Monthly Archives: March 2009

AE86 Downhill @ Irohazaka

March 17, 2009 in Videos by

Downhill at Irohazaka circa 2002. A mean piece of road made famous by Initial-D and jumping MR-2s.  It leads down a one-way mountain pass to Lake Chuzenji and back up again in a loop as there are separate roads for uphill and downhill traffic. It is the only way in and out of the National park.

The road ascends more than 400 meters in altitude and is named ‘Iroha’, because the original road consisted of 48 needlepoint curves, the same number as there are letters in the Japanese syllabary, formerly known as ‘Iroha’.

Needless to say, this guy has got ‘mad skillz’.

New MCNSPORT ’86 Suspension

March 17, 2009 in Parts & Accessories by

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It’s always being discussed “What is the best suspension for the AE86?” I think most people will agree that TRD comes out on top with their mix of shortstroke design and adjustability. The problem is that the TRD suspension is only available from Japan and is quiet expensive and now with the Yen being so strong prices have risen again.

Well MCNSPORT in Ireland have got a solution. They be launching a new range of AE86 suspension specially designed with the same valving as the TRD shortstroke adjustables.

Darren McNamara owner of MCNSPORT and drifter extraordinare has this to say about his companys new suspension:

We are working in collaboration with a very well known suspension company to improve on the suspension designs already available for the AE86 while making our new range extremely affordable.

Get the full tech specs, more pictures and stay in the know over on the thread @ AEU86 forums.

Was That Just A…..?

March 16, 2009 in Random by

Yes, it was. You can imagine my surprise when one of the Club4AG boys told me my car was in an American chewing gum tv ad. What the? A friend of mine, Felix Alim, had taken the shot on one of our drives through the Old Pacific Hwy and somehow these people in an American advertising agency found it and used it. Pity they couldn’t get the interior right eh?

Lesser Known Legends

March 13, 2009 in HR Originals by

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When you mention AE86, Levin or Trueno to some one, there is always a number of cars that immediately spring to mind. But what about all those fantastic cars with new and innovative setups that you don’t always hear about? Well we here at HR have scoured the internet to find them and bring a select few of them to you!

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1st HR All-Toyota Swap Meet – 22nd March!!

March 12, 2009 in Events by

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Recently, we here at HR were discussing the current financial climate and all the shiny bits we wanted from Yahoo. We noticed that we all had lot of spare parts left over we didn’t need any more and after a light bulb moment we hit on the idea of selling our stuff we don’t need so we can afford to buy more new shiny parts! Hooray!!

We all know selling through forums is not the most fun in the world and can be difficult selling something with out knowing what it looks like or getting low balled so bring your stuff along in your AE86 or any other Toyota and haggle, talk shit, sell, swap, give away and pretty much anything else! Now you can see all the bits you need and want and possibly trade your stuff for that! Everyone is after that little something so make sure your there to grab a bargain!!

22nd March – 10:30am till late.
JDMyard
9 Mavis Street
Revesby, Sydney

Don’t worry all you non-Sydney people, there are plans in the works for other swap-meets all over Aus in the coming months so stay tuned!

Who Needs Four?

March 11, 2009 in Random by

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Tom from Perth sends in his flying two-wheeled Kung-Fu style. Got a tip or a car you want featured? Email us! blog(at)hachiroku.com.au

What Is It About Yellow 86s…

March 10, 2009 in Random by

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….that makes dogs crazy? This time its Beau’s dog Axel doing a bit of passenger seat mayhem… Axel is the king of the Jones’ boneyard!

AJPS Traction Brackets

March 9, 2009 in Parts & Accessories by

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Being AE86 owners ourselves, we see a lot of AE86 parts day to day; most of them manufactured in other countries like Japan and America. So it’s refreshing to see a product that is Australian made and also particularly quirky product at that. Again Dave from AJPS has got his hands dirty and come up with a solution to all you out there running T18/Celica/Borg Warner drum-brake diffs. There are lots of products to suit the T-series AE86 disc brake diff’s but not many for our other scavenger-esque modifiers.

The traction brackets fix pinion angle issues in lowered cars and adds traction/anti squat to the rear wheels. They also return the rear end suspension to factory geometry for factory traction values. They’re Australian made quality and guaranteed to fit!

One buyer has said:

“I was running wide on the high speed corners at Mallala, but now the car has so much more grip.”

Check out the technical specs and the special ‘ HR Blog’ price after the jump!

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780kg, 210hp & No Comprimises

March 6, 2009 in Feature Cars by

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One of my team members has been running AE86’s for a while now in the Swiss Hillclimb Championship and I think his current one is quite unique.

This particular AE86 started it’s racing life at the end of ’07 after its predecessor was unfortunately crashed while racing, but since the owner is a hardcore AE86 lover, he of course had another shell ready to go. So the transplant started…

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Lightweight RS Watanabe 8-Spoke

March 5, 2009 in Parts & Accessories by

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Alexi, fresh from his trip to Nostalgic2Days, has some breaking news:

Falcon had their full range of Watanabes on display but were quite keen to show me their new magnesium wheel, which weighs only 4.6kg in 14×7. It was kind of weird to pick it up, as your brain keeps telling you that it should weigh more than it does.

Cheers to Noriyaro for the Headsup.