Rezz

If you saw something worth taking a photo/video of on the streets in Japan, then post it here (pretty please? 🥹)! To get things rolling, an absolutely millimetre perfect restored 1st gen VW Golf on BBS RS with gold bolts and from what I could see, an immaculate interior. Was at an intersection and the lights turned green so only got one photo

1/43 BCNR33 Nissan Skyline GT-R Clarion Nismo LM by MTECH Released in 1996, this rare MTECH/Epoch BCNR33 Nissan Skyline GT-R Clarion Nismo LM is a faithful reproduction of the actual vehicle that raced at Le Mans the previous year. This vehicle's fame increased when it was featured in Sony Playstation game Grand Turismo 1 & 2 as the "NISMO GT-R LM Race Car '95". It features basic engine detail and reasonably accurate interior details. A fine addition to any collection where nostalgia is the focus! https://www.oemsoko.co.jp/products/rare-1996-mtech-1-43-bcnr33-nissan-skyline-gt-r-clarion-nismo-lm

Something like this? The website (a Bridgestone tyre shop in Japan) says the carbon aero parts are Abflug, but I checked their site and they only show the front lip spoiler, not the side steps/diffusers That's a lovely clean engine bay too. Nice!

With permission granted from the SAU admin (thanks Christian!) I'd like to introduce a new website "OEM Soko" (OEM -> Original Equipment Manufacturer, Soko -> Warehouse) https://www.oemsoko.co.jp/ It's a family business registered in Japan and owned by my wife (Japanese) with myself running the website and shipping side and doing all the English translations/dealing with clients in English. My son is also involved part time while studying. The business has been registered since 2016 but never promoted outside Japan until now due to other obligations. So what service does OEM Soko offer? In a nutshell: Anything worth shipping from Japan via Japan Post EMS. It's primary focus is Automotive accessories and hobby related items such as model cars etc, however there's also a "Vintage Soko" section dealing with used items and categories like Car cleaning and Tools. There's also a category "Nifty items" which includes any items we come across that are a) made in Japan, and b) have some sort of "nifty" attribute. By all means please take a look and let me know your thoughts or any feedback here in this thread. We're updating the products all the time and although it's not 'populated' so much at this stage, by checking up on what's new I'm sure there'll be something to pique your interest! * As an introductory offer to SAU members we'll throw in a "Car Wash Japan" Made in Japan 30cm x 30cm microfiber cloth with any order regardless of value! Just put your SAU member name and a link to your SAU profile in the "Order special instructions" section in the Shopping Cart (see attached image) to receive this free gift! 🙂👍 We're always open to any request for items from Japan no matter what it is, automotive related or not, so by all means please use the Contact form to send your request here! : https://www.oemsoko.co.jp/pages/contact

The T3PA pedals have a potentiometer. You can upgrade the brake pedal to load cell which I'll do eventually but my son reckons the brake pedal is fine just how it is (with the conical rubber brake mod increasing the braking pressure to 25kg or so). It is 'rubbery' though, and as such is a bit uncertain when you're at 100% braking force or a few fractions of a degree off.

Yep a sturdy seat holding the wheel and pedals is an absolute must. If I did it all again I'd probably go for a proper fixed seat rather than the Playseat Challenge. It's good enough and it does fold up for storage which is really good if you don't have space (like me), but the pedals do have a tendency to lift up under very hard braking at the pedal brace joint where the pedal part folds up when stored. I should use some Meccano pieces to prevent it from happening but then I'll lose the folding ability. It does have amore 'laid back' position as well which is halfway between touring car and single seater position, which I reckon is perfect for long sessions like the 1 hour races.

My son will go for his driver's licence next year so he thrashes GT7 all the time (with the wheel, pedals and shifter). As a result he's always talking about updates etc so I play quite a bit too. A few times every week. The regular updates are awesome. I mainly just do time trials vs my son. The current hotness here is the Aston Martin Valkyrie around Nordschleife @ 5:38.9

Yep wheel and pedals, Thrustmaster T150 Pro with 3 pedals and TH8A Shifter installed on a Playseat Challenge. I had to rig up a custom mount using Meccano style metal plates and stays to get the TH8A mounted, but it's rock solid.

Does this count as a time trial as well? I got all gold in the master super licence (1 lap time trial) and received a McLaren MP4/4 for my trouble. If anyone else has done this, did you ride the wall right around the first long right hander at Lake Louise snow track to get gold? I couldn't do it any other way... best I could do without riding the was was within 2 tenths of the gold time.

Oh and.... "no bubble on the dash" ---> immediate no mod status.

To be Frank (always liked that name), I reckon this is a better idea. I'm an R32 man from day 1 and the really good surviving examples that are still in stock form should stay that way. Let ye conscience guide you my son 🙂

Serious answer: The Japanese call them "HCR32純正アルミホイール"　(HCR32 Junsei arumi wheel). https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=9781a9b17bdb0a90&q=HCR32純正アルミホイール&uds=ADvngMi969x8VO53s3Ns6zY_q0mz1wQSG62T0CP-XYz351Bz4k-UlCLmEIs3_DOvTIrJbtR53zUINohMWufGSNcE7u-Sy3WX5TUjyDJHK7ocoDfeYw5W1tSwzUlYREw7kf4AsG4TMceIn7jdSxdsPXSr015SPQ0N4d0VoByGkenzSrAe8dyXSHA-cFV7LpaAVKCIPCKphRBK4ExnPj5Wp8Ymbl6ZrzN4uV9O1oqNcySxxJLogfY6FULbGlMPmheHkf5T89XXkWHUmA-Kn76muIhfC4LNQ0WaaP4QrndS6u2ovf8NUIsYJ7oFJ81Is4MDHNu_WMQr5vRcNCw-OO7NiSgP3rP02XVontjydtRrPYYnhoyPrwFoPHU&udm=2&prmd=isvnmbtz&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjYlNzYxcuGAxW72DQHHb8ODIAQtKgLegQIDhAB&biw=1920&bih=911&dpr=1 The English name for them would be "(insert model name) genuine wheels"? As a side note, they fit perfectly on 1st and 2nd gen Suzuki Swift Sports: https://www.google.com/search?q=HCR32純正アルミホイール+スズキスイフト&sca_esv=9781a9b17bdb0a90&udm=2&biw=1920&bih=911&ei=aBBkZsT2KMS60-kP8IGZwAE&ved=0ahUKEwjEyoTbxcuGAxVE3TQHHfBABhgQ4dUDCBA&uact=5&oq=HCR32純正アルミホイール+スズキスイフト&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiNkhDUjMy57SU5q2j44Ki44Or44Of44Ob44Kk44O844OrIOOCueOCuuOCreOCueOCpOODleODiEjCXFCgA1iiWHALeACQAQCYAYkBoAHzDaoBBDE4LjK4AQPIAQD4AQGYAgCgAgCYAwCIBgGSBwCgB_wH&sclient=gws-wiz-serp

Don't want to side track from the thread too much (don't want to upset the thread starter's run from 2007) so here's some old rusted Nissan Laurels in a parking lot in Nishinomiya, Hyogo-ken:

Wait, wat. Are you coming to Kansai?

Absolutely. Not knocking their ability on track at all, looks like a whole heap of fun. Just the crash safety aspect which I had my doubts about which those guys where able to engineer out of it 😄

Absolutely. Not knocking their ability on track at all, looks like a whole heap of fun. Just the crash safety aspect which I had my doubts about which those guys where able to engineer out of it 😄

These are those $13,990 Excels from 1997 right? They were flimsy when they were brand new 🙂..... The work those guys did on that car to make it as safe as it was in that incident is phenomenal.

G.G.C. (Gibier German Cook) restaurant in Motomachi in Kobe: A tiny 2 floor restaurant that was founded in 1976. The original couple who owned/ran it retired and sold the business to a corporation who pretty much tried to keep it the same as it was. Lots of lesser known (to me anyway) German beers available. Venison with vegetables. The meat came from deer from Hokkaido. The chef told us that there's a whole industry around the use of all parts of the deer from the antlers to the hooves. Sure enough, directly accross the street from this restaurant is a shop that sells all manner of utensils, clothes and objet d'art all made from deer skin, bones and horns.... also owned by the same corporation. The venison was super tender 😋 Various decorations, a lot of which were quite old, no doubt from the original owners. A nice pilsner too which I'd never seen before. It's well worth a visit but check the opening hours, they're closed on Wednesdays, only open 11:30am - 3pm on Mondays and Tuedays, 11:30am-3pm for lunch and 5pm-11:30pm on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and 11:30am-3pm and 5pm-9pm on Sundays. Last order is 30mins before close.

Yep around 2m long or thereabouts. I made another post in the photo diaries 17 years later lol. I swear it has not been that long!

A snake slithering out of a drain in Asahiyama Zoo in Asahikawa, Hokkaido. It wasn't part of an exhibit...

Yes 116PS... I don't want to sound like a Toyota PR employee but it goes way better than the figures would suggest. Typical Toyota understating the performance. I'd say it at least had 130PS! 😅 Seriously though my son will be going for his licence in 2026 and it's a good manual car he can learn on without getting in too much trouble, and after that he will inherit it.

Japan has won 3 Baseball world championships, the most recent in 2023. They're pretty damn good. The two guys in the mural on the wall in the last pic are Darvish and Otani, both of who play in the MLB, both played for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters team in their pre-MLB days. ESCON filed is the Fighter's home stadium. There's a micro brewery inside the stadium as well, first time I saw such a thing... Had a beer then was told it was made right over there -->

Inside and outside ESCON Field in Sapporo in Hokkaido

I realise that perhaps no one will in Japan will see this, but why not try anyway. What are you driving in Japan? I have a (sniff (;_;) ) 2018 Toyota Corolla Sports 1.2L Turbo 6MT. It has a class trailing 116PS and 190Nm power/torque... 😐 Why? Because back in 2018 there was only 1(?) manual transmission car available from Toyota which was the 86 (not including the Mark X GRMN 2015/2019), so when they released this one I had to support them by getting one in the hope that they would continue to release more manual models. As it turns out they released the Supra, Yaris, and GR Corolla all with manual transmissons after that. Mods are RSR Ti2000 Down springs, HKS panel filter, 18x8.5" Weds Sports SA-20R Face F with 215/40R18 Toyota Proxes Sport tyres. Eventually a full exhaust, boost controller sub-con, Blitz turbocharger and aero parts will be added before it gets replaced...

It looks proper factory fitted. It's exactly how I would do it. Well done 👍