22nd May 2005 - Show Report: Modified Mayhem, Fintona (for Flat 2 The Mat Magazine)

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Show: Modified Mayhem, Ecclesville Centre, Fintona, Northern Ireland

Dates: Sat 21st and Sun 22nd May 2005

The Ecclesville Centre in Fintona once again played host to another of Ireland's 2-day car shows, in years gone by this show was known as Loud n Live, but now it's gone through a metamorphosis to become known as Modified Mayhem. As the doors opened on the Saturday at 11am the last lick of polish was in the process of being applied to show cars throughout the hall, to ensure that they were gleaming for the eye's and camera's which were about to prey on them over the next 2 days.

Inside the main hall everywhere you looked you found huge rims, extravagant bodykits, banging sound systems and extreme paintjobs. From cars modified solely for power right through to those who prefer the more insurance-friendly bodykit approach to the scene, there was something there to appeal to almost everyone.

One car which stood out among the rest included a flip-painted Corsa which many early attendee's to the show simply walked on past, but this was a wolf in sheep's clothing as we were to find out midway through Saturday when it came time for an SPL test. Inside the car went the measuring kit, into the headunit went the test CD and on went the subs which had been lying dormant until now. Suddenly heads turned as the power this car possessed was unleashed, almost immediately the SPL readout was over 145db, which to most "normal" people is way too loud, but after a quick tweak we found the readout showing 155db, more than enough to put a massive smile on it's owner's face.

Sound In Motion who many will know from sorting the ICE in Michael Flynn's Award Winning Civic were in attendance with a number of their latest creations, with their centre-piece being a silver Audi A3 with not only a stack of kit in the boot, but also a large TFT screen housed in fibreglass where you would normally find a dull-looking Audi engine cover. With Saturday seeing the FA Cup Final taking place the TFT screen had many fans glued to it throughout the afternoon.

Michael Flynn's Honda Civic which has been all over not only the UK and Ireland, but also to shows in Europe in the last few months stood loud and proud in the centre of the main hall and gave those that hadn't seen this creation yet in the flesh a chance to feel their jaw dropping. From it's huge flared arches, chrome rims, through to an absolutely immense ICE install including that one off bonnet which it's become known for - everyone else in the show had to battle hard to get the public's attention.

A nitrous equipped MR2 held it's own against the competition as it's nitrous purge jets sprayed warm nitrous a couple of meters in the air from the outlet's just beneath it's vented bonnet. With this being both heard and seen from all around the hall it wasn't long in drawing a large crowd over for a closer look.

Of course there was more to this show than just a static modified car display, we also had plenty of live action going on outside throughout the weekend courtesy of Terry Grant, Steer from the Rear, Opposite Lock, Sideways Buff and other special guests. Terry Grant brought along his Ferrari F40 which created so much tyre smoke that if you didn't get your camera ready straight away then you had little chance of snapping him in action and his 200SX stunt car to entertain the crowd. As always we then moved on to the 2 local favourite teams, Steer from the rear as always getting the crowd going with their chirping dump valves singing along as they diff their 300ZX's with the occasional flame being fired out of the exhausts and Opposite Lock who as always brought along 3 Toyota Corolla's as well as Damo's BMW M3. The skill of both these display teams is second to none and when they can keep the car in such tight circles while hanging out the window then it only adds to the volume of cheers from the onlooking crowd. Buff had an immaculate BMW Z3 Roadster at his disposal this weekend, and with over 300Bhp on tap it wasn't long in transforming it's 2 wide rear tyres into a cloud of smoke, but not until he had shown his driving skills as he diffed around several people standing in the arena as well as performing figure of eight's.

The only negative was the weather, but the flame-throwing exhausts, loud ICE and show atmosphere helped to make everyone forget about the rain outside.

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2005-03-26 - D1 Drifting Dates & Drifting Background Info (Fast & Modified Magazine)

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