Mr. Sparkle's New Tuner

[mr. sparkle]

Mr. Sparkle's '93 Nissan 300ZX

Just picked up a '93 300ZX. Looks very much like the one in the photo. Same color, etc. It's not a twin turbo, but man, oh man....it totally rocks. Good price too. It's my third Nissan.

'67 Datsun PL 411 Sedan
'71 Datsun 240Z
'93 Nissan 300ZX

What is your favorite tuner?

[Kanchou]

Ooh, nice choice

Personally I'd like an '85 Sprinter Trueno GTV/GT APEX (Corolla GT-S) or a '90 RX-7 GT-X (Turbo II)...

[AssKissinger]

What's a tuner?

[Big Booger]

What's a tuner?

Tuner

n 1: someone who tunes pianos

[oyajikun]

Nice ride as long as it's manual transmission. I'm looking at getting myself a Subaru WRX wagon this summer. Used of course...

[Taro Toporific]

What is your favorite tuner?

Get FUGAed!

It's only been a couple weeks since I got a new Nissan Fuga 350 sport (aka the 2006 Infiniti M35). It's just a 4-door Fairlady Z that's rear-active. See the old thread: Carlos Ghosn likes to FUGA.

[American Oyaji]

A tuner is a car that one works on and tunes and tweeks.

Usually a sports car.

[GomiGirl]

I always demand that my tuner is dolphin friendly... (sic)















(Sorry - Taro's Fugu post is to blame)

[FG Lurker]

Nice ride as long as it's manual transmission. I'm looking at getting myself a Subaru WRX wagon this summer. Used of course...

I have a 2000 Legacy B4 RSK. Tons of fun but very, very hard on gas.

It's great on both the twisties and the highway -- cruses very happily at 160-170km/hr -- barely feels like it's moving quickly. I've not deprogrammed the 180km/hr limiter so have never had it faster than that. Top speed is 260 though.

[mr. sparkle]

Nice ride as long as it's manual transmission. I'm looking at getting myself a Subaru WRX wagon this summer. Used of course...

It's manual, a 5 speed.
Subaru WRX's rock! I also like the Mitsubishi EVO for pure, raw power. A bit too expensive, though.
I was looking at a used 911, but then the Z fever got ahold of me once more...it really is the best bang for the buck.

I have a 2000 Legacy B4 RSK. Tons of fun but very, very hard on gas

Which is also a Subaru no? I can't believe it would be that tough on gas. Really?

WOW! Nice wheels Mr. Sparkle-sama! Thanks for the still. I'll trade you for the CHUO LINE DESU KA?! No seriously, congratulations! Looks very nice.

Thanks Robbie. ]It's only been a couple weeks since I got a new Nissan Fuga 350 sport (aka the 2006 Infiniti M35).[/quote]
That is a beautiful ride. I thought the 350Z and the Infiniti M35 looked a little too much alike. I forgot that Infiniti=Nissan. So it's rear wheel drive? Is the Fairlady front wheel? The 300ZXs are rear wheel drive. What color? Hey Taro, you 'n me are the Z freaks, no? This is my second one and I'm hooked baby!


Z Fever

[FG Lurker]

I have a 2000 Legacy B4 RSK. Tons of fun but very, very hard on gas

Which is also a Subaru no? I can't believe it would be that tough on gas. Really?

The B4 RSK is a twin sequential turbo version of the Legacy. It has roughly similiar power specs to the same year of WRX, but in the Legacy body with (typically!) a smoother engine. In my case it's a 2L 4cyl boxer with the two turbos.

If I drive it nicely in the city I get around 6km/litre, maybe 7 if I am really really nice. That is 15mpg to 18.5mpg. If I'm nasty to it, keep the revs nice and high, and generally drive it hard I'll get 4km/litre. A whopping 10mpg! The WRX will be similiar, the EVO too. These are all essentially detuned rally engines.... ]http://hobday.net/B4RSK[/url] Mine is closest in colour to the silver one in the middle.

It's only been a couple weeks since I got a new Nissan Fuga 350 sport (aka the 2006 Infiniti M35).

That is a beautiful ride. I thought the 350Z and the Infiniti M35 looked a little too much alike. I forgot that Infiniti=Nissan. So it's rear wheel drive? Is the Fairlady front wheel? The 300ZXs are rear wheel drive. What color? Hey Taro, you 'n me are the Z freaks, no? This is my second one and I'm hooked baby!

Taro's new baby is AWD.

"Fairlady Z" is the Japanese name for the Z car series. The 300ZX was known as the Fairlaidy 300Z in Japan.

My current object of automotive lust is the Lotus Elise. I'm still an apartment-dweller, but once I am into a place where parking is free I'll start looking. Story 1, Story 2.

Spend a day of hard driving behind the wheel of an Elise and it all but ruins you for nearly every other sports car on earth. So immediate are its reactions, so effortless its exertions that thinking and doing become one. Every steering, braking and throttle input is met with an instant and exact response. Nothing is lost in translation. There's no waiting, no wondering, just doing. In comparison, most everything else feels imprecise, heavy and slow.

Come to think of it, against the Elise, most everything else is.

I can't wait!!

[Spidey]

My fun little ride is a Red 1996 Toyota MR2. AKA "The Spidermobile"

It's my 3rd toyota since coming to Japan. They're just too damned reliable.

Pics to come later...

[GomiGirl]

My first car was a Datsun 120Y.. Damn that thing fantastic - built like a brick. It took me to university everyday, suvived a few fender benders and I still sold it for close to what I paid for it about 4 years later.

But it was hot in summer and freezing in Winter and I had everything replaced on it - rings, exhaust, electrical system, dozens of radiator hoses. But I could look after it myself - even mangaged to change the oil once - just to see if I could. But I did use the RACQ (autoclub) a heap as well for when I had broken down.

[fast_dave]

Nice ride, dude.

With that said, I owned an Aresst Me Red car for three months, and it turned more cops/peoples heads than the same model car in black that I owned for six years.

As my lead foot wingman once said to me: "Dude, there's a reason why fire trucks are painted red, so people see them."

Fly low and stay under the radar of the CHP/SFPD,
fast_dave

[Kanchou]

[Taro Toporific]

... I thought the 350Z and the Infiniti M35 looked a little too much alike. I forgot that Infiniti=Nissan. So it's rear wheel drive? ...

My FUGA 350 sport(3.5L) has a front mid-mounted engine/rear-wheel drive and "rear-active steer"(sic). The AWD Fuga in Japan is a different package (2.5L) . My Fuga is the same as the Infiniti M35 but has all the options you will not be able to get in States until next year.

Your Z car is a much better value, especially since it doesn't have the twin turbo which is not durable.
Yes Mr Sparkle, I'm Fairlady freek.
I've done a frame-off restoration on a 1973 240 Z and tweeked it's engine and body. The problem the earlier Z cars were not built robust enough to last decades. I sold the 240Z at a profit and bought a new 280ZX (1979). It was a poop doggie dog compared to the 240Z so I moved away from Nissan.
This new Fuga blows the doors off my 240Z and 280ZX because underneath it's a Z with a mo' betta' bad attitude.

[Adriatic]

Guess I'll make this my intro post... very nice Z!

I actually just recently got done with an SR20DET swap into my Nissan 240sx (S13) (also, I'm in America.. we got the KA24DE stock) But yeah, I love Nissans, and I'm happy with the sr20. I need to check out some drift and or JGTC events when I come to Japan in August...
here's a quick pic of my s13.

[Taro Toporific]

... I need to check out some drift and or JGTC events ...

Warning to Nissan drift-zoku:
The new Z has the parking brake on the wrong side of the drivers console for Japan and the 2005-6 Skyline and Fuga have a foot parking brake, yuck*.

*For non-motorheads, a "sidebrake" (hand parking brake) is needed for drifting maneuvers such as 180 degree turns.

[FG Lurker]

The new Z has the parking brake on the wrong side of the drivers console for Japan and the 2005-6 Skyline and Fuga have a foot parking brake, yuck*.

*For non-motorheads, a "sidebrake" (hand parking brake) is needed for drifting maneuvers such as 180 degree turns.

That's no fun!

I used to have a blast doing "e-brake turns" in my Minis and had friends who used to get kicks from drifting their VW Bugs.

No idea how we survived our teen years. Wiped one Mini into a tree and most of my friends had similiar "problems" at least once.

[Kanchou]

Well, true that you need the parking brake for 180-degree turns, but most drifting can be done with just using the throttle or foot brakes (by shifting the cars weight, or by doing a powerslide)...

For anything but a 180-degree spin, using the side brake is generally considered amateurish (if you're using only the side brake that is).

[GuyJean]

For anything but a 180-degree spin, using the side brake is generally considered amateurish (if you're using only the side brake that is).

So I guess there are 'professional drifters'? Wouldn't drifting in general be considered 'amateurish', no matter how it's done?

GJ

[FG Lurker]

Well, true that you need the parking brake for 180-degree turns, but most drifting can be done with just using the throttle or foot brakes (by shifting the cars weight, or by doing a powerslide)...

For anything but a 180-degree spin, using the side brake is generally considered amateurish (if you're using only the side brake that is).

You can do a 360 degree spin in a Mini with the ebrake. There are videos around showing it being done.

[Kanchou]

For anything but a 180-degree spin, using the side brake is generally considered amateurish (if you're using only the side brake that is).

So I guess there are 'professional drifters'? Wouldn't drifting in general be considered 'amateurish', no matter how it's done?

GJ

Actually, yes

D1 Gran Prix

http://www.d1gp.co.jp/

Well, I mean amateurish reguarding skill-level (professionals use the side-brake too but usually only when they can't get the rear tires to break traction any other way), then again, drifting isn't exactly a good technique to use in a tarmac race anyway... unless you're looking to have fun. But it's still an important technique for rally at least.

[kurohinge1]

... You can do a 360 degree spin in a Mini with the ebrake ...

Wouldn't it be more fun to let go of your handbrake for a while and get wet 'n wild in the back of a mini maxi

Soaking it up

A model wearing a bikini soaks in a jacuzzi on the rear end of a limousine named "Mini XXL" at the Japanese designers' brand Theater Products Fall Winter 2005 collection, at the National stadium in Tokyo.

The six-meter long stretch Mini Cooper S, equipped with six wheels, four doors, six passenger seats and a jacuzzi, is touring around Europe and parts of Asia ...more

[oyajikun]

Back when I was 19-20 and living up in Hachinohe, I went through 2 Silvias in my attempt to be a drift king. I folded the wheels on the left side on both occasions. I just didn't have the power needed to push myself out of the slide...: