“The TimeattackR team dropped in to see our good friends at ST Hitec — we certainly weren’t disappointed!”
Iain Clegg and the ST Hitec team have supported TimeattackR since its conception, and for that reason, we’ll be supporting them for as long as we’re around. What we haven’t done, though, is do a cheeky workshop tour to show you what they’re all about. One quiet Saturday on the way to the race track, we stormed the gates with our cameras in hand.
Before you enter ST Hitec, you’re met with beautiful performance cars. This gorgeous widebody single-turbo RX-7 sits next to a stealth white Nissan Skyline GT-R, which gives you an idea of the kind of machinery to expect when you make it indoors.
It’s safe to say ST Hitec is pumping at the moment. Every square inch of usable space is being used, with more RB-powered Nissans than you can poke a stick at. Employee and car builder Ben Gainfort was busy working away on his silver R32 GT-R in preparation for a wheel alignment — even the staff here are GT-R mad!
With a quick walk upstairs to the customer waiting area, you’ll notice an array of Japanese car magazines, DVDs, and memorabilia from years gone by. No doubt collected from previous owner Soichi Tate, who started ST Hitec. For the trainspotters out there, you’ll notice a TimeattackR photograph on the wall of Iain’s previous award-winning and record-breaking R35 GT-R.
ST Hitec has their fair share of awards too, and for good reason. Owner Iain is determined to push the extreme nature of ST Hitec, and he does it well. Currently, he is busy completing a tube-framed carbon fibre bodied R35 GT-R that will be running a billet block good for 3000hp. The cool thing is that it's being built for drag racing first, then GT racing… get your head around that!
Spin around, and you’ll notice the beautiful scenery laid out behind you in the workshop. Every hoist is occupied this time of year, and there’s a neat variety of machinery. Yes, you’ve got muscle, but more importantly, you’ve got GT-Rs everywhere. ST Hitec cater for all shapes and sizes too, with some making north of 600kW with ease, and others more humble road-going cruisers packing near on stock power levels.
In this shot, you might spot Faizal Ramzan and Ben working on his stunning silver R34 GT-R, which at the time of this shoot, had its new turbo setup covered before its unveiling. On pump gas, it now puts out just over 1000hp.
As we were making our way through the workshop, another tuning company by the name of Autech was busy strapping this N14 Pulsar GTi onto the dyno. With a front-mounted intercooler, I was curious to know more, and after a quick discussion with the passionate owner, I found out it was running a forged SR20VET engine that they were hoping to make 300kW with that day. Cool!
When we next catch up with Iain, we’ll be photographing his carbon R35 for a feature and we cannot wait. If you like this workshop visit, let us know as we are thinking of doing more. For now, enjoy this gallery!
