Young Version — August 1999
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About this issue
The August 1999 issue of Young Version explores drift setups versus grip tuning through 22 shop demo cars, including S15 Silvias from Mine’s and Kazama Auto. Features cover front-wheel-drive builds taking on high-powered 4WD rivals, choosing a first drift car, and reviving a used AE86 Trueno on a ¥1 million total budget. Suspension fundamentals, engine-oil selection, rotary maintenance, new-parts tests, and reports from Hiroshima and California round out this look at Japan’s late-1990s tuning scene.
242 available scans from Young Version — August 1999, in right-to-left reading order. Japanese OCR and English translation drafts are available throughout. Drafts have not received exhaustive image proofreading; unreadable source remains recorded in the archival data.
Page 138 — English draft translation
Hello, Young Version editors. I’m good at keeping my car maintained, but I neglected my own health and ended up in the hospital. I’m a 19-year-old idiot street racer, and my stay is about to enter its second month. I was bored in bed and getting more and more stressed, so I asked my team friends K, O, and D to help me escape. Just after noon Sunday we put the escape plan into action—and it worked! We didn’t head to the mountain pass at midday; instead, we took K’s completely stock car to the harbor to do some front-wheel drifting. The roar of the engine and tires after so long got me excited…
The Fairlady Z Owners Club “ZM” is recruiting members ahead of its 15th anniversary in 2000. We mainly tour, and also hold joint meetings with other Z clubs, meals, and more. Fairlady Z owners in Fukuoka City and Prefecture are welcome, as are people who love the car even if they don’t own one. All genders and ages welcome. Contact us now if interested! People who do not follow basic manners or act selfishly during tours will not be accepted. (649 Sumiyaki, Umi-machi, Kasuya District 811-2102)
Captions and page details
My father and I finally understood each other through cars!
SNOOPY
Hello, this is my first letter. I drive an 180SX…
Dear Young Version editors,
I escaped from the hospital…
I went drifting while sick!
I’m a company employee who drives… I bought this 180SX against my parents’ objections, but…
He came to ask me, “Please let me drive your 180SX.” I let him drive and headed toward the expressway. Then my father’s driving…
My father, who had looked very unhappy…
PEANUTUntedFture SIn
My stress disappeared. While I was in hospital, my friends had gotten much better, which shocked me. I borrowed K’s car and tried “sickbed drifting,” but I had gotten rusty during my hospital stay…
2CRNEGES
SNOOPY
He wasn’t the father I thought I knew; he was a man who loved cars deeply. It was tuned, so the limiter kicked in, but we reached a little over 180 km/h—it was amazing…
Now…
180SX
I’m driving it!!
…On the way home, my father and I talked more than we usually do.
My father and I had never talked much, but we talked about cars and came to understand each other.
Toyota Starlet
Next time, he’ll give me a front bumper and computer…
EP-82
(Mr. 180SX, Suwa District, Nagano Prefecture)
Peu
I was amazed. I’m worried my friends will get ahead of me while I’m hospitalized. Please let me leave soon! But after returning to the hospital, my surgical wound hurt, I developed a 37.8°C fever, and the nurses discovered my supposedly secret escape. I was in tears. Lateral G from drifting really is rough on a sick person! (Kagoshima City…)
I know it’s boring to stay in bed, but focus on getting well now. You’ll have plenty of time to drive hard later!
…I’m still not sure…
Hello, Young Version editors. This is my first letter.
SNOOPY
By the way, my father apparently drove a rotary-engine car when he was young. Car lovers can understand one another across generations. We’ll keep watching over you together…
(Patient H, H Clinic)
We’ll keep supporting you together,
so hang in there!
P.S. I’ll keep the Young Version sticker as a good-luck charm.
I’d like to show it to Kaori… please…
From 180sxe
I’m a father of two boys and will turn 30 soon. Recently my wife returned to work, and we decided to add another car to our household…
For her and everyone…
PEANUTs ©Unied Feature Syndicate, inc.
Access!
Team “MWR” is recruiting new members. We meet twice a month, on the second and fourth Saturdays, and go driving. Gender, age, and car model do not matter. We have only one car in the 30-class and feel lonely, so we especially welcome more. We’re a fun team; if interested, please contact us. (43-4 Keishocho, Fushimi-ku, Kyoto 612-8307)
(180SX Lover, Nishimuro District, Wakayama) Dad, you used to be a street racer too! Maybe you opposed your daughter because you didn’t want her doing anything dangerous. But when you saw the 180SX, your old racing spirit came alive… Enjoy driving and tuning together as a family!
silyia
…so I began choosing a car.
…I thought I didn’t want something boring…
I didn’t want a smelly car, so I told my wife only good things: it was stock, had low taxes, and good fuel economy. I bought a used EP Starlet with suspension, intake/exhaust, roll bar, and LSD. Of course, I drive flat-out on the mountain roads every day. I can’t lose to younger drivers yet! (Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture…)
“You’re not an old man at 30! If you still want to drive, you’re always in the game.”
Kenji Yoshino
(Uncle from Team R in Himeji)
oung ersion
Drift, drift!
Tsutomu Furuta, Ogaki City, Gifu Prefecture
Hirotsugu Ogawa
140