Drift Tengoku — October 2013

Our team is limited to Crestas, and I chose the JZX100 as a dress-up project rather than a performance build. I repainted it and fitted one-off aero parts, then entered various VIP-style dress-up events. We also hold unusual meetups where stock cars are welcome and everyone can talk. Perhaps that is why 10–12 cars come each time, regardless of how modified they are, and we have a great time together. Drift cars, grip cars, dress-up builds, and USDM cars are all welcome.

I look forward to every meetup because I get to see the many different versions of this uncommon stock Cresta. I usually meet with the group in Shizuoka, while my age-mate and vice-captain Hiro is active in Ibaraki. Since we live far apart, we meet about once every two months, but that spacing seems to work well. Nearly a year after forming, the response has been better than expected. I wanted readers nationwide to know, ‘Crestas are doing their best too!’ So I decided to write in. Drift Tengoku featured three of our cars—including the vice-captain’s—in its March issue, and everyone was excited. Thank you so much! Our meetups are social gatherings with many kinds of cars, so we have naturally welcomed 100-series owners with naturally aspirated engines, automatics, and GX models. We expected other teams to say, ‘It has to be a manual!’ but everyone surprised us by being welcoming. Even the head of the major JZX100 team CLUB★JZ was friendly and never made an issue of it.

We are grateful for how welcoming the other owners have been, and we are enjoying life with our 100-series cars. We plan to attend the Z Drift Meeting 2013 at Fuji on September 29 for the dress-up contest and parade lap. We hope to bring as many members as possible—please look for us and support Superlative Complete! / RYO, Shizuoka. Editor’s note: I really like Ryo’s team philosophy. Drifting can feel intimidating if you have never tried it. Even a gentle invitation to ‘give it a try, it’s fun’ may not persuade everyone, and some people dislike competition. Parking-lot meetups are relaxed: people who love cars and modifications can look at each other’s builds, chat, and show off a little. That is something you can do precisely because you are not driving. I’m looking forward to the 1JZ meeting too. The event does not attract people who are intensely focused on competition, and the parade lap is more popular than expected. If you have never driven on a circuit, go along—you can enjoy it even without drifting!

Long time no see! I’m Shimachi, the leader of Ring Bucket, the drift-girl team previously featured in Drift Tengoku. Since then I have only attended one or two track days; otherwise I have gone to watch D1 on my own and practiced at a nearby mountain road every week. My naturally aspirated S13’s inspection expires this summer, and the transmission, clutch, brakes, and other parts…