Australia’s history with the legendary Skyline GT-R is long and storied, and the all-conquering Japanese ‘Godzilla’ is so richly entrenched in Australian car culture, that it may as well be an honorary Aussie muscle car itself!
And while the rest of the world is only now realising the full potential of the famed four-wheel drive, twin turbocharged GT-R, Andrew Hawkins of Motive Video has been a champion of the platform for as long as he can remember.
In fact, as well as running GT-R specific events like GT-R Festival in Australia (and soon to run his first American event) as well as the GT-R Challenge, he also owns several GT-Rs himself including his latest acquisition, an R35 GT-R.
“I’m a believer that one car simply can’t ‘do it all’, and that within that car, each part can’t do it all, either. This includes tyres. You need a drag radial for the dragstrip, a semi-slick for the circuit and you need a street tyre that suits the street. When you try and have one tyre do it all you’re forced to make compromises, and too often we see owners of performance cars willing to sacrifice the performance of their vehicles on the street,” begins Andrew.
“When I bought my R35 GT-R I wanted to make sure I didn’t compromise the streetability of the car for daily driving, whilst having enough grip on hand to enjoy the twisty roads. I wanted a tyre that would work well when it was cold, worked in the wet and was quiet, as many performance tyres are too noisy for a daily driver,” he continues.
For this, he opted for the new Proxes Sport 2 - Toyo Tyres’ flagship ultra high performance tyre that has been specifically engineered to meet the dizzying performance standards of modern high performance cars like the R35 GT-R.
Exciting developments in rubber compound technology as well as a bold new tread pattern help Proxes Sport 2 deliver outstanding grip and positive steering response, while the Dynamic Taper Design ensures that tyre performance doesn’t wane as your tyres wear, making them a tyre you can trust to deliver repeatable performance again and again - especially important for large, heavy performance vehicles like the GT-R, or electric vehicles that pummel performance tyres with their instant and mountainous torque.
“Having worked with ToyoTyres Australia as far back as 2005, I am excited to be using their product again and to have the Proxes brand wrapped around a set of wheels once more. The Proxes Sport 2 is designed for use on luxury performance cars. This means I’m not compromising on comfort and daily driving use on my R35 GT-R but I can still have fun on a twisty road. They’re delivering me outstanding performance on the street, and allow me to keep a dedicated set of wheels for the race track,” he concludes.
Andrew’s initial impressions of the Proxes Sport 2 are already live in this video, with his project taking a rapid left turn after a serious mechanical failure forced him to alter his plans for the vehicle:
Repair work has already begun - keep your eyes on the Motive Video YouTube Channel to stay up to date.
