Last year I decided to do a Top 10 of 2010, featuring the cars that were the most prominent and quality builds of that year. It was received incredibly well by you, the community. There were some arguments and debates sparked over the choices made and the finalised list. But that was the point, to get the community talking about home-grown builds that stood head and shoulders above the rest. However this decision and the cars picked are of course my opinion, and the cars that I saw and witnessed come together over the year that was 2011. While some of you may disagree with me on a few of the cars, that’s fine, I don’t expect everyone to stand by my choices.

2011 was a tough year for picking the Top 10, not because there was so many but because I struggled to even muster 10. So many cars that could easily have made it onto the list but just never showed up to events, were never seen on the road and were only really witnessed on the internet. In saying that, this year there are two cars hailing from NSW. I was unsure whether it was a good idea to put cars I had never actually seen in person on the list, but the sort of quality and fame these two cars possess made it impossible not to. While I cannot give them a Top 3 position I think the fact that they made it onto the list, speaks volumes for how insane these builds are.

There is a lot of factors I take into account when judging who comes in what position and who makes the list. Showing the factors may help you understand how I came to the final positions. These factors are:

• Depth. How much work has gone into it?
• Quality. Are they using the best of the best gear?
• Reception. What does the community think of the car?
• Notoriety. How well known is the car; is it spoken of regularly?
• Frequency. Did it show up to most events; how often was the car seen?
• Cut Above. Is it above and beyond similar builds getting around?
• Proven. Has it won awards; attended and killed track days?
• Originality. How many other people are doing the same thing?

10. Ty’s Audi B8 A4 Wagon

Firstly yes, this was only recently finished very late in 2011 and it hasn’t really attended anything since it has been on the road. These are the main reasons why it is not any higher on the Top 10 list.  But no one else in Queensland is doing anything quite like this. Whenever I see Ty post pics of the car I almost double take because it seems like I am looking at something straight out of America/Europe. This car is going to make big waves in 2012 and expect it to change up quite often. Also FORGE Wheels are going to be taking the scene by storm, as you can see, their RS5.0 wheels look absolutely amazing on Ty’s A4.

Full feature is on the way, so expect more details on this super fresh Audi Wagon that looks straight out of Worthersee.

9. Will’s 5KYLRK R32 4 Door

Probably the most argued thing of last years list was that it did not include Will’s 5KYLRK 4 door, but instead Liam’s 4 door featured in the Top 10. The reasoning for this was Will had only just finished the car for Autosalon 2010. After that the car was not seen or heard of again until in 2011 where Will brought it out to almost all of the big name events held in QLD. The amount of work, time, sweat and blood poured into this car is absolutely mind numbing. Just looking at the the car straight away you can tell the seriousness of this build. No stone was left un-turned and that counts for a lot in my books. The parts list reads like a who’s who of the top dog parts companies. Every event Will turned up at he cleaned up with trophies and let’s be honest, it’s easy to see why.

A fully built RB26 stroked to an RB29. Yes you read that correctly, Will’s is one of two cars in Australia running the Brian Crower RB28.5 stroker kit. Match that with a big external fuel system and HKS T04Z and you have yourself a perfect combination which has easily seen over 500kW at the rear wheels on the dyno. 500+kw and a pristine engine bay featuring what I deem to be the greatest strut brace you can buy for your Skyline. The big ass AutoSelect item just looks so menacing sitting above the RB29. Will not only managed to score the rare as hell strut brace but also a super hard to come by Trust Titanium exhaust and Veilside dash cluster. It is a refreshing change from the Nismo 320km/h dash you see in most GTRs. It goes to show that Will has not just opened up catalogues and chosen eenie-meenie-mini-moe, he has sourced his parts and only picked the best of the best.  Not to mention a completely re-trimmed interior featuring Alcantara everything, but the outside is the game changer for this car. The completely custom and one off pumped guards front and back, matched with the staggered 19″ and 20″ SSR Professor SP1 setup looks absolutely insane. To top that off Will runs a carbon bonnet and utterly badass carbon drag wing out the back, which I personally think makes the entire car.

8. Emilio’s B18cR Eg Civic

Where to even begin! There are rebuilds and then there are complete and utter makeovers. This is one of the latter. Emilio attended both Jamboree 2010 and Jamboree 2011 with the Downshift stand, however the one year gap between the two Jamborees, Emilio managed to completely re-do his entire car. In fact the only thing that was the same was the chassis, everything and I mean everything was completely replaced. Wheels, engine, gearbox, LSD, front lip, wing, paint, front guards, seats, steering wheel, dash, gauges, roll cage, exhaust, ECU and the list goes on. That alone netted Emilio and Top 10 place, but he managed to gain 8th because not only is his car spotless inside and out and featuring a myriad of the best of the best parts, but because he actually takes it to the track on a regular basis. He drives it how it should be driven, at both Lakeside and Queensland Raceway – this is no hardparker.

Fully resprayed inside and out, B18cR motor transplant running your basic honda bolt ons, as well as top of the line parts. Not to mention a fully tucked engine bay. Streetsweeper headers matched with a Reinhardt tail pipe. Spoon carbon rear wing, First Moulding carbon front lip, 15″ Work Cr01s all round. Recaro pole position fixed backs on the inside along with a half cage and a myriad of bracing bars. Emilio’s car is packed full of parts that would make most Honda fanboys go weak at the knees, having tracked and ran the internally stock B18cR for 2011, Emilio has decided to really step the game up with his motor, attempting a build that is a very uncommon one on Australian shores. Knowing Emilio he will be continually evolving the car, so I would not be surprised if he becomes a regular on the yearly Downshift Top 10 posts. Having missed out by the smallest of margins last year, he easily landed himself a spot this year.

7. Anthony’s Powertune R34 GTR

It is fairly hard to type anything about Anthony’s R34 without turning into a babbling fan boy. Straight up, this is Australia’s most involved, in depth and flawless R34 GTR build. I will not hesitate in saying that nor will Anthony hesitate in backing that statement up, every single time the car leaves his garage. I followed this build like a hawk and the updates flowed in almost endlessly. You could tell Anthony was on a path to greatness when the parts list started growing. Anthony is however more well known as AH_HUH on the forums and has proven that he has the taste to back up the bank account unlike many modifiers. The thing that makes this car stand above the rest is that Anthony doesn’t use it for just one purpose. He has taken it to Powercruise, and dominated. Taken it to dyno days, and dominated with a monstrous 700awkw. Taken it to the drag strip, and dominated with a 10.7sec pass at a mind blowing 142mph. Hell, he even brings it out to regular car meets. This is not just some dyno queen, or mildly modified daily this is an all out, all conquering animal that Anthony loves to drive and does so whenever he wants to, not fearing the long arm of the law. Just how a car, and enthusiast should.

The only two GTRs running Brian Crower RB28.5 kits in Aus both managed to land in the 2011 Top 10. Anthonys R34 also runs one just like Will’s, however instead of using the HKS T04Z Anthony went for the big daddy. A Precision Turbo 71/75 helps this monster RB29 with a 500rrr bottom end, push out a massive 700kw at all 4 wheels. Yes ladies and gentlemen, this is a 1000hp R34 GTR street car. Pictures are few and far between of the car, as Anthony builds so many badass cars he really does not care for magazines and such. But it runs on black 19″ TE37s for street duties and when he hits the track he has some AME TM-02 Tracers wrapped in super sticky semi slicks. Apart from that the rest of the car seems fairly low key, as does the interior keeping it as stock and daily as possible. Anthony also spent big on driveline running a full Holinger 6 Speed sequential. When this animal comes on song, there is truly nothing else like it.

As you can see, Anthony does drive it on the street and my god, does it sound absolutely ridiculous. I love it and cannot wait to see it in person.

6. Nghia’s JZX100 Chaser

The JZX100 has become a super popular car choice here in Australia and especially Queensland. But one example that is unanimously loved is Nghia’s 100. You can tell when a car is loved by all when it burbles on in to the car park and every single person turns and stares at it. There is nothing quite like the idle of a 1J and as you can see that matched with the impeccable and unbelievably rare Traum kit and gold Rays GTCs with those massive Grex front rotors sitting behind the wheels, this is just a flawless win. What makes this car even more special is that Nghia actually slides it, how it sits. You can’t just go down to your local parts store and order a Traum bodykit for a JZX100, nor will it be a cheap excerise even if you can somehow source it. Yet he slides it front bar and all and does it fucking well. He has mounted his fair share of ripple strips and in one instance slightly damaged the kit, but that comes with the territory. It is easy to see why Nghia deserves a place on the Top 10. One of Queensland’s best Chasers, running parts that you definitely will not see anywhere else, with a style that almost everyone agrees on loving and to top that off it is driven how it should be.

Nghia has actually pulled the car off the road currently and is doing some big changes to it, mainly engine goodies. Strapping a GTX35/82R on to the 1J and pumping up the rest of it, I look forward to seeing this thing out at Queensland drift events tearing through tyres like nobody’s business.

Stay tuned for 5-2 in the next few days.