Interview | Tuners insight
RKM Motorsports Tuners insight
RVV Motorworks was one of the premier tuning companies in the days of GT4. Made up of Rojer, Kyle and Vince, RVV focused on tuning production cars that were not just fun to drive, but could also run with purpose built racers. Their cars, along with ff friendly attitude towards customers, gained them quite a few fans throughout the racing community. Unfortunatly Vince had to leave the company due to other commitments, and with the release of GT5, just like the companies famed Mazda RX-7 and Honda NSX-R, RVV Motorworks has undergone a few changes. Now known as RKM Motorsports, Rojer and Kyle (who insist they aren’t brothers, but may as well be) continue the ethos of cars that are fun to drive on the road, but can also run alongside the big boys on the track. I caught up with them for an insight into what makes them tick(over). First of all, who are you? Rojer: I’m Rojer, or Roj as most people call me. I’m one half of RKM Motorsports and if you want to add me on PSN, my ID is RoJJieE. Kyle: Kyle Mallender, better known as Rotary Junkie, the other half of RKM Motorsports. What first got you interested in cars and when? R: Well naturally from a young age, I was playing with toy cars. It was only until I was about 5 or 6 that I begun being interested in what makes a car work. I’d watch my uncle work on his Saab and after a couple of years, he started letting me help him change spark plugs, check if the lights worked, small stuff like that. Since then my main interest has always been cars. K: Brain damage perhaps! I’d say it started around the time I could talk, and at the time, more involved anything with wheels and a motor which slowly refined itself into being 90% car addiction.
29
When did you get into the GT series? R: In 1997 or ’98, a few months before GT2 was released. My friend brought GT1 over and we did a few split-screen races. It was one of the first PlayStation games I played that actually had road legal cars and not just rally or touring cars. I liked the whole “turn everyday cars into supercar beaters” thing. The moment GT2 came out, I bought it and started playing it religiously. K: My neighbour had GT2 circa 2001 and I quite liked it. I eventually got an original PlayStation from Gamestop post-PS2 launch for $30 and a copy of GT2 for myself. When did you first get into tuning cars after getting hooked on the GT series? R: Well, the very first time I tuned a car was my first day playing GT2, although I had no idea what I was doing and I just ended up changing the gearbox autoset and making a mess of everything else. It wasn’t until a few weeks into playing GT2 that I