Ha, yeah bro, that was me.” We love a yarn that starts with a laugh, and that’s how it was as infamous SWAGER — yep, that’s the one. As much NZPC sat down with Tramayne, aka the as I hate the phrase, ‘If you know, you know’, this is an appropriate use of the saying. With that out of the way, let us present his latest creation to wear the name: a 483kW R32 GT-R with a unique style that mixes the rising sun with the long white tyre-smoking cloud. A Nissan man at heart, Tramayne has owned just about everything from the Nissan stable and put his own unique touches on every single one of his rides.
With inspiration drawn from the Japanese style — or perhaps, as it’s better known, ‘stance’ culture — he knew when he finally ticked off the goal some two years ago of owning a GT-R that his would be a ground-scraping form-overfunction monster lizard, but with a healthy dose of go as well as show. More laughing and an admission that, on day two of ownership, the engine went boom in the dream build. Things are clearly off to a solid start, given the car was acquired with a blown gearbox, and you’d almost be forgiven for wondering if it was worthwhile. Anything is possible, though, when you have a great team of mates and a supportive partner, and if you’ve read these pages before you’ll know that when Cany Customs is involved in anything it can get pretty out of hand — in a good way, of course.
The candy red is what initially grabs your eye and is from the Kia range. Tramayne says everyone does the Mazda red, and following the rest just isn’t his style. Initially, Cany Customs flew up and did the engine bay in Tramayne’s garage before the car underwent a few other modifications then endured a trip down to Christchurch for its final spray. We ask at this point if there’s any additional candy and the reply wasn’t what we expected. You see, this is a car built to be used and abused on a weekly basis, and due to that it needs to be able to be repaired when the inevitable scrapes, bumps, and bruises from New Zealand’s less than perfect roads occur. Build, break, repair, repeat is something of a mantra here.
There are custom features everywhere, and even carbon fibre, but nothing the owner is too precious about. As you take in the deep red set off by the custom tints and how perfectly the guards are filled by the 18×11-inch -2-offset SSR rims, you wonder how the car even drives let alone squats down under its full power without wrecking the paint — again, build, break, repair, repeat. It’s built to be used, abused, and put back together. The rims feature 5.5-inch and 6-inch chrome lips and are shod in 235-wide semi-slick tyres to try to hold it to the road as all 483kW are unleashed at regular intervals. Trying to offer the guards some protection from being smashed to bits — but we suspect also wound down about as low as they will go — is a set of Tein Flex Z coilovers.
Japanese-inspired appearance goals achieved, let’s take a look at the heart of the beast. It’s a combo of the best Kiwi know-how as we GT-R quite well in this country. JT Performance and Taylor Automotive, when combined, make for a formidable package and, with a spec list boasting a solid dose of Nitto-forged components on a brand-new R34 crank, you know without a doubt there’s more coming in the future. At the moment head work is relatively light and features HKS 272-degree cams and a factory intake, which will all be replaced once the 747kW (1000hp) mark is targeted. A 6Boost exhaust manifold hosts a single BorgWarner S300 turbo, which is fed by a currently adequate in-tank fuel pump and 1200cc injectors, while gases exit out the 60mm wastegate and four-inch exhaust, producing that unmistakable big horsepower RB growl. As you’d expect from JT Performance, a Haltech 2500 has been fitted and is matched to a factory loom.
Remember how we started by talking about keeping things looking right? The engine bay hasn’t escaped that treatment, either, and features a black Fenix Pro radiator, NINEZ power steering reservoir, and a host of other bits that just keep things looking tidy and also notably updated. We always find it interesting just how thick the intercooler cores are in GT-Rs, and in this case it’s a 100mm core, also from the Fenix Pro series. Power isn’t much use if it doesn’t go anywhere, and it’s no surprise to find an OS Giken twin plate clutch in place mated to a matching flywheel. For now, the gearbox and driveline are otherwise standard bar the HICAS being deleted. With the car destined more as a street cruiser than a punishing roll racer for now, a simple upgrade to the braking system has seen the calipers getting a coat of candy red and DBA slotted rotors being added front and rear just for a little additional reassurance. Although we’re done here, there is that sly chuckle again and Tramayne goes on to mention that there’s a Precision turbo just waiting to call this car home, along with more fuelling and a water/methanol kit — you get the feeling that the 747kW (1000hp) mark isn’t so far away. Infamous or not, this is one outstanding fusion of styles in a build, and again proves why this country has a car culture all of its own, a certain kind of SWAGER if you will.
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This article originally appeared in New Zealand Performance Car issue 298