Verota

So last weekend was the 1st round of the 2008 D1 Grand Prix season at the newly repaved Ebisu Circuit. Here are just a few shots from Hirota’s (Verota) blog. I’m a huge fan of seldom seen cars, and have always loved Hirota’s JZX110 Verossa. I do have to admit it looked way better when it has no stickers, and before it was even red, when it was black. According to his blog, in the qualifications he got judged a 98.8…..only good enough for 22nd place, meaning he didn’t move into the top 16. I think its insane that a 98.8 point run doesnt get you anywhere, thats like the top 4 or so in Formula D 😉

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New Camera & Flowers

I sold my old Sony DSC-H1 awhile ago, I wanted to get into a normal point and shoot. The H1 was a great camera and I used the conversion lenses all the time, but but tired of hauling it all around. So last week I picked up the new(ish) Canon Ixy 910IS (Powershot SD870 IS in the states, and Ixus 860 IS in Europe) as a replacement, something I can always have with me.

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I’m still playing around with the thing, but wanted to play around with taking some shots outside. So on the way home from work today I took a stroll around. It’s Sakura season here in Kyoto so there is no shortage of subjects. Here are two of my favorites from the set, you can also view the full set.

Monkey

A few days ago I had to do some running around Kameoka to get the application for my foreigner registration card taken care of, along with opening up a bank account and all this other crap I need to get my own place. Masa’s boss let me borrow his Honda Monkey for the afternoon to run around, and it made my life a million times easier. Those of you who have been in Japan likely know (or have seen) that most small scooters and bikes can pass cars that are stopped at a light, so when you’re in traffic you just fly past everyone. Anyways, onto the bike. Its a custom deal, that is actually quite expensive. The frame is from a Honda Ape, but the motor and drive train are from a Honda Monkey. The motor is the normal 50cc base, but has been bored to 80cc, giving this little thing a good amount of go. The suspension, wheels and such are all larger than normal and from some other larger bike. I’ve never actually ridden a bike before so getting used to the 4speed took some time, but once I got it down it was loads of fun. I am thinking of picking something similar up now, before a car, since during the summer months running around town in this will be more economical and faster. Onto a few pics.

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You can see the kick-ass looking oil cooler and super custom kickstand prop.

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A better shot of the Yoshimura carb:

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And I had never been to the touge we run other than at night, so I went up and down once on the bike. This is a shot from the “start”

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Later that night we hung out at the CircleK and talked with a buddy of Masa’s that had a nice S13. beat to hell, but just on the rear quarters….from Meihan 🙂 Car had full Origin stylish aero, D-max rear trunk wing and a older bottom ount TD06 tubo kit I never really had seen before.

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Still Alive

I got to Japan about a week ago, just have not been able to get to a pc until just yesterday. I picked up a new camera so I’ll sort thru some pics and get em up asap. In the meantime, here is an rip I did just before I left. I used to watch this clip hundreds of times back in the day.

Purple Curse

Around here in Chicago, purple isn’t the color to paint your car. Purple = bad luck around these parts. This stems from the bad luck of my buddies Simba, and Eric. Basically their cars either 1) Blow up or 2) Don’t run….perpetually. Well anyway, down in Australia the guys at JDM Garage have a pair of cool, less cursed it appears, purple cars. First is the sexy R34 GTS 2 door on some clean, well fitting, Work Equips.

– Rb25det
– GreddyT67 Turbo kit
– PWR intercooler and radiator
– Jic Everything – Coilovers-Adjustable Arms etc
– Nismo 2way
– Cusco Cage
– Bride Seats trimmed in butter milk leather

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  And the other car, this interesting Levin. The wheel wells have had some major work done, allowing the car to sit crazy low. Together with the Longchamps and crazy power the car makes from it SR20, this car is quite interesting.

-Sr20det Engine
-Apexi Power FC ecu
-Sard 850cc injectors
-HKS Turbo
-HKS 256 264 cams
-Tomei cam gears
-Tomei rocker stoppers
-Greddy Intercooler
-Customer Made XR4 wheels 15×9.5s
-E series locked diff
-Equal length rose jointed rear end

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GTR Road&Track Test

The good news with the GT-R just keep pouring in, check out the R&T article, here.

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You can also check the pdf of all the results, here. I’ll let the article and data do all the talking, but my god….this car is incredible. Heaviest, lowest power, lowest msrp, highest ride-height….and it just kills the new Z06 and 911 Turbo.

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My favorite quote from the article: “The Nissan’s handling balance is so spectacular that it registered 1.01g on the skidpad and romped through the slalom at an impressive 73.4 mph, about 3 mph faster than the others (and faster than the Ferrari Enzo).” Yes, faster than an Enzo folks. Imagine if (when?) they drop all the luxury crap and drop the cars weight 2-300lbs….

Visa

So its finally hitting home that I will be leaving next week:

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I think I am going to go shoot at the range this weekend, no more of that fun for a long while 🙁 I ran across this XD-9 in sick pink digi-camo a few weeks ago. Had it not been close to $900 I would have picked it up for Yuki.

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And I had been waiting for the new In Flames LP, but it turned out to be a disappointment. I wasn’t even able to get through the album two whole times, before just stopping it and moving to some good old Come Clarity.

KO on Dunlop

Koguchi just made the jump to Dunlop!

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I talked a bit about the years tire changes, here, but to recap this year Falken has bowed out of D1 so most of the Falken guys are moving to Dunlop for the 2008 season. KO (and I assume most of the others) will be on Dunlop’s new Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec.

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C35

This is Good-Row’s C35 Laurel. So hot! Outside of Haruyama’s car you don’t see many of these around.
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I’m not a huge fan of most Final Konnexion aero, with the exception of this kit and the FD stuff. I think the fact that these are so rare, really appeals to me. I wish I saw more of them out. They come with RB25, but as we all know the 26 just pops right in.
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Action shots = boner time! I love the color as well on this thing.
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Quick spec:
GP Sports Gullflame (18×9.5 +/-0 F & 18×9.5 -8 R)
Tein Super Drift Coilover
Largus Sway Bars
D-Max full pillow arms
ER33 Mission
Nismo GT-Pro LSD
RB26
HKS GT-RS Turbine
Tomei 260 Cams

And the list goes on, but overall a very cool auto!

Shakken

I’ve been meaning to post this up for a while, as a bunch of people seem interested. Shakken is the bi-yearly vehicle inspection in Japan that entails:

(1) A two year base insurance policy (rate varies a little). In addition to this, you will have to buy a supplemental insurance policy.
(2) A standard inspection fee of $300 (30,000 yen).
(3) The cost of any repairs needed to bring the car up to standard.

 The $300 inspection fee is always the same, and the level of repairs and insurance all vary. It is safe to say that they WILL find “repairs”. A typical used car can cost you $1000-$2000 after all these fees. Long story short, owning a car in Japan is not cheap! Many opt to buy new cars, if they can, since new cars have a 3 year waiver on Shakken. Kei car fees are also much lower, hence the push towards such small, sub 550cc cars in the past few years.

After making your appointment, you head the shakken-jyou and then the car is VERY thoroughly inspected.

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The inspections checks the following (I’m too lazy to type; thanks Wikipedia):

  • 1: An exterior inspection to ensure the vehicle meets Japanese exterior regulations and does not have illegal exterior modifications (ie: extreme body kits).
  • 2: A wheel alignment inspection to ensure the vehicle has its wheels in-line and can turn correctly.
  • 3: A speedometer inspection to ensure the vehicle’s speedometer is accurate.
  • 4: A headlight inspection to ensure that the vehicle’s headlights are correctly placed and aligned so as not to be in-line of other drivers’ sight.
  • 5: A brake inspection to ensure the brakes work correctly.
  • 6: An exhaust gas/muffler inspection which also includes looking at carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon output along with exhaust noise levels.
  • 7: An undercarriage inspection which includes looking at suspension parts.

 Here is a shot, showing how crazy this gets. Undercarrige camera!

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Engine swaps, although legal, are problematic at Shakken testing. If done correctly however, the car can pass. This is an example of a S13 that had a few changes. SR20 swap (from the original CA18) to name a few. Engine codes that are cast onto the block are often checked, to assure the original engine is in place.

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 As you can see here, be prepared to wait 😉

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For more detailed info, check these links:

http://www.pref.aomori.lg.jp/kokusai/seikatu/word/page1-e.html 

http://www.gaijinpot.com/bb/showthread.php?t=27767&highlight=shaken