Drift Tengoku — October 2003
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About this issue
English draft translations are available throughout this issue. Unclear or unreadable OCR remains flagged; these drafts have not received full image proofreading. The archive retains 310 scan files, including two duplicate captures, representing 308 unique pages.
Page 92 · English draft
Draft translation. Unclear OCR remains flagged; full image proofreading has not been performed.
- F
- Thin, lightweight gauges… [heading continuation]
- …might be quite good! This month the editor asked me to talk about aftermarket gauges, so here are a few thoughts. As for choosing them, I think you can simply go with your personal preferences. These days performance hardly differs between manufacturers, and there really are not bad products. I do not think you need to worry too much about electrical versus mechanical types either. Installation methods differ, but once properly installed, their performance is not so different. [OCR damaged]
- MECTAS
- Recently I have taken a liking to BLITZ Racing Meter DC gauges. They are so thin that you can mount them like this. I tried it out—does it look strange? [OCR damaged]
- This month’s maxim
- Only an aftermarket gauge—but an aftermarket gauge all the same! [OCR damaged]
- What I find interesting lately is the thin, lightweight kind, such as BLITZ Racing Meter DC. Looking for places where they might fit… [OCR damaged; continuation]
- KOGUCHI
- Taking every detail seriously is the driving enthusiast’s way!
- …is fun. The young guys who come to our place seem to be experimenting too. They install gauges in places you would never have considered before, and that feels fresh to me. [OCR damaged]
- DAMPER
- APENT
- After D1 Round 5, the Emperor’s 180SX is away at a secret factory for development of FRP rear fenders. Apparently they will be ultra-wide to match the front fenders already on sale. Stay tuned! [OCR damaged]
- NUDAMPER
- APEXI
- Koguchi’s style: “Unobtrusive and easy to read” [OCR damaged]
- With aftermarket gauges, I think mounting location matters more than shape. Naturally, I want them to look good. That does not mean showing off the gauges themselves; it means making the car look good with the gauges fitted. Do you see the difference? Take a car with gauges lined up conspicuously on the dashboard. From in front of the car, you see their backs through the windshield, announcing, “Look, I have gauges!” I am not keen on that. It is obvious they were added afterward; uncharitably, it looks as though they were just stuck there. Somehow the whole car does not feel tailored to its owner. You also see gauges recessed into the dashboard in front of the passenger. That is subtle, but too far away and difficult to read, so it is not for me. “Unobtrusive and easy to read” is my approach. A sense of functional beauty… [OCR damaged; continuation]
- [Unclear: isolated character fragment]
- …I suppose. I like a mounting arrangement that makes you sit down and immediately think, “Yes, that is easy to read.” Before the current setup—before I moved the dashboard back—I replaced an air vent with three gauges. It is a standard location for Silvias and 180SXs, but I think it strikes a good balance between readability and subtlety. Why there? First, I do not like placing gauges in front of the factory instruments. You do not want to hide warning lights just because you fitted a gauge, do you? The steering-column area is readable and unobtrusive too, but fitting gauges there sacrifices something. You fit gauges to avoid damaging the car; missing a warning light and damaging it defeats the purpose. Honestly, I do not even want to hide the handbrake warning lamp. Thinking it through, the air vent is best. What is more… [OCR damaged; continuation]
- When fitting aftermarket gauges in the 180SX air-vent opening, three … gauges can sit side by side [gauge diameter corrupted]. Dedicated panels are sold too, so it is a recommended location for a neat installation. [OCR damaged]
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