# Fuji - akasakaR33's GT-R driven by Tomohiko Sunako



## Kanzen (Aug 2, 2007)

Today I joined Aki (akasakaR33) on a track day at Fuji in his R33.

My car is off the road at the moment, and he's recently collected his from Mine's with a Stage 1+ engine and was keen to see how it performed on the track.

Big thanks to Aki for letting me have 20 minutes of track time. It was my first track day in Japan, and I had a blast :thumbsup: 

Sunako-san was also keen to have a go, and again thanks to Aki I was lucky enough to be a passenger.:squintdan 

Aki hasn't seen this video yet... Don't wince too much.... He was quite gentle really...:chuckle: 

YouTube - Mine's tuned Stage1+ BCNR33


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## Bajie (Dec 13, 2001)

You're having too much fun mate ...


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## Thrust (Jun 8, 2004)

Nick, that was brilliant! Thanks :thumbsup:


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## Lex DakarDatsun (May 22, 2002)

Healthy amount of opposite lock on corner exits


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## Kanzen (Aug 2, 2007)

Lex DakarDatsun said:


> Healthy amount of opposite lock on corner exits


I think he went sideways, just because he could


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## Lex DakarDatsun (May 22, 2002)

My kind of guy :bowdown1: :bowdown1:


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## rb26 (Aug 29, 2004)

Great video Nick:smokin: 
Thanks for sharing.

Terje.


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## joker69 (Mar 13, 2006)

very nice..


cheers


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## DCD (Jun 28, 2001)

Nice vid and good driving there. Top car!


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## NISMO-GTR (Jan 28, 2006)

:smokin: seemed like a quality time on the track there!!

Thanks for sharing.


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## hyrev (Apr 30, 2004)

I thought it was D1GP for a second! Time for some S-Tyres


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## akasakaR33 (Oct 10, 2005)

Oh my god...

Well, I will have to upload the video that I was taking from the OUTSIDE, along the straightaway - even though I don't have the full Mine's exhaust (front pipes only), the car has a very, very interesting sound. Not quite the high pitch howl that Nick's car has. By the way, that last pass in my car along the straight was at 260kph!

Nick, I'm glad you had fun. Hopefully, some stress relief for you! 

An FYI - Tomohiko Sunako is a very well known GT-R race driver in Japan (eg he began in the R32s in Group A, then drove the R33s for Prince Tokyo and I believe the R34s as well - and he used to contribute regularly to GT-R Magazine, and has even developed a set of dampers in conjunction with HKS for the R33/R34 GTRs). He still races in various events throughout - but more importantly - he teaches seminars on how to racing technique.

If there is any interest, he has offered to teach a group of us at a discounted rate, at a track here in Japan - but we will need about 8-10 people, and you will have to bring your own car. Anyone interested?


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## MacGTR (Dec 31, 2006)

lol, Aki. It still runs :chuckle:


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## git-r (Nov 15, 2005)

Great vid:smokin: 

Stage 1 ??? i take it this is vastky different to British stage 1??


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## akasakaR33 (Oct 10, 2005)

MacGTR said:


> lol, Aki. It still runs :chuckle:


Actually, it runs great! :chuckle: 

And even better - Sunako found a "flat spot" between 4000-5000 rpm. Which I promptly reported to the engine tuner, Mine's. And then the president himself told me - "well, if Sunako is saying so, of course we'll take care of it"!!!

Never mind that I didn't notice it (and frankly, it's still very difficult to tell).

git-r - yes, this is a Mine's Stage 1 Engine (with some optional extras...). A new engine from the ground up - so it's not just new turbos, new exhaust, etc.

Mine's English website

If you're interested, Nick at Kanzen Performance can help you with your needs.


Aki


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## DarkChild (Nov 5, 2004)

:smokin: :bowdown1:


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## zero260 (Nov 12, 2007)

Excellent Vid! and great experience shinning through.:smokin:


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## kismetcapitan (Nov 25, 2005)

that's what I love about Skylines - when they're on the very edge like that, they're composed and you don't have to go wild with the steering wheel to keep the car from flying into oblivion. Not a lot of cars you can say that about.


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## Kanzen (Aug 2, 2007)

The state of the RE01's afterwards


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## akasakaR33 (Oct 10, 2005)

And how they looked before... sorry it's a bad angle


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## Steve (Sep 21, 2001)

Aki 

You need some Toyo R888's on that thing !!!

Will email you a couple of suggestions on your driving !! LOL

S


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## git-r (Nov 15, 2005)

Which tyre was that -front left??

I'd be very pleased if my tyres looked as good as that after a trackday. Looks loke your car is very well setup:thumbsup:


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## git-r (Nov 15, 2005)

PS bloody good vid that:bowdown1: Best one i've seen for ages - thanks for sharing:smokin: 

Here's a couple of my tyres for reference..

Before:- 









After(back left):- had to go home on the spacesaver:chuckle:


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## nismo1118 (Dec 7, 2005)

Really nice vid, cars soudns great!

Nick just curious why your cars off the road at the moment.


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## Kanzen (Aug 2, 2007)

A few pictures:


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## Kanzen (Aug 2, 2007)




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## Kanzen (Aug 2, 2007)




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## Kanzen (Aug 2, 2007)

Good work there git-r :chuckle: :thumbsup: 

nismo1118 - Car's fine, got some more things planned though


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## hyrev (Apr 30, 2004)

Love the pic with Fuji in the background.


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## akasakaR33 (Oct 10, 2005)

Nick, you got me looking dazed, confused, and my hair's a mess:









So I gotta reciprocate:








I have an even better one of Nick up close, but hey kids visit this forum...

Nick at speed (car has lights on):








Thanks for keeping the speed down there buddy.

Nick about to get the ride of his life:








PS the driver is the suntanned guy in the White/Orange/Black Front Row racing suit.

Proof that we were there together:









So here's another GT-R (Nick posted a pic of this car already, but what the heck - Tuned by Nakane Racing - note the silver fuse box - it lists the engine's complete parts list):









And here's the BCNR owned by the guy we can only describe as "Chav, Japanese style":


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## akasakaR33 (Oct 10, 2005)

git-r said:


> Which tyre was that -front left??
> 
> I'd be very pleased if my tyres looked as good as that after a trackday. Looks loke your car is very well setup:thumbsup:


Yes, front left (both photos). We only ran for about an hour, though. Looks like you were on the track all day?? Nicely done.


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## git-r (Nov 15, 2005)

akasakaR33 said:


> Yes, front left (both photos). We only ran for about an hour, though. Looks like you were on the track all day?? Nicely done.


How much negative camber are you running?? Looks like it's spot on judging by the wear:bowdown1: 
My back left was like that after doing too much drifting at an airfield day with a very abrasive surface. Track was open all day but i had to call it a day not long after lunch.. 

Some great pics there! Must have been a fantastic day:smokin: 

Nice one:smokin:


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## akasakaR33 (Oct 10, 2005)

I have the Nismo Circuit Link set outfitted.

For the R33/34 GTR:
Caster - changes from (stock) 4 degrees 30 to 6 degrees 30
Camber - from - 0 degrees 50 to -1 degree 50


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## TSUCHIYA-KUN (Mar 19, 2007)

great photos and track day Aki


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## ericgtr (Jun 23, 2007)

reallly nice pictures and video..


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## JasonO (Jun 29, 2001)

What's going on with the cam covers on ths car ?


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## hyrev (Apr 30, 2004)

^^ old school look - I like!!


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## akasakaR33 (Oct 10, 2005)

JasonO - I will try to find out for you, if you're really interested. Did you want to get a set for yourself?

Oh, and I should have posted this earlier - this is a video clip of my car at Tsukuba circuit, driven by the same pro racer (with my GF in the passenger seat). You can HEAR how different the car sounds - this is with the old engine, not the Mine's engine and front pipe. The Mine's engine is also so much more responsive throughout the rev range!

YouTube - My R33 GT-R at Tsukuba Circuit 7-7-07 Driven by Pro ï¼ˆç*‚å*�å¡¾é•·ï¼‰

Enjoy!


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## JasonO (Jun 29, 2001)

I'm just curious that the cam cover breather ports are forward of where they normally are on the RB26. The position these vents are in, on this set of covers, is much the same as the RB25, but there's no side port.

Also, I've never seen the cam covers swapped for anything other than cosmetics. Plenty of carbon, carbon/kevlar, polished and painted but never a full on swap for new covers with a different geometry.

These covers look good, but I can't understand why they'd be replaced, over the standard RB26 items.......unless the owner wanted particular cosmetic look.


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## nismo1118 (Dec 7, 2005)

Those cam covers do look hot, he prolly just wanted a unique look.


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## G.A.T FEAST (Jul 15, 2005)

JasonO said:


> What's going on with the cam covers on ths car ?



Those covers are made from Magnesium. Nissan supplied these to a number or race teams back in the day from what I heard. All about weight reduction I suppose! 

The only set ive seen in reach were on an old Formula Nippon CA18DET display engine at the Tomei factory in Machida.

BTW, great video's Aki and thanks for sharing. Let Namiko watch one the other night and she was all frightened.


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## blue34 (Jul 28, 2005)

Aki - fantastic - you make all the other cars look like they are stuck in second gear! and your speedometer seems to be going past the numbers and back around again.


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## akasakaR33 (Oct 10, 2005)

Hi blue - well, it's really not me, nor my car, really. It's the professional driver (Sunako) who really knows what he's doing! 

Although when I AM behind the wheel, I do pass some others, but not at the rate he does!!

And yeah, I still have the 180kph speedometer. I have a heads up display that I use to display my real speed!!


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