Busy Day! ItalDesign Event, Nismo Omori, and Daikoku PA

at Daikanyama T-Site

So since my GT-R normally lives on top of the car lift, and it is somewhat of a hassle to get it out of the garage (move my Elgrand; move my Lexus IS-F; move my Skyline Nismo), lately for me it has to be a special occasion before I can be bothered to do so.

But today was such a day!

My friend Andrea Porta at ItalDesign had invited me to his company's world premier of their newest book which has the theme of engineers with ideas: "ItalDesign Engineers of Ideas"

The event was at the gigantic Tsutaya store/parking lot in Daikanyama, Tokyo, called Daikanyama T-Site.  Longtime readers will recall that I was on hand with my R33 GT-R when ItalDesign launched the GT-R50 in the very same parking lot back in 2018. 

Anyway, this time Andrea reached out to me (probably because he knows I don't drive the R enough) and gently asked if I could make time for this event - but I had to bring the R. A bit confused, as I heard that all the other cars were going to be ones that were actually designed by ItalDesign, but I figured it was a great excuse to get out and hang out with fellow car nerds but of the non JDM variety.

After checking out the cars for a couple of hours, we headed inside for an hour long presentation of the book's contents, as well as an update on what we can expect ItalDesign to be doing going forward.

As I was learning that ItalDesign had been influential in the design of objects other than cars, such as Seiko watches and Nikon cameras, I got a text message from a fellow R33 owner, SHOHEI.  He asked if we could meet up at Daikoku, since last I saw him (at Mine's and then also at Umihotaru) he had been itching to take photos of my car.  I was agreeable, but he proposed meeting up at Daikoku at 1400.  But the ItalDesign event ended at about 1230... what to do, since it was only a quick 30 minute drive from Daikanyama to Daikoku?

Well, why not go to where I always like to go - Nismo Omori? Maybe I could kill some time there...

When I arrived, some kids from Finland saw my car and got excited, so I talked to them for a bit... (Eetu? Sorry...)

Inside Nismo Omori Factory, I found this Tomica display

I need to talk to someone about putting a Tomica of my car in here...

And then a couple of mildly interesting cars:

But sadly nothing R33 related. Luckily, SHOHEI volunteered to stop by Nismo first before Daikoku...

SHOHEI in green about to take some photos of our cars

I think this is the first time I have compared a KL0 v KR4 silver car in daylight!

Both silvers are awesome! Especially as both have the new Veleno LED headlights!

After talking to some guys at Nismo, it was off to Daikoku, finally.  I took this photo of SHOHEI taking some photos but he was also kind enough to later send me some samples of his work as well.

Yeah ok but WOW check out his photos:

I guess he likes using filters, or Photoshop, but heck they look good. Thanks SHOHEI!!

Also thanks to SHOHEI for giving me a couple of new ideas for future mods....!!!! 

The Making of "The GTR Run Tokyo" by HartnettMedia (and my role in it!)

 A few months ago, my friend Dino contacted me - "hey you want your 33 to become the most famous 33 in the world?" with "Pennzoil wants to do a little something, so I am working on a project"

Of course, I had no idea what he was talking about. But the end result was this:

Ok so here is some background information.

First, Dino and Alec had me show up VERY early to the Hakone Turnpike. That is where Dino introduced me to Ben Hartnett and Chris Hofstaetter.  The guys drove a Nissan Serena minivan that Nissan had lent them, and Dino of course came in his 34.  A few minutes after I arrived, Sudo-san pulls up, NOT in his 32, but driving a flatbed truck that carried his 32! 

Then our first challenge of the day - it turned out that the original section where Dino and Ben wanted to film was closed to the public - apparently Ferrari Japan was renting it out for their own video shoot! Undeterred, we took some side roads and found some other good places.

Then, we had to also find a place for Sudo-san to park his truck where he could unload the 32. But after that, the magic happened.  

Here are some photos I took while waiting to be told what to do and how to drive.

Closer up, but without Mt Fuji in the background.

After a few back and forth scenes, we parked. This is where we tried to choreograph getting into our cars at the same time. Clearly, we are neither actors nor coordinated.

Same shot, I was experimenting with the exposure setting. Was hard to balance getting the background to show while keeping the foreground coloring accurate. 

Trying another angle...

Around noontime, I actually had to go back into Yokohama as I had meetings at work. Lucky for me, the cars were running out of gas and so we headed into Atami to get gas.  It was then when I decided to not bother driving back but have Chris take over - turns out he is a 33 fan so was THRILLED at being able to  drive my car.  All the evening shots of the cars on these roads, that is him driving, not me!

And of course, having been dropped off at Atami station as they went to look for a gas station, I  took this train back into Yokohama:

But of course, this was only part of the plan.  The next day, Friday night, I found myself driving my car at night, meeting up with Dino and crew at a Parking Area outside Tokyo.  Somehow, several random Japanese Skyline GT-R owners were also there, so we invited them to tag along and include them in the night filming.

All I will say is, it was FREEZING cold... which made for great turbo boost of course. But the Japanese guys were super excited about their luck, and one young guy just happened to be an avid Ben Hartnett fan and was literally gushing with joy at being able to shake Ben's hand and take a photo with him.

Ben and Alec plotting

Yep, we have seen this 33 before... original LM paint, too!

Lots of waiting. It reminded me of the one time I was an extra in a movie.  Many retakes, from various angles, with most of my time spent waiting.

Staying inside the car to stay warm!

Obviously no shots of me actually driving at night since of course I was boring and followed all the speed limits, driving in a safe, controlled and mature manner, as befitting my job and position in society. Right...

Anyway, we called it quits at about 0500 just as the sun was about to come up. I can see from the finished project that a lot of what we did not make it into the final cut, but that is to be expected in the editing process.  Still, I had fun and it really is nice to be memorialized in this way by a real professional cinematographer.

Thank you Ben, Dino, Alec and Chris!! Hope to meet up with you guys again soon!

New Hi-Tech Mirror? - Yeah Not Sure About this Mod...

So those of you who have read this blog in the past know that, back in 2012 I was lucky enough to have my car outfitted with a GENTEX mirror, courtesy of the Japan affiliate which turned out to be just down the street from where I live!

It was an awesome bit of kit, being very OEM looking but with a small built in LCD screen to which hooked up to a back-up camera, helping to not just modernize the car but also making it so much easier to back up and park!  So even though I wasn't able to use all the options on the mirror, for example the built in garage door opener switch, it was a nice addition.

Unfortunately, the Gentex mirror was another victim of Nakamura of Worx Auto Alarm, because when I got the car back the mirror's wiring had been removed, rendering the LCD display useless (as well as its auto-dim feature, etc.). I guess he did not agree with my idea of having two cameras in back, one for the mirror and one for the 2DIN Pioneer Cybernavi he ended up installing...

Close up rear of Gentex... wire harness gone!

Anyway, ever since, I have simply been super careful about parking, but a couple of years ago I realized there were a lot of inexpensive LCD mirrors with back up cameras that now incorporate "drive recorders" (i.e. dashcams) and run on an Android platform, meaning that they come with GPS based maps, music, Bluetooth and other auto associated apps. So rather than finding another more modern Gentex mirror, I ordered one of these new Android ones and then decided to focus on other areas of the car first, namely the complete removal of all the wiring left over from Worx, including the original back up camera. 

So here are the contents. Note, even though I was sent the Nissan bracket, becuase my car had the window mount due to the GENTEX install I ordered that mount as well. 

Incidentally, most of these Android mirrors that pop up on an internet search are the "strap-on to original mirror using rubber bands" types.  This one however came from a seller that offered different kinds of brackets for different OEM vehicles and a secured mounting plate that eliminated the rubber straps.

Mount on left is for window mount, not Nissan Skyline OEM bracket mount

Installation was relatively straightforward.  However because I had ordered this right before re-installation of my OEM stereo deck,  I was able to take advantage of the interior being removed and lay out the wiring for the new back up camera that came with this new LCD mirror.  But it turns out that the recommended installation method was to route the wire along the roof/headliner. By choosing to route with emphasis on stealth, I routed from the trunk sides, to behind and then under the rear seat, and then along the left side of the chassis, following the left speaker wires... and then it  turns out that the wiring was too short!  Luckily I was able to get a 2.5mm 4 pole, 2 meter extension cord especially for dash cam back cameras! All that was left then was to attach the LCD mirror unit to the GENTEX windscreen mount then run some wiring, to include a GPS unit, the power lines, and the back up camera line.

So first step was to remove the Gentex unit:

And then wire in the LCD unit into the car's ground, power and accessories circuit.  The mirror came with these terminals with built in 15A mini fuses (light blue circle below) that plug into the car's fuse box, but two problems:

Soldered on two add-a-circuits and a new ground wire

First, the car does not use mini fuses but the standard size (ATO/ATC) fuses, so these could not be used in the first place.  Second, I want this mirror to be on its own circuit, and keep the fuses already in the fuse box for the respective power and accessory circuits.  This meant that I had to cut off the original terminals and solder on the add-a-circuit fuse holder that fits standard size fuses which in turn could be plugged into the fuse box next to the driver's foot.  Because the included power leads were relatively short - likely I should have routed up the driver's side A pillar but I wanted all the wiring going up the left A-pillar, I soldered on extra length of wiring for the power, accessories and ground, as in the photo above.

As I had back up camera lead extension already at the foot of the left hand A-pillar, I just made sure to route the power leads under the steering wheel and behind the glove box, making its way up the A pillar.  Then all that was left was the GPS antenna.

Using some double stick tape, I placed this unit straddling the two front vent pieces, in the center of the windscreen, and tucked the wiring between the windscreen and the dash. Then I attached the mirror using the mount to the base on the windshield, and made sure the circuit worked:

Success!

Even Google Maps works!

And of course it records what is in front of me.

So it looks like it works, right?

Well, here are the problems.

1. Android 8.1 seems to work very slowly. Nice to have the apps, but wow how slow it seems.

2. Since I refuse to pay for a SIM card just for the car - I am using my phone's WiFi hotspot to this mirror.  I have unlimited data transfer, but somehow I think the speed of data transfer just is not there.  Or it might be the Android OS of the mirror.  Even at home, when I link the mirror to my very fast home WiFi, it seems slow.

3. Intermittent back up camera - sometimes the rear camera does not work.  To get it working again, I have to restart the mirror. And actually, the other day it did not seem to be working at all:

4. Squeaking - I think it is the bracket, I will try to fix it, maybe with some Tessa tape?

5. And most annoyingly - inability to retain the mirror function when viewing the screen.  So it is either playing with the apps and no rear view, or rear view but no apps. Stupid.

So, next steps.  Since I went to the trouble of wiring this up, I don't want to give up but since it IS relatively inexpensive I think I am going to try to find another similar rear view LCD mirror with better features and see if it will work with the same bracket and wiring.  Otherwise, I may end up researching and going back to a proper mirror from GENTEX again, maybe? We shall see...