It`s amazing how clean these cars are and could ask the question if they are trailer queens. I looked but there were no trailers present at the event which tells me they were all driven. I don`t think there would have been room for trailers since it is Tokyo. At the end of the car show the cars drive down the main street (Daigaku Dori) to demonstrate their driveability. I wasn`t able to stick around for that but maybe next year I`ll have some video footage as this was a short visit with my family.

Here are a few photos I grabbed.

A pretty cool bare bones Abarth Barchetta.

A nice Nissan Skyline 2000 GT (GC10)

A Mazda Cosmos ( L10B )

The Cosmos`s power-plant. A 2-rotor rotary engine with a 4 barrel carb and dual distributors.

Not a classic car but interesting and different to say the least. This oddly shaped (reminds me of a whale shark) is the Mitsuoka Orochi powered by a Toyota 3MZ 3,311cc V6 engine. These cars are hand built so that fact alone makes them more interesting to me. It`s actually the first one I seen up close in person but I just can`t stop thinking that it`s sifting small fish into that grill though.

A little bit of American flavor with a Ford GT.

I`ll be looking forward to this car show next year with a little more of a plan rather that just to stop by and look. There is a lot more to the show than I was able to capture.

]]> http://jyuroku.com/yabo-tenmangu-103th-annual-car-festival/feed/ 0 http://jyuroku.com/trueno-part-1/ http://jyuroku.com/trueno-part-1/#comments Mon, 16 Apr 2012 11:20:42 +0000 Zack_H http://jyuroku.com/?p=1281 So after selling my 180sx I proceeded to save my pennies for what seemed to be years(it was actually just 3 months). I rode my bicycle to work every day and took the train anywhere else I needed to go. All was well.

One day I decided to start looking around for a new car. I knew I wanted something older than 1987 so I would be able to bring the car back to the US in 2013. After searching for a few days I found this gem. I had never seen a Trueno in this kind of condition for under $20,000USD so I had to go check it out.

4 weeks later, and endless amounts of paperwork and fee’s the car was mine. Its no easy task to buy a car from a dealership that doesn’t cater to Gaijin’s. I had to take the hit and cancel the shaken+JCI(Inspection+Insurance) and then re-accomplish it later, which incurred me A LOT more fees.  In the end it was all worth it.

Driving the car that first few days was a big shakedown experience. Finding numerous rattles, squeaks, and vibrations, I began worry about what I had gotten myself into. After some driving and getting the car onto the lift I had discovered two things: the suspension bushings were shot, and the car had an OPEN DIFF. Open diffs are a rare (albeit undesirable) find in a JDM AE86…you simply NEVER find these in AE86 anymore.

The picture is slightly garbage (taken with my iphone) but you can see that I installed a Prothane Polyurethane bushing kit.

This was definitely NOT an easy job. I thought it would be a simple “press-in, press-out” affair but turned out to not go as smooth as I had hoped.

Once the install was done, I realized all my hard work had paid off. The car feels super planted, less body roll, less slop…everything got better.

Also snagged a set of Work RS lug-nuts while I was wrapping up the bushing install.

This is only the beginning. More has happened since the bushing install so check back in a few days for more updates.

I have acquired OEM Trueno window visors, a Techno Pro Spirit rear strut tower brace, a Techno Pro Spirit rebuilt 2-way zenki LSD w/4.33 gears, and a few other nick-knacks to tidy up the interior.

]]> http://jyuroku.com/trueno-part-1/feed/ 2 http://jyuroku.com/rainy-night-daikoku/ http://jyuroku.com/rainy-night-daikoku/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2012 12:53:02 +0000 Zack_H http://jyuroku.com/?p=1265  

So myself and a few friends rolled out to Daikoku Futo for the weekly GTR meet. Mother-nature thought she would try and change our plans, but we soldiered on. The drive there wasn’t too exciting, at least for me in the lightweight hachi, I was hydroplaning all over the place. Luckily we all made it in one piece. Half of us scrambled to find umbrellas and then we all proceeded to stand around in a parking lot…not really my cup of tea but I have yet to actually make it inside of the parking area so I thought I’d give it one last shot.

The so-called GTR Meet that I was informed about turned out to be more of a Z33 meet.

Luckily we brought quite a few cars, around 10 total, to the PA. The Y plate Mafia…yea, we’re quite gangster.

A pair of yellow Z33′s having a staring contest.

If I remember correctly we had 4 R32 GTR’s, a BNR33, MR-2,  my AE86, an S13 and 2 S14′s….Sorry if I left anyone out!

All in all it was a decent time, I definitely want to give it another go on a clear night…

…But next time there better be more Hachi’s!

Here is a small glimps of the Drift Matsuri (エビス ドリフト秋祭り) which takes place at Ebisu Circuit in Nihonmatsu, Fukushima, Japan. 2 days of throwing down, getting sideways and a whole lot of fun.

Special thanks of course to every one of the drivers: Donald Jackson, Martin Stuhler, Paul Vlasblom , Julian Smith, Driftking.nl and Garage-D.

Film & Edit: Chad MacLean
Filmed using 600D (kit lens), Rode Shotgun, and Contour HD 1080p cameras
Music: Heartbreaker – mstrkrft

Well I wanted a day to go somewhere and just talk about cars instead of focusing on photos or video. So my friend and I drove up, quite comfortably, to Sayama City in his 1989 Toyota Crown Wagon. We ended up at a small shop called Tiny United which deals with older Toyota cars. I was introduced to Maikaku-san, the owner of Tiny-United. First impression of this shop is very comfortable place surrounded by a LOT of Toyota wagons and the AE86′s he keeps at his shop.

I especially love the office which is a US made Airstream camper which still has it`s Washington State plate on it.

At the moment he is in the process of installing his modified 16V 4AGE in to it’s new home. This engine setup came from another AE86 Trueno featured in issue 10 of  Toyota  Levin & Trueno Magazine series (see scan of the magazine he gave me).

Some of the 4AGE 16valve specs are as follows: TODA Racing Pistons, AE111 Connecting Rods, TRD Crankshaft, TRD Cams 304 deg w/11mm lift (IN & EX) , Super Big valves, Webber Carbrators with 48mm inlets, TRD Intake manifold, Trust oil cooler, and a number of other parts which I`ll be finding out about when I visit again. I`ll head out when he finishes the install and gets the car running. The car will run the same exhaust layout where the exhaust tip is located at the rear of the passenger door.

Over all the power is going to about 220ps which keeps the car nice and balanced for it`s intended use.  The car still uses the stock T50 transmission.

His wheels are the Advan Racing 2 piece wheels.

I grabbed some photos of the other Levin outside his shop which he keeps for some of his friends. I`ll let the photos speak for themselves.

Fuel, Water Temp, Tach, Oil Temp, and Oil Pressure, looks good to me. Speedo .. who cares.

Bad ass hatch lock !

Also a short clip of this car`s 4AGE running.

Thanks and stay tuned.

These PC mice were released by BOSS COFFEE and probably will not be reproduced ever or at least in the near future.

A few weeks ago I hit the road in search of the famed Subaru STI gallery in Mitaka(a city on the west side of Tokyo). I will be upfront here, I am no rally expert, but I will do my best. Sorry if I offend any of you WRC/Rally buffs, and please, correct me via comment if my info is WAY OFF!

Nope…No STI Gallery here.

Although there as a super clean R35 GTR…Moving on…

Found it! (As well as a poorly placed pillar…thanks dealership architects)

First off, the legendary GC8 driven by Colin McRae in who knows how many different events. One would assume the final event was the Sanremo Rally in Italy.

Yep…That’s what it says.

I was so tempted to open the door and hop in…but we were already sneaking into the “closed” gallery, didn’t wanna push my luck.

Next was the Petter Solberg driven #7  2007 WRC car. It worked it’s ass off in quite a few events before being cleaned up and used a display car.

Imagine if this was your daily driver. For starters…I would jump every set of railroad tracks I could find.

After seeing these cars I might just have to start following rally.

Finally, the new GRB chassis.

So which chassis has the best looking face? The GD gets my vote.

Do you prefer the modern look of the GRB-chassis?

Or maybe the classic look of the GC8?

Silky Smooth. You can almost see the air flowing over the roof-line, around and across the carbon wing, and bouncing off the huge gurney-flap. Love it!

Well that does it for my visit to the Subaru Sti Gallery.

Next up: some coverage of Bingo Sports, A high-end Super-car + Luxury dealer.

Stay Tuned!

I`ll let the video speak for it`s self. Hopefully soon I`ll be able to get some shot of the inside soon.

Stay Tuned !

While at Tsukuba Circuit a few weeks ago I was walking through the paddock area when I stumbled upon this awesome Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16v. The wheels were really what caught my eye at first. I have never seen a Benz on a set of Volk Ce28N’s (maybe I live under a rock in an anti-euro neighborhood).

You can see here that he’s also running Advan A050′s. I’m not sure if the aero is all stock or not but either way…it fits.

When he opened the hood for me, my eyes lit up. The engine may not be the top choice for most 190E lovers(the 2.5L Cosworth is king) but it’s definitely the most beautifully modified N/A 2.3-16V engine I have ever seen.  The owner has installed ITB’s, headers, all new hoses+piping, and almost everything has been replaced,  upgraded or was just well taken care of from day-1. The crinkle-painted valve cover is a great touch.

The huge carbon intake plenum and fresh air duct werent bad either!

In and attempt to give credit where its due, since I don’t know the owners info, I will assume this company had a hand in the tuning/setup of this car. I did my best to Google it but got nothing. If you know anything about this company, let us know!

All-in-all this is a clean and tastefully modded example of a 190E. I have yet to see one better, but if I do, I’ll let you know.

-Zack.