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Niatross

bd
Posts: 430

Location: Bangladesh
Occupation: topkek
Age:
V$: yes
#81   2018-12-31 10:25          
it is with a heavy heart, that i press F for AJ's CRX. Thing had so many memories around it for all of us. not to mention the time he himself spent working on it. damn. truly an end of an era :(

But hey, at least we're moving into the 2019 all good and strong!
Happy new year fam, and everyone else reading this!


Current owned cars:
- Toyota Supra GA-JZA70 Mk3
- BMW E46 M3
- Nissan Skyline ECR33 GTS25t
- Nissan 200SX Hatchback
- BMW E92 335i
- Nazda RX-7 FD3S Type RS
- Mazda RX-7 JF1FD (USDM)
- Nissan Silvia S14

BigSmoke

id
Posts: 844

Location: Indonesia
Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
Age:
V$: Broke
#82   2018-12-31 15:54          
# Niatross : it is with a heavy heart, that i press F for AJ's CRX. Thing had so many memories around it for all of us. not to mention the time he himself spent working on it. damn. truly an end of an era :(

But hey, at least we're moving into the 2019 all good and strong!
Happy new year fam, and everyone else reading this!

Happy new year too fam! I'm really glad I can celebrate X-mas and new year with awesome crew like y'all :thumbsup:

Also copied my update here in case of anyone not bothering to look back one page:
# BigSmoke :
End of The Year Notes




As 2019 is coming upon us, Tokyo is getting crowded everywhere to celebrate it.
Despite the cold weather here, everyone seems to be fired up.
Well, I also celebrate it....albeit in a different way :D
Let's jump into the update!


NOTE: Some pics are taken from AJ's RP






[28 Dec 2018, later in the day]
The location at AJ pointed to me is located at around east Tokyo, some kms away from downtown. It is a garage shop called Vstanced Garage. AJ also instructed to me to ask for him to the people there regardless of his presence there via text message. The trip itself takes some hours, moving from west to east Tokyo is quite a feat to do. Thankfully though the streets itself isn't so crowded this time, so there are less traffic jams compared to the day I came here. The Neon Genesis Evangelion-esque weather definitely helps too with engine cooling and tyre grip, allowing me to unleash all the power the Evo has on the highway.

Some hours later, I entered the highway exit. The map says the garage shouldn't be far from it.

Several turns later I came to the front of the Vstanced Garage. The gargae itself is located in an old but big building, and the front gate as well as the building itself make the garage a blink-or-miss it spot if you're going past it without being attentive to your surroundings or having a mpa on your side. I proceed to stop for a while on the front of the garage since it looks like nobody's around.

I decided to call AJ, to make sure whether he's already inside or not.

"Yo AJ, it's me Edo. You there?"
"No I haven't but I'll be there"
"You sure this is the place? I've seen the sign but I see nobody around"
"Yap if you can see the sign then that's it. Hold up let me contact one of the boy there to let you in"
"Thanks man, I'll wait inside"


So turns out AJ was somewhere else at the moment. Then it looks like somebody told me to go inside the garage from afar, so I decided to follow him in the Evo.

"AJ's friend?"
"Yup"
"Come in, dude"

The Vstanced garage crew told me to park my Evo at the respraying bay, since there's nobody using it so far. As we wait for AJ, they told me about their works, including AJ's iconic CR-X and S15 which I'm totally a fan of. They've been creating a lot of legendary liveries for all purposes since a very long time ago. They were also kind enough to treat me for a slice of pizza and a can of soft drink :D

They also told me that they have a lot of branches around Japan, and recently they opened another one in Tsukuba, specializing in livery designing and wrapping, as well as expert detailing for time attack cars. They've got someone who is regarded "carbon fiber doctor" by them, since said man expertises on carbon fiber detailing and repair, e.g. he can repair and cover cracked carbon fiber parts which is normally quite difficult to do. I wonder if he can do it to, say, Formula 1 cars? ;)

The location of the Tsukuba branch is another surprise as well, as it turns out to be close to the school when I and Rantaro once hang out and picked up girls. Perhaps when I've got my own drift car or time attack machine (remember, the Evo is also a daily), I'll pay them a visit for liveries.

Some hours later after the sun sets, AJ came into the garage with his friend, Jack. Man, Jack's Sileighty is so awesome, I actually want to look at it for a longer time!

But then comes the saddening news. As you can see at AJ's RP, AJ's C-RX has been sold to someone else. Knowing that it was AJ's first car in Japan and he has gone through a lot of things in it makes it more painful in heart. AJ looks like he's ready to move on though, after all he has three other cars he can drive and work on. But he's right as well, the final result might not give the same vibe and feel as the CR-X when they're finished.

After a long chat with everyone and some more slices of pizza, I and AJ went back to Westkyo garage. We hit the highway again for fast trip home, hoping for lesser traffic.

As we're cruising on the highway, AJ told me all he had done with the CR-X, as well as his resolve to work on his other cars, mainly his S15. But then suddenly Queen's "I'm in Love with My Car" kicks in over the radio. Before I proceed to sing along, I asked AJ not to be irritated or saddened by the song, or in particular my voice. He said it's okay and I may go on singing. The radio kept on blasting evergreen rock songs as darkness fell upon us.

After a long drive, I and AJ arrived at Westkyo at 10.45pm, and we decided to go straight to our separate beds. It's quite an eventful day for both of us.



[29 Dec 2018]
After waking up and had a freezy shower, AJ invited me for breakfast. Since Marc(Macaron_moon) was running out of ramen, and Muza(Niatross) has already one with Rifky(Shez), I accepted his invitation. AJ says we're going to the suburban area near Westkyo. As morning mist clears up, we hit the road. It was so freezy I have to put on my thiccest jacket that I brought.

The suburbs itself is quite fascinating to drive around and surprisingly has a lot of trees. There are also quite a lot of highway exits in case you have an urge for doing expressway runs in a sudden.

But what occupies my eyes most is AJ's Strawberry red S15 that he brought. It is one of my favourite builds here as it reminds me of Nobuteru Taniguchi's personal S15 that has made a lot of appearance in video games, particularly Tokyo Extreme Racer Drift (TXRD) series, usually along with Ridox Supra and RE Amemiya RX7. Makes sense since Nob and Max Orido helped along the game's development process in order to make these games the ultimate touge simulator at that time. Only time can tell if AJ will have a similar role ;)

The city's view was so enjoyable I can't hold myself to take pics of my Evo. The brekkie menu was delicious as well! AJ really knows the culinary map of the suburban area. Man, if only all the crew can join us.........also, while we have the brekkie AJ compliments the quality of the ride the Evo has. I'm glad all the handling upgrade gives a brilliant result! :D



Sadly, our joy was offset on our way back. AJ was suddenly slowing down and the car misfired a lot of times. We decided to stop a while on a bridge to see what's going on.

"What happened?" I asked as I run lightly towards AJ.
"I don't know either, let's pop the hood" AJ asnwers, then he opened the bonnet while the engine is still running.
"Please don't be something serious, please" I pleaded inside as we look over the engine.

As you can see on AJ's RP, it turns out the SR20DET inside proceeds to turn itself into a SR20DE with a blown, non-functional turbo. A moment of silence for the turbo, please.

With the turbo dead, AJ's S15 has become asthmatic. I offered to call a tow service, but AJ refuses, and reckoned he can limp it home. I can understand his decision, after all this is his beloved car. Thankfully though we made it back to WestKyo unscathed. We spent the rest of the day removing the remnants of the blown turbo.




[31 Dec 2018]
It's the final day of 2018 and I've got an info that now I'll be receiving V$655 a week! Clearly this is a blessing for me, as thsi means more money for tuning the Evo. And speaking of tuning the Evo.........
After weeks of hard thinking whether I should get engine or transmission upgrades first, I decided to refresh the stock transmission first. After all, it's the component that transfers the fierce power of the engine to the wheels, so I think it'll be good to prioritize it first while I've got the money for it. The Evo might actually need them as well, after all these years of running on stock components it must have been tired of changing gear multi-million times. So after consulting with Muza, AJ and Marc the Human Lan Evo, I started the shopping spree.

TMZ Performance offered transmission rebuild kits, transfer case rebuild kits as well as rear diff rebuild kits. For the transfer case and rear diff I'm going for the standard Stage 1 ones as I'm not going to do ridiculous stuff which requires billet components at the moment, but for the transmission I'm going for the Stage 3 option, which features several race-spec components and center diff modifications including 4-spider gear center diff conversion. Along with it I added additional 1st gear input shaft and 12% taller 1st gearset and competition spec clutch fork as options. With that sorted, the transmission kit costs V$3490, the transfer case kit costs V$615 and the rear diff kit costs V$495, bringing the grand total to V$4600.

But the shopping list doesn't stop there. I plan to replace the front and rear LSD as well. Fortunately RHDJapan has a year-end discount promo going on, so I can grab LSDs for cheap. I grabbed Cusco Type RS LSDs, both for front and rear. The front one costed me V$939, while the rear one costed me V$904. But no, the shopping list doesn't end here either. To match the LSDs, I decided to change the clutch set as well to Cusco's. Fortunately, Cusco JP has them for reasonable price at V$532, with no charge for material selection. This allows me to pick the copper ones, hopefully this one will be stronger.

But one question still remain: Despite the 4-spider center diff conversion, should I replace it with LSDs? Or can I combine said diff conversion with this? I want to do it since it's quite rare but I'm not sure if it works. Any answers will be appreciated.

For now it doesn't seem to matter though. As the day passes, we decided that instead of going downtown for new year's eve, we simply enjoy the fireworks from the marina nearby and bring our own snacks. And luckily for us, the marina is surprisingly not so crowded. We enjoy the night as we see fireworks, fill ourselves on various snacks and watch as the year changes in my Evo and Muza's E46.

Happy new year everyone, I hope 2019 will bring all of us more colours, adventures and opportunities, and perhaps new cars in our garage as well :D





Final update of 2018 has been done! :pimping:
Let's see how my wallet survives the shopping spree.......




That's all my updates for now, thank you for stopping by and see you in 2019!
(either here or one of the WestKyo boys RPs)
Still following the damn train since 1992

Visit my RP HERE!

BigSmoke

id
Posts: 844

Location: Indonesia
Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
Age:
V$: Broke
#83   2019-01-04 13:13          
Birthday Presents




IT'S THE FIRST UPDATE OF THE YEAR! :D
After ordering one more thing, all my parts has arrived at WestKyo Garage.
And to top it off, they arrived AT MY BIRTHDAY! :bananajump: :pimping:
Surely a good gift for myself eh? :))
Well let's jump into the update!




[01 Jan 2019]
Happy new year everyone! After the celebration at the marina, everyone got back to sleep quickly since we're all full of snacks.......excpet Marc(Macaron_moon) and AJ(RocketBunnyS13), who decided to down some more Asahi beers. Welp, I guess that's how they bring themselves to sleep after huge parties.

By midday when we all woke up, new year greetings texts and postcards flood our phones. But I also got a very, very good news. Most of my business contacts started their work at the end of January, so extending my holiday here is a possibility. I asked the WestKyo boys about this, and they gladly accept the stay extension. YAY! :D

The only thing that bugs me a bit is that some of my orders will be delayed for a while. Thankfully, only local deliveries are affected, which means only my LSDs and clutch. They'll arrive at late Jan 2. RHDJapan also informed me that they also still accept orders, with items arriving at late Jan 3. Coincidentally, I came across a good deal over JUN lightweight flywheel there, so I bought one myself for V$398. Originally I was going for TODA's, but JUN ones is cheaper and lighter.

Welp, the shopping spree can't be helped I guess. I wonder if any of the boys also bought themselves a present?


[02 Jan 2019]
We spent our day either continuing on wrenching and improving our cars, browsing for new year discounts on car parts on the internet, or replying back new year greetings texts and postcards. And of course, having breakfast together with Marc's speciality ramen as the menu. It might be just ramen cups, but trust me, it's so delicious it'll add at least 60 BHP in your heart and brain for the day :D

But at midday, Muza(Niatross) informed me that the famous Initial D arcade cabs at Sega Joypolis Tokyo will be closed in the middle of January. If you didn't know, said cabs has replica of Initial D cars as the seats and each cab moves gyroscopically as you turn around the corners. Here's a video demonstrating it. Seeing as we're all in Tokyo and has never been there our whole lifetime, we decided to pay a visit later this or next week.

Later in the day, my LSD and clutch packages arrived in the shop. Living in Tokyo does give you a benefit indeed, everything seems to quickly arrive for you.


[03 Jan 2019]
For some of us, Michael Schumacher was our hero, and we spent our childhood seeing him clinching wins after wins. So to pay tribute to him, we spent the day seeing his racing vids, play some games that features his car, and so on. Hell, I went a step further by wearing red all day long. Sadly, none of us has either a Ferrari or a Mercedes (though Muza had one for a while) :)) a drive in one would complete the tribute imo.

Out of curiosity, I asked if it is allowed to swim around the marina to the boys. Turns out it isn't allowed since obviously the sea water around the marina is deep. This also explains why there are two boat piers around the town, as well as a boating school. Despite this, there's a small beach and a vista point nearby, which can only be slightly seen from the furthest pier. Perhaps I could swim or simply have a tan there?

Later in the day, the flywheel package arrived. Judging by it's weight it might be suitable to grind the edges of the OEM ones and turning it into a discus for the discus throw sport, or even better(?), a frisbee :))


[04 Jan 2019]
It's my birthday! But to be honest, I don't expect anything big, not even a cake. I guess I haven't told the boys about this sooo that's okay to me. Anyway, I woke up early in the morning. The view from the lounge is quite peaceful, and it was a cold morning as well. Marc's Evo X and Rifky(Shez)'s DC5 become the icing on the cake of the view.

Despite this, it still feels like Neon Genesis Evangelion kicks itself into real life as there's no snow. Well hopefully the robots and monsters didn't make an appearance as well, that'll be dangerous. Oh, speaking of which, hands up if you're planning to watch the original series later this year on Netflix.

Later in the day, finally the last piece of the transmission upgrade came to the garage, which is the TMZ Performance transmission, transfer case and rear diff rebuild kits. I was ecstatic because not only everything has arrived, the last one arrived on my birthday as well. Better still, I'm currently in a shop with all the tools required and best of all, there's Marc the Human Lan Evo to help me. Yep, his knowledge on Evos is on-par with, if not a league above Ohira-sensei in Tsukuba. And since 4G63 engines has been adopted within a lot of cars other than Evos, I reckon he can do magic over aything equipped with it, not just Evos. And so, he became my sensei for the day.

Once again, I reversed my Evo into the work bay. After we had breakfast, the car is lifted and all the equipments and the upgrades has been set, we started the huge work.

The good thing about the LDSs are their locking method can be changed. Specifically, we turned the front LSD into a 1.5-way LSD and the rear one into a 2-way LSD. We set them to lock at 25%. And oh, we also adjusted the gear set setting, now most of the gears are a bit longer to compensate the extra traction from the LSDs. Here we also found out that the center diff is basically an open diff, per the standart of the Evos of it's time.

The 4-spider center diff conversion strengthens the diff for even drag racing purposes, but of course I'm not gonna do that. Still, that's quite reassuring for daily and trackday usage (I'm really grateful for not ticking the welded diff option, people said it's horrible for daily) as it gives better traction. But later on, I found that the WRC version of Evo III also uses LSD for the center diff.

Should I switch to them or stick to the current diff? Cusco center LSD for Evo III is a bit difficut to found, and one that I found is different type (Type MZ instead of RS, the only difference is the locking time and method). But if I do, I can combine it with this. So what do you think? Let me know!

And uh, if you still don't get what I'm talking about, scroll to the bottom of this linky here to find out what I'm talking about.

Anyway, back to the process. After a long process of adjustment and assembly, the operation was finished around 8 hours later and we put the car down the work bay. We worked quite intensely we forgot to have lunch :))

Lunch done, I jumped into the Evo for a small testing. Sadly there's no racetrack nearby, but eh, this will simulate daily usage condition as well so that's okay. Here we go!

Relatively speaking, I wonder what AJ will do to his S2K..........

Initial impression is good to me. The car now pulls itself off junction quicker, and the bite is sufficient in traffic speeds. There are some traffic present at the moment, most of them went to the marina or the boating school. It was a sunny afternoon as well, so I can't blame them anyway.

When I'm approaching the hill section, it was quiet with clear traffic ahead, so I start to give it the beans. The traction bite now really kicks in hard, and the gear setup prolongs it's breathe vastly. Yup, I'm certain this will be useful on tracks, highways and touge routes! :thumbsup:

Frankly speaking, I love the hilly areas here, the Evo feels like it's on a rally stage while blasting around it. I mean look, it's rather similar to urban stages of Tarragona/Tour de Corse! (except that of course they're much narrower)

With testing done,I return to the garage in cheerful mood. What a way to celebrate my birthday!








First update of the year has been done! :pimping:
Let's see how my wallet survives the continued shopping spree.......




That's all my updates for now, thank you for stopping by and see you soon!
(either here or one of the WestKyo boys RPs)
Still following the damn train since 1992

Visit my RP HERE!

Soju

kr
Posts: 1247

Location: South Korea
Occupation: Smuggling Soju
Age: 122
V$: Broke
#84   2019-01-04 15:27          
Happy birthday mate, that would have been the best birthday gift for yourself I guess? :)

BigSmoke

id
Posts: 844

Location: Indonesia
Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
Age:
V$: Broke
#85   2019-01-04 15:49          
# Soju : Happy birthday mate, that would have been the best birthday gift for yourself I guess? :)

Well, I'd say yes :D

Also thank you my man :-X
Still following the damn train since 1992

Visit my RP HERE!

Sqxidking

uk
Posts: 27

Location: United Kingdom Osaka
Occupation: owner of SlamHard
Age:
V$:
#86   2019-01-04 15:49          
seriously in love with your evo dude, and especially now you have sorted the diff upgrades, must be such a pleasure to drive.
SlamHard

RP cars:
Toyota Corolla E100 The Daily
Honda Civic EG6 Kanjo ED.
Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX Track Killa
PLUS 1 MORE

RP cars for sale:
Everything has a price ;)

BigSmoke

id
Posts: 844

Location: Indonesia
Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
Age:
V$: Broke
#87   2019-01-04 15:53          
# Sqxidking : seriously in love with your evo dude, and especially now you have sorted the diff upgrades, must be such a pleasure to drive.

Thanks my man! I really hope the diff upgrade augments the driving experience :D
Still following the damn train since 1992

Visit my RP HERE!

Benny

ba
Posts: 1143

Location: Bosnia And Herzegovina Lukavac
Occupation: Electrictian
Age: 30
V$: V$756
#88   2019-01-04 23:45          
That evo is getting faster and faster :D Love it!!!
BTW If you can get to the states in April you might be able to experience to drive a merc cause I would let you to drive mine ;)
And I am not thinking about the drift spec I am talking about something that will arrive in mid march (I hope so)

Press on photo

Role Play

Weekly Income : V$1125/w

BigSmoke

id
Posts: 844

Location: Indonesia
Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
Age:
V$: Broke
#89   2019-01-05 05:35          
# Phonexius : That evo is getting faster and faster :D Love it!!!
BTW If you can get to the states in April you might be able to experience to drive a merc cause I would let you to drive mine ;)
And I am not thinking about the drift spec I am talking about something that will arrive in mid march (I hope so)

Thanks my man :D
Welp, let's see what the time has in store for us later :D
Still following the damn train since 1992

Visit my RP HERE!

TheAxirPL

jp
Posts: 69

Location: Japan Fukushima
Occupation: living on my mum's money
Age: 18
V$: none
#90   2019-01-05 14:25          
Evo looks so good with aftermarket wheels only lmao. Happy birthday btw !
My favorite tool - hammer.
My least favorite car - Hummer.
When my engine blows up - bummer.
My favorite season - summer.


My favorite car - AE86.

(i mean really, love these overpriced old pieces of junk <3)

BigSmoke

id
Posts: 844

Location: Indonesia
Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
Age:
V$: Broke
#91   2019-01-05 15:24          
# TheAxirPL : Evo looks so good with aftermarket wheels only lmao. Happy birthday btw !

They're surely a quick, sure-fire way to improve the looks of any car :D

And thanks my man! :)
Still following the damn train since 1992

Visit my RP HERE!

Alex876

jm
Posts: 356

Location: Jamaica Swift Tune JA
Occupation: Putting illegal camber on cars
Age: 23
V$:
#92   2019-01-07 16:55          
Evo looking doppppe,happy belated

BigSmoke

id
Posts: 844

Location: Indonesia
Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
Age:
V$: Broke
#93   2019-01-07 17:04          
# jdmkvng : Evo looking doppppe,happy belated

Thank you very much my man! :D
Still following the damn train since 1992

Visit my RP HERE!

BigSmoke

id
Posts: 844

Location: Indonesia
Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
Age:
V$: Broke
#94   2019-01-14 17:54          
Urban Touring




Tokyo in the start of the year is sooo crowded it's quite unbelievable! :O
This caused some problem to me and some of the Westkyo crew when rolling downtown.
But then, we found a slice of motoring heaven :thumbsup:
Also, time to order the upgrade I (and perhaps y'all) always been waiting for......
So let's jump into the RP then! :D
(WARNING: MAXIMUM PHOTOBOMB INCOMING)





[07 Jan 2019]
Paycheck time! Yup, another V$655 safely landed in my pocket. Also, at this point I put up all the stock transmission parts I removed for sale. This includes the stock LSD and the OS Giken clutch. Since there weren't that many parts that has been removed, and some were'nt in fresh condition, I can only hope much to sell them to be honest. But then there were also some parts that is quite fresh such as the gear synchros and the OS Giken clutch. I put everything on Tokyo and Tsukuba car forums for sale at a grand total of V$4500. I should admit that's a lot of dama-I mean loss, but eh, I need money after all.

In the meantime, I and the crew had been looking on various used car delaer websites. Surprisingly, there are alot of top stuff up for sale for cheap. I think I should get one too........but only after the Evo has received all the upgrades I planned for it ;) Don't worry, I've got a huge plans for the project car, even bigger than the Evo I should say (after all, the Evo is a daily).

Oh yah, at this point originally I should've already came back to Tsukuba, but as I said in my last update since all business in Tsukuba started at the end of the month (some even started at the start of February), I've decided to extend my holiday here to wait. After all I'm sure Tsukuba Circuit has a lot of snow at the moment, preventing any trackdays to happen unless you're a world rally racer or an absolute madman :)) This will be convenient for car tuning too since deliveries to Tokyo are faster as I've found out.



[11 Jan 2019]
At this point all of my parts I put up for sale has been sold for V$4500. Selling them in Tokyo forums helps a lot as turns out there are still a lot of older Evo enthusiasts. Life and economy here moves very quickly to be honest, I'm deeply amazed while trying to keep up. Speed is truly a very, very essential part of modern Japanese lifestyle nowadays, though this apparently leads to higher individual stress level, a huge decline of newborns each year as no one seems interested or commited enough to have a family (yes, I know, quite ridiculous and appaling) and increasing number of deaths with various causes.

But what's more appaling is strangely, Japanese youths these days doesn't really want to own a car despite the speedy daily life. To be fair, they've been enjoying public transportation so much since they're all comfortable and on time, and most of them are either very active students with studies and organizational activities here and there, they almost don't have time to enjoy themselves, or a bunch of shut-ins who prefer to stay inside so they can binge on anime/games/idol groups/all of them. The manufacturers, despite creating modern tuner cars (the GT-R, the 86 and BRZ, the new Supra, the new S660, the new Copen, modern day Civics, etc etc etc), somehow also failed to convince them to at least like them. Well yeah, they're too expensive for youths, I know.

The point is, where are the similar passions that we have, and why it doesn't infect them? Where did the dream of owning supercars or modifying your very own car go? Who would keep the tuning and motorsport industry alive?

Alright, enough questioning and mourning, we've been going off-track. The reason I include it here is because I and Westkyo boys also talked about this over the week. With the discussion over at Thursday, we had one huge resolve: To keep the car culture alive by improving our cars, have a lot of meetings and when we have a family, spread the car culture spirit to them.

Oh yeah, during the course of the week, I've been receiving initial requests of document translations, Muza(Niatross) is shopping more parts for his cars while using his M3 E46 as his daily, Marc(Macaron_moon) went to Nagoya for a while to collect parts for his Evo (he came back at Sunday), Rifky(Shez) still binges on used car websites for another project car while finishing the papers for his AE86 while AJ(RocketBunnyS13) tuned almost all of his cars in between his job as lawyer (or something similar, I can't remember exactly). In particular, he's on the process of reviving his S15's SR20DET, which, as you might know from my 2nd to last update and AJ's last update, blew its turbo off and turns itself into an SR20DE.

As for me, it's time to put on a big action for my Evo. With only engine upgrades remaining and finally I have enough money for it, I decided to buy one thing that I (and perhaps you) always wanted: Tomei 2.2L stroker kit! "But Smoke, there's also Tomei and HKS 2.3L stroker kits, why don't you pick them instead?" I'd say no, I'm afraid the power jump will be too far to handle (the HKS kit can produce over 500+ BHP. Great for racing but overkill for daily purposes imo). Fortunately Nengun has discount on those, and I opted to buy them with conrod bearings set to match the kit and increase engine strength. This bring the price to V$4162.

I also bought Nagoya Precision/NAPREC Big Valves kit at Nengun to improve combustion process since they're cheap. At V$397 they're a sure-fire way to extract more power from the 4G63 engine. Had I bought the HKS 2.3L strokers, combined with the big valves they might produce over 600 BHP. Damn, my Evo could turn itself into a box of molotovs by that point.

Now we're moving from the block to the head areas. To improve engine reliability and power output a bit further, I also bought TODA High Stopper Head Gasket also at Nengun for V$218. I opted for the one with thickness of 1.5mm and bore of 86.5mm, since I picked the stroker kit with 86mm bore which increases the capacity to 2183cc, I almost forgto to mention.

To top it off, I bought new set of Tomei ProCams, both in/ex at 270/270 (originally I was going for 280/280 but I think it'll be overkill after the big valves installation). They're sold for V$267 each, bringing the set cost to V$534. They can produce moe power compared to it's sibling, the Tomei PonCams, but the ProCams requires it's own pulley, valve springs, and retainer set, so I bought them as well, with the pulley costing at V$ 156 each, springs costing at V$221, and the retainer set at V$384.

Additionally, I'm a bit afraid the timing belt can snap anytime due to age and uh, it looks dull, so I bought a new one, which is GReddy Timing Belt for V$139. Not only it's designed for high power usage, it looks cool as well :D

Wew boi, that's a lot of damage over my wallet. But heck, this time, it'll be very, very, very worth it as I can feel the effect directly ;)

Oh yah, a bit of fun fact: While browsing for car parts, I found out that my Evo's silver colour is called Queen's Silver per Mitsubishi's Car Colour Database. Funnily enough there's a brand of chocolate bars here in Indonesia that is called Silver Queen. They're rather expensive but tastes very good.



[12 Jan 2019]
It's weekend time! AJ went off earlier to work, so there's only me, Muza and Rifky. Muza was also going to get some food for everyone and some more parts for his Supra. But beforehand, he washed and polished his M3 E46. Dang, it looks like a proper museum piece that came into the roads now.

"Hey Muza, are you going downtown?" I talked to him as he steeped outside the garage.
"Yeah, what's the matter? You in?" He answered.
"Yep. I found a nice sushi parlor in Shibuya some time ago, thought you might want to try it"
"Hmmm sounds good. Mind if I have my parts in your Evo?"
"It's okay. And oh, I want to grab some cans of coffee in Akibahara, they rarely appear elsewhere"
"Rarely elsewhere? I see, it's interesting. I think I should grab some"
"Yeah, you should, I recommend it. Comes in a lot of flavours too"

So we set off to downtown Tokyo that morning, leaving the garage key to Rifky.


To communicate with each other, I and Muza used handsfree phones. Before we hit the highway there's a small hill before us.

"Muza I just remembered something. Will your carbon lip be fine over ramps?"
"Eh don't worry, I've used them everyday and it hasn't been damaged once"
"Ah silly me, I forgot it's your daily. Carry on, mine will be fine too"


Then we hit the highway to he-I mean, Tokyo.


One traffic jam and some hours later, we arrived in Tokyo near the Wangan Line. Muza's E46 feels like home here. Even if he didn't fully open the tap, it always wants to unleash it's power and run away while echoing the raspy inline 6 tune. I really love to admire it while trying to keep up.

It's going to be a rather long trip, but thankfully I've got myself some proper music to enjoy the road ahead :D

Finally, we arrived at downtown Tokyo. First, we decided to look for more Supra parts in the corners of the city. It's weekend time so the city is noticeably crowded, but looks like there's something else going on.......

......it looks like there's some kind of festival going on at the city center. A lot of traffic has to be moved away from there.

Thankfully though Muza's first destination is a bit further off the city center. Once we found suitable parking spots, we parted our ways. Muza went off to get some parts while I look for foods around the spot. The sushi parlor by the way is at the other side of the city.

Shopping done, we continued our trip to the sushi parlor for lunchtime. It's roughly a 10 minute trip normally, but it's sooo crowded we were crawling along for 20 minutes. But then, when we arrived to the sushi parlor I mentioned earlier, there's a familiar sight for both of us. A white Civic FC1, lowered as hell. But the thing is, it had different wheels than we usually know.

"Hey Muza, is that what I think it is?"
"I'm pretty sure. But why a TE37?"
"Changed his wheels perhaps?"
"Is he inside the car or what?"
"Nah I bet he has lunch too. Let's get in anyway I'm hungry"

We subtly parked behind the Civic, in case of we guessed it wwrong. I parked right behind him, and since there's a small pathway between my Evo and the next lot, Muza parked at a nearby barbershop. Then we walked together inside the Sushi parlor.

And our guesses is right: It's AJ's Civic! AJ himself was going to take his first munch, still fresh from his office with suits on (but not with his vest, he left it in the car). Apparently he has finished working while we were shopping so he got a lot of spare time.

"Yooo AJ didn't expect you to be here!" I greeted him as I sit beside him.
"Oh hey Edo! And Muza too! What are you guys doing in Shibuya?" Asked AJ, surprised to be able to bump over us here.
"Ah, I'm assisting Muza with his shopping," I explained. "The streets is crowded man!"
"Yeah, there's a festival at the city center. It's a good thing I was able to get off from work early today"
"Oh yah, since when you changed the wheels?" Muza asked
"An hour ago," said AJ. "Got a good deal for TE37s. Let me guess, shopping for your Supra?"
"Yup. Edo has done his yesterday"

We settled down for a while and eat sushi together, as well bought some more sushi and onigiri to be eaten at the garage.

Lunch done, we moved on to Akibahara to find some additional goodies we can get on plus to get some stocks of limited UCC Coffee cans. AJ liked it too the last time I offered one to him after the CR-X deal was sealed, so he agreed to came along. We are now communicating through group phone call.

After a huge fight against traffic and weaving around pedestrians, we arrived at Akibahara. Just like Shibuya, it was soooo crowded.....


......and there are also a similar festival near downtown so some roads are closed for the day. I and AJ had to turn around with a multi-million point turn since it's rather cramped, and Muza went into the Akibahara UDX parking only to find out it's full. Thankfully there wasn't a lot of traffic around so it was less hectic than we imagined.


Oh yah, I also would like to talk about just how low AJ's Civic is, and somehow it didn't scrape anything or affected the handling of the car. I swear that suspension setting AJ has on his Civic is pure magic. And it's fast too: I never imagine there are people who mod the internals of the FC1 until now. The figures are respectable as well, with AJ's Civic pumpng out 233 BHP thanks to exhaust and ECU tune. Not in the league of modern Type-Rs yet, but certainly passed Type-Rs of the past. Also, it's a tourer sedan made for comfort, so AJ can blast across cities quickly without worrying about swollen muscles after the drive.

Also, you can find more of his other builds HERE!

We settled down for another time and looking at our maps to find an alternative way around Akibahara.

We indeed found one, but now comes a new problem: It was extremely narrow, it looks like it's designed for kei cars and bikes. My Evo might have made it through but certainly not Muza and AJ's cars.

"Wait wait wait back off back off!"
"Wait but why?"
"Our cars won't make it through!"
"Try yours!"
"Get off the car and see it for yourself!"


We parked our cars elsewhere and walked down the road.

"Damn, it's so tiny and narrow!" AJ lamented.
"Told you, our mirrors and doors won't survive if we get through. Not even considering the angry mob who'll come against us......"
"Dude I wish I got a kei car" said Muza. I and AJ nods in agreement.
"Well perhaps we would be crushed in highways but heck we can have our personal go-karts everywhere!" I added.
And thus, the conversation direction turned from the narrow roads to kei car ownership along the trip.

(man I wish for a kei car on SLRR)

It's actually a good thing we came down this place walking, because turns out we can get boxes of UCC Coffe cans here! We're set for.....a week, at least.

Coffee business done, we went off Akibahara.



Half an hour later, we're in Shinjuku. We decided to settle down again after the rather stressful trip since traffic finally died down. We found a cheap parking tower there, so we proceeded to get in.

As we get up the building, it's clear that the upper floors were rarely habited and in a state of disrepair with graffitis and metal fencing everywhere. It feels like a private parking to us. We decided to explore the place for a while since we have the full freedom for that floor.


And long before we know it, Muza told us he's going to use the freedom opportunity to the max.

"You know what? On times like these there's only one appropriate thing to do in a RWD car"
"What is i-oooooh I get it!"
"You guys park your cars somewhere and watch me spread the Bavarian cream everywhere"
"Alright, chief, we'll get some popcorns as well"
(there were none, though)

I and AJ proceed to park at a nearby lot.


And then, the fragance of burnt rubber and the harmony of the inline 6 orchestra filled the building, followed by flashes of the Phoenix Yellow colour. It was a pretty sight to behold that afternoon. Muza danced with his M3 E46 and used it to the full effect, it's like listening an original score to an action movie. Not gonna lie this makes me want to drift as well! But then I remembered that my Evo is AWD and grippy........



Rubber roasting session done, Muza parked his M3 E46, followed by I and AJ cheering on him. It looks indefatigable, still looks fresh and flexing, barely sweating after the impromptu drifting session. Damn, if only we have the money to rent a floor of parking tower, this is definitely how we use it for!

A bit more exploration and I found a way to the rooftop parking lot. I decided to get up first to see what's up there.

Up there were some more fences, a water tower, a huge graffitti, a electrical supply tower, and nothing else. Freedom is even more real here.

"The rooftop is free from anything, get up here man. Fresh air everywhere!"

Muza is the next one to get into the rooftop....in a pretty spectacular way. It's not Muza if he doesn't get into the rooftop sideways!


And finally it's AJ's turn. I'm still surprised that nothing scrapes off his Civic when he make his way upwards!.

The air is sooo fresh, crisp, cool, almost unpolluted up here. And we can also see planes flying from and to Narita and Haneda airport from here as well. We spot planes while having some snacks and sipping coffee cans until sunset arrives, but before we come back to the garage we took some commemorative shot over the graffitti nearby. I wonder how whoever made it made this thing?


The urban tour today is just worth it! :thumbsup:
I really should do this again with the entire crew another time.




[14 Jan 2019]
Paycheck time! Another V$655 safely landed in my pocket. I'm going to need it badly to recover from the first shopping spree I mentioned earlier. But hey, look at the positive side, it's only a bit more to go until the Evo upgrade list is complete and I can get another car! :D










Oh my god I've lost count on how many hours I needed to do this update and how many pics I ended up using.
I swear this is the longest update I've ever done so far! :O
But anyway let's check out how did my wallet survive:







That's all my updates for now, thank you for stopping by and see you soon!
(either here or one of the WestKyo boys RPs)

This post was edited by BigSmoke (2019-01-15 00:30, ago)
Still following the damn train since 1992

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Soju

kr
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#95   2019-01-14 18:10          
That’s a lot of upgrade parts for the Silver Queen :)

and driving through those narrow alleyways is my major :D

RocketBunnyS13

ph
Posts: 418

Location: Philippines MNL
Occupation: Yes I ruin cars
Age: 34
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#96   2019-01-14 21:52          
AAAAAAAAAAAAAA YES

Pretty epic how we coincidentally bumped into each other at that Sushi Bar! I guess when a place is really good, word gets around pretty quickly, small world tbh! Today's hangout was SOLID. When I was eating alone before you and Muza came along I started to think about going home immediately to work on my S15, but after you guys joined in and invited me to cruise to Akihabara, I forgot about it pretty swiftly haha. The UCC Coffee was good, you've convinced me to switch from Nespresso to UCC yo haha. But the best part was when we were in Shinjuku and Muza started HOONING THE FUCCCC out of his pristine E46. Dude's a madman I'll tell you that haha, if only my S15 were running at that time dammit. Other than that, the talks and chills we had on the rooftop of the parking lot were simply second-to-none. I wanna do it again!! Solid times fam, solid times.

P.S. The secret to amazing suspension that doesn't go too low that you start scraping your bumper on some parts? Get Fortune Auto 500 Series Coilovers :P

s t a y c l a s s y

BigSmoke

id
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#97   2019-01-15 00:29          
# Soju : That’s a lot of upgrade parts for the Silver Queen :)

and driving through those narrow alleyways is my major :D

It's time to have a power bump after all :D
And hey, 'Silver Queen' is a nice nickname for the car I think :))

Also oooooh teach us some time man we're going to need it when going to Akibahara and Sangen-Jaya :thumbsup:

# RocketBunnyS13 : AAAAAAAAAAAAAA YES

Pretty epic how we coincidentally bumped into each other at that Sushi Bar! I guess when a place is really good, word gets around pretty quickly, small world tbh! Today's hangout was SOLID. When I was eating alone before you and Muza came along I started to think about going home immediately to work on my S15, but after you guys joined in and invited me to cruise to Akihabara, I forgot about it pretty swiftly haha. The UCC Coffee was good, you've convinced me to switch from Nespresso to UCC yo haha. But the best part was when we were in Shinjuku and Muza started HOONING THE FUCCCC out of his pristine E46. Dude's a madman I'll tell you that haha, if only my S15 were running at that time dammit. Other than that, the talks and chills we had on the rooftop of the parking lot were simply second-to-none. I wanna do it again!! Solid times fam, solid times.

P.S. The secret to amazing suspension that doesn't go too low that you start scraping your bumper on some parts? Get Fortune Auto 500 Series Coilovers :P

Japan's speedy commuting culture makes everything seems small I guess (despite we hit traffic at Shibuya) :D
Also YAAAAAAAAAAYY another UCC Coffee fan! Though whether this makes you to want to watch Neon Genesis Evangelion is still arguable :))

Yeah he's an absolute madman, had been you joined in as well I think the building can be mistaken as on fire as there will be a lot of smoke around :))
I WANT AN RWD CAR NOW AAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Still following the damn train since 1992

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Niatross

bd
Posts: 430

Location: Bangladesh
Occupation: topkek
Age:
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#98   2019-01-15 07:21          
tfw i couldve literally SLAMMED into one of those pillars in the parking area, but i only realised it properly AFTER the hooning was done. Epic, isnt it
But yeah, like AJ said, SOLID unplanned hangout! i tell you unplanned meetups are usually the best meetups XD

As for the E46, its almost time to remove the "daily" title from it i guess OwO


Current owned cars:
- Toyota Supra GA-JZA70 Mk3
- BMW E46 M3
- Nissan Skyline ECR33 GTS25t
- Nissan 200SX Hatchback
- BMW E92 335i
- Nazda RX-7 FD3S Type RS
- Mazda RX-7 JF1FD (USDM)
- Nissan Silvia S14

Benny

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#99   2019-01-15 09:04          
Nice mate nice, btw will you be Free on April 20th to come to LA I'll pay you the ticket.Soju and Lagano will be there too

Press on photo

Role Play

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BigSmoke

id
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#100   2019-01-15 12:32          
# Niatross : tfw i couldve literally SLAMMED into one of those pillars in the parking area, but i only realised it properly AFTER the hooning was done. Epic, isnt it
But yeah, like AJ said, SOLID unplanned hangout! i tell you unplanned meetups are usually the best meetups XD

As for the E46, its almost time to remove the "daily" title from it i guess OwO

Welp you're certainly a pro when it comes to bringing a car very, very sideways :thumbsup:
Maximum level of epicness has been achieved!

Wait whaaaa you're going to put big mods on it? Can't wait to see the result AAAAAAAAAAAAA

# Phonexius : Nice mate nice, btw will you be Free on April 20th to come to LA I'll pay you the ticket.Soju and Lagano will be there too

I really want to join you guys, but let's see what fate and time has in store for us ;)
Still following the damn train since 1992

Visit my RP HERE!

BigSmoke

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#101   2019-01-19 21:11          
The Big Setup





Ohoho finally the long-awaited upgrade has come! :D
I've waited for a bit long time but the wait is worth it.
Oh boy I swear it's really, really worth it..... ;)
So let's jump into the update then!




[17 Jan 2019]
Over the course of the week, there has been a lot of news around the garage. Most particular highlight are Muza(Niatross) (a)almost completed his Supra project and unveiled a (temporary?) livery for it, (b)bought a new Audi A5 for cheap, and (c)landed a respectable job at Nismo's famous Omori Factory, home to all Nissan performance road cars as well as racecars, some of them complete with battle scars of their last races. Damn, what a dream job! I really expect him to have money raining on him at the moment.........

Another highlight is AJ(RocketBunnyS13) finally has revived his S15 again! As a fan of his builds I'm so happy to see Ichigo hit the road again. And not just that, the S15 is back with more muscle thanks to various upgraded parts from Tomei and Nismo. Check out his RP thread to see what are the new stuffs on his S15.

For the day I was helping Muza cleaning his new A5. It was dusty and a bit moist on the back.......I really wonder why since it was leather seats. Muza also told me since he has an A5 for a solid daily, he'll transform the M3 into a track car. I don't mind and I approve, after all that's how most M3s around the world spend their lifetime. Check out his RP thread on how he score the Audi and modify the M3.

But the greatest news came near the sunset. All my parts has arrived! To remind you again what did I bought this time, here's the list:

After I received the package, I immediately ran back to the garage to ask Marc(Macaron_moon) for help, cause after all he's the Human Lan Evo. I excitedly told him about the stroker kit and everything else. Problem was, Marc was rather tired after sorting stuff for his own Evo X. So we decided to do the big ops for my Silver Queen (damn, I really love this nickname. Thanks Soju!) the next day at early morning. Oh man I can't wait!


[18 Jan 2019]
I woke up quite early in excitement. After brushing my teeth, washed my face and have a quick ramen breakfast with Marc, we officially started the big ops. Time to give the Silver Queen more power to fight with modern cars. And yes, I skipped shower since I know I'll be bathing in sweat, oil and possibly blood for the remainder of the day.

First, I backed up the Evo into the work bay. I think it's been the third or fourth time I used this bay. Certainly has more tools and facilities than the one back in my crib, so it's quite convenient to work on. But I know I have to come back to my crib soon.

Then we dissasembled the front parts to make way for the engine crane later. With everything ready, we set off to work. *insert maniacal laughter here*

And oh, additionally before we set to work I happened to stumble upon Evo III WRC's gear ratio, so in the process we readjusted the gear ratio as well according to the sheets I found. I believe that ratio applies univrsally, or at least for tarmac stages usage.


We finished working at midnight. We were working intensely we realized we've skipped lunch and dinner. My face and fingers was all black and greasy from all the oils I have to deal with, and somehow Marc only got his face affected. Thankfully there weren't any work accident happened. We assembled the car back and tested the ignition system by starting it up. I prayed rather intensely as I turned the key to the Silver Queen.

The good news is, the Silver Queen survived and came into life with ease. The bad news is, Marc noted that the spark plugs was nearing it's end of life and needed to be changed, while there was no spare spark plugs in the shop at that moment. Marc also suggested to change it anyway to match the new engine power output figure. Another problem is, we don't know how much the new figure is since there's no dynos around. I mean, AJ and Muza hasn't checked the new power figures for their respective cars (specifically, the S15 and Supra).

We shared a high five for the successful operation. Marc then jokingly slapped my face to add more oil and smudge to it. As if were my face isn't dirty already...... :rolleyes:

At the end of the day there were only some onigiris and cans of Coca-Cola, so we have thsse for dinner. While enjoying our meal Marc suggested me to go at the suburb's business district and look for a garage called ProMods. He said their dyno suits almost any kind of cars, and he's certain it'll fit my Evo as well. Directions noted, we enjoyed more onigiris as we talked about the future of the Silver Queen and my life, with it's development almost over. :cheers:
I was so, so tired after the installation I almost didn't make it to the bed that night. Oh well, at least I know my efforts all this time will be worth it. ;)


[19 Jan 2019]
The awaited day has come! After another early wake and finally a proper shower ("Why did you took so long?"-"My face is all black dammit!"), I put on my favourite jacket and set off in the midst of cool, sunny morning to the suburbs. The business district isn't really far from the place I and AJ had breakfast some time ago, so the ProMods garage should be easy to find.

15 minutes later I arrived at the district. Most people started their weekend today, so office activities are noticeably quiet around the area. As for the Silver Queen itself, initial impressions were great but delivers too much surprises to my back and bottom in lower gears. This could come either from the upgrades or the gear ratio so I wasn't sure. Power surge definitely felt huge.

A couple a minutes later, I arrived at ProMods garage. After a bit of chit-chat with the employees (the owner wasn't present at that time), I drove the Evo onto the dyno. My heart was beating intensely form excitement.

Shortly after, the sound of raspy, raucuously loud inline 4 engine filled the garage. And now, the results are in.........
(NOTE: I tried to do my best to replicate the engine and stroker upgrade with stock SLRR engine as always. Also a huge thanks to Phonexius for calculating the power figure predictions, you're the best! :-X )

HOT DANG. HOLY NUMBER NINES I CAN'T BELIEVE IT MAN.
THREE HUNDRED AND NINETY FOUR BHP. HOLY CRAP!
So that's why the power delivery felt huge, if not even brash.

Ah yes, I need to point out again that my benchmark for the project is the Evo III WRC, which has 320 BHP. As another comparison, current WRC cars has 340 BHP and a lot of aero trickery at the moment. Kyoichi Sudo's Evo III in Initial D has approx. 350 BHP, including the famous [ m i s h f i r e i n g u s h i s t e m u ] (or anti-lags if you didn't get the joke) upgrade. Eiji Kamiya's Evo VI in Wangan Midnight is in the league between 400-450 BHP. Early bastions of Group B rally cars produces somewhere between 400-500 BHP.

If you still don't get it, this is a very, very healthy figure for me. Or perhaps too healthy for daily? Either way I was jumping in excitement before one of the crew told me one of the spark plugs was dead from the intense power. That's okay tho, so Marc's prediction was correct. They also got new ones in stock, so I opted to buy a set of NGK R7376 racing spark plugs. A single unit of them is V$27, so a set costs v$108. I also opted to change engine and transmission oils to enhance the upgrade effects and prolong the engine block's life after the sheer amount of upgrade. My choice is Motul 300V Competition 15W-50 for the engine, and Motul Gear Competition 75W-140 for the transmission. I bought two of each products, bringing the fluids grand total to V$108. After payment has sorted, the crew began to work.

With the work over 20 minutes later, I thanked them, obtain their contact, and returned to the garage........

.......but not without spending the rest of the morning at downtown. I found a small two-story parking lot between the skyscrapers and I decided to stop for a while to ponder what I've done th the Silver Queen, and to think what's next.

And of coure, I've got the answer already. I'll reveal it to you guys when the right time has come.

For the rest of the day I listed the uninstalled parts for sale, obviously bar the spark plugs. I listed the Evo's cranks, conrods and pistons set for a grand total of V$3000, stock head gasket for V$100, stock valves for V$150, stock cams for V$160 each, and stock valve springs including retainer for V$200. The timing belt was worn enough to be worth nothing imo, so I just scrapped it.


[20 Jan 2019]
I woke up a bit late to the sound of people talking, and I wonder what's going on. When I walked to the garage I can see something bad happened at one of AJ's cars.

"Oh no. Oh god no. That's a lot of damage"

I ran outside to look for AJ to see if he's okay.

Check out AJ's recent update to see what actually happened.








HOOOOOOWEEEEEEE I'm glad that the most essential upgrade for the Evo has been installed!
Let's see how my wallet survived:


And oh, a P.S.:






That's all my updates for now, thank you for stopping by and see you soon!
(either here or one of the WestKyo boys RPs)
Still following the damn train since 1992

Visit my RP HERE!

RocketBunnyS13

ph
Posts: 418

Location: Philippines MNL
Occupation: Yes I ruin cars
Age: 34
V$: wat
#102   2019-01-19 22:52          
WELL DESERVED RESULTS! 394 hp is a VERY HEARTY, VERY HEALTHY figure for a daily. You're absolutely gonna WALK me in my S15 now smh. I NEED THAT TUNE. WRC Ratios are perfect on the track and on the touge, I hope they're cool for daily use too haha, lemme know your verdict on dailying what is pretty much a street legal WRC Evo III (WITH MOAR POWAHHHH!!!)

And thanks for supporting me on my car. You're welcome to chill with us and to help us restore it anytime! :cheers:

s t a y c l a s s y

Niatross

bd
Posts: 430

Location: Bangladesh
Occupation: topkek
Age:
V$: yes
#103   2019-01-19 23:02          
CAMS, STROKER, ALMOST 400HP
yet to hear the LUMPY IDLE of this thing (and god forbid, get an erection)
you already have a chance, or even a definite outcome of gapping my M3 smh
With the mods i have in plan im looking at like 360hp damn. Congrats on the power my mans! cant wait to hit the track (yes, on your daily) someday!


Current owned cars:
- Toyota Supra GA-JZA70 Mk3
- BMW E46 M3
- Nissan Skyline ECR33 GTS25t
- Nissan 200SX Hatchback
- BMW E92 335i
- Nazda RX-7 FD3S Type RS
- Mazda RX-7 JF1FD (USDM)
- Nissan Silvia S14

MACKAY

jp
Posts: 712

Location: Japan
Occupation: Ranter
Age: 25
V$: ∞
#104   2019-01-19 23:58          
Damn man! All the advice, and thinking about coming up with great setup for your engine turned out perfectly! Even though you are saying that 400HP is more than enough for you daily..I am sure that you gonna get used to in no time and will want more haha!

Yeah, drive this car more and get back to us, because I am curious to see how is the driveability with WRC gear ratios, I suppose it must be fun on highways now lol, nonetheless the Evo is turning out beautifully, performance over looks. ♥

Lagano

si
Posts: 1739

Location: Slovenia West side
Occupation: Taking it easy
Age: 24
V$: :$V
#105   2019-01-20 00:15          
Alright, your Evo is slowly turning into a WRC racer!! With 400hp it became quite a beast but it should still be fine to drive on the streets.

Macaron_Moon

jp
Posts: 144
http://cornhub.com
Location: Japan Homeless
Occupation: Human Lan Evo, or homeless crackhead. Same thing
Age: 27
V$: 2 cents
#106   2019-01-20 00:26          
It was fun to work on older Evo's, it sure does gives me nostalgia from my teenage days. Are you up on helping me with the CZ4A?

BigSmoke

id
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#107   2019-01-20 01:21          
# RocketBunnyS13 : WELL DESERVED RESULTS! 394 hp is a VERY HEARTY, VERY HEALTHY figure for a daily. You're absolutely gonna WALK me in my S15 now smh. I NEED THAT TUNE. WRC Ratios are perfect on the track and on the touge, I hope they're cool for daily use too haha, lemme know your verdict on dailying what is pretty much a street legal WRC Evo III (WITH MOAR POWAHHHH!!!)

And thanks for supporting me on my car. You're welcome to chill with us and to help us restore it anytime! :cheers:

Welp I thought your S15 produces 400+ BHP :O
But then more traction is welcome everywhere else :D

I guess I have to get used with the power surge on lower gears, or uhh....train my right foot to not be greedy at the moment :))

# Niatross : CAMS, STROKER, ALMOST 400HP
yet to hear the LUMPY IDLE of this thing (and god forbid, get an erection)
you already have a chance, or even a definite outcome of gapping my M3 smh
With the mods i have in plan im looking at like 360hp damn. Congrats on the power my mans! cant wait to hit the track (yes, on your daily) someday!

I can guarantee you'll get a rock solid torpedos when you hear it the first time ;)
Yeah, I really want to hit the track as soon as the snow clears at Tsukuba. Bring your M3 along too! :D

# MACKAY : Damn man! All the advice, and thinking about coming up with great setup for your engine turned out perfectly! Even though you are saying that 400HP is more than enough for you daily..I am sure that you gonna get used to in no time and will want more haha!

Yeah, drive this car more and get back to us, because I am curious to see how is the driveability with WRC gear ratios, I suppose it must be fun on highways now lol, nonetheless the Evo is turning out beautifully, performance over looks. ♥

Man I gotta thank you for advising against billet stuffs as well, I save a lot of money because of it and I can also learn more about the 4G63 in general even better :thumbsup:
I don't know, today it might be too much....but eventually, the thirst might come back again :)) (there's also some upgrades left to do so eventually it'll go past 400 BHP)

# Lagano : Alright, your Evo is slowly turning into a WRC racer!! With 400hp it became quite a beast but it should still be fine to drive on the streets.

Woo thanks man, definitely time to do some street special stages :D

# Macaron_Moon : It was fun to work on older Evo's, it sure does gives me nostalgia from my teenage days. Are you up on helping me with the CZ4A?

Glad I could cheer you up by working together :D
I'd love to work on your CZ4A, it's time to return the favor after all! ;)
Still following the damn train since 1992

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Soju

kr
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#108   2019-01-20 03:28          
Wow that was an impressive figure! Almost a street legal Evo :)

BigSmoke

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#109   2019-01-20 18:11          
# Soju : Wow that was an impressive figure! Almost a street legal Evo :)

Thanks man! I can't believe I'll be knocking on 400 BHP figure :D
Still following the damn train since 1992

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DEADMANE

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#110   2019-01-21 03:35          
Faster than anything I've owned :D
RP Aristo
RP Build Thread

BigSmoke

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#111   2019-01-21 06:59          
# DEADMANE : Faster than anything I've owned :D

Oh come on, there's a lot of faster build around here :))
Still following the damn train since 1992

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BigSmoke

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#112   2019-01-25 19:59          
Testing the Water





As you've read from the previous update, the Silver Queen has received it's pièce de résistance.
The question is, with the huge jump of power as the result, how well I could live with them?
Of course to find out the only aswer is get on the road and drive as far as possible ;)
And oh, I've also planned the very, very final upgrades for the Silver Queen........
Let's find out by jumping into the update! :D





[20 Jan 2019, later that day]
As you can see at AJ(RocketBunnyS13)'s RP, his S14 has been smashed in the rear at dawn of that day, and currently is out of action. Poor AJ, just when his S15 finally running again and healthy, he accidentally wrecked his S14. This also didn't went well for Muza(Niatross) as he used to own that very car. We planned to restore it soon, but first the S14 would undergo body straightening process since the rear end was basically busted. Follow his RP to see the progress!

Now, moving on to the brighter side of the day. Some days after Muza was accepted into Nismo, the legendary fabricator and shop owner Mackay has moved to Tokyo and opened a new shop here! The one in Osaka is of course still runs. Man I swear I'm a fan of his works, especially over R34s, be it a GT-T or GT-R. His works are truly magical, savage and has a lot of uniqueness that distinguish it from others. If you own R34s (but of course he'll accept other cars as well) and based in Japan, he's the man to go to. Basically Dr. Dre of Nissans in general.

Alright enough promoting, I wasn't paid to promote anyway lol (but hey, everybody likes free promotions!). Mackay was video-calling Muza to notify about his new shop and his new crib around southside Tokyo (or at least that's what I recall). I overheard them for a while and got excited.....perhaps too much since Muza and Mackay can hear me giggling like a fangirl :)) So Muza invited me to say hello to Mackay. I also used the chance to consult some stuff about the final upgrades to him. Thankfully he's glad to help me out, and with that sorted, I thanked him. I'm sure they talked a lot of things afterwards.

I spent the rest of the day to help Marc(Macaron_moon) upgrading his Evo. Damn, it's been months since the last time his Evo X runs! I'm more than excited to help him though. I mean, our Evos are separated by ages, so it'll be interesting to see just how many things would separate them apart. This would keep my working skills warm as well, and I guess this is the first time I'm working on a modern car.


[21 Jan 2019]
Paycheck time! I've got a raise of V$750/week now after all those hard work of translating documents. This should help a lot over tuning my car. And oh, since the Silver Queen only has a bit of upgrades to go, perhaps I should start saving for another car :D Speaking of which, I already have a plan on it, just need to save some more so I can confidently grab it.

But I'm considering to get a steady job as well to support my finances in general (yeah, not just for building cars, I'm a normal human being after all lol). You might know some guys here that has steady jobs as well, e.g. AJ is a lawyer, Muza now works at Nismo, Mackay opens two shops, Ziga(Lagano) and Ben(Phonexius) opens a wheel and accessories shop as well (go get some stuff from them, top quality guaranteed!), Dominik(Nightrunner) decorates houses, etc etc etc. I'm thinking of applying to be a teacher, a tech admin just like Rantaro does, a tech support guy or simply a chauffeur/driver for hire. I did have done a chauffeur job once (see it here if you want to), and the reaction was great. So I'm confident enough to get some more, though the pay isn't so steady compared to other aformentioned jobs. Besides, it's also involves driving, so your work environtment still consist of cars! ;)

I spent the rest of the day to helping Marc again. The 4B11T inside his Evo felt familiar yet also quite different from my 4G63T inside my Evo. I mean, it's basically a thoroughly redesigned and revamped 4G after all, but the works done by Mitsubishi to the 4B felt fresh and unique to me. It's just a bid saddening to me that the 4B didn't see a long production life as the 4G did with the death of Lancer Evo. Had Mistu could throw it in somewhere else, it'll be amazing (I'm not sure what engine does the Mirage R5 uses but I doubt it's a 4B. Still a mesmerizing thing though, shame somehow it doesn't have WRC international license/homologation).


[24 Jan 2019]
At this point, all parts that I've listed from the previous update has been sold for a grand total of V$3770. Well, a bit less than usual, but the good thing is they sold like hot cakes here in Tokyo. AJ's continuing to improve his S15 after he cooked the clutch and I suggested him to get new one.....I'm sure it'll run like a rowdy, raging beast when all of the upgrades has been done. Meanwhile, I and Marc continued to work on his Evo. I also constantly trolled Marc in between the work session by mentioning how the Silver Queen now has more power than his Evo :)) . Surprisingy this also seem to affect AJ as well! :confused2: I'd like to top it off by doing the Fortnite default dance but since I can't do it anyway, I skipped it.

Just by looking at the bodywork I can see Mitsu has also improved the rigidity on Evo X by having a rather bulky design compared to previous Evos. Top it with the savage looking front end and you'll end up with possibly one of the finest modern Japanese car ever made. Though sadly this bulky proportion is also what bars it and it's arch nemesis, the Impreza GRB to compete in top end of WRC and had to rely on N4 spec sales post-2008. But if I remember correctly this was also caused by global economy crisis happened that time. Mitsu was also gave up on their WRC campaign earlier, and instead focused on their rally raid campaign with their Pajero. Not that I complain actually, the Pajero is also awesome and I used to root for Mitsu back when they're still a strong Dakar contender. Also they're the last pure Dakar winner, the last time when it still runs across the dangerous terrains of Africa.

"Oh hey Smoke, did you drive your car over the week?" Of course I do. The only problem is I can't get so much mileage from a simple commuter around the town, and I still can't get used to the power surge at the lower gears. At this point some might argue that 394 BHP is overkill for a daily, but in the age where hot hatches can punch over 300+ BHP (even one has break 400!) and supersedans sits in the league of 600 BHP, you know I had to do it to my Evo in order to keep it fit and able to fight the modern gen of performance cars. As for myself, I might need some exercising as well to be able to hold myself against the surge. One of the methods? Well I've sorted it out.........


[25 Jan 2019]
......and this is how I sort it: Get up early, do some stretches, drive as far as possible and try to get all kinds of roads in your hands to try on. True car reviewer style don't you think? Except that since this is my own car rather than one being lent by a manufacturer, I have more time and freedom to explore the potential and limits of the Silver Queen. After checking out maps in my phone to make a solid driving route and a quick body stretching, I left the garage at 8am in the cold morning. Come to think of it, since it's nearing the end of winter, Tokyo is a bit less cold now than when I came here.

First stop is the suburban area. Before I tested the car's capability on city streets, I decided to refuel the Evo to avoid fuel crisis midway into the trip. Ah y'know, better safe than sorry as everyone except a-ha's vocalist would say in this situation. Please have a refreshing beverage, my Silver Queen~

Refuelling done, I hit the road again. I guess I really need to train my right foot to not be so greedy on the gas, but other than that cruising around town is nice and easy. Put the car in 2nd on low revs and it'll sip fuel calmly, or put it in 1st and it'll pull itself off junctions and traffic lights rapidly with no interruptions (other than from your own). I can also see people turning heads over the Silver Queen as well, be it while cruising or at traffic lights. It's like seeing a silver-clothed queen having a calm, nice walk around her kingdom to see her people living their daily lives. Truly a majestic sight.

After 15 minutes of city cruising, I decided to head for the highway. Now I'm not sure which highway is this, but it's located at the outer area of Tokyo Expressway. I headed towards the highway and the sun as it continues to rise. And of course here's an obligatory music!

When you bring it under the speed limit on high gear and low revs, it's a nice fuel-sipping cruiser. It felt stable too, thanks to all the suspension upgrades I bought for it. Well might not be magic carpet levels of stable, but still very livable to at least see your phone and reply chats when rolling on the highway (as a passenger of course. Not only texting and driving is dangerous, I can't do it and I'm obviously against it). The sound though, is another thing. Road noise is still acceptable but now the 4G engine echoes a bit louder than before. Not that I'm complaining, even it'll be an audio heaven if I can find some tunnel here. Sadly, there was none during the trip :(

A good thing to point out is somehow there are some spots that isn't monitored by speed cameras. It's quite a blessing to be honest, this way I can let myself loose and turn on the taps of the engine. The body heaves with barely a sweat, retaining solid grip while weavering through traffic and tunring on the highway in general. Top speed? With WRC-spec gearing admittably it barely reaches 275 kmh, but I think you'll know that's because rallying relies more on acceleration side instead of top speed. Still impressive nonetheless to me, given that nowadays most modern cars are electronically limited to 250 kmh, if they can reach it at all. Yup, I guess this includes the GB-special Evo FQ series which last iteration, the FQ-440, produces 440 BHP.

With the city and highway testing done, I set off to the final part of the testing. And I think this is the part that you've been waiting for. Time for the touge test!

The place that I selected is a small part of Otarumi Touge, some kilometers away from Tokyo. It connects all the way to Kanagawa, but thsi time I'm only taking the Tokyo part so I can use the entire day for testing and not getting lost while in Kanagawa. This touge predates the Hakone turnpike road by many, many ages, but now the road isn't widely used anymore as more and more highways are being built. Otarumi is twistier in general as well compared to Hakone, making this a perfect proving grounds to simulate both Tsukuba Fruit Line touge and asphalt rally stages in general, which is the home of rally-bred cars like my Evo.

I approached the touge with grip driving in mind, so I won't bin it easily. This is my only car so far, y'know, I don't want to walk far away from home :))

Not even next two corners and the road starts to tighten and snakes around. I tried to give it the beans while maintaining grip around the chicanes.

Overall impression is, I can say it gladly, great. Torque keeps filling up whenever I call for it, and response is reasonably well, but can be improved still. Power is obviiously monstrous here, driving the Silver Queen here feels like you jumped into a fast-forwarded clip of a rollercoaster ride. Not so comfy at first, but once you get used to it, it's worth it and you can feel like you're faster than even Tommi Makkinen :D

Some time later I found a huge road shoulder where I can turn around. I turned around and went to the opposite direction for one final run before going back into the garage.
The touge itself is quite challenging and has beautiful views. It's actually safer too than Tsukuba Fruits Line touge, with armcos and steel fances galore at both sides. I'd like to recommend this touge for mass touge run with the WestKyo boys, I'm sure they're gonna love the road quality and width :thumbsup:

With the touge ended, all test has been complete. I returned back to the suburbs while reflecting on what happened along the week and of course, the final upgrade for the Silver Qqueen. It's been a very, very long journey filled with near-bankruptcy to bring it to this state, and at this point I'm actually very grateful that all my efforts has been paid off handsomely.

When I returned to the suburbs the sun has almost completely set. I thought I'd refresh myself by taking the scenic route around the center parts of the city.

To be honest, I rarely go to this area, so to discover there are a lot of trees here felt refreshing. Perhaps I should visit this district more on weekends.

But then, I found something else that I also rarely see near the city's park. What's a Buick Century doing here? I know that imported US cars a thing in Japan recently, but of all cars, why a Buick? And why a Century? On a lighter note, the lowrider styling is something unusual as well for a Buick, but it brings an air of creativity and fine craftsmanship to me. It's executed very well! I hope I can meet the owner someday.

As night fell and the Buick steers away from my view, I approached a bridge. Given how tired I was, it felt heavenly and beautiful. At least lots of lights mean I could still stay awake behind the wheel.....but just look at it. It looks like a neon-lit red carpet for the Silver Queen.

And just some minutes before I arrived at the garage, I spotted another lowrider. This time, a proper and popular one in the form of a neon-lit Chevy Impala. It looks like it came off straight from a gangsta rap video clip or any Grand Theft Auto game, and indeed felt like a huge yacht on wheels. I really want to know how these cars made it to this vry soil, so I might have to investigate it in my spare time. Who knows, I can meet it again.

I went straight to sleep after a very long day of driving. I guess I'll need some massage too, my back hurt a bit


[26 Jan 2019]
I should've orderd the final upgrades after the drive, but damn I'm so tired I didn't do it. Well at least I can wake early wih enough sleep time, which already become a myth for some these days. Anyway, let's have a breakdown on what I bought for the Evo for (probably) the last time.

First off, I think the intake manifold has already showing it's age and might not be able to supply better airflow for the engine after all the upgrades. So it's time to help it breathe freely by having a new intake mainfold from Hypertune. They have 77mm and 90mm variant, but I think the 90mm is overkill despite having the same cost, so I deduce that the 77mm one is enough for daily without causing too much power jump or even worse, imbalance air intake ratio. They costs at V$1280. Quite expensive, I know, especially with the fact that I can purchase a 80mm one on eBay back then. But uh, that one looked like it's made of plastic, whereas this one is race-proven metal stuff.

Now, speaking about air, there's on emore component that needs to be replaced and sucks air ino the car. Yep, the turbo. I know what are you thinking: "Ay Smoke are you mad? You've been producing a lot of horses for stroker kit why you have a turbo as well? It's too much!" Yeah yeah I know, but I want to improve the response a bit. Besides, the stock IHI turbo has shown its age and if I get a new one, might as well go for slightly higher boost since it's safer. Mackay recommended me to get something from HKS in his video call, and Marc agreed when I aksed him about this. So I got myself a huge assembly of turbos........
The grand total for the HKS GTII-8262 turbo assembly above is V$3489. Welp, this is definitely going to rip my wallet off :O
But I'm sure, I'm really sure they're worth it.












Finally done my update! My body wasn't feeling well when I write this so it might be a bit bad.
Anyway let's see if I actually survived the wallet slaughter:









That's all my updates for now, thank you for stopping by and see you soon!
(either here or one of the WestKyo boys RPs)
Still following the damn train since 1992

Visit my RP HERE!

Niatross

bd
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Location: Bangladesh
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#113   2019-01-25 20:35          
Silver Queen is getting some solid Upgrades! Can tell you are diving deep it into this thing now. MAD AERO AND LIVERY WHEN

Also when are u leaving Tokyo? (Or have u changed ur mind and are staying permanently OuO) we gotta get a touge sesh done soon ngl

Also i have gotten a whiff of some rumors about a very privately organized USDM car meet somewhere around the area. Rumors might be true and in that case, that maybe why you got to spot those PRETTY SWEET BALD EAGLE/TACO HOMBRE MOBILES


Current owned cars:
- Toyota Supra GA-JZA70 Mk3
- BMW E46 M3
- Nissan Skyline ECR33 GTS25t
- Nissan 200SX Hatchback
- BMW E92 335i
- Nazda RX-7 FD3S Type RS
- Mazda RX-7 JF1FD (USDM)
- Nissan Silvia S14

RocketBunnyS13

ph
Posts: 418

Location: Philippines MNL
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Age: 34
V$: wat
#114   2019-01-26 00:05          
DYNO RUN WHENNNNN. I'm eager to know the power figures! Even though your main intention with those upgrades was mostly reliability, I'm sure you've well surpassed the 400hp mark!

And yeah dude, I still feel bad about the S14 (I actually don't feel that well either haha). But hey, life has its ups and downs, this is just another one of those hurdles we gotta face. Thanks for the mention! FREE PROMOTIONS FTW LOL JK

Also if you need a place to crash my crib is always open. But if you want your privacy there's a vacant house right next door, awaiting occupation ;)

s t a y c l a s s y

BigSmoke

id
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#115   2019-01-26 05:25          
# Niatross : Silver Queen is getting some solid Upgrades! Can tell you are diving deep it into this thing now. MAD AERO AND LIVERY WHEN

Also when are u leaving Tokyo? (Or have u changed ur mind and are staying permanently OuO) we gotta get a touge sesh done soon ngl

Also i have gotten a whiff of some rumors about a very privately organized USDM car meet somewhere around the area. Rumors might be true and in that case, that maybe why you got to spot those PRETTY SWEET BALD EAGLE/TACO HOMBRE MOBILES

Thanks my man! Nah I'm afraid it'll fail shaken after some mad aeros and it's already gorgeous this way (read: No aftermarket kits for the mod lol), and uhhh I like it clean this way. My next car should have both tho ;)

I might be leaving at the end of 1st week of February, since Tsukuba is now dry enough to have races on without turning itself into a ice skating arena. I'd really love to stay permanently but uhhh after all my main business is in Tsukuba and I can go to the track literally everyday :)) and YAP TOUGE SESH WHEN MAAAAN

Hmmmm that's interesting, I should check again when they have a public meet. US car culture is something that's unique in it's own way

# RocketBunnyS13 : DYNO RUN WHENNNNN. I'm eager to know the power figures! Even though your main intention with those upgrades was mostly reliability, I'm sure you've well surpassed the 400hp mark!

And yeah dude, I still feel bad about the S14 (I actually don't feel that well either haha). But hey, life has its ups and downs, this is just another one of those hurdles we gotta face. Thanks for the mention! FREE PROMOTIONS FTW LOL JK

Also if you need a place to crash my crib is always open. But if you want your privacy there's a vacant house right next door, awaiting occupation ;)

Soon my man sooooon ;) yeah, fresh parts also means increased reliability thankfully. And you see, everybody loves free promotions :))

Ah, if only Ii can stay permanently. But hey, thanks for the offer. Should come in handy for my next visit here, probably in the summer holiday ;)
Still following the damn train since 1992

Visit my RP HERE!

BigSmoke

id
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#116   2019-02-02 21:36          
The Rise of The Silver Queen






At last, the final piece of my Evo's upgrade list has arrived!
The final figures of the build is staggering as well! :O
(well, as if 394 BHP isn't astonishing enough for a quarter century old car.....)
And once again I tested it on touge roads....but I'm not alone this time! ;)
So without further ado, let's jump into the update!








[28 Jan 2019]
Paycheck time! It is a good thing I receive V$750/week at the moment, since it certainly helps me on tuning the Evo and more importantly, keeps me and my Evo moving easily :D And oh, I'm still considering getting a solid jo at the moment, but I might decide it when I'm back to Tsukuba. Although if I choose to be a chauffeur/driver for hire, I might start at May since I have something planned for it at April......Well, let's see what fate has in store.

Speaking of coming back, I realize my time in Tokyo is almost up and Tsukuba Circuit has been opened again, as well as the University. This means it's time to go home soon and get back to the realm of work life again. I could opted to live in Tokyo and get job easily, but this means my time for trackdays is very, very limited, and though I also love touge drives so much, I do realize that this can be rather dangerous and in one unfortunate event I might crash with nobody helping me, and I might be found bathing in blood waiting for my death inside the Evo (If I go alone that is, otherwise at least someone will help me). And though my time in Tokyo is very, very lovely, as people always say, there's no place like home (unless if you consider your home as a hellhole). I plan to come back at 8 or 9 Feb.

And oh, thorough my times in Tokyo I still keep in touch with my friends at Tsukuba, mainly Rantaro (the owner of the Merc II, which is a Mark II GX70 with Merc front-end conversion. Click here to see how it looks) and Ryuji (owner of a Jagermeister-orange M3 E46. Click here to see how it looks, along with some other nice cars). Ryuji and his little sister will be likely come back from Australia the same time as I come back to Tsukuba, meanwhile Rantaro and his GF has came back from Okinawa at 27 Jan. With Muza(Niatross) currently owning two European cars, I told Rantaro about Muza's M3 E46 and A5 since Rantaro is a fan of Euro cars. And as I expected Rantaro was fangirling over them! :)) He also appreciated the colour choice of the M3 as well as wondering how the A5 looks gorgeous while wearing a wheel it wasn't designed for (a set of Nismo LMGT1s. I'm not kidding, check out his RP!). Meanwhile, Ryuji also shared some pics of bulky but gorgeous Australian muscle cars to me. He also rented one, a Holden Commodore VF. He was so impressed with how it goes and actually wished to get one and import it back to Japan. But since he found out that it's thirstier than his M3, he dropped the plan. Ah, what could have been...........

But of course, before I come back to Tsukuba, I wanted to do some stuff with the WestKyo boys first. Don't worry, you'll know it soon.......


[31 Jan 2019]
THE FINAL UPGRADES HAS ARRIVED! To remind you again on what are those final upgrades, I bought the complete assembly of HKS GTII-8262 turbochargers and Hypertune 77mm intake manifold. Finally they arrived at WestKyo's garage doorstep at midday while I was going to help Marc(Macaron_moon) tinkering with his Evo X. Speaking of which, I assume Marc is going to do somethinng very, very big with his Evo X. After all, it hasn't hit the road in more than three months........if it's not waiting for a humongous list of upgrades then I don't know what is currently happening.

Speaking of Evo X, I lamented in the previous update that Evo X's 4B11T engine didn't see as much motorsport life as the 4G63 did. It turns out that some national level rally championships has a class called Proto class. Basically the class consist of any kind of cars that has Evo X's 4B11T engine and drivetrain sitting inside. It's a bit like Super GT's Mother Chassis (MC) rule for GT300 class, where you can build practically anything with Nissan VK56DE engine in it. So far there are only two MC cars built, they're Toyota 86 MC and Lotus Evora MC. Interestngly, Subaru has a BRZ that follows original GT300 rule instead of the MC rule, so retaining it's boxer engine.

As for the Proto cars, you can make it yourself as well, but there are already a lot of builders that can fullfill the demand. Some of them are Dytko Sport, Evolve Motorsport and Heuvel Motorsport. But in case of Evolve, somehow they used Subaru EJ20 units instead of Mitsu 4B11T. Dytko's builds are the most famous ones, mostly using VW Polo or Peugeot 208 bodies. Remember the Lancer R they made some time ago? Yep, that's a Proto car too as well as their demo car. Sadly, you can't bring them outside national championships as they don't comform to any of FIA's Group R rule for national, continental or international championship rule including WRC. But performance wise, they should be on par with R5 rally cars if not slightly faster, since basically most Proto cars has R5 platform (which is small, light and nimble) and R4 engine (which is actually bigger than R5).

Anyway, moving on to my Silver Queen. After the parts has arrived and we prepared our tools, we decided to work on my Evo first. So I backed up my Evo into the working bay. Man, working on my car here is so fun and easy, I wonder if I can live moments like this again.

Then we proceed to dismantle the car's front part again to allow the engine crane to pick the engine easily. Tthis way we can disassemble the engine while we're sitting and talking about stuff while having some cans of coffee. All we need to make sure is if we can put it back correctly in the car later.....and of course not damaging the engine in the process. This might sound so easy but believe me, it's not really that easy :))

I also did some setup while installing the parts. Thankfully I ordered the heavy duty actuators along with the turbo assembly, so adjusting the turbo is easier than before. Also with stronger stroker kit installed, I can safely increase the boost without worrying if my engine will turn into a box of molotovs on the run. Some time ago I read that (a)Turns out stock 4G63 block of the 90s can be fed with up to 16 psi of boost instead of 13 psi that I read back then, and (b)4G63's achilles heels is it's conrod and piston, which under hardcore usage might bent or even snap, so it's advisable to get stroker kit, which I already did. With this in mind, I set the boost to exactly 1 bar (roughly 14,7 psi) to keep the block healthy while letting it receive more air.
5 hours later, the job was done. Could be done in 3 hours if we didn't chatter about motorsport or life to be honest, but hey, social interaction is a part of car culture after all :D The fact that I was blasting and singing to Taeko Ohnuki's "4.00 am" might also do with it....citypop is life man! :)) We moved on to work on Marc's car as the day goes on. I told Marc about the Proto rally car rules and joked on him that we should pull out the 4B11T and built a kei-car based Proto car if the Evo X is damaged beyond repair should he crash it. Marc retaliates with a sonorous "NO!! That's not going to happen!" :))

At the end of the day, I listed the stock parts for sale. I listed the stock IHI turbo for sale at V$2800. Ii think they can still stand some abuse by others despite what I said at the end of last update, and after all I haven't reverted the boost setting so it's a bit of plus point. As for the stock intake manifold, I listed them for V$640. I do aware there could be cheaper aftermarket intake manifolds and I even found one back then, but then most of them looks dubious......they looked like they're made of plastics :)) Ii'm confident enough to sell mine with a bit higher price tag sine obviously it's a factory original.

I also remembered something: I need to dyno the car again to see how the tune affected on-paper results. Well, that can be done tomorrow..........


[01 Feb 2019]
The first month of the year has been passed with a lot of fond memories for me and significant developments for the Silver Queen. It is time to see how far it's been going on it's final form. At 9 am after Muza and AJ(RocketBunnyS13) went off to work, I left the garage keys to Marc and went off downtown for another dyno session at ProMods. It's a cold, cloudy morning, so I took my jacket with me. Eh, spring will come soon anyway. Also somehow rush hour isn't really over as I went there, making the journey a bit uuncomfortable......before the final upgrades I said that the Evo deliver huge surge of power at lower gears. Now the Silver Queen outright punched my face and chest upon launch, and when I didn't really pay attention 2nd gear already felt like warping to another dimension. "Calm your foot down you greedy boy!" I shouted to myself. Probably that's what the Silver Queen thought as well.

Upon my arrival, one of the ProMods crew welcomed me and directed me to their dyno. Somewhat I got lucky I could park my Evo without making a mess inside. Let the examination begin!

Shortly after, the sonorous sound of the 4G63 engine fills the garage. Now it sound like a big box of angry hornets owned by an eccentric madman, with turbo whistles and fiery backfires filling in between, making the sight looked like one of the most unholy orchestra performance ever seen. But all of this was worth it when the result came out:

MAN WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT.
HOLY NUMBER NINES MAN I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS.
445 BRAKE HORSEPOWER!!
More than enough to follow that damn train beat the Evo FQ-440! Also already enters the Group B territory! I cheered in both ecstasy and disbelief while thinking "Is this my brain on extra-strong coffee or what?". The crew looked excited and glad at the results as well, then we talked a bit on what I've done to it. But then it looks like they tried to wake the greedy madman in me when they jokingly asked: "Why not round it to 450?" I duly answered, half-conscious on what I did said: "Yap good idea!"

So they actually did it. All they do was readjusting the exhaust cam, but they guarantee the result will be exactly as guaranteed. I also told them about the face-punching acceleration, so they also shorten the transmission's final gear to compensate the torque effect as well as to make it even faster on top end.

With the tuning done, the Evo had another dyno run and the madman's orchestra was back on business. The result is, again, unbelievable:

The difference is, it's unbelieveable not on how powerful it is now, but on how actually they prove their claim of 450 bhp output and just how precise it is. I was so impressed I want to buy them beer and coffee, but turns out they already have their own supply, so I simply high-fived everyone in the crew and thanked the for the work they've done.

I returned to WestKyo garage later that day via the industrial route. I supposed to come back straight to the garage, but midway through the trip I spotted something similar. Aren't those the lowriders from about a week ago? They were parked outside a supermarket, so I decided to find out by parking beside them.

A moment later, the owners came back from shopping. One of them wore a green hoodie, while one of them wears a blue shirt. Upon eye contact I slowly apporach them.

"Excuse me for my rudeness, are these your cars?" I asked to them.
"Well yes, what's wrong? You got a problem with us?" Said the green hoodie guy in a bit of grunt.
"Wait nonono! I've just happened to see these a week ago. They look awesome!"
"....aaah I see."
"I mean, it's rare to see an American car here, let alone classic ones"
"Honestly there are some in Tokyo, but yeah outside Tokyo there aren't many. I can tell you're not from here"
"Exactly! I live in Tsukuba, and I'm here in Tokyo for holidays though I'm going to come back soon"
"Oh Tsukuba you say? My cousin lives there y'know. I used to live with him in my high school days. Sometimes I visit him at summer"
"With this car?"
"With this car, yep"
"Awesome man! Clearly you've maintained this car very well, looks factory fresh!"
"Oh thank you, safe to say maintaining and modifying this car is a form of art. That's why they're unique"

The green hoodie guy is Juuichi (32), or 'Joey' as his community called him. He owns the green Impala, and he imported it himself from his earnings from his job as a music store and a small recording studio owner at Roppongi. Oh yeah, mind you, physical music collection is actually still a thing in Japan, since people here still insists on collectibility and originality of musical products. As you expected, he prefres hip-hop, rap and all their subgenres and he's keen on seeing the local and Asian scene growing up. He's a big fan of Dr. Dre and Ice Cube, as well as Snoop Dogg and Cent. He said he didn't really enjoy the modern US scene at the moment, so it's a perfect moment to look at other scenes around the world.

The one with blue shirt is Joey's work partner and studio assistant, Noriki (29). When I asked why he chose to import a Buick Century among anything else, he simply answered he wants something unusual and wants to make it something groundbreaking. Personally, I think he did those gracefully: He transformed something normally unappreciated by common Americans into a eye-catching road yacht. Also, due to their preferences, cost and maintainability, they decided to install airbags instead of hydraulics, as well as not modding their engine and simply keping it as fresh as possible.

We exchanged contacts after I grabbed some pics under their permit, and went back to the garage.

And when I arrived at the garage, I immediately asked Muza something.

"Ey Muza, what time do you come back from work tomorrow?"
"I think I can come back at 4pm, what's the matter"
"You want to do some evening cruise?"



[02 Feb 2019]
Earlier I said I wanted to do some stuff with the WestKyo boys. Well, this is one of them: A mass touge session. Yesterday I told Muza about Otarumi touge, the place when I tested the Evo after it has stroker kit and cams installed. I offered Muza and AJ to tag along, and thankfully they agreed to go there at 6pm. Muza wants to stay sharp in his M3 E46 which has recently receiving a micro diet. This might become the last touge for it as well since he planned to turn it into a track car. Meanwhile AJ have to use his fresh, stock S2000. After all, from all of his cars, his S15 isn't working yet, he recently crashed his S14, and he doesn't want to see his Civic FC1 suffered the same fate, leaving only the S2000 to ride on.

"But look at the bright side AJ, time for a new hair-do!" I jokingly cheer him up :)) AJ doesn't seem to mind, after all fresh mountain air is fresh and good for your mind. How to keep your face features intact on high speed is another issue though. Nevertheless AJ still decides to have his roof down for the ride. After leaving the keys to Marc again, we set off.

We arrived at the touge at 7.30pm, just in time for sunset. Perhaps this would be the most breathtaking view we've experienced on a touge session. We took a rest for a while as we made our final preparation. By the way, the ProMods guys has succesfully soften a bit of it's acceleration it seems, the punch now felt less intense.


After a short briefing, we set off to attack the touge route. But to be honest I'm rather worried about AJ, since the S2K is famous for oversteering at most times thanks to it's narrow width, and the cause of AJ's crash is.....he went sideways at high speed. Tbf he was avoiding a dog, but still, this should be taken as a precaution.


We flew around the first corner in a breeze. Two sonorous inline 4 engine provides two treble mixes and one inline 6 engine plays the baritone voice for a calm sunset drive.



And then the road throws some sequences of chicane to us. I and Muza decided to grip it through and swinged our cars smoothly.

I'm sure AJ prioritizes gripping too, after all his car is still in stock condition. But then as I predicted his car rebelled and decided to go sideways. Thankfully AJ can control it with so much focus. Gotta stay sharp and fearless after the crash I see......but the fact that he was able to keep up with more powerful cars while being sideways in a bone stock car is more awesome to behold.

Some corners later, it looks like the drifting syndrome is infectious as Muza somehow pulled a huge drift with his E46, full pro style. And this was done while going uphill. It is helpful that there was only a smidge of traffic at the moment, otherwise we might end as a huge pile of wreckage......

I'd really like to join the sideways bros aswell, but uhh....my Evo's so grippy it doesn't really like going sideways. I'm not Tommi Makkinen anyway heheh.

A moment later we found a huge road shoulder to turn around. We decided to go back for the downhill session.


We started storming the first corner like a rollercoaster. Once again I and Muza goes for the full grip policy, while AJ also tried to but nevertheless his car protested against it. Another slide for AJ, then.


The Evo attacks the corner in a flash after the upgrades, but the brakes felt a bit squeaky at the moment. Might be because it still uses OEM-size disc and 4-pots at the front. I want to change them but I'll do this at Ttsukuba I guess. Meanwhile surprisingly AJ still able to catch up. The S2K is remarkable that it once held the record for the most horsepower per capacity in litres,roughly 125 BHP/litre. It was broken 7-8 years later by Ferrari 458. Just think about it, it took 8 years and a Ferrari to break a record held by a plucky Honda. That's quite a huge feat indeed.

It looks like Muza can't hold himself from going sideways though, or it's just his BMW wanted to do so. But it looks graceful going sideways.

Finally we reached the starting point again, and we decided to come back downtown. I and AJ came off the touge tidily and quickly, and Muza came out with a bang and flurry of oversteer. That's how you say goodbye to a touge yeah! :D


We finally arrived at downtown as night comes. Saturday nigt here is quite crowded with traffic and people everywhere moving on to celebrate the temporary freedom from the work life. Our cars attracted attetions from passer-bys, either from the looks or the sound. Muza's M3 catched a lot of eyes at traffic lights, but it's AJ's S2K that steal the most looks from the local girls as he's driving a convertible with roof down, revealing his good looks :D So it's true that a convertible will attract girls easily. Now I wonder if AJ has a GF already? I mean, he could pick up a girl right now!


There are a lot of cafes here, but we decided tp just have coffee and ramen at the garage. So we decided to keep going towards a bridge.


"Man, I wish I can cross this bridge everyday. Feels like a bridge to heaven"
"That's why you need to stay here bro"
"Nah man, but maybe one day. Work and trackday called again"



But then the chatter stopped as near the end of the bridge there was a drunk driver in a Prius darting his way towards us. In a bit of panic we tried to make our way out from the situation. I simply add more throttle as I'm sure I'll make it in time, and fortunately my calculation is correct. Muza and AJ swerved to the right lane, but unfortunatley Muza judged his move a bit late and I saw the Prius took a bit of his front bumper from the side mirrors. AJ is okay though. Instinctively we made our way out from the scene by driving a bit faster.

We then stop in a car park and we checked Muza's M3 bumper.

"Just a bit of scratch, no problem. I still can keep on running."

But just how bad is it? You might find it out at Muza's RP update.










So let's see how my wallet survived this week.........








That's all my updates for now, thank you for stopping by and see you soon!
(either here or one of the WestKyo boys RPs)
Still following the damn train since 1992

Visit my RP HERE!

Niatross

bd
Posts: 430

Location: Bangladesh
Occupation: topkek
Age:
V$: yes
#117   2019-02-02 22:28          
445 BHP
M A N thats a good number for an Evo 3! alongside the fact that it still looks like any normal Evo 3 :-X
Damn those Lowriders look like exotic eye-candy here in Tokyo streets ngl. Can only imagine the amount of confused-love they get

And Touge sesh was a blast! Drunk Prius man wasnt a blast tho X-( can of course keep the car running but well, Rip face.
RIP MY GODDAMN CLEAN CARS BEAUTIFUL FACE


Current owned cars:
- Toyota Supra GA-JZA70 Mk3
- BMW E46 M3
- Nissan Skyline ECR33 GTS25t
- Nissan 200SX Hatchback
- BMW E92 335i
- Nazda RX-7 FD3S Type RS
- Mazda RX-7 JF1FD (USDM)
- Nissan Silvia S14

Lagano

si
Posts: 1739

Location: Slovenia West side
Occupation: Taking it easy
Age: 24
V$: :$V
#118   2019-02-02 22:34          
Man that was one hell of a touge session!! Ha, you might think it would be difficult to handle a stock S2000 there but it's already well set up for it! Also glad that you avoided the crash on the way back, it's often the case that everything goes fine while racing and something wrong happens when you least expect it.

Sleepin mOnkey

jp
Posts: 2459

Location: Japan Universe, Milky way ,Solar system, Earth
Occupation: Automotive engineer Student
Age: 32
V$: 14.750
#119   2019-02-03 02:22          
445n a evo i wanna see if i can keep up with my 350 hp ae86 on the tougue
Roleplay: A engine Builder and tuner that lives in Japan and Builds cool stuff.
Cars: Corolla Levin coupe Tog/show car
180SX s13 350hp SR20DET 6MT Babe 1
Supra Sz JZA80 2jz-Gte Vvt-i 2000's Hotboi
240sx Vert HOTBOI 2

CLICCC...

BigSmoke

id
Posts: 844

Location: Indonesia
Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
Age:
V$: Broke
#120   2019-02-03 05:26          
Guys, its 450 BHP after the cam tuning and second dyno :D

# Niatross : 445 BHP
M A N thats a good number for an Evo 3! alongside the fact that it still looks like any normal Evo 3 :-X
Damn those Lowriders look like exotic eye-candy here in Tokyo streets ngl. Can only imagine the amount of confused-love they get

And Touge sesh was a blast! Drunk Prius man wasnt a blast tho X-( can of course keep the car running but well, Rip face.
RIP MY GODDAMN CLEAN CARS BEAUTIFUL FACE

One of the ultimate sleeper I should say :D
I've said this and I'll say this again: In a world where hot hatches are playing at 300+ BHP territory and sedans can work their way to 600+ BHP, this has to be done ;)
Lowriding in Tokyo is something you don't experience everyday indeed, I love these things.

Glad you like the touge sesh but uhh.....RIP front bumpers :crying:

# Lagano : Man that was one hell of a touge session!! Ha, you might think it would be difficult to handle a stock S2000 there but it's already well set up for it! Also glad that you avoided the crash on the way back, it's often the case that everything goes fine while racing and something wrong happens when you least expect it.

Welp stuff happens after all :rolleyes:
Well safe to say I'm in a love-hate relationship in S2Ks in general. They're handsome,powerful and light,but quite oversteery it could release a code brown in a rainy day.

# Sleepin mOnkey : 445n a evo i wanna see if i can keep up with my 350 hp ae86 on the tougue

Since a bone stock S2K could keep up with me, I'd like to go together with the AE86 someday :D
Still following the damn train since 1992

Visit my RP HERE!