Yokohama ADVAN Neova AD08

I couldn't help it !

Very good reviews, circuit footage on YouTube and my own curiousity and need for a better tyre resulted in me purchasing a set of Yokohama ADVAN Neova AD08s!

I got them fitted today by Super Autobacs near Tokyo Bay.
(Cost was 32,000yen a piece + 1,050yen for fitting per tyre and 800yen for throwing away the old)



I can't wait to try out both the tyres and my new brake pads next time at Fuji !

Project Mu brake pads

After browsing through Japan's HyperREV magazine for Integra DC5 brake pads and fishing for some advice from various people (Tom and Pikku) I decided to get a set of Project Mu's HC+ brake pads.



They arrived on Tuesday Feb 17th (part #F306 for the front and #R389 for the rear) and I had them fitted by my trusted local Honda dealer today. Cost wise, the fronts were 17,230yen and rears 15,412yen.

30,000km service

Took my car to get it serviced and asked for both clutch and brake fluids to be replaced (DOT-4), dished out for a more expensive Mobil1 RP engine oil (0W-40), had the transmission/LSD oil changed also as well as other 30k service items.

I was also informed that my exhaust system is on a borderline of what's allowed by the shaken law as far as exhaust noise is concerned. This i need to follow up on with FEEL's.

Fuji International Speedway (FSW) Feb 16th 2009

It wasn't long before I was ready to go out to Fuji again.

This time I wanted to concentrate on my braking and cornering techniques and really give my Yokohama ADVAN A046 a workout.

I ran 2 sessions in the morning.

The tyres weren't too bad from about 2nd lap until 5-6th after which I felt I was gradually losing grip (especially under braking from the main straight). I attributed that to the rubber getting over heated and losing it's gripping properties.

Air pressures were as follows:
Front
Cold 230kPa
Warm (after 1 hour of driving) 240kPa
After practice 270kPa

Rear
Cold 220kPa
Warm 230kPa
After practice 265kPa

As far as brakes were concerned, they could have done a lot better.

Video from the event is shown below.

Fuji International Speedway (FSW) Feb 7th 2009

On Saturday Feb 7th 2009 I decided to go to Fuji for the 1st time with an old friend of mine Adam who was visiting Tokyo from Germany as part of his work assignment.

My first time at Fuji was basically about getting a feel for the car, the track and myself. I needed to refresh my memory from the days I attended track days in Perth and since it'd been over 4 years I took things easy.

I practiced heel and toe, cornering and tuned in on the car's behaviour. The biggest surprise though was the 180km/h speed limit imposed on my car by the japanese spec law, but not to worry as that's something to be dealt with later.

The video from the day is shown below.

New exhaust system from FEEL's

When a good friend i'd met a few years ago living in a Gaijin House (Regis) came back to Japan for a holiday we decided to go to FEEL's, a very well known Honda tunning shop located in Saitama prefecture to check out what they could do for my car.



It was an enjoyable day and the guy at FEEL's spoke good english so I was able to figure out a few things I wanted to change in my car. Regis made a wicked video about this called Shaken! Check it out !!

Shaken
Uploaded by cheribibiz

I decided to get FEEL's exhaust system a few months later from FEEL's in Yokohama as featured in this video.

Gear for the track

In order to maintain safety and to make my track days more comfortable and enjoyable I decided to follow Fuji Speedway's recommendations and purchased a set of fire retardant racing gloves and shoes from Alpinestars as well as a racing helmet from Arai.

TECH 1-R shoes


TECH 1-R gloves


GP-5S helmet

Fuji International Speedway licence

Japan is a country known for its automotive industry and for those who enjoy cars and want to try and polish up their skills (or not) on a race track can go to a variety of race circuits located in and around major prefectures.

One of such racetracks is a world famous Fuji International Speedway located approximately 1.5 hrs (120km) drive from central Tokyo right at the footsteps of world famous Mt Fuji.

It is there where I decided to get my circuit licence known as a FISCO license.
The license is an annual membership to the circuit and permits the holder to attend practice sessions on the track (usually 3 per day) and test themselves, their car and build their skill up to a point where they can begin to participate in track days and races across various tracks in Japan.

I obtained my license on January 29th 2009

A bit of history...

So finally in May of 2008 I bought a JDM Honda Integra Type R (DC5) here in Japan after years of procrastinating on what type of car I wanted, whether or not I was going to stay in Japan long enough to actually be able to import my car back to Australia and of course the cost of owning a car in Japan.



After weeks of searching through a japanese online car search website (www.carsensor.net) I finally made a decision on the make and model of the car and narrowed down my search to just a few dealers from which I was hoping for a test-drive.

I enlisted the help of my good japanese friend Motchi whom I'd met in Perth (Australia) prior to 2005 and together we went out there and hunted down exactly what I was looking for.

We were able to negotiate the price dealer had set and reduced it by a good 5%. All in all the car ended up being about 30% cheaper as the same make/model (not JDM spec of course!) sold in Australia (AUD/JPY was at 120 at that time). I was VERY happy !

What was needed then was me getting a decent parking spot in my apartment building at an unfortunately very hefty cost of 42,000yen a month plus car insurance (which unfortunately in Japan rated my car's model as high risk category) at a cost of 120,000yen a year.

The car was a stock JDM type R with no modifications whatsoever, very low mileage of 22,000km and a shaken (compulsory check every year) not due until May 2009.

For those who can read japanese, here is a link to Honda Integra Type R (DC5)'s JDM spec. If you browse around you can find out other details also!