Tsukuba Drive

Tsukuba brings out all kinds of cars all day. This Europa was soooo low. The whole car was lower than the door line on my car.

On the road the car looks very cool. and of course the sound is a raspy thundering bee scenario.

Elevation changes and tight mainly second gear corners with small runs up to third, really hooks you.

It attracts all kinds of cars. Today there were drift chasers and FC, EVOs and WRX, Ferrari and Capuchino among the many cars that were enjoying the sun. R32 and R33 Skylines enjoying the road of the same name. One of a couple of EVO9MR owners had tyre pressure gauge and seemed ready for action. I also saw Tarmac Rally style EVO 3 and well as a EVO5. Rx8, DC5, NA Mx5, most were going pretty fast while I was travelling in the other direction. Touge is still fun.

This 328 gtb Ferrari owner was out for a drive/picnic with his dad. His brother has a 355. A good GTB still goes for 8Million yen in Japan. I just had my Ferrari driving shoes. HAHA.

The location is beautiful and the weather today was great.

My car is dirty but the bright sun hides a lot.

You usually end up finding a similar car to chase. This car was sitting flat so I wanted to find out what sus etc.

We had a chat for a while.

It seems our cars were basically the same with 5 speed and LSD but no other luxuries. You will notice even the rear roll cover supports are plastic. So I am now going to call mine an NR-A-RHT which was probably the intention of the previous owner.

We had both updated Ohlins DFV with Nopro links and standard stabiliser bars. Almost no body roll. (like my car) we both had S-Drive tyres and no engine mods other than Jets exhaust.

His Enkei GT-C were a low cost alternative to Prodrive. It was interesting to follow a similar car.

Russ.

Odula & Joyfast

Joyfast is a Japanese tuning company that uses a lot of the best things that other manufacturers produce and build on that to build something great. Their demo NC is a nice car that sports NOPRO rear diffuser and wing and until recently a Jets front bar and carbon lip/canard combo.

In the search for more grip in the front, they recently upgraded to a ful FRP bar. the Odula bar is one of few on the market and really makes the front of the NC look FAT.

I approve. White is still my colour of choice but I haven't owned a white car since my WRX.
While I've seen this bar in grey. It really looks mych better in white.

Very cool.

BTW. Karuizawa meeting is next month.

There should be plenty of cool cars there.

See what happens. Russ.

Wheel Tape

I broke out the black vinyl electrical tape again. The wheels came up fantastic!!!!

The Gloss Black finish really suited the car. I was very surprised.

Somehow the wheels look much bigger that the other colours.

The contrast between the gold and black is amazing.

Along the way I tried this variation bith gold back ground and gold centre but niether were appealing.

Late in the afternoon I had another crack at silver... But it just doesn't rate.

So I guess I'll be heading to the 100 yen shop to buy some black spray cans.

Maybe by next weekend the car will look much better.

I did add a small touch to the engine cam cover.

Russ.

PS.. I hate choices.

Living in Japan has it's pitfalls for an undecisive guy like me...

When you decide 100% on something there's always a million other options just around the corner. I saw the latest Drift Tengoku magazine today and there was a car with 19" Work miesters in BLACK. So here is the toughest image to date. Personally its not really my style, but still very cool. I don't know why I put the SSR on my car anyway.

But the direction my car is taking is cloudy at the moment. I need a serious vacation from cars.

So posts may slow. maybe.

Russ.

Wheel Test & Drive

The C1 is a cool place. I love the way the government puts the corner radius on the signposts. "just like a racetrack"

I love the way the roads fly and wind though the buildings. sometimes 15 levels in the air.

I love the architecture also. The Toyota Amlux building is one. But thats not the real reason for this post.

I went to one of old old haunts today. Hasegawa Parts. I really just needed to get out of the house, it was a little far but the place always has a bunch of used wheels and I had seen some on the web I liked that were really really cheap.

Unfortuanely the ones I saw 19inch were cracked (cheap) and ultimately 4 hole. Damn I should have checked better. But I found these 18inch SSR Professor and I thought it would be a good test. The guys are friendly too, (try to sell something) so it was no problem to try them on.

Fronts were 18x8.5 +43. No clearance problems even with high 225/40/18 buggy style. But its close. Obviously +43 is just a few mm too far out. Although the stretched tyres looked good.

Rears were 18x9.5 + 43. No way! Too Fat! Inner clearance was good so I could run wider rear but the stance is silly. So now I am more confused. (above is Chopped- Slightly lowered) I have questions.

Is a stretched 215 on an 8.5 inch rim really going to work...?

Is +50 the right way to go?

From todays outing I think not Maybe +45 or +48 is better.

So while thinking on the way back, I took some more C1 shots in the sun. Always strange driving on the C1 in the day time. Bring back the glory night time racing days.

Might turn on the PS3 and play Wangan Midnight tonight. It really does look the same.

Russ.

VR.G2 Musings

OK, well the VR G2 are definately on the agenda. This first pic has the front emblem and number plate holes filled. Looks smoother. I have an old grill without the chrome too. I might do something with that.

NOTE I have taken off the canards for the time being. Street use.

This one shows the awsomeness in a practical form. Formula silver is the preferred choice for my car. at the moment.

A little more aggressive with Flat Black.

After playing GRID for a while i have been looking at graphics again. the side section in a colour to match some GREEN VR.G2 may be an issue. I mean If you are going to pay, why not pay for custom paint. $30 extra

May look something like this anyway.

Russ.

Hot Version Vol 98

Hot Version DVD features a little drift challenge with the NC2.

Drift Time Attack Challenge. http://www.bestmotoring.jp/HV/098/

Check out the vid here too. http://www.bestmotoring.jp/BM/200905/

Russ.

Izu Drive

I just spent 2 days cruising around the Izu penninsula. Its 2 hours south of Tokyo.

Starting at the Ashinoko Lake and Hakkone Skyline the views are awesome and the roads are just as good.

I was happy to see lots of fresh laid tarmac. So it's smooth again.

Some great spots to stop and enjoy the views.

The weather was fantastic so all the pictures came out very well.

Even in the TC-F mirror the view is crystal clear.

A sample of IZU Skyline here led me towards Izu Kogen on the east coast of the peninsula.

The coast in this area was rugged without sand but the rocky face is awesome.

Jogasaki Park attracts visitors to this Suspension Bridge. Nice view but like a lot of Japanese attractions they are sometimes over-rated by local regions.

The Sakura (cherry blossoms) in the area however are not. They were simply everywhere. The petals dropped on the road left a trail behind the car everywhere I went.

This is just part of a 3klm tunnel of flower. Perfect for open top.

Close by is this dormant crater. (not a main feture in the guide books) but very spectacular as the face is void of trees. grass is burned each year. Ohmuro-mountain has a crater at the top. I walked around.

The Hotel I stayed in was awesome. an old english castle themed hotel with antique furniture. Sometimes you find some gems.

At night a quick trip into the town for some picstures of the lit streets of flower.

A very nice atmosphere.

Next day, I started into the mountains. The roads became tiny on R59. max speed around 40km/h

Pine forest gave a taste of tarmac rally style.

My car had it's 10,000klm birthday in a nice spot.

The 10000 event happened right here in a small town in the middle of Izu.

Speed up a bit to R414.

Just before the 3 ring loop road. An engineering marvel with no real use other than to make a hard climb more gradual. At the bottom though there are some nice waterfalls. The 7 Falls.

Head east for beach. Head west and you will hit the rugged coast again. This boat is coming out of a sea cave.

It's an amazing little cruize. not much room for error.

This old guy was the being the stereo-typical Japanese tourist. Huge lens.

Heading north again on R17, the roads were tight and either covered by Sakura or with views of the ocean tracking up and down the coastal hills for 100klms. The afternoons bring haze so Fuji is difficult to see. Believe it or not. It's there.

Check My Slide Show for more pics from Fuji, around Izu & return.

Russ