More showcased!

Many more images: http://zengarage.com.au/2012/07/showcased-part-1/

Posted in Cars, Zen Garage | Leave a comment

THE-LOWDOWN ‘Showcased’

Yesterday saw THE-LOWDOWN.com’s ‘Showcased’ at the rooftop of the Entertainment Quarter carpark. As soon as I got up and saw the sun rising above Maroubra Beach I knew it was going to be an awesome day. The boys gave Zen Garage a (very generous) 6x3m space facing the Sydney skyline, primo spot was primo! Our new tent went up with ease and trading went really well.

The vibe was too good to be true and I was left smiling all night, hey I’m still smiling! Sergio went clubbing the night before and managed to secure visiting American Import Model Jeri Lee and her 2 friends to represent Zen Garage and ALL STARS at the show, the 3 girls brought a massive buzz to our stand once they arrived.

Whilst the show on the rooftop was gobsmackingly otherworldly, the level below doubled as JDMST’s End Of Month Meet (EOMM) and it was so packed that cars had to park a level below below! Some photos are starting to make their way online on Facebook as well as JDMST. I left my camera in my bag as there were just way way way too many amazing cars worthy of a shot (hard work for all the photographers on the day!).

For more images, and info:
http://forum.jdmstyletuning.com/showthread.php?45725-THE-LOWDOWN.com-SHOWCASED-JDMST-June-EOMM!-Sponsored-by-Xtreme-Motorsports
http://www.facebook.com/events/361151593934476/

Posted in Cars, Zen Garage | Leave a comment

Do-Luck Digital G-Sensor


Specific to BNR32.


The unit.


I’ve left the old G-Sensor unit in there for now, it’s the big gold box.


Next up – got to get to those leaky seals.

My G-Sensor died a while back. The last few times I drove the car it’s been in rear wheel drive only mode (spinning the wheels hard in 2nd = shit my pants moments).

I did some research and found a few people have had their g-sensors die on them. Nissan wants over $1,000 for a replacement unit so many have found ways to fix their existing units but after a tip-off from Xiao, a mate of mine, I ordered a Do-Luck Digital G-Sensor unit from JDMyard which took ages to get here as it’s made to order.

Apparently the increase in sensitivity and reaction rate for this Digital G-Sensor vs. the stock analog unit is 30 times greater than stock. It’s designed to work with sudden acceleration and braking too. IE: once traction breaks this gadget should respond quicker = better handling.

Posted in Cars | 2 Comments

Private Track Day


Real muscle. This beast was so loud you couldn’t hear the guy next to you no matter how loud he spoke.


Rare 2-door WRX, so much love.


Yonas’/JDMyard’s supercharge K-swapped EG Civic was perhaps the fastest car on the day.


Dave’s super clean EG Civic, she’s lovely.


For the win indeed.


My DC2R still blows my mind. 177,000kms and still hitting redline like there’s no tomorrow. She did break down though, wouldn’t start from the pits. It turned out to be a loose alternator cable! Phew!


More than a second quicker than my last outing. I’m happy with that.

Yessss I fucking love Private Track Days. All the track time you could possibly want… you could even track from 9AM-5PM and not ever pit if you wanted to! 20 or so cars, at times there’s some battle fun out there with mates, other times it’s just you, out there alone which makes for a perfect opportunity to crack out a fast lap time.

Today we booked Wakefield Park, more affectionately called “wakies” by track whores. The track was slippery for most of the morning as it rained last night. A shame as the EVO Nats were on the weekend just passed (they would have laid some serious rubber on the circuit). There was a great mix of cars, as expected, no accidents (phew) and plenty of fun.

More pics: http://zengarage.com.au/2012/06/private-track-day-2/

Posted in Cars | Leave a comment

Modifier for life


Photo by Seb.

Since getting a few bits and pieces done on the DC2R I’m all of a sudden finding myself dedicating a few hours a day googling around for images of other DC2Rs, prowling eBay and classifieds sections of forums for parts and generally speaking; doing my head in.

I haven’t modified anything since the Golf GTI, the DC2R’s been a great daily driver and I’ve done well to avoid going down the (expensive) route of turning it into a track inspired car but yesterday day I committed to installing an intake, headers, high flow cat and cat-back exhaust from JDMyard. Cha-ching, do I really want to be spending all this money on this car?! I thought that if I thought about it too much I wouldn’t end up spending it, so I just made the call.

Later that afternoon on the way home from work I was pulled over by the police for a random breath test. Man, the feeling of being pulled over in a stock car absolutely rocks as I had nothing to fear in regards to defects. I didn’t even need to take my sunnies off, or brown nose Mr. Officer. He checked out my license, I counted to 10 then he wished me a nice day.

When I got home I called Zi to cancel the order I put in for parts. It’s amazing how doing a few little things has given me the mod bug again… must hold it at bay, at least until my Toyota 86 gets here on the 10th of next month!

Posted in Cars | 2 Comments

Mini Cooper Coupe JCW


The design team modelled the shape on a baseball cap, worn backwards.

Sergio brought this little beast in to Zen Garage today. Still don’t like the way it looks but the interior’s a lot more played down than other models in the line (better) and it’s little 1.6 engine has some decent go… for a 1.6. Turn-in is awesome too. Not the car for me, but I’m sure a lot of new owners will fall in love with it.

Posted in Cars, Zen Garage | Leave a comment

Kensington Peking


Shantung Chicken, never had better anywhere else.


Peking shredded beef. No other place delivers this dish so crunchy!

Return to my fave Chinese restaurant in Sydney (my family has been following this guy around since I was little). Visit: http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/70/751212/restaurant/Kensington/Kensington-Peking-Sydney

Posted in Food | Leave a comment

More goodies for the DC2R


Lucky cats @ JDMyard.


Couldn’t get my eyes off these amazing 15inch TE37Vs, love the step lip design, so aggressive!


JDMyard HID kit.


JDMyard HID.


HID ballast, expertly tucked out of sight by the crew at JDMyard.


All done. Not too blue, just a tinge, more a bright white.


The boys were way too quick installing a Buddy Club short shifter. Pictured here the OEM shifter in the Buddy Club shifter box (for me to take away).


A Hardrace camber kit was installed too in case I want to dial in more negative camber in the rear.


I couldn’t resist buying this Honda Access Aroma Moment air freshener. What an awesome little gizmo. It plugs into your cigarette lighter and emits a fresh fragrance (there’s a switch to turn it off, on, and there’s a super strong mode too). I got the ‘pure herb’ scent, it’s awesome.


In situ.

I’m thinking I want to take Mondays off now that I work Saturdays @ Zen Garage. I don’t mind Mondays, people tend to be a little less furious on the roads which seem quieter, maybe because a lot of people take the day off or leave work earlier.

Strangely though, Monday’s are one of the busiest days for me. Heaps of emails to go through and lots of weekend online orders to pack and send so this morning I ended up getting to work just to pack and send orders made over the weekend. After that was done I dropped in to JDMyard again to do a few more things to the Type R.

In keeping with the ‘freshen it up’ theme I installed a JDMyard HID kit, a Buddy Club short shifter kit, Hardrace rear camber kit and I bought an air freshener too.

JDMyard HID kit:
The OEM lights are crazy weak, especially at night with all this rain we’re getting. I went for the JDMyard HID kit. It’s cheap, and comes with a massive 2 year replacement warranty (major deciding factor for me as I’ve had an aftermarket HID kit die on me before) and damn it’s bright!!!

Buddy Club short shifter:
A guy with a DC2 came in to Zen last Saturday, he had a Buddy Club short shifter installed. I had a go and loved it instantly. Super notchy, reminds me a lot of the S2K shift feel so I had to have it.

Hardrace camber kit:
Rears are pretty upright at stock height. I got these installed in case I want to adjust rear camber down the line.

Honda Access air freshener:
Old car, not quite old smells, but I couldn’t resist this gadget!

Posted in Cars | Leave a comment

Miles


Big boy now!


Get’em while they’re young!

Posted in Uncategorised | Leave a comment

OG Daruma Dolls


This one’s pretty big, he sits on the counter (where lucky cat fell off last week) and will be the one we actually use to set our goals with at Zen Garage.


These little ones we’ll most likely sell. They’re the real deal, paper mache, made in Japan!


Bit off topic, but the boys were busy erecting a tent! Our new 6x3m tent to take to car meets, doing it in style.

Posted in Zen Garage | Leave a comment