First published in the May 2008 issue of Street Machine

If you like your automotive fun fast, loud and smoky then the 2008 Sydney Powercruise at Eastern Creek Raceway was not to be missed. With over 900 cars entered and three days of open track the carnage came from all angles.

This year was different to previous events. Promoter Michael ‘Gup’ Gilbert dropped many of the trimmings, such as the Bandag Bullet, elite show’n’shine and big money names like the Brays or Stevens. And we can see why, you just don’t need them!

On the Friday menu a revamped layout featured an additional burnout show, though most competitors were given the big “take it easy” by officials after Chad Taylor broke five wheel studs and rolled his Land Rover drag car six times while ‘cruising’ the awesome circuit.

Jason Mansweto’s Silver Fox XW Falcon didn’t look much better after he tragically fed it into a concrete wall on Saturday morning during cruising. Gup was in no mood for frivolity after that – two big crashes was not a great way to kick off a weekend of fun.

The burnouts were an interesting affair. Joe Pagano looked like he might have the show in the bag after a huge burnout in the IMXITD blown Holden-powered Commodore ute. But it was Dean Patterson in the black 1969 black Ford Fairlane that upstaging a couple of the big hitters to take the $1000 first prize and the trophy. Nice work, Dean.

Ryan Pearson won Crowd Favorite after tossing the rods out of his blown LH Torana at 8300rpm. It was back to the drawing board for that combination.

Once again the Powerskids were a big hit and Simon Kyrger’s nitrous-fed HQ managed a healthy 400m skid before being upstaged by eventual winner, James Donald, in the IFRYEM LH Torana that was lock-to-lock (at speed) from start to finish.

Gup decided to show the folks how it was done and, with a brand new set of MT drag radials under the arse, he put on the smoke show of the weekend with an honest 550m Powerskid. Rob Godfrey gave it a good shot in the TOYTON, letting rip with a 467m skid.

Then before the crowd had recovered, Tony D’Olivera let loose with a massive burnout that near ended in disaster.At the 550m mark the blown, big block-powered Corolla was lock-to-lock at over 180kmh and eventually ran out of steering lock and road!

From that point on it was destined to end in tears with the Corolla slamming into the water barriers at full noise sideways. Luckily Tony was not injured, but the same couldn’t be said for the Corolla, which was left looking mighty flat down the passenger side of the car.

Seems every man and his dog wanted to enter the street drags, but tyres were the issue and unless you had drag radials or treaded slicks, you had little chance of going anywhere but up in smoke.

Despite having oodles of grunt, which helped me win the dyno, I got ousted by Mick Voase early after the big Valiant went up in tyre smoke, though Voase was lucky to win against Zorin Gajic in the 540-cube nitrous-fed HJ. Mick’s hopes were short lived when a nitrous backfire forced him out the next round, which left four main contenders.

Wollongong racer, Simon Kryger was then narrowly beaten by fellow Team Big Block member, Chris Attard (IMA400), who met Tristian Triccas in the final. Though many grumbled about what appeared to be full slicks on the Trick and Mansweto Capri, Gup was satisfied that the razor-like lines in the Capri’s tyres met the rules. Full credit must go to Attard who was narrowly beaten on the finish line by the Ford team.

Other winners were: Show’n’shine – Robert Godfrey (Show, HQ), Damien Lowe (Street, VB Commodore), Craig Hewitt (Comp, VL Commodore)

Awesome skids and even more awesome big-name stacks made this year’s trimmed down Powercruise one to remember.

HIGHLIGHTS:

1. Keith Azzapardi couldn’t possibly get his HB Torana any more in your face if he tried. Sounding more like a jet than a car, the coupe is destined for strip duties and sports some pretty serious numbers (900hp at 13lbs of boost) from what is a low-buck combination. It’s a 468ci Chevy fitted with an F2 Procharger and a blow-through set-up.

2. It was an expensive weekend for Ryan Pearson, who lunched his motor during the Saturday night burnout competition. He didn’t seem too upset about it – he reckons he was having fun.

3. For 37-year-old sheet metal worker, Charlie Kaltan, it was just another weekend of tyre-smoking fun in his PROXUI Torana. “I’ve owned this car for the last nine years,” says Charlie. “I raced it a while back at it ran 12.6@121mph. It’s mostly just a streeter, not a racer. The small-block is fairly stock and I’m running a TH400 with a nine-inch rear. It doesn’t seem to matter how fast your car goes here, everyone has fun.”

4. One of the show standouts was Frank Peronace’s 2003 SS ute. The list of modifications is endless and includes suicide doors, 24-inch rims, massive 360mm rotors with six-spot calipers, and mini tubs. Powering it is a 450hp stroker with eight throttlebody injection by Sam’s Performance Centre. Super smooth ride!

5. Smoothest new ride of 2008 would have to go to Dominic Pichiuto for his immaculate LJ Torana. Check out that engine bay stuffed with a blown and alcohol-injected 350 Chev! Oh, that’s not mechanical injection. A Motec ECU runs the combination with injectors mounted under the Enderle bug catcher.

6. One of latest builds by Paul Sant’s Pro Flo Performance is Joe Ferrera’s blown and injected 355ci VN-headed motor. The Commodore makes a hefty 470hp at the treads and is tuned by Just Engine Management.

7. Darren Davidson’s VN Commodore seemed to have all the gear including a pair of T28 turbochargers on the V6 mill with an E11 Haltech ECU and generous front-mount intercooler. The 4.2L stroker makes an impressive 400 at the bags and really is 100 percent street driven. He even drove it all the way down the coast from Port Macquarie with the family on board!

8. Andrew Griffith’s TUFFLJ drew plenty of attention for the wrong reasons. The small-block Chev made a massive 880hp at the bags with stock rods in a Vortec-equipped blow-through 350 Chev combination. Andrew is holding the results of a tossed a rod on Friday, but he had it repaired and back on Saturday. But then after the dyno, he sent another two rods through the side of the block. Guess you might have to back that tune-up off a touch, Andrew.