13Beast

Sounds good mate. What's your keitei email? I'll likely be up in Lake Towada, staying the night at Oraise Youth Hostel on 9/21.

Fuji is about 500kms away from Tohoku region, in the Chubu region of Japan. Waaaay out of my way. But yes, I've heard its a nice place and a great climb if you can spare a day or two.

Hi guys, I have a 2010 Fairlady Z that I am picking up from Roppongi Hills in the morning on the 19th this month, and won't be dropping it back until 4 days later at 5pm on the 23rd. I am keen to blast around Tohoku for those 5 days. Priorities to experience are good driving and breath-taking scenery. Any suggestions of places to go check out? At the moment, I have it narrowed down to -- Aizu-wakamatsu + Ura-bandai (f*kushima) Zao (Yamagata) Hiraizumi + Tono (Iwate) Kesennuma -> Miyako -> Kuji -> Hachinohe - RIKUCHO-KAIGAN coast drive (Miyagi/Iwate/Aomori) Lake Towada + Oraise Stream/Gorge Hachimantai Plateau Oga-Hanto (Heard this place sucks, so I am willing to skip it and save some time) Yamaderu (Yamagata) Any advice would be welcome! Cheers!

Sure, if you want to own it for 12 months first to qualify as a personal import...

Hi guys, I'm in Shikoku, and the time has come to sell my 400ps 1993 MR2. Mod list is too long to mention... Though I'll give it a good crack... 1993 MR2 GT-S - 3SGTE + 5 spd manual - Volk Racing 17' wheels with good tread all around (Dunlop Z1) - Border front bar, side skirts, TOMS rear 'duckbill' spoiler, vented c/fibre hood - TEIN Flex coilovers with EDFC - TEIN pillowball tension rods - Trust TD06-25G turbo + external wastegate (currently at 1.2 bar) - HKS 272 cams - Apexi intake - Apexi Power FC - Apexi AVCR - Greddy side-mount I/C - ARC radiator - Sard injectors (unsure of cc) - Trust exhaust - Aftermarket fuel pump - HKS remote oil-filter set-up - Aftermarket h/d clutch - Aftermarket rear LSD (likely Cusco) - Cusco short-shifter - Trust/Greddy gauges - GREX brake pads all around - etc etc http://classifieds.gaijinpot.com/index/vie...rticle_id/60272 And yes, it's in Japan (Ehime), and CANT be imported to Australia under RAWS, so I advertised it here in the Japan forum. It's not a Nissan, but it's a damn fine, and rapaciously, quick machine. Shaken til 9/2012, service history etc. Please, let me sell it to another loving gaijin, and not to some snaky Japanese automotive caryard dealer who snorts at me and pays me 50,000 yen recycling for it as its "too old"...

Lloyds Bank do transfers and charge 2000 yen flat charge regardless of the amount you transfer. No limit transfers too. They take no time whatsoever - I have had it in my Australian account less than 48 hours later. Very good exchange rates, and you can hook it up as an account working off your Nihon account. Pure gold for ease of use.

Its an old thread, but thought I'd chime in anyways! I'm living in Matsuyama, in Shikoku. Will be moving March next year, hopefully somewhere around Ibaraki, Shizuoka, f*kushima. Paul (LOACH) if you are looking for a VERY quick MR2, I have mine on the market for 400,000. It's good for 400ps at 1.5 bar. I have it at 1.2 bar at present, and the thing is an absolute weapon. Plenty of shaken left (13 months worth) and the car has 70,000 on the clock.

Tuning shop sounds like the way to go. I'm in a racing club here, but there is only a small circuit in Ehime prefecture that is open (and not all the time). Ideally, I'd like to be out on the track a couple times each month to get my circuit fix Would it be a problem that my conversational Japanese is rather basic? Would they let me through the safety briefing and still out on the track? Which of the big circuits (i.e. Fuji, Sugo, Sendai Highland, Ebisu, Tsukuba) tend to have the most going on for the privateer/weekend racer? I am relocating in March next year, and plan to live in f*kushima, Gunma or Ibaraki, due to their proximity to several tracks (Ebisu, Sendai, Tsukuba and Sugo).

Hey there, I live in Shikoku, and am planning on relocating up to f*kushima/Ibaraki/Gunma early next year. That will put me in close proximity to a bunch of tracks including Ebisu, Sendai Highland, Sugo Sportsland, Twin Ring Motegi, Tsukuba etc. I own an MR2 at the moment, but will be selling it before the move, and likely getting a modded R33 GTR, Spirit R FD RX7 or possibly even an S2000 in the new place I end up in. I'd REAALLLLY like to get into regular track days, pretty much every weekend if possible. However, my Japanese is quite average, and I don't have a clue as to which circuits regularly cater for the weekend racer (many seem to be mostly drifting or a lot of high-end motorsport events). I fit in the "arrive and drive" type of weekend car enthusiast (grip racing, and probably some quarter-mile stuff), and I'm not interested in doing any serious track-mods (i.e. cage etc) to the car, or paying a small fortune to get out on the track. So how do I get involved in the scene? Should I do a google.co.jp search and join a car club/circle? Is that the best method? Are there any other fellow car-enthusiast gaijin out there with english-speaking/gaijin car clubs or group meets? Which circuits up Tohoku/Kanto region are the best for the weekend "grip" racer? Thanks for any advice you have guys

Bit of an update: I work with AEON, and inquired as to the chances of me moving to East Japan. AEON, whilst appearing to be all one company, is segregated internally into Aeon West Japan, Aeon East Japan and Aeon Central Japan. Basically, if I wanted to move to Honshu, I would have to interview in Tokyo (with recruiters from Aeon East), hope I get the job, and then if I did, I would have to do 2 weeks of training again (effectively starting at square 1 again with AEJ) - which would mean back down to the starting salary, which would mean 20,000 less yen a month. And I would have to shoulder the costs of moving (at my own expense) up to the new school. Seems like a big jump considering how much wages I will be losing, and a big gamble on going to a new branch, which could completely suck. The other option is to change companies, so I had a squiz at some other jobs available in Japan for teachers, and they absolutely suck. Ailta is probably the highest paying that I saw, and they are offering 240-260k a month but stinging 80,000 for rent! Even in a tiny town like Maebashi! With Aeon right now, I am on 290,000, and have pension plan etc, so the perks are good, even if I am getting very bored with the town I am living in. BigWillieStyles - where abouts in Okayama are you? What car do you drive? I have an SW20 MR2. Do you get out to the tracks much, or go for cruises?

And its the spiritual home of Initial D! Do you know where the nearest race circuit is to Gunma?

Hi there, I am currently living in Shikoku, but it being in the middle of nowhere with very few decent circuits nor driving roads nearby, I think its time for a move onto Honshu. I'm thinking f*kushima prefecture, or Gunma or Shizuoka. Namely Shizuoka city, Hamamatsu city, f*kushima City or possibly even Maebashi. I was thinking Tochigi as well, but have heard that it is a hole and a very boring place to live. Does anyone have any experience of living or even visiting any of those prefectures? Somewhere very liveable, with a quality circuit not too far away (allowing amateur hacks like me to thrash their car around on cheap weekend time trial days etc), Tokyo within 2-3 hours, and plenty of road trip opportunities (and some nice driving & cycling roads around) would make me a very happy camper. Thanks

Nice vids mate. What do you think of the drive to Ebisu circuit (and the drive through f*kushima prefecture)? Is it a nice place? I am possibly moving up there to live later this year (f*kushima prefecture), but have never been there before.

I hope JAL rots and burns. ANA also. Any nation that insists on denying any other commercial carrier onto its domestic routes, and allows them to price-fix each other (yet supposedly they are two separate companies?), and play protectionist, 'boys-club' monopolist business practices deserves to rot.

I'm taking the MR2 up for its first big road trip this weekend from Shikoku into Kansai. 3 days worth, first day and evening in and around Himeji and Rokko-san. I have heard Rokko-san is popular among the Kansai drift/touge crowd. It's a Saturday night too, so hopefully might find something worthwhile. Following two days will be in and around Osaka and Kyoto. Any ideas of nice roads, places to check out? I have a fresh set of Teins, new tyres, and 1.3 bar of boost from my TD06 to test, so please, any ideas or recommendations of quality roads/nice drives please tell me Thanks!

Car has no cat. I'd say if it was a blocked cat, there'd be power issues as well due to the restriction in the exhaust. The wiring is unbroken, but does look a little old. Drove it today, and the gauge again was showing a high temp, but would often drop back down. Considering there seemed to be no correlation between idle, throttle on/off and the reading on the gauge, I'm %90 sure its a faulty signal. When it wasn't peaking off the dial, it read around the 550 degrees celsius mark which is close to the bottom of the gauge. No A/F meter handy so I can't say for sure though... Will definitely get it sussed out properly - not worth taking a risk and ending up with a dead motor

The gauge is a GReddy gauge and reads on a scale of 4 - 12. Each being x 100 degrees celsius. It was sitting at between 11 and 12 on the gauge. Not fluctuating at all with idle or throttle input. Dead steady as a matter of fact. Oil and water temp also completely unchanged.

Hi there, I know its not a skyline, but, I've been a member on this forum since when I owned my '32 GTR, and I value what knowledge there is on this forum - so maybe you guys can help me out on this one I was driving my MR-2 today and noticed the Ext.Temp gauge rocket up to in excess of 1000 degrees celsius - well into the red zone on the gauge. Knowing that high ext temps can often mean serious detonation, I drove it carefully out of boost the whole way home (I'd been driving it like a nanna all day - 50km/h road limits here in Japan!). I switched it off to eat dinner. Came back out after 90 minutes, and it rocketed back up to 1100 degrees within minutes of starting it up again. Couple things confuse me though - the reading went from the low part of the gauge to the upper part of the gauge within minutes of driving. Nothing gradual from the looks of things, although I wasn't staring at the gauge the whole time. I looked back after 2-3 mins and it was back in the red (after starting the car at the low end of the gauge). I wasn't driving it hard at all (all below 4k rpm, well out of boost), and the car was behaving normally as it always does. No other signs of untoward worry - fuel pressure was fine, as was oil/water temp, no smoke, no pinging, nothing. The car is running a Trust TD-06, aftermarket cams, AVCD and an Apexi Power FC among many other things. Any ideas? Have I got a faulty gauge? Or is there something possibly terminal lurking under the hood that I should be worried about?

I have heard Advans are an excellent tyre. I just got it over Shaken, and had the fronts replaced with Bridgestone RE-01. Apparently they are a very good sports tyre from Bridgestone... The ones on the rear are virtually bald though, and I don't have the cash to replace them all with a new set of something different (given the fronts are brand new). Do you know much about the RE-01's? I haven't had the opportunity to really try them out yet, as driving on the street with the 1-way diff and learning to cope with dense Japanese urban traffic makes it difficult

Roppongi is a f**king hole. I still have no idea why people go there unless you are one of the following - 1. An African on the payroll of a club, shaking down foreigners 2. A drunk red-neck Marine 3. Some J-girl sl*t who wants above-said drunk red-neck Marines. You've seen one red light district, you have seen them all. There is NOTHING redeeming about Roppongi. Its a disgusting place with sh*t clubs, sh*t music and dickheads on the streets. Hit up Shinjuku, Shibuya, places like that. You'll see a much better version of Tokyo nightlife. Asakusa is safe as houses - you will be ok there. Oh and ryokans are a rort. Unless, you are at a ryokan waaaaaay off the beaten track - in a town that doesn't get much tourists. Then they are somewhat affordable!

Hey there, The time has come to purchase a set of 16' tyres for my mr-2. This is the first time buyig tyres here, and am unsure which chain tyre store to go to for the best deals/range. Any suggestions? What jap spec top quality performance tyres are some of the best picks for a street car with some weekend track work? Car is a 93 mr-2 gt running a td-06, cams etc so isn't short of power by any means. Cheers

If you can make it down to Shikoku on the 13th of September, there is a local gymkhana circuit event I am entering with my MR2. It's at Setonaikai circuit near Saijo City. Should be about 30-40 cars attending. Could be a good opportunity for you to glimpse the local Japanese car-racing scene.

The guy doesn't blink. Seriously.

Actually, I have a well-practiced theory about the Circle K/Sunkus/Lawson's umbrellas. DON'T GET ANY BIGGER THAN 60cm! For some reason, THOSE are the ones that always break with a strong wind (or even a gentle wind for that matter). I have literally bought a 65cm cheap plastic umbrella, stepped outside, walked 100m, and had the wind twist it inside out leaving it irrepairably damaged. This has happened more times than I can remember. BUT, the 60cm (or less) ones, a lot sturdier. If for no other reason, then the paper-thin metal rods that stretch out over the umbrella, are shorter so likely don't flex as much with the breeze!

Damn. I can't go Post some pics up on Monday for us all to drool over!