Return to Tsukuba Circuit part 2

More from my return to the home of Time Attack. June 2014.


Ok so here are some more photos and video.



3 lap passenger ride around Tsukuba:

My friend Hiro getting his Evo VIII GSR ready. Very well sorted suspension set up, tricked up ACD and some choice aero makes this thing corner VERY well and is deceptively quick.
He has his suspension and engine set up by the Company that has run the Works Touring cars for the last 20 years.







Ice Ice baby..






A very nice Fairlady Z










Some other cars from the new 'E' class. These Hondas are very quick, as well as engine mods they strip them out and fit really big tyres, usually semis.










Aside from a bonnet respray, a mint original condition AE86.







And another.




As you can see, almost everyone runs bronze TE37's lol...



This funky little Starlet came flying in off the track, then stopped right behind my Garage with an almighty bang~scrape... people came running over with jacks..






..so I had a look around the other side and.....





Lost his nuts.... guy needs to buy a Lottery Ticket!




Hiro's left front Dunlop decided it didn't want to play anymore...







The steel belt decided it has had enough. Luckily he had some warning and came in before it got really nasty... but it meant a 2 hour drive home on the space saver spare.













30 seconds of my car having a good fight with a quick S15 Silvia taken from Hiro's car just at the start of this video:

Return to Tsukuba Circuit.

So, back to Tsukuba finally on Saturday. It was my first time back on the Track in over 6 months      ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

半年ぶりの筑波2000！！


The plan was just to get some seat time and see how the car is, as I haven't been on a Track since early December last year...
I also needed to try and make a decision as to what direction I will go tyre wise as the Neova's are just not working for me at all.

とりあえず、乗ってみる感じでいてみました。タイヤも替えるかなと思っています。まだ考え中ですけど。。


Due to a lot of oil on the Track there was no point going for broke, but I didn't go there with that intent anyway.
Despite the 35 degree c ambient temperature, oil temp didn't go over 110 degrees c, and I was really happy with how the car went, the overall balance of the car really is just so good now it's really easy to drive fast.


The first 2 sessions were also my first time in the new 'E' Class which is for sub 1:07 second cars. This is very welcome as last year practically every time I came here I had a hard time cutting through traffic all the time. Obviously I wasn't the only one so they started this new intermediate class between the Novice 'Y' class, and the expert 'T' class.
I was one of only a few in the group not on Semi Slicks but had no trouble at all pace wise, so was quite pleased with that as well.

今回、新しい1:07以下タイムの’E’クラスで走りました。


Oh and it used 2 litres less fuel than normal to get there, and noticeably less on the Track, so the Coil upgrade is paying for itself as well.

Photos and Video:

I was lucky enough to get a Garage this time. A big help as I was feeling a bit unwell after having a bad cold the week previous, and it was a hot day.

A photo opportunity with my 2 friends I went with.      　　　一緒に行った二人とのラインナップ

First session of the day. Just checking things out and enjoying a run on a Track again.

かなり久しぶりの筑波2000。とりあえず様子すを見る。楽しかったです

.

Random Tuned cars.

These are some photos of random tuned Cars I have seen around the streets in various parts of Japan.

A slightly dirty, but nice Evo IV　　　　　　　ランエボ４

Incredibly immaculate RX7 owned by a young lady      若いお姉さんが乗っていたＦＤ３Ｓ

 

Subtle, but quick looking WRX      ちょっと早やそうなスバル

Wild looking S15 Silvia       派手なＳ１５

Evo VIII        ランエボ８

Mildly modified Evo VII       ほとんどノーマルランエボ７

Ultra rare and very low Evo Tommi Makinen in red sitting on Enkei WRC Tarmacs       まさかの赤いトミマキ....低いなー...

I found this car cleverly hidden away..... Batgirl??...　　　　　　　あまり目立たないトヨタ

Aside from Evo VI wheels, a very original and very clean Evo IV       エボＶＩのホウィールいがい、ノーマルですごく綺麗なランエボＩＶ。

Very rare ISUZU PIAZZA Tuned by LOTUS　　　　　　　かなり珍しいロータスチューンイスズピアッザ。

Absolutely mint condition DR30 RS Turbo Skyline       嘘みたいに綺麗なＤＲ３０RSスカイライン

'Winter mods' part 2.

It has a been a while since I posted, I have been very busy and also was unwell for a few months, but I am back and will update more regularly.
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　ちょっと、お久しぶりです。今年今まで、私は非常に忙しかったし、また数ヶ月体調不良だったが、私は戻っています、より定期的に更新されていました。


Here is a summary of the rest of the things I did over the winter break.

With the new dash panel finished, and all put back together, this is how it looks now overall (albeit those wires are now hidden). Not sure whether to cover the Din panel (I have 2 spares) with dry or wet Carbon fibre, or flock it, or leave it. Anyway not important for now.      新しいセンターパネルは完全出来上がり。

Next was redoing my Fire Extinguisher mount. I made some simple brackets from 3mm steel and put it under the front of the seat.　　　　　　　次は、消火器の場所を変えました。

I like making things, and sometimes it's hard to not over-engineer things. But I do my best to avoid that as it's a waste of time, and generally means extra weight. So simple and effective is best. I used flat headed Allen bolts so I could get the brackets as close to the ridge in the floorpan as possible, you can see here what I mean. I did this because I didn't want it poking out any more than necessary.　　　　　　　　　３ｍｍの鉄で簡単なブラケットを作って、アレンボルトで、出来るだけ後ろのほうに付けました。　　　　　

And all done. The seat can still go all the way forward if I need it to.　　　　　　　出来上がり。シートは普通に前後ろ動けます。

The next thing was, the driving position with the Race seat wasn't right, this was obvious my last few track days. So after a lot of calculating and guesswork, I got a 30mm steering boss extension and fitted it up.
As a result, I was able to move the seat back 30mm + 3mm or so lower due to the angle of the rails, then lowered it an additional 15mm via the seat mount brackets, something I was not able to do before with the seat where it was.

The result is a MUCH better driving position, and my weight back and down a significant amount, which should also help handling.　　　　　　　次は、ドライビングポジションはやはりちょっと良くないと分かって、３０ｍｍのスペーサーを付けて、シートを後ろ３０ｍｍ＋２０ｍｍ下へ動かしました。大分違います

...and while I was at it, I got some RECARO Race seat repair patches (couldn't get OMP ones) as my repair on the wear on the drivers entry side was not holding up.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　シートリペアパッチも買いました。

And together with the cushion it's all good. The blacks of the cushion and patches are almost spot on, the Camera makes the colours look much more different than they really are but in person you really can't hardly tell the difference.　　　　　　　すべて完成です。

..ok and lastly, I got my hands on some OKADA Direct Ignition Coils. I had been considering these for a long time. The car starts easier, and is definitely smoother in response. It also feels more torquey, but who knows lol.
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　最後は、ずっと試したかったオカダＰＬＡＺＭＡコイルを手に入れました。付けると、すぐ違いを分かりました。エンジンはもっと簡単に駆けられる、そしてエンジンのレスポンスは少し良くなった