Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

Try again...

Hi, I'm from Amayama Trading in Osaka and do part-time photojournalist work for a UK publication and a couple of Russian websites.

On this occasion I was asked to do an article on a "Beginner Soukoukai" or beginner's track meeting featuring a current Toyota Mark X. It was pretty simple, hire a GRX133 Mark X and go driving!

Well that wasn't to be when we found out no 3.5L Mark Xs (the current model) were available. The Mark X was supposed to be the feature car. Anyway, what other cars were available? Only a Nissan X-Trail! Apparently it was a busy time for every single rent-a-car place in Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe so we had to settle. An X-Trail... on Suzuka Circuit... yep :huh:

But can you take 4WD SUVs on a race track? Officially, no. When we made the booking we asked if a X-Trail was OK and the polite young lady on the phone said yes, which was wrong, she thought we meant NS"X"! Go figure! So they kept their word when we arrived and they saw the big hulking X-Trail waiting to unleash its kilowatts through the mighty CVT. I don't think it'll ever happen again so I don't recommend anyone try to take a SUV or non-performance car there.

Anyway after a short meeting with the chief safety official (we were late for the drivers lecture) and instructions on track etiquette and a clear warning that Porsche 911s and GT-Rs would be on track going a lot faster than us, we were let out on the circuit... for 2 laps!

_DSC0001.jpg

The car we unfortunately had to drive. I asked the Editor if we could pass this time and organise it for another day but he said "no, it'll be interesting to see how it handles" hahaha... yeah ok.

_DSC0006.jpg

In the pit lane ready to go out, with much faster and drool worthy machinery behind us. We had to wait for them all to go first before we could go out. Just as well because they were at half track by the time we got to the first corner!

_DSC0004.jpg

Esprit was there doing some testing and tuning of their R35 GT-R and NSX race car. The NSX went out alone during another time slot for GT cars.

_DSC0008.jpg

Porsches, Skyline GT-Rs... I sure felt like a moron in the X-Trail!

_DSC0010.jpg

..and off we go. The first thing I felt was the sheer history of Suzuka Circuit and being on the very same tarmac where Senna, Prost, Mansell and other childhood F1 heroes battled each other. Nevermind about the heavy, ungainly wagon doing it's best to make this as painful as possible.

_DSC0015.jpg

Through the S Curve

_DSC0019.jpg

Under the bridge... it kind of felt smaller than what it seems on Gran Turismo, and the changes in elevation seem more noticable.

_DSC0022.jpg

The famous hairpin. The elevation here too felt more severe than depicted on any game.

_DSC0030.jpg

Down the back straight. The X-Trail was hopeless, it was a 2.0L MR20DE and CVT and was wailing trying to get up to speed... I think we hit 140km/h or so.

_DSC0037.jpg

After going through the Casino Triangle we get on the main straight and it's foot to the floor almost stretching the accel cable trying to get every last ounce of power. On the bright side at least we got to see more of the scenery around the track.

_DSC0034.jpg

Yep, even the Navi agrees we are finally on Suzuka Circuit... "In 300m turn right"... is there any other way?

I thought it was nice that the Suzuka Circuit staff apologised to us about the mixup. They actually offered us a ride in the Honda Legend Safety Car instead of going through the ordeal with the X-Trail but we came here to drive so that's what we did. It's a real ultra-professional (of course) track meeting and well worth it if you want to drive at speed on one of the worlds top racing circuits.

Thanks :huh:

People can also take special (limited to 20km/h or so) kids two-seater go karts around the short track for one lap, it was pretty fun dicing with the other guys at walking pace while trying to keep the best racing line :D

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • You're not the first person that's said that about this car lol. A Touring wagon GT in Spark yellow mica would be the dog's danglies 😆 I will keep an eye out for a future purchase for sure. The seats are almost like the OEM Recaros... electric adjustment for fore/aft and tilt movements except reclining.   
    • Yes!! I love these! It's a shame its not the wagon though!   Thank everything that's holy that it doesn't have the interior of the Aussie delivered ones. Those seats are so much nicer.  
    • I'm both sorry and thankful that you do that. 
    • 2001 BE5D Subaru Legacy B4 RSK (3rd gen) EJ208 (pink injector) Twin Turbo 280PS 5-speed manual Full time 4WD "RSK" grade which means all of the above LQC option which means stock rear spoiler  I got it primarily to export to someone outside Japan who was interested. These BE5 Legacy B4 RSKs are going through a bit of a resurgence right know in Japan as they are one of the few cars from the "turbo, manual, RWD/4WD, 280hp gentleman's agreement era" cars that don't require stupid money to purchase. Which for some people might be a good opportunity to get as a base for restoration. If I can't find anyone to purchase it I will certainly be doing that myself over the long term. Why? Because it's properly fast in stock form, handles well enough for a GT sedan, there's still enough aftermarket and (if you can wait a while) genuine part support to make it a restoration candidate (<-- that will only get worse over time so it's a case of do it now or choose get a BL5 4th Gen). Mechanically it's fine, has only 89,200kms on the odometer. The problem with this car is that the body and exterior trims are weathered from at least the last 10 years being parked outdoors. I'm the 3rd owner, the first owner was the one that had it for 14 years and barely drove it, had a low-speed front impact (which didn't damage anything behind the radiator support) and got it fixed and sold it. The 2nd owner put most of the kms on it and parked it outside for the last 10 years, hence the door rubbers have seen better days but if you overlook those cosmetic details, it presents pretty nicely. There is some minor rust on the LH rear wheel arch which I'll have looked at too at some stage.  Also as you'd expect from a car this age, the clear top coat is gone, leaving a satin finish on the roof.  Mechanically it's fine (as you would expect from a car with less than 100K kms) but the steering does feel slightly vague around the centre position at higher speeds. So first on the list is to get the steering rack bushes looked at. There's also the Lock button on the remote which doesn't work, but the Open button does.... it means that the anti-theft system thinks it's always open? It seems like if you open the car and don't start the engine within 3 mins or so the anti-theft kicks in again without any beeps or signals. So if you got to start it after that, it won't. You have to push the open button again. That's how I understand it anyway. Just a small irritation but not a big problem to sort out. There's only one mod, the Wangan SPL muffler. Just a tad louder than stock. It's a really good mod for those who don't want to wake the neighbours but still want to hear a more prominent unequal length header EJ20 sound. Anyway I hope to get all those things done eventually, that is unless someone wanted to import it to their country from Japan (where I live). I'm open for negotiations as I really would like a Skyline... but this will definitely suffice in the meantime 🙂 *Disclaimer: This is how I picked it up from the dealer, minus the stuff on the back seat. I haven't cleaned the engine bay or done a thorough exterior clean, aside from spray painting the wipers. 
    • Wow, even with the Audi logo centre caps. I love OEM wheel mismatches. 
×
×
  • Create New...