Futaba's JDM 86

[Futaba]

Took a drive to Shibukawa, about 150km away from where I live, otherwise known as "Akina" in the animation/manga Initial D,


The Tofu shop which was torn down is now not even there as a patch of land and is instead a road, depressing!


Half way up mount Haruna (Mt Akina), at the lookout point overlooking the famous 5 consecutive hairpins.


You WOULD see the 5 hairpins just like you do in the animation in this shot, had the weather not been terrible!


Many will recognize this as the starting point for the Initial D Mount Akina downhill races.

And last but not least...

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DB1QcD9E0Q"]Driving down Mount Haruna (Mount Akina, Initial D!) in a GT86. - YouTube[/ame]

I really wanted to attack it with some speed and get some nice drifting in but on the way up I had spotted a few police bikes tucked away, and the weather conditions overall were pretty grim, maybe next time!

If you watch till near the end, the gas station I pan the camera around to look at is actually the gas station from Initial D, too.

[86Tony]

That's sick bro Mt Akina looks so real

[Futaba]

Looks like tomorrow's job is to fix paintwork now since while entering a mall entrance earlier a sign fell down on to my car and left two scratches just above the windshield, one to the metal, urgh.

[Clipdat]

Bump for updates! Show some more of those awesome roads you've been driving, or more shots of the car with scenic Japanese backdrops!

I like how you painted the front bumper black like that, great job!

[Packofcrows]

Where you the guy the series spotted in the end?

[Futaba]

Welp, some updates from me (Thanks for the poke Clipdat!)

Not done much to the car other than drive it, put 7k on the clock since picking her up and after my experiences driving her around Japan so much I will say this much, I cannot lower the car any more than it already is, if I want to be able to still drive it on roads here.
It's not so much the roads themselves but the access to car parks, ramps, even the wheel blocks in car parks, and of course blocking gates in parking bays.

It's no wonder to me now when I see really low cars here that the bottom of the body kits are always smashed to hell or torn away, Japan just isn't low-friendly!

As for the coilovers, they were a tad noisey at first but have settled in quite well now, quiet and fairly comfortable!

Future plans are to install the LCA's i'm getting from the group buy here along with the TRD window louvres I ordered, then my plan is to buy a used front bumper from a BRZ and do some heavy modification to it, to have a completely custom front end.

Flying out of Japan till Jan to visit my folks but I have some big plans for next spring, one of which is my brother flying out here to do a epicly long road trip around Japans coastal and mountain roads, starting in Tokyo and following the coast all the way down to Nagasaki, then over the mountain roads all the way back to Gunma, will likely take a week or so, so lots of pictures and videos will be shot then! may even throw together an edit.

As the weathers fast falling apart in these parts currently i'm putting modification plans on hold, but I have flat out decided that I'll likely not be going the rocket bunny route, and won't be going forced induction either, that's not to detract from anyone that does go those routes but for me personally, I like the car as it runs right now and don't see much benefit to more power or a wider body at this time.

So to sum up, plans for spring next year are:
* Tint all round to reduce glare (everyone here drives with high beam, what the fuck?)
* Install TRD louvres (Mainly to reduce the temperature in the car in summer)
* Full oil / coolant / filter change and service.
* Replace brakes and rotors with stoptech or brembo compatible parts.
* Modify, paint and install custom front bumper
* Rear diffuser
* Momo wheel with quick release boss (see end notes)
* Upgrade speaker system / tweeters / install a sub

For the wheel, I am perfectly happy with the stock one but I want to install a quick release hub and aftermarket wheel for the express purpose of increased security during the road trip, while Japan is generally pretty safe and my insurance would more or less cover the cost of buying a brand new car should mine be stolen, as i'll be hundreds of miles from home id rather the extra security of there being no wheel in the car.
I will likely leave the Momo on afterwards, I know theres a huge debate over saftey and the downside of driving around with one less airbag but frankly I spent the first 10 years of my life as a driver, tazzing around in cars that had no airbags at all, so going from none to some is an improvement regardless.

Other than the planned mods and full service, i'm pretty much perfectly happy with the car and looking forward to doing a lot more exploring of this beautiful country in it!

[m.box.design]

Originally Posted by Futaba

And last but not least...

BRZ @ 9:10!!!

[Futaba]

Originally Posted by indesign

BRZ @ 9:10!!!

Haha, you know, I remember doing the old "lift hand off steering wheel and let on to other 86/brz owner" thing, despite the regional differences a staggering number of 86/brz owners always do the same, more or less at the same time, it's almost like some unwritten rule of owners here.

Used to get the same back in the UK in my ST185, always nice to experience!

[Clipdat]

Wow, why do you get to do all the cool stuff? I would love to be able to take a week or two off of work to take a vacation like this. It's literally like you went into my head and typed out my idea of a dream vacation. Awesome.

Originally Posted by Futaba

big plans for next spring, one of which is my brother flying out here to do a epicly long road trip around Japans coastal and mountain roads, starting in Tokyo and following the coast all the way down to Nagasaki, then over the mountain roads all the way back to Gunma, will likely take a week or so, so lots of pictures and videos will be shot then!

[Futaba]

Originally Posted by Clipdat

Wow, why do you get to do all the cool stuff? I would love to be able to take a week or two off of work to take a vacation like this. It's literally like you went into my head and typed out my idea of a dream vacation. Awesome.

Biggest problem is finding an 86 once you get here!
But if you do end up coming over sometime give me a shout, I'm sure I can spare a few days off work to hit the mountain roads with you!

Now, time for a little rant!
Got 2 demerit points on my license on Sunday evening for the crappiest of reasons, was turning in a busy dual lane road where the traffic was so bad that the lights changed before anyone got to move, so i'm still half turned, across both lanes since I needed to take the next immediate left.
In front of me there's a small sideroad, and a policeman on his motorbike parked on the corner, he see's my predicament and puts his arm out in the direction of the side road.

Great! i think, as I stick it in gear and pull in to the side road, how nice of him to suggest an alternative route.

Or not, the second I entered the road he flips on his lights, pulls me over just as i'm turning a light bend in the road, at which point I see a row of 4 stopped cars all with police talking to the drivers, policeman pulls along side and asks for my license and registration, then tells me I am being fined for a moving violation of disregarding road signs.

Pulls me out of the car and walks me down the road, points to a small sign on the bottom of the post on the corner of the road I pulled in to, about 2ft off the ground that says (In Japanese), Residents and business employees only", now, he starts lecturing me about ignoring the sign and It suddenly hits me, I didn't see this sign because he was parked in front of it on his bike, I mention it and feel myself steadily boiling over, then he hands me off to some young kid and rides his bike right back over to the sign and sits waiting again.

Initially tried to give me 3 points and a 12,000y fine (7,000y for the moving violation and then 5,000y fine for obstructing a persons driveway when I stopped, they dropped the 5000y fine when I pointed out there was nowhere else to pull over because the roads already filled with other drivers that have been scammed.

I complained and called my wife who said don't kick up a fuss and just deal with it, not worth the aggro in contesting it, so I jumped through their hoops, took my ticket and went on my way.

Seriously though, It disgusts me that they do this, the roads full of idiots in cars and on scooters pulling all kinds of stunts, but rather than do their job and pull these people over, they're filling quotas with what basically accounts to entrapment.

Going to buy and install a dashboard camera that records the entire time I'm driving in future so if I end up getting in a similar nonsensical ticket situation i'll play back the recording to the cop that pulls me over and make it clear that i'll be going to court over it.

*breaths*.

In other news, if anyone on these forums lives near Tokyo and has a white TRD 86 with tinted windows and the plate "860.." (Don't know 4th number as the plate was bent on the right side!), I saw your wreak on Tomei on Sunday, R.I.P white 86, no chance that's getting put back on the road, not with the roof missing anyway.

[nikitopo]

Originally Posted by Futaba

Took a drive to Shibukawa, about 150km away from where I live, otherwise known as "Akina" in the animation/manga Initial D

Very nice! Keep us posted.

[Clipdat]

What an absolute ****! Can't believe he saw you got screwed by traffic and then pointed you down the very road which you weren't "allowed" to drive on. Such an asshole move. Good for you though for not losing your cool - holy crap I would've been pissed.

I think a dashcam is a worthy investment, especially for situations like this and also for just recording your fun drives too. I've considered one but I would want to hard wire it somehow instead of having a visible cable running down.

Originally Posted by Futaba

so i'm still half turned, across both lanes since I needed to take the next immediate left.

In front of me there's a small sideroad, and a policeman on his motorbike parked on the corner, he see's my predicament and puts his arm out in the direction of the side road.

Great! i think, as I stick it in gear and pull in to the side road, how nice of him to suggest an alternative route.

[Futaba]

Welp, been back in Japan for a single day (Visiting family over the holidays), was pretty nice weather yesterday morning, this morning I woke up to this:


Thankfully I didn't ignore my wifes suggestion to lift my wipers yesterday!

Then it was off to Cainz to stock up on screen wash, anti-freeze and grab a snow shovel.



Will be driving all the way down to Gifu early next month so I plan to do a fair bit of exploring along the way and of course, lots of pictures of the 86 on my travels.

[Futaba]

Decided to do a little maintenance since I'll be doing a significant amount of driving over the next two weeks, so a full oil change, including diff and transmission is on the cards.
Popped over to my local Toyopet earlier today and ordered these in.



Not sure if the gearbox oil has been changed from new and/or if the gaskets have already been flipped so I figured screw it i'll just go with new ones for both fill and drain on both gearbox and diff.



Gearbox drain and filler gaskets were $4.56 each
Diff drain and filler were both under a dollar each

Full set came to $11!

So the plan for either sunday or next weekend is to:
- Change all oil.
- Install Velox LCA's.
- Get wheels aligned.
- Drive it like I stole it.