2009! Wasn't partying-like-no-tomorrow new millennium year 2000 (I know I know it's actually 2001) just a while ago? Why, why? Father time where have you gone?
Wishing all a Happy Holiday! Fuck it, I think we should keep saying Merry Christmas so it can be diluted even further. That's right,
M ERRY
CHRISTMAS
to
ALL
If time and money permitted, I would have gotten my beloved S2000 a few upgrades. 1) a new ECU, bring on 8500 rpm 2) a muffler system, stuffy nose? What's that? 3) a few gauges, warm the hell up now 4) a front lip
Bucketful of snow being dumped on half of Japan as the real winter season kicks off. In this part of Japan where warmer Pacific Ocean currents are keeping the conditions undesirable for snow, we have yet to see any. Warm is however not how I'd describe it with overnight outside temp at -2C (28.4F).
top 10 snow accumulated regions (courtesy http://tenki.jp/)
In other news, we have had some 120 earthquakes west of Tokyo as large as 5.3M on the Richter Scale in just 2 days' time.
Between morning hours of the 17th and 8pm on the 18th (JST), 121 earthquakes powerful enough to be felt have shaken the Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka Prefecture, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). Nine of those earthquakes have been rated as a three or above on the JMA seismic intensity scale, which measures shaking on the earth’s surface. Any score of three or more is described as “rather strong” and felt by most people in the affected area.
The two most powerful quakes so far have each registered 5.3 in magnitude on the Richter scale, or a weak five on the JMA’s scale. They hit the Izu Peninsula at approximately 11:45pm on the 17th and 8:45am on the 18th. link
We can all use this guy's advice. Imagine a world rid of angry drivers, without stupid road "fights", unnecessary jams.
Luckily, traffic jams don't happen to me. I'm in a bit of a driving heaven this neck of the woods. We have only one lane each way majority of the time. If I'm in a hurry I step on the gas a little (or a lot), switch to opposite lane, pass slower cars, merge, repeat. There simply isn't enough traffic on my daily commute to be all stressed out. I leave my house noon-ish, get home later than most people. No rush hours for me, yay.
Some people here love it - superficiality. No way unique in this country but here is a particularly troubling example. A piece of me dies inside whenever it happens.
Euro imports are hot in Japon. A symbol of wealth. The grass is greener. You get the picture. Fees and taxes involved for importing vehicles (official or otherwise) are ludicrously high. This is probably the worst case: The least expensive Caterham, Roadsport, costs Japanese buyers ¥4.2 mill (~29,000 British pounds) vs. 17,795 UK domestic price tag. Plenty of other examples but I guess the opposite is true too except in the US, where cars have to be priced low to begin to compete. The point is these imports always underlie a bit of a showoff, especially considering Japanese cars are way more reliable, often more efficient.
Aston Martin, being a UK manufacturer, has their cars steered from the right side by default, which is also true in Japan. But don't be surprised you'll find most of them here equipped with steering column on the left, an irrefutable fact these drivers prefer form over function. Left-hand-drives make more flamboyant imports, hence a better platform for showing off of wealth. Calling them retards would be an insult to the mentally insufficient community, err... fucktards!
You may think "What's the big deal?" Well for one, simple tasks like paying tolls (however a solution, ETC) suck. Drivers of LHD vehicles have to get out of their cars at many toll gates, parking lots, drive thrus to go around. But to me the biggest qualms are 1) you can't pass slower traffic safely on the right due to reduced visibility 2) finding any decent selection of used performance RHD imports 3) shitty resale value of proper RHDs because of lesser desirability 4) suffering the worst inconvenience for the least bit of "benefit"
Common sense dictates personally I find LHDs much less annoying (in Japan) as long as the car's home country doesn't make RHD versions or they are hard to come by.
As a matter of principle, this makes my skin crawl.
Is it because of the choice of music? Is it because of Sagan's unique mannerism? Is it because he is no longer with us? Is it because of the vastness of the cosmos? Is it because we drag our collective feet?
Friends was a good laugh when it was on TV. Not known for intelligent humor, you really didn't have to commit or even pay attention to it to fully enjoy the show. It was still a lot of fun and sometimes numbingly entertaining.
Can it stand the test of time like Seinfeld, M*A*S*H, Blackadder, and Arrested Development? Rightfully? Probably not. But it had its moments especially for the 90s' generation.
"Unagi" is a state of total awareness. Only by achieving true "unagi" can you be prepared for any danger that may befall you.
Rachel and Phoebe take a self-defense class, and claim they can defeat anyone who attacks them. Ross doesn't believe them, and educates them of a martial arts technique called unagi. Chandler and Monica promise they'd make each other's Valentines Day gifts, but they both forget to make them. imdb
As far as I know, unagi IS a freshwater eel, a staple in Japanese diet.
A little daydreaming never hurts anybody, so here goes. (again!) Part I found here written in 2005.
Two situations (under Japan's car market prices) First, a budget of around 10 million yen or, 100k USD, choose one car. criteria- not completely berserk, within reason, expensive sports car. Second, a somewhat sustainable 6-car garage.
----------- Situation 1 -----------
A slightly used Audi R8 V8 (shame for this kind of money you can only get a used one in Japan) Why not V10? love the Lambo engine too but sometimes more is less, considerably more expensive Why R8? Audi since taking over Lamborghini has become even more desirable. Can't beat German engineering + Italian "soul". R8 is arguably the best looking mid-engine halo status new production super car in these 5 years. relatively affordable. How about other Audis? TT RS? not liking the initial TT philosophy. Why not have an all-out built from scratch super car.
OR
A mint condition Honda NSX-R (or R GT if such a thing is even in the wild) It costs that much?Yes, and more. What about Nissan GTR? Performance-wise, yes it's got no competitors in this price range. Even if you pay 2x the price, there is hardly anything that can hold a light to it. However I'm not on a mission. I'm not aiming for the record track time. There is something within the NSX the Nissan can never touch. Err... Toyota 2000GT? If I can find one, sure.
OR
A 2-year-old Porsche 911 GT3 (or GT3RS, again shame about the price) There are many 911s, right? But there is only one that doesn't compromise in any way. Not saying the GT2 or Turbo isn't exciting. A track day car? Yes sir/ma'am Lotus 2-Eleven, no? Love Lotus but 1 track day car = GT3, 2 would be GT3 + a Lotus
----------- Situation 2 -----------
1 Honda S2000 (daily driver for me, checked, ¥4m) 2 Honda Fit (econobox for wife, checked, ¥1.5m) 3 Porsche Cayman ("affordable" exotic for me, ¥7m) 4 Suzuki Swift Sport (funnest small car in Japan, great price, for me, ¥1.5m) 5 any Land Rover (Luxury off-roader for wife, her cup of tea, ¥6m) 6 (for me and family, last vehicle reserved for whatever catches the eyes, changes every once a year or two, for example, Corvette Z06, Fiat Panda 100hp, Mazda Roadster, Daihatsu Copen, Mini, Caterham, Alfa Romeo Mito, Brera, VW Golf GTI, etc)
For years now, Toyota has made nothing but cars that resemble household appliances. The last fun car was the MRS (MR2 Spyder for foreign markets) that ended production about 3 years ago. The one before that, the infamous Supra, was killed off half a decade before that. Go browse Toyota's website. They currently make more that 60 varieties of vehicles in this domestic market, among them none- not a shred of automotive passion. A plain Jane bore-you-to-death soulless line up. Their cars are made to sell and last. You got to give them that.
Honda, the ambassador of Japan's motoring and auto racing, couldn't continue its rear wheel drive cars. One after another bites the dust, NSX, S2000. And as if that's not bad enough, their successors were put down before they had any chance of a public prototype. Honda has been accused by car enthusiasts worldwide of pulling a "Toyota", the worst of auto industry trend-crime known to mankind.
While these two particular manufacturers do not represent the entire industry, they are however, trend-setting production leaders. Dare I say the culture starts here.
Yes yes Nissan is where we look up to now, albeit a little reluctantly. Give us what the older GT-Rs and Fairlady Zs once were, true to the enthusiasts. You now make engineering marvels, no more, no less.
Mazda Roadsters (MX-5 elsewhere) are fun although they need to go back to being light. RX-8 was a mistake. Mazda wanted it to be everything to everybody. Maybe we can sympathize with the decision due to the bitter end of RX-7.
And then we have Subaru, Mitsubishi doing basically the same thing for the last 20 years. Good stuff but never something that makes you want to go out and drive just for the heck of it in the middle of the night or before the first cup of morning java. (Their rally departments on the other hand are more than delightful of course.)
Needless to say that we no longer have strong economies worldwide nor can we anymore afford to ignore the environment. But having at least one exciting vehicle does more than magic for an auto brand's image, or any brand for that matter - "brand loyalty". As far as the somewhat evil business world goes, you need people to follow you because they aspire to your business philosophy, because they share your passion. We are not talking about cheaper by the dozen purchases here. When a business wants to cling on to a generation of customers, they need to focus on their young. And right there neither Toyota nor Honda are going towards that direction.
But hold on, something miraculous is happening right this moment. Have a glance at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show floor.
Toyota brings out the big gun (Lexus LFA, ready for porduction, a through and through super car)
and a brand new hachiroku (FT-86 concept, near production, an affordable FR)
Two heartfelt rear wheel drive sports cars from Toyota, what has the world come to? Is this the year 1973?
On the other hand, Honda's CR-Z is ready for production for 2011. A sports hybrid with a proper 6-speed gearbox. A while ago Honda CEO proclaimed something along the line that they probably won't produce rear wheel drive cars anymore. I hope he's wrong or gets replaced. With that said they do have the best handling front wheel drives out there. Let's see the new CR-Z brings some excitement back to the mundane lineup. Last words, if the future of sporty motoring for Japan is going the way where LF-A, FT86, and CR-Z are headed, we'll do alright. There is something for everybody. It's gonna be okay. CR-Z interior
