By Alexi in
15-05-2009 5:35 pm
Remember Tomonori Akai’s purple AE86 hatch? After cracking the crankshaft of his 10,000rpm engine clean in half, he bought this turbo 86 we saw at Tsukuba circuit, transplanted the engine and replaced the transmission with a Toyota W55, replaced the diff with a 7.5-inch item bought from C&Y Sports.
So what happens when you run an industrial laser cutter all day? You make neat custom panels to fit your Defi gauges and other bits and pieces.
By Alexi in
08-05-2009 12:30 am
This JZX81 is actually pretty close to the camera, but the wide-angle lens makes it look further than it is.
The following video should give you an idea about how close it was…
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By Alexi in
29-04-2009 12:30 am
I’ve been ridiculously busy doing some interesting stuff this week (which you might find out about a bit later on), while trying to finish writing a bunch of magazine articles and get ready for Ebisu’s Spring Drift Matsuri this weekend all at the same time.
As a result, I haven’t had time to get any photos up. However…
Translation: Cool! Hey Mr Policeman, can I have this video?
…after mentioning it a couple of weeks ago, I’ve had a bunch of people email me and ask if I can send them copies of Drift Tengoku. While I’d like to help spread the word (or at least the pretty pictures if you can’t read it), I have a better suggestion.
J-List, a website that sells all sorts of stuff from Japan, offers a subscription that you can pay for month by month.
I worked out the numbers, and the price they can do it for is about the same as what it would cost me to buy it here and send it by economy air mail without even making a profit, so you should check them out as an option if you’re not anywhere near a Japanese bookstore. As an interesting little side-note, J-List are located up in Isesaki in Gunma Prefecture, only about an hour away from all the famous Initial D roads like Akina and Akagi.
Click here for a direct link to the Drift Tengoku page on their site.
They also stock itasha books and models. I have one of the red Lucky Star AE86 hatches. :3
By Alexi in
24-04-2009 4:22 am
So, what do you do if you have a JZX90 Mark II, a Dremel and a Saturday afternoon with nothing to do?
I think the picture speaks for itself.
By Alexi in
23-04-2009 12:30 am
I’ve been really busy the past couple of days, and haven’t had much time to go through any of older photos and develop them for the site, so check out this itasha seen in the parking lot at the recent Hyper Meeting, themed around Macross Frontier character, Ranka Lee.
It only makes sense, since this has been an all-girl week so far…
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By Alexi in
19-04-2009 6:30 am
While being everywhere at once would be a great thing as far as this site is concerned, the laws of relativity and the expressway tolls I’d rack up mean that it’s not quite possible.
So, instead of trying to bend space-time, here’s a few interesting photos collected from some local blogs.
First, here’s the R34 GT-t that Tezuka Tsuyoshi is supporting in D1SL this year.
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By Alexi in
06-04-2009 3:47 am
Quite often, you can spend almost an hour trying to drive a couple of kilometers in surburban Japan. For the past few days though, views like this have made what is normally a teeth-grinding chore into a pleasant cruise.
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By Alexi in
05-04-2009 9:08 pm
It’s cherry blossom season in Tokyo.
Apparently, this is a good enough pretense to sit under the trees and drink alcohol.
Works for me!
By Alexi in
03-04-2009 12:30 am
A couple of weeks ago, Shino had mentioned that she had been asked to come along to Mobara Circuit with her car, because an American film crew were coming, and wanted to film her drifting.
Turns out it was for the second season of I Survived a Japanese Game Show!
For anyone not familiar with the show (link to Youtube segments here) it’s an American reality show along the lines of The Apprentice or Survivor, based around competing in team-based, Japanese-TV-style challenges.
The team that wins each challenge gets to do something cultural and fun, like visiting the Tokyo fish markets. The losing team has to do something difficult, yet still cultural, like working as rickshaw drivers or labouring in a rice field.
This week’s winners won a ride in a drift car.
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