er so I bought one lol

in its natural habit no ?

 yup I have gone and bought an R33 GTR, after the prices have already gone stupid and before they go really stupid (hopefully still upwards to get some cash back to me in the future). Car I'd always wanted after the MR2 but kept the MR2 for so long until it was rusted beyond repair (boot floor was rotten from wheel arches to the bumper) that I thought no more old 90's JDM for me and then full circle here I am. 

So why now? Well after my trip to Japan in 2020 for the Tokyo Auto Salon and going to the Daikoku Tokyo car meets, seeing all the JDM cars and tonnes of British / European and American cars as well, the R33 passion was relit and then the pandemic hit. But it has itched away at me since then and while I've nagged various mates about it I didn't really do anything about it til just before Christmas 2022 when i really started seriously looking at options. A few ups and downs later and here we are and I've only gone and done it. Did I need to do it, nope and certainly shouldn't have done it for many many reasons but you do only live once so er yeah why not!

So it's a Series 1, silver (obv) very basic mods of coilovers (too low and too stiff as the car skips over a series of bumps rather than ride them out) lovely Kakimoto exhaust that is not too loud and neighbour friendly ish and some daft HKS mushroom filters. Other than that, stock which is how it mostly will remain. Might update the mp3 CD head unit to a Sat Nav unit but that's a bit more awkward with the single DIN layout. Might just get a plug in Sat Nav display that does the Bluetooth for the phone / music as well. Choice choices. 

Something wicked this way comes..

 well actually it's already here....

The car is back

 which to be fair it has been back a few weeks now. Of course it wasn't quite finished even after all the delays as the replacement reversing camera module had not been 'tuned in' to the cars BCM which meant no guide lines when in reverse. After a bit of being mucked about it got sorted during the annual service and now all good.

Even managed to do some basic basic oil temperature testing but with the ambient temperature so low these days it was hardly worth the data but at least i now have a better setup for the gauge to sit. The results of testing in 8-10degC ambient air, at a steady speed the oil temperature sits 90-92degC no matter what that steady state speed is. Good to know, just need warmer weather and some hooning to see what happens next.

It is a funny old world for sure

 ..so the day after my last post it was my last day of a winter weeks holiday and I decided since the sun was out I would go for a run in the car to get lunch and fuel the car up. Beautiful blue sky sunny day, not exactly warm but a crystal clear day. Of course it was too good to be true. As I was sitting at a stop light BOOM i got re-ended. Sigh. Bit of damage but nothing hefty or into the frame rails. So, two months later here i am waiting on my car being returned. Time taken for sign off for repairs was a bit, then Christmas shutdown then ordering / delivery of parts and finally fitting. Then the realisation of the wrong parts being delivered so another wait for parts. Sigh.

On the upside I did get a courtesy car 5.0 GT Autobox (A10) Mustang. Yeah, always wanted to try the A10 automatic as it sounds amazing in the youtube videos. Crisp instant gearchanges and with 10 gears it's a close ration box. Yeah, glad i had the opportunity to have an extended test drive of such a beast as I cannot ever see me buying one. Holy moses what a collection of muddled gears and economy programming of the box. More to follow but for sure I'll be happy handing this back. 

Stay safe out there folks