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BigSmoke

id
Posts: 844

Location: Indonesia
Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
Age:
V$: Broke
#1   2018-10-18 21:16          
Wassup y'all welcome to my RP

My name is Melvin Harris, better known as Big Smoke. I live in San Andreas and what I like is two number 9s, a number 9 large, a number 6 with extra di-
Just kidding, I'm not really him. Alright let's get serious

My name is Yuan Edo, I'm 24 (though I'm younger IRL.Guess how much), and I'm hailing from Indonesia to the city of Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. I live roughly 18 km to where the Tsukuba Circuit is, which is located in Simotsuma city, a direct neighbour of Tsukuba city. I'm a literature (e.g. poems, novels etc) and scientific (thesis, scientific journals etc) translator, and I translating from Japanese to English and/or Bahasa Indonesia, and vice versa. I also teach English to local childrens and youths in some kind of private course, and also some businessmen around Ibaraki prefecture when asked, as well as helping fellow Indonesians who happen to stay here to learn and speak Japanese.



So, after a year livng here, I got bored of using mass transportations. I want to go to more places, earning freedom on the blacktop (why do I sounded poetic). So I started saving my money from my paycheck and bonuses. I had V$20,000. I was planning to save up to V$30,000 until when I surf around the local used car sale forum I saw this:

When else you can have an Evo III? I immediately hit up the owner to ask if the car is still on sale, and if I could go to his place to check and pick it up if it is. He said YES to both questions! And luckily it was located at Ishioka city, another neighbour of Tsukuba city.

The next day, I took the earliest bus to Ishioka. The car is still there, and the owner was just returned from errand runs when I arrived at his place. He said the car is a third-hand, had run around 286,500 kms, and has some modded parts installed (including those steelies, I'll break down the rest below). He also mentioned that the clutch has to be replaced soon. He asked for V$10,000. I tried to bargain it for V$9,000 but he refused. Fortunately he accepted to bargained it for V$9,500. DEAL! After he took care of the car's papers and stuff, he gave the keys and I'm off back to Tsukuba city.

Along the way I took rest on a makeshift rest area near a bridge, and I took some pictures

4 hours later, I arrived back to my crib. So, let's have a breakdown on the mods mentioned earlier.

The first one is the wheels. They're steelies, as you can find on Evo RS versions. Apparently the first owner was indeed a fan of those, but somehow he got non-RS ones. So he installed separate steelies by his own, and for a reason he installed 15x10 steelies instead of 15x7 ones. That's okay tho, more grip is nice.

The first owner also installed Fujitsubo exhaust tip. It made a good job of extracting the vocals of the 4G63T engine. The last owner of the Evo (before me) refurbished it a bit before selling it to me.

Speaking of the engine, the second owner installed a custom radiator, which also has an extension tank.
(Okay I admit, it's SLRR stock I4 engine + Diego's headcovers, don't @ me lol)

The second owner also added front anti-roll bars, for reduced front roll and extra front grip. Though it looks a bit frail, I'm sure it could still hold up for a while.

As of the interior conditions, the seats are a bit worn but the velour/fabrics are mostly still intact, the driver's seat foam is....pretty much gone, the A/C unit has a bit of power loss (it's okay, I only need them when I have passengers anyway lol) and the radio is the only thing that is definitely broken. Despite that, apparently the AUX jack is still working, so I only need to buy a DAB radio receiver (which can be fitted to the AUX jack) whenever I want to hear news along the way. Also this means I could use my AUX cord to play music from my phone. Time to blast Junko Yagami's '1984' (anachronistic, I know, but hey that's just the title) and Megumi Hayashibara's take on 'Fly Me to the Moon'

And oh, I mentioned that the clutch has to be replaced soon, almost forgot about that. I put an order for the clutch, they costed me V$600. It is a good thing there's a shop that has it around the prefecture, which means shipping is free. I also ordered a DAB receiver, costed me V$180 plus V$30 for shipping. Man, what a day, what a life.


Quite a long intro to an RP, don't you think lol. Here's a TL;DR version if you don't want to read all of it:

Also, quicc maths on my V$:

This is my first RP by the way. I've been playing SLRR for some time before taking a 3-year hiatus and recently making a comeback. I admire a lot of people's RP builds here, so why not make my own? I could also train my right brain here.

And oh, a P.S.:

Looking forward to see you guys sometime!

EDIT: "Hey where did you get those?"
Whoops, sorry for not mentioning where I ordered my clutch and DAB receiver.

So, I ordered a OS Giken clutch from this site, and the DAB receiver here. Gotta wait around 1-2 weeks for those, so at the meantime I'll use the Evo as a daily......but of course I'll find a time when I can track/rally it

This post was edited by BigSmoke (2018-11-03 04:55, ago)
Still following the damn train since 1992

Visit my RP HERE!

Niatross

bd
Posts: 430

Location: Bangladesh
Occupation: topkek
Age:
V$: yes
#2   2018-10-18 22:03          
NICE purchase man! pretty good looking CE9A!
at first i thought it was an RS but no lmao

Feel free to swing by our garage in western tokyo soon! not this week tho cuz we'll be off to osaka
But yeah after we're back, Come by if you wish to! Would love to have a look at that Evo 3


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

Franklin

00
Posts: 301

Location: --- Tokyo, Japan
Occupation: Yesn't
Age: 30
V$: 7585
#3   2018-10-18 22:36          
"The wise sheep does what he says and only eats the greenest grass, while the foolish sheep gets eaten alive by heathens!"

And for what i'm seeing you're the wise sheep! Nice evo dude!

Chill Life, Good Life ド陰の越
Hotboi Gang (テヂ椅)

BigSmoke

id
Posts: 844

Location: Indonesia
Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
Age:
V$: Broke
#4   2018-10-19 09:09          
# Niatross : NICE purchase man! pretty good looking CE9A!
at first i thought it was an RS but no lmao

Feel free to swing by our garage in western tokyo soon! not this week tho cuz we'll be off to osaka
But yeah after we're back, Come by if you wish to! Would love to have a look at that Evo 3

Thanks my man, gotta swing by when I have the free time. Also have fun for the Osaka trip! :D

# Franklin : "The wise sheep does what he says and only eats the greenest grass, while the foolish sheep gets eaten alive by heathens!"

And for what i'm seeing you're the wise sheep! Nice evo dude!

Whoo thanks man! :D

This post was edited by BigSmoke (2018-10-19 10:38, ago)
Still following the damn train since 1992

Visit my RP HERE!

Nightkid

jp
Posts: 818

Location: Japan
Occupation: yesn´t
Age: 23
V$: idk
#5   2018-10-19 13:26          
Really nice purchase man ! Good luck with this project

(also you should try the 4g63t fake engine that’s somewhere on VK lol)

Alex876

jm
Posts: 356

Location: Jamaica Swift Tune JA
Occupation: Putting illegal camber on cars
Age: 23
V$:
#6   2018-10-19 14:49          
Nice evo 3 man good luck with building it up

BigSmoke

id
Posts: 844

Location: Indonesia
Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
Age:
V$: Broke
#7   2018-10-19 19:31          
# Nightrunner : Really nice purchase man ! Good luck with this project

(also you should try the 4g63t fake engine that’s somewhere on VK lol)

Thanks my man, I guess I'll stick with the stock engine lol. VK can turn into virtual Aokigahara (or Amazon for less grim aura) sometimes

# jdmkvng : Nice evo 3 man good luck with building it up

Thanks man, good luck with your SC300 and 86 builds too! :D
Still following the damn train since 1992

Visit my RP HERE!

DFRacing98

us
Posts: 307

Location: United States Palmdale California
Occupation: Cardio-neuro-vascular-gastro surgeon-doctor-therapist
Age: 23
V$: Poor
#8   2018-10-20 23:03          
Badass to see an old school evo, I fucking love these!
I will gas you

BigSmoke

id
Posts: 844

Location: Indonesia
Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
Age:
V$: Broke
#9   2018-10-21 06:23          
# DFRacing98 : Badass to see an old school evo, I fucking love these!

Thanks a lot my man! :D

BTW RP update should come soon! :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
#10   2018-10-23 06:08          
First Trackday!

"Hey man why did you went silent for half a week?"
Truth to be told there's almost nothing interesting happened, just work and daily stuff I've mentioned in the intro (and of course IRL stuff as well). But finally I have the time to say that the Evo has spent it's first time trackside!


[20 Oct 2018]
When you buy a car, particularly the one that you really want, I'm sure there's a raise of need for speed (no this isn't a pun), the urge to open the tap and unleash the potential of your new ride. But normally all you can do is fullfilling it on public roads. If you're already mastered car control this would be an easy thing, but if you don't it is almost certain that you'll crash into something and breaking your cr, as well as public property. To add the salt in the wound, in the age of internet and mobile connectivity this mishap would attract people and tempt them to snap/record what happened and upload it to the sea of internet. The next time you opened your own phone, chances are either you've become a buttjoke of at least your local car community, or you'll see people lamenting the loss of your car and blaming you for being a lackey on public road.
(DISCLAIMER: Don't worry, this never happened to me IRL, mainly because I don't even own a car IRL :crying: )
Alright we've gone too far, let's get back to the story.

So the obvious choice based on the previous explanation is to bring your car to a local track. And I'm quite lucky as there's one near my place, which, as I've explained in the intro, is Tsukuba Circuit, just 18 km from my place. Tsukuba is seen as the equivalent to Top Gear's Dunsfold Airfield, Lotus's RAF Hethel base, Honda's Suzuka Circuit or Angelsey Circuit which is often used by Evo magazine. It might be small and near-flat, but it is a perfect and practical place to test a car's capabilities in tackling various kinds of corners. And for that reason it is also the home of Japan's national time attack events which sees cars with absolutely mad aero works, ranging from video game and tuning magazine heroes such as Voltex Cyber Evo, HKS Hipermax Evo and HKS TRB Altezza, to modern-day F1-style aero-infused monsters like Voltex S2000, Escort Evo, Esprit NSX, Scorch Racing S15 and HKS TRB-04 86. If you're a fan of Option Video and Hot Version clips, you'll also aware that stock production cars are tested and raced against each other here as well, from cars like Toyota Starlet and Mazda Demio, to my Evo and its arch enemies, to import sportscars like Porsche Cayman and Corvette C6, to even exec station wagons like Toyota Vellfire and Nissan Elgrand.

I went there on Saturday at morning, to avoid weekend traffic. Since it was a race weekend and there are two major motorsport events happened in Japan (Super GT @ Autopolis and MotoGP @ Motegi), as well it was still morning when I arrived and no special events happened there, the track is noticeably isn't so crowded compared to usual trackdays held there. And then I remembered something: The clutch needs to be replaced and the order I put hasn't arrived yet. Despite this, I hit the track with no hestitation.

As the above images tell, the front anti-roll bars did their job quite well to keep the front end planted and optimizing tire contact on inner corner size. However, as the rear anti-roll bar doesn't exists, I still can feel bodyroll on the back as picutred above. It does give a bit of oversteer, but rarely. I'm also afraid it hurts tire consumption in the back. Oh well, at least the rear suspension held the body nicely, but indeed it could use some help.

With slow section assessment complete, it is time to check how it performs on the straights. At the backstraight, I give the car all I can while hoping the clutch won't break under high speed gearchange. And fortunately, it didn't. And despite sitting on stock suspensions and shocks for ages, the car is reasonably stable as I bring it to the last corner. It reached 200 km/h and a bit more (204 I reckon) before I started braking at the entry of the last corner. As of the last corner experience itself......it was reassuring, but also a bit of horror. As I said before, the car doesn't have rear anti-roll bars yet, so whilst I throw the car into the corner at 200+ km/h I also pray for the car not to spin or worse, rolling as I turn. But in the end I and the car survived, though I can feel the car rolling a bit violently at the back along the corner.

As an additional assessment, and to give myself an idea how far I can push the car in this form, I decided to pit in and went to the circuit tower to borrow some VBox recorder at the steward office to record my lap time. It is a good thing they apparently indeed have VBox rental service, you can rent them at V$200/hour. After a DIY VBox isntallation and rehydrating myself, I hit the track again while wishing again for the clutch not to break in the process. Here goes!

After 1 hour I averaged at 1:06.xxx territory, with my best lap being 1:04.835. With all assessment done, I returned to pitlane, exhausted but satisfied. When I returned the VBox, the stewards commented that I was going like hell and I should enter the clubman and open level time trial events they held someday. I thanked them for the VBox, and said I'll join the event when I've improved the Evo. Afterwards, I decided to have a meal at the track's canteen and then call it a day, returning home while wondering how can the clutch and th front anti-roll bar survived.

As of the other cars attending the event, mostly they're just like mine, either a stock car or lightly modified ones. I did see a team testing a time attack Subie GC8 though! But as I spotted them while I'm inside the car, I didn't get a pic of them. When I go to Tsukuba again I'll make sure to snap it for you guys.


[21 Oct 2018]
My friend and fellow translator Kenichi came to my house to have a nice chatter and some translation discussion. Kenichi himself is going for a lone, long trip on his bike to his hometown at the coastal town of Ooarai, also in Ibaraki prefecture. He went back to his hometown every near end of the year to clean his mind and relaxing after quite a lot of work here, and currently almost all of his major works has been done. He's a fan of motorcycles, but too afraid to ride a sportsbike since the last time he rode one he crashed in a dramatic fashion. He survived with just several bruises and slightly dislocated shoulder, but his bike is obviously totaled. So for his second bike he did a downgrade to a 150cc junior sports bike, a Honda CB, which he modified to resemble the bike's South American cousin, the Honda CG.

I don't really have much snacks and drinks in my place other than frozen onigiris, ramen cups and instant coffees, so I and Kenichi went to my favourite coffee shop at the northeast end of Tsukuba city, which also in the route where Kenichi is going to. There's also a TV inside, and they're broadcasting Super GT race at the moment, so I can watch it together with Kenichi while continuing our discussion. I also asked him about the bike, since I never thought I could find a junior sports bike here, and told him I might get a junior sports bike or a scooter for short-distance commuting at one time.

At the end of discussion I told Kenichi to be safe and get enough rest on the long way back home. Kenichi said he'll meet me again at the start of next year and bid me a goodbye. We parted ways and I decided to go straight back home.


[22 Oct 2018]
Paycheck time! I also received message that the clutch will be arriving in 3 days, while the DAB receiver will arrive in 5 days.


[23 Oct 2018]
While resting from work I'm browsing for anti-roll bar set (front & rear) as well as new shocks and spring for the Evo. I'm going to strengthen and lower it a bit more. I'll decide and put orders on them once my clutch has arrived.


As per usual, a TL;DR if you think this is too long:

And of course quicc maths on my finance:

And finally, a P.S.:
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
#11   2018-10-23 07:35          
Looking so good! Also, check the gearbox synchro as well, they might be worn out :)

BigSmoke

id
Posts: 844

Location: Indonesia
Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
Age:
V$: Broke
#12   2018-10-23 11:08          
# Soju : Looking so good! Also, check the gearbox synchro as well, they might be worn out :)

Thanks my man! Gonna do that when I have the time. I'm quite sure they indeed need to be checked after years of use + trackday.
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
#13   2018-10-26 18:00          
Small Update: Clutch Has Arrived!

Tbh I should've done this yesterday (the clutch arrived yesterday), but I'm so tired after installing it I decided to update it today.

(Not really. What actually happened is my SLRR install killed itself again when I was going to take screenies, and I took 1/4 midnight to make a fresh install. Now I have 3 installs: One for race/time attack builds, one for this roleplay, and another one for stance and uhh.......'joke' builds. (think retard-level cambered cars or a Prius with banger paintjob and machine gun on the roof))



[25 Oct 2018]
Early morning at 9 am, while I had my breakfast I got a message that my clutch I ordered at the intro should come at midday. Exactly what you expect when you start you day yeah? After I finished breakfast, I took shower (I always had breakfast before shower, since toothpaste would ruin the delicacy of my meal), Get some fresh clothes, and went to a nearby store where they sell fluids for the car. I'm quite an idiot for not replacing my car fluids immediately..... :facepalm: and since I'm going to change the clutch, might as well changing the fluids for extra effect and prolonged engine life.

Here's what I bought. I bought more than 1 for later uses:

With fluids sorted, I return back to my place and preparing my tools. And oh, almost forgot to mention most of my works that is due this week has been done, so I've got a lot of free time in my hands to tinker with the Evo.

12.18 pm, the postal service arrived with my clutch. After sorting the papers and thanking the driver, I rushed to my garage and begin the installation and fluid change process.
(Fluids pack aren't pictured here)

As per Soju's suggestion, I also checked out the gearbox synchro as well. From what I found, according to various internet forum suggestions, the 2nd and 3rd synchro has worn in normal way (i.e. not disturbing gearchange process.....yet), and 4th is starting to worn as well. I suspect the previous owners of the Evo are rally, touge and/or hillclimb fans (eh, who isn't?). I reckon they could endure some millions more gear shifts, so I put them back. Aaaaaand here comes the long journey of fluid exchange.
*lots of swearing occured afterwards as I attempted to change tranny, power steering, brake and clutch fluid. The rest of them I could manage easily*

A lot of work was done when I was finished. It looked like I spent too much time when I got outside my garage: It was sunset already. I run the Evo's engine for a while to let the new fluids enter their respective places while I'm reflecting about the works that I've done that day.

I turned off the engine afterwards, and closed the garage door. With everything sorted, I get back to the house, washed my hands and hit the computer to order new gearbox synchros. Since the car has endured a lot of kms, I thought to replace 1st and 5th gear synchro as well though they were actually looking good when I check them earlier. And here's my summary of order:

Following what I said on the previous update, I also ordered new anti-roll bars, both for front and rear part from this site. They're Ultra Racing acing anti-roll bars, sold for V$230 each, so two of them would be V$460 plus V$40 for shipping. And turns out finding a shocks and springs kit online for Evo I, II and III is one hell of a struggle. Originally I was going to place a custom request to Tein which would cost me roughly V$2400 and a month of waiting list, but in my last attempt of seach I was lucky enough to find someone selling a complete HKS Hipermax II coilover kit here for just V$980 and V$20 for shipping. Quite a steal, don't you think? So I immediately place an order, with roughly a week of shipping to follow. As for the anti-roll bars set, I'll be waiting for them for around 10 days.

I'm on a hell of shopping spree, dammit. But it's for my Evo, so it's worth it. Cue up Queen's "I'm in Love with My Car".


[26 Oct 2018]
While I was surfing on the internet, I have an idea to replace the wheels, tires and brakes, since I reckon they could be shipped quickly. As of the wheel models, I'll pick it up myself (I'm inclined on either Work Emotion CR series, Volk TE37, Volk CE28 or Enkei RPF1 though), but what wheel size do you guys think would fit my Evo? I'm thinking of:
  • Keep it 15"
  • Size up to 16"
  • Size a bit further to 17"

  • The wheel selection would play a key on brake selection too. If I pick 15" or 16", I'll install Endless 4 pot kit with OEM-sized rotors, but if I pick 17" I could install Brembo 4 pot BBK. Or could I install them with 16" wheels?

    I also had a peek to see how much would a full gearbox change for Evo III cost. Turns out it's also spawns a hell of a search, and most of them only sells OEM gearbox, though the price is negotiable. However, there's one site that gets my deep attention. They offered full transmission rebuilding as well as upgrades for reasonable price.

    Crap, I can't believe I'm still under shopping spree effect.

    EDIT: I also looked for suspension arms replacement in curiosity. Holy crap they're even more expensive....... I was looking for it at this site


    Okay, now for the quicc maths:

    That's my update for now, will be continued tomorrow (should be less than 24 hours) when my DAB receiver arrived. See y'all soon!

    This post was edited by BigSmoke (2018-11-03 04:57, ago)
    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
    #14   2018-10-27 15:07          
    Small Update: DAB Receiver has Arrived!


    Finally, all stuff of my first order has arrived. The expedition company messaged me at 8am, said that the item will be arrived in roughly 3 hours. But then one of my friends called me, said that the store I mentioned yesterday (in the previous small update) has some interior accessories discounted for the weekend. I can hear some ruckus and holler in the background, looks like a lot of people noticed the promo and jumped in.

    "How much discount?"
    "20-30% mate."
    "Hmm quite a deal. Does it includes steering wheel?"
    "Well I don't know exactly, it's quite crowded here I can't see anything bar people's backs!"
    "Dangit boy. You still there? I might check those out, could also use some help"
    "What, are you going to come here? Anyway, if you do, be quick, they're selling like hot cakes!"
    "Good thing I've took shower. I could skip breakfast. Hang in there"


    I came to the store 20 minutes later, had to park in the back of the store since it's quite crowded in the main parking area beside the store. I and my friend rushed to the steering wheel section while fighting our way across the crowd, where it turns out it has 20% discount promo. And luckily, there was a few Momo Model 78 wheels left for grabs. I immediately grab one, paid for it, and went back to the back of the store. Ah yes, the original price for the Momo wheel was V$210, so with the 20% discount it would be V$168. (NOTE: Base price taken from here).

    Some minutes later, with some help from my friend and my tools, I installed the wheel to my Evo. Since I bought the 330mm variant, it's quite surprising how small it is compared to the stock Evo steering. I also modified it a bit so the car's horn is able to be operated....somehow. But hey, it's quite lucky to be able to seal a cheap deal for a proper, FIA-approved racing wheel.
    Hmm yeaaah neat stuff.

    It turns out that my friend went here by bus. He actually has a car, but he said that it is currently going under a 'secret project', which he won't reveal to even myself. All I know is, he's an european car fan, but since he's kinda broke, he used to own a Nissan March, then sold it and switched to a new ones which is the one in the said 'project'. He also only use the car for long trips, so I don't know what the new car is either. I lifted him home, then I come back to my crib.

    When I arrived, turns out the delivery has come and waited for me for 10 minutes. The driver almost left when I arrived. After taking care of the papers and apologizing to the driver for making him waiting for me, I opened the DAB receiver box and installed the device in my car's AUX slot. As I said in the intro, the DAB Receiver will act as a replacement for my broken radio.
    (lol I know that's not actually a DAB Receiver, that's the closest thing resembling it, don't @ me)

    The receiver worked well, including the built-in Spotify function it has. I even jammed in the car for a while before I remember that I hadn't even had breakfast yet. And oh, one thing: Should I replace the front seats as well? It is actually in good condition overall, just running out of foam in the driver's side. But I think I could reduce some weight by installing Recaro or Bride bucket seats. Here's a pic of their current conditions, as you can see the velour/fabric condition is still acceptable from outside.

    And since nobody has responded to my wheel suggestion inquiry I asked in the previous update, you can still give me some suggestions.
    EDIT: Another question, should I sell/scrap my stock steering wheel?

    I'll put my balance update directly here, since it has only affected by one item:
    Initial V$ = V$ 7,895
    Momo Model 78 steering wheel = V$ 168 (discounted 20% from V$ 210)
    V$ at the Moment = 7,895-168 = V$ 7,727

    That's my update for now. And oh, I have no plans to go anywhere before winter hoilday (at the holiday season I'll be most likely in Tokyo), so chances are I'm always in my own place. And as I said in my intro, it is just 18 kms from Tsukuba Circuit. If you're going to Tsukuba Circuit, you can stop by my place for some snacks and small work on your cars. Thanks for stopping by this update and see y'all soon!
    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
    #15   2018-10-27 15:14          
    Looking better and better! :)

    BigSmoke

    id
    Posts: 844

    Location: Indonesia
    Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
    Age:
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    #16   2018-10-27 15:16          
    # Soju : Looking better and better! :)

    Thanks my man! :D
    Heard your crew has come to Japan recently for Drift Matsuri, come by my place if you're also planning to go to Tsukuba! :D
    Still following the damn train since 1992

    Visit my RP HERE!

    ErwinFenyvesi23

    jp
    Posts: 721

    Location: Japan Osaka
    Occupation: JDM Car enthusiast
    Age: 28
    V$: broke
    #17   2018-10-27 19:00          
    That new steering wheel looks so sick ! I personally think you should get some new seats , they would not only make the interior look better , but they would also make the car lighter ! Usually I end up getting seats from Bride since they're comfortable and they're light due to the bucket-seat design. But still , some new seats would come in handy ! The Evo is coming along really nicely ! I love it !

    BigSmoke

    id
    Posts: 844

    Location: Indonesia
    Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
    Age:
    V$: Broke
    #18   2018-10-27 20:30          
    # ErwinFenyvesi23 : That new steering wheel looks so sick ! I personally think you should get some new seats , they would not only make the interior look better , but they would also make the car lighter ! Usually I end up getting seats from Bride since they're comfortable and they're light due to the bucket-seat design. But still , some new seats would come in handy ! The Evo is coming along really nicely ! I love it !

    Thanks Erwin, definitely going to get new seats! :D
    Still following the damn train since 1992

    Visit my RP HERE!

    MACKAY

    jp
    Posts: 712

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    #19   2018-10-28 01:10          
    Damn.. That was a very solid time that you set in Tsukuba with your Evo, it is hard to believe but it is possible if going balls out, the time you set is even better than I did with my mostly stock V-Spec II GTR' back in April.. Mhm, I really need to see how you drive with my own eyes, maybe we will come up with something interesting. :rolleyes:

    Anyways, keep it up while working on your Evo, I am sure that great things will happen! :thumbsup:

    BigSmoke

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    #20   2018-10-28 07:40          
    # MACKAY : Damn.. That was a very solid time that you set in Tsukuba with your Evo, it is hard to believe but it is possible if going balls out, the time you set is even better than I did with my mostly stock V-Spec II GTR' back in April.. Mhm, I really need to see how you drive with my own eyes, maybe we will come up with something interesting. :rolleyes:

    Anyways, keep it up while working on your Evo, I am sure that great things will happen! :thumbsup:

    Woah, I didn't expect that! :O
    Thank you very much Mackay, I really admire your R34 (both GT-R and GT-T) builds! :-X
    I'll keep working on the Evo ;)
    Still following the damn train since 1992

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    BigSmoke

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    #21   2018-11-01 05:38          
    The Rise of The T H O T // B A I T E R
    Whomst'd've thottin'??!!


    Heheh, I know it sounds a bit clickbaity, but trust me, it's not about me baiting thots. But rathen than me, it was my friend......
    Also "Oi Smoke why you haven't updated for half a week?" Uhh......there are a lot of tasks I had to do IRL (6 assignments and 5 projects in 5 days, imagine that. Also tried to do 3D modelling in Blender as a part of assignment, ended up quite nasty). But finally as all those things has been over for now, let's jump into the RP. I can tell you, there are some exciting things that happened this week, including the thot-baiting session. :D


    [29 Oct 2018]
    Whoop, paycheck time! I'm glad to tell that I've got a raise, and now I'll be paid V$415 a week. Quite a cash boost from the previous payment of V$375 a week, and hopefully this paves an (uhh......) easier way to improve the Evo. :) And oh, it's been officially re-registered now! The DMV has mailed my new ownership slips as well as the plates to me via post office.

    [30 Oct 2018]
    Remember the friend that told me about the steering wheel discount at my local shop as well as helping me installed it? Well, I forgot to introduce him more thoroughly, silly me. His name is Rantaro, he's 26, and he is an admin employee in an insurance company here in Tsukuba city. At some times I helped him translating report documents from and into English whenever I could, but despite this he is able to speak daily/conversational English quite well. As I mentioned in the previous update, he is an avid european car fan, especially classic ones. But just like me, he's kinda broke, so his first car was a plucky Nissan March. He saved for more than a year before finally he could afford a replacement car. Problem is, he immediately throw a car into a 'secret project' that he kept close to himself, I don't even know what the car is and what sort of project it was. As of the March, he sold it for V$1200 at the same forums I bought my Evo. And oh, it's been almost 2 weeks since he put the car into the project.


    11.45 pm, lunchbreak time (though I mostly worked at home,lol)
    "Yo,Edo-kun,I got a good news"
    "Yea,tell me.You sound so excited"
    "My car has been returned from the secret project!"
    "Ah yeah yeah the sec-wait it is done already?"
    "Yup!Today is the time I can finally reveal what is it!"
    "Now that's what I want to hear!Always wondered what sort of car you bought and more importantly, what the hell is the secret project you talked about"
    "Obviously I still can't reveal it on the phone, you gotta see it by your own eyes!"
    "Ah okay okay, what time you'll be back from the office today?"
    "Around 3 pm. Are you free by that time?"
    "Most likely. Papers for next 3 days are almost done here"
    "That's nice. Meet me at the Tsukuba Uni south parking lot"
    "Alright mate. See you there at 3 and have a nice lunchtime"
    "You too mate, get some nice lunch"


    And yes, as Rantaro mentioned in the phone, there's a uni here with a vast parking lot. At weekends when normally there's no lecture activities, it became a public parking lot and even some people can be found having a car meet there, but this is a bit of rare sight these days as it is a bit far from city center and cops can be found patrolling at midnight past 12 am, despite them simply telling the people to go home and not busting them. They don't mind about the car mods to be honest.

    14.15 pm
    I arrived at the uni parking lot. I decided to come earlier, so I could deliver my translation results to the lecturer at the uni. There are some lecturers using my literal/academic translation service, and all of them already know me well and nice to me after almost year of working with them. As of the uni itself, the public cafetaria served nice meals, though the price is a bit more expensive compared to each faculty's canteen. For that reason, the cafetaria isn't so crowded on weekdays, but this also means lesser queue. After delivering and receiving some papers from the lecturers, I bought some snacks at the cafetaria and went back to the parking lot. (NOTE: Turns out some of the lecturers used to own cars like Silvias, Cressidas, Levins, and even Imprezas and Evos! One of them still had his Levin, I might ask him to bring it someday.)

    15.12 pm
    After a 15 minute wait, I wonder where Rantaro could be, while trying to guess what car did he bought. I suspect it is a BMW, or perhaps a Merc, it might be a two-door peformance sedan, and I think it is an import rather than locally sold ones. And suddenly a maroon car rolled in and stopped in front of me.

    Turns out it's Rantaro and his new car! He opened the window and greeted me.

    "So this is your new car Rantaro-san? Nice one! A custom Merc!" I told him in awe.
    "Ah, um, Edo-kun, the plot twist begins here" he said while pulling a naughty smile.
    "Eh, what do you mean by plot twist?"
    "I'll explain that later. Let's move to another block, it's a bit hot in this block. Follow me in your Evo"
    "Ah okay, hold up"

    I followed him to another parking lot several blocks away. And indeed it is right, the air is much cooler there for some reason. Time to check what Rantaro bought!


    "So, Rantaro-san, how much do you bought this Mer-"
    "Uh, Edo-kun, first of all, I should admit, this isn't a Merc."
    "What do you mean it's not a Merc? It has that grille and start emblem it should-"
    "I told you it's not a Merc!"
    "Huh?" I replied him in pure confusion.


    Rantaro then proceeded to retrieve the car's ownership slips. I read them carfully. At this point it was revealed that the car is indeed not even a classic Merc. It is a Toyota Mark II GX70! I looked back at Rantaro and he is visibly holding his laughter. I can only say, "what the hell? Am I stumbled into 4th dimension?" Rantaro couldn't hold it longer and burst a loud laughter. Then Rantaro proceeded to explain what's what.

    Rantaro said there's a car shop in Tsuchiura city (still in Ibaraki prefecture), several hundred kms away from our current location, that offers face swaps and conversion for several cars (this is the secret project he talked about. It is actually open for public on order). Some of them including Mercedes E-Class W212/W214 face swap for Mark II X90 as well as E-Class W124 face swap for Mark II GX70, the one that I currently saw. Rantaro thought this one is the ideal one for him after checking some preview images of their demo car. So he immediately sourced a GX70, and found one here in Tsukuba for V$2500. He got one in such price since the car's original paint was faded and worse, the original 1G-E engine dead due to the conrod snapped in two, there's a huge crack in the camshaft and the head is extremely dirty and full of sludge. It seems like the owner didn't bother fixing it and bought a new car. So he spent V$50 to had it towed to the workshop.

    On the way, he also sourced a 2JZ-GE engine from a junkyard (what a find!) sitting inside a wrecked Supra A80 SZ. The Supra itself has been splitted in two, presumably suffering from a huge shunt in the rear, so it was a great luck the front part is intact. Rantaro then paid additional a total of V$9000 for the conversion, extra engine mounts, additional engine tuning (now producing 250 BHP from 210 stock), custom Merc replica wheels, recoloring, and custom interior and velour/fabric colours. In total Rantaro had spent V$11500 for the car.

    "But with that price you can bought my Evo and spend the rest for tuning! Or even a legit imported Merc!" I pointed out.
    "Nah boy, import Mercs are rarely available at that price, and local ones mostly has worn leathers and black interior. Too dark for me. Repainting and maintaining them would be a chore too, since, y'know, european car parts are expensive. As of your Evo....no offence, it is a nice car, but not my cup of tea." he said with a bit of serious face.
    "I see, so logically this is indeed a cut-price modded Merc. But I swear it looks like a legit one!"
    "Heheh, admit it, I'm a genius."
    "I've got a nickname for it. Merc II"
    "...Yeeeeees!" he pat my shoulder and we giggled.

    Yep, he is indeed a genius for picking a tasty mod for the car. I decided to take some more few pics of our cars, before continuing to talk about his car.


    We talked until sunset arrived. But before leaving the spot........
    "Ah, Edo-kun, you've done your work right? Got free time tomorrow?"
    "Well yes. What's the matter?"
    "My work shift will only last to 1 pm tomorrow, fancy a joyride with me?"
    "Oh, good idea. Can I refill the Evo beforehand?"
    "Uh, no need to. I'll pick you up in the Merc II, we'll ride together. And oh, I have a side plan"
    "Ah, so nice of you to let me ride in it. As of the plan, what is it?"
    "I believe the Merc II could attract girls. I believe they'll see a value from an euro car, let alone a modded one."
    ".....aaaaah I get it Papa Rantaro!" we laughed for a while. "But how would you attract them? Also, you got a GF man!"
    "Psst don't tell her!" he hit my head as we laughed. "Guess we could try schoolgirls at after-school hours"
    "Mmmmmm, sounds dangerous, but I'd say I like an adventure"
    "That's the spirit, boy!"

    Yep, in other words, we are going for a thot baiting session the next day! We said goodbye to each other and parted ways to our own cribs.


    [31 Oct 2018]
    I woke up a bit late at 10 am. At 1 pm, after I finished my lunch, Rantaro arrived at my house. After he opened the car's window, he half-shouted: "Get in boi, let's rock today!" in full English. "Hold up, let me get a proper clothes." I replied as I rapidly come back to my crib to put my T-shirt, trousers, and my hoodie. Afterwards, we hit the road.

    "So what's the plan Rantaro-san?" I asked as I picking up radio station channel for him.
    "I'm sure you know there are some elite high schools around the suburbs. Let's go to one of them, the bell rang at 3 pm there." Rantaro replied. He didn't mention which high school we go into, so I don't know which one really. And I guess it is better that I don't know.
    "I see, quite lucky your shift ended early today"
    "Yeah, quite a blessing, really. Oh, stop at that channel."
    "Ah okay."

    One and a quarter hour later, we stopped to a gas station. Rantaro said it is a bit close to the said school, so we could have time to refuel, rest and packing up snacks for a while. I took some phone shots while we stopped and enjoy the cool breeze there.

    14.53 pm
    We moved into the school's backside gate. The security post itself is a bit further inside, so it is rather easy to look for a blind spot. We parked the car there, and settle down for a while. Rantaro sits on the hood of his car for that cool look, while I stand in front of a traffic sign. The photo below is taken before we did so.

    14.03 pm
    Highschool boys and girls started to appear from the gate. Some were in a hurry, some were relaxed, some were really glad the school is over. Some boys dressed tidily, some were scruffy or messy. So did some girls, some were tidy and proper, some were a bit messy, some were even a bit revealing like pure thots. Some were also dressed like gyaru (gal/gyal in Japan, basically having light tan and/or having fancy coloured dye, see google for a visual reference of this apparent pop culture). And within minutes, some boys and girls noticed and starting to swarm the Merc II.
    The boys asked Rantaro what car is it and how much it cost (obviously, Rantaro lied that it is a Merc! He also multiplied the price by four, pretending it is an expensive car lol), and let some boys and girls sit in. The girls also asked about Rantaro's job and life. Meanwhile, I was shamelessly promoting my translation service (while there's a chance, why not lol) and giving those boys and girls a crash course on English and rapping (yes, I could do that a bit) after being prompted. We all had fun, and it is satisfying to know they spend their time with and left us with bright smile.

    One and half an hour passed, and suddenly three of the high school girls approached us. They were Asuka (18), Seiko (18) and Hinako (17). Asuka here is both pure gyaru and thot (DISCLAIMER: Not all gyarus are thots, and vice versa): Two of her uniform buttons are opened (she said only one during school hours), and her skirt are a bit too short, revealing her thighs a bit. She has a long ponytail, dyed blonde. I could tell beecause some of the dye has been faded, revealing natural black hair. Seiko has natural long black hair, as long as half of her back, but dressed a bit like a thot as well, with one of her uniform buttons opened and wearing short skirt as well, and she also tried teasing Rantaro as well. Hinako is the only one that looks timid and tidy here. She has black short wavy hair, oval glasses with green frame, tidy uniform with green vest, and skirt slightly longer than the others. But I could see behind those looks lies a slightly thotty attitude as she tried to stick with me several times, to the point she hugged my arms.

    And yes, that was a confirmation of THOT SUCCESFULLY BAITED! I and Rantaro quietly celebrating this with a high five.
    (Note: Obviously, there's no pics of them because of uhhh......SLRR limitations :)) )

    They asked us to bring them along, joyriding around the town. We talked about various things, and looks like the girls attracted to my English skills as well. We also turned the Merc II into a karaoke booth as the girls changed the radio channel into the one playing pop songs. I and Rantaro didn't mind, even we sing along, although whenever a rap part kicks in, I was the only one singing, followed by hysterical admiration scream by the girls.
    Eventually, we stopped at a cafe around the highlands. I decided to grab some canned juice and sandwich and grab a photo of the car. It looks like Hinako saw this, and I ended up giving basic photography lesson to her, followed by Seiko. Rantaro and Asuka was sharing spaghetti inside the cafe, while I was telling my life story to Seiko and Hinako whilst sharing sandwich to both girls.

    At 8pm, the girls told me and Rantaro they want to go back to downtown since it is their time to go home. We drove them back to downtown (I was driving since Rantaro was full), exchanged phone numbers, and parted ways. I also told them to not hestitate calling me, whether they had English assignment or not. Then I and Rantaro, still with me behind the wheel, drove back to my crib in the middle of the night. Rantaro stayed for a while before he felt better and get back to his own crib.

    Damn, I can't believe all goes well that day! And there's only one proper song to cue up........

    [01 Nov 2018]
    The thot-baiting session took its toll, caused me to wake up at 10 am again. When I was going for errand runs, the car strangely won't start. Then I remember: Not only I didn't use the Evo for a whole day, it is a used car, meaning the battery might be drained already. So I took a bus to my trusty shop mentioned in the previous updates, and decided to do an upgrade by buying Optima Red Top Battery as well it's charger kit. Might be too much, but after all I also track the Evo. I bought the battery for V$233, and the charger for V$90. (Price based on here and here)

    I took another bus back home, and immediately charged the new battery. An hour later, I installed the new battery in the car.

    After the installation, all is well in the car and it could run again. And right after I closed the car's bonnet, delivery service truck arrived, with my new gear synchro set and HKS Hipermax II coilovers inside it. The driver also has an additional message: The office made a miscalculation over the estimated time for the anti-roll bar delivery, but it is a good miscalculation. He said it should come tomorrow instead of Tuesday next week. After taking care of the papers and thanking the driver, I decided to not immediately install the parts, but rather store them in my bedroom before installing them tomorrow along with the anti-roll bars. And I won't install them myself in order to minimize swearing; I've got a contact from a nearby garage to help me installing those kits.



    Fun fact: This update took 4-5 hours to write. Quite a long one, innit? And it doesn't even focused on my Evo!
    Here's a TL;DR version:

    And if you haven't noticed, my balance was affected too:

    And finally, a bit of OORP:



    My next update will arrive in at least less than 48 hours. Thank you for stopping by this update and see you around!

    This post was edited by BigSmoke (2018-11-01 12:04, ago)
    Still following the damn train since 1992

    Visit my RP HERE!

    Lagano

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    #22   2018-11-01 20:19          
    Your friend has a good looking Merc II! The amount of attention you got at the school definitely proved it lol. All those "adventures" aside, looks like your Evo is getting quite a performance boost! Hipermax coils are a good choice. Any more upgrades planned?

    BigSmoke

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    #23   2018-11-01 23:58          
    # Lagano : Your friend has a good looking Merc II! The amount of attention you got at the school definitely proved it lol. All those "adventures" aside, looks like your Evo is getting quite a performance boost! Hipermax coils are a good choice. Any more upgrades planned?


    Thanks Lagano! :D
    It is a bit of a long list of upgrades for the Evo to be honest. The ones that are certainly going to be done are:
    Of course they won't be done at once. Don't want to ruin my balance quickly lol.

    And possibly these too, when I have enough money (some are already mentioned to have high prices in previous updates):
    Again, they won't be done at once.

    Also, thank you very much for answering the OORP inquiry! :D
    Still following the damn train since 1992

    Visit my RP HERE!

    marcus915

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    #24   2018-11-02 00:12          
    the evo looks fantastic! your friend's merc/mark ii is sweet also, good use of those mercedes style parts!
    //C o o l d o w n\\
    offset > takeoff

    BigSmoke

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    #25   2018-11-02 00:36          
    # marcus915 : the evo looks fantastic! your friend's merc/mark ii is sweet also, good use of those mercedes style parts!

    Thanks Marcus! :D

    I've said it and I'll say it again, Rantaro is a genius for picking the face swap mod :D
    Still following the damn train since 1992

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    Soju

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    #26   2018-11-02 03:50          
    That Merc-Yota looks fabulous :)

    BigSmoke

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    #27   2018-11-02 07:14          
    # Soju : That Merc-Yota looks fabulous :)

    Yeah, the maroon colour really suits the car. It's like red wine on wheels :D
    Still following the damn train since 1992

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    BigSmoke

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    #28   2018-11-03 11:31          
    Leg Day and Memories of a Tuner

    Finally, here comes two of the major upgrades for the Evo: Coilovers and anti-roll bars!
    And oh, I also did some little adjustments on the 4G63T engine........
    Also, this was supposed to be a short update, but mid-writing I had some kind of idea boost heheh, tell me if you enjoy such boost :))
    Anyway I can't wait to tell you guys about it so let's jump into the RP! :D

    (additionally, I also added song links to the previous posts, namely the very first post and the clutch update)

    [02 Nov 2018]
    I woke up quite early at 5 am by the call from the delivery service, they said the anti-roll bars should come at roughly 9 am. To spend the remaining time, I decided to have an early breakfast and then spend my time browsing for new wheels, tires, brakes and seats. Since I started the search at 6 am, I thought it would be appropriate if I blast Wiley's '6 in the Morning' while I'm browsing for the parts.

    No one answered my wheels size inquiry in the clutch update, but that's okay, since finally I've got an idea. Since I want the Evo to be a daily and a racer as the same time, the best thing I could do is to have a reference from it's WRC racer version. If you're interested, here's the specification document. Turns out they're quite identical with the road version, save for the performace brakes and more powerful engine. For the asphalt setup, they used 16" rims, so I went for that size.

    As of the model, it is a good thing I saved some pics of the Evos, so I could do a simple, ultra-cheap experiment by photoshopping wheel pics into the Evo pic. I said that I was inclined to get one of either Work Emotion CR series, Volk TE37, Volk CE28 or Enkei RPF1. And guess what, I ended up ordering..........none of those! Intead I picked WedsSport TC105N. Not only it looks proper and gorgeous, it's also lightweight and race-proven just like aformentioned wheels. And turns out it's also preferred by classic and modern Evo users, mostly in 18" guise. In the end, I ordered a full set of the 16x8 TC105Ns in black finish for V$1475 plus V$25 for quick shipping option (price based from this site. NOTE: Yes I know, it's actually 16x7 and comes in silver on the site, but eh, screw it). That way I only need to wait for 2 days instead of a week. All stops had to be pulled for that perfect look,y'know :D

    As of the tyres, I ordered a set of 205/45 R16 Bridgestone Potenza Adrenalin RE002s (it'll be 215/40 in game IIRC, using BB's 3D tyres) for a total of V$780 plus V$20 for quick shipping, for the same benefit as the TC105N wheels (obviously, so I can use them immediately). And since the winter is coming, I also ordered a set of 195/65 R15 Dunlop SP Sport 5000 (it'll be 215/35 Direzzas in game , using BB's 3D tyres) all-season tyres for the steelies for a total of V$288, so I could use them for the winter holiday trip and could also act as spare tyres outside winter and rainstorms. Ah yes, for the Dunlops I could wait for 6 days. (NOTE: Price reference for each tyres are taken from here and here respectively)

    Now, the brakes. I've said that if I ordered 15" or 16" wheels then I'll get Endless 4 pot brake kit with OEM rotors. And as you've just read I ordered 16" WedsSport TC105N wheels, so I did order the Endless brakes. Thankfully this means they are cheaper than having BBK set, and as a set of them usually means only 2 of them in the box (either front/back), I had to order 2 sets. So in total I have to pay V$410, plus V$10 for quick shipping, also for 2 days. (NOTE: Price reference taken from here)

    And finally, as Erwin suggested some time ago, the seats. Erwin said Bride seats offers comfort and lightness at the same time, so despite the Evo III stock seats are Recaros, I did look for Brides instead. Not sure if I could fit Evo IX seats anyway, and Recaro Pole Position seat is a full bucket as far as I know. In the end, I ordered two Bride Zeta IIIs. Bride Gias seats looks a bit heavy to me despite looking the most comfortable, and I'm afraid if my front seat passenger complained about back pain if I install Bride Lowmaxes. The Lowmax is expensive as well, so there you got it, I picked the third way by ordering Zeta IIIs. The grand total of them would be V$1480 plus V$20 for another 2 day quick delivery. (NOTE: Price reference taken from here)

    Safe to say, I'm on another unbelievable, disastrous shopping spree. And time seems passing quickly too, as I finished browsing at exactly 9 am. At 9.05, the delivery service arrived with the anti-roll bars. After thanking the driver and took car of the papers, I took shower, get a tee and trousers on and called the contact I mentioned in the thot baiter update.

    "Good morning, I'd like to inform you that this is the day. Are you there?" I asked politely on the phone.
    "Yes sir, I'm here with my crew. Are you coming here?" he replied in a crisp voice.
    "Yes, I'll bring my parts and come over."
    "Okay good, I'll prepare my tools and workbay. Anyway, don't be too shy, you sounded a bit awkward. Loosen up, it's okay"

    "Uh, okay, hahah" I answered, a bit nervously. "I'll come in 30 minutes, see you there."
    "See you and be safe, young man."


    Ah, so that's what he meant by 'loosen up'. With my gear synchro and HKS coilovers in the boot/trunk and Ultra Racing anti-roll bars stacking up in the backseat, I headed for the garage. It is located around the eastern part of the city center.

    Later on, I arrived at the garage. The nameplate above it was a bit faded and only the 'SU' part can be seen clearly, so I wasn't sure what was the garage's name at that time. But one thing's sure, they're a long-time Mitsubishi specialist, even though their popularity isn't so huge outside Tsukuba and neighbouring cities these days because they focused on 90's to early 00's Mitsubishi tuning and not the new ones (except Evo IX and X on limited engine circumstances), due to budget limitations to buy newer aftermarket parts. To increase income, they also opened the garage to other brands owners and serve regular repairs and services besides continuing said Mitsubishi tuning for the last two years. The garage owner, who I called beforehand, is Mr. Ohira (46). Back in the late 80's to the end of the 90's he was an avid racer, both on the legal and illegal side. I'll explain about that later, because it's quite a long and deep story. He greeted me with a warm smile.

    "Mr. Yuan Edo, yes?"
    "Yes sir. Nice to meet you"
    "Nice to meet you too, and that's a nice Evo III you have there"
    "Thank you sir, I'm quite lucky to source and buy one myself."
    "Ahh, just like my own past.....Oh anyway, I told you to loosen yourself heheh. Just call me Ohira-san"
    "Uh, no sir, I'd like to learn the basics of Mitsubishi tuning, so I'll address you as Ohira-sensei"
    "Ah, I see, that's OK too. What do you do for living?"
    "Literature, academic and scientific translator, sensei. I also taught English to high-schoolers"
    "Eh? So you're also a sensei yourself! It's a sensei-meeting!" We laughed together. (NOTE: 'Teacher' as in the occupation is translated as 'Kyoushi')
    "Yeah, kind of. You know a human can't live alone"
    "Of course, that's why I have my crew and my customers. Come in, get your Evo to the bay."
    "Okay sensei, I'm looking forward to work with y'all"

    The Evo then raised smoothly to the working bay. Ohira-sensei has 6 crews: Nato (42), Mishima (34), Kei (32), Goro (38), Yuuta (19) and Gary (21). Nato and Goro was Ohira-sensei's first employee, followed by Mishima and Kei. While Yuuta is a new crew who has graduated from enginering school last year, and Gary is a engineering student at Tsukuba University coming from Phillipines, taking his part-time working here with recommendation from his lecturer and forming an agreement with Ohira-sensei. Gary said he has never seen me at the university though, mainly because the lecturers who asked for my help are from other faculties.

    We then started to work on the car, but not before I took several more shots of the Evo sitting in the engine bay. For me, it looks quite majestic to see an Evo sitting that high. Yuuta took a liking too, saying he would also like to own one someday. As we were working, Ohira-sensei told me his life story, his connection to Mitsubishis and the reason why he opened this garage.

    Circa 1994, Ohira-sensei bought a used Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 as a birthday gift for himself, using money he earned hard from working in a tuner shop back in the day in Fukuoka for 6 years after graduating from an engineering school. He bought it for V$8000, quite a reasonable price due to increasing popularity of Lancer Evos, and the fact that the Galant VR-4 was still able to score rally victories at the 1991 and 1992 Ivory Coast Rally, as well as 1991 Swedish Rally. And for that reason he used the car for trackdays and clubman-level races at Tsukuba Circuit, as well as touge duels and legal hillclimb races at Tsukuba Fruits Line touge course at Ishioka. If you're a fan of Initial D, you'll know that said touge course is the home course of the Purple Shadow duo, consisting of God Arm with his S2000 and God Foot with his R34. He was well-known for his radical car choice, as well as several victories in both tracks.

    Late 1995, his engineering school friend, Mr. Eikiji, purchased a used first-gen Mitsubishi GTO SR, which is known as the base model Mitsubishi 3000GT in Europe and US, as well as Dodge Stealth R/T or Stealth ES in US and Canada. It has the infamous V6 engine but not with the twin-turbos. Mr. Eikiji felt that it has a big potential, as big as the Evo, particularly on the circuit but not on the touges since it's even heavier than Ohira-sensei's Galant. He was aiming for an even bigger playground: The highway, particularly the Hanshin Expressway and the C1 Route. He practiced at weekdays and weekends at Higashi-Kanto expressway (due to it's similar characteristics to aformentioned routes), and also brought the GTO SR to Tsukuba Circuit on bi-weekly basis. Since the V6 was relatively not a popular tuner's choice and the car has a notoriously complex electronic systems (though the car came with neither 2WS nor 4WS) at that time, Ohira-sensei and Mr. Eikiji took it as a challenge and tuned their cars together for years, sharing tuning knowledge and techniques in the process. They also started turnng heads of other drivers and communities around the Ibaraki prefecture due to their tuned car's capability, though the GTO can't hold Mr. Eikiji's aggresive driving at some times and Ohira-sensei's Galant slowly beaten by faster cars.

    They planned to open a car shop as early as Summer 2000 as a respond to their uprising in the Ibaraki prefecture's car scene. But then a major disaster happened. Early Autumn 1999, Mr. Eikiji died after involved in a heavy crash at Higashi-Kanto Expressway, on his way in a long, lone tour to C1 to see what his car could be capable of there. The crash was happened in such a high speed that the concrete wall at the crash location was heavily damaged and the GTO was close to be split in two. Worse still, since the GTO ended in such condition and Ohira-sensei didn't have the money or resources to tow it back at that time, the GTO was immediately scrapped a week after the accident at a junkyard near the crash location, erasing a huge monument of their hard work as well as their long-lasting friendship.

    Ohira-sensei understandably fell into a deep depression for a long time. He decided to take a hiatus from the motoring world to mourn over Mr. Eikiji as well as making peace with himself. Early 2001, Minami, a childhod friend of Mr. Eikiji visited Ohira-sensei to retrieve some of Mr. Eikiji's belonging at Ohira-sensei's home. Sharing a huge loss over Mr. Eikiji and hearing about Mr. Eikiji's plan to open a garage from Ohira-sensei, she and Ohira-sensei got married 3 months later and finally opened this garage at the end of Summer 2002. From this explanation finally I know that this garage is called 'Summer Dreams' (the nameplate reads 'Summer Yume', with the latter written in kanji), in memory of Mr. Eikiji as well to honor his dreams and friendship with Ohira-sensei. Minami-san still has a photo of Mr. Eikiji back on his junior high days, while Ohira-sensei has some documentations of the GTO. Both are kept safe in their home, so I didn't have a look at it (also to respect them)

    I almost forgot to add, Minami-san was a bit ill today, and at most times she works at home. She sorts the garage's finances everyday as well as being a kindergarten teacher in the morning at weekdays. Yup, another kyoushi-I mean, sensei in our story! :D As of Ohira-sensei's Galant, he still has it under some light touge-tuning for daily use, but sadly I forgot to snap a photograph of it. Don't worry, I might return here soon, so stay tuned cos I might ask him about it!

    With the long story over, the Evo has finished it's leg enhancement operation gracefully. Before completing the installation, I and Goro decided to tweak the spring height a bit, with Goro teaching Yuuta in the process (Yuuta has never done this before). Now the car sits with 6.88" ride height on the front and 6.90" in the back. This is approximately 0.1" lower than before, so it might not seems to be a major change, but hey, I don't want to slam the car and it's a HKS coilover so.......

    And oh, Mishima and Kei also did a great job installing the anti-roll bars. Gary and Nato meanwhile installed the gear synchros and checked before the car went off the bay if all parts has been fitted properly.

    With all the work done, it was time to take some rest, with us having a cup of coffee and it was my turn to tell my life story. But at the end of my story, I half-jokingly diverted the topic.
    "You guys got a dyno and laptop?" I said.
    "For what? You want to do some engine tuning as well?" replied Goro.
    "Um, yes. I'd like to extract some more potential from the engine." I replied Goro's question, followed by Yuuta and Gary jumping in excitement.
    "Yes! Now this is business!" claimed Yuuta. Ohira-sensei, Mishima and I chuckled to such view.
    "Man, should've done this before getting the car off the bay, but that's okay. We can do this while settilng down." Nato said.
    "Gary, tell me if you can do ECU programming. I still have my programming skills but I might need your help." I turned my attention to Gary.
    "Yes sir, don't worry." replied Gary. That's right, I used to do some programming but my skills has waned a lot since.

    Yuuta, Gary, Nato, Goro, Ohira-sensei and I walked back to the car with tools and Gary's laptop. Ohira-sensei teaches Yuuta how to do manual turbo tuning, Goro did the camshaft tuning with Nato while I and Gary did the ECU tuning in Gary's laptop with his help. I told Ohira-sensei beforehand I only need a bit of power boost for daily needs since the internal is still stock. Here's the dyno result done by Goro and Gary before we started tuning. The fact that the engine produced a nice 269 BHP after these years amazed me, it barely lost a horse in it's stable.

    (NOTE: As a reminder, I used stock SLRR engine (mostly Shimubitsu parts) with Diego's Headcovers. I did my best to replicate Evo III's standart 4G63T specs, especially on the power side)

    Here's what we've done to the engine. Ohira-sensei added a bit of turbo boost, from 0.75 bar (11 psi) to 0.8 bar (11.75 psi). Goro and Nato adjusted the intake camshaft a bit IIRC, and I together with Gary adjusted the fuel consumption so it would sip a bit more fuel and match the intake camshaft tuning.

    With tuning done, the car rolled back to the dyno. Here's the tuning results: The power bumped up to 278 BHP. Quite a feat for a small and cautious tuning for me :D
    To be honest, I want to use more boost, but I'm afraid the engine will turn into a huge box of molotov if I did so. So the best thing I could do is wait for a better turbo.

    Finally, all the work has been done and dusted. It was 6pm when we finished work. After I, Goro, Mishima, Nato and Ohira-sensei discussed about touge techniques while watching 90's WRC videos as a comparison, I bid farewell to them and said I might come back someday. The crew also went back to their cribs as well, save for Nato and Ohira-sensei who stayed to reflecting won what happened along the day.

    I can't really help but give my salute and admiration to Ohira-sensei for all his work and dedication after Mr. Eikiji's death. I think this music composition would be appropriate to describe him when reminiscing his days with Mr. Eikiji


    [03 Nov 2018]
    With the runing gear mods almost fullfilled (might be scratching subframes from the list), it is almost time to fully move to the engine section. My short-term plan is to purchase better turbos, intake manifold kit including throttle body, followed by head modifications. Ultimately, this will be topped by a full transmission modding, and if possible, engine bore-up. The target is so I can match and/or going over a bit from Evo III WRC performance (300 BHP), making the Evo the perfect daily racer in the progress.

    But there's a huge obslatcle at the moment, which is, uhh.......my wallet! :crying:
    So I decided to hunt for turbo and intake manifold first. I've found a decent GReddy turbo for less than V$1000, but here comes another problem: Which intake manifold should I use? I can only find 2 recommended competition-grade intake manifold kits (Magnus and Hypertune, 70mm and 77mm respectively). There's also this cheap 80mm intake manifold kit as well, but it's rarely heard of so I'm not sure about it's quality. Can you guys help me picking the best one? Any help would be appreciated! :D


    Damn, 5 hours of writing really took it's toll on me! :))
    Let's have a TL;DR summary first:

    And now, the financial aftermath post the shopping spree:
    Don't worry, I might have some parts for sale soon, so stay tuned ;)


    With the financial disaster aftermath assessment over, this is the end of my update.
    Thank you for stopping by and see you soon!

    This post was edited by BigSmoke (2018-11-03 12:39, ago)
    Still following the damn train since 1992

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    ErwinFenyvesi23

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    #29   2018-11-03 12:40          
    Whoa , this was such a good update ! Amazing work ! The way you write and go into detail really makes reading the update amazingly enjoyable ! I really really like it ! Good job and keep it up !

    As for the Evo , ahh man ! It's evolving really nicely ! I'm more than sure that these brand new coilovers and anti-roll bars are gonna make it handle like a dream ! I also can't wait to see the new wheels on ! They're gonna make the car look so much better than these steelies ! As for the engine itself , I'm quite surprised to see the power output after all those years ! I'm really hyped for the power related mods ! I can't wait to see a bigger turbo on it though ! As for the intake manifold/plenum , the Hypertune one looks really high-quality , same goes for the Magnus one ! I would personally pick the Hypertune due to the fact that it's a 77 mm one , but since your budget went on a heavy diet , why don't you give the 80mm one a try ? Even if it's from Amazon , it's still 80mm's , so yeah ! The more air goes in the engine , the more power ! I'd pick that one , just to see if you can get some good power out of it , but if you do decide to switch it to another one , go with the Hypertune one , it looks really really good , but the price is kinda big on it. It's really up to you ! So yeah , I hope you're gonna make your mind on that intake manifold , and I cannot wait for a brand new bigger turbo ! If you're around the Osaka area , make sure to drop by my garage , I'd love to check out your car !

    Once again , amazing work with this update , Ohira-san's story is quite touching , and I must say , you're really making me want an Evo ! I don't know though , who knows what might happen sooner or later ? Haha ! But yeah , I can't wait for the new update and more info on the installing the new parts you ordered ! I really hope you're gonna like the way the Zeta III's feel , I personally love them ! But anyways , good luck with your Evo , I'm really looking forward to what's next !

    BigSmoke

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    #30   2018-11-03 13:09          
    # ErwinFenyvesi23 : Whoa , this was such a good update ! Amazing work ! The way you write and go into detail really makes reading the update amazingly enjoyable ! I really really like it ! Good job and keep it up !

    As for the Evo , ahh man ! It's evolving really nicely ! I'm more than sure that these brand new coilovers and anti-roll bars are gonna make it handle like a dream ! I also can't wait to see the new wheels on ! They're gonna make the car look so much better than these steelies ! As for the engine itself , I'm quite surprised to see the power output after all those years ! I'm really hyped for the power related mods ! I can't wait to see a bigger turbo on it though ! As for the intake manifold/plenum , the Hypertune one looks really high-quality , same goes for the Magnus one ! I would personally pick the Hypertune due to the fact that it's a 77 mm one , but since your budget went on a heavy diet , why don't you give the 80mm one a try ? Even if it's from Amazon , it's still 80mm's , so yeah ! The more air goes in the engine , the more power ! I'd pick that one , just to see if you can get some good power out of it , but if you do decide to switch it to another one , go with the Hypertune one , it looks really really good , but the price is kinda big on it. It's really up to you ! So yeah , I hope you're gonna make your mind on that intake manifold , and I cannot wait for a brand new bigger turbo ! If you're around the Osaka area , make sure to drop by my garage , I'd love to check out your car !

    Once again , amazing work with this update , Ohira-san's story is quite touching , and I must say , you're really making me want an Evo ! I don't know though , who knows what might happen sooner or later ? Haha ! But yeah , I can't wait for the new update and more info on the installing the new parts you ordered ! I really hope you're gonna like the way the Zeta III's feel , I personally love them ! But anyways , good luck with your Evo , I'm really looking forward to what's next !

    Thank you very much Erwin, I'm really glad you like the update! :D
    As of the intake, well, I just might trying it on, but perhaps I better save up for the Hypertune ones. And of course I can't wait hitting the track again after the wheels and brakes upgrade! Can't wait to sit on the Zeta III as well ;)

    Winter is coming so why not get an Evo (or a Galant)/Subie (Impreza, Legacy, Forester, you name it)? I'm sure Muza (Niatross, has an Evo IX wagon) and Marc (Macaron_moon, has an Evo X) would agree with me (though I'm not sure anyone has a Subie so far). It can be a good winter commuter (though I know you've got the R33 and E36 for the job) or a dirt/mud toy! :D

    I might be visiting Osaka one day, the scene there is quite fascinating. And of course, I want to see Mackay's R34 builds, as well as your insane Kouki build! I'm a fan of those! :D
    And of course you can come and visit my crib if you're going to Tsukuba Circuit, my crib is just 18 km from there. I might cook some food and snacks :))

    Once again, thank you, thank you very much! :D :-X
    Still following the damn train since 1992

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    MACKAY

    jp
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    #31   2018-11-03 13:38          
    Man.. Finally proper upgrades for your Evo! You did the right thing going for HKS coilovers, I have ran them and still run them on few of my and our cars, top of the game stuff, you won't be disappointed for sure. Also it will be interesting to see how your wheel setup will turn out with such specs and tires, Advans is awesome too even though I am used to R888's or R1R's and etc, but if it works for you then it works for me. Also those guys you went to tune your Evo did a good job and their story is very inspiring too, I love when such things have a backstory how it all started. Also if you are thinking about that intake.. I guess Icon's and my Performance Shop would be glad to "sponsor" and help you out with such thing, as long as you would rock our stickers somewhere on your car haha, so find the right one for you on our website ( go to nengun.com for a reference ) and send me an email. I have a good feeling and helping upcoming car guys like this is something that I must do. :rolleyes:

    ( I love the writing too, keep it up man ! Going into such detail is what we love, can't get better than this.)

    BigSmoke

    id
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    #32   2018-11-04 05:42          
    # MACKAY : Man.. Finally proper upgrades for your Evo! You did the right thing going for HKS coilovers, I have ran them and still run them on few of my and our cars, top of the game stuff, you won't be disappointed for sure. Also it will be interesting to see how your wheel setup will turn out with such specs and tires, Advans is awesome too even though I am used to R888's or R1R's and etc, but if it works for you then it works for me. Also those guys you went to tune your Evo did a good job and their story is very inspiring too, I love when such things have a backstory how it all started. Also if you are thinking about that intake.. I guess Icon's and my Performance Shop would be glad to "sponsor" and help you out with such thing, as long as you would rock our stickers somewhere on your car haha, so find the right one for you on our website ( go to nengun.com for a reference ) and send me an email. I have a good feeling and helping upcoming car guys like this is something that I must do. :rolleyes:

    ( I love the writing too, keep it up man ! Going into such detail is what we love, can't get better than this.)

    Gee thanks, Mackay! So Potenzas are a rare sight here :))

    It's so kind of you for offering me, thank you very much. I might consider your offer when I'm going to Osaka. I mean, I gotta see the master myself :D
    But before that, I might run one of the aformentioned products. (I've got the reference I think :D )

    I'm glad you like the update and my writing! Once again, thank you very much! :D

    Still following the damn train since 1992

    Visit my RP HERE!

    BigSmoke

    id
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    #33   2018-11-05 06:01          
    Hot Seats and Hot Wheels!
    (Most of) running gear upgrades has been completed!


    I swear the quick delivery order option was worth it even if it is basically created a black hole in my wallet!
    Another guest build appears as well!
    I can't wait to tell you guys about this one! :D



    [04 Nov 2018]
    I woke up early again at 7am, but instead of going for another shopping spree, I realized that (a) my wallet has went on a diet due to my actions and (b) it was a race weekend with 3 major events going on, so I'm watching live stream of Australian Supercars Championship instead. The race was a great one I should say, with the championship gets heated by on and off-track actions with only 2 (3? Or even only 1?) rounds to go. As the podium celebraion finished and podium interview started, I heard a door knocking. I immediately got off my computer to see who's coming. I could skip the interview anyway.

    I opened the door, and turns out it's the delivery service truck has arrived with quite vast amount of delivery! Even the driver was surprised by the amount of my orders. If you don't remember what did I ordered previously, they were a set WedsSport TC105N wheels, a set of Bridgestone Potenza Adrenalin RE002 tyres for the wheels, 2 sets of Endless 4 pot brakes with OEM rotors, and two Bride Zeta III seats. After putting together boxes of the orders with the driver, I took care of the papers and thanked him. I gleefully returned to the garage to install the seats.

    First, I had to remove the stock seats. Surprisingly, the stock Recaro seats aren't as heavy as I thought, but still generally feels heavy. They're made for comfort after all, not for performance. "What about the rear seats, Smoke?" For that I'd say I'll keep it stock. Looks like there are no aftermarket rear seats for Evo III, and I'm not going to remove it since (a) the Evo doubles as a daily, (b) they still look comfortable, and (c) it can be a good ballast (but this is just my hypothetical theory). Chances are when all the sponge/foam has been flattened, I only have to replace them (I humoured myself that I could have filled them with kapok/cotton like pillows in tropical areas, but then I remembered that most pillows these days are filled with synthetic fibers anyway. Cotton-filled pillows are lovely though!).

    Some minutes later, I've successfully mounted the new seats. Look at them, proper stuff for the job, aren't they? I also have a small quality test by sitting on them. Neither my arse or my back protested after some minutes, so I reassured myself that I've made a right choice by picking the Zeta III seats (with recommendations from Erwin, thank you very much!)

    Then I prepared to continue working on the wheels and the brakes, but midway I remembered something: Brake bleeding is one hell of a job, let alone when it is done alone for all wheels. Top Gear has a good evidence of this when the hosts raced against time (and The Stig) assembling a Caterham from scratch, and I myself also almost gave up when I refilled the brake fluid alone some time ago. So the best thing I could do is contacting Ohira-sensei for another visit at Summer Yume garage.

    "Sensei, are you in the garage?"
    "Yes I am, young man. I and Minami are free today, and the boys are watching races as well. You want to join?"
    "Oh, great, I'll jump in too. And uh, I got some more parts to be installed, is that okay for you sensei?"
    "That's okay for me, I guess the boys won't mind too"
    "Alright sensei, I'm going there. Sorry to disturb you"
    "Be safe, young man. That's okay"


    Half an hour later, I arrived at the garage. Ohira-sensei greeted me and guided me to place the Evo on the working bay. Other than Ohira-sensei and Minami-san, the others that was present that time are Goro, Kei, Mishima and Yuuta. Nato had taken a vacation with his family that day, while Gary understandably had to finish his assignments and reports from the Tsukuba Uni. Before working on the car, we decided to watch the final half of the MotoGP race taking part at the same time, despite the fact that I don't like the competition from the off-track aspects these days. The race itself had a huge plot twist with a dominant leader crashing with 4 laps to finish.

    After the race was finished, we set off to work. Kei and I replaced the wheels and fitted the tyres, while Goro and Yuuta replaced and bleed the brakes, with Mishima pumping the brake fluid using the pedals from inside the Evo. Kei also commented over my choice of the wheels, as well as its lightness. Meanwhile Mishima was surprised over how low yet comfortable he was when he sat on the Bride seats. That's another reassurance of my choice, then. But the bit that interested me is that Mishima also said that Ohira-sensei also used to own a bucket seat before being sold by the time he joined the crew squad. I might ask Ohira-sensei about that later.

    When all the works has been done 2 hours later, I and Kei gave Mishima some treatment since he complained the brake fluid pumping session gave quite a pain to his left foot. Yuuta and Goro washed their hands before being treated with coronet cakes and coffee by Minami-san. We all returned to the office afterwards to see the FIA Intercontinental Drifting Cup on TV. It was quite interesting as it was held in damp condition, so we all discussed about the differences over drifting in dry and wet conditions as well as the skill the driver has to deploy over the damp condition. We also talked about the entrant's car as well.

    Ah yes almost forgot to show you guys how does the Evo look now. Aaaaaand here it is! Feast your eyes on the Evo for free :D





    Before I left the garage, I remembered that I said to you guys I'll show Ohira-sensei's Galant when I returned here. So I asked him about it.

    "Sensei, is your car also here?"
    "Yes, what's the matter?"
    "Can I have a look at it? I and some of my friends are quite curious with it"
    "Oh yes, sure. I've just cleaned it this morning"
    "Thank you very much sensei. Um, I'll make sure you're safe by censoring the plate later"
    "Wise move, young man, I appreciate it"

    And here it is, fresh from the 90's glory in factory dark blue (can't remember the official name) paint. Most of the parts are still retained from the 90's era when Ohira-sensei raced with Mr. Eikiji, such as the Tein Super Flex coilovers, Apexi exhaust and muffler setting and the SSR Professor SP1 wheels. He also added custom handmade front and rear anti-roll bars crated together with Mr. Eikiji. However, some parts are noticeably relatively new, such as the Project Mu brakes with matched colors as the body, and front Recaro seats taken from stock Evo IX.



    As of the performance, Ohira-sensei said that near the death of Mr. Eikiji, he was able to push it up to 312 BHP so he could still dish battles against newer cars of that time. Quite an astonishing feat for a Galant as well as early-gen 4G63T. But since he and Minami-san opened Summer Yume garage, he understandably detuned it to 265 BHP. This was done to ease the maintenance of the car since they don't have much money at that time, as well as giving the car some balance as a daily driver and sense of safety so Minami-san won't freak out inside it. I'm sure that figure is still enough to attack Tsukuba Fruits line touge swiftly.

    Here I was also given some explanations about Mishima's words about the bucket seats. Ohira-sensei used to install Bride Lowmax seats, but obviously Minami-san didn't like it and worse, she had a back pain for 3 days because of it. So Ohira-sensei had to sold them, bought back the standart front seats and lived with it. Circa 2011, a customer with an Evo IX arrived and asked him for help on installing a bucket seat. At this moment, Ohira-sensei had an idea. He decided to keep the uninstalled stock seats, tried to install it and modified the electric parts together with Kei and Mishima. With the installation done successfully, Ohira-sensei asked Minami-san to try sitting on it. Although skeptical at first, Minami-san turned out liked it for it's size and comfortness, so here it is, the Evo IX seats retained to this day. Minami-san chuckled and smiled during the explanation, and jokingly said, "I have to be blamed for this."

    We laughed together before I bid farewell to them and the crew. I'm sure I'll be visiting the Galant for some more time


    [05 Nov 2018]
    Whoopee paycheck time! The promotions I did at the thot-baiter update was also worth it, as I net V$470 this week. Might not be much for tuning the car, but the most important thing is it still be able to keep me and my Evo rolling day by day. The saving for engine tuning starts now, and before the winter holiday I'll make sure to visit Tsukuba again at least once. As for the holiday itself, I'll be visiting 2 places along the holiday. But where exactly I'm going? Um, I can't tell you yet about that :))


    I'm glad the Evo has become more gorgeous! The update is quite short to me so no TL;DR this time. As of my cash though........

    Thank you for stopping by this update and see you soon!
    Still following the damn train since 1992

    Visit my RP HERE!

    Nightkid

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    #34   2018-11-05 11:50          
    Boy , the EVO is looking awesome , great job man !

    BigSmoke

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    #35   2018-11-05 12:46          
    # Nightrunner : Boy , the EVO is looking awesome , great job man !

    Thanks a lot my man! :D
    Still following the damn train since 1992

    Visit my RP HERE!

    Alex876

    jm
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    #36   2018-11-07 01:54          
    Sick evoo fam

    BigSmoke

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    #37   2018-11-07 03:00          
    # jdmkvng : Sick evoo fam

    Thanks my man! :D
    Still following the damn train since 1992

    Visit my RP HERE!

    BigSmoke

    id
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    #38   2018-11-07 17:19          
    Small Update: Size Does Matter

    Turns out steering wheel size plays a huge part on driving. And offline shopping at the start of the month does have it's merit too.
    Additionally, I'm selling some of my parts, have a look!

    (NOTE: Crap, I thought I didn't update my RP for half a week. Two days warped quite quickly for me somehow)



    [07 Nov 2018]
    So, I wrote 1,5 weeks ago that I've replaced my stock steering wheel with a Momo Model 78 330mm and I'm happy about it. Fast forward to today and I can say that I might want to take back my words. Sure, they're FIA-approved racing steering wheel and it's small size means less effort to turn it on high speed corners so it feels (and actually does look) like go-kart/open wheel racer steering wheel and giving your hand, um, that 'steering feel'(? Not sure what is the right word to describe it). But let's face it, how many times we faced high-speed corners on public roads? Moreover, somewhat my arm movement is a bit limited while performing a sharp/multi-point turn, which is obviously a bit inconvenient while daily driving the Evo. At least this hasn't escalated to the point where I have to do a multi-million point turn.

    "Then why did you buy it Smoke?" I say let's get back to the day when I bought the Model 78. I bought it because (a)It was on 20% discount, (b)Rantaro told me about said discount (I haven't introduce his name yet that time), (c)It was one of the last few wheels available at the rack so I gotta grab it quickly, and (d)Look again at my go-kart wheel theory above. Yeah, I've said it and I'll say it again: I'm a bad money spender. But truth to be told I'm also curious about the best steering wheel size for daily use, so I hit various online forums first before doing my daily work.

    After checking some forum recommendations, it turns out 320-350mm wheels are indeed the recommended size for daily driving. However, despite the smaller sizes indeed gives more feel to your hands, it is also indeed rather heavy and at worse case reduce visibility to your dashboard instruments (I don't think this has happened to me). Most of the 320-330mm users has similar or smaller cars than my Evo such as Integra DC5 and Miata, while the 350mm users consists of big, heavier car users like Supra A80 or track and drift racers. I want a wheel that is more forgiving to my hands and turns faster, so I went for 350mm steering wheels.

    As you've known from my previous update, I spent almost my entire money to upgrade my running gear parts, so for now I decided to look away form online shopping and went to the local store where I bought my Momo Model 78 along with my tools after work. I have a feeling that since this is the early days of the month, they've either restocked a bunch of their steering wheel or cleaning up their remaining supply by offering a discount. I parked my Evo on the backside of the store again so I could fit them immediately, just like when I bought the Model 78. Sadly, unlike the other day, Rantaro couldn't help me because he's still in his work shift.

    And my guess was sort of correct. The shop has added Momo Model 69 to their inventory, and they're available at 350mm size. I also checked the Model 78 and they're still only available at 330mm. The Model 69 also has a fatter grip and facilitates horn function, so not only it's FIA-approved, it's also more suitable for daily driving. All I had to do was rearrange the horn wiring to near-standard again to suit the Model 69 horn button. And what's more, they put the price at V$175 as 'introductory price'. What a nice way to promoting your product, innit? (NOTE: Price reference taken from here. Damn, should have visited this one back then!)

    And with the wheel purchased, I returned to the parking lot to install it. As a comparison, here's the old Model 78 wheel........

    .....aaand here's the Model 69. They're indeed looks similar apart from the size and the grip. As of the installation process, it was a bit quicker than the Model 78. It is easier to arrange the horn wiring, and the mounting process it pretty much the same. As of the seat access, thankfully the Bride Zeta II is low enough to provide me better access so there's pretty much no problem with my feet hitting the wheel and such.

    I also took another shot of my Evo because why not.

    After a quick testing by driving my car back to my crib, it was indeed feels better to my hands. I think the bigger wheels would make a difference too trackside, so I'm planning to go to Tsukuba this Saturday to evaluate my Evo after all the mods I did to it. If you want to join me on the track or just want to visit my crib, don't hestitate to hit me up! :D


    And now, an announcement:
    BigSmoke's Smokey Parts for Sale!
    ALL SOLD!!

    I think it is time to clear up some space in my garage and uh, actually helping myself to escape from my crisis as quick as possible.
    Yes, I decided to sell my used Evo parts! Check them out and hit me up via PM if you're interested!
    Free shipping around Japan, +V$25 for all shippings outside Japan


    NOTE: Since I'm pretty much the only Evo III owner here, these parts inside the spoilers are prioritized to be sold at my local forums (aka where I bought my Evo in my RP). However, if you want to buy them, just hit me up via DM, though I'm not sure how you're going to use them anyway:

    And here are the parts that are openly sold and prioritized to be sold here at VS Classifieds. Check them out!

    -Momo Mod 78 330mm Steering Wheel. Near-fresh condition, only used for 1,5 week.
    Might be suitable for racing on smaller cars. Asking for V$200. Negotiable.

    SOLD!!

    -Custom front anti-roll bar, 20mm bar diameter, stiffness circa 20k-25k n/m.
    Rather fair condition after years of usage and several hard driving. Asking for V$160 or V$ 175 if you want me to refurbish them beforehand.
    Negotiable.

    SOLD!!

    -Dunlop Direzza 245/35 tyres x4, worn (circa 55-70%) after some years of usage and trackdays. Will fit 15x8-15x10 wheels.
    Suitable to be slain on drifting sessions :D
    Asking for V$120 for each tyre, V$200 for half a set or V$400 for a full set. Tyre cleaning will be done for free.
    Negotiable. (NOTE: Steelies not included, I still need them)

    SOLD!!

    -XS Power Supercell 55Ah Car Battery. Low battery condition, but still rechargeable.
    Asking for V$20 or V$50 if you want it to be recharged first. NOT Negotiable.

    Changed my mind, still need them


    EDIT: Sorry, forgot to put my cash update. I'll put it directly here as it's only affected by one item:
    Initial V$ = V$ 2,661 Momo Model 69 350mm steering wheel = V$ 175
    V$ at the moment = 2,661 - 175 = V$ 2,486

    That's all my update for now, don't hestitate to PM me if there's a part that caught your interest
    or if you want to join my trip to Tsukuba this Saturday.
    Thank you for stopping by and see you soon!

    This post was edited by BigSmoke (2018-11-15 15:55, ago)
    Still following the damn train since 1992

    Visit my RP HERE!

    BigSmoke

    id
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    Location: Indonesia
    Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
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    V$: Broke
    #39   2018-11-11 13:09          
    T1 Trackspotting
    (Uh yes I'm referencing that English movie)


    Saturday is trackday! Finally got another chance to bring the Evo trackside again.
    This is also an assesment to all of my new upgrades, so it would be interesting to see how it all turns out.
    I also do some car spotting on the site, so uhh.....a bit of warning: A hell lot of pics. :))
    And finally, my wallet started to make a recovery......but only in short time




    [10 Nov 2018]
    Hoo boy it's weekend! An it was a cool but sunny day, my perfect kind of weather to do activities, including trackday. I woke up ultra-early at 7 am and after some preparations, ready to go to the track at 9am. But before I enter the car, I stumbled across my stuff that I'm trying to sell at the previous update. I realized 2 things:
    -I forgot to list my stock brakes as well to be sold
    -I should try to sell my parts at the track
    And oh, sadly nobody answered by offer to go to Tsukuba together. Rantaro is also busy at the moment so I have to go alone.

    Having those in mind, I tried to pack anything that I could carry in the backseat and the boot. At the end of the procedure, there would be stock shocks and springs as well as the previous front anti-roll bars in the backseat, and then stock brakes, stock steering wheel, Momo Model 78 wheel, and old battery at the back. I also carried some cardboard boxes, papers and a whiteboard pen. I'll explain this later. While doing this I blasted 'Take on Me' to cheer myself up. Cue me screaming at the chorus.

    I arrived at the track around 10.20 am. Surprisingly, despite it is Super GT's final weekend, the track is still fullfilled by drivers with various types of cars. Some time attack teams was spotted too, mostly making final tests and researches before the winter holiday. Near my parking spot I began to unload my stuff and built a makeshift stand using boxes and papers mentioned earlier. Then in the biggest piece of paper I wrote:

    "CHEAP PARTS FOR SALE! HERE & TODAY ONLY!
    IF THE OWNER IS NOT PRESENT, HE'S ON THE TRACK OR AROUND THE PIT LANE.
    PLEASE WAIT OR CALL [my phone number] TO BRING HIM HERE
    DO NOT STEAL THE PARTS, LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT WILL BE INVOLVED FOR SUCH ACTION"

    They're written both in English and Japanese by the way.

    With the makeshift stand done, I went to the circuit tower to borrow a VBox recorder at the stewards office. I also told them about the makeshift stand and asked for permission for it. Fortunately, they don't seem to mind as sometimes other visitors would sell their parts too. I went back to the parking lot to move my Evo to the pitlane and install the VBox.

    With all the pit lane preparations done, I started my Evo and rolled out to the pitlane exit. It was quite a crowded day, so I had to wait for the exit signal to go green, unlike in the previous trackday (which wasn't crowded).

    The signal went green and I safely joined the track. Now here comes the assessment.

    As I (and you guys) expected, the anti-roll bars and coilovers did their job very well. Only a micro-sized roll can be felt from my seat. The brakes did a brilliant job stopping the Evo too. Combined with my lighter seats and wheels, I could significantly reduce my braking distance. The only problem was I can't feel any difference from the engine side other than better acceleration and the engine hit the limiter quicker, but after all the gearbox is still the stock one. Looks like it can't cope with the engine tune, upgraded clutch and synchro repalcement. Also, the anti-roll bar upgrade means the Evo is a bit tighter to steer around than before. Good thing I swapped the steering wheel to Momo Model 69 beforehand, otherwise I'll develop a lot of problems on both arms and palms if I stick on using Momo Model 78, which felt like a go-kart wheel to me.

    With the general assesment done, let's move on to the next step, which is lap time score assesment. Here goes!

    As per previous trackday, I only intend to use the VBox for an hour. After an hour passed, I averaged at high 1:05.xxx range, which is a huge improvement (to me at least) from the previous trackday where I averaged at mid 1:06.xxx range. But it still bugged me as not only I think I could score better, my best time was slower from the previous trackday. At the previous trackday I scored 1:04.835 as my best. This day I can't even touch 1:04.xxx territory, with 1:05.138 as my best despite my efforts. I returned to the pitlane to return the VBox and attend my stand, feeling a bit baffled.

    After I went to the circuit tower to return the VBox and thanking the sterwards, I returned to my stand. There I found someone standing beside it.

    "Excuse me, are you the owner of this stand?" he asked.
    "Yes, can I help you?" I replied.
    "I called you but you didn't answer!" he replied, with a bit of serious tone.
    "Ah I'm sorry, I've just returned from the track. Look at me, all sweaty from scoring laptimes." then I checked my phone, and indeed there are several missed calls made by him.
    "I see, it's okay sir, you're working hard today." he replied to my excuse, trying to break the tense he created. "Um, I see you have an Evo III. Did you just changed the suspensions?"
    "Nah, just the shocks and springs. Do you have an Evo III too?"
    "Um, no sir, I recently bought an Evo II to be exact. I mean, Evo I to III has the same base construction right?"
    "Aah yes I get your point. Hey you're a lucky guy! Did you brought it here?"
    "Well that's the problem sir. The original shocks and springs are busted, since it was in bad condition"
    "Mmm I guess the previous owner was a rally racer or street racer"
    "I guess you're right sir. Anyway, how much for the shocks and springs sir?"
    "V$1000. Is that okay for you? You might bargain if you want." I offered
    "No sir, I think V$1000 is worthy of that condition" he answered, refusing the bargaining chance.
    "Alrgiht, deal then. Do you need brakes and front anti-roll bars too? I also changed them recently. And as a thank-you gesture for buying my shocks and springs, I'll let you decide the prices" I continued to offer my parts to him.
    "Um, I can't bring the front anti-rolls home, sorry. I don't have space for them to carry by hand. But uhh, as of the brakes, can I have them for, say, V$400?" he replied.
    "Wise price choice, deal!"

    With the deal done, he thanked and left me with a smile. I also wished him luck repairing the Evo II. Man, I really wish to see said Evo someday.

    After some time, nobody came to my stand and I was bored. So I whipped out my camera and started to wander around the last corner to the first one to do some car spotting to kill the time. I found some interesting cars, which I'll do the highlight below.

    Most of the cars appearing at the trackday are either bone stock or lightly tuned. Take this Evo X as an example. It has some exterior and interior mods applied, as well as those SP1s and Project Miu BBK set and unknown coilovers. It is a bit too low to my taste, but still cool to me nonetheless. It produced around 330 BHP, just like it's Group NR4 rally car counterpart.

    And then there's this RX7 FD. Though the owner jokingly said he didn't plan to do an Initial D cosplay, lots of people swarmed his FD at the parking lot nonetheless, either because it accidentally resembles the RedSuns FD even if it is not accurate beyond the colors, or because turns out it is the Bathurst Edition, which is considerably rare. Deep down the engine bay it is also a sleeper, with the rotary engine able to extract 400 BHP despite using single turbo.


    As I mentioned earlier, some time attack teams made an appearance. Some of them are the Boxer Master Sports. As their name suggest, they specialized on Subaru boxer engines, and they're building a time attack racer out of an GC8. Turns out this is the 22B I mentioned at the first trackday update, and it isn't even a legit 22B. But eh, they're rare anyways. Their setup consist of the aero in the pics, second seat for ballast, and inside the engine bay they have a billet EJ20 with twin turbos, producing 680 BHP. It was so fast I almost can't snap it on the track. It scored 0:58.779 as their best of the day.


    There's also this amazing MX-5 NA built by Freshman Racing. Below the hood they thrown in a N/A 13B engine taken from an RX-7 FC. They've upgraded it so it could produce up to 335 BHP. Combined with the chassis, which weigh less than 900 kg, plus that aero-friendly fastback roof, it was a pocket rocket on the track. It received the nickname "Tomato Girl" for it's distinct tomato red colour and it's plucky size, rendering it cute. Despite this normally being an insult or joke for red-haired girls, the crew didn't mind as not only it is a unique nickname for them, they've established themselves as one of the best NA builders on Tsukuba. And I agree with them: Despite the cute image garnered by the MX-5s in general, this one is one of the most savage MX-5s I've ever seen and got passed by. It scored 0:59.487 as the team's best of the day.


    But what's more amazing is the appearance of european cars here, outside of Best Motoring and Hot Version clips. The one that particularly looks amazing to me is this legit M3 E46. At one moment it entered T1 too fast, but luckily the driver pulled a nice save by drifting it, causing the enitre pit exit to holler and scream in joy. I managed to capture the moment, showing the body roll of the E46.

    I talked to the owner for a while after he returned to the pitlane and receiving praise for aformentioned drift. He is Ryoji (36), working as a real-estate sales manager at Tsukubamirai city. His little sister is a staffer at Tsukuba University, and he visited her once in a month to check on how she's doing. With quite a big salary, it is no wonder he could import an EU-spec M3 E46 for V$52000. That price tag including the H&R Clubsport coilovers, the custom Jagermeister orange paint and engine balancing once the car hits the Japan soil. After some more engine mods, the S54 engine now produces 395 BHP.

    I told him about Rantaro and his preference over european cars, as well his Merc II - I mean Mark II GX70 which he modded into a fake Merc I showcased in thot-baiter update. Ryoji seemed to be interested, so we exchanged contacts and he told me he might want to have a meetup arounf this month. I'm quite sure Rantaro would die of happiness seeing this M3 E46, especially in this neat and motorsport-inspired paint. He even gave me a shotgun ride afterwards! The engine's power delivery is smooth and admirable.

    Another one that is striking is appearance of a Renault Clio MkII here. I didn't expect someone buying a Renault here! And yes, they sold them locally here bar the special editions. Everything is stock expect some engine tune and those Advan wheels. It was almost ended up in the wall at T1 when the driver overcook his trail braking point. Nonetheless he could save it, almost resulting in a drift. He didn't hold it though, sooo.......


    It really feels like seeing Gran Turismo come to life. And with spotting job done, I return to check my stand again. Someone offered to buy my anti-roll bar for V$200, more than what I would set for it (V$160) so I immediately struck a deal with him.
    Hours later and until the trackday session no one else bought my parts. With V$1600 in hand I decided to call it a day and go back to my crib.


    [11 Nov 2018]
    I woken up by the notification that someone offered V$800 for my seats , without even considering to bargain it. I immediately accepted the deal and called the delivery service to pick up my seats and send it to the buyer. Some said he is going to start a motorsport-themed cafe at downtown. I spent the rest of the day updating my sales chart and started working on some batches of last documents needed to be translated before winter holiday.

    I also contacted an NZ company providing suspension works and fabrication for Evo I-III. They said their control arms and lower arms can fit stock subframes with no problem. That's a relief as I would like to cut cost on suspension tuning, but for now I'd prefer to wait for my paycheck to come and my parts to be sold first to make financial management easier to do. Here comes the final handling tune, I guess



    With the rather lengthy udate over, I don't think there's a need for TL;DR version though. As of the cash however.......

    And finally, a bit of OORP:

    Thank you for stopping by this update and see you soon!
    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
    #40   2018-11-15 18:29          
    Relaxation Route

    Not much happened in the course of the week so far, as I'm occupied with work (here and IRL).
    But this way I can actually think deeper about the Evo. I think I could finalize the remaining build plans for it.
    And of course I need a hell lot of bucks.......And oh, I also finally had a chance to go to Tsukuba Fruits Line touge! :D




    [12 Nov 2018]
    Paycheck time! I'm still receiving V$470, which isn't that much but surely helpful on continuing reviving my wallet life anyway. Uhh...I guess it's a bit safe now to spend it on something I guess? Time to surf the interwebs again for parts :D


    [14 Nov 2018]
    One of the aspects that I like from driving/riding in general is that you can think clearly while driving. And of course, the better the ride, and the more you love your ride, the better and deeper you think. It can be anything, from simple stuff like what do you want to eat later or your plans for tomorrow, to deeper and more complicated thing like your love life (if any), your future, your fate, and other philosophical things that you might like. This could send you on a journey to (sometimes literally) nowhere, as you keep on thinking while concentrating on the ride, even to the point you lost in your own thought and feels like you barely have control to your body but miraculously didn't crash as you go.
    Whether you're stuck in traffic jam in the city, cruising the suburbs or going on a mountain pass, almost everywhere is a good place to think when you want it. But I do agree if you prefer the mountain pass: It's quite, not a lot of trafic there, cold wind along the ride that is good for your lungs, skin, blood vessel and engine. The view at most moments is great to the eye too, giving a refreshment to your brain from the dull colours of buildings and work environtments you have to face everyday in your lifetime (except if you genuinely love your job, that is. Just ask garage owners here, I condsider them lucky people). The greenery around you and blue skies injects fresh feelings to the brain, evoking a sense of admiration and sometimes brings memories from your past. I mean, I'm sure there are times you look at such view, then you remember someone you love or admire and thinking "Ah, I wish you're here with me right now", wanting to share the same view to their eyes.

    Sadly, that last part didn't happen in my case, since at the time I've done my work for the day, Rantaro was still on his work shift, Ohira-sensei was still serving his customers (I'm glad his business is rolling well!), and the girls that I and Rantaro met some time ago (yes, the thots) were still on their school time. Sorry for ruining the poeticness, boys and girls! :)) I was alone and had nothing to do, and I wasn't in the mood for simply slacking off, having just finished working in my own crib. I need to do something to turn the work mood down slowly.

    Then I remembered: Not only the Evo needed fuel after the Tsukuba run at Saturday, it's been almost two years I'm here and not even once I visited another automotive heaven here after the Tsukuba Circuit, that is the Tsukuba Fruits Line touge route. A bit of reminder: If you're a fan of Initial D, this is the home course of the Purple Shadow duo, consisting of Dr. Toshiya Joushima (God Hand) with his purple S2K, and Kozo Hoshino (God Foot) with his Millenium Jade R34 (Fun fact: Kozo is a nod and reference to Kazuyoshi Hoshino, works Nissan driver back in the day, and since then owns the Impul aftermarket corporation).

    With my mind set on going there that afternoon, I broke out the maps app in my phone and set myself to the outskirts of Ishioka city, specifically at SHibauchi district where one end of the touge route starts. But beforehand, at the outskirts of Tsukuba, I refuelled my Evo.

    At the start of the touge, I was amazed even before I could see the full view of the route. It was narrow, it was quite green and gives off a rugged vibe, a bit like a rally stage perhaps (which is, as everyone knows, Evo's natural habitat). With full excitement, I drove into the route while reminding myself to not deploy my heavy foot so I won't crash and endanger others, despite the traffic noticeably quiet, few and far between.

    As I drive along, I decided that the best thing I could do to prevent speeding is to blast my music collection of moderate-paced music. It was opened smoothly with Tatsuro Yamashita's crisp voice on the microphone. If you're a fan of Mariya Takeuchi (the one who sang 'Plastic Love'), I guess you've already know that both of them are married ;)
    I wonder if Tatsuro-san sang 'Love Talkin' to her while they're on honeymoon........

    A bit long time later, I found a parking lot on the edge of a cliff, giving a great view of the hillside, a small part of the neighbouring Tsuchiura city and some parts of the route. I decided to have a rest there. I wanted to enjoy some more peaceful time here. And coincidentally, this also creates a proper photo opportunity, even if that means I'm almost rolling down the cliff to eternity after taking the second pic :))

    Some moments later, I continued my ride along the touge. Then, the inevitable happened.

    Before approaching some sets of sharp corners, this song kicked in. Yep, it was one of the soundtracks of Kaido Racer 2/Tokyo Xtreme Racer Drift 2. I really enjoyed that game in my youth days, since it represents touge racing culture gracefully with a side of rally racing. Pity not a lot of people knew it's existence, and the fact that there is no complete version of the intro until today baffled me a bit. But hey, at the moment I'm living the dream, so I took a deep breath, savour every seconds from it and began dancing in the Evo along the road.

    As you can see from the above pictures, I still retained some of my cautious side and chose to grip along instead of sending my car sideways. There are a lot of blind spots here and I don't want an oncoming traffic interrupted and destroy my Evo, in the worst case dragging me along the way tumbling down the hillside.
    But whenever I reached straights or I can see the oncoming lane, I continued to pump the gas anyways. It was a delightful experience, especially with the fact I could still enjoy the view without having to take my eyes off the road. I really wonder how this place looks like in the dark of the nighttime.

    Some time later, I reached the middle sector of the route. It was lush on the sides, full of bushes, just like backroads in my homeland. And it looks beautiful to my eyes, reminding to my childhood time where we used to the backroads to another city because at most times highways that connected other cities are full, even outside rush hour. I'd like to take the corners like a rally racer by cutting them or dip my car inside the apex, but as I approach them, I remembered that in rally racing, the most occuring pacenote being read in sections like this is indeed 'DON'T CUT', so I backed off and kept some distance. There are chances I'm going to break the car anyway if I did. The best case is I simply scratched the lower side paint, while the worst it I hit a rock, turned over, and tumbling down the hill.

    Some time later, my intuition was proven to be right as at one section the bushes hid a rock wall. Damn, imagine what would happen if I hit those.

    Finally, some time later, I reached the end of the route at the outskirts of Tsuchiura city, specifically at the Oshito disctrict. At this point the place was dense with trees, so it was very green and very cool to my eyes and skin. I stopped for a while on a roadside near a temple to take rest, before going home via the southern side of Tsukuba as it's connected to Tsuchiura. This way I could be on my crib before the sunset comes.
    To be honest, all this touge driving made me hungry. Man, I knew I should have brought snacks for myself beforehand if I knew I couldn't resist my urge to go fast. Fortunately there's a McDonalds at the suburban side of the southern Tsukuba, quite close to city center. I decided to have a meal there, as well as packing another meal to be taken home so I don't have to slurp on another ramen in the middle of the night.

    And of course, cue up the meme.


    [15 Nov 2018]
    So, all my used parts has officially sold, netting V$755 in total. I only didn't sell one thing, which is the battery. I guess I'll keep it for a while.
    After some thoughts regasrding yesterday's ride and my current financial status, as well as my upgrading progress, I decided to complete the handling upgrade first by revamping most of the suspension parts. Fortunately, there's a NZ company called RaceFab that has race-level suspension parts for Evo III available for reasonable price. They're specializing on Mitsubishi running gear kits and fabrications, but also worked on other brands such as Nissan, Mazda and Subaru on said division. Their product has been race-proven too, especially on time attack events such as WTAC.

    Form them I grabbed front control arms+bumpsteer kit for the front part, and lower arms, toe arms and top arms for the rear part. Originally I want to change the subframe too, but they're quite expensive. The grand total for these parts are V$4100.

    Then I went to a well-known name in time attack scene, Hardrace. From these guys I grabbed front and rear camber kit as well as front stabilizer kit for a total of V$200. For the camber kit I picked the rubber one to cut cost. I won't do an aggresive camber tune after all.

    Also, I was going to replace the steering rack, but I guess I could tune it with Ohira-sensei to give the Evo a quicker ratio.

    For the engine department, the bad news is as you can see above my budget has drained again for suspension upgrades. But the good news is, I've found a US Mitsubishi engine specialist company where I could get billet (yes, BILLET!) block and head, with the block itself can be bored up and capable of holding 400-600 BHP. What's even better is the block price includes aftermarket crankshaft, conrods and pistons that can be stroked up to 2.3L capacity, therefore cutting cost significantly rather than buying block and stroker kit separately. As for the head though, I still had to buy camshafts separately, which I planned to get from Tomei.

    I prioritize the block and head upgrade first, as I unexpctedly can get them for cheap and I'm afraid if I upgraded other areas first while using stock block, the engine would explode at one time. The next one would be intake, then turbo, and finally complete transmission and LSD set.

    Here comes a very long journey.



    I guess it's time for the TL;DR:

    And then, my cash, which I ruined again:

    That's all my updates for now, thank you for stopping by and see you soon!
    Still following the damn train since 1992

    Visit my RP HERE!