The 1990’s brought on changes for A.N.Z, anti-pollution was killing performance and a mandatory speed cap of 180km/h (ADR regs) had killed off any super-car.
The 1990-1999 Kiwi is a perfect example of what was now expected of any mainstream car builder.
Boring bubble bodies, big boring headlights and strange bright colors. Available worldwide in two trims the Africa and the Australia this was by far the cheapest car A.N.Z ever exported en mass.
The Africa was available with the 100hp v6 diesel found in the previous Kiwi Europe while the Australia was fitted with a new turbo version. Nothing really exciting here but they were cheap.
juliusgraham5485 - Kiwi.zip (108.3 KB)
In 1991 the new Tiaki model was released to the Australian, New Zealand and European markets. With three trims to choose from the new Tiaki offered a little bit of everything.
Available with the 2L Brisbane diesel v6 found in the Kiwi Australia the 6 model was available for the first time with a 2.8L 111hp turbo diesel from the Tasman engine line and the iconic Tiaki Turbo was unveiled. This rally inspired beast was painted candy apple red had massive brakes and a 5sp gearbox. The engine was a 4.7L twin turbo Hemis 6 that produced 199hp and 339Nm torque.
juliusgraham5485 - Tiaki.zip (165.2 KB)
We also introduced a new WRC from the Tiaki range, with a 375hp 4.7L compound turbo Hemis6 completing the Huruna Downhill in 5.01
The gen2 Mulga came about in 1992 with the black option the only street legal version.
A 223hp 4.7L v8 and all the creature comforts of the now extinct VENOM trims, this is the car to say I have no children and I love it.
The Drag 500 is a whole new story using one of ANZ Racing’s crate Tasman v8 engines they were able to coax 500hp and 617Nm torque from the stroked 6.2L 3valve behemoth. Like the early drag cars of the 70’s this engine is equipped with mechanical fuel injection and the trumpets can be changed out to longer or shorter units to suit the tune at the time. A fibreglass body and double wishbone suspension all round propel her down the quarter at 12.7@192km/h.
Then we have the Drag 800, we used the same Tasman v8 as we used in the 500 however we have added twin centrifugal superchargers to produce 800hp. positive boost pressure rises lineally with the rpm producing a maximum of 11.5 psi at the 6100rpm limit. Unlike conventional supercharging we have far less torque of the line but get faster as we carry on down the strip.
juliusgraham5485 - Mulga.zip (135.8 KB)
In the mid 90’s a new Tiapan was tooled. A much smaller lighter more elegant fibreglass body was shaped over the spaceframe chassis. The 4.7L gen3 Hemis churns up to 350hp out the back wheels and the exhaust manifolds were amazing for the time.
The Lemans version featured a 1000hp 4.7L twin centrifugally supercharged v6 again with nice linear power delivery how ever it was found that the 140mm toothed belts were shedding after2 hrs of use so the belt system was replaced with a direct drive system where the superchargers are driven directly from the crank via geas and are mounted on the front of the harmonic balancer.
juliusgraham5485 - TIAPAN.zip (121.3 KB)
The entire range was remodeled in 1999 just ahead of the millennia. The nay sayers said creating cars with this much computer control was a recipe for disaster… Well they were wrong 31/12/99 came and with the first now official the new models were released.
First in the lineup was the stout little Kiwi, it had been made smaller and lighter and was fitted with a new compound turbo v6 diesel engine. The CEO Darkshine5 was stoked as now the entry level car in his company was now using the same technology that only 10 years prior was used in their World Rally Cars. The only issue was the price was far too high for the African and Asian markets and so the Africa and Australia trims were dropped in favor of a single simple Kiwi
And thw WRC heritage came back to the Kiwi with a race ready factory offering. A new lighter more powerful v6 was developed. With only 1.5L and weighing in at 122kg’s fully dressed it’s a unique choice for the job. Screaming through its 10000rpm’s the new twin turbo setup proved to be lighter by 50kg’s and provided much easier intercooling. With 0-100km/h time in in low 3’s its faster than its Japanese competitors by quite alot and has recorded a time down Haruna Downhill in 4.18.
juliusgraham5485 - Kiwi.zip (127.8 KB)
The Tiaki returned in its ugliest form yet! Nicknamed sad Steve by the builders, even though it was a great car sales slipped and ANZ needed to step up their game against the other big 2 manufacturers.
The 3 trims were available the Diesel with a new 3L 271Nm v6 turbo diesel and 16" wheels.
The 6 with a new powerful and economical 214hp 4.7L Hemis v6
And the Turbo with a 4L compound turbo Hemis 6 producing 227hp and 436Nm.
No racing version was built with this model.
juliusgraham5485 - Tiaki.zip (135.8 KB)
The Mulga had grown into a station wagon (sales went up with no local competitor coming even close) 4 trims were offered with the sedate Black fitted with a 350hp gen3 Hemis v8.
The two drag ready models again were the drag500 and the drag800. These cars were available with the ANZ racing crate 5L straight 6. To this new alloy 5 valve DOHC head was developed and the new engine was branded the LEGION. The 500 version was fitted with mechanical fuel injection and high compression flat top pistons to make 500hp and 515Nm. The 800 version was fitted with a single 76mm turbo and produces 800hp and 1000Nm of torque.
juliusgraham5485 - Mulga.zip (160.9 KB)
The last model to be released to the public was the new Tiapan convertible the Tiapan VENOM
For the first time the car was offered in ANZracing purple, with a handmade interior and top end sound system the vehicle also is fitted with 8 airbags. Active electric suspension as always and new larger tyres keep her on the rails.
The public also got to see the new limited to 15 Tiapan VENOM LM.
These were fitted with a LeMans grade 3.2L compound turbo v8 the same previously used in the LeMans racing car but tuned for regular fuel. Still producing 600hp the car rockets from 0-100km/h in 3.7 seconds. The car is fitted with a slightly higher grade of wood in its handmade interior than the standard VENOM and features switches and a gearstick made from deer antler.
juliusgraham5485 - TIAPAN.zip (169.2 KB)