AE86's in Japan

I never really was a big fan of the Toyota AE86, or 'Twincam' as they are more commonly known in Ireland,mainly due to their stupidly high prices, the fact they have a hooligan image and the gardai (police) and insurance companies here hate them! But that all changed when I visited Japan and a drift practice day at Nikko Circuit

Plenty of AE86's (or Hachi Roku which means '8-6' in Japanese) there, along with some committed drivers and mechanics, all ready to push these RWD, lightweight machines to the limit and beyond


Most weight less than 900kg's so its easier to really throw them around


Got a few laps in this 1,crazy. Rough,rusty,full of welded up panels but still a lot of fun,particularly when the engine is approaching 9,000rpm! Go Shino!!!!
This 1 suffered a blown engine,constantly overheating but the driver just kept topping up the radiator until the headgasket cried enough

I was told at the start of the day 'You will like AE86's at the end of the day' And it was true,now I do,suppose sometimes you have to see them in their real habitat showing what they can really do and not in a carpark doing donuts at a cruise - how lame

Time Attack - Round 2

The 2nd round of the UK Time Attack series took place recently at Silverstone, in glorious weather but it would have slight imperfections in terms of grip and performance for some cars, but still it wouldnt put people off!


The overall winner was the RC Developments Evo 6 driven by Clive Seddon with a 1:01.455 laptime, if the weather had been a little cooler this time would have been faster again


2nd again was the Roger Clark Motorsport Subaru Impreza WRX driven by Olly Clark,not even a second off 1st place


And 3rd again was the Gugliemi Motorsport Lotus Elise, again just 1/1000ths of a second off the fastest time


1 of my favourites from the weekend,Dave Ellen in the Prolex UK Toyota Aristo Vertex V300, running with full leather interior,aircon and stereo, along with a 2JZ-GTE with automatic transmission with the steering wheel paddle shift controls, and it didnt finish last either!


Winner in the Club Normally Aspirated class was Nadine Gearys Dodge Viper,easily the most menacing car on the track,coupled with the soundtrack provided by the 8 litre V10 engine, which set a winning class time of 1.06.312 which was a comfortable 4 seconds ahead of..

Dixon Chengs DC2 Honda Integra Type R who was just ahead of....


Simon Miskellys newer J's Racing Dc5 Integra Type R which proves my own theory that loads of revs and no torque are no substitute for higher engine displacement,lower revs and high torque levels, or maybe its just Im not a big Honda fan!!

2 in a row for Ron Kiddell in the RK Tuning R32 Skyline GTR who once again placed 1st in the Club Forced Induction (Turbo) class

And finally Andy Middlehurst who won the British Saloon car championship in the R32 GTR in the 90's,aswell as introducing the GTR to the UK market was driving the Trackday Performance R32 GTR in the pro class, which was very quick but a few mechanical gremlins got in the way of things,so should be interesting to watch in Round 3 as only minor problems put the car out

Round 3 takes place at Knockhill in Scotland on July 28th

Screw you Orido!!!

Well there we were,our last night in Yokohama,myself and my friend Chris decided to go to Bar 559 for a meal and some farewell beers. The bar is owned by the well known racing driver,drifter and video presenter Manabu Orido. But it was not to be as it was closed!! I think the weather that day was a subtle hint as to what was in store as it poured rain all day,hence the umbrellas. So heres a photo of our general feelings towards both the weather and the bars owner - or maybe it was because he was judging at a MSC event that weekend that he wasnt there and the bar was closed.


Oh well maybe next time as there will definatley be a return made there

Back from Japan

Not long back from Japan after 10 days there,more fun than the last time and did so much more too. Should be posting stuff up over the next while too so watch this space

ASIMO - The Honda Robot

Honda dont just make cars,motorcycles,jetskis,lawnmowers and outboard engines.For over 20 years they have developed robots and the latest version is ASIMO (Advanced Step in Innovative MObility) It stands 130 centimeters (4 feet 3 inches)tall and weighs 54 kilograms (119 lbs.), the robot resembles a small astronaut wearing a backpack and can walk on two feet in a manner resembling human locomotion at up to 6 km/h (3.7 mph). It can also run,jump and climb stairs (see below) but the day I saw it at Suzuka Circuit in Japan it was showing how well it can dance to some 70's disco tunes..... It is really quite a surreal experiance to see ASIMO with your own eyes and it takes a few moments to let it sink in that it is not someone wearing a suit







ASIMO does a wobble after climbing some steps - I understand this move was taken out of the show after it fell climbing some stairs.............

New European 4wd record holder

Video filmed and edited by Treble2

The GT-Culture / Duke Racing R33 Skyline GTR set a new European 4wd drag record at Santa Pod recently with a time of 8.3 seconds @ 164mph, on its way to winning Round 1 of the HKS Drag Series. Unlike Fuujin (see below) this car was prepared in Japan by Duke Racing and has ran low 8's in Japan before being exported to the UK. It held the previous European record with an 8.8 and now has taken half a second off that time,with more to come

Fuujin Runs

Sumo Powers new Nissan Skyline R33 GTR drag car, called Fuujin had its 1st proper runs at Santa Pod and ran a 8.54, not a bad acheivement



This was the cars 1st proper run and there is still a lot more to come as its development cycle continues to the 7 second barrier....