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BigSmoke

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Posts: 844

Location: Indonesia
Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
Age:
V$: Broke
#161   2019-02-19 07:44          
# Sleepin mOnkey : ok as i said feel free to hmu

but the engine my advice wasn't because of regulations actually im giving my engineer POV. Sr is way lighter and smaller which leads to a better balance and less inertia but on the other side with the Rb, you get the smoothness of the i6 layout and on the s15 which is not as big of a chassis it's also harder to counter the extra weight for an example the s14 wich is only slightly fatter and with a longer wheel but because of the engine bay that's bigger and part of the design its easier to balance the weight BTW that's the next step on the S14 build get the balance to that sweet 50/50

Yup, that's why I'm looking for an RB26: That smooth and continous power surge, with nice baritone sound as a bonus :D
Though admittably, indeed it could result in a handling similar to early Audi Quattros (no, not AWD delicacy, but slight understeer)

Also good luck to your S14 build man! :thumbsup:



EDIT: Damn, it's page 5 already! :bananajump:
Here's previous two updates for those who doesn't bother to check back one page:

# BigSmoke :
Weight Loss Program









Finally, I'm back to Tsukuba with spring closing in.
Also the S15 has arrived to my crib as well! :D
I'll tell you what I'm going to do with it in this update.
And oh, the Siver Queen had a micro bit of change as well.
All of which can be seen in this update so let's jump inside! :D












[11 Feb 2019]
Paycheck time! V$750 has come to my wallet, but there's something else coming that day. As I've told you in the previous update, Ii've got a new car, which is a Silvia S15 Spec-S AT, and I had it delivered on a truck and it'll arrive at my crib this day. So I waited inside my crib for the delivery truck. Speaking of which, the prpularity of S-Chassises here is quite inevitable, being one of the go-to machine for pretty much any purpose with any kind of mods. Pro Drifting? Check. Grassroots Drifting? Check. Time Attack? Check. Club Racing? Check. Rallying? Check. Daily? Check. Kyusha? Check. Drag Racing? Check. Lowered? Check. Stance Nation Meeting? Check. It's basically a blank canvas waiting for anyone to paint it anything, and it'll be open to any kind of owners, from those who recently learn how to drive to master drivers with all salt and experience on their hands, and from uhhh......people with 'eccentric' tastes to craftsman who can summon a fine arts quality of tunes.

What's rather interesting is the type of the S-Chassis being picked. A bit of disclaimer, S12 is rare so I could understand why there are none of them here, but I do like them. It has spawned a Group B variant after all (240RS), and that thing is rock solid and as stable as a jumbo airliner, so it can be driven as smooth as a flamboyant man flirting with a bunch of young women or as aggressive as everyone attending Slayer and Motorhead concerts. Let's get back to the topic. Most people I've seen around here picked up S13 Hatches, be it 180, 200 or 240SX. Understandable, as they look gorgeous and sold around the world, compared to the Notchback which looks....uhhh.....common in standard form, and mostly can only be found at Japan (or perhaps didn't sold as well as the hatch at the rest of the world). I'm not saying it's ugly, my point is most cars at it's era were boxy, and so does the S13 Notch. Nevertheless, both has a lot of visual and performance mods, so they can cope with all your needs. I can only recall one S13 notchback being driven here (Muza(Niatross) & Marc(Macaron_moon)'s shared S13), so hands up if you currently own one.

The S14 is actually great as well and also sold around the world, but due to Nissan somehow making ot bloatier, it's more expensive since bigger dimension means higher tax, at least here in Japan. This leads to extremely declining sales and slightly lack of fans of this model. Hell, even Nissan had to prolong the S13 hatch production and sold them alongside the S14 to regain profit! But if we throw away those facts out from the window, the S14 is a great thing as well, and actually not losing most of the sparks and brilliance set by the S13 despite it's size and weight.So this does make me wonder why there aren't more S14 in this commnity. The one I know well is AJ(RocketBunnyS13)'s S14 which at the moment is out of action. Another one is Sleepy(sleepin mOnkey)'s S14 which he built alongside his S13 hatch at the moment. Hands up if you currently have an S14 you think I should check out.

Now, learing from the S14 tax fiasco, Nissan designed the S15 to be slim like the S13 was and made it more gorgeous and aerodynamic. The result is arguably one of the most gorgeous, timeless-looking car that can stand with modern car design standards. No matter what you've done on it, it'll always have that iconic looks and it can attract people to like it as well, either thinking it as fast or cute depending on your mods. With the arrival of my S15, this means currently there are four active S15 users: AJ, 11K (11000rpm), Crazy Eighty Eight(iirc) and myself. Let me know if I missed some.

I'm going to interrupt this as the delivery truck finally arrived. I drove the S15 off the truck and thanked the trucker for bringing it safely. Yep, time for the full reveal of what I'm going to do with it.

So what I'm going to do with it? I've seen lots of S-Chassises here used for drifting, stace and daily purposes. But not me, I want to go different. You see, I live near the Tsukuba Circuit, well-known for time attack activities there. So it should be obvious that I'm going to turn my S15 into a time attack machine. Admittably, mine wouldn't be the first TA S-Chassis here (Mackay built one ages ago form an S13), but I should remind you that the current Tsukuba record holder is a heavily tuned S15 driven by Toshihiko Suzuki, better known as Under Suzuki(yes, HKS smashed said record with an 86 but it used slicks on the run, deviating from the official time attack rules of Tsukuba). Of course I don't have the budget to do aero R&D and billet parts as he did, so I have to use anything aerodynamic and powerful that I can find in the vast virtual land of internet.

I want the S15 to be registered in equivalent to WTAC Open Class, so it can stretch it's muscles without worrying about limited budget or road legality. This is why I'm not going to make it street legal as well. I can guarantee, it'll be a bigger, longer, harder journey than the Evo did to me.


[12 Feb 2019]
Despite what I'm saying, I still want to drive the S15 on the road at least once, so I decided to go to my favourite auto shop downtown without having plates on it. I know the route to go there unspotted, so this should be a rather easy job. I have a feeling I can find something interesting after spending months in Tokyo. I have no plans to buy anything for the Silvia at this point, but perhaps there could be something for my Evo. Earlier at the morning, I noticed the Silver Queen might need new tyres after spending lots of distance and being cooked in Tsukuba and various touge routes.

Driving impressions? It drives quite well, the SR engine is unexpectedly running smooth in this configuration, mainly thanks to the torque-converter model AT transmission. The downside of this is the engine felt rather lazy and sluggish. Oh well, it's for cruising after all as opposed to performance driving. Handling-wise it feels great, responsively answering driver feedback on the run. No wonder S-Chassises are fan favourites. The seat is a bit dusty, but cloth is pretty much intact. It's a bit hard to sit on, probably because all of the years of usage.

I arrived at the shop and parked the S15 at the back of the building to hide the Silvia from the masses.

I did ended up bought some stuff for the Silver Queen. The first one is a set of R16 Bridgestone Potenza Adrenalin RE003s, which is the successor of the RE002 I currently use on the Evo. They're also quite expensive actually, being sold at V$207 each, making the total cost at V$828. But sinc ethis is basically an upgrade, I don't really mind. The other thing I bought is a pack of RalliArt stickers for V$5. Seeing Rifky(Shez)'s Integra DC5 and 11K's BMW E36 made me think it would be a good idea to give the Silver Queen a sticker on each front doors. I think I've said back then the Evo woud stay clean from stickers to keep that daily look........I think I should take those words back now.

Back on the garage, I parked the Silvia not fully backwards inside the garage. This was done for two reasons.

The first one is of course to give space for working on the Evo. First off, giving it stickers. Does it look nice to you? I'll let you guys to be the judge.
(Damn, stickering in SLRR is quite a pain in the back)

And next up, changing the tyres.

Changing tyres done, onto the S15 next. It's time to put it on a diet, since it's going to be a competition car. But first, I'm going to do those that can be performed alone, which are removing setas, carpets, panels, audio parts, air vents, and some of the dashboard panels.

Unexpectedly this took almost half a day.

"Oof that was close!"
"Ack!" *hand bleeds*
"Come on get off the door!"
"Pull! Pull!" *headbutts floor*

After hours of torturing myself with fully scuffed hands, some small wounds and sweaty body, the car has been reduced to bare-looking interiors.


Seriously, there are only a few remains inside. I actually tried to lay my body inside the car since it was quite spacious after all the weight reduction. Safe to say, uhh......it's not really a good thing to sleep in :))

After all the work has been done, I had to reverse the car to the garage by pushing it. Tell me, do they look gorgeous side by side? :thumbsup:

After treating my hands, I called Kenichi, Rantaro and Ryuji to see if they can help with the rest of the operation.

"Kenichi-san, it's me Edo"
"Oh hey Edo! Was wondering where have you been these days"
"Sorry man I forgot to call you. I was at Tokyo the entire month"
"Oh I see, what did you do there?"
"A lot of things man, I'll tell ya when you come to my crib"
"Uh, not now tho, Ii'm bu-"
"Of course not now man, but are you free at Friday?"
"Oh yah, good idea"
"I also have a new car, so I need your help to sort it out"
"Ooooh I also have a new bike-"
"Wait really? Damn, bring it here at Friday!"
"Of course man, I think you're gonna like it"
"Alright see ya at Friday man"
"See ya"


"Rantaro my man, I'm already back home!"
"Yoooo if it's not Edo-kun! How's your trip man?"
"Everything went well, thanks man. Eh how about I tell you about it at my crib?"
"Oh sure, but not now. Let's do that on weekend"
"How about Friday? I also invited a friend"
"Cool enough, will do. But why another friend?"
"Oh yah, I bought a new car. Need your and his help to sort it out"
"Ah I see, I'll help you, don't worry"
"Alright thanks man"
"You're welcome, see ya at Friday"
"See ya"


"Hello Ryuji-san, it's me Edo"
"Oh hello Edo-san, what's the matter?"
"Uh, I have a new car, and I think it'll be wise to ask for your help to sort it"
"Oh sure sure, I might be able to help"
"Can you come to my crib at Friday? I'll give you my address after the call"
"I think I'm free on Friday, so sure man"
"Oh, tell me more about your trip to Aussie as well!"
"Sure sure"
"Alright, thank you very much"
"You're welcome mate"


With all calls sorted, I returned to my room to continue working.

Also, I remembered after all the engine upgrades the brakes felt squeaky, not really enough to be used on hard circuit usage. So I looked for a new one with bigger discs that can fit 16 inch wheels. Turns out there was only some results, some of them are Wilwood Superlite brakes. I opted for 6 pot calipers for front, and 4 pot for rear, with both wearing heavy duty 298mm discs. They also offered the option to paint the caliper red, but I stick to black for that unassuming, stealth look. All of this goes for V$2156. Can't wait for the Silver Queen to try throwing me out via the windshield.........


[15 Feb 2019]
The time to reunite (some of) the crew has come. But first, time to get the Silvia off the garage. Because pushing it off the garage took some time, I decided to enter the car, sit down on the car's floor and give it a smidge of gas while hoping I don't hit anything in the process. This turned out somehow successful, but it's quite scary to do. Perhaps not again.

Afterwards I opened the bonnet of the S15. Would you look at that, a relatively fresh SR20, rarely abused to the redline, might need some oil. But I won't give it any. Why? I'll tell you something.

Unlike WTAC which has strict engine swap rule (can only be from same manufacturer with same number of cylinder,e.g. you can swap VQ35 with VR38 but not SR20 with RB26), in Japanese time attack series you can rather freely do engine swaps to your car. I mean, there's a team(NewType Racing) who swapped their RX7's 13B engine for a 2JZ. So the plan is, I'm going to throw an RB26 inside (yes, with twin turbos so not an RB25) the S15. How cool is that? ;)

Shortly after Kenichi arrived with his shiny new bike.

"Hey man good to see you again!" Kenichi greeted me as we have a high five.
"Heeeeey! Is that a Honda Grom?"
"Yup! See, I know you'd like it!"
"It's practically impossible to dislike this thing you know"
"Exactly! Wait please hold up the bike for me, I'm going to pick the stand"
"Alright"

He then put the stand on his bike.

"Wait if this is your bike, where's your CB? Did you sell it?"
"Nah, I gave it to my cousin. Just recently finished high school"
"Aaaah I see. Wise move man, teaching him about freedom on the road and making him cool"
"Yap we're on the same wavelength it turns out"
"You know what? Honestly I want to ride one of these, but I'm not sure if it can stand my body weight"
"I think it will though, I mean I could go to Ooarai and back on this. You want to try?"
"No, not for now. No helmets and suits yet. I don't think I can ride these on t-shirts"


During our banter, Rantaro arrived to my crib in his Mer-sorry, Mark II. I think there are a lot of fans of his build here!

"Oi Edo-kun, where should I park?"
"Uh, just park it at the yard across my crib, it's empty"
"Okay, will do"

So he did just that. On second thoughts, it might be a good idea if I and some more guys buy said yard and the house on it.


"Long time no see my man! How's your day in Okinawa?" I greeted Rantaro
"It was superb! Lots of sea breeze and top cuisines! And oh, did you believe they mod and race vans there and their surroundings?"
"Oh I've ever heard of that! Do they race vans other than Dodges?"
"I saw Chevys, but they're quite rare to be seen"
"Let's do that sometimes!"
"Sure man, I heard there are more of these at Ebisu. Oh yah, is this your friend?" said Rantaro has he half-points his hand at Kenichi
"Oh yes, he's my fellow worker Kenichi. He's a motorbike fan, he brought a Honda Grom here"
"Oh, a Grom! I rented one at Okinawa. Quite a fun ride!"
"See, I told you! Nice too meet you by the way" Kenichi confirms my and his theory
"Nice to meet you too man"


We continued our banter with some snacks and sodas from my refrigerator. 15 minutes later, Ryuji arrived in his Jagermeister orange E46.

"Oh hey Ryuji! Man the E46 still looking fresh! How's your days in Australia?" I greeted him
"Aussie's awesome man! Big engines everywhere! It's quite hot, though"
"You're quite lucky to be able to rent a Holden man, aside from fuel thirst how does it feel?"
"It's comfy enough to make Ryoko sleep inside haha. But it's also quite tail-happy to brng sideways?"
"And you're not getting arrested for bringing it sideways? Absolute lucky guy!"
"Well indeed I was lucky. I saw similar Holden being arrested for speeding at one time"
"And oh, remember my friend I told you who has an E46? He's going to make it a track racer?"
"Oh really? That's awesome! Send my regards to him man"


After a bit of lengthy banter between us, finally we set to work on uninstalling the engine, cooling system and the AC system. It took us almost one whole day to do it. After it was done, the Silvia has been reduced even further to a mere rolling shell.

After the work was done, we pushed the car back to the garage and went inside my crib to talk about holiday, upgrades on the Evo, how did I get the S15 and my plans with it. We also checked out the classes in Japanese time attack racing and venues we possibly could enter in. So after some discussions, I decided to attend Tsukuba's very own Time Aattack championship, RevSpeed's annual Time Attack event and all Attack Maximum Challenge events held at Tsukuba and Ebisu West. As for the class (thanks to these articles serving as guides), I would enter the Second class, which is opened for privateers and amateurs with limited aero works.

If you wonder what the other classes are, there are Ladies, Radial, NA and Turbo classes. Ladies class are similar to Second class but obviously limited to women drivers. Radial class are similar to WTAC Clubsport class where they have to use street tires. NA and Turbo class are the main Time Attack shows where pro teams and builders play with skyscraping budget and mad level aeros, with restriction being whether they're aspirated or not as the name suggests.


And oh, of course I'm also open for sale at the moment!
Here are the list of stuff I'd like to sell here:











The time attack project has begin!
Meanwhile, here's how my wallet survives:








That's all my updates for now, thank you for stopping by and see you soon!

# BigSmoke :
Small Update: Securing the Heart









With the SR20 chucked out of my Silvia(it's still on sale!), it is time to get the new heart for it.
As you can read in the previous update, I'm planning to plant an RB26DETT inside.
Fortunately, I have a 'wingman informant' who told me on where I can find one.
Let the hunt begin! :D











[18 Feb 2019]
Paycheck time! V$750 safely landed on my pocket yay! But first, a bit of a flashback. *presses rewind buton*


[Rewind to 16 Feb 2019]
A day after I gutted out my S15 with my friends and putting some of the results for sale, Muza(Niatross) called me up. He wanted to buy both front seats from the S15, so I automatically gave him a DEAL! Whether he's going to put it inside an S-Chassis, something other than an S-Chassis or even turning it into a sofa remains to be seen. After the deal was accepted and V$600 transferred into my account, we continued to talk about things, mainly his working days at Nismo Omori Factory, as well as my current life back at Tsukuba.
And of course I told him about the plan on planting an RB26 block inside the S15. Because he works at the birthplace of the engine, initially I wonder if I could source one right from the factory, but I doubt it'll be fullfilled since it's not for an R-Series car. It could be very, very expensive anyway. But then, being a knowledge-brimmed man he is, he purposed something quite brilliant.

"Hey Edo, I've got an idea. You want a budget RB build right?"
"Yes yes, but not an RB20 or RB25 please"
"No don't worry, we're still talking about RB26 territory. Try to check online auctions, I'll find you some on the way"
"So basically we're searching together?"
"Yup! I'll send you the link while I'm calling"
"Good idea, let's do this"


While I was looking for them, I also try to find RB blocks outside from Japanese websites. And indeed I found some. The problem is, I admit I'm a bit stingy by searching RB26 fitted to R34.....all for that Getrag 6-speed MT transmission fitted on it (remember, R32 and R33 only got 5-speed). I mean come on, it has better ratio, better durability, better torque resultant, better......almost everything, except maintenance cost. Due to rarity of them, those fitted with them are very, very expensive just like this example. If you want to cop that thing, well, I don't mind. At that price you might as well get an LS or even LT-series engine, or perhaps european high-end V8 engine, or even any kind of V10 engine (while we're in the topic of V8 engines, I found this cheap VK45DE engine. You might want to grab it!). Additionally, Mine's (yes, THAT Mine's) could sell you an RB26 N1 block for V$8980, but it isn't said if they would include transmission or not.

The best deal I found with Muza was this RB26 block, auctioned at V$2500 out of an R32:

The seller has a good reputation as well. But as it is an auction court, I decided to wait for a while to see if anyone else is interested on it, and as a trap to other bidders rushing on buying it. Very risky, I know. But I'm also saving my cash at the moment. Still, who could resist a complete, relatively healthy RB26 sold for cheap?

Now the problem is that engine has no transmission and no turbo piping yet, explaining the cheap price. Muza tipped me I should install transmission from VQ35DE engine, namely Nissan CD009. It is 6-speed MT, and basically a Swiss Army Knife of engine builds. Plus, it's an RWD transmission, therefore keeping up with most time trial series regulation to keep it having the same type of drivetrain as the stock one (though AWD Silvia is an interesting idea, I doubt it can cope with front torque distribution that well). It's been popular to be installed into many kind of engines, even non-Nissan engines such as Toyota UZ series, Toyota JZ series and even GM LS series! With that in mind and Muza had to go back to work again, I thanked him before he ended up our call.

Now let's get back to the current time. *presses fast forward button*


[Back to 18 Feb 2019]
Shopping time! Turns out nobody has secured that RB26 engine, so I decided to buy it outright for V$2500. And for the transmission, found a used one on eBay for V$1100. Looks relatively healthy, has passed 113k miles. Eh, I'm going to replace some of the parts anyway. And finally, the adapter. I bought one from Collins Performance, complete with optional clutch relesae bearing adapter and all the assembly bolts for V$520. Additionally, I bought Hardrace RB-series engine mounts for S14 and S15 for V$333.
Holy crap man, all these purchases successfully burned my wallet badly. I really need to apply for a stable job very, very soon.







To give you an idea how bad the money draining process was, here's the details:

Also a friendly reminder: Lots of parts, including cheap, healthy SR20DE with AT transmission is still for sale! And you can buy them without the tranny too!











That's all my updates for now, thank you for stopping by and see you soon!

This post was edited by BigSmoke (2019-02-25 15:42, ago)
Still following the damn train since 1992

Visit my RP HERE!

RocketBunnyS13

ph
Posts: 418

Location: Philippines MNL
Occupation: Yes I ruin cars
Age: 34
V$: wat
#162   2019-02-19 19:22          
Congrats on the RB26 purchase and the parts you got for the conversion! I'm glad I'm going for a street build and not a TA build because 700+ hp will absolutely devour my cars alive :))

Lemme buy your SR20DE + 4AT! V$500 will be deposited on Friday so DM me your account number. Thanks! Also I really wanna visit your crib sometime and hang out with the dudes, notably Ryuji's E46. But Rantaro's Merc II and Kenichi's Grom are cool too haha :cheers:

s t a y c l a s s y

Lagano

si
Posts: 1739

Location: Slovenia West side
Occupation: Taking it easy
Age: 24
V$: :$V
#163   2019-02-19 22:38          
Another RB26 S15, a swap that i always approve! Hard to believe you got it for such a price, that was a lucky find. Don't worry, the R32 engine will be just fine, you found a transmission anyway. Good luck with the build! ;)

BigSmoke

id
Posts: 844

Location: Indonesia
Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
Age:
V$: Broke
#164   2019-02-20 03:43          
# RocketBunnyS13 : Congrats on the RB26 purchase and the parts you got for the conversion! I'm glad I'm going for a street build and not a TA build because 700+ hp will absolutely devour my cars alive :))

Lemme buy your SR20DE + 4AT! V$500 will be deposited on Friday so DM me your account number. Thanks! Also I really wanna visit your crib sometime and hang out with the dudes, notably Ryuji's E46. But Rantaro's Merc II and Kenichi's Grom are cool too haha :cheers:

Thanks man, well at least you'll have a chance to improve your Ichigo :))

Oh sure sure, DM has been sent. You're always welcome to visit my crib man, and if you do I'll call my boys as well! :thumbsup:

# Lagano : Another RB26 S15, a swap that i always approve! Hard to believe you got it for such a price, that was a lucky find. Don't worry, the R32 engine will be just fine, you found a transmission anyway. Good luck with the build! ;)

Thanks man, glad you approve it! :D
Still following the damn train since 1992

Visit my RP HERE!

Shez

id
Posts: 133
http://upload.vstanced.com/renega...
Location: Indonesia wkwkwk
Occupation: mans
Age: 26
V$:
#165   2019-02-25 03:01          
Dang I missed lot of stuff here haha

Your S15 is seriously looking gorgeous! I bet that thing is light after hearing you pushed it thru the garage hahaha :)) don't hesitate to call me if you need more manpower, I'll be glad to help you with the project :thumbsup:

note : that bike looks really cool! tell Kenichi I love it :-X




DEADMANE

us
Posts: 104

Location: United States Los Angeles
Occupation: Grim Reaper
Age: 30
V$:
#166   2019-02-25 13:31          
Ooooh RB! Awesome S15 man. Haven't been around last couple weeks everyone has cool new stuff lol
RP Aristo
RP Build Thread

BigSmoke

id
Posts: 844

Location: Indonesia
Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
Age:
V$: Broke
#167   2019-02-25 14:09          
# Shez : Dang I missed lot of stuff here haha

Your S15 is seriously looking gorgeous! I bet that thing is light after hearing you pushed it thru the garage hahaha :)) don't hesitate to call me if you need more manpower, I'll be glad to help you with the project :thumbsup:

note : that bike looks really cool! tell Kenichi I love it :-X

Welp you should definitely catch up! :))

Gee thanks man! The only problem atm is it has no means to stop rolling around :))
Seeing as you own an S14 now it'll be nice to work togther somethimes. And of course feel free to come over my crib man! :D

I'm definitely going to tell him, turns out there are a lot of Grom fans here! :))

# DEADMANE : Ooooh RB! Awesome S15 man. Haven't been around last couple weeks everyone has cool new stuff lol

Gee thanks man, it's basically shopping spree everywhere! :D



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------




Time to Learn







No, really, there's a lot of stuff I've learned and I have to learn while I'm working on the S15.
Basic RB knowledge, how to engine swap stuff, and uhh.........how to drift.
And oh, I guess you'll be mad at me over how I manage my wallet these days............
Either way let's jump into the update! :D













[19 Feb 2019]
After a long waiting time, my Wilwood Superlite brake set has finally come! To remind you again, I bought both with 298mm heavy duty discs, with 6 pots caliper in front and 4 pots in the back. Should has enough power to enhance the stopping power on my Silver Queen. This will be definitely, definitely the last performance upgrade it'll get (hopefully). At one side, I'm really happy I can finish the project with gracious yet powerful results, and on the verge of bankruptcy as well :)) but on the other side, with a car this gracious at the moment, there's nothing more I can do to it other than driving and enjoy it on the roads. This also explains how most of us feel when we sold or crashed our first cars here......it's quite heartbreaking to see our first blank canvas go away in mere seconds.

Oh, speaking of which, in the previous night, I was watching various videos of Danganronpa V3 gameplay, and seeing the character sprites made me thinking: "What if I make JDM-Anime style stickers based on these?" so after a long day of working I grabbed my laptop in the afternoon, opened Photoshop and internet and started to making sticker designs based on the characters. I was so pumped up I ended up making 67 designs! :)) Then I bought a sticker paper for V$3 at the nearest stationary shop to test if the design would work well.

At the end of the printing and cutting procedure it was already nighttime, so it might affect the precision of the sticker placement. So I decided to stick them to my car the next day, as well as having the new brakes installed.

Additionally, the S15 back seat,panels,air vents as well as the RE002 tyres has been sold for a grand total of v$920, leaving only the SR engine left to be sold


[20 Feb 2019]
After deciding which sticker should I stick to my Silver Queen, I brought the stickers along with th enew brake set to my car. The initial plan was sticking them to the doors, but after some time of imagining I decided that sadly it might look rather odd and won't match with the RalliArt sticker on the doors. ICYMI, I fitted one on each doors and here it is.

So I decided the best place I could place the sticker is in the back of the car. Not the rear bumper since it might get dirty easily, but on the boot/trunk since it will still retain the clean look. Anyway, after 5 minutes of figuring out the exact position I wanted, I made up my mind and stick it to the right side of the trunk. Here's the result!

If you can't really see the design on the trunk, here's how it looks, along with an alternative version of it. Featuring my favourite character! I decided to stick the first one because it really looks like a personification of my Silver Queen: Looks graceful and not too flashy, but also has it's own naughty side.
If you want to know who is she and from which media she came from, look no further!


After sticking the sticker, I gave a call to a figure that I've never seen for a bit long time: Ohira-sensei from Summer Yume garage. I realize fitting all the brakes and bleeding them alone would be a very difficult job, so I'm going to need his help along with his boys.

"Excuse me Ohira-sensei, it's me Edo"
"Aaaah, I've never heard your voice in a long time. What are you up to these days? How's your Evo?"
"I've been in Tokyo for more than a month, and I modded my Evo along the way. Oh, I'd like to talk about it aswell!"
"Sure sure, I and the boys are working at the moment but feel free to come in"
"Thank you sir, I also like to fit one last upgrade for it"
"Last upgrade you say? Seems interesting. Either way, come here and be safe on the way"
"Alright sir, thank you"


After I ended the call, I remembered that I still have some stock of brake fluids, so i brought them as well. With everything set, I made my trip to Summer Yume garage. Dang, I wonder how would the boys react to my Silver Queen after a month of disappearance from thir eyes......

20 minutes later, I arrived at their garage's doorstep. Yuuta welcomed me and guided me though the working bay.

"Hey Yuuta, you've grown up quickly!" I cheerfully greeted him after parking my car.
"Ooh come on it's not much of a difference, look at your Evo Edo-san!" Yuuta replied with even more enthusiasm as we fist-bumped each other.
"Oh hey Edo-san! Indeed your Evo looks a bit different, but how come it's louder than the last time you came here?" Mishima jumped in our converstaion with curiousity.
"Heheh, you'll see once we took it to the dyno" I answered, as Ohira-sensei steps in.

"Finally you've come home, young man. So what's this final upgrade? An engine upgrade?"
"Ah no sensei, I got them back in Tokyo, but to answer Yuuta and Mishima's question let's take it to the dyno later"

But before working on my car, the crew finalized their works on another customer car first, which was a classic, considerably rare Mitsubishi Lancer EX 2000 Turbo. Ohira-sensei talked to me whilst I was waiting through many things, including Kei and Gary is now working for a Gunma based rally team which also used a Mitsubishi for national championships, and the shop is now quite fullfilled with lots of Mitsubishis, both performance Mitsus and non-performance ones. They also used testimonies and pics of their customers to promote the garage, and interestingly mine is also included. Not that I mind or mad, I'm quite happy to help people building their business :D

In turn I told everything from my Tokyo trip. Meeting the WestKyo boys, especially Marc(Macaron_moon) the Human Lan Evo and his Evo X that currently is out of action and awaiting for mega-sized upgrades, as well as the cars the boys made, and all the downtown trips we made as well as our touge sessions including my solo trips where I found some touges on the way.......and to top of that, all the perfromance upgrades I've installed to my Evo while I'm there. Looks like Ohira-sensei's ears ringed so hard when I muttered the words 'WRC-derived gearbox settings' and 'stroker upgrade' :)) he also said he wants to meet Mmarc someday, seeing as he's quite knowledgeable with Evos and some other Mitsubishis in such young age.

Finally the boys finished working. As we work on installing and bleeding the brakes, Nato asked me about various things over my Evo, but one that's interesting is where did I get the brakes from.

"Hey tell me man, where did you got these big discs? I've never seen them around here"
"Me neither, so I had to import it from England"
"Woah that's quite far away!"
"I know man. Actually there's also Brembos with even bigger discs but that'll require bigger wheels as well, and my money has been spent on this along with something else. Besides, it might ruin the current look"
"Why you don't just use brakes from newer Evos?" Goro interjected midway.
"Nah man, that means I have to redo the suspension mods as well and that's even worse" I answered Goro's inquiry.
"Well you're right though"

Additionally, I also made a micro-sized ride height adjustment. Now it sits 6.75 inches from the ground all around, from previous 6.77 inches.

One and a half hour later, all the installation and bleeding was done. I drove the car down the working bay and here's the result!



As I finished taking photos, I looked at Yuuta with menacing grin and said "Yuuta, you know the drill", as I signalled Yuuta to get in the car. Meanwhile Ohira-sensei instructed Nato and Goro to be stationed at the dyno. Ohira-sensei then sat on my side inside the car, while Yuuta and Mishima took the back seat to balance the weight.

I proceeded to start the dyno session, and the Silver Queen echoed her roar inside the garage. It was so loud and raucuous, and included some massive backfires as well that Goro took some steps back, while Yuuta looked like he enjoyed the experience very much, like a teen in a rollercoaster ride with his/her best friend. Cue him happily screaming "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!" along with the engine sound as the session went on.

After the session has been done, we gathered at the top floor of the garage to see the result.
"That was very loud! But that's a good sign as well" Mishima half-complained over the experience.
"That was fun!" Yuuta exclaimed, trying to talk despite losing a lot of his voice after screaming.

As you'd know from previous updates, the final figure was 450 BHP. Yuuta and Nato was astounded with the result, and immediately took their phones to capture my car and the dyno result. I'm glad I can make people amazed and happy at the same time.

As the crew continued to discuss about the dyno result, I spotted Ohira-sensei's Galant VR4, still in the same condition as the last time I saw it. After gaining permission to take pics of it, I immediately parked my Evo near it and snapped some pictures. So here you are, Mitsubishi's old guards, some of the cars that started their success in the rallying world back in the early to mid 90's. Seeing them being around is very heartwarming, and seeing them being reduced to almost nothing but a label these days is very, very heartbreaking. Man, if only Mitsu didn't just focus on making cars for the future and families, I reckon their sales outside Asia should went as well as they expected.



As we talked again, another customer arrived. Seeing as I don't want to interrupt their work, I bid Ohira-sensei and his crew goodbye, and drove back home. Speaking about which, the brakes did their job very well. It only need a bit of push to stop the car on traffic speeds.
Back home, I continued to make some more stickers, adding the tally to 77. If you're interested, I'll show some of them in the end of this update. As I was working on the stickers, AJ(RocketBunnyS13) phoned me.

"Hey Edo, it's me AJ"
"Oh hi AJ, what's up?"
"You still got the SR engine?"
"Oh yah, they're still here"
"Good, I'll buy them full price, with trans"
"Oh my god, thank you so much man. I'll send them tomorrow"
"Okay man. But oh, one more thing. You know the RB25 inside my wrcked S14?"
"Yeah?"
"I heard about your S15 project, and I'm going to rebuild the S14 with another engine, so I'm giving it to you"
"Wha-wait wait, I don't have mon-"
"I'm giving it for free, seeing you've ran out of them"
"Oh my god AJ, you're so kind man. I really owe you one"
"Ah don't mention it man, it's okay. They'll arrive at Friday"
"God,man, I'm really grateful for this. Thank you very, very much"
"Ggood luck with the project, fam"


Yep you read that right, free RB25 for me. I don't know how I should react properly to this, it feels like a very, very lovely dream you won't wake up from. I'm really grateful to have him on my side.

I could have the block and everything above it, including the flywheel as spare parts in case my own build messed up or damaged badly, and I can have the flywheel and the ECU to be installed in my RB26 in the meantime. But how about the transmission and the clutch? I think I have an idea on how to use it.......


[21 Feb 2019]
This time, it's my stuffs for the S15 (RB26 engine,CD009 transmission with adapters and engine mounts) that arrived into my crib when I and Kenichi worked together in my crib on document translations. Kenichi has nothing to attend or do for the rest of the day, so after we finished our work we decided to mount the RB inside the S15. And oh, he brought his Honda Grom as he did some time ago!

His life with the Grom so far has been amazing. Now he can virtually go anywhere without worrying about space. It's quite sturdy for long trips as well, despite it's tiny size. The only place he should stay away from is the highways, obviously he'll get wiped out by pretty much everything there. Nnot gonna lie I actually want one as well, if only not for my body size :))

We started working after some cups of coffee to keep ourselves focued on the job.

Kenichi took a jack to raise the car to let me slide under the car and install the engine mounts for the first procedure. After it was done, I slid back off the car and we worked on the engine. As I explained in the previous update, it has no turbo manifold piping and no transmission, but in addition to that, it also has no ECU and alternator as well. At least the harnesses are there. And for the transmission, I've sorted his by having the CD009 transmission and it's adapters for RB block. I didn't forgot to buy clutch and flywheel for it, I just don't have the money yet. Also, by fitting the transmission first, I'll have the idea over how hard can they be installed (as a heads-up, with this setup, I have to install flywheel produced for RB engines and clutch produced for VQ engines).
And now, the big moment: Fitting the entire package inside the car. This took several hours, probably hundreds of attempts and four dirty hands to do this. But the result was amazing: It fits very well!

With the size and length of the engine block, I think Sleepy(Sleepin_mOnkey) would be right about the handling: it might induce some amout of undesteer, which could kill the S-Chassis characteristic that is easy to chuck into oversteer. Being used to drive AWD car, I might be able to fight it a bit. And uh, it could be an embodiment of Audi Quattro: Understeery, but easier to handle among other Group B rallycars (iirc as well as one that never killed it's driver). Yeah it's not an AWD car, and Audi eventually struggled to catch up at the end of Group B days, but still, being an RWD car, chucking the S15 into oversteer should yield less dramatic result, allowing confident inputs.

But then, being only able to go sideways using the handbrake on my Evo, and only in short time, I should have a quick tutor on how to bring a car sideways, as well as holding them and saving them from said conditions. ENtry technique, weight transfer, holding it on etc etc etc.......Not much for some showy drift actions I should say, but for controlling oversteer in general as for F1 and GT drivers when they had grip loss upon exiting corners or simply tyrig to retain some power through the corners. WHen done correctly it can be awesome even though it happened in just a flash.

Later that day, I looked for something I can use for those reasons as well to utilize the RB25 transmission and clutch. And boy I have a good idea of what it would be.........


[22 Feb 2019]
As promised, AJ's RB25 has arrived on my crib. It's extremely complete, including the transmission set, ECU and harness. AFter receiving those and moving the crate inside my crib, I plan to go pick my new car purchase but I can't be arsed to drive my Evo only to call for tow services to bring the new car home. Not only I have to pay for that, the car can't arrive immediately to my crib as I experienced back when I bought the S15. So I have to have someone chauffeuring me for a day. Thankfully, it's weekend so............

"Rantaro-san, it's me Edo"
"Oh hi Edo-kun, pretty slow weekend huh?"
"Pretty much. How about a trip together?"
"Good idea, I'm free at the moment. Where we going?"
"Yokohama. Should be a 1.5-2 hour to the place"
"Nice, but what are you going to do there?"
"Okay straight to the point: I need you to drive for me"
"Wait what happened to your Ev-"
"No nothing, it's fine, just don't want to drive it that's all. I'll explain later"
"This seems shady but okay, I'm on my way"


Rantaro closed the phone in worried tone. Welp, I really ought to explain what happen indeed.

25 minutes later, Rantaro arrived on my driveway.

"Come on boy, jump in!"

As we move off my crib, Rantaro rained me with some questions.

"Dude, why you don't drive your Evo? I though you like it"
"Yeah I know, and I do, but uhhhh......I'd just spill it here damnit. I'm going to buy another car"
"Wait you're going to ditch the Evo?"
"No man! No way I would do it"
"Then how are you going to use it? You just bought one as well and you stripped it off!"
"Listen dammit I'm not done explaining yet!"
Then I proceed to explain everything you've read previously, as well as the S15 purchase experience.


"Oh I see, so you'll be carrying the car on your own after the purchase?"
"Yap that's the point! If I'm driving my Evo who's going to drive it?"
"Well I could drive it for you-"
"But that's not going to be efficient, if you can drive your Merc II straight to Yokohama why bother switching to my Evo first?"
"Well you have a good point"
"Besides, the car I'm going to buy is similar to yours, which is a big sedan"
"A big sedan you say? Have you finally considering owning one?"
"Kind of. Weight transfer should be easy to conduct"
"Yap, welcome to the sedan world my dude!" Rantaro said as he pat my head.
"OI WATCH THE ROAD! But hey, thanks"

Two hours later, we arrived at the car's location.

"Okay there it is, park over there and wait for a while. I'll come back here if it's done."
"Okay man, I'll have a watch here"


Shortly after, I walked to the deal location. After all the papers has been done and deal is sealed, I present to you................

Yes, it's a Skyline R34, but not the ones you're usually thinking of. This is a HR34, the most basic form of the R34 family. Four doors, powered with a humble RB20DE that produced meek-sounding 153 BHP. But being an RB, it still retains it's smooth baritone voice providing a great soundtrack for pretty much anything, from city cruising to trackdays. All of the power is channeled to the rear wheels via 4-speed automatic transmission. At this point, you might already figured what I'm going to do with it........anyway it has all the basic functions like AC, airbags, radio(yay!) and the interior is all clean. Apparently it spent most of it's lifetime being a garage queen, as it only has covered 72,000 kms. And all of this for just V$1130! Dang, there are fewer better deals ever made in this world I should say.

Anyway, after the deal was sealed and the key was given to me, I returned to where Rantaro parked. I revved the burbly engine lowly to scare him a bit. I parked right beside him to give him a surprise.

"Who the hell are you what do you-"
"FOR GOD'S SAKE IT'S ME MAN! The deal has been sealed yoooooo"
"Dammit Edo-kun you freaked the dip out of me! So that's the new car?"
"Yup!"
"How much you paid for it?"
"A grand"
"A GRAND?"
"YES A GRAND!"
"Damn what a deal!"
"I know right? By the way let's grab lunch, I know a good place downtown"
"Oooooh nice, indeed I'm hungry"
"By the way let's communicate with handsfree while the road"
"Roger that boi"

So we hit the road to go to downtown Tokyo, specifically Shibuya, to have lunch at my (and AJ's) favourite sushi parlor. We parked at the roadside. It looks like Rantaro enjoyed it as well! After we finished lunch we went back home to Tsukuba.

On the highway, Rantaro demanded my impression over the HR34.

"How does it drive Edo-kun?"
"Oh, splendid all-around. You won't believe me this only has covered 72k kms in it's lifetime"
"Dang man, that's quite fresh!"
"What's more, it's clean all around here man. Feels like your home's lounge"
"Hoowee! I want to be driven inside I should say!"
"Yeah, perfect car to chauffeur people in. Oh by the way do you remember the high school girls?"
"Yea? Oh yeah those nice girls"
"This should be a perfect car to roll with them inside, it's big and comfy"
"Yeah, but not with these cheapskate wheels!" *laughter ensues*
"But really though, do you want to see them again?"
"Yeah, they're fun to talk with after all"


At this point I should tell my plans for it. So basically engine wise I'm going to swap the transmission with the one from AJ's RB25. Then I'll do a simple cam tuning, and perhaps I'll put a makeshift stroker kit as well by putting AJ's RB25 internals inside the RB20. Handling wise I'll only equip it with better suspension kit, new wheels and if I can find one for cheap, steering knuckles. And for exterior, it can be either I retain the stock kit and slap some stickers on the car or having a simple-looking kit on it. As I don't really need a lot of power to go sideways at the moment, I deem this setup to be ideal. Hell, it might not be reaching 250 BHP in the end of the procedure.

As we reached Tsukuba, we split up and went back to our cribs at it was sunset already. Now here comes a new problem: The garage space is already occupied with the Evo and the S15, so I have to park the HR34 outside. Oh well, at least the alarm is still functional.


[25 Feb 2019]
Paycheck time!Yup, another V$750 landed in my account. I bet after the HR34 purchase there will be two people saying different things. One would be "Damn Smoke! You're short on budget yet you still want a unique project car! I approve!" and the other would be "Smoke you utter idiot! You're on the verge of bankruptcy yet you took another project car? Why don't you finish the S15 first?" But eh, at this point I don't really care. It's a bit surreal as well that I bought another car (a)in the verge of bankruptcy and (b)roughly a week after buying one car. I'm quickly moving up into the 3-car garage club it seems :))

Anyway, let me show you the fresh heart of the RB20 inside the HR34! And oh, I haven't thought a nickname for it...........
(yes I know, that's an RB26 cover)

I haven't had any time to work on both the S15 and HR34 yet, so the inter-RB transplant operation should be done in next days. Speaking of which, I now own three of seven RB blocks officially produced by Nissan, and basically I can only get one of them if I want to complete the collection, with one sold outside Japan and two being basically unobtainium (to elaborate, I have RB20,RB25 and RB26. The rest are RB24 that isn't sold in Japan (and basically a mix between RB20,25 and 30), RB30, RB28/RRR (the one for R34 Z-Tune and GT500 cars) and RB-X GT2 (the one for R33 LM and Nismo 400R)). Interesting, isn't it? And of course, most of the parts spreading between all of them are interchangeable (just like the case of RB24), giving me an advantage over the transplant process.

















Dang this update is long but at least I barely made if out from bankruptcy.
How did I survive? Let's see..............


And oh, I do mention about my sticker designs.
Check out some of them inside the spoiler and all of them HERE!














That's all my updates for now, thank you for stopping by and see you soon!

This post was edited by BigSmoke (2019-02-26 08:04, ago)
Still following the damn train since 1992

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Niatross

bd
Posts: 430

Location: Bangladesh
Occupation: topkek
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#168   2019-02-25 14:36          
the friendly neighborhood Mitsubishi man is now going deep into Nissan!
And now that you have not one, but TWO RB-powered builds, you know who to hit up for genuine Nismo parts ;) (a bit of a shameless plug but ok)

And also im glad you finally have a drift-build!! Now that i also have the E36, we should for sure go sliding when the HR34 is ready ;)


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

BigSmoke

id
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#169   2019-02-25 15:01          
# Niatross : the friendly neighborhood Mitsubishi man is now going deep into Nissan!
And now that you have not one, but TWO RB-powered builds, you know who to hit up for genuine Nismo parts ;) (a bit of a shameless plug but ok)

And also im glad you finally have a drift-build!! Now that i also have the E36, we should for sure go sliding when the HR34 is ready ;)

Oh yeah it's Nismo timeeeeeeeee :))
Welp, I might end up ordering some parts from you, but let's see what fate has in store

And OF COURSE MY MAN we have to do a tandem sesh! Whether if it's on Tsukuba, Ebisu or anywhere else I'm up for it!
(And Spring Matsuri is still in may so plenty of time to build the HR34)
Still following the damn train since 1992

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Sleepin mOnkey

jp
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Location: Japan Universe, Milky way ,Solar system, Earth
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Age: 32
V$: 14.750
#170   2019-02-25 17:11          
dammmit smoke I almost bought this 34 good luck with it man
Roleplay: A engine Builder and tuner that lives in Japan and Builds cool stuff.
Cars: Corolla Levin coupe Tog/show car
180SX s13 350hp SR20DET 6MT Babe 1
Supra Sz JZA80 2jz-Gte Vvt-i 2000's Hotboi
240sx Vert HOTBOI 2

CLICCC...

BigSmoke

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#171   2019-02-25 17:19          
# Sleepin mOnkey : dammmit smoke I almost bought this 34 good luck with it man

Oh really? Welp sorry from taking it away from you man :O
But don't worry tho, as far as I'm concerned as long as it's an AT, these things will stay at around V$1-3k.The cheapest manual I found starts at 4k
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Macaron_Moon

jp
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#172   2019-02-25 17:32          
Next time you go to Tokyo bring Yuuta with you, I'd like to chat with him some time :)

BigSmoke

id
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#173   2019-02-25 17:39          
# Macaron_Moon : Next time you go to Tokyo bring Yuuta with you, I'd like to chat with him some time :)

Well I'd like to if I could, he would be happy for that :D
Still following the damn train since 1992

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Soju

kr
Posts: 1247

Location: South Korea
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Age: 122
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#174   2019-02-26 07:49          
Dayum, that is a really lucky find, just 1k for ER34!

Hope the project goes really well :)

BigSmoke

id
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#175   2019-02-26 08:02          
# Soju : Dayum, that is a really lucky find, just 1k for ER34!

Hope the project goes really well :)

I know right? A clean low-miler as well to top all of that :D

Thanks for the kind words my man :D
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11000rpm

kr
Posts: 391

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#176   2019-02-26 08:11          
you have a lot of builds going on lately, wonder how will they turn into under your touch :)

BigSmoke

id
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#177   2019-02-26 15:05          
# 11000rpm : you have a lot of builds going on lately, wonder how will they turn into under your touch :)

Might not be resembling Midas touch but hopefully matches or even surpasses the quality I've set on the Silver Queen ;)
Still following the damn train since 1992

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BigSmoke

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#178   2019-03-02 19:27          
Trans-Transplant & The Major Test














Finally, after some busy weekdays, I'm able to work again on my car! :D
It is now time for toying up with three different RB blocks I acquired at last week.
Additionally, it is time to see how far the Silver Queen can really be pushed with all upgrades applied.
Let's jump into the update then! :D











[28 Feb 2019]
It's the end of the month, and almost all ice and snow in the city has been melt. Though freezy cold rains still occured (occasionally followed by heavy winds), it means that spring has almost arrived and it is officially safe again to deploy semi-slick tires to the fullest yay! Also, administration offices normally receive requests at days like this, so what I did was renewing the HR34 sedan's registration at local DMV and had it go through sha-ken test. Thankfully, being a garage queen that hasn't been modded in any way, it passed the test quite easily. The DMV would send me new plates the next day, and thankfully Ii should have done most of my works by then.

It's been around two or three months without trackday, and my Silvr Queen has gone through a lot of transformations. I really should have one soon to find out how far I could really push it, especially since my tests so far are limited to public roads testing which of course is restricted with speed limits and traffic laws. And uh, another thing is, due to the state of my Silvia and a lot of business going on, I have to miss the first Attack Maximum Challenge event of the year, which was delivering some surprises, specifically since no one would predict Canadian time attack master William Au-Yeung and one of Australian's time attack ace Adam Casmiri would compete as well! To top it off, both Will and Adam brought their signature cars to compete at the event (Vibrant Performance Civic FB for Will and JDMYard/Hardrace Civic EG6 for Adam). Both succesfully shattered the FWD record held by Nob Taniguchi with the HKS TRB-04 Swift, with Adam scoring 54.901 seconds and Will officially holding the new record with 53.071 seconds.

To be fair, Nob's Swift had less fancy aero tricker than Adam's EG6, let alone Will's Civic FB. But then, basically almost all Civics used in Tsukuba has similar aero kits like Adam has on his EG6, even the famous Aslan EG6. This demonstrates just how critical and important aerodynamic works is in the world of time attack racing. Yes, you could tune the engine all you might, but in the end what matters most is how to glue your car into the track.


[01 Mar 2019]
The new plates has arrived! And more importantly, time to do the inter-transplant for the RBs. As you've read on the previous update, AJ (RocketBunnyS13) kindly gave me his complete RB25DET engine to me, out of his S14 that is currently undergoing restoration. AJ said that all parts are healthy, except for the fuel injectors. But that doesn't really worry me, I've got an idea on what I should do with it.......and thankfully all of this came with 5-speed manual transmission as well as ECU and it's harnesses. Quite handy for the other RBs I own then.........

First off, the easier ones: The RB26 inside my S15 came with harnesses but no ECU, and I have to sort the wiring manually afterwards. So for the moment I have to use the ECUs from AJ's RB25 and adjust the wiring as far as I could. Additionally, I also fitted the flywheel from it, but not the clutch. I've explained in previous updates that I had acquired Nissan CD009 transmission, which is originally for Nissan 350Z and Nissan Skyline V35. This means I have to source the clutch that would fit them. At least I still could fit flywheels intended for RB blocks thanks to the adapters I bought along. ANother thing I fitted on it was the alternator as well as it's belts.

There are a hell lot of things I should buy for this car at the moment, but for now the priority is to have it run inside the engine.....naturally there's no Silvias running on RB engines after all so it's be a big disaster if I got it wrong. So the priority list at the moment consists of Z33 clutch, intercooler setup, sorting the rest of the wiring, get a driveshaft, and get manual pedals set (I'm an idiot for forgetting to buy manual pedals set). And probably a seat and power steering as well, and definitely a short throw kit, or even a sequential shifter kit if I can find one. Then the very first iteration of this project can be launched into the world technically.

Next up, the big one: Time to move on to the HR34. As well as the fitting the plate I've got from the DMV, I decided to pull the engine out (this took some hours, three big full swear jars and some painful muscles). What I'm doing to the RB20DE is fitting the 5-speed MT from AJ's RB25 along with the clutch, and a bit of experimenting: I manually increase the cylinder bore of the engine a bit(holy number nines I swear this is sweat inducing that you can't swear during the process. At least I had markers and pencils in my supplies), then I fitted the internals (crank, rods and pistons specifically) from AJ's RB25 to create a makeshift bore and stroker kit since the bore is 8mm larger than the ones from RB20, and the stroke is 2mm longer. I also did some ECU and cam tuning to the RB20. "But Smoke, why not fit the turbos as well?" No, not yet. I've still got ways to go on mastering the art of grassroot drifting before I step onto the turbo league (or not at all).

So what's left from AJ's RB25 are the empty block with most of the pins, an entire head setup, intake manifold, fuel injectors, exhaust manifold, and the turbo, as well as the electrical harnesses. These will serve as spares if at one moment, well god forbid, the RB26 is destroyed and I have a severe lack of money as I experienced at the moment. Sure, there would be a lot of disadvantages from downgrading to RB25DET, but since most parts of them are interchangeable as I've demonstrated at this moment, I could make it into a RB25DETT or simply another RB26 if I'm lucky enough.

As for the visual parts, I'm not planning a lot for the HR34. I simply would fit new wheels for it, and perhaps adding universal-fit bash bars behind the front and rear bumpers if possible. I'd like to keep the stock bodykits, I don't think it would need to go flashy. I mean, as I'm still a beginner on drifting world, there would be times when I uhh....again, god forbid, send the car into a tyrewall or an armco or even worse, a concrete wall, hence the need of bash bars and not a bodykit. Though the facelift bumpers look comical and GT-T bumpers looks handsome........And I think I'd like to keep this paint on, and perhaps slap some of my homemade stickers (check them HERE!)or other kinds of stickers.

Later that day I did some time trial info browsing. You might know that I chose the S15 for it's myriad options of tuning and it's lightness, and the current Tsukuba track record holder is a heavily tuned S15 driven by Tomohiko Suzuki, or better known as Under Suzuki. I was able to track back that very project and turns out Suzuki-san way back then is simply one of us: An employee/office worker who spent his spare time tuning his car and attending motorsport events. His S15 build was started and finished way back then, almost 10 years ago (according to his personal blog), and had it's first spotlight at 2010 as an amateur builder when he won the Second class with the S15 that he still kept until now as the S15 we know today. His project back then relies a lot on aftermarket parts as I expected, except perhaps the front bumper, front quarterpanels and the rear bumper. I don't think those parts are aftermarket as well. Nevertheless, the figures for it are already mad: It produces 612 BHP and could set a time of somewhere around 55 seconds. I really hope I could follow his footsteps, except perhaps I'm Forever an Am.

And oh, I also listed the stock RB20 parts I've uninstalled, namely the auto transmission for V$1000 (since it's a low miler), stock internals for V$2000, and clutch for V$300. It is a great thing this HR34 spent it's time as a garage queen, as everything was still in pristine condition.


[02 Mar 2019]
Speaking of Tsukuba and time attack, today's trackday time! I'm sure after all the upgrades I've put inside the Silver Queen, you might ask how it would do at Tsukuba Circuit. And well, it's time to find the answer. After breakfast, I went off to Tsukuba Circuit at 9am and arrived at 10.15am. After the Attack event last week, I could see some teams trying to improve their cars, and predictably there are a lot of FWD cars. Everyone's still in shock seeing the performance of Adam and Will I suppose.......either way, they might jump-start their tests to avoid heavy trackday traffic at Sunday.

After parking my car at the paddock, I rather hurriedly going to the stewards office to get a VBox recorder. Thankfully, they still had some despite of a lot of TA cars attending the trackday today, and I came back to the paddock with excitement. And oh, the VBox rental costs V$50, I should inform you. After some minutes of installing and calibrating the VBox, I lined up to the pitlane and waiting for green light at the exit. Oh, by the way, with all the mods but stock aeros, anything under a minute would make me very happy.

Light went green and I set off. Time to cook the tyres a bit first. Initial impressions are amazing: The car kept on feeding itself on power and torque, so much that I have to fight a micro bit of understeer on tighter corners. It's still extremely stable though, just like before I put engine mods on it.

For a man who's rarely experienced with more than 300+ BHP of power AND not fully utilizing it for a whole lifetime, unleashing all the power of the mighty 4G63 engine sure felt like experiencing a fast-forwarded clip of a rollercoaster ride. The world blurs away from the side windows as my eyes, hands and mind trying to coordinate with each other to control the Evo. At urban areas, the Silver Queen simply wants to punch me in the face. On highway and touge roads, the Queen asks me to run gently with her, like a couple in a flower fields. It becomes clear that here in racetracks the Silver Queen wants to either have a rollercoaster ride with me OR wants me to perform a base jumping stunt, with her rudely pushing my back as I jump off the cliff. Thankfully, the new brakes can match the car's performance now, giving me more confidence to pick later braking points

As I approached the final section of the track, I prepare myself for what we're waiting for: Some hotlaps!

I pushed myself and the Silver Queen harder lap by lap, sometimes while avoiding traffic. I can hear myself internally screaming "Come on girl GO GO GO!" at times in my mind when exiting corners. It was just THAT intense driving this car now! It was sooo intense time passed quickly as I scored almost 30 laps on the track :))


The results? Insert drumroll here........I'm delighted to report that my fastest lap was 59.672 seconds!! :bananajump:
Well, had it have aero trickeries it might as well dipping around 57 or even 56 seconds, but as the Silver Queen doubles as my daily, this already satisfied me a whole lot, after all my target is simply under a minute. My lap time in general ranges from higher 59 seconds to 1:02 territory, largely due to the presence of traffic. Still, I can't imagine entering this car entering time attack events competitively, as it might end up in the middle pack or even the bottom pack. And that's where the S15 comes to play much, much later someday. But damn, that's a lot of improvement from 1:05+ territory back then.

I spent the rest of my trackday having some cooling down laps for the Silver Queen. I can imagine brake dust forming a mountain on the wheels already, and she's already showing a sign of fuel thirst.......and of course it would be rude to ask her stopping immediately.

Finally, I brought the Silver Queen back to the pits. Stepping off the car wand returning the VBox back to the stewards office was quite a chore after all the actions on the track. But eh, it had a happy ending after all. Project Silver Queen is a success but I do really hope I can top it off with my S15.

At the end of the day after I get off the track complex, I simply aided the Evo's fuel thirst by stopping at a gas station, then come back home and had a full rest.


Dear my Silver Queen, I love you :-X :-*















Welp a lot of improvements happen this week!
My wallet hasn't affected much for the moment so I'll just put it here:
Initial V$ = V$ 1,659
VBox Rental = V$ 50
Fuel = V$ 75
V$ at the moment = V$ 1,659 - 50 - 80 = V$ 1,534















That's all my updates for now, thank you for stopping by and see you soon!

This post was edited by BigSmoke (2019-03-09 21:07, ago)
Still following the damn train since 1992

Visit my RP HERE!

Niatross

bd
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#179   2019-03-02 21:32          
You're making an absolute asian hotchpotch out of those RB's there and i gotta hand it to you for that! Using whatever you have and keeping it as cost friendly as possible :))
AND HOLY HELL A SUB 50-SECOND TSUKUBA LAP! (lowkey setting that as a benchmark to beat on the E46 OuO)
Overall, great progress on the builds my man! cant wait to get done on the E46 and go for a duo-Tsukuba run!


Current owned cars:
- Toyota Supra GA-JZA70 Mk3
- BMW E46 M3
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- Nissan 200SX Hatchback
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- Mazda RX-7 JF1FD (USDM)
- Nissan Silvia S14

Buzzsaw

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#180   2019-03-02 23:22          
Damn, 59 sec? That must be hell quick Lancer. Seen your S15 turning, very nicely.
I'm sure, selling your homemade stickers would be helpful for your project.
Click here for to my RP thread.

Sleepin mOnkey

jp
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Location: Japan Universe, Milky way ,Solar system, Earth
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#181   2019-03-03 01:45          
Daaaam sub minute on a car like that is almost impossible i'm kinda wanting to take a step on the AWD world tho. Also would be pretty happy to provide the S15 with a full Standalone and wire it you only need to pay for the labor just gotta drop by
Roleplay: A engine Builder and tuner that lives in Japan and Builds cool stuff.
Cars: Corolla Levin coupe Tog/show car
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BigSmoke

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#182   2019-03-03 02:34          
# Niatross : You're making an absolute asian hotchpotch out of those RB's there and i gotta hand it to you for that! Using whatever you have and keeping it as cost friendly as possible :))
AND HOLY HELL A SUB 50-SECOND TSUKUBA LAP! (lowkey setting that as a benchmark to beat on the E46 OuO)
Overall, great progress on the builds my man! cant wait to get done on the E46 and go for a duo-Tsukuba run!

When you constantly living on a budget that's probably how you work on your car :))
Man I'd love to have a trackday together with youe E46, can't wait for the moment it's ready to roll again! ;)

# Buzzsaw : Damn, 59 sec? That must be hell quick Lancer. Seen your S15 turning, very nicely.
I'm sure, selling your homemade stickers would be helpful for your project.

Sure it is, especially with stock bodykits all around :D
Thanks for the kind words for the S15 as well!

I'd like to do that, though I haven't had a shop yet.........

# Sleepin mOnkey : Daaaam sub minute on a car like that is almost impossible i'm kinda wanting to take a step on the AWD world tho. Also would be pretty happy to provide the S15 with a full Standalone and wire it you only need to pay for the labor just gotta drop by

Welp, to be honest I still have to drive like a madman to achieve it......felt like being ascended in the process :))
And it's quite difficult with my Evo still on stock bodykit sooo not a lot of aero (um, the mod only has stock kits)
Welp with your magical works you've done, I'd say do it man! :D
And of coure I appreciate your offerings like always, thanks man :D

In some ways my Evo reflects the GC8 built by Naoki Takigashira: It's streetlegal (though whether if it's also a daily is debatable), not a lot of aero tunes (only a 22B-style widebody and custom mirrors) and a hell lot of power (555 BHP, has been increased a bit since). The car usually lands itself at 56-58 seconds territory.
Still following the damn train since 1992

Visit my RP HERE!

Sleepin mOnkey

jp
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Location: Japan Universe, Milky way ,Solar system, Earth
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V$: 14.750
#183   2019-03-03 03:10          
sut drop by and i can tune and wire this puppy
Roleplay: A engine Builder and tuner that lives in Japan and Builds cool stuff.
Cars: Corolla Levin coupe Tog/show car
180SX s13 350hp SR20DET 6MT Babe 1
Supra Sz JZA80 2jz-Gte Vvt-i 2000's Hotboi
240sx Vert HOTBOI 2

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Soju

kr
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#184   2019-03-03 09:01          
That is a lot of progress! And also congrats for getting sub 1-minute lap at the track!

BigSmoke

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#185   2019-03-03 13:15          
# Soju : That is a lot of progress! And also congrats for getting sub 1-minute lap at the track!

Thanks for the kind words my man :D
Still following the damn train since 1992

Visit my RP HERE!

BigSmoke

id
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#186   2019-03-09 21:07          
Training Wheels









So, it is time to unveil the first iteration of the HR34 drift car project.
But there's more: I've augmented the handling side of my Silver Queen by changing her shoes :D
And of course it is time to see how far and fast the HR34 could go sideways!
Without further ado let's jump into the update! :D










[04 Mar 2019]
Paycheck time! V$750 has landed safely in my account. It's still a far cry to fulfill the needs for my S15, but hey, baby steps should be made, no matter how small it is. And then there's also my HR34, which basically almost there to be a srteetlegal, grassroot level drift car. As I've said in the previous update, I'm not going to do a lot of visual mods besides wheels and stickers, though I may add front and rear bash bars if (a)I can find one, and (b)they can be covered by the bumper (to keep it street legal and still look clean). And yes, I know what are their essential function, as well as how they're usually fitted, but it should be a wise decision to strengthen your car in general yea?

Speaking of which, I'm sure almost all of you had known that following some incidents (including deaths.....iirc there are 1 or 2 of them) happening at Japanese drift tracks, which involves loose and or/detached car parts, almost every single tracks (including Ebisu) now has stricter rules regarding cars to use at drift days. Don't worry, it's not as strict as you would think. Basically your car has to be rigid and strong enough or at least streetlegal, with running gear parts strong enough to be abused around so they don't came loose while you're in action. At least one braking light can be used, you have to have a headlight set if you're participating in Matsuri events, all side mirrors had to be present.......simply it's just how you would like to see your car everyday.

Of course they still tolerate the usual missile dings, dents, scratches and other sorts of damage, as long as you can repair them back to acceptable conditions (doesn't have to be pristine, superglue and/or zipties might do it, not sure about ducktapes). The one they would prohibit would be major damages like a huge panel gap or a major dent that changes the shape of your car. Also, if you happen to have fluid leaks (oil, coolant, water etc), you have to pull back to pits safely and mend your car in the meantime. If your car can't be repaired permanently, of coure it'll be game over for you. I don't really know if there's any other places that hasn't set this kind of rule in motion, by the way. But the point is, track owners and officials doesn't want to have death traps around their lawn that could cause another major accident. This way, everyone can stay safe and healthy while throwing their cars sideways as well. If you're interested on this, you might want to read these two articles, as well as watching Alexi/Noriyaro explaining what is actually happening. Speaking of which, the very basic guideline of what sort of missile car that still can be used is.......just look at Alexi's Beercan R32. That thing is quite smashed up but still can be repaired and has mostly complete equipments.

I'd say that's enough talk about missile and grasroots car for a while. Anyway, while I was about to finish my job for the day, AJ (RocketBunnyS13) called me on the phone. We talked a lot about the HR34 drift project, as well as the S15, and of course that I put all of his RB25 parts into both aformentiojed cars.

"Oh yah Edo, are you in need for new set of wheels?"
"O-oh yah, thanks for mentioning that. I wonder should I fit Driftmaster wheels or Advan TC3s for my-"
"No, I have a better idea. How about R33 stockies?"
"Oh that could work too I guess. But I'm not sure if I can find one"
"Don't worry, just take mine"
"Eeeeh really?"
"Yea, that's okay. They're a lot actually and can be grabbed for cheap"
"Dang AJ, I owe you more than I should be. Thanks a lot man"

Well at least what he gave to me is more reasonable hihe. But still, man I really owe him a dinner I should say.


[05 Mar 2019]
There are two things that came to me at this point. The first one was some money for selling some of the RB20 parts I've mentioed in the first update, for a grand total of V$3300. The second one was, rather obviously, the R33 stockies AJ offered for me. They're in the size of 17 inches, complete with tyres. The front one is rather well used, the rear one is obviously well cooked after all the drifts AJ has pulled along it's lifetime. Since I'm rather bored with the stock wheels on the HR34 and uhhhhh......obviously they won't stand for drifting abuse, I giddily fitted the R33 stockies to the HR34.

Well they might look weird at the back, but at least they fit very well and easy. To make it fit better, there would be two options: Get a bigger tyre or lower the car. Obviously, having bigger tyre would really change the car's character so it might be a bit difficult to throw it sideways, so I should lower it.

But before I'm going underneath the car to lower the stock suspensions, I remembered something: The HR34 is under the same state of S15, i.e. needs clutch pedal. And since this was equipped with auto transmission and uh, not being sold as a performance car, it still has an open diff. I mean, sure, you still can bring your car sideways on open diff, but it'll be rather hard to do. Chances are either you struggled to control it, you struggled to hold it or, god forbid, you posted your car somewhere off the road, whether if it's a wall/armco, building or even a cliff. To cut cost I could weld it, but it would be rather difficult without jacks and it'll be difficult for low-speed daily usage, and if done incorrectly might decrease the diff's lifetime. Or I could simply fill the diff with epoxy as this recently viral video shows, but it could break itself (both the epoxy and the diff). So I took note on this for later pruposes.

In pure curiousity, I took off the R33 stockies for a while, roll it off to the garage, and put it side to side with my Silver Queen's wheel arches. I forgot to take photo of it, but turns out fitting 17s instead of 16s on my Evo should give a huge difference on grip levels and handling precision. And uh, obviously, ride comfort. It's bigger, thicker, and ceratinly gives more room for brake upgrades. Well, I love me bigger brakes, despite almost entering 300mm discs territory :))

Excited with this finding, I put the stockies back to the HR34, got back inside my crib and pulled out a gigantic shopping list......

First off, shopping list for the HR34: The main priority here is to get an LSD for it, and after some researches I found lots of R-chassis users recommends Kaaz LSD for low-level/grassroots usage, so I followed their advice and grabbed the 2-way ones off RHDJapan for V$845. And then for a better response and steering angle I grabbed Driftworks Geomaster 2 knuckle kit for V$522. They offer a nice additional function as well, which is lowering your car around 50mm or 0.5cm. Perfect for me, who hasn't got any money for drift coilovers yet. And since Hardrace's camber kit was quite durable and did their job very well on the Silver Queen since way, way back then, I decided to fit them on the HR34 as well, which costs V$329 for the fronts and V$161 for the rears. Additionally, I grabbed brake and clutch pedal set assembly from a R34 GT-T (what a find!) for V$100 here, and to connect the pedal to the clutch, I grab HEL braided clutch line for V$22 at Tegiwa Imports. Additionally I grabbed MoMo Tuner 350mm steering wheels at V$198 for the HR34, since drifting with stock steering wheels is usually a bit of a chore for the hands. Quite budget friendly stuff innit?

Next up is the list for the Silver Queen: Not a lot of them, but perhaps more expensive. WedsSport TC105N wheels are quite rare these days, so Ii'm quite grateful when this site had them in 17x9 on clearance sale, for a grand total of V$1480 a set. And to match the wheels, and to match most of Tsukuba's time attack racer's preference as well as trying something different, I grabbed a set of Advan AD08R tyres off Demon Twweks for V$456. Quite expensive, I know, but that's what semi-slicks would get you. Additionally, I contacted the place where I bought my brake kits back then and I offered to return my 298mm discs on all sides in exchange of 309mm discs also on all sides. Thankfully, they agreed, as well as quoting an extra V$400 for the exchange.

And finally, for the S15, I've bought it some things as well. Chase Bays Motorpsports has some nice kits on them for the RB conversion with VQ transmission. What I've grabbed from them are their power steering kit for V$320, fuel line kit for V$200 and clutch line for the transmission for V$65. Additionally, finally I can get the 350Z's OEM clutch kit for V$295 as well as clutch pedal assembly for S15 at V$47. Well, if you want to know how bad thsi was to my wallet, you can jump into the wallet section as usual later.



[08 Mar 2019]
Welp, you can be really sure that your shopping list was really huge when it fills 1/3 of your delivery truck, wew boi! It took me almost half an hour just to unload everything I've ordered.But hey, it feels like you're in heaven after all the cash spending hihe. Anyways, I opted to install everything I bought for the Silver Queen first, since it got the fewest shopping list. First off, the wheels. For a comparison, here's a pic of it with 17in wheels at the front and 16s at the back, as well as 298mm brake discs:

Looking good aren't they? Properly meaty as well. With my hypothesis fulfilled with brilliant result, I changed the wheels as well as fitting the new brake discs. Thanks to my days installing upgrades with Ohira-sensei and Summer Yume crews, this time I can do it rather quickly and with neither swearing nor having blody knuckles. Here's the final result by the way. Behold, the now- T H I C C er and sexier Silver Queen :)) :-X



Job on the Silver Queen done, I took a quick test with it by delivering the old 298mm brake discs to the delivery service. Braking power definitely increased again as I could come into a sudden stop easily at traffic lights. I think after the Tsukuba trackday I've been accustomised to the acceleration punches the Silver Queen delivered, but this time she hugs me from the back quite hard at full stop sequences. Quite rough I should say, but I love it. Is it wrong if I want to say "hit me harder!" to the Silver Queen whilst on high speeds? :)) Also, the ride comfort isn't really affected, at least from the driver's side. I should carry a passenger to verify this.

After delivery sorted, I returned back to my crib and got straight into my garage to fit the parts for the S15. Y'know what? This car at the moment gave me quite a headache as basically I'm nursing three cars in a chassis right now (to recap: R32 engine, S15 chassis and running gear, Z33 drivetrain). But as all of the cars are my favourites (yes, I'm actually a Nissan fan), I also enjoyed working on it with love. Besides, with all of these swappity-swap works, it could teach me a lot of mechanical knowledge on cars (specifically, Nissans). I can't imagine that I, someone who rarely holds a spanner in the past, would work on a DIY time trial car like this. No, I'm not complaining, I'm just gleed over that fact :)) Now all that's left for it for now are driver seat, matching driveshaft and RB intercoolr setup, as well as sorting the wiring. I wonder if Nismo would accept sorting a mix-and-matched cars like this? :))

Finally, working on the HR34, which has most parts bought for it. I started by fitting the easiest part, which is steering wheel. And then get under the car to fit everything else. I was almost got showered by diff oil, ah silly me. It wasn't a quick jobbie either with only using scissor jacks to lift the car. But all in all, finally it's ready to see some sideways action! (And I still don't know how powerful it is). Additionally, with the camber kit fitted, I adjusted a little bit of the front camber for better front grip while getting sideways while, but not so much so I can keep it streetlegal.

This took a lot of time that by the time I finished working, it's already dark. I tried my best to capture the result.

At the end of the day, I listed several things for sale. I sold the HR34 stockies with tyres for V$300, and since I never use the steelies on my Evo anymore, I sold them as well for V$600 (the tyres are still fresh, damn). For now on, the 16in wheels set will be the spare tyres set. I also sold the S15's stock fuel line kit for V$100. They're meant for SR engines so if you're interested, hit me up. Other things that I listed are HR34's stock open diff for V$360 and HR34 stock hub knuckles for V$200.


[09 Mar 2019]
It is now time to test the HR34, long since the last time I've driven it (which is immediately after I bought it). I got off my crib in the early morning to go to Tsukuba's industrial area. Usually it's quite calm and empty in the morning save for some trucks, and the road are usually dusty, perfect to chuck it sideways while not wearing off a lot of the tyres. Well yes I said the rear tyres has been cooked off, what I'm saying is the dust might keep it from ripping apart.

Half an hour later, I arrived at one of the blocks I saw fitting and quite dusty. As you can see, the road is quite wide as well, so you can push your car a bit, though the risk of crashing into everything is still present. Oh anyway, the car felt quite sprightly on the way here. I guess the tuning and makeshift bore and stroker kit was a huge success :D

With everything I know about drifting in my head, I approached a junction nearby to try bringing the car sideways. So I did a bit of scandinavian flick as rally drivers does, turned around while releasing the accelerator and added a bit of brake on the top, and back on the accel. And so, Ii went sideways for teh first time of my life.

It felt like the world has turned upright when I did it as I tried to hold it a bit. Perhaps this was caused by a huge amount of body roll......and you'd be right. It feels really out of this world, depite being a huge sedan. On the plus side though, I still could catch it back and straightened the car.

Looking up for more and wanting to test the handbrake, I approached the next junction rather quickly. And then I pulled the handbrake while turn.....and forgetting how dusty this place was. I guess I was too greedy at the entry.

In a panic I tried to steer the car back (yep, feel free to facepalm). Thankfully, the steering and camber settings responded my frantic hands quite well, and the sidewalk was quite low I only felt it for a while. And so to save myself, I sent the HR34 into a spin to avoid the tail smashing the nearby building. I didn't soil my pants, but my bowel and head certainly felt uncomfortable.

Bringing my car into a near 180 degree spin reveals a road quite wide to do a manji there. If I do a manji on open diff I would probably crash as transitioning would be difficult due to the nature of open diff. So after some time checking if anyone saw me spin (thankfully, none), I proceed to that road and immediately pull another entry. The car flowed well within my hands somehow.

As I hold the drift I can see only a truck and somehow, a steamroller on roadside being the obstacle. Did Dio Brando came here? So I tried to avoid those by pulling a manji. Well I ended up pulling a huge sanpatsu (triple flick) with all the amount of throttle and steering input I did. Anyway, a bit of trivia: Sanpatsu/triple flick can be done anywhere, but mostly done at the highway at Port Ooi to connect two right corners in high speed. Of course you can do more than three flicks if you have a lower-powered car (otherwise you'll overshot the corner), but logically it'll be an odd-numbered flicks if you're connecting two same-direction turns (three,five,seven etc. flicks). According to Alexi, there are three places you can legally pull a sanpatsu: Ebisu Hhigashi's start/finish straight, Tsukuba Circuit's start/finish straight and Nikko Circuit's backstraight. Here's a demonstration of how one pull a sanpatsu on Port Ooi in Assetto Corsa.

With high noon approaching fast and industrial workers coming fast, I had to stop my drifting session abruptly and head back to my crib before I smashed someone off the road and/or security agents caught my shenanigans. That doesn't stop me from exiting the complex in a flurry though! ;)

Overall results? I'm quite satisfied with the car so far, just need a smidge more power (as long as it's below 300 BHP), better tyres (or probably changing the wheel as well), and probably get better brakes. And better seats too. I mean, I was definitely trying to hold myself in my seat as I go sideways......My head almost hit the window glass at one time.


[10 Mar 2019]
I've tested the HR34, now it is time to test the Silver Queen-"Wait Smoke hadn't you tested it?" Well yes, at Tsukuba Circuit. Now it is time for the touge test, to see if it could felt at home as back when I'm having touge shenanigans with AJ and Muza(Niatross). Also, I'd like to test how far I could push the Advans and the new 17in wheels. Thankfully, Tsukuba Fruits Line touge is as quiet as it's always been, so I should be able to push the Silver Queen to the limit.

But before all of that, I took a rest on the nearest parking lot to observe traffic levels and to catch some breathe before going into the action. The Silver Queen likes to blend with the nature I should say :D


Preparations done, I headed downhill into the first corner. Welp, here come sthe rollercoaster ride, and the Silver Queen certainly quite eager to ride on it!

The first corner (and my personal favourite) comes into the eye, and the Silver Queen attacks it with full confidence. The grip level is astonishing, and quite tempting me to drive fast. To make things worse, 'No One Sleeps in Tokyo' was pumping :)) But indeed it's quite astonishing as it was quite stable and grippy despite running downhill quickly......all felt positively balanced. And notably I was confident enough to clip the gutter at the apex of the corner. Don't worry, the inner side of the tyre could catch it.


In fact it's quite grippy and inspiring I was exiting said corner (a)at full throttle and (b)on the opposite side of the road. That shows just how can the Silver Queen obeys your command while at the same time pushes you to do your best and want you to push it back. It wants your communication and understanding. Aand love, obviously.

The road widens and reveals a chicane. Naturally, I'd try to stay on the correct lane, but this time, drunk on power and adrenaline, I tried to hit the apex correctly. Thankfully, there's nothing on the oncoming lane.


Afterwards, here comes my favourite section: It has no specific name, I just simply call it the "Don't Cut" section because well, obviously you may not cut the corners since there are cliff faces and rocks at the apex being covered by vines and bushes. The Silver Queen though, encouraged me to get closer, and thanks to the increased steering tactility, it feels like my eyes and hands can predict and see what's ahead easily.


The road winds on and on, with no armco in sight. Normally this would be fearful to me, but indeed as fast you can go, the feeling of fear took a back seat and slowly dissolves as joy kicks in. I can only sinisterly scream "SOMEBODY STOP ME!" in my mind. This is how rallying and touge properly feels like yea?

Despite being pretty much the only vehicle in the road, I really love this touge session. I can move freely, hands and wheels in unison tackling each corner, all the power being tapped out. I guess I have to come here with some friends so I can share the joy....yeah, another mass touge run should be held here!

As for the Silver Queen? Well, she's as sprightly as she's always been. In the previous update I've said that the Silver Queen wants to run gently with me in the touge roads, as if we're on a flower fields. Well, it still applies here, only now it runs quite eagerly, full of spirit as if the flower fields was huge and filled with her favourite flowers and colors. She also hugs me at times, as if she doesn't want me to run somewhere else and needs me to saty with her. Happy trails, I should say.
We're running so quickly, the end of the touge route soon appeared to my eyes. I quickly merged back to the correct lane and slowed down a bit to calm myself down. The Silver Queen has proved herself at Tsukuba Fruits Lline with flying colours and I'm proud of it. I do realize I'm being too romantic with this car, but after all, it's my first car, and it has gone so much changes and it's all worth it in the end. If you don't feel the same along the ownership/before you sell them for any reasons, safe to say......you need a psychiatrist.


I left the touge while blasting ODESZA's 'A Moment Apart' in the car. It was quite a heavenly moment to be celebrated......

Oh, by the way, remember when I was talking about european car imports? Perhaps you don't, but let me remind you again. I found some cheap cars that can be purchased online around Eastern Europe, some of which are even cheaper than all of the steering wheels I've ever owned. And the point is, I'm going to buy one soon. Well to be fair, it's not an European brand, but still. Try to guess what would it be as I'll unveil it next week.

And possibly, I could buy another car as well, this time still in the Japan soil. What I could only say is, it's Ford Fiesta's sashimi-eating cousin. Stay tuned for that thing as well, I should say ;)











Another long update done and dusted! Took 6 hours to write :))
Let's see how did my wallet survive after the massive shopping spree:













That's all my updates for now, thank you for stopping by and see you soon!

This post was edited by BigSmoke (2019-03-14 18:09, ago)
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Sleepin mOnkey

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#187   2019-03-10 02:35          
34 going strong i can say now its a pretty fun ride
Roleplay: A engine Builder and tuner that lives in Japan and Builds cool stuff.
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#188   2019-03-10 04:19          
That's a really nice look on the 34, and the Evo is just looking perfect as always :D

Niatross

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#189   2019-03-10 09:22          
Great progress on the builds again man! :D
As Sleepy just said, the 34 sure does look like a fun ride already. You may need Coilovers like ASAP tho XD
oh and good to see Silver Queen finally sitting on a set of bigger wheels. It was basically a necessity ever since the car started pushing good amounts of power


Current owned cars:
- Toyota Supra GA-JZA70 Mk3
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- Mazda RX-7 JF1FD (USDM)
- Nissan Silvia S14

BigSmoke

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#190   2019-03-10 10:23          
# Sleepin mOnkey : 34 going strong i can say now its a pretty fun ride

Well it was indeed fun to go sdeways for the first time with it! :thumbsup:

# Soju : That's a really nice look on the 34, and the Evo is just looking perfect as always :D

Wew thanks man! I love the fact that both cars are ready for their tasks :D

# Niatross : Great progress on the builds again man! :D
As Sleepy just said, the 34 sure does look like a fun ride already. You may need Coilovers like ASAP tho XD
oh and good to see Silver Queen finally sitting on a set of bigger wheels. It was basically a necessity ever since the car started pushing good amounts of power

Hehey thanks man! :D
Welp no money for coilovers yet but sure the Geomaster knuckles did their job quite well :D
The Queen has gone T H I C C and I love it :))
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Sleepin mOnkey

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#191   2019-03-11 16:10          
Well if you need coils for the r34 i can hook you up with 15% off in any tein you want
Roleplay: A engine Builder and tuner that lives in Japan and Builds cool stuff.
Cars: Corolla Levin coupe Tog/show car
180SX s13 350hp SR20DET 6MT Babe 1
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240sx Vert HOTBOI 2

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#192   2019-03-11 16:32          
# Sleepin mOnkey : Well if you need coils for the r34 i can hook you up with 15% off in any tein you want

Woah what an offer, thanks man! :D
Let me just save some money for a while :))
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DEADMANE

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#193   2019-03-13 14:51          
Slam it! :D
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BigSmoke

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#194   2019-03-13 15:19          
# DEADMANE : Slam it! :D

When I've got more money and 18in wheels bud, might yield nice results :D
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#195   2019-03-14 08:49          
I have some 18" LM's I picked up locally for my ER34 but I found a buyer for the car, he wants it stock. I'll give you a good deal :) I'll PM you a pic
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#196   2019-03-14 16:48          
# DEADMANE : I have some 18" LM's I picked up locally for my ER34 but I found a buyer for the car, he wants it stock. I'll give you a good deal :) I'll PM you a pic

PM read and responded, that's quite kind of you. Thank you very much :thumbsup:
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Alex876

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#197   2019-03-15 04:46          
nice to see the evo on the track

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#198   2019-03-15 05:47          
# jdmkvng : nice to see the evo on the track

ikr, I'm glad to bring it back to track after rather long time :D
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#199   2019-03-18 03:28          
Hyper Experience: The Debut!










Welp, I did say that I'm going to buy 2 new cars. Well, here they are now!
But wait, there's actually more than that, and that is.........
Finally I'm entering my first competitive event!
What else I can say other than let's jump into the update! :D











[11 Mar 2019]
Paycheck time! Another V$750 landed into my account. So, at the end of the last update I was teasing you about buying two cars, one being from Eastern Europe and the other on still inside Japan. Well, it is time to buy and unveil what are those things. Get yourself ready, 'cause you might be delighted, baffled or even laughed at the reveal! :))

First one is the one from Eastern Europe. When I'm looking for cars in this region, I asked myself: "What is the cheapest car I could get around here?", seeing as Pavol(palino6666) got himself a Skoda Felicia way back then for V$380, while AJ(RocetBunnyS13) and Muza(Niatross) got themselves LHD Euro-spec S13 for cheap, around V$2200-2300. Point is, is there anything cheaper than those? Could it probably cheaper than my steering wheel? (The cheapest ones are Momo Tuner 350mm on my HR34 for V$198).

By a huge luck, that question has been answered in a hilarious way, but it's actually brilliant in insight. How this would be brilliant? I'll tell you soon about that. But anyways, cue the drumroll and please welcome, probably the cheapest, and the most oddball, and the most hilarious project car ever to make appearance here........Daewoo Tico!

Yes, you read that right, I'm going Tico Mode by buying a friggin Daewoo Tico! I've got them from the hilly lands of Romania for V$90 as the ad shows. Combined with shipping cost, it costed me V$150. "But Smoke, isn't Daewoo a Korean brand?" Yep that's correct. "Then why bother importing one from Europe?" Strangely, I can't find ads for Ticos in Korean websites, all I found was the succesor of Tico, which is Daewoo Matiz. And that thing is.....uh.....ugly to me. The one in Europe are built by Polish auto manufacturer, FSO, which you might know for producing Polonez models as well as Fiat 128 for Eastern Europe markets, also nicknamed as Polski Fiat. Another thing is, the Tico is also sold in Japan as Suzuki Alto. The regular Alto, not the flagship model that is the Alto Works-"Then why don't you find them instead?" I can barely find one across the internet, and not even one dipped below the V$200 mark. So here it is, with a consequence of being an LHD model.

Oh yah, technically the car isn't here yet, the car will arrive to Japan around 1,5 week to go. Being an LHD kei car, I wonder how difficult overtaking would be..... :)) ah yes, the Tico packs up a 800cc single-cam naturally aspirated engine joint-developed by Daewoo and Suzuki (instead of the ususal 660cc engine or lower generally carried by kei cars in Japan) producing around 48 BHP with manual transmission. Yeah, not a lot indeed, but I'm not really worried about that. Why? Here comes the explanation on why I bought this thing.

I'm sure most of you guys already know what Kanjozoku is. If you haven't, let me give a short explanation: Kanjozoku is a group of street racers in Osaka, who races at the Osaka Hanshin Line highway. At this highway, there are some sections that when connected would form a big loop, kind of a figure 8 loop. This loop is called the Kanjo loop. You can liken those guys to Wangan Line racers, and you'd be right since they're both race on highways and basically are outlaws for the public. But you'd be wrong as well,because each highways require different approach.

The Wangan Line is basically a huge, wide straight line, so if one is going to build a Wangan car, the build priority would be top speed and high-speed stability. Meanwhile the Kanjo loop is twisty and narrow, consisting mostly of two-lane motorways, so the main focus for a Kanjo build is cornering stability, grip and agility on the drive. "Wait Smoke, but how about the C1 loop?" Yap, it has the same characteristics as Kanjo loop actually, but you can tune a Wangan build car to run rings around the C1 loop, and you can bring a Kanjo build car to run here as well. In fact there was a Kanjo build here that runs at Tokyo instead of Osaka, which is AJ's CR-X that sadly has been sold. But one thing that makes a Kanjo build unique is this: Because Honda Civics are cheap to get, light, grippy and easy to tune.....you guess it, most of Kanjo builds are Honda Civics hatchbacks, mostly late 80's to late 90's ones.

AJ's build was already unique for being a CR-X instead of a Civic hatchback. Well, I'm here to turn the uniqueness to not just 11, but possibly 121 (which is 11^2 or 11x11). Have you seen a Tico going fast alone? Chances are you'd almost never could find one. To add more power and to keep the Kanjo spirit, I'm going to swap a Honda engine inside. Not a K-series since it'll be an overkill, but not a B-series either since it might not fit well either, and it's rather pricey (except for B20B, but who uses that here?). Also since the car is quite light, having huge power inside them could turn this thing into a death rocket, and I don't really want that. So for these reasons, I've decided to put a Honda D16 inside it. Another reason to put it inside is two garages has done exactly this before, so at least I'll have a guideline to follow.

Other reasons to pick the Tico are.....since this is a kei car, it'll be handy to be used inside a narrow road, like one that I, AJ and Muza encountered in Akibahara earlier this year. And it is worth to know that ex-Kanjo racers used their Civics as track day toy. Well yes, I have my Silver Queen for the job, but it could be useful if the Silver Queen is out of action for a while (hopefully not), or simply if I want a new experience. This could be useful as touge racer too! Of course I won't drive it like Shingo Shoji did. But picture this thing as a pint-sized FWD rally car, like Peugeot 306 or Seat Ibiza of the 90s. And uh, it can be a sapre daiy as well, but that's if my passenger can bear with the Honda engine scream and the dour-looking velour interior. See? Behind a boring, underwhelming and pitiful car, there's a lot of potentials to be gained if you're know what would you do with it.

Anyways, moving on to the second car. I only gave a hint to it as Ford Fiesta's Japanese cousin, and it indeed is true, because what I bought here is.......Mazda 2, or should I say a Mazda Demio since it's the Japanese version. Yes, this car shares the same platform with the 6th generation Ford Fiesta, which is broadly lauded for being fun to drive no matter which model you brought. Yep, it doesn't require to ST version to make you chuckle after you throw it into a corner. What I got is the 90 BHP atuomatic 1.3 liter naturally aspirated petrol version, and I paid for it for just V$200.

What are my plans for the Demio? Frankly unlike other builds I currently own, it won't be a racer of any sorts. If you follow my updates regularly, you might remmeber that my Silvia S15 isn't streetlegal as it's intended to be a full-on time trial car, unlike my Silver Queen which doubles as my daily. The Demio, aside from being yet another spare daily, will be a tow car to tow the S15 to the track. Yes, I could use a towing service, but I don't really want to pay everytime I'm going to use it. And it can be a parts car as well if I fit a roofrack on it. And because it shares the same platform as Ford Fiesta, it could be capable as well for, say, yet another tuge run or even light-level backcountry explorer.....the Fiesta is a rally car after all! :)) But still, to augment it's towing capability, I'm going to do light mods for it, namely ECU tune, cams and big valves.

Also after purchasing these cars, I surfed for a bit more and stumbled upon this announcement: Tsukuba Circuit will host the Hyper Meeting at Sunday, which includes the famous Option Super Lap Battle! Other events including Time Attack and 5-lap Circuit Race, RevSpeed Clubman Championship and RAYS Challenge. Other events including live talkshow with D1GP commentator, Manabu Suzuki or Mana-P, and with time attack veteran Eiji Yamada, also known as Tarzan Yamada. There's also car meeting sponsored by KW Suspensions as well as demo rides from various tuning houses.

The Super Lap battle itself is only open for selected entrants, including Yasuhiro Ando, better known as Fire Ando with his extremely bewinged Escort Racing Evo IX. The TA and 5-lap Race is only open for selected tuner houses. The good news is, the RevSpeed Clubman Championship and RAYS Challenge is open for everyone. But the RevSpeed Clubman Championship only accepts 20 entries and apparently all has been filled, while RAYS Challenge still has some entries left, becaus ethey accept 30x2 class entries, making it 60 in total.

As apparently RAYS Challenge is dedicated for build with less extreme aero builds, I quickly signed up for it. The registration feeis quite cheap at V$160, compared to RevSpeed Clubman Championship which stands at V$200. Now, to be honest, the original plan was to enter competitive events when the S15 has been completed, but because I can't wait to have one while possible+to see how the Silver Queen stands among other cars, I decided to enter with my Silver Queen. Also look, I don't need a tow truck for this :D

It's official:
Silver Queen has joined the server!

The rule states that safe driver overall is required, which at minimum consists of full-face helmet, shoes, gloves, trousers and long sleeve suits. I already have those technically, but because this is a competitive event and higher tier events such as Attack Maximum Challenge requires FIA-approved, fireproof race wears, I decided to shop for these. These are what I got:

All of them are clubman to national level race wears I should admit, but they're FIA-approved, so quality shouldn't be really an issue. Plus they look comfortable to be worn at long time, as the RAYS Challenge is divided into two 25 minute sessions: One at morning at one at midday. With all preparations done, I continued my work and planned to pick up the Demio the next day. This is going to be a busy week......

Oh yeah, speaking about Attack itself, it turns out every single Attack Maximum Challenge always have different classes for each event, but the most regularly contested ones are NA and Turbo classes. For the Tsukuba event, starting this year, there's one more class called Real Tuning class. This class allows any kind of participant and builds.....as long as the car has minimum to no aero tunes at all (e.g. canards, GT wings, diffusers and flat floors are not allowed, no aero part can be wider than the car itself, and the aero addition may not add the overall car length longer than 30mm and wider than 20mm. But front and rear lips as well as OEM aero parts are allowed). Exactly what I've done to my Silver Queen, then. So I decided if I can't complete the Silvia by the next Attack event, I'll use my Silver Queen instead to enter in Real Tuning class.

So now here is the structure and rules of the classes at Attack Tsukuba:



[12 Mar 2019]
The Mazda Demio I bought is located at Sapporo, Hokkaido. Obviously with the great distance the travel would be, it'll be a hectic occasion if I'm about to go there by car, and having a friend riding with you doesn't really help. So I went there with JR express train, famous for their Shinkansen bullet train armada. Honestly it is remarkable how the engineers made the trains quite comfortable, you barely feel the inertia of the train whilst it's going around 500(!!)km/h. After a while, I arrived at the location. Whilst I have a chit-chat with the dealer owner while I'm resting my back, the car delivered upon my eyes.

Quite a cute thing, isn't it? Certainly could blend well with your everyday traffic but still can attract people in general. Am I the only one that thinks it looks rather feminine though? Either way, we all know that both Mazda 2/Demio and Ford Fiesta are reliable and has a brilliant fuel consumption. So after receiving some long-distance driving tips from the dealer owner (this is much longer than Tsukuba-Tokyo or even Tsukuba-Osaka), I took upon myself the challenge to do hypermile driving (as in highway endurance driving, not going into supersonic speeds) inside the Demio. The Demio passed the test brilliantly.......but truth be told it was rather uneventful even with radio constantly on. At least my back didn't hurt that badly......

As the sunset nearly ends, I arrived back to my crib. Now here comes another problem: My garage and driveway is already full with cars! But it looks like the house across mine is currently empty for one or another reason. It's been a long time since I have a chatter with the house's owner anyway. So for now, I'll park the Demio in front of their garage. Don't mind if I do........



[13 Mar 2019]
At this point, all my parts that I've listed in the last update (S15 stock fuel line, Evo steelies, HR34 stock wheels, open diff and hub knuckles) has been sold for a grand total of V$1560. While I'm at it, I ordered some parts for my S15, and they're quite important to have the RB26 running. First one is custom driveshaft from MazWorx to suit the Nissan CD009 transmission. I opted for thicker steel construction, seeing as I haven't even stepped in high power league for the S15 but certainly wants a strong diff, costing me V$475. The other one is rather difficult to find, but quite a blessing. This is the custom front mounted intercooler kit from CX Racing, designed for RB swap projects onto any kind of S-Chassis. It looks like the intercooler itself can be replaced with other brands as well. Quite a deal for V$459.

In the meantime, I was informed all my suits order will arrive the next day. If you actually shop for a helmet once, you'll know that they're sold mainly being in plain white or simply bare carbon. And obviously, bare carbon helmets are expensive. So you can guess on what state my helmet will arrive. I'd like to have my helmet stylized as a personalization mark and so I won't lost it on raceday. The problem is, I'm not really a fan of modern day designs: Too many colours and patterns mixed into one places. I prefer helmet desgins like those of F1 drivers from early 80s to early 2000s, where they used simple stripes and swishes with minimum sponsor marks. Good examples of these includes Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher (in particular in early F1 career), Mika Hakkinen, Rubens Barrichello and David Coulthard's helmets.

Then I remembered about VS Garage having their new Tsukuba branch since the end of last year. I wondered if they also accept helmets as well, so I gave them a call. Fortunately, they actually do receive helmet paint and detailing requests, where they charge V$400 if you want them to choose the graphics or V$200 if you want to do the graphics yourself. I'd like to try it by my own, so I picked the latter option, and the crew sent me the graphics template to paint on. I spent the rest of the day pouring my ideas over the design......you'll see them soon.



[14 Mar 2019]
All my race wear orders has arrived! I was ecstatic to wear them on in front my bedroom's mirror, like a girl trying to pick a dress for a date. I mean come on, this is my first time wearing a legit racing suit! Bought with my own money as well! :D everything fits well and I felt comfy wearing these, which is a good thing because you might already know that sitting in a racecar for hours means risking having yourself roasted inside your car. It's quite hot it'll help you lose some body weight after racing! The undie tops also means I can walk around in the paddock with the race suit tied around my wait nstead of being fully worn while cooling myself post-race.

And then there's the helmet: It actually has no branding on it, so it's quite convenient to design the graphcis on it. Soeaking of which, at the afternoon I delivered the new helmet and my homemade design to VS Garage Tsukuba. As I mentioned way back then, it's located near the school where the girls I picked up with Rantaro is in. Thankfully though, it was still active school hours.

Just like the one in Tokyo, I was greeted with a big neon sign in front of their garage.

One of the crew welcomed me and told me to get in. I told him to call up the detailing crew for some chatter as well.

Turns out I came at the right time as they're on pizza and lasagna break.....just like when I waited for AJ at VS Garage Tokyo :)) They offered me some but I kindly rejected since I already had one before going to the garage. We chattered about the techs and techniques they used to do the painting and detailing, as well as some designs they've done previously. I also told them about the VS Garage Tokyo boys, and that AJ had some of his liveries done by them. Quite a fun chatter, I should say, and their attention to detail is quite amazing. They said the helmet detailing process will be fnished in next 2 days.

Before I left the garage and trusted my helmet to the crew, Brandon(DEADMANE) messaged me to my phone. He offered two of his wheels, one of them which I could take for free as a token of appreciiation for helping him sourcing parts via my updates and comments. I was surprised by this to be honest, but nevertheless I appreciated his offer by taking a set of Enkei RPF1s with stretched Dunlop Dirrezas on it. And as a thank-you gesture, I offered and agreed to pay for the shipping cost, which was V$80. Should be handy for my HR34 build :D


[16 Mar 2019]
The FMIC and driveshaft for S15 has arrived! But before installing them, I went back to VS Garage Tsukuba to pick up my helmet. The streets was quite crowded today, and I can already seem to see some Hyper Meeting entrants making their way to Tsukuba Circuit. Trailers carrying cars and trucks are spreading along the highway. What a time to be alive, especially when you can be a part of them ;)

After discussing about the works done to my helmet and thanking the crew, I went back to my crib. Also, here's my new shiny helmet!



Quite a looker, isn't it? I ended up mixing elements of 2000's racing helmets with modern ones. Also, yes, I've made my personal logo using my initials.

After storing the helmet inside my bedroom, I installed the FMIC and driveshaft inside my S15. I can tell you, the driveshaft installation is pure hell if you don't do it while standing. I mean, the stock driveshaft almost fell upon my body, and worse still, it was already loose near the beginning of the procedure......and the loose part is the front one, which means near my balls. I had to hold it with my right foot during the uninstalling process. Imagine risking your future kids while working on stuff........

The FMIC meanwhile is rather easy to install. Some adjustments required to fit them properly, but at least you don't have to lay below your car.

The only problem is.....who thought this kind of piping construction is acceptable? But at least they're far enough from the ground. Welp, I can't really know yet if yet would survive soooooo........
(well, blame the 3D modeler)

After listing the S15 stock driveshaft for sale at V$320, I decided to take early sleep at night to give myself more time to prepare and go for the Hyper Meeting. I can't wait!



[17 Mar 2019]
4.00 am
TODAY'S RACEDAY!! See, I have to type them in bolds and capitals just to show how excited I am :)) One of the unwritten rules of racing is you have to come in early morning, since driver's briefing and car scrutineering is held at morning, and you can't be late at both occassions, or else you'll be fined. After a freezy shower and preparing for stuffs to bring on the track (my helmet and a bag with my race suit inside as well as 2 spare common undies), I went off to the track as dawn arrives. It was cold, misty, foggy, with my Evo's 4G63 engine breaking the silence.

I arrived at the gates at 04.30, where lots of cars and trucks already queued for entry. Thankfully, the spectators and the entrants gate are splitted. I received my ID card, timer beacons and car start number stickers at the gate, then proceeded to enter the paddock. My heart was already beating fast as I enter the paddock, unlike when I attend my usual track days.

At the paddock, I unpacked the race suit and fireproof undies, as well as my helmet, timer beacon and the number stickers. First off, I attached the stickers and timer beacons to my Evo. The Silver Queen looks fittingly race-ready with these numbers attached. Then I went to the public locker room to change into my race suit. It is a good thing I don't have to change inside my car.


When I went back, some photogaphers and fans has been swarming around my car. As I walk back to the Silver Queen, I was rained with questions, mainly why I choose this car, since when I own it, whether if I also daily it, what I've done to it, who designed the Silver Queen sticker and the helmet graphics, and many more. I also honestly told them this is my very first event, with many of them wishing good luck. Well, this is why I love Japan :D

With the impromptu interview session over, it is time for driver's briefing. I reported to the stewards that my car is ready to be put in parc ferme condition (i.e. ony the stewards can touch the car) before walking to the press conference room for the driver's briefing.

6.00 am
Driver's briefing and car scrutineering has started. The briefing itself is simple: It's consisted of a lecture about general racing rules, racing format of the day, driving schedule and what to do in certain scenarios (e.g. if you crash or had to stop at trackside), followed by QnA from the drivers and the head of steward commitee. As for the scrutineering, you guessed it, the stewards will check your car for any violations towards the rules. Thankfully, my Silver Qqueen passed all the rules. As I've mentioned earlier, the RAYS Challenge will be held in 2x25 minutes of free runs with 50 minutes of running window, since there are 60 cars participating. The first one will be held at 8.10 am-9.00 am, shortly after the first run of Option Super Lap Battle, while the second one will be held at lunch break, at 11.50 am-12.40pm.

Speaking of which, the main highlight of the event is obviously the Super Lap Battle. Unlike other race events that only has two runs held, the Super Lap Battle has four runs from early morning to afternoon, and it serves as bookends for the event (it's the first and the last race to run). Tthe format is also different from other time attack races: Whereas all other races are free run sessions, the Super Lap employs one-shot format where you have one lap to get off the pits, one lap to score your time and one lap to get back to the pits. This is also why they have only 10 minute of running window in each session.

7.00 am
After an opening ceremony by the organizer commitee, pit lane is opened, parc ferme condition is lifted from all cars and the Super Lap Battle participant enters the pit lane to stand by. I decided to hang around the pitlane for a while to see the track conditions. It was clean and cold. Half an hour later, as crowds fill in the grandstand, I return back to the paddock to empty my bladder. Y'know, it won't be ideal if nature calls you while you're racing.

8.00 am
The event officially starts as all the Super Lap Battle participants exited the pits. Meanwhile, the RAYS Challenge participant are randomly divided into 6 groups consisting of 10 cars. First three groups will run at 8.10 am-8.35 am, while the latter ones will run at 8.35-9.00 am to reduce traffic congestion. As the Ssuper Lap cars exited the pits, the first group lined up near the pit exit. I myself has been chosen to lead the second group.

8.10 am
After the first group exited the pits, I and 9 other cars lined up at the pit exit. It feels like my heart's going to explode, I clearly had a starstruck moment. Guess I shouldn't peep the Super Lap racers earlier......but here it is, the Silver Queen's debut against the big boys.

Then the steward gave the signal to enter the track. Alright, time for heating up the tyres.

Tthe main prblem was there aren't a lot of rubber yet on track, and it's still relatively cold. And I have lots of cars behind me, so I already have to push the car a bit to heat up the tyres while not messing up with other driver's pace.


The crowds and photographers have filled up almost all the spots available, which made me a bit happy but also a bit nervous. Dang, I thought not a lot of people would come! But then there's a lot of star-studded guests here soooo......


As I approached the last corner, I took a deep breath and pray for pretty much everything quickly. Then it is time to enter the competitive territory.
3....2......1.......START!!


I'm trying to bring the Silver Queen on the ragged edge just like the last time I brought her here. With the new 17 inch wheels I can feel the limit of the car much better so I can push it around with better precision. I'd like to say to the Silver Queen "DAMN GIRL YOU GRIP AND STICC!" but obviously there's no time for that. I have to continously pushing it around for 25 minutes straight.


Around 10 minutes later, rubbers starts to fullfill the track. A good time to cook the tyres to their maximum, then. Just don't throw any early traffics please!


12 minutes later, with the sunray start to blind me less, I and everyone else was signalled to get ready to come back to the pits as our time was over. Even if it's the first session Ii'm already sweating a hell lot from the intensity and the hype of driving inside a big event. I really need to calm myself down man.


8.35 am
I returned to the pits and went straight to the paddock. The talkshow stage is going to start but I'm yet to see Mana-P yet, so I used the remaining time to have another go to the restroom, change to a dry undie, trying to dry my fireproof undies a bit, redress myself by tying my race suit to my waist, and bought a cold drink. Along the wait for the next session I also watch the RevSpeed Clubman Championship runs, and also socialized with other drivers by comparing notes from our runs and talk about our cars, as well as wishing each other good luck.

The Silver Queen continues to gain attention as well, with more photographers and fans forming a crowd around it. It looks like the main reason of why everybody's interested on them is it's unusual for an older Evo to attend time attacks, since most Evos attending are Evo VII-Evo X, and occassionally some Evo VIs as well. To be fair, there's a GC8 and even a GF8 wagon here, but then there's only one of them each. Almost everyone asked me the same questions as those before the first run, but that's okay. Everybody seems to have positive opinion over the SIlver Queen. Indeed as they say, old school is cool school ;)

11.00 am
After the second run of the Super Lap Battle, I decided to get an early lunch. To be honest, I planned to have lunch after my second run instead, but I have a fear that if I did, there's a possibility that I'll lost my concentration mid-run from hunger and could perhaps end in a crash, and there's an even bigger possibility that I'll ran out of lunch as stalls areserving a lot of people as I do my run. Well, I can only hope I can dump any kind of excretes before I do my run....as I explained before, having the call of nature as you're on the run is one of the worst scenario imaginable.

11.30 am
Welp, it is a good thing nature called me at the barely right moment. After emptying my stomach from everything and have one last drink to keep myself hydrated, I wore my race suit properly again, enter inside my Silver Queen, and waited the signal to stand by at the pitlane. Just like at the first run, I'll be leading the second group of the free run. As I'm sitting inside the car, I can overhear discussion about the procedures if rain falls upon the track. Then I looked outside and indeed the cloud darkens near T1.......but at the bright side, the air is cool so it'll be good for the 4G63 engine

11.50 am
Just like the first run, I and 9 other cars set off from the pit exit 20 seconds after the first group got off the pits. Shortly before I lined up the car at the exit, I noticed the asphalt temperature didn't drop so much, but it is now quite dusty after seeing so much track actions. Nevertheless, time to hit the road again with my Silver Queen.

Thanks to that barely dropping asphalt temperature, the Silver Queen can be deployed for a better warm-up than she did in the morning run. Sso far she's unfazed by the dust on track. I hope I could keep things to go like this until the end of my run.

As I approached the last section before my hotlap starts, I try to pray again as I approached the final corner.
This could yield a game-changing results so going fast in this session really matters not just for me, but pretty much for everyone here.
3....2......1.......START!!

I'm trying to give everything I've got, so much I felt like a madman driving it. But eh, at least I still can control my mind and focus while running. The Silver Queen weaves, twists and flows quickly following my hand movements. She really likes to dance here I should say, the more you extract from her, the better she responds.


This run was so intense, I countered some traffic at some moments and accidentally challenged them to overtaking duels :D The stewards didn't seem to mind, and the crowds certainly looks pleased as I can hear them cheering for me and everyone. It feels like a dream come true! The intensity! The raw power and aura is just beyond the eyes and head man!


12.37 pm
Finally, after a lot of intense laps, the stewards gave us the signal to come back to the pits. I'm already sweating even worse than I did previously it felt like I had a very hot sauna session, and I'm not even sure if I wet myself during the run. I calmed myself down as I returned to the pits.

Y'know what? I think one of those moments when you told yourself you're going to tell this moment to your child and grandchildrens. It's so fascinating and memorable you want to share it to everyone. Wwhatever the results, I'll never forget this day.


12.40 pm
Finally parked my car back at the paddock. The stewards commandedus to uninstall and return our timer beacons, so I did. Afterwards I went back to the car to take back my clothes from before the first run, and went to the bathroom. I have a cold shower, have yet another dry undie, removed all the race undies and switched the top undie to a t-shirt I wore previously in the morning. The undies are incredibly wet from sweat.

Once again, a sizeable crowd gathered around the Silver Queen when I come back. We chilled out together, talked about lots of things, compare notes betweeen racers.....it feels like we're all become a gigantic family, bonded by our love to cars, speed and achievements. We spent a lot of time talking, discussing, checking other cars and watching other races while waiting for thr results to come out.

14.10 pm
THE RESULTS ARE IN! Cue the drumroll..........
At the first run I scored 59.698 seconds as my best lap. Well, there was minimum level of grip soooo. At the second run I scored 59.264 seconds as my best lap, which is also my overall best lap of the day. Personally, this is a huge improvement from the last time I came here when the Silver Queen still wear 16 inch wheels, where it set 59.8xx as it's best. I'm quite happy to see a set of wheel can set a huge difference.

Sadly, this wasn't enough to even snag Top 10 overall position. The winner was an RX-7 FD which scored 56.7xx laptime, being one of only two cars which dipped under 57 seconds mark. The 10th position scored 58.9xx seconds, which is rather a far cry from my best time. I was placed 12th overall with my time. But hey, at least I didn't tumble too far in the results :D As a consolation award, I won V$240, which will be transferred at the next day.

After the podium ceremony for RAYS Challenge and RevSpeed Clubman Cahmpionship finished, I watched the final run of the Super Lap Battle to end the day on higher mark.

15.45 pm
I skipped the last event, which is a merchandise raffle. I returned to my car to chill for one last time, while unbeknowist to me, I quietly crying inside as I lay my back. I know probably I can do better, but I don't even know if it was tears of happiness or dissappointment. After sitting for a while, packed up my stuff and drank some more water, I drove back to my crib.

17.15 pm
I arrived at my crib safely. After I ripped off the number stickers and returned my stuff to my bedroom, I fell asleep quickly.



[18 Mar 2019]
Yet another paycheck time! V$750 enters my wallet again, and additional V$240 also comes in consolation reward from RAYS Challenge. I also got a message saying both the Tico and RPF1s from DEADMANE will come at the middle of the week.

By the way, at the end of this week, there will be another open time attack event at Tsukuba, which is Clever Circuit Trial. Before and after the time attack session there will be open track day sessions, and the morning session is also open to motorbikes. How cool is that? The fee for the time attack evet is V$200. If any of you want to attend either the track day session or also participating in the time attack with me, feel free to tell me in the comments! :D














Whoo finally done updating! This one took 8 hours to write :D
Let's see how my wallet managed to survive after the time attack shenanigans:















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!

Soju

kr
Posts: 1247

Location: South Korea
Occupation: Smuggling Soju
Age: 122
V$: Broke
#200   2019-03-18 07:59          
I guarantee that was a very emotional rollercoaster :)

Congrats again for getting under a minute, and still there are lot of stuff that could be done to the car and yourself.

Always be steady but go into the steps thoroughly :)