Author Message

BigSmoke

id
Posts: 844

Location: Indonesia
Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
Age:
V$: Broke
#241   2019-04-06 19:11          
# Soju : Damn, I wish I could hit the track with my Supra just like you with your Evo!

And Buzz was really lucky about not getting injured heavily at all.

Man you should come here and do a trackday/TA session someday! :D
I'm sure your Supra could hit that under 55 second territory ;)



EDIT: Woah page 7 already! Here's my update in case you didn't bother looking back one page:
# BigSmoke :
Delicious Double Dish, Part 1:
Trackday Tag Team!












This week's update will be separated into two parts since there are a hell lot to tell and even more pics to show!
For the first one here, we have yet another crossover episode with some forum bois!
Additionally, you can also help me pick a new personal tow car, which I'll explain later.
What are we waiting for? Let's jump into the update! :D













[01 Apr 2019]
April Foo-I mean, paycheck time! Yet another V$750 landed to my wallet safely. To be fair, I'm not really the one that celebrates April Fools anyway, particularly since there are a lot of hoaxes and scams flying left and right in the vast land of the United States of Internet these days. Some of the are so convincing it feels like April Fools came earlier. Not that I've got one of them, mind. But the point is, as technology marches on, the line of truth and lies has almost dissolved in the virtual world. For us young'uns and grown-ups, this won't be a problem since we're all educated enough by all means to distinguish which are true and which aren't. But then, it's not only us who uses the internet these days......right, we've gone too far, the conclusion from my earlier blabber should be clear and perhaps even trivial. Let's get back to the track shall we? O:-)

After a week of break from competitive scene, I decided to kickstart the month by entering another one. And this one is quite a biggie: I'm entering Tsukuba's very own Time Attack Championship, which is called Tsukuba Circuit Trial Series. The championship itself is a part of Tsukuba's main car championship weekend series, the others are Tsukuba Super FJ championship (Tsukuba's Formula Jedi UK equivalent, performance are similar to F4 cars) and Tsukuba Touring Car Series (1400-1600cc touring car championship). All these series are acknowledged and supervised by JAF as a regional series. Compared to these two, the Circuit Trial series has less strict rules and basically more open to everyone. All series are going to hold 5 rounds this year, with the 1st and 3rd round hosted by Victory Sports Club (VICIC), 2nd round hosted by Brains Motorsports Club (B-Sports), and 4th as well as the final round join-hosted by Team Magnus Auto Club (TMAC) and JASC, with JASC being a sub-division of JAF.

If you're interested about the grand series and the main rules of each series, you can download the document here in Japanese. Or to save your effort, I'm going to explain the rules for the Circuit Trial Series. Welp, prepare for a long haul boys.

First off, the basic rules. The format of the championship is 2x15 minutes of Super Lap, which means it's a one-shot shootout run. One lap to get off the pits, one lap to score your time, and one lap to get back to the pits. One small mistake could shake up the results table significantly. Drivers are eliglible for the championship if they at least attend 3 of the 5 rounds, and there will be a bonus prize money if they could attend every single of them. Being used to the free run format, this is a fresh challenge to me. This also means I'm moving up from clubman level racing to sanctioned regional level in just two events....how cool is that? :D

Moving on to the class segregation. In general there are 3 classes that is held in the championship: B, PN and AE. B class has 6 sub-classes, and PN class has 2 sub-classes, which brings the total class into staggering NINE classes, plus one overall championship. There's also one additional, non-championship points eliglible class which is called Closed class, intended for specially-built racers such as Attack and WTAC-spec TA racers or open wheel formula racers. Talking about the sub-classes, they're separated based on the car's engine capacity and their eliglibility to be registered and converted for national level racing usage. Turbo and supercharged cars capacity are multiplied by 1.7 and rotaries are multiplied by 1.5 to make them easier to be classified and segregated. For all classes, brands and types or tyres used is free, but no full slicks are allowed.

Now, let's delve deeper into the sub-classes and the examples of cars being eliglible for each classes:

Quite mind-boggling aren't they? Let's straight to the point then: I was placed on B6 class with my Silver Queen. After all the car's document were specified, I paid V$205 for the registration. I'd really like to attend every single race in the calendar, but chances are I'll miss the second round at May. But why? Well I can't tell you yet.... :P All that matters is the Silver Queen has joined the server again and this time, moving her way up to an upper league ;)



[02 Apr 2019]
I'm still researching over perfect cars to replace my Mazda Demio as my personal tow car, and then I realized that my options are pretty limited if I insists on searching for one under V$1000 as long as I don't move my search outside Japan. Since I don't really want another LHD car, I expanded my search scope to UK's used car market, which is also famed as used car heaven. I spent hours and hours to look for one that fits my needs, and boy did the search was worth it........

So, let's recall all the options I've mentioned at the previous update, as well as adding new ones I've recently discovered, how much each of them can pull along (assuming all cars has equal roof load of 100 kg), as well as their own strength and weakness points:

So which one should I choose for the job? Feel free to share your voice, comments and suggestions regarding the problem. To be honest I like all of them, that's why it's really difficult to me to pick one. And if I do pick one of them, I don't want to regret my choice as I did with the Mazda Demio.......

Also fun fact: Most pre-2010 sedans can only pull up to 1500 kg, and most Japanese sedans would only do 1200 kg max. So if you want to tow another car with one of those, tough luck, don't do it if you don't want to do severe damage to your engine and transmission. But if you want a cool JDM tow car, I suggest getting a Nissan Stagea. That thing can pull 2000 kg in all forms!


[03 Apr 2019]
Speaking of the Demio, finally it has a buyer! Jimmy/Buzz(Buzzsaw) has agreed to buy it at full price, which was V$1500. He told me he has sold his PS13 that he brought to my crib back then for quite a high price, at V$18000. Staggering, I know, but actually can be justified since the one who bought it was a car collector who's impressed with Buzz's concours-level car maintenance and detailing skills. Boy that James May-rivalling detailing skills does worth a lot! :D

With the PS13 gone, he needs a small daily runner that can bring him zipping around the crowded and narrow streets of Tokyo, which I've experienced once earlier this year. The Demio isn't as small as a Kei car, but it's small and agile enough for the job. And as I've mentioned back then, it shares the same platform with Ford Fiesta, so that magical and fun handling traits is also possessed within the Demio, and perhaps it also shares the rallying potential owned by the Fiesta R2 :)) Excited by the news, I went to my garage and cleaned the Demio inside-out once more to keep it clean, as well as polishing it to give the car that showroom-fresh look.

Speaking of car polish, I found out a brand called Mitchell and King co. which offers variants of luxury-level car waxes to polish your cars with. One of them used to be the most expensive car wax in the world, which is the Gold Rush variant. As the name suggests, it contains real gold(!!) which is visible when you apply them on your car. That's one hell of quality assurance I should say. But would I really need them though? Also, the current record is held by Goldfinger Goldwax polish. Quick, pick one: A brand new Corvette, or the Goldfinger polish?

There are also another news: Muza(Niatross) and Mackay's good old friend, Franklin has decided to move to Tokyo after spending a long time in Osaka. Originally I was supposed to meet him at Tokyo at 02 April, but well I was occupied with Circuit Trial and tow car hunt stuff. Turns out he won a car from an auction, which said car was owned by a Japanese cartel and his cars were seized after he got busted. One of them is a GT-T, which Franklin successfully bid on. Dang, really wish I could join the fun. But I have a plan for that........


[04 Apr 2019]
At this point Buzz picked the Demio up. After some cups of coffee and all the papers were sorted in my crib, the deal were sealed. But before Buzz went back to Tokyo, I talked to him about Franklin's coming to Tokyo, and decided it would be good if we have Franklin as well in the trackday session. Sso we discussed it with Franklin via video call, and we agreed Franklin would borrow Buzz's brand new S2K for the trackday.
To be fair, he could use his GT-T as well, but uhhh......at this point it's too precious to be spawned into a racetrack. In other words, Franklin needs some more tme to get acquainted with the car, as he has just (a)moved to Tokyo, and (b)bught the GT-T for less than 48 hours. It won't be funny if some mishap happened to his GT-T shortly after he bought it. Franklin does have other cars as well, but at this point they're still being prepared to be moved from Osaka to Tokyo, which is actually quite far away.

With trackday plans sealed and maps containing directions to Tsukuba Circuit handed to both Buzz and Franklin's phone, I gave the Demio's keys to Buzz, and he went back to Tokyo as sunset blurs my view of him and the Demio. I know I owned the Demio for less than a month, but I do wish the Demio will bring happiness to Buzz. And more importantly, my wallet gets healthy again :D


[05 Apr 2019]
It's trackday time! I don't really have to worry about the others since I've handed them maps, so after shower and breakfast I don my jacket, denims, racing gloves and boots, as well as preparing my helmet to bring to the trackday. Relatively speaking, it's been rather long time since I have a regular trackday instead of a competitive weekend, so it's kind of refreshing to have a no-pressure trackday again :D Ii set off from my crib at 9.30am.

To be really honest, I was planning to have a full mental and physical rest, both for myself and the Silver Queen until the championship opener at 07 April. But Buzz convinced me to have a trackday with him. Given that his could be a good training session for both of us, I can't really say no to him. And I do want to see his S2K in person, which he nicknames Tango. It looks quite nice and fit, sitting on Integra DC5 wheels.

It also reminds me of the Silver Queen when she came for the first time here. Both cars are pre-tuned and priced quite similarly. In this case though, Tango's mods focused on the performance side, while Silver Queen leans on the handling side back then. This worried me a bit since S2K's are known for being tail-happy on stock form. Drop your concentration a bit and you'll be surprised by the trigger-happy F20C engine and Aisin transmission lurching the car, probably off the road. Combined with short axles at both sides and fairly skinny tyre treads, if you can't control the throttle well at corners, most of the time you'll be exiting with a flurry of oversteer.

Once you get used to it though, it's a trackday dominator. I mean, some of the famous TA car of Japan are S2Ks, particularly the lime green Arvou S2K, the orange Fura S2K and of course, the one that ruled FR NA cars at the moment, the white and red ASM S2K. The ASM one in my opinion also utilizes less dramatic aero works compared to those installed in Fura's or Arvou's. So I'm quite intrigued to see how Buzz and Franklin would cope with a lightly-modded S2K......

I arrived at Tsukuba Circuit at 10.15am. The track is already rather crowded with people......I assume some, if not most of them are also going to enter the Circuit Trial championship.

While waiting for Buzz and Franklin, I parked the Silver Queen near the paddock. Then I have some chatter with others as well as doinf some carspotting. Who knows if those that I spotted will also appear at the championship opener?

Some moments later, an unmistakable harmony of an inline 6 turbo engine struck my eardrums, so I turned around. Turns out Franklin has arrived in his Vibrant Red GT-T! Well it might not going to the track later on, but the mods are quite lovely and screams 90s tuner in pure confidence. Fistbumps are shared, I and Franklin introduced ourselves to each other (it's our first meeting after all!) and we have some more chatter with others as well.



And finally, 10 minutes later, Buzz arrived with his Tango with windows and roof down, looks like he's already enjoying Tsukuba's gentle breeze on sunny days. When you have a convertible car, I'd say it's rather mandatory to do so :D

With the crew complete, I went to the stewards room to rent VBox for me and Buzz. That way I can check Buzz and Franklin's lap times after our session has done. After installing the VBoxes to the Silver Queen and the Tango, I gave some pointers to Buzz and Franklin, since this is the first time they go to Tsukuba Circuit. Those pointers including the difference of black flag in trackdays and regular racing. As you might know, if you're black flagged in a race, that means you're disqualified and you should return to the pits. But in trackdays, it's a bit different. If you're black flagged, that means either you're endangering other drivers or there's something broken in your car (in racing this one is signed with black and orange flag). You still have to return to the pits, but you may rejoin the track again after a certain time or you have your car mended as far as you could.

For the first run, I'm leading Buzz from the pitlane, while Franklin will wait for a while. I instructed Buzz to follow me and line up behind me at the pit exit. I and Buzz decided to communicate around the track via hands-free phone.

"Right, remember to check the pit lights after I go. If it's green, proceed to the track. Otherwise just go where I stop here and wait for a while"
"Oh, okay"
"Also you don't have to chase me, just go by your own pace. No need to rush, we got 200 BHP between us"
"Okay, got it"
"Good, you know the drill once you hit the track"


Lights went green and I'm off into the track. Tthen the light suddenly turn yellow as I went off, so Buzz had to stop for a while.


Since I'm quite familiar with the track and I want to do a Super Lap simulation, I decided to instantly go for it, but in a smoother manner than I did in recent events. I don't want to push the engine too much for now, gotta save all the power and engine life for the championship event. Buzz followed suit as well, but that's because he has to learn the track, so he didn't went that fast.



As a result of constantly pushing the Silver Queen these days, even when I'm not pushing that hard I can realize I'm trying to do so. Everytime I did so I have to tell myself: "Calm down, no need to rush, no need to rush...." Meanwhile, after some time, it looks like Buzz has found his form. Things are going in the right direction to him, it's a pity I can't really see him inside my car at the moment.



But moments later I can hear a faint tyre squeal coming from Buzz. Puzzled on what has happened to him, I decided to ask anyway.

"What was that?"
"Uh, my car slipped a bit. Don't worry, still under control"
"Oh okay, continue driving and be careful"


Looks like he already got that VTEC treatment from his Tango........


In the meantime though, I enjoyed my time driving the Silver Queen as I try to keep myself consistent over the times as per usual. Safe to say, thanks to this being a regular trackday, I sweat less than usual...no need to change my undies then! :))


But then my joy was tainted a bit when I see an S2K stranded on T1 gravel trap.........

"Buzz, is that you stopping on the gravel?"
"Uh, yes" *giggle* "I'll go back to the pits"
"I'll come back as well, let's discuss on what happened"


So I and Buzz went back to the pits.


We stopped for a while to clean some gravel from Buzz's Tango and let Franklin took control of Tango. Meanwhile I and Buzz had a bit of banter over the setup of my car.....I half-insisted it's already ideal for daily usage, but Buzz wants me to drop the tyre pressures a bit. So I did, since logically this would result in more grip. This would have a huge trade-off though: The car would be more sluggish in straights and itll consume more fuel. I'm glad this is just a trackday so the stakes of trying a different setup would be much lower.

When we have finished the operation, Franklin was already far ahead. This gave me an idea: How long it would took to overtake him? So I immediately went back inside my Evo and set off. Time for a hot pursuit!



Franklin was going slightly faster than Buzz and shows a degree of exceptional skills, but of course I wasn't simply hanging around. I pushed my Evo lap by lap, trying to catch him in less than 5 laps. Remember that one-lap magic challenges in Gran Turismo? This feels exactly like it! I'm chasing someone with a slower car over a huge gap while trying to keep a faster car under control!



How intense was the chase? THIS intense to be able to bounce two wheels off the kerbs yeah!

Finally I could catch and overtook him near the end of lap 4 at the back straight. At the next lap we agreed to go back to the pits.



"Dude that was fun! Shall we do it again next time?"
"Sure man, and bring your own car Franklin. We could do this for hours"
"Heheh I could imagine that coming. It would be a very loooong battle"




After we returned to the pits, we thought that would be that and we almost decided to call it a day.......but no, turns out Buzz wanted even more and went back to the track alone. I was rather tired already and I want to keep my engine alive for the championship event, so I just decided to went back to paddock and have a warm cup of coffee. What else a better way to cool down after a track day session?


Our cooldown session was cut short though when I hear another tyre squeal....only this time it was louder.

"OH SHI-"
*BANG!!*



The impact was so hard it was audible through the other side of the paddock. A marshall shouted, "Crash at T1! Crash at T1! Red flag the session!", so we rushed to check out what was what.

It was Buzz, smashing the armco heavily. It looks like he spun and hit the armco with the back side of his Tango, as I could see the rear left side wheel was misaligned. The front parts are okay, save from the engine pouring smoke and some coolant leaking down the gravel. Still, I was worried over Buzz, so I tried to call him.

"Buzz! Buzz! Hey answer me! Speak something! Move your hands! Do something!"

At first Buzz didn't respond at all, likely due to shock after crashing his car. I was half-panicked and prepared myself to rush him to hospital. But Franklin say I should try one more time, so I did. Thankfully, this time Buzz replied by raising his right hand and giving me and Franklin the thumb signal, indicating he's OK.

As marshalls went into the track, one of them indicated he's indeed OK and uninjured. With the help of the circuit's tow car, Buzz drove the Tango back to the pitlane via the pit exit. As I and Franklin walked towards the pit exit and waiting for Buzz's arrival, I have a rather serious talk with Franklin.

"Do you realize how lucky you were?"
"Uh, what do you mean lucky?"
"It coud be you and your GT-T. You're right for borrowing his car with this kind of outcome"
"Ah, yeah, you're right. Lucky me indeed"

After the S2K has been salvaged to the paddock and I returned both mine and his VBox, Buzz received further examination in the circuit's medic tent. Thankfully he's 100% OK, he only need half an hour to recover from his shock. After he has calmed down and explained what he experienced, he called a tow truck service to haul his Tango back to Tokyo. And much later, after Buzz left the track with the tow service, I and Franklin decided to finally call it a day and went back to our cribs.













Part 1 of the update done.......Part 2 will come soon!
Meanwhile let's check how my wallet survives:












That's NOT all my updates for now, see you soon at Part 2!

This post was edited by BigSmoke (2019-04-06 19:39, ago)
Still following the damn train since 1992

Visit my RP HERE!

Buzzsaw

uk
Posts: 192

Location: United Kingdom
Occupation: Supermarket Store
Age:
V$: 375/w
#242   2019-04-06 20:09          
# Soju : Damn, I wish I could hit the track with my Supra just like you with your Evo!

And Buzz was really lucky about not getting injured heavily at all.
I know right? If I used a standard car, I would flip over the corner.
Click here for to my RP thread.

BigSmoke

id
Posts: 844

Location: Indonesia
Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
Age:
V$: Broke
#243   2019-04-10 14:02          
Delicious Double Dish, Part 2:
Weekend Warrior










This is the second part of the update, picking off where I left after the trackday.
After a bittersweet trackday session with some bois from the forum, it is time to step inside the warzone!
And finally I've chosen and purchased a tow car, which I'll reveal here as well.
Let's jump into the update to see what's what! :D











[06 Apr 2019]
While preparing myself for the Time Attack event the next day, I continued my search for a tow car to be imported from UK. After some hours of scrolling multiple pages and switching between almost a hundred of tabs in my laptop's browser, I found a decent BMW X5 E53 for sale, and it was very cheap at V$554. I was excited to see a big, rarely used SUV being on sale for cheap. But then I saw the description and realized why it was rarely used: A lot of mechanical and electronic gremlins has nested inside the car. Some are ignorable such as windows not closing properly or dash instruments not working......but some others such as speedo and starters didn't work either and that concerns me rather largely. Well I could simply repair or get a new starter, but fixing the speedo and the sensors would be a bit worrisome and might turn into an electrical hazard. Ultimately, this is what turns me off from the offer: Steering wheel is juddery and not straight. That's going to take a lot of time to fix, at least if I'm not bringing it to Tokyo to be fixed. But then again, spares for older BMWs around Japan excluding 3-Series and 5-Series aren't that many.

But then I realized I've done yet another mistake: I forgot about the most legendary thing about utility vehicles in UK.........talking about utility vehicles, some countries has their own signature kind of vehicles to haul stuff prsonally or commercially. In the US it would be those titanic-sized pick-up trucks, which can roll coal, hauling people and their belongings, as well as cruising while towing just about anything in a single day. Japan has plucky but indefatigable kei trucks and vans which can slip and slide inside narrow roads and still able to economically sip a small amount of fuel while carrying luggage on their back. Australia meanwhile has the famous, thunderous and rowdy ute pick-up cars, which often employs performance V6 and V8 petrol engines. They're mostly based on sedan and coupe platforms, so if you're not tasked with hauling anything for the day, you can take it for a track day or even do a competitive racing with them! As for UK themselves, I guess you already know the answer.....they got the simple, utilitarian and dependable box vans (or blind vans).

That's right, if you want to haul stuff everywhere for cheap in UK, you can use box vans. They can be used for commercial purpose within a company or individuals (usually known as White Van Men due to most of them not changing the standard white paint), personal purpose or you can convert them into campers, minibus (though nowadays there's aseparate model for that) and mobile homes. Hell, back then you can also race them! Dailying a van wouldn't really be a problem if you can hold your envy towards smaller car users or pretty much anything more luxurious, but that's not what I'm planning in general. Obviously, it will be a tow car, but because this is a van, it can double as parts hauler whenerver I'm shopping and touring with my racers around Japan. Cool stuff don't you think?

So after some considerations, I narrowed my choices into three vans: The legendary Ford Transit, it's main rival, the VW Transporter, and something bigger than both, the Mercedes Sprinter. Both the Transit and Transporter nowadays are based on reinforced sedan platform (and it's been a long tradition for the Transit), so they're actually quite comfy and agile to drive everywhere while havin the ability to theoritically haul a Lotus and 2-3 go-karts inside, while for towing both can pull up to 2000 kg. As for the Sprinter, it has it's own platform, so it's much bigger, can haul much more and obviously can tow more. By standard they can tow 2000 kg upwards depending on the model, and if you got the manufacturer-issued tow bars, the tow capacity swallows to a staggering 3500 kg. WOW! This is why they're also most of the UK's official ambulance car, and I think some of them are also modded into fire engines and much more. The Transit meanwhile could carry a simpler job outside delivering stuff like being an ice cream van or a mobile library......or being a ram-raid vehicle. There's a legendary stat from UK's Police Force back in the 70s that almost all ram-raiders and thieves that got away with their loot has Transits has their payload/getaway vehicle. If you want to carry passengers instead, you can install seats in all of them, but these days all manufacturers has a separate model for passenger cars, in the label of Ford Tourneo, VW California and Mercedes Vito.

While I was searching for those vans, Franklin called me. He sounded happy!

"Hey Biggie, it's me Franklin! What's up?"
"Oh hey Franklin, 'sup my dawg"
"Listen up, are you free next week?"
"Kind of, I work at my crib at most times. What's the matter? Anything I can help?"
"Nah nothing serious, don't worry. I'd like to invite you to the opening ceremony of my garage shop"
"Woah, you've stayed in Tokyo for several days and now you have your own shop? That's brilli-"
"Nonono not really my own, it's an expansion of where I work at Osaka. I was chosen as the leader of the Tokyo branch"
"Aaaah I see, that's something you should proud of man. Congrats!"
"Thanks Biggie! It's quite an opportunity so obviously I can't miss it"
"Anyway, when exactly is the ceremony?"
"It's at the start of next week, so either Monday or Tuesday"
"Cool, I'll try to come my man"
"Thank you very much Biggie, see ya next week"
"See ya soon my dawg"


So that's why he was so excited! Man I truly feel proud of him, all these times of him working at Osaka finally paid off really well. First off is his monstrous Supra, now he was elected as a garage shop leader. What a good life I should say! :D

After the cheerfull call I spent hours and hours searching all cheap vans for sale, and finally I found one that I'm sure would be the most suitable for my needs and driving preference. Which one would it be? Well I'll tell you later, but for now...........


[07 Apr 2019]
IT'S RACE DAY!! Time to face my first championship event! Just like the Hyper Meeting back then, this is a multi-discipline event, so I had to wake up, get shower and breakfast, then get off in the dark, early morning from my crib. My load is also similar to those I brought for the Hyper Meeting: My race overalls, race undies, two spare undies, a spare shorts and a power bank.

But before I went to the track, I went to the petrol station first to refuel and add some more pressure to my tyres to revert my setup back after the trackday. It won't be funny if I ran out of fuel in the middle of my run, and I can't afford to lose precious time and even more fuel in straights with Jimmy/Buzz(Buzzsaw)'s lower tyre pressure settings. With Silver Queen's thirst aided, I continued my trip under the cold, misty dawn to Tsukuba Circuit.

05.00
I arrived at the track's gate, where I took my race number stickers and timer beacons for the event. Parc ferme conditions will be instated at 06.00 as I attend driver's briefing for the day. After I applied the stickers on and installed the beacons, I went off to the bathroom to empty my stomach and bladder (as I've said before, it won't be funny and convenient if nature called you while you're racing), and then to the locker room to change into my race suit. Mood was really good as I can see lots of cars attending today's event. As I went back to the paddock, I and some other entrants from various championships have some chatter about preparations for today's event. I was going to check the Super FJ cars as well, but I chose to hold back as I might be mistaken as a tresspaser soooo......

Ah yes I forgot to tell you, alongside the main championship events (Super FJ, Circuit Trial and Tsukuba Touring Cars), there are also some supporting races from various championships being held today. Those are Honda N-ONE Owners Cup, Mazda Roadster Cup and Tsukuba TC-2 Endurance Championship, which is a 2-Hour endurance racing event with the same car requirements as the Circuit Trial.

06.00
I and other racers signalled the marshalls that our cars are ready to put under parc ferme conditions, then we all wentd to the conference room for driver's briefing. As I've said in the previous update, the format for today's race is 2x15 minutes of Super Lap shootout runs, which means you only got 1 lap to get out from the pits, 1 lap to score your lap and 1 lap to get back to the pits. One small mistake could shake up the results table significantly. For every entrant, their fastest lap between the two sessions will be taken as their score for the final classification for the day, and obviously the fastest among the others wins. All my previous events uses free roam format insetad of Super Lap format, so this is quite new for me.

And as I told you in the previous update, there are a staggering total of nine classes allowed to compete in the event today, with 30 entries at max. The slots are fullfilled today, with B6 and B5 class having the most entrant. These class has the biggest chance to win the overall championship after all! :D There are 12 B6 cars including my Silver Queen and 8 B5 cars today. The rest of the field was made up with 4 B1 cars, 3 B2 cars, 2 B4 cars and one PN2 car. Understandably, B3 cars are heavy so there are no entries for it. Teams possesing PN1 cars entered the Tsukuba Touring Car event instead, and having the cars and the drivers doing a double duty today would be rather pointless. As for the AE class, understandably there are no interest yet from anyone to field an electric car, particulary when it's limited to 40 kWh, which means you can't use something as powerful as Teslas.

If you haven't checked the car rules for each classes, you can check them out again below:
- B1: <=1600cc road-legal cars, e.g. EK9, EF, EG6, MX-5 NA and NB, AE86, Cappucino, Caterham Seven 160, Honda Beat, old Alto Works
- B2: <=1600cc road-legal cars that can be FIA/JAF-certified for racing use, e.g. base MX-5 ND, base Swift, S660, N-ONE, March Nismo, current Alto Works
- B3: 1600-2400cc FF road-legal cars that can be FIA/JAF-certified for racing use, e.g. top-range Swift, current Corolla
- B4: 1600-2400cc FR road-legal cars that can be FIA/JAF-certified for racing use, e.g. 86, BRZ, top-range MX-5 ND
- B5: 1600-3500cc 2WD road-legal cars, e.g. Civic Type-R EP3 upwards, Silvias, Skyline non-GTR, RX-7, RX-8, Z33, Mini JCW, 208 GTi, non-turbo 911, Cayman, non-supercharged Lotus
- B6: Any road-legal cars that doesn't satisfy B1-B5, e.g. WRX STi, Lan Evo, Skyline GT-R, Ferraris, McLarens, Lambos, Golf R, turbo 911.....basically 4WDs and supercars
- PN1: <=1600cc FIA/JAF-certified racers, see B2
- PN2: 1600cc-2000cc FIA/JAF-certified racers, see B3 and B4
- AE: Fully electric cars with power output under 40 kWh, e.g. Leaf, e-Golf, i3 without range extender. No Teslas, sadly

For the running order, I was placed 8th in the B6 class. This would be nice as lots of rubber would already stick to the track when my turn to set time comes, and would also compensate the higher tire pressure as well. Grip extravaganza here I come! The manner of the run goes like this: 2-3 cars will enter the track to set time one at a time. Once all of these cars has finished their hotlap and exited T1, 2-3 cars behind them will exit the pits to start their installation lap and prepare themselves for the hotlap.

07.00
Driver's briefing done, the event was officially opened after a small ceremony was held. First to go was the N-ONE Cup and Roadster Cup Drivers. The first run of the Circuit Trials will be held at around 08.30 after the qualifying session of Tsukuba Touring Cars. To kill the time, I and some other drivers have some banters about our cars and the event itself while watching the N-ONE Cup and Roadster Cup race unfolded. I should admit I kinda want a Miata/Roadster NA right now, they're plucky and simple :)) must be a fun thing to drive! There are local and regional medias attending the event as well, so Silver Queen was back in the spotlight as I have some chatter with media crews and some fans. Fame is nice indeed but uh, I'm not there yet :))

08.20
With the qualifying session for Tsukuba Touring Cars over, it is time for Circuit Trials entrant to hit the track. I got on the Silver Queen and lined up at the pit lane for start procession. My heart was beating quickly but I tried to calm down....I don't wanna screw my own run from all the hype, that won't be funny since I only got one lap to score my time.

Some minutes later, it is my turn along with two other cars. Pit lights went green and I'm off into the track.


As I expected, there are already loads of rubbers laying on the track thanks to all racecars driving on it before the Circuit Trial begins. Quite helping considering it was a cold morning, so asphalt temperatures aren't so optimal as usual. I progressively make some gap from the racers behind me, not because I don't want to lose my position, but simply I don't want to interrupt their hotlap by accidentally lagging in front of them and blocking them. If this is a free run session that won't be a problem, but since this is a one-shot shootout, traffic could make a huge difference and even a pitlane drama.

As I approach the last section, I took a deep breath and pray as fast as I could before entering the last corner and starting my hot lap. This is it ladies and gentlemen, the first moment of the truth and game-changer performance.......
START!


The Silver Queen swings smoothly as I enter T1, grip was maintained very well along the turn as I exit the corner in speed and silk smooth manner. I'm feeling confident.


I constantly pushing the Silver Queen while reminding myself to be smooth and careful. Rather contradictive, I know, but when you have only one lap to set your time you can't afford to make any mistakes. And obviously I don't want to end up bathing in the sea of gravel, or even worse, have a forced kiss with the armco and destroying the Silver Queen in the process.


As I approached the last section again I threw some of that cautiousness a bit, as this is the last chance to fully push my Evo. Gotta keep that under 1 minute consistency, you know ;)) Still, I wonder how fast I could be this time?


And I crossed the line! What a great way to book my first lap time in the competition today. That was quite intense, even for a regional championship event! But is it fast enough? Let's see......

With my run over, I and other two cars behind me gave way to the next group of cars in the backstraight, then we went back to the pitlane.

08.40
Everybody has finished their runs and went back to the paddock. Compared to previous events, because I didn't spend a lot of time in my car, I didn't sweat so much :)) So I decided to keep my race suit and race undies on, and after going for another call of nature, I spent more time with other drivers as well as fans and medias, as well as watching and discussing over Super FJ qualifying as well as Tsukuba TC-2 endurance race. I'd like to enter the TC-2 race someday but I don't really want to push my Silver Queen for double duty. I could drive for a team though, so let's see............

The next Circuit Trial run is held at 12.15, so I have plenty of time to chill, have lunch together with other drivers, and have yet another call of nature. Trackside life is going good so far as all of us have lots of banters and laughters. And that's why you gotta enter a trackday and/or an amateur competition: The competitive atmosphere is still there, but not as cut-throat as pro events. Also, you still can connect with other teams and drivers without worrying about clashes and professionalism ;)

12.00
With the TC-2 race and lunchbreak over, it's time to continue the main show, starting with the Circuit Trial, followed by the Touring Car race and ultimately the Super FJ race. Track and air temperature has risen rather quickly as the day goes, would be nice for the tyres but not really for the engine. But eh, it's only a single lap........just don't blow now though!

I got into the Silver Queen and linep up in the pitlane for the second session. Once again I'm starting 8th from the pits. Not a bad thing really, I can chill up for a while while watching the others set their time.

But then,we received the report that someone in an S13 spun at T4 as he do his hotlap. Thankfully he went back to the track safely, but the session was red-flagged for a while to allow marshalls clean the dust, gravels and debris on the track. Whoops.

12.30
Green flag waves again in the air, and I went off to the track with another two cars as the pit lights went green. Before I go, track and air temperature decreased a bit.

As I drive along, it becomes clear that it's going to be cloudy, or even raining. Half-panicked, I rushed my installation lap a bit so I can do a hotlap quickly before rain pours over the track. Now yes, I have an AWD car and I already did a hotlap in the morning, but that doesn't mean I can stay relaxed inside.


As I got into the last sector again I prayed once more and took a deep breath. I wish I could make it in time before it rains.......
START!


I tried to shave some seconds off my time by repeating the kerb bumping technique I accidentally did at the trackday. The bump wasn't exactly freindly to my bottom and back but eh, it's always worth the seconds off my lap time. Thankfully I also did it correctly by only having two wheels bumping off the kerb, so I could reduce the suspension load as it lands while keeping it controllable and still be able to score a legal time, i.e. I didn't accidentally cut the track in the process. And what's more, it looks great on the camera ;)


As I continued my hot lap, I tried to throw off my thoughts on the weather and focusing on scoring a good lap time as half of the track is still sunny. It feels like the world flashes before me in both grayscale and chromatic colours as I zip around the track......at one point I saw lightning strike very, very far away in my mirror. Truly an awesome mind-bending experience!


As I ran into the backstraight, I almost stopped thinking and just keep on pushing my Evo. The sky darkens and everything felt very, very surreal at this moment.....feels like I'm ascending into a different dimension right now. I can't even feel my own face and back!

Finally, I crossed the line safely. I slowed down for my cooldown lap and started the trip back to the pits. I really wonder how fast I was along the way. And uh, I was basically bathing in my own sweat :))

Finally I and other two cars behind me went back to the pits as we let others start their hot laps. We don't want them caught in rain as well, y'know.

12.50
All cars has finished their hot lap session, and rain finally pours as the last car enters the pitlane. This forces Tsukuba Touring Cars and Super FJ racers to switch to wet ompounds before they could race. As I parked my Silver Queen back to the paddock, I uninstalled the timer beacons and return them to the steward room, then I rushed to the bathroom to have one more call of nature, have a refreshing shower (despite it's raining outside), change into a dry spare undie and remove all my race undies as well replacing those with the spare shorts and t-shirt I wore in the morning. I still kept my race overalls on though, as it could act as raincoat as well :))

I spent the rest of the day by watching the Touring Cars and Super FJ racers duke it out under heavy rain shower in their separate races. It was quite intense and mesmerizing to see multiple battles happened as the cars sprays a lot of water into trackside and each other. I and other drivers cheered for the racers from behind the paddock as the race goes on and on.......

The Touring Cars race was quite heated despite the rain, there are a hell lot of contacts happened and multiple cars were sent off the track. Amazingly, not a single red flag was waved despite the conditions happened. Meanwhile, the Super FJ race went off tidily as you'd expect, but wheel-to-wheel duels are still abundant. Even watching races from trackside pumped my adrenaline back again! :D

15.15
As all races has been done, it is time to see the official results of all races........let's see my results for both sessions!

The first session went well as I scored 59.647 seconds, the abundance of rubber on track really helped me out. But the second run is even more spectacular as I scored 59.196 seconds!! Not only it breaks my personal best of 59.264 I set back at Hyper Meeting's RAYS Challenge, it's also enough to secure 5th place in both class and overall classifications! :bananajump:
For this I've won a lot of things: Two medals for each classifications, V$500 for finishing 5th in class, V$800 for finishing 5th overall, and a lot of memorabilias from Victory Sports Club (VICIC), the host of this round's events. A lot of great additions for my wallet and my work desk ;) I can bring home the medals and memorabilias right away, while the prize money will be transferred together with my paycheck.

At the moment I'm also standing at 5th in both class and overall championship classifications with 8 points each as well. I wasn't expecting to be this competitive, but damn I can't even believe it myelf I made it this far! :O

After all podium ceremonies are done, I went home and went immediately to sleep. I'd like to celebrate it with a Big Mac or a Chicken Bucket, or two number nines, a number nine large, a number six with extra dip, a number seven, two number forty-fives, one with cheese, and a large soda, but I'm already too tired man :))


[08 Apr 2019]
Paycheck time! V$750 safely landed to my account but that's not all since as I've explained above, my prize money also transferred into my wallet as well. All this Time Attack shenanigans brings me and my wallet back to health :)) For the rest of this month, there will be no more Time Attack events being held, only track days. I planned to skip most if not all of them to bring my focus back to car building and also doing other things I wanted to(car meets, drift days, dyno runs.....). I really need a break for a while after all this adrenaline rush :)

And finally I also purchased the tow car....or tow van specifically, of my choice. It's a 2007 Mercedes Sprinter 311 CDi MWB, more than enough fro the job with it's vast luggage space and long body which can pull up to 2800 kg by standard. But what make me pick this thing is it has the factory tow bar option, which boosts the towing capacity to a staggering 3500 kg. More than enough to pull my Silvia S15 and it's trailer as well as some spare parts and tools without working a sweat at all! :D I got this thing for V$920, plus V%80 for shipping from UK, so that makes it V$1000 in total. It'll arrive in the shores of Tokyo at either Saturday or next week.


The car overall is in decent condition, apart from interior wear, some minor dents in the quarterback and failed turbo actuator. Oh yah, almost forgot to tell you about the power figures. The 311 CDi has 2.1 liter inline 4 turbodiesel engine, which while may only produce 107 BHP, still has loads and loads of torque to haul pretty much everything. With that failed turbo actuator this thing can only move up to 55 mph. That's not really a bad thing, since it can rather easily be replaced. Speaking of which, here's my plan on tuning it. Yeah I know, this thing isn't usually tuned visually but still.....


The first stuff I'd put into it is obviously a new turbo actuator. I could go the normal and rational way by fitting one from Hella, or go full madman by fitting a universal one from Turbosmart. Next up is ECU tuning. Now, this one I can do by myself, but since I'm usually dealing with petrol engines ECU rather than diesel, I'm a bit afraid I could mess it up. So to keep it safe, I'm going to purchase the easiest thing to tune your diesel engine: Chip tune device. I'm still comparing prices though, so I'm not really sure which one to pick yet. And finally, if I could find one, I'll add a universal big valves as well to increase fuel burning efficiency and effectiveness.

For the running gear and underpinnings, I might look for bigger brakes and braided brake hose. Perhaps I'll get a coilover too, but obviously I'm not going to lower it(?). But the priority right now lies at the turbo actuator and chip tune kit, as I can install those on site right after I pick up the Sprinter.

At this point I also visited Franklin's new garage shop in Tokyo. I'll let Franklin told you all of it, but I'll also update this update a bit after he does, so stay tuned both here and at Franklin's RP thread! ;)















Yay finally Part 2 has been done!
Here's how my wallet stands after all the shenanigans:













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

This post was edited by BigSmoke (2019-04-16 12:01, ago)
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
#244   2019-04-10 14:37          
Congrats for the race results! I wish I could go there and participate in the race with you :D

BigSmoke

id
Posts: 844

Location: Indonesia
Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
Age:
V$: Broke
#245   2019-04-10 14:41          
# Soju : Congrats for the race results! I wish I could go there and participate in the race with you :D

Thank you very much my man! :thumbsup:
Well I'd say you should join Attack Tsukuba or Attack Ebisu, your Supra would be a strong contender in both Attack's Turbo class! ;)
Still following the damn train since 1992

Visit my RP HERE!

Renaruto

jp
Posts: 376
http://https://www.facebook.com/R...
Location: Japan probably
Occupation: Yes
Age: 25
V$: 5.300
#246   2019-04-10 14:57          
Sounded like a lot of fun. Might actually join you on the next big event there ;)

BigSmoke

id
Posts: 844

Location: Indonesia
Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
Age:
V$: Broke
#247   2019-04-10 15:03          
# Renaruto : Sounded like a lot of fun. Might actually join you on the next big event there ;)

Well yeah it was a lot of fun! :thumbsup:
You gotta join sometimes man, either if it's just a trackday or a competitive event! :D
Still following the damn train since 1992

Visit my RP HERE!

Buzzsaw

uk
Posts: 192

Location: United Kingdom
Occupation: Supermarket Store
Age:
V$: 375/w
#248   2019-04-10 17:54          
Congrats with the result, man! Being the 5th place is a good start, I'm impressed already.
Good luck with the van.
Click here for to my RP thread.

BigSmoke

id
Posts: 844

Location: Indonesia
Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
Age:
V$: Broke
#249   2019-04-10 17:59          
# Buzzsaw : Congrats with the result, man! Being the 5th place is a good start, I'm impressed already.
Good luck with the van.

Yooo thanks man :thumbsup:
Still following the damn train since 1992

Visit my RP HERE!

Niatross

bd
Posts: 430

Location: Bangladesh
Occupation: topkek
Age:
V$: yes
#250   2019-04-11 05:25          
Man, you're dominating Tsukuba nowadays! seeing all this makes me more and more pumped to finally make another trip to the circuit on my E46! i'd fall in the B5 class tho, compared to you in class B6 (crikey do i need to cop a LanEvo?)

Also, congrats on the Sprinter! i myself have an eye on the lookout for a strong enough tow car. Lets see what i end up with someday :))


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

RocketBunnyS13

ph
Posts: 418

Location: Philippines MNL
Occupation: Yes I ruin cars
Age: 34
V$: wat
#251   2019-04-11 19:09          
AYYYY finally some track time for the Silver Queen!! Glad to see she held up well, 59.196 and 5th are pretty amazing results tbh haha. Let's do a trackday soon! And YEEEEY SPRINTER TIEM, many towy things to be done

s t a y c l a s s y

BigSmoke

id
Posts: 844

Location: Indonesia
Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
Age:
V$: Broke
#252   2019-04-11 20:43          
# Niatross : Man, you're dominating Tsukuba nowadays! seeing all this makes me more and more pumped to finally make another trip to the circuit on my E46! i'd fall in the B5 class tho, compared to you in class B6 (crikey do i need to cop a LanEvo?)

Also, congrats on the Sprinter! i myself have an eye on the lookout for a strong enough tow car. Lets see what i end up with someday :))

Gee thanks my man! :))
You gotta come here as soon as possible! ;)

B5 class cars are also capable to win overall classification as well imo, you don't really need to switch to an AWD car. Also, if this were Attack Tsukuba, your M3 will either classified in the Real Tuning class (same as my Silver Queen) or Second Class (same as S15). Soooo no worries ;)
And oh, for the rest of the month it's all trackday in the weekends, so feel free to come man :D

Good luck for the tow car hunt my man! You might want to peep UK car markets like I did :D

# RocketBunnyS13 : AYYYY finally some track time for the Silver Queen!! Glad to see she held up well, 59.196 and 5th are pretty amazing results tbh haha. Let's do a trackday soon! And YEEEEY SPRINTER TIEM, many towy things to be done

I know right? I didn't expect my Silver Queen to go any faster but yet it did! :D
We gotta do trackdays together sometime!
And oh, for the rest of the month it's all trackday in the weekends, so feel free to come man :D

IIIIIT'S HAULIN' TIMEEEEEEE





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



250+ POSTS MILESTONE!!






Back when I made my first post around half a year ago, I don't really think I will make it this far...I don't even think I could make it to 100 posts :)) I was actually having some self-doubts at my first posts y'know. All that I could write (even until now, I think, though it's rather obviously well-planned nowadays) was simply what pops on mthe right side of my brain.

But then, here we are now, at the 250 posts mark (well, technically 252 :)) only got the time to reply now). I'm deeply grateful I can make it this far, and most of all I'm glad people actually read my posts and replied to these. Yes, some of you might not read the whole posts, but that's okay, because I know people has different levels when it comes to grasping and understanding English literatures, or even literatures in general. I'm not mad, don't worry, even my friends irl has rather limited capability on reading my stuff :))

Anyways, as I stated in the pic, I would like to thank you all, who has stopped by here to see, read, and comment on this thread. Without y'all, I might won't have the motivation to keep writing as long as you can usually see these days. I appreciate the fact that you guys have some spare minutes to read and comment on my updates, and I'm eternally grateful for that.

For now, I can only hope I could be an inspiration for other users in terms of RP writing and builds, just like other RP builders inspires me to make my own. For those who has just started their own, have an RP restart or continuing theirs from a long hiatus, keep on writing on your spare time, improve your builds, and expand your creativity potential, I'm sure some people would appreciate them :D

Here's to the next 250 posts over the life and adventures of me, my Silver Queen and all of my co's, ladies and gentlemen. Keep following that damn train and cheers :cheers:


This post was edited by BigSmoke (2019-04-11 23:08, ago)
Still following the damn train since 1992

Visit my RP HERE!

11000rpm

kr
Posts: 391

Location: South Korea
Occupation: a human
Age:
V$: idk
#253   2019-04-12 10:11          
Wow finally 250 posts, I cant even imagine of how long youve went through with Silver Queen, good luck again dude!

Niatross

bd
Posts: 430

Location: Bangladesh
Occupation: topkek
Age:
V$: yes
#254   2019-04-12 10:27          
CONGRATS!!!
its genuinely delightful seeing the plucky LanEvo dominate racetracks!
pls do not stop ok thx


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

Soju

kr
Posts: 1247

Location: South Korea
Occupation: Smuggling Soju
Age: 122
V$: Broke
#255   2019-04-12 10:48          
Congrats for hitting the 250 mark :) Keep going!

BigSmoke

id
Posts: 844

Location: Indonesia
Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
Age:
V$: Broke
#256   2019-04-12 13:43          
# 11000rpm : Wow finally 250 posts, I cant even imagine of how long youve went through with Silver Queen, good luck again dude!

Thank you very much my man! It's been more than a half year romance with the Silver Queen :D

# Soju : Congrats for hitting the 250 mark :) Keep going!

Thank you very much my man! I'll definitely keep going ;)

# Niatross : CONGRATS!!!
its genuinely delightful seeing the plucky LanEvo dominate racetracks!
pls do not stop ok thx

Thanks fam! :D
Hopefully either the Silver Queen or the S15 will expand the domination outside Tsukuba :D

With people as kind as y'all I CAN'T STOP BOIIIII :))
Still following the damn train since 1992

Visit my RP HERE!

Sleepin mOnkey

jp
Posts: 2459

Location: Japan Universe, Milky way ,Solar system, Earth
Occupation: Automotive engineer Student
Age: 32
V$: 14.750
#257   2019-04-13 01:29          
congrats dude
Roleplay: A engine Builder and tuner that lives in Japan and Builds cool stuff.
Cars: Corolla Levin coupe Tog/show car
180SX s13 350hp SR20DET 6MT Babe 1
Supra Sz JZA80 2jz-Gte Vvt-i 2000's Hotboi
240sx Vert HOTBOI 2

CLICCC...

BigSmoke

id
Posts: 844

Location: Indonesia
Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
Age:
V$: Broke
#258   2019-04-13 05:13          
# Sleepin mOnkey : congrats dude

Thanks my man! Thank you for your technical inputs :D
Still following the damn train since 1992

Visit my RP HERE!

BigSmoke

id
Posts: 844

Location: Indonesia
Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
Age:
V$: Broke
#259   2019-04-16 19:33          
Out of Comfort Zone














After the 250 posts celebration it's time to resume the normal service! :D
This time, it's time to pick up the Sprinter, as well as repairing it and giving it an upgrade.
How did this was done? You'll know once you read it obviously :))
Also, finally I went for a drift day for the first time! :D
Let's find out what has happened and how did I survive below! :D














[09 Apr 2019]
With the Sprinter import sorted, it is time to get additional stuffs required for it. As I've written on the previous update, the Sprinter has a non-functioning turbo actuator, which made it rather asthmatic on the road. I mean, you can still drive it like normal but it would only reach 55 mph, which isn't even reaching 100 kmh. On paper this doesn't sound like a disaster since you won't go that fast in urban and countryside areas. But obviously this would spell a lot of trouble when it coems to highway driving and hillclimbing, since all that torque the car needs is.....pretty much gone. And obviously I don't want the Sprinter breaking down or even worse, rolling backwards with me and my luggage inside when it happens.

My options for those are the OEM grade turbo actuators from Hella (which is, um, OEM), random eBay universal turbo actuators (cheap for the same price as OEM, but obviously dubious quality) and universal turbo actuators from Turbosmart. Originally I planned to buy and fit Hella ones, but I also wanted to do a bit of experiment over how 'universal' these universal actuators are, so I went the madman route and purchased the Turbosmart IWG75 Uni Actuators for V$200. I could have picked the 10 psi model, and I'm rather sure if the stock turbo won't blow into pieces when it's pushed that much, but after all, the Sprinter is a workhorse and not a racer, so no need to overkill (though both parts are similarly priced).

Aside from the turbo actuator, another thing I bought for the Sprinter is a chip tuning kit. As I stated previously, I could have tuned it myself, but I'm not sure if I can do the tuen properly since I dealed with a lot of petrol engine ECU but not diesel ones, which emphasizes on torque rather than engine power. After a lot of considerations, I decided to pick one from ChipExpress for V$395 since it can be reprogrammed and/or can serve as an interface for ECU reprogramming. I can already imagine a good life cruising inside the Sprinter......

And oh, all of these will arrive at 3 days, one day before the time I pick up the Sprinter, so I can fit them right away after the Sprinter has landed in Japan shores. And since they can be easily fitted (i.e. no need to lift the car or disassemble the engine), I don't need to find a shop to fit them. I can literally fit these on the side of the road! :))


[12 Apr 2019]
With the turbo actuator and chip tuning kit arrived at my doorstep, it's time to pick the Sprinter at the docks. As per usual I called Rantaro to pick me up and take me to the docks. Thinking back about it, I really hope he don't mind......but then again he's usually excited to see import cars. But then again so far I imported something mundane (Daewoo Tico) rather than exciting :))

"Rantaro-san, you got free time tomorrow?"
"Um, yeah, it's weekend after all. What is it, another trip to Tokyo docks?"
"Welp yeah you actually guessed it right. Don't worry, it won't be like the last time"
"Ah yes that Tico import is a joke. It's okay though, I'll pick you up tomorrow"
"Okay good sorry about that heheh, well-"
"With one condition"
"What is it?"
"Tell me what you bought this time"
"Eh no problem, I can come clean this time. You ready for this?"
"Yea I'm listening"
"It's a Merc. Proper, legit Merc"
"WOAH BOI! Now that's an import!"
"Yeah I know right? It's from UK too so it's right-hand drive, unlike the Tico"
"That's the way I like it boi! Now tell me, what kind of Merc?"
"Um, it's a diesel"
"Hmmm I don't mind diesels, that's how they do it there these days"
"And it's big"
"An SUV?"
"Nah, not really. Remember, they make diesel sedans, minivans, vans and trucks as well"
"Oh well at least I know it's going to be a Merc. Anyway gotta back to work man, gonna have a meeting soon"
"Okay, see ya tomorrow bossman"
"See ya"


Well I'm glad Rantaro's still happy about picking up import cars :D
But he hasn't seen what's actually coming though.........

I spent the rest of the day learning about diesel chip tuning and programming on my laptop, hoping to make most of the chip tuning for the next day. And in between the learning process, I checked car prices out of the blue, just to satisfy my curiosity and to see how is the used car market here in Japan currently moving. I ended up wanting yet another car though, as later on I gleed on Mark II X110s (no, not X100s) for some hours. The GX110 variants are dirt cheap and has the potential to be tuned into pretty much any kind of builds. But what kind of build I want it to be? I'll talk more about it later.


[13 Apr 2019]
Time to pick up the Sprinter! Rantaro arrived at my crib around 9am. I packed up some stuff for the Sprinter repair and upgrade operation in my rucksack, which are my toolbox, the brand new chip tuning kit and turbo actuator, a used toothbrush, another bigger brush, and my own laptop. If you're asking why did I brought brushes with me, well it should be rather obvious that I'm going to clean some parts of the engine. Well, those that I can reach and clean with or without the brushes at least, including air filter elements and EGR. As we rolled into the highway to Tokyo, we talked about some stuff.

"Say Rantaro, have you ever been driving this thing on racetracks?"
"Um, nah man, it's too fragile and beautiful for that kind of stuff"
"Ah, shame really, but I could understand. Too precious to hurt yeah?"
"Yeah, and doesn't have that motorsport vibes and credentials yet at that time, unlike your Evo"
"Well you're right. Vintage racing is a thing though"
"Indeed, but have you ever seen this thing flying aaround racetracks? Bet you never do"
"Um, yeah, admittably"

"Anyways, I'd say you're richer than me Rantaro"
"Ahahahah, I don't think so"
"Dude, I constantly fighting my way off the bankruptcy line! And you didn't!"
"Eh really? But you win races recently!"
"I'm not really winning, and I'm not racing every week you know. The last event I attended was the only race I can attend this month"
"Ah I see, dissappointing indeed. To be fair, I'd like to buy another car to go to racetracks but um, no time to do it"
"Which one?"
"Both buying the car and going to the track"
"Welp, you're a busy man indeed, I know that feel"
"One day though, we might be able to have fun together"
"Man I wish I could be as rich as Ryuji"
"Yeah, he's balling everyday. He's kind as well though"

As we make our way around Tokyo traffic and skimming the tarmacs of the highway, I changed the topic.

"Tell me Rantaro, what do you think of X110?"
"X100? I thought you know they're famous-"
"No, the one after it, the X110"
"Ah the X110. Sorry man the engine drowned your voice"
"Eh it's okay, that's 2JZ after all"
"Ookay so the X110 yeah? I think they're decent as a cruiser, just a bit oddly proportioned on the back"
"Hmmmm judging by the pics I could agree with you"
"And um, they're a bit bloaty and rather ugly compared with X100 and X90"
"Could be, hence a lot are for sale for cheap"


"Anyways are you going to buy one? You said they're cheap. If you're offering me one, no thanks"
"Perhaps, and nah I'm not going to offer you anyway. Kinda wanted one"
"For what? I thought you prefer your Evo for cruising"
"Drifting. I know I have a HR34 for that but I kinda want to go a bit further, and I don't want to hurt it"
"As in crashing it?"
"Obviously. I also want to keep the HR34 street legal, so I can have an alternative besides the Evo"
"Well I'm not the one to hurt and crash cars to ragged death, but that's a decent idea"
"Are you sure? It doesn't really look ready to go sideways"
"I think I've seen some of them going sideways on my phone, and they're kinda graceful"
"Hmmmmm that's one factor to consider"
"Still felt out of place though. But for VIP and cruise mods they're a good template"
"No doubt about that. I should think about this more, please lend me you guidance"
"Anytime my man, just feel free to ask me"

We finally arrived at the docks some time later. It was a hot day at Tokyo, and somehow the sea breeze didn't really help us to cool down. It feels like being sprayed with salt via a very strong hairdryer. Thankfully Rantaro wore a t-shirt inside his tartan suit and as usual I wore my own t-shirt inside my hoodie (well, I like to wear either hoodie or jacket for most of my activities). And so, we strolled inside the X70 along the dockyard, sweating a bit on our brightly coloured t-shirts. Summer never came this fast in my life I guess.

We parked at the importer's office and have some more chatter as we waited the Sprinter to get off the cargo ship and unboxed.

"Ah, I was going to ask you something Edo-kun"
"What is it"
"What's inside your bag?"
"Eh, nothing to hide about. My laptop, brushes, toolbox-"
"Stop. What's the toolbox for? Don't tell me the car is broken"
"Well kinda. It's rolling and all, but technically no turbos"
"No turbos? Is it broken?"
"Partly. Just the actuator. Don't worry, I have a new one here, I'm not that stupid"
"Niceeeeee. And what's the other one?"
"Chip tuning kit. Y'know what, this is the norm of diesel tuning in Europe"
"Awesome stuff! Always heard and see those on the web yet this is the first time I see it here"
"I know right?"


Finally, the Sprinter is out of the cargo box. I watched it in full excitement, and surprisingly Rantaro looked positive towards it.

"Y'know what Edo-kun? This isn't the Merc I imagined in my head yet it's also a great choice"
"Welp sorry for ruining your hopes again hehe"
"Nah not really, I like stuff like this too. I used to drive vans too"
"Oh really? When?"
"Shortly after finishing high school. Job wasn't easy to find my man"
"Ah I see, was it fun?"
"Good times I should say, I was driving around almost half of Japan with it for a year"
"That's amazing!"
"Anyway Edo-kun I assume you're going to haul something with it. No way you're going to daily this, let alone racing it"
"Obviously. This would be my parts van and tow car"
"As parts van it's a good idea, but towing? I never tow something in my life with a van"
"Well it could. See that tow hook in the back? That's one way to prove it"


"Ah yes you're right. How much can it pull?"
"This is the factory-issued tow bar, so it can pull 3500 kg"
"That's a lot! Uh hang on what are you going to pull anyway?"
"Do you remember my S15? The red one?"
"Ah yes that one with almost nothing inside"
"Yup correct. That thing isn't streetlegal, and perhaps forever won't be streetlegal since I want it to be a racer"
"So you'll carry it around with this? Good idea I'd say"
"Exactly!"

We could have fixed the Sprinter right on the spot, but we don't want our repair and tuning activity to interrupt the import-export business. So, with the papers and everything done and sorted aside from the internals, we rolled off the dockyard but we took a bit longer route to demonstrate how gutless is the Sprinter is at the moment. The result? Welp, very I should say. At least the radio and AUX works.....I pumped up this song and laughed so hard I almost went off to the mucky, oily ocean as I creep along inside the Sprinter.

Some time later, we found a shoulder wide enough to fix the Sprinter and quiet enough to make a ruckus out of it. I parked the Sprinter, get my rucksack off, whipped my toolkit and laptop, and set to work.
"Right pass me the the actuators Rantaro, this one's quite busted it turns out"
"Okay here it is"
"And the brush too, thanks man"
"Okay"
"You wanna brush your teeth with this?"
"What?"
"Nah just kidding man, you'll kill yourself if you brush your teeth with this"
"Welp, is it that toxic?"
"I'd say so. Anyway pass the laptop and the chip kit, I wonder if there's a wifi spot nearby?"
"Like hell there would be man"

With the work and tuning done and the stock actuator dumped as well (it's not even worth selling!), it's time to leave the dockyard. But before we went off, Rantaro got an urgent call from his office, telling him to attend a tech meeting at Shinjuku. So we had to abruptly go separate ways earlier than expected. Oh well, at least this Sprinter is RHD so I don't need any overtaking guidance, unlike when I grabbed the Tico :))
(yes mod is LHD but let's ignore that shall we?)

Hitting the highway with the Sprinter, I can feel the turbo working well and feels very alive as it helps on hauling the entire car along. The van feels more responsive as well, thanks to the slight turbo tune I did as well as the lightly altered chip tune inside. Hauling parts and towing the S15 should be an easy job then. The only problem at the moment is it's dimension: It turns out somehow it's much bigger than almost every single JDM vans on the road. I mean look, I almost hit the highway sign with it! It's actually a blessing I didn't bought the tall/extended roof version, since if I hit the sign with the Sprinter, I would (a)cause a traffic jam for all the debris, (b)arrested by the police for damaging a pblic property and causing traffic disorder and (c)have myself embarrasingly appear at prime time TV news reports for previous reasons :))


Time passed rather quickly and I arrived at Tsukuba. I wonder what people would think about the Sprinter? Older gen Sprinters was indeed sold in Japan, but only in a few numbers, with most sold as Vitos. As for this gen......I doubt if there are a lot of them. Speaking of which, the Sprinter is so big I probably can camp and sleep in this absolute unit.......but that might be uncomfortable without RV conversion. But eh, wood panellings and a sleeping bag is enough for me, or I could stuff a layer of spring bed inside, stack a pillow and bolster on top, and call it a day. Eh, who knows what I'll do to it when I'm not hauling stuff?


Finally, I came back to my crib as the sun starts to dip in the west side. This spawns a new problem: I can't park it in either my own crib's garage or the one in front of my crib. The Sprinter's roof is so high it prevents the Sprinter to get inside the garage. This was half-solved by parking it beside my Tico. Just look at that size difference, it's mind-boggling! :O

I spent the rest of the day thinking how I should spent the weekend as well as continuing my search for cars. As I've written previously, there are no competitive time attacks in Tsukuba Circuit for the rest of this month. But then, I have a brilliant idea.......


[14 Apr 2019]
......and that idea is to attend a drift day! You see, along my life I haven't experienced a single drift day yet. Well Tsukuba Circuit has those as well, but only on a competitive term (D1GP, MSC Challenge etc.) or on a special occassion (e.g. AE86 festival). Regular, non-competitive drift days are rarely held, though it's rather understandable as after all it's a grip circuit. Luckily, there are another circuit near Tsukuba that's quite famous for drifting activities there. No, it's not Ebisu, it's quite far from Tsukuba. The answer is Nikko Circuit at Utsunomiya. From grassroots drifting to pro level sideways action, you can find it all here, and recently they also hosted D1 Lights (formerly D1SL) and Drift Kingdom rounds. Obviously I can't use my Silver Queen for drifting, so this time it's the HR34 that's serving for the action.

After following phone maps for one and half an hour, finally I arrived at Niko for the first time in my life. I feel as excited as the first time I came to Tsukuba Circuit for the first time, and thsi time I also get to jump into the track as well! I can't wait to get sideways as quickly as possible :D

It was rather crowded today, with tire smokes visible everywhere and tire screeches covered with raucuous engine sounds providing soundtrack for the day. I parked my car on one of the stalls available and have a chatter with some other drivers and officials while watching multiple cars passing by carrying lots of speed, wind force and rubbers towards our face. I openly said this is my first time here and also the first time drifting in a drift day, and their response are quite positive: They're glad they got another enthusiasts here, and in general everyone told me to have fun, be safe and don't push too hard if you worry about crashing.

From the officials I also gathered that actually, grip runs are a thing here! They got their own endurance racing series just like Tsukuba, and it's running much longer, where hey run for 3 hours in a race, whereas Tsukuba's endurance series would only run for 2 hours. But compared to Tsukuba, they only held this three times a year, since after all Nikko's premier activities are drifting and motorcycle racing. Aside form endurance racing they also got regular trackdays and my favourite thing: Time Attacks! And the good thing is, unlike in Tsukuba Circuit, you are allowed to use race-spec semislicks to set your record, and just like I usually did at Tsukuba Circuit you can set time outside Time Attack events. Just tell the officials you're going to set a personal best for some laps, and they'll happily provide you with timer beacons to record your times. Current overall lap record holder here is Ikeda EG6, which is also a Tsukuba regular and has that TA-spefific aero set, recently setting a time of 35.982 seconds (mind you, Nikko is short).

Other records are as follows: RWD record is hold by Sakamoto Engineering FD3S, driven by Hiroki Sakamoto with time of 36.743 seconds. AWD record is held by BFM x Marusho CP9A driven by Masato Tatehashi, scoring 37.417 seconds. And finally, Radial tyres record is held by Kotora EG6 driven by Kayuza Kubo, with a blistering time of 37.666 seconds. And finally, the reverse layout record (yes, it does exists) is held by Koichi Kono in his FD3S, scoring 41.468 seconds. You can check all records that has ben made here. Hearing all of this really makes me want to bring my Silver Queen. Oh well, next weekend that would be! :))

With the banters over, I went back to my HR34 and entered the pitlane to prepare myself getting sideways for the first time here. I don't even know yet how powerful is my HR34 currently, but heck, I can throw that question out of the window at the moment and see it for myself here.

Lights go green and I entered the track as I would do in Tsukuba......except I proceed to chuck my HR34 sideways as I entered the first corner. Thankfully, as far as I could tell you don't need a lot of power to chain the first and second corner (but you do need it if you want to chain the third corner as well)

Slowly I started to get the hang of it. Everything seems to connect in a harmonic flow of motions. The HR34 felt a bit gutless thanks to it being an NA car but thankfully it's (massive) body roll still helps me to go through corners. And at that point I realized I need more upgrades than I imagine it would be.


Thinking I've got it quickly, I brought the HR34 sideways in full confidence..........

......until I reached the end of the backstraight. Suddenly my brain simply faded and I pulled my handbrakes without any afterthoughts. This was a huge mistake. I tried to fight as I watch colours and thoughts fly out from the windshield.

Thankfully, the soild earth beneath the gravel trap is slippery enough to make me spin a bit and helped me steer my car back to the track. Thanks to all the touring car rallycross clips, I could steer the HR34 back in a rather sketchy way. I can't even believe it myself, to be honest.

Lap 2, I entered the first corner again in speed. All went safe and sound so far..........

.......until I tried to chain the third corner. It looks like the brakes can't swing the rear quick enough so I pulled the handbrake in a bit of panic.

I almost spin the HR34 when I countered to chain the fourth corner, but I made it. Despite that, I've lost a lot of speed, so I have to go through the corner with less angle to gain some speed. I might need to check my underwears I should say.

A few moments later I arrived at the backstraight, and this time I tried to chain the corners laid before and after it using the Sanpatsu (triple flick) technique. I've explained about Sanpatsu once, but if you missed it, let me explain again: Sanpatsu is a Manji drift that only consist of triple flicks. The first one is when you hold the exit from first corner, the second one is when you counter the previous drift on the straight line, and the third one is when you counter the straight line drift, combining it with entry for the next corner. If you still don't get it, you can watch it here.

So first I drifted one corner before the backstraight.......


......chaining the exit with one opposite flick on the straights.......

........and chaining that flick with another one as I enter the next corner. Oh would you look at that body roll! :D


Still in high spirits, I continued the drift to chain the last two corners. I was drowning myself in joy, I didn't expect this would be as fun as my trackdays! Definitely a great break from my grip routines :D


As I fling my HR34, there you go, I've completed my first sideways lap of Nikko! :bananajump:

This feeling reminds me of my very first trackday a long, long time ago. You safely completed a lap, then you want more, then you want even more and more.....I guess driving joy can indeed found and reinvented in different ways, and you'll always free to express it with your cars.


Of course my run is not without problems. Aside from the earlier near-miss and admittably lack of high-speed drifting experience, I'm still driving on stock seats, so while my back is still comfortable, it can't hold my entire body properly when I go sideways. So as I swing the car around corners, my body was also swinging and moving around like a jelly on a small, clean plate. At least it's not up to the level where I slap my head to the window or stab my sides with the handbrake lever, but I could swear it's uncomfortable.


Finally, after some time of more sideways throwing actions, I decided I had enough to my body and my tires. But that doesn't hold me back to pull some final slides before going back to the pits. Another thing on the note: Always bring spare tyres. I had one, but I left them in my crib.....


I went back to the stalls to cooldown my HR34 and myself. As I went to the track's canteen to get some meal, I chilled and have some more banters with locals and other drivers I've talked to before the drift session. We exchanged notes and talked about each other's cars. I also talked about my life in Tsukuba and what I've done so far. Apparently everyone wants to see the Silver Queen at Nikko! :D Sadly, so far none of us can't come with a nickname for the HR34

After a long time has passed with banters and laughters, I decided it's time to go back to Tsukuba. I exchanged contact with some locals, drivers and officials before hopping into the HR34, and set off into the sunset. Yep, I've just got myself a turf to play around with my cars :D As always, I'm grateful with what happened to me in this world.



[15 Apr 2019]
Paycheck time! From now on I'll be receiving V$940 a week. Definitely a huge boost for my wallet, so shopping and tuning activities should resume soon :D I really need to do mods to my HR34 and S15, and probably the Tico as well. And riase your hands if you want to see the Sprinter receiving mods as well! (Yes, there are myriads of mods for it, but maybe not for the engine)

Also, let's talk about some things. The first one is the X110 I brought up earlier. As I've said earlier, I want to get one as a drifter. Yes, I've got the HR34, but the X110 would serve as an actually smashable missile (not that I actually want to smash it up, I just don't want to hurt the HR34 too much) drifter, and it would be also faster and more powerful than the HR34. I would definitely use the X110 for tsuiso/tandem sessions compared to the HR34. The only problem is, well, not only I hoard a lot of cars at the moment, modding it would be a big struggle, not counting all the cars I haven't completely modded yet. Not even the S15 has been finished! So what do you think, should I get one after all?

The second thing is a steady job. I'm glad I received more money now, but to make a real progress to my car's modding process, obviously I have to got more and more money. Yes, I could earn them in races, but as I've pointed earlier I can't simply race on every weekend. I would need a steady job to keep on living. I'm thinking on being a teacher, tech support agent or being a QA tester for tech companies. Let me know what you're thinking on this plan.


















First update after the 250 posts celebration has been done!
Let's see how my wallet survives the 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!

Lagano

si
Posts: 1739

Location: Slovenia West side
Occupation: Taking it easy
Age: 24
V$: :$V
#260   2019-04-16 20:16          
Nice job getting that van, now you can finally take your S15 to the track. And you're planning to get a JZX?! All of a sudden you have way more cars :)) well for now i'd rather invest in the R34 instead. I get you, it might be too clean for a drift car but you could get a RB25DET for some better drifts, or just smaller rear wheels lol. If i remember you got it for pretty cheap so just drift the hell out of it, make it the Silver drift king! :D

Buzzsaw

uk
Posts: 192

Location: United Kingdom
Occupation: Supermarket Store
Age:
V$: 375/w
#261   2019-04-16 20:21          
Ooo, you got Merc van. I can see you got a parking problem because of your van size, every time I was driving past you.
It does remind myself, goes back to the UK, my dad has smiley Ford Transit, ex-Royal Mail and he has current about 300k miles and it runs strong.
Click here for to my RP thread.

Sleepin mOnkey

jp
Posts: 2459

Location: Japan Universe, Milky way ,Solar system, Earth
Occupation: Automotive engineer Student
Age: 32
V$: 14.750
#262   2019-04-17 02:30          
r34 looks nice but needs a turbski
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...

Soju

kr
Posts: 1247

Location: South Korea
Occupation: Smuggling Soju
Age: 122
V$: Broke
#263   2019-04-17 04:27          
That is a really huge van compared to kei vans there!
And that was a great sanpatsu session on the track! It’s impossible to do it on my NA 180SX :)

Niatross

bd
Posts: 430

Location: Bangladesh
Occupation: topkek
Age:
V$: yes
#264   2019-04-17 06:17          
Ayeeee euro-anglo towing boi has arrived!
That instantly looks like it'll do a perfect job at transporting a car on a trailer, and the cars parts on the cargo space! :))
Also the Drift sesh with the R34 looks quite fun! ngl im yet to throw down the E36 at a drift-famous track


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

BigSmoke

id
Posts: 844

Location: Indonesia
Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
Age:
V$: Broke
#265   2019-04-17 07:36          
# Lagano : Nice job getting that van, now you can finally take your S15 to the track. And you're planning to get a JZX?! All of a sudden you have way more cars :)) well for now i'd rather invest in the R34 instead. I get you, it might be too clean for a drift car but you could get a RB25DET for some better drifts, or just smaller rear wheels lol. If i remember you got it for pretty cheap so just drift the hell out of it, make it the Silver drift king! :D

When you find cheap cars the urge to get them is pretty much unbearable :))
But yeah, indeed I could simply mod the HR34 further. Even the S15 hasn't done yet :))

# Buzzsaw : Ooo, you got Merc van. I can see you got a parking problem because of your van size, every time I was driving past you.
It does remind myself, goes back to the UK, my dad has smiley Ford Transit, ex-Royal Mail and he has current about 300k miles and it runs strong.

Well parking was indeed a nightmare, almost squished the Tico when backing up :))
I was going to import a smiley Transit, I like that thing :D Sadly it has less towing capability compared to the Sprinter

# Sleepin mOnkey : r34 looks nice but needs a turbski

Glad you like it man :D
I'd like to keep it NA though, turbo job would be handed to X110 if I could get one

# Soju : That is a really huge van compared to kei vans there!
And that was a great sanpatsu session on the track! It’s impossible to do it on my NA 180SX :)

ikr, it's humongous and spacey :D
Eh, if I could do it you should be able to pull it much better ;)

# Niatross : Ayeeee euro-anglo towing boi has arrived!
That instantly looks like it'll do a perfect job at transporting a car on a trailer, and the cars parts on the cargo space! :))
Also the Drift sesh with the R34 looks quite fun! ngl im yet to throw down the E36 at a drift-famous track

ikr, perfect van for the job ;)
Welp you gotta unleash your E36 man, it's much more complete than the HR34 imo
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
#266   2019-04-17 09:29          
Rad update fam! First of all

CONGRATS ON (MORE THAN) 250 POSTS! WELL DESERVED!


And WEW. Sprinter things YEETAGE. What I most especially enjoyed was both Silver Queen and the HR34 getting some track time!! Silver Queen fared really well! The HR34 was good too I can see but, the body roll and straight line power just prevented you from hitting your maximum slideyboi potential haha. Put my RB20 in there already, let's hear her SCREAM!!

s t a y c l a s s y

BigSmoke

id
Posts: 844

Location: Indonesia
Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
Age:
V$: Broke
#267   2019-04-17 09:45          
# RocketBunnyS13 : Rad update fam! First of all

CONGRATS ON (MORE THAN) 250 POSTS! WELL DESERVED!


And WEW. Sprinter things YEETAGE. What I most especially enjoyed was both Silver Queen and the HR34 getting some track time!! Silver Queen fared really well! The HR34 was good too I can see but, the body roll and straight line power just prevented you from hitting your maximum slideyboi potential haha. Put my RB20 in there already, let's hear her SCREAM!!

Aaaaaay finally you're here, thanks fam :thumbsup:

It's really good to spawn both on different weekends and purposes, truly a bi-polar yet equally joyous experience! :D
That massive body roll scared me a bit but also a bit helpful. And oh, in fact back then I made a bit of experimental stroker kit for the HR34 by fitting your RB25 internals inside the RB20 inside the HR34 :))
No turbos though, so yeah, a bit down on power. Oh well, time for more power indeed! :D
Still following the damn train since 1992

Visit my RP HERE!

NinetySixGT

ca
Posts: 27

Location: Canada Saskatchewan
Occupation: Car Addiction
Age: 23
V$: 2,115
#268   2019-04-19 01:19          
You are definitely motivating me to start participating in time attack events with my Mustang. :thumbsup:
Check out my RP:
V$ NINETYSIXGT'S ROLEPLAY BUILDS

Cars Owned:
-2003 SN95 Ford Mustang GT
-1995 SN95 Ford Mustang GT

BigSmoke

id
Posts: 844

Location: Indonesia
Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
Age:
V$: Broke
#269   2019-04-19 07:57          
# NinetySixGT : You are definitely motivating me to start participating in time attack events with my Mustang. :thumbsup:

Glad I could inspire others in a good way! :D
You should do it if you want to measure the performance of your Mustang so far, good luck with it man :thumbsup:
Still following the damn train since 1992

Visit my RP HERE!

Renaruto

jp
Posts: 376
http://https://www.facebook.com/R...
Location: Japan probably
Occupation: Yes
Age: 25
V$: 5.300
#270   2019-04-19 19:16          
Ohhh yeah thats what I want to see haha. Definitley have to visit Nikko circuit again! Also Tsukuba actually does have a lot of drifting but not on the actual track but more on the big skidpad next to the main roads ;)

BigSmoke

id
Posts: 844

Location: Indonesia
Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
Age:
V$: Broke
#271   2019-04-20 07:18          
# Renaruto : Ohhh yeah thats what I want to see haha. Definitley have to visit Nikko circuit again! Also Tsukuba actually does have a lot of drifting but not on the actual track but more on the big skidpad next to the main roads ;)

Man you should hit Nikko with your FC! :D
Yeah indeed, most sideways action happens at Gymkhana complex, which I would visit sometimes but never drove inside. Speaking of which, lately there are people driving FWD cars on PVC-wrapped wheels.....kinda wanted to do that :))
Still following the damn train since 1992

Visit my RP HERE!

BigSmoke

id
Posts: 844

Location: Indonesia
Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
Age:
V$: Broke
#272   2019-04-21 17:16          
Away Fixture












It is time to do a grip trackday somewhere other than Tsukuba Circuit!
But that's not only it, the shopping spree has continued.....and I immediately fell victim to it.
And here comes the very first visual mod I've ever done.....that isn't a wheel!
Welp let's see all the shenanigans that has happened below! :D















[15 Apr 2019, later that day]
I kept on thinking about a new missile car....yes I have the HR34 but I don't really want to hurt it. I need something that in my mind would be either bashable or okay to bash. Not that I'm a masochist or a car-wrecker, but I'm sure you know some pro drifters has both a clean drift daily and a missile car, obviously not in a clean state. A good example of this would be Chris Forsberg, who has an Infiniti M35 as a daily and a Onevia as a missile car, both are driftable. Even sometimes Chris used the M35 in place of his Onevia for some events! But then again, he's a pro with a championship title to his name. I'm sure Japanese drifters also follows this method, one that I could remember well are Yasuyuki Kazama, Nob Taniguchi and Max Orido.....well basically everyone that has their own shop and/or uses their personal cars as demo cars. And it's even more awesome in Nob and Max's case since they also do GT and TA racing.

In the end though, I decided to throw away this thought for a while, as I concluded all the money I have for the moment is enough to do some shopping. After all, with all this car shopping and time attack shenanigans, I've slowly neglected the S15 and Tico (and HR34 but at least it's running) build progress. So, with no time attack events to do for the rest of the month, it is time to catch up with the build process and more importantly, time to get the S15 running. I've lost count on how long it has been sitting idle in the garage. Another thing that I prioritize for the moment is getting a trailer to transport it. Mind you, it's not street legal.

Still, I'd like to share my considerations over my options for the missile car candidate.....here it is:
Toyota Mark II GX110
"Uh, Smoke, why not the JZX model?" The GX one is much cheaper. And yes I know that people rarely uses G-series to go sideways. The idea would be to throw a JZ inside (most likely a stock or lightly modded GTE) with manual, weld the diff, some suspension, brake and wheel mods and et viola, action time! No body mods since it's going to be bashed, though a rollcage is a good idea. Not sure if I could keep it street legal after all the drift torture but eh, I've seen worse. Also, having a big sedan means it'll be easier to swing around due to bodyroll, as I've experienced inside my HR34. So entries (doesn't have to be spectacular ones) would be easier to perform.


Nissan Silvia S14
I'm sure you know S-Chassis is synonimous with sideways drifting action. Though not many has used an S14 as a missile these days, that's the half of my point. There has been too many S13s ragged to death as missile, so I don't wanna be the same-again S13 killer on drift course. Due to the tax difference I've once explained, S14s are generally cheaper as well. Another good thing is I could get a manual from the get-go so I could save a lot of money from manual-swapping effort or even engine swap in general. Lots of spare parts sold as well, so I could easily fix it after each session.


Volvo 940
Yes, a Volvo. There's virtually nobody that has used an european car as a drift missle in Japan.....in fact only europeans would do that I guess. But then again, Japan is always known for their mad, never-ever-thought-before project cars, from SR20-swapped VW Beetle to Rolls-Royce with 2JZ inside. I'd like to do something like that :)) for the engine, obviously there aren't many Volvo spares here, let alone for older Volvos, so I'll swap something else...probably an SR or JZ, or even a 1UZ or K-series :)) Volvos are also synonimous with strength and safety, so smashing it won't be a problem....except if I ended up destroying the concrete wall instead :))

Despite all of this hasn't finalized yet, feel free to tell me your thoughts on my plan! :D
Now let's move on to the shopping spree. First off, grabbing a car trailer. As I found out, towing your car on a trailer isn't really a Japanese auto culture (the norm would be carrying your car on a flatbed), so finding one is extremely difficult. As a result, I have to resort on yet another import, this time from the US of A, where car towing is a common thing. In the end, picked up this Econo trailer for V$2600 since it's the cheapest around and has brakes for every axles. And obviously long and wide enough to at least carry my S15 on it.

Trailer sorted, it's now time to buy parts for the S15. For this one, while shopping, I also video-called Muza(Niatross, works at Nismo) and AJ(RocketBunnyS13, fellow S15 owner) for some pointers over my build (aside from what I originally planned). First off, I bought a short shifter kit for Z33 transmission (remember, my S15 has Z33 transmission) from Collins Performance for V$315. I think it'll make huge difference on your lap time when you use it, after all manual shifting took some time and speed as well. And then I haven't got anything to aid me sitting on my S15, so I grabbed a Recaro Pole PositioN for V$792. Originally I would like to use Bride Zeta III just like what I did on my Silver Queen, but statistically the Pole Position is lighter. And since the S15 is a full-on racer compared to the Silver Queen, I could throw the comfort factor away.

I also purchased a Duracon Shift Knob from Nismo for V$53, given that the S15 has no shift knob after I did the manual swap operation. Muza recommended it as well, seeing as it's the most comfortable and cheap ones. And then there's also hydro handbrake kit from Chase Bays for V$220. Well yes, this isn't a drift car, but when things got awry, I don't think stock handbrake would do the job nicely to stop the car. It works faster as well, so perfect for standing start conditions.

Now comes the main part of the shopping. Muza and AJ both recommends me to replace the OEM ECU with Apexi ones, namely the Power FC D-Jetro Kit variant since both used them on many of their cars, including their respective signature builds. Since the RB26 inside the S15 comes from an R32, the ECU I selected has mappings for R32. The complete ECU kit costed me V$911. And to speed up the wiring process so I can do it myself without causing any harm, I picked up an RB on S-Chassis wiring kit from Wiring Specialities....a good thing I've seen a lot of their ads on the internet lately. With Muza and AJ's pointers, I picked up some extras offered by Wiring Specialities as follows: their grounding kit, Denso/SARD 900cc injectors and Haltech WB1 CAN Wideband Kit to match the Power FC requirements. All of these costed me V$1168. Now here comes a new problem: The rest of the money isn't enough to buy an aftermarket intake, which I opted for the wiring kit. Oh well, next time it would be.

But despite that, I spent the rest of the money for few things for my HR34. Yeah I know, I'm an idiot, but trust me you'd never expect how severe my idiocy was this time. Back to the topic, I bought a front anti-roll bar from Ultra Racing for it which costed me V$230. After the drift day with the HR34 I decided the front roll needs to be reduced in order to add grip in the front so swings can be more precise. And because of this, I didn't opt to buy a rear anti-roll bar as well (though it has yet to be tested). And the final thing in my shopping list is a Mines-style fiberglass small rear wing courtesy of Vacuum Infusion for V$109. They look neat and cool while not looking too obnoxious.

This shopping spree was so severe, at the end of it I was left with only V$4(!!!). I can't sleep that night. Anyways, everything bar the trailer will come in 4 days, while the trailer will arrive at Japan shores the day after. It's time for the Sprinter to shine! Also uh, don't worry, my paycheck is weekly sooooo :)) But then, it might be the time to find a steady job indeed


[19 Apr 2019]
The parts I've ordered has arrived on my doorstep....it's modding time! I've lost count of when the last time I've hold a spanner myself. First off, it's the S15 that receives the mod treatment. I sorted the wiring and the ECU installation for around 1,5 hour. Could be faster, but I was drinking a glass of hot coffee while calibrating the ECU sooooo..........

Moving on to the interior. For this, I fitted the Recaro seat, as well as installing the short shifter kit, the shifter knob and the hydro handbrake, as well as installing the Power FC controller and testing the clutch and short shifter. Fortunately, all goes well so far, though I had to adapt over the short shifter to avoid mis-shifting, which absolutely won't be good even outside competitive events. Also, yes the middle air vent is still removed. Should I keep it as-is to cool myself down on the run or should I replace it with gauges?

With the S15 done, time to move on to the HR34. To install the anti-roll bar hI have to crawl below the car, so it took rather a long time. Almost stabbed my head on suspension parts as well.....definitely need a car lift next time. Also test-fitted the rear wing, which was nice and easy. Problem is, they come unpainted, and it looks like there's no spray can that's available in the body colour of my HR34, so I need to resort to a professional jobbie.

A call to VS Garage reveales they might have the paint in stock, so after ramen lunch and a shower, I went to their garage to have my HR34 paint inspected. Given their reputation, they might have the paint in their palette. Also, the front ARB shows their work nicely since I felt much less severe body roll in the front. But tell me, should I get rear ARB as well?

While I and some of the crew have some chatter about my HR34 and drift setups in general after I parked my HR34 inside the shop, the crew tried to find the correct colour of the HR34. Fortunately, the found it and they could mix some paint in order to resemble it correctly. They said it's quite a rare paint and probably not even in production anymore by Nissan, so they tried to replicate it with their best efforts. And oh, the entire process took roughly a day, from mixing the paint, coating it to let it dry etc. Because of this, I had to leave the HR34 to them for the day and pick it up the next day.

I called Rantaro to pick me up, but sadly he's in a middle of yet another tech meeting in Tokyo, so in the end I went back home with public bus, crammed with high school students going home at the same time. And so, I've met some faces I haven't seen in a long time: The girls I've met with Rantaro back then, namely Asuka, Seiko and Hinako (OORP: it's been 7 pages lmao, except Hinako). They've grown up a bit since the last time I've met them. Hinako cheerfully called me and told me to sit beside the group. At first I wonder if it's actually okay, but because I was rather tired, I decided to do so anyway.
E: "Hey girls, how's it been?"
A: "Quite fun, well apart from all the studying. All these mock exams choked me!"
E: "I know that feel, I was once your age after all. I could help you as well if you-wait hang on Hinako-chan, where's your sister?"
H: "Ah, my sister's in Tokyo for a meeting. This is how we usually go home as well anyways"
E: "I see, thought your sister would pick you up everyday. You're high schoolers after all"
H: "Ah Edo-san, I thought you have a car?"
E: "Well yes, I do. It's being painted current-ah I see, you still remember my car it turns out"
H: "The silver one, am I correct?"
E: "Yup, but that's not the one being painted. You see, since the last time we met, I've bought more cars"
S: "More cars? You must be rich by now, I'm impressed"
E: "Well not really! *laughs* I found them being sold for cheap that is all. Some are imports though!"
A: "Imports? Can we have a look?"
E: "Glad you're asking to be honest, here they are" *shows pics of my cars*
A: *points at Madza Demio pic* "Hey, this one is cute! Is it yours as well?"
E: "Not anymore, sadly. I have to sell it, and by coincidence my friend need a car so we struck a deal"
A: "I see, I like it though! Ah yes Hinako, how do you know he has a car?"
H: "Um, he once helped my sister to be her personal driver for a day"
E: "Yup, I could be one for your families as well. Don't worry, I'm a safe driver"
S: "Interesting, can you teach us how to drive as well?"
E: "Why not? I can provide the car or you can have your family's car to be driven"
..........
A: "Hey, who are these guys? Are they your and Rantaro-san's friends?" *points at the car meet photo*
E: "Oh did I scroll this far? Yes, I'm proud to say they are my friends"
S: "So who are they? And oh, this guy's kinda cute" *points at AJ*
A: "Look, this one's so handsome!" *points at Mack(MACKAY)*
H: "I like this one" *points at Marc(Macaron_moon)
E: "Yep, these are my friends, most of them are from Tokyo. We hanged out some time ago". Do you want to know who drives what?"
S: "Um, okay. Perhaps there's something interesting"
E: *introduces Ryuji, Ryoko, Genzo, Akane, Mihaya, Akechi*.....and then this is Mack, recently moved from Osaka. *shows his 458*
S: "Oh my, a supercar! He must be rich! I'd like to meet him! Can I?
E: "Of course he's rich, he's one of my role models as well. He has already married though"
S: "Aaaaaaah nooooo!"
A: "I'd like to be with a guy like him!"
E: *laughs* "But eh, I think he'd like to hang with you at one time"
S: "Yay!"
E: "This one is AJ, a lawyer in Tokyo, I'm also a fan of him, a good thing I've met him several times"
S: "Ah, a rich guy as well then! His car is cool too!"
E: "I know right? Word on the streets said he already has a GF but I'm not sure. Lots of fangirls as well, actually"
A: "No wonder then, looks like a perfect guy!"
E: "Now this one here is Marc, works for Subaru but also owns a Mitsubishi. Quite a busy guy, he's going to Europe soon"
H: "I see, he must be a successful guy!"
E: "Could be said so. And this one is Muza, AJ's and Marc's friend. Works at Nissan's racing company, also my role model"
S: "I'd be okay with him, he looks strong and genius!"
E: "I know right? I'm glad I'm their friend. One day I and Rantaro might meet them again, and when we do, I'll have you join us"
A: "Yay! Please do Edo-san!"
...........
The talk continued until eventually my stop has arrived. I bid goodbye to the girls and walk home to my crib. I'm surprised they have an interest over my cars as well as the car meet! I wish I could talk again to them, there are a lot of things I want to tell them......I might introduce them to Muza and co. someday, as well as Mackay ;)


[20 Apr 2019]
It's time to pick up the trailer! Because I've got the tool to pick it up, I don't have to call Rantaro as I could pick it myself.....though a GX70 as a tow car would probably look cool :D After yet another instant ramen breakfast and short calls with the importing agent I fired up the Sprinter, tune the radio to the news channel and hit the highway. So far traffic is normal according to the radio, though might fill up even more at peak hours.

The Sprinter feels quite eager to run despite it's dimension and weight. I'm curious how much power and torque it produced after the roadside tuning operation I performed with Rantaro after I picked it up, and moreover I feel it could be improved further still. But so far, this is fine. But hands up if you want me to tune the Sprinter as well! :D (both in looks and performance, I don't know any wheels that could suit it though)

Despite not being sold here, the Sprinter somehow feels at home cruising around the Tokyo expressway. And that's without any load to carry with. I feel I could drive it all day long, accompanied with pack of coffe cans and multiple radio shows as the day passing on, evaporated along with every centimeter of tarmac I passed while sipping on diesel......I don't think this kind of life is bad sometimes. Though realistically speaking, I'm not sure if I want to actually live this kind of life, since life could actually be better.

After some time, I arrived at the dockyard. This has felt like a genuine routine but hey, seaside stroll is good. It's not everyday you can see cargo ships as well, particularly if you don't live at coastal area. The people here are nice as well. I mean, as soon as I parked my Sprinter, they offered me a cup of coffee and have a chatter with them, all while waiting for the trailer to arrive.

30 minutes later, the trailer has arrived and opened from it's box. I finished my coffee, rushed to the Sprinter and backe dit up to prepare installing it. Installation process took a while, thankfully some of the crew offered some helping hands. And et viola! Here it is, connected to my Sprinter. At this point the Sprinter looks like a mini version of a racing transporer, with enough room for a car, parts and tools. No need for heavy 18-wheeler ;) It's also very, very long.....might as well nicknaming it Roadtrain now :))

After all the documents has been sorted, it is now time to leave the dockyard and back to Tsukuba.....but not before a self-taught crash course on towing. You see, towing a trailer isn't really an easy job sice you can't really see where the trailer is, they move in a different manner compared to the car, and lots of people would tell you backing a trailer is a nightmare, particularly if you use a car that has no tow assist feature like you'll get in new cars nowadays. After I decided I have enough practice, I headed back to the expressway.

Some time later, I arrived at Tsukuba. I really wonder what people think of the Sprinter and the trailer as I went along. It really is a combo that would look common and normal in europe or perhaps US, but compeletely out of place in Japan. Nevertheless, it's a Swiss Army Kknife for my needs, and a unique one as well. If it works well, it's not weird ;)

Finally, I arrived at my crib, and backing up the Sprinter proven to be a huge hazard now. Not that I wrecked anything in the process, all is safe, but I have to get off the van sometimes just to check where the trailer is positioned. But after a multi-million point turns and anxiety-filled reversing, both the trailer and the Sprinter is parked safe and neatly.

Later that day I got a call from the VS Garage, informing me the HR34 spoiler has been painted. I was quite excited and went there with public bus, but midway I remembered something: I have no money to pay the services. So I hatched a plan........

When I came to the place, while we have pizza and pasta for dinner, I simply come clean that I don't have any money with me at that moment. Fortunately, the crew welcomed my negotiation, and after a pizza-induced long negotiation process, we accepted that I could bring the car home as long as they keep the slips as a guarantee. If somehow I can't pay for a month, they'll permanently seize the HR34. I confidently accepted the deal as I know that my paycheck is coming close, so all I have to do is wait for it to come and drive back to the garage to reclaim the slips. It is a good thing I brought the HR34 slips with me, otherwise they could use the car's key as a guarantee, which means I simply can't bring it home.

Debt deal done, I went back to my crib. I actually want to stop at downtown for a while, but I heard traffic in dowtown is severely crowded, so I decided to head straight back home. After all, I have another plan for the next day. As I blast on the highway, inline 6 orchestra echoing in the background, I simply cruise along and enjoyed the ride while pumping this on the stereo.



I might need a personal accountant for now it seems..........


[21 Apr 2019]
After yet another ramen and onigiri breakfast (it's a good thing I stacked some of them) and a shower, I don my hoodie, denim, racing shoes and gloves, grab my racing helmet, and go for a trackday.......at Nikko! "Hang on Smoke you can't drift an Evo!" well I din't said I'm going to drift my Evo, today's a grip day on Nikko. And if you wonder, as I explained in the previous update, yes, grip days at Nikko is a thing. There's even an endurance championship there, as well as chances to score a time attack record there. So yeah, even though Nikko is largely famous for drifting, you can do more than just drfiting there. As I hit the road, I pumped this on the stereo.

2 hours later, I arrived at the circuit complex. The Silver Queen has joined another server! There are some cars on the track already, ranging from kei cars from Suzuki Cappucino and Alto Works to regular time attack contenders like Civics, RX-7s and a bunch of Evos as well. I took my spot on the simply-bulit paddock. Obviously it's not built to a very high standard like Tsukuba Circuit's paddock complex, but this is fine, and gave me a nice grassroots vibe. You don't have to walk rather far to have a chatter, as everybody's literally beside you at all times.


I decided to have some banters with fellow drivers and locals. I'm surprised they quickly recognized me, and turns out they also attended the day I swing my HR34 here. So cheerfully I told them about my Silver Queen and what I have done with it. It was a sunny, lukewarm day so quite ideal to have a trackday as well. There are a lot of vehicles brought to the track today in a wide range of variety....even some are kind enough to have you joyriding with them. I had a rather long chatter as I watch cars going by to re-learn the track. Yes, I've come here once, but grip and drift days are different things and thus requires a different apporach.

After banter session done, I headed to the stewards office to rent a VBox. Thankfully, compared to Tsukuba, they rent it for free outside competitive events, though I also notified that they would start applying prices if the rent interest is high and sustainable enough. Eh, no problem for that since I usually could pay for it....not now though, so this one's a blessing. Once I went back to the paddock, I whipped out my helmet, install the VBox inside the Silver Queen, and don the helmet.

Once everything has been set, I slowly get off the paddock building and roll into the pitlane. As per usual, I waited for the signal lights to go green, which turned out can turn quickly as cars coming by near the pit exit. Nikko is short after all.


Light went off and I immediately stormed into the first corner. The first three corners felt longer than I experienced at my drift day, feels like a 3/4 roundabout. Connecting them into a turn might need some adjustment. But thanks to this, the 4th one can be taken aggressively.


The rest of the track is surprisingly fast, not as fast as Tsukuba's latter half but good enough to be run in 3rd, 4th or even 5th gear. Even if you're not drifting here it feels like riding a rollercoaster while your hair got pulled sideways. Trust me, this track is really underrated for grip runs and I enjoy it very much even just after seconds in!

And then here comes the fastest stretch of the circuit, that is the backstraight. And obviously this part is much faster while taken without drifting, and trying to put your car as near as possible with the gravel trap is actually a fun test to do as a mesuring tool to see just how fast and aggressive you are on the exit.

After the backstraight comes the corner where I had an impromptu rallycross session in my HR34. You have to brake as deep as possible here, going down from 4th or 5th to 2nd or even 1st. Do it incorrectly and chances are you're going very, very wide or even worse, breaking your transmission.

And finally, that corner automatically links with two last corners that if you can figure out how to take it, slightly cut by using the gigantic kerbs surrounding it. Quite a game changer if you're looking for that time attack record I should say.


With the warm-up lap done, it's time to try scoring some hot laps. And now rushing around the first corner is much easier with more falling rubbers around.



I'm feeling quite confident to take the corners much faster, given that I've got AWD and so far no dust on track. Man, grip days and TA races should be held more often here! I would also like to attend the endurance races here but um, I need some people to join me obviously :))


I was so confident I almost understeered near the backstraight because I was too greedy on the gas at the exit, but fortunately the grip was still enough to move the car away from the gravel trap. Then I planned to take the next corner earlier.......


.....which almost resulted in a disaster as the kerbs were actually high enough to launch my Silver Queen sideways. I was starlted for a while, but quickly recovered.

Not wanting to commit the same mistake again, I refrained from the kerbs for the final corners. That gave me a small amount of heart attack!


That's one hot lap done, and with a clearer view of how I should take the corners, I decided to fully push the Silver Queen and go for more, storming the first corner with even later braking. I could feel the tyres tyring to keep up with the lateral forces. Probably a good indicator of how far I've pushed this thing.




Wwith me seemingly going for the lap record books (though in reality I wasn't. I was simply going fast), crowds started to cheer on me and my Silver Queen. I felt even more pumped to go faster! But obviously I also tried to keep it safe and harmonious

I deeply fall in love with Nikko's 2nd and 3rd sector of the track. You can simply take it with minimum downshifting or even minimum amount of brakes. It does challenge you to be as precise as possible and as brave as possible with your entry and trajectory.

I ended the lap with a small cutting action on the very last corner. That gave me an idea: How deep I can cut it while still keeping the time valid? Drowned in thsi thought, I started the next lap in a rather furious manner.

Everything went fast and tidy just like my previous laps. As I've approached the backstraight, I hatched my plan over the last corner's trajectory.

And then the final section comes in. I tried to push the car hard........

.....but I could swear I didn't intended to take and cut the last corner THIS hard. As my car went sideways and on two wheels, I let out a gasp in shock as I tried to countersteer and keeping my foot on the accelerator to make it stable again. Even at this kind of moment I could faintly hear spectators sreaming in shock as the world seemingly fades and colours fly away quickly. Even a spectator caught a pic of me doing the save!


Thankfully, all my effort was worth it as the car flattens quickly with a bit of a bounce. As the spectator cheers loudly outside, I let out a sigh of relief as I started the next lap and shouted "WOAH! God I can't believe it!". You know those near-death moments? Yeah that was probably one of mine....

Lesson learned, I continue to turn in some more laps more carefully. Despite the huge bump experienced earlier, the Silver Queen was unfazed and continuing to score fast laps. It's born from a breed of rally cars after all :D


Finally, after several more laps, I've had enough and decided to went back to the pits. As I've returned and parked at the paddock building, some crowds started to swarm around the Silver Queen. Lots of the was excited and wondered over the save I pulled earlier, as well as congratulating me over it.

Aah yes, I had a VBox with me so of course I have to announce the lap time. And the result is.......40.364 seconds, which is only around 3 seconds off of most of the current records! I and the crowds celebrated this with lots of high-fives and fistbumps, and after I returned the VBox to the office I went back for some more chatters and banters about hotlapping as well as my Silver Queen.

After some time has passed, finally I decided to go back home to Tsukuba. Before I enter my Evo, some of us exchanged contacts and shared pics of our respective cars. I really love the atmosphere here, it's like a small but great, warm society of petrolheads :-X

Welp, I should get literally anyone to do a grip day at Nikko, not only limited to just a drift day. Trust me it's worth it! :D














Aaaaah yes finally my update done, topped with bankruptcy and nutty trackday!
Let's see just how broke I am at the moment:















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

This post was edited by BigSmoke (2019-04-21 17:43, ago)
Still following the damn train since 1992

Visit my RP HERE!

Niatross

bd
Posts: 430

Location: Bangladesh
Occupation: topkek
Age:
V$: yes
#273   2019-04-21 20:16          
As of right now, i think its safe to say my current favorite car of yours is the HR34
Something about its simplicity and overall look appeals to me a lot!
But anyways, good progress on everything as usual :))


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

Buzzsaw

uk
Posts: 192

Location: United Kingdom
Occupation: Supermarket Store
Age:
V$: 375/w
#274   2019-04-21 22:16          
That really good laps time, but are you sure Silver Queen suspension is okay?
Click here for to my RP thread.

BigSmoke

id
Posts: 844

Location: Indonesia
Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
Age:
V$: Broke
#275   2019-04-22 08:54          
# Niatross : As of right now, i think its safe to say my current favorite car of yours is the HR34
Something about its simplicity and overall look appeals to me a lot!
But anyways, good progress on everything as usual :))

I know, right? With the Silver Queen moving up to the higher league, the HR34 fills the gap as a simple, humble car yet also always ready to go to rock :D

# Buzzsaw : That really good laps time, but are you sure Silver Queen suspension is okay?

Don't worry, as I said Silver Queen is fine and unfazed :D
It's a rally-bred car after all ;)
Still following the damn train since 1992

Visit my RP HERE!

Buzzsaw

uk
Posts: 192

Location: United Kingdom
Occupation: Supermarket Store
Age:
V$: 375/w
#276   2019-04-22 12:01          
# BigSmoke : Don't worry, as I said Silver Queen is fine and unfazed :D
It's a rally-bred car after all ;)

You made me to buying rally-bred car for track day project, speaking of I think I found rally-bred car for sale on Yahoo.
Click here for to my RP thread.

TheAxirPL

jp
Posts: 69

Location: Japan Fukushima
Occupation: living on my mum's money
Age: 18
V$: none
#277   2019-04-25 21:22          
This EVO 3 is something that I will forever remember from this site <3
BTW : I'm always amazed how you can write this long those really long updates with story in them like wow.
I'm trying to do the same, and I can see myself getting better at it but it's nowhere your level :v.
My favorite tool - hammer.
My least favorite car - Hummer.
When my engine blows up - bummer.
My favorite season - summer.


My favorite car - AE86.

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

BigSmoke

id
Posts: 844

Location: Indonesia
Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
Age:
V$: Broke
#278   2019-04-25 22:03          
# TheAxirPL : This EVO 3 is something that I will forever remember from this site <3
BTW : I'm always amazed how you can write this long those really long updates with story in them like wow.
I'm trying to do the same, and I can see myself getting better at it but it's nowhere your level :v.

Glad you like my Evo and my writing, thank you very much :D :-X
It's just a matter of imagination and creativity I should say, I just like writing my thoughts in general :))
Still following the damn train since 1992

Visit my RP HERE!

Sleepin mOnkey

jp
Posts: 2459

Location: Japan Universe, Milky way ,Solar system, Earth
Occupation: Automotive engineer Student
Age: 32
V$: 14.750
#279   2019-04-26 01:49          
silver queen rippin like always
Roleplay: A engine Builder and tuner that lives in Japan and Builds cool stuff.
Cars: Corolla Levin coupe Tog/show car
180SX s13 350hp SR20DET 6MT Babe 1
Supra Sz JZA80 2jz-Gte Vvt-i 2000's Hotboi
240sx Vert HOTBOI 2

CLICCC...

BigSmoke

id
Posts: 844

Location: Indonesia
Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains
Age:
V$: Broke
#280   2019-04-26 05:02          
# Sleepin mOnkey : silver queen rippin like always

Silver Queen's always ready to rip and score lap times! She's so fit as always :D

But if you've read Phonexius's latest update, yup, currently I'm on the stateside right now with couple of friends! I'll be updating as soon as I could.
Still following the damn train since 1992

Visit my RP HERE!