DOWN TO THE WIRE: Direzza direction

March 26, 2009 12:30 am Published by

This is how little work I’m doing to the Skyline. Other car blog guys are posting all sorts of awesome engine rebuilds and custom bodywork pictures.

(EDIT: I was trying to find this blog when I was writing this post, but then Anthony posted a comment here, so I found it without trying! Check out http://buildthreads.wordpress.com/ for a summary of the internet’s most interesting current builds)

I bought some Skyline wheels!

Shino happened to have a couple of cheap Direzza Z1s in my size with 90% tread lying around, so I bought those to stick on the front as well. Everything I had heard about them turned out to be true. They take a long time to warm up, are kind of weird in the rain and have a very stiff sidewall, but the grip is awesome in the dry. The newer Star Spec model is said to have fixed all these problems though.

Yeah, think it might have been the right time to change these Neovas? No wonder it was aquaplaning a bit at YZ Circuit. The Neovas were awesome in every condition and felt as good in the wet as they did in the dry, but chewed out really quickly under strong toe-out, which I ran for a while to try and get used to the Skyline. It’s set back to almost neutral now though, which means better tyre wear and more speed through the corner, but less angle. I might have to speak to Mikami-san at 3UP about his modded knuckles.

Also, you almost forget how nice it is to drive on an expressway with tyres that aren’t flatspotted. Usually, that feeling doesn’t last for the ride home though.

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This post was written by Alexi

16 Comments

  • A.Gomez says:

    50 feet ebrake initiation anyone ? hahaha

    Are you gonna hammer the rear quarter or are you gonna keep it like that ? you know, a war wound.

  • Alexi says:

    @A.Gomez
    Those are the front tyres, not the rear. 🙂

  • Shane says:

    it’s turning into a missle car!

  • JonnyAE86 says:

    Forget aout amazing engine builds!

    Congrats on the nice article for Banzai Mag mate 😉

  • A.Gomez says:

    Oh, lol.

    I should have though about it, neovas are not cheap for burning them on the rear, atleast not at this level of professional-ness.

    Anyways, 50 feet 4 wheel drift hahahha.

  • Matt says:

    Whats the point. If he does it again that will be wasted time. 33 gtr rims pew! Good stuff Alexi, keep it up.

  • Daniel says:

    “This is how little work I’m doing to the Skyline. Other car blog guys are posting all sorts of awesome engine rebuilds and custom bodywork pictures.”

    love it! living the dream and actually driving the car is what its all about i say! (with minimal work)

    also what wheels do u have on the line now? are they 350Z rims on the back?

    desktop of this pic yet?? hahah~ all i want is bigger res!
    http://noriyaro.com/?p=2333

  • Rob_180sx says:

    Haha, by reading the post I thought they were the front tyres. And I thought – No… Can’t be? But sure enough…

  • andy says:

    Neovas are a great street tyre.
    I will get some in the future.

    I run Goodyear Eagles on the front and they are hopeless on the first lap but improve 100% once they have heat in them.
    They are ok the wet too, but not extraordinary.

  • BlueSlug says:

    lol nice tyre wear Alexi 😉

    call me a JDM noob (i’m a euro guy, but i’m learning), but are those oem R33 GT-R rims?

  • Banpei says:

    Other car blog guys? What other car blog guys? 😀
    Who cares about engine rebuilds and body mods? You’re doing the real thing here and that’s what distinguishes your blog. 😉
    Can’t wait till the pictures of the next (small) dent in the Skyline!
    (No, I’m not hoping you would actually crash the car)

  • Alexi says:

    @JonnyAE86
    Thanks, I just forwarded them the latest one a few minutes ago.

    @Rob_180sx
    They looked OK on the outside. I was as surprised as you. I was running some ridiculous toe-out which, combined with the camber, weight of the car and long highway trips, chewed it out a bit faster than it should have.

    @BlueSlug
    Yeah, R33 GT-R. 17×9 +30. They’re a nice size for cheap tyres and fit well on the R32.

    @Banpei
    You don’t need to not hope…I’m sure it will happen at some point.

  • Fury-S12 says:

    that crazy wear for fronts by the sounds it took along time tho so thats not too bad, get any vid of sliding YZ in the rain?

    and you write articles for banzai mag do stuff for autosalon speedhunters and nori yaro how do you have spare time lol

  • Luke says:

    Screw the massive engine mods, and all those fancy body mods!
    i like this blog because it reminds me, someone else cant afford them, just like me haha

  • andre says:

    Small changes that make a big difference right Alexi? Good luck with the R32, love to your blog.

  • Paul says:

    See why I told you not to get the JZX100.