Drift Tengoku — October 2013

Hello, Drift Tengoku editorial team! I'm TeruREL from Fukuoka, and I love drifting. I drive a C35 Laurel. I've only had it for six months, but I've already broken the differential twice and the turbine once! I often go to S-yama in S Prefecture. Two months after getting the car, I broke the differential there; the differential case cracked. I had it repaired and properly ran it in. A month later, while coming down from S-yama, there was a clunk and a bang—another differential failure. The car couldn't move under its own power, so it was towed to the shop and repaired again. I properly ran it in…

After that, I took it to a track day at AP in Ōita. The event ended safely, and I went home. That weekend, while climbing S-yama again, the Laurel started smoking. The turbine had failed. It was a C7 turbine. I considered returning it to stock, but that would mean reworking the ECU, so I decided to have the turbine overhauled. Two or three months later the car finally came back. I finished running it in, and thought, ‘Now I can drive!’…

During this dangerous heat, something failed in an unbelievable way. The air conditioning stopped blowing. At first it worked intermittently, but less than a week after that began, even the fan suddenly stopped. The control-panel buttons do not light, though the temperature is displayed. If I hold my hand near the vent, I can just about tell that the air feels cool when set to cooling, so the refrigerant seems okay. But if the water temperature rises, I'm in trouble. In the rain, the windows stay fogged up… Without heat (or even ventilation?), I can't take it on track like this! I'm trying to figure out what's wrong now…

That's where things stand. If you have any hints, please let me know! I'd hate for the work to become a big expense. Saitama Prefecture, Kōnosu — White 13. ★ From the symptoms, it sounds like the compressor's internal pressure may be getting too high. Perhaps the electric fan isn't running, or low refrigerant is making the compressor stop. But would that stop the blower too…? Hmm, I don't know. This kind of trouble is usually a dealer's specialty, but you can't take a drift car in. It would be great to have a nearby tuning shop that can quickly fix small problems as well as do modifications. Try looking for a local auto-electrical shop!

…I painted the lower section in the factory green from a Demio, and from the pillars upward in an original pearl gray. I did other things too, but can't fit them all here. I'm planning to attend the August 18 ‘Men's Four-Door’ event, so please come by if you can! Yuyan, Iwaki, Fukushima. ★ I saw it! It really stood out. The fenders looked great! The pink-and-silver two-tone Cresta next to you was amazing too. A flashy four-door is wild—if you pushed the styling further, it could become a uniquely Japanese motorsport look, couldn't it?