Beer Baron

don't be too jealous. remember 3-4 hours sleep per night. lots of driving, train, etc. getting freezing cold AND sunburnt on the same day and going through yen like it was monopoly money. but yeah it is all worthwhile

all in good time! they are big fkers at 2mb+ each so i'll have to think about what to do with them.

oh, and yes if your phone is 3g it will work in japan. mine roams between softbank and docomo so I usually get good reception. but it's pretty exxy. a few years back I got a pre-paid japanese phone and I use that too. or you can rent one.

if you are flying in and out of tokyo ( i guess you will as TAS etc is up here) then just fly down to osaka if you want to go down for a few days. leave your big bags at your tokyo hotel, they don't mind holding for a couple of days. plane is faster and cheaper than shinkansen. less fun though. but meh. faster, cheaper!

I've already seen the list of mines tuning parts they already have available and there is some cool shit for sure.

not many places even in japan have HKS turbos etc just sitting around. it will be a bit hit and miss, but sure give it a go. I used to love buying parts in japan. now I just order and ship them as carrying stuff is a bitch.

i dunno. if they were regular then sure, but shaven certainly adds a couple hundred horse power to my engine...

d'ya thank ahm sexeh? pics to go with vid: when I have time I'll make a nice 2007 Nismo festival thread and put all this stuff in there.

haha, I'm in that vid! on the left in the stripey jumper and pink fisco press jersey combo!

lol. a guy who had his engine built at mines told me the guy that was driving the R35 on the freeway was the president of mines. that's pretty cool!

wouldn't surprise me one bit. prime build awesome, no nonsense cars. with plenty of power. They had a 3.2l 2J just finished when I was there that will make silly power. Hell even my RB26 they are building right now will be pretty respectable.

also, is it just me or are my pics getting better as the years go by? looking back some pics were pretty ordinary, but now I reckon some are not half bad.

no worries, happy to share the pics, and it's nice that people enjoy and appreciate them. I will ask tets about kits but 90% sure they don't make em. probably just a mix and match of other kits.

people say only 1 min, or only 59, but don't forget the japanese guys have been coming here for years. they build cars just for this circuit and this style of event, and they stick drivers in them that have done thousands of laps around tsukuba. considering you guys only saw it for the first time this week, and have a car that was primarily designed for tarmac rally and khana type stuff I think under 1 minute is amazing work! The car looked great and mark piloted it very, very nicely. When I left in the purple GTR we had a run on the freeway with the mines R35 GTR on the way home. it was quick, but my mates Top Secret 34 was quicker (it should be with over 800ps!). I have heaps of pics which I will give to you guys later in high res. but here's 2 for now I actually had trouble framing the shots and panning with you guys as mark was bullshit fast out of the last turn onto the straight. very nice indeed. well done boys and as for M-speed and their 54s, well they have a hollinger, and car they have developed at Tsukuba over the years, and a driver who knows the track, and you saw the rest of their gear! I mean damn, they would not look out of place on a Super GT or FIA GT series or even sports sedan grid. Plus new tyres for every single session doesn't hurt. It just proves how much more effort is needed for the mid 50s. Plus don't forget they were the only car in the 54s on the day, and I think only 1 or 2 in the 55s and not many in the 56s either (maybe 3). So apart from say the top 3 cars you were only a second or two off the big boys. not bad for a couple of yahoos from australia.

still got hundreds of nismo festival pics, plus a couple hundred from today's time attack. had press passes at both so there are few really nice pics in the bunch. also have a few hundred from the drift event yesterday at fuji. but no time or energy

check above, and click the link in my sig for the rest of my pics.

thanks mate. yes I have known Tets at prime for a number of years. he is a great guy, and runs an awesome shop. his mechanic tono has a toyota 4 door of some kind (chaser, crest or something) with a full welded roll cage, SR20 conversion and lots of good gear. but looks very subtle. he just recently drove it in the Kyushu time attack at autopolis and came first in class! not bad. The fact that tets as built a 1.6litre 4 cylinder NA that makes 357ps atw is pretty damn amazing too. lucky for me he is building my new RB26 personally.

Tsukuba Hyper Rev Super Lap Battle. The famed Tsukuba pit area: The now famous Aussie GTR of Mark Berry and Russel Newman. They did an awesome job with Mark pulling out sub 1 minute laps which is no mean feat. He got a best of 59, with the notable handicap of not being able to get a hold of the favoured Super Soft or even Soft compound tyres. he was left to run on mediums which don't have near the outright pace. Cusco Evo X was one of a number of Evo Xs out there. They look pretty cool actually. Cusco also had a new WRX STI there too. Proving they are keeping at the fore front of development of parts for new models. Tracy Sports. Silly name, serious car. I think they were going for loudest NSX in the world. This car practically made my ears bleed. Quite fast though. What would a Super Lap be without the ex garage HRS Cyber Evo? of course being driven by eji "tarzan" yamada. legendary car breaker! Trial EVO looked pretty good. not sure on times though, but I don't think it was near the heavy hitters. The M-Speed 34 GTR looked and sounded insane on track. and of course it was fastest outright too. It could also pass as a show car. The attention to detail and level of presentation is second to none. Race cars don't have to look fast, they just have to go fast but the M-Speed GTR achieves both. This is me about to be killed by the sumo power car. As I had a press pass I was able to get inside the fence. which meant there was nothing between me and the track accept for a 4 foot high barrier. I was standing on the outside at the final turn, the fastest turn on the track. The sumo car lost it bad and started oversteering straight for me! I just snapped 2 shots then ducked as a massive shower of stones and dirt headed my way. Lucky he was able to keep it off the wall. just. Mark Berry flying the aussie flag high. He was supreme out of the final corner able to get on the power very early and just hang on through the corner apex. Many of the other cars were only able to flatten it well past the apex, and some even past the corner exit. The M-Speed GTR. Just takes your breath away. amazing car. MCR had their R35 there too. The mines car looked awesome being belted around Tsukuba too. Mines car: and on the freeway after our little run in. needless to say the Top Secret GTR I was in was faster, but the 35 was still hauling ass! ok, I think that's it for tonight. pretty knackered. had 3 or 4 hours sleep per night these last few days. will do more tomorrow as tomorrow is rest day.

MCR had their R35 there too. The mines car looked awesome being belted around Tsukuba too. Mines car: and on the freeway after our little run in. needless to say the Top Secret GTR I was in was faster, but the 35 was still hauling ass!

speaking of which anyone know of a reliable hosting site that will let me batch upload. doing it one by one at imageshack is pissing me off.

ok, small update. Yesterday was drifting at fuji speedway. and today was Tsukuba Rev Speed Super Lap Battle. M-speed GTR was fastest for the second year in a row with a 54 second lap! Got some awesome pics. will begin the slow task of uploading shortly.

I would say it will probably cost more to buy it from HKS as you will be charged retail. nenguns price is below japanese retail. also, I don't think you will be able to but them from HKS anyway

no but I have some pics. we also had a little run in with the mines 35 GTR on the way home on the shuto expressway. the driver was kind enough to boot it as we got into the tunnel and my friend who was driving his 800ps GTR did likewise. got some awesome photos then too

ok, a few more pics. I will do heaps and heaps more once I have some time. I have 500 from nismo festival alone. Some pics of my new engine being built at Prime Garage. Awesome tuning shop and amazing work. Please bear in mind it's not finished yet. About 80% done. They will remove the squish pads on one side still, and open up the exhaust ports (you can see the scribe lines as to how far it will go). intake side: exhaust side some of the bits. where the magic happens. the zed in the foreground is what I was driving there. A very special crank. 1 of only 5 ever made. Tets at prime used one in the engine he built for D1 driver yosinoka (AE86). It's 20 valve 4AG puts out 357ps at the wheels and it's NA!!!! The HKS crank (bottom of pic) looks like rubbish in comparison.

ok, last pic. This is what nismo were selling off! of course I couldn't help myself and wasted some cash.