Monthly Archives: April 2009

When The Going Gets Tough

April 17, 2009 in HR Originals by

hardtimes

Who is angry, upset or just basically let down? Let down by who? The one we spoke so highly of early this month! Yes that little vixen on four wheels with curves that we drool for! Do you ever get that feeling your car has the personality of a vegan super model feminist who will only put out once a month?

(more…)

Don’t Worry…

April 16, 2009 in Random by

web_upsidedown86

The driver was quite OK. The Levin? … not so much. His advice for you all? Just watch those sticky ripple strips.

20 Valves of Toughness

April 15, 2009 in Random by

20v-ae86-04

We featured this particular car way back in July last year, but Dino being new to the Speedhunters editorial crew, has posted up desktop images of this flawless Levin for all the AE86 fans to salivate over.

Jump on over to Speedhunters to download your high-res hotstuff.

Eric O’Sullivans 2009 Drift AE86

April 14, 2009 in Community by

cid_0b2651ca89294a8ba43d4cd74410-1

Smack talk aplenty surrounds Eric’s new 2009 drift whip over at the Driftworks forums.

Bit pointless to enter the JDM series though, you don’t stand a a chance against us!  Especially in that powerless mincy old Toyota. If your feeling really confident we can put a little wager on it, a £1000 says we whoop your ass!  You up for it, or scared??

Seems like there may be bets layed down for the outcome of the ’09 championship. I love it when they talk dirty!

Put Out With The Trash

April 9, 2009 in Random by

abandoned

Abandoned or just put ‘On Hold’? Whatever the case, shes looking a little bit sad!  Also a quick note; no blogs until Tuesday, being Easter and all we’re taking a well earned break! Happy long-weekend!!

Two Car Shuffle: To Daily An AE86 Or Not?

April 8, 2009 in Community by

dailydriver_header

After reading Beau’s blog trying to rationalise us AE86 owners, it got me thinking: Firstly how much I agree with him (except the skinny arse part..) on the fact that each time I drive my AE86 I love every minute of it! I also hated every minute of it as well…. “Hated?” you say? Let me explain why.

(more…)

Tec-Art’s New Urethane Bushing Range

April 7, 2009 in Parts & Accessories by

tecarts_bushings

Released only last week, the new range of Tec-Art’s urethane bushings look damn good, if the photos are anything to go by! In the same colour as the all-familiar ‘drift pineapples’ made famous by Uras, they are offering a selection of transmission mount stiffener inserts, traditional suspension-arm kits and some nice rack bushings for both manual and power steering equipped AE86’s.

We Aussies are lucky to have no less than 3 different urethane bushing manufacturers here in Oz, but these Japanese-quality items might just be what you other international guys are looking for. Hit up the Tec-Art’s website for the specifications and high-res pictures.

Surviving Gameshow Drifting

April 6, 2009 in Random by

shino_tv

Mobara Circuit + Hapless American Contestants + Drifting = Win. Ken Satoh of D1 ’86 drifting fame was present along with Shino Murai from Shino Kouba for some AE86/Z33 drifting mayhem. Also present was Tomo Akai, 86 pilot extraordinaire whom we’ve featured here before. Alexi writes:

I saw one of the producers turn an interesting shade of white when Ken said that he had never drifted this car before. I quickly reassured the guy that Ken could probably drift the bus they drove to get there if he wanted to.

Word. Check out the hilarity over at noriyaro.

All Weather Fighter

April 3, 2009 in Feature Cars by

grassroots

You said you wanted more grassroots drift AE86’s in Japan and here at HR blog, we listen. Alexi over @ noriyaro again has the scoop on a local unsung drift hero, this time piloting an AE86.

This three-door Levin belongs to an unassuming bloke by the name of Tadashi Yanagawa. The interesting thing about him is that he can drift as fast in totally wet conditions as he can in the dry. I saw him at a recent track day at Nikko Circuit and had to have a look at his car. Surprisingly, there’s not much more to it than many other AE86s out there, but it’s still pretty damn cool.

Check it out! Noriyaro.com

Conrad Customises Corollas

April 2, 2009 in Feature Cars by

conrad_header

We see a lot of smacktalk on the ‘net about what engine conversions are ‘the best’ and what’s done the ‘right way’ or the ‘wrong way’.  HR forum member Conrad falls into the category of ‘the best right way’, with his meticulous attention to detail and fantastic metal fabrication work done on the car it’s certainly something to aspire to!

Sporting brands such as AP Racing, Tilton, Longchamp, HKS and Crystal Body Yokohama, it’s certainly going to be a very serious kind of monster! We’ll be sure to keep you updated when the build is completed!

Check out his super-clean work in progress over in the forums.