decibels is common; and the international record ...

). The emphasis on Japanese imports is less. Previous featured cars have included a

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

, a

Buick Buick () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American marques of automobiles, and was the company that established General ...

, a Nash Metropolitan, and several types of

minitruck A pickup truck or pickup is a light-duty truck that has an enclosed cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (this cargo bed back end sometimes consists of a tailgate and removable covering) ...

Drift Factor

''Drift Factor'' is a drifting special with driver interviews, in-depth profiles on drifting and the cars, and how-tos on starting in drifting.

Raceline (previously Race Style)

Dedicated to

circuit racing A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also ...

, hillclimbing, drifting and drag racing.

Yearbook

The Yearbook is a round up of the scene and also contains many of the similar features to the magazine.

Posterbook

A posterbook has been produced yearly since 2005 with 12 A2 posters of cars and/or cover models

Spine art

For 2008 collecting all the issues created an NZ Performance Car logo when stacked together. This was to highlight the transition to perfect binding.

Website

NZ Performance Car relaunched its website in July 2007 with a web 2.0 site featuring video,

blogs A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

, forums, news, articles, cover girls, event coverage and more. Users can register to the site, start a blog, upload their own media, and generally interact with the site. Daily news articles are available weekdays which are additional to magazine content. Full magazine articles are available from previous issues, often including additional photos and information (including videos) that could not be fitted into the magazine. Some writers run blogs on the website, such as Peter Kelly'
Pedeyworld
and a forum is run as a subsite to encourage user interaction. Users can purchase books and DVDs related to the magazine's content, as well as back issues and subscriptions in the online shop.

Social networking sites

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

fan page,

Bebo Bebo ( ) was an American Social networking service, social networking website that originally operated from 2005 until its bankruptcy in 2013 and relaunched in February 2021. The site relaunched several times after its bankruptcy with a number ...

page (for

NZ Drift Series The NZ Drift Series was a five-round motorsport series organised by Parkside Media, publisher of NZ Performance Car magazine. Competing against D1NZ it achieved greater success because of NZ Performance Car and NZ Performance Car TV's marketin ...

), and

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel exist.

Games

NZ Performance Car has produced several online games:

Drift Legends

Drift Legends is a drifting game which features New Zealand tracks as well as custom tracks. Players can submit their score to a score board

Super Lap Legends

Super Lap Legends was released to coincide with Super Lap. It features New Zealand racetracks in a time trial format

Midnight Sting

Midnight Sting is a shoot 'em up whereby players protect their ride from damage in a dark alley.

Britney’s Rehab Run

Britney's Rehab Run is a shoot 'em up which sees the player attempt to get

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...

to rehab past scores of paparazzi.

Mobile

A free opt-in text club which has more than 23,000 members is utilised to disseminate special offers from sponsors, and promote the magazine, games and events. NZ Performance Car is also one of the largest suppliers of mobile content (ringtones, screen wallpapers and the like) via

Vodafone Vodafone Group Public limited company, plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Telephone company, telecommunications company. Its registered office and Headquarters, global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It ...

's network.

NZ Performance Car TV

NZ Performance Car TV History NZ Performance Car TV was a free-to-air television program that ran for eight series, produced in-house by Parkside Media. It has had airtime on TV ONE, TV2, TV3, Prime and Sky Sports, often with several networks simultaneously which is u ...

is a

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the FTA Receiver, appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring ...

television program in its eighth series. It has had airtime on TV ONE, TV2, Prime and Sky Sports, often simultaneously which is unique in its genre. Each series consists of 13 episodes. Two series are usually screened per year. First airing in 2004 the series has evolved to match the changing tastes of the import car scene. Series 8 had a large focus on drifting.

Events

NZ Drift Series

The

is a drifting motorsport series run on New Zealand tracks. It made its debut in 2007 with a professionally run, five-round championship series.

Super Lap

Parkside Media organised the first Super Lap event at

Taupo Motorsport Park Taupo International Motorsport Park and Events Centre (previously known as the Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park) is a motorsports circuit located in Broadlands Road, Taupo, New Zealand. It is owned by Tony Quinn who also owns Highlands Motorspor ...

in April 2007. Scott Kreyl in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII took the overall win. At the second event at Pukekohe in March 2008 Kreyl successfully defended his title. The third Super Lap returned to Taupo Motorsport Park in 2008 where Kreyl suffered mechanical problems and failed to place.

New Zealand Bikini Model Search

Toured throughout in New Zealand in 2007, the NZ Bikini Model Search culminated in a grand final in Auckland.

Import All-Stars

Every summer, NZ Performance Car organises the biggest import drag racing event of the year at Fram Autolite Dragway,

Meremere Meremere is a small town in the northern Waikato region in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on the east bank of the Waikato River, 50 kilometres north of Hamilton and 63 km south of Auckland. Meremere was the site of fighting ...

Import All-Stars Import All-Stars is an import (i.e. Japanese cars) drag racing event organised by Parkside Media and NZ Performance Car magazine. First held in 2007, it was rerun on 29 March 2008. Both events have been held at Fram Autolite Dragway, Meremere. T ...

. Guest competitors are invited from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

to race against New Zealand's quickest imports.

Drag Masters

Drag Masters, run in 2005, was a V8 vs. import drag racing event held at Fram Autolite Dragway, Meremere.

Performance Car of the Year

Performance Car of the Year is a competition with 12 performance cars where users text their vote.

Awards

Cam Leggett, designer since issue 68 has won two awards for Designer of the Year at the MPA Awards in the Special Interest Category in 2007 and 2008.

Controversy

NZ Performance Car magazine has typically been criticised by groups not in favour of import car culture, or those concerned about 'boy racer' activity. In June 2008, editorial assistant Peter Kelly organised a meeting in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

to scout for feature cars. News quickly spread via text and over 1000 people descended on The Base. Despite attempts by NZ Performance Car to warn the police, messages went unanswered.

References

External links

NZ Performance CarParkside MediaDrift Legends
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nz Performance Car 1996 establishments in New Zealand Automobile magazines Automotive industry in New Zealand Automotive websites Magazines established in 1996 Magazines published in New Zealand Mass media in Auckland Monthly magazines published in New Zealand New Zealand entertainment websites