TEAM FLUKE AT NIKKO CIRCUIT: Me and everyone else

October 8, 2009 12:38 am Published by

All I seem to be posting recently are photos from the first corner at Nikko Circuit.

Do I hear any complaints?

This S14 had an interesting front end conversion, and was slammed low on some SSR Type F wheels.

This might look like good angle, but when the driver is looking backwards on the first corner, it generally means one thing…

…that they’re going to do their best to rip off their bodykit.

There were lots of nice looking cars there, but I wasn’t able to take any photos of the guys in the expert group, because that’s who I was driving with!

WRXs are slowly becoming a bit more popular as drift cars as parts and setup knowlege becomes more widespread.

It seems like every single day I’ve taken photos recently has been overcast, which makes even good paintjobs look terrible. This 180SX was driven by a girl, too.

This rather haggard-looking NA S13 was perfectly suited to the wet conditions.

I think I might be over-doing it a bit with these slow exposure speeds. It looks a bit fake.

What’s up with that guy’s expression?

Look! He’s doing it again!

Slow exposures can look kind of cool sometimes though.

This S13 was also being driven by a rather cute girl. She had a matching set of purple 17-inch Grenade GX-01s, but had a similar-looking set of colour-matched 16-inchers to run on the track.

So, you’re probably wondering what happened to the Mark II, I take it?

The drift competition was what they call “roulette”, which means you just do as many laps as you can in the time allowed, and D1 driver Hiroshi Fukuda sat up on the judging stand and picked whoever he thought drifted the first corner in the best way.

Well, I’ve had the JZX100 for long enough now that it feels fairly familiar, and I’ve had the most seat time at Nikko of any track in Japan. I basically drove it at 110% through the first five corners, and let it cool down around the back section of the course, which wasn’t part of the competition.

As you can see, I made a couple of off-track excursions.

I found this pair of cheap Regamasters at Up Garage last week in 17×9 +38 with a pair of fairly new 235/40 Toyo Proxes R1Rs on them (you could still see the moulding stripes in the tread grooves) for about $130. Not bad eh?

As I said the other day, my driving was good enough to pick up second place in expert class. It was honestly a bit of a surprise to pick up a trophy, as I was sure there were at least three other guys in the group I was in who were better than me. Keep in mind that it was wet during the competition too, something I haven’t really done in the Mark II yet.

Fukuda said that the best elements of my runs was that I didn’t look like I backed off the accelerator at any point, even when I messed up and dropped a wheel off, and that the initial flick of angle looked cool.

That was a good thing to hear, as I’m running some datalogging in the car at the moment (more about that another time), and the data reflects

At a recent Motokids practice day at Nikko, I met Kouichi Miyamoto from the MISSILE workshop, who insisted on taking me out in his automatic JZX90 to give me some advice. Looking at the data from his car, the transition from straight to maximum angle was about half a second, whereas I was taking almost a whole second. Kenji Takayama was there on that day, and he said that the entries on even my best runs were still only so-so.

The data from the Fluke competition runs shows my maximum angle in just over half a second, so there’s definitely an improvement there.

Unfortunately, I also bent my exhaust system by trying too hard.

Did I mention that the car came with a full titanium exhaust system?

Yeah, not too happy about that.

The rear slip-on can used to be in perfect condition. Oh well, it’s a drift car, isn’t it?

This one was kind of funny. After the competition, the weather dried up, so I switched to some worn-out Federal SS595s.

Right in the middle of a 106km/h manji on the back straight (I have datalogging, remember?) it let go, and the car spun around like a top, but I still managed to stay on the track. When I drove into the pits, there were quite a few people staring at me with their eyes bugging out. It must have looked pretty spectacular.

Pop!

Hey, did anyone else know that Regamasters were made in Russia?

Time to pack up and go home. Nikko Circuit always kicks everyone out at 4:30 on the dot so they can clean the track and pits, so everyone congregates in the parking lot to talk or do whatever.

Fukuda brought his D1 car to check it out for this weekend’s D1 Grand Prix at Fuji Speedway. Are any of you guys going to that? I should get some pics of Noriyaro readers and put them up…

Grey grey weather. At least Fukuda’s 180SX looks cheerful.

The “18014” was filthy, but still in one piece.

This is the way to do it. Drift at the track on your drift wheels and tyres, then drive home 19/20-inch staggered show wheels. I’m kind of sick of doing the freeway on flat spots, so I might need to pick up some spare “normal driving” wheels like this.

Japan.

The country where cute girls in glasses drift murdered-out 180SXs with satanic number plates.

I know there’s probably a Leopard fan out there somewhere. This guy did actually drift it, but not for much.

Big body panels equals big-arse flail marks.

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This post was written by Alexi

42 Comments

  • Brian Harte says:

    That 100 Chaser is SWEET

  • Ron says:

    hehe, somewhere between photo #2 and #3 the driver side white under-splitter fell off.

  • Devin says:

    What the hell is going on with that pink rx7…rx8? Kinda cool I guess.

  • N/Aontherun says:

    Epic pic Alexi

    Super thanks for keeping us up to date with all the awesome events you go to (^_^)v

    That quote “Japan.

    The country where cute girls in glasses drift murdered-out 180SXs with satanic number plates.” belongs on a motivational poster. So I made one

    http://lh4.ggpht.com/_3lTPqbYec1g/Ss4gla0UbEI/AAAAAAAAAi8/gjzKNpBqX1A/s800/motivational-posters-japan-noriyaro-180sxy.jpg

    LMK if the link don’t work.

    Thanks for the great pics again and great cameo on the We Are Drift documentary

    -Ant | N/Aontherun

  • kenny says:

    i am surprised you are getting peoples faces in these photos! (BY THE WAY UR PHOTOS KICK ASS). Are you using any type of filter when shooting these photos?

  • touge-jzx100 says:

    love the jzx110 verossa, they are ugly but oh so nice all at the same time

  • banpei says:

    I’m not a Leopard fan, but it is a rare occasion to see pictures from a Leopard F31! So you did make someone very happy with that pic! 😉

  • Corey says:

    Look! He’s doing it again!

    That is some funny shit.

  • Shane says:

    sweet 15″ wheel silvia’s! awesome post alexi

  • Warren says:

    That 100 “Chaser” is a 100 Mark II Brian.
    What are those black bits on your trunk? Wing?

  • Isidro says:

    great cars and pictures
    Alexi, can you explain how the Datalogging works?

  • dark mark says:

    hey mate, nice pics, and congrats on the 2nd..

    how are the maze pics travelling :P?

  • fc pro am says:

    Very nice read and awesome pics. I really can’t wait to visit this track someday

  • John says:

    Is the S14.3 becoming more popular in Japan? I’ve seen it pop up in a few videos and on minkara a couple times.

  • Daniel says:

    yes love it! i really like these sort of ‘low key/realistic’ posts that u put up, actually i think i remember more of them when the blog was starting up, or maybe its just the cars are less modded than full on D1 ones..

    love that s14/180!

    oh and what do u mean by the photo looks ‘fake’ in one of those slow exposures? looks awesome to me! 😉 and how long are a lot of those exposures anyway?

  • Ildar says:

    Hey man 🙂 Btw i`m from Russia 🙂
    About regamasters wheels. Yes, this wheels really made in Russia.
    They are produced by VSMPO http://www.nakolesah.ru/wheelorder/vsmpo/sigma.aspx

    And guys from VSMPO sell their workpieces for Desmond

  • Kenji-JZX90 says:

    Cute girl with glasses in murdered out 180’s with satanic plates

    I LOLled. And need that pic as wallpaper too!!!!!

  • dousan says:

    yesh those regas were a deal and in great shape. congrats on it again and your entry definitely seems faster then last week. very nice!!

  • PU#1 says:

    Any damage to the Russian wheel when the tire let go?
    They probably make them from melted down Mig 21’s….. so they ought to be tough!

  • Alexi says:

    @Ron
    Yeah, because he drove off the track about three times in a row! I saw him retrieve it at the end of the day though.

    @Devin
    That car’s had that conversion for about a year and a half now. It works pretty well, in my opinion!

    @N/Aontherun
    Nice stuff. It’s true!

    @kenny
    Polarising filter adjusted to kill the reflections on the windscreen.

    @touge-jzx100
    That’s more or less how I feel too.

    @Warren
    The car had a GT wing on it when I bought it, but I took it off.

    @Isidro
    I will…some other time.

    @dark mark
    Ah yeah, forgot about those. Next week, I guess!

    @John
    I haven’t seen too many, but doing weird stuff is definitely becoming more popular as people start to get bored of the same old looks.

    @Daniel
    I mean it looks like someone masked out the car in Photoshop and added a whole lot of blur to the background, rather than it being an in-camera effect. The green S13 was shot at 1/20sec, but most of the others here were at 1/80th, mostly because the light was so dim.

    @Ildar
    Well there you go. That’s interesting to know!

    @dousansansansan
    I’m lucky they didn’t mind staying open to let me buy them!

    @PU#1
    The tyre that blew was actually on an even more lightweight and expensive Racing Hart rim. It was a little bit rashed on the lip, but not badly so.

  • q says:

    datalogging for drifting? wow.

    I think the judges need access.

  • Jeremy says:

    cool report, always love to read what your up to on the track

  • dousan says:

    btw im sold on yourdatalogger
    imma try to buy one when i get home!!

  • jake says:

    that 18014 is too rad..

  • Rob_180sx says:

    Data logging hey? Getting serious!

    Good work in Expert Class of all things! Maybe you should’ve moved up earlier? 😀

    Your Chaser is getting closer and closer to your 180, in the pretty stakes 😛

  • Nick says:

    this is the stuf we come here for!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • kriss says:

    great pics alexi, deff get some “blingn” wheels to roll to and from the track on

  • Jayzedex100 says:

    Warren: He’s referring to the 5th pic dumbass.

  • Alexi says:

    Be nice.

  • More pics of cute girl drifters, please. Like close ups next to their cars… maybe a feature on them. :3

  • Just did a search… but more would be cool. 😉

  • DiscoQuinn says:

    this post makes me happy Alexi. I miss you, love Quinn.

  • e7benny says:

    Awesome post! Some cool looking cars, the murdered-out 180SX looks good! more pics please?! drift girls ftw 😛

  • GenJi says:

    dude .. all those rides .. im speechless !! 😀 .. i wonder what camera u have, Alexi ..
    .. i need a 200sx …………..

  • PU#1 says:

    @PU#1
    The tyre that blew was actually on an even more lightweight and expensive Racing Hart rim. It was a little bit rashed on the lip, but not badly so.

    Not looking carefully, was I? The rims are totally different but I didn’t notice.
    I don’t like hearing that e- word.
    It’s much worse than the f- word.

    PU#1

  • Robin says:

    Federals seem to have a disease as they separate.. Frederik Aasbö’s federals did just the same thing in a competition here in sweden last year..

  • Tiffany says:

    Give me your tail lights Alexi!!

  • Groozdas says:

    Hei, the ‘Regamasters’ wheel you have is actualy a Russian VSMPO manufactured one. Its a compaby ir russia, witch produces wheels for aircrafts. http://www.vsmpo.ru . Ofcourse they copied the whole wheel design, thou.
    These wheels are light and strong enought + not too expensive. Lots of rally guys use them in Lithuania rally stages.
    Unfortunately they don’t produce any wheels on any reasonable sizes and low offsest. Your 17×9 is a rear find!
    Don’t ask me how they appeared in Japan 🙂

  • jz says:

    do u have anymore info on the rx7 with rx8 headlights next to Fukuda’s 180SX? ive never seen a conversion like that. looks sweet.

  • Daniel says:

    very very good pictures!!!
    i wish to be there!!!
    love japan and japanese people!!!
    congratulations!!!!

  • JC says:

    Yay! A Leopard!