R's Meeting 2025!

So yes folks it has been awhile - sadly no mods to the GT-R really this year, however going to this event DID allow me to meet up with some tuners and shops and yes get some inspiration for at least one project this year.  In additon to a new extra job at Nissan as well as doing most of my driving in the Elgrand, it has been quite a year.

Anyway, some photos...

The banner in front of the stage

My Favorite...

Another angle for you guys.

Then of course I stopped by my friends at Mine's. Only the usual R34 this year.

They were getting ignored so I asked them to open the hood. This attracted a new wave of people!

Can't remember which tuner but those lights are weird.

]

Slightly smaller turbo there

Very clean. A rebuild, I heard.

Have to say very well done.

A 400R is a 400R, Rebuilt or not.

Then it was about time to go. So Dino did his walk in the parking lot, the 34s and 32s were boring so of course I checked out the many R33s there...

Why? Just why???

See what I mean? 34s are boring

Even Dino spent more time with the 33s than usual.

Not sure what was interesting but I guess we will find out on his YouTube video

Rear of that Autech is strange too. I guess being a midnight purple R33 4 Door GT-R didn't attract enough attention?

Not sure if this is a hidden code or something...

Super clean. Super OEM. Super Normal

Saw this red one and then...

...then this one. I prefer this one. More sophisticated red? Burgundy?

Damn this one was barely held together...

this was interesting. The color...

camera does not do it justice. a deep grey but a hint of green?

At Ebina PA

We left early to beat the traffic. On the way back at Ebina PA, saw this yellow thing with a Do-Luck body kit.  Reminded Dino and I to recall that neither of us have seen Ito-san of Do-Luck at any of these GT-R events lately. I guess maybe he's no longer in the GT-R scene?

With no Nismo Festival this year, I guess that was THE event to go to, but it really isn't quite the same. With the Nismo Festival, since there are cars other than GT-Rs there the variety of tuners and people are different, and there is more energy. A shame it got cancelled this year. Hopefully, next year?

In the meantime I am looking for an excuse to drive the GT-R. Maybe soon???

Meeting The Father of the R33 GT-R, Kozo Watanabe!

At this year's R's Festival, I had the honor of taking a photo with Kozo Watanabe, who was the Chief Vehicle Engineer that oversaw the development of the R33 GT-R and the R34 GT-R.

Here is the Wiki link for him.

Much like Kazutoshi Mizuno for the R35 GT-R, and Naganori Ito for the BNR32, Watanabe-san is a true engineer who worked his way up at Prince Motors and Nissan.  Watanabe-san in particular, in addition to being the chief engineer for the R33 and R34, also worked on the Pulsar and the C110 Skyline and was also the Chief Experimental Engineer of the R32 under Ito-san.   Both Ito-san and Watanabe-san were mentored by Shinichiro Sakurai, who is acknowledged as the father of the Skyline. Further Mizuno-san worked on the R34 project under Watanabe-san and took over the BNR34 program when Watanabe-san retired from Nissan in 2000 and went to head Nismo, overseeing its racing program!

Watanabe-san had probably the toughest job ever - how to make a heavier and longer car go FASTER than the race champion R32 GT-R! And as we know, he succeeded so well that most of the running gear engineering on the 33 was carried over to the 34!

So you see, THESE guys are the ones who should be getting accolades as well as the nickname of the "Father of the GT-R" - as they truly were.  Unfortunately there is at least one guy running around now who is over stating his involvement in each of the programs, whereas his true talent seems to be in the area of self-promotion.  Caveat Emptor!

So... if you find yourself at any of these GT-R related events, and happen to run into Ito-san or Watanabe-san... well now you know who actually to ask the question - "Why didn't Nissan have a Nurburgring lap time for the BNR34?"

Tempting New Modernizing Product at R's Meeting 2022

So at the OS Giken booth during my walk around R's Meeting 2022, I found this:

No, not the R34 - but the advert next to it!

Describing something called OS-EPC - Their easier to read Facebook page has the same the text below the OS-EPC prototype unit photo - "In replacing the pressure sensor of the ATTESA-ETS of the Second Generation GT-R with a highly accurate electronic sensor, precise drivetrain control from increased durability." 

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=422269300081943&set=a.394934702815403

So when I asked the guys at the booth, they told me that the ATTESA-ETS pressure sensor is something that is no longer available new but is required to function in order for these cars to pass shaken. And, they have been getting increasing numbers of cars with problematic (aging) pressure sensors. So, OS Giken decided to work together with GT-R specialist shop Racing Factory Autobahn (their demo car is the blue R33 GT-R shown, and they also have a yellow R33 that has lapped Tsukuba in about 56 seconds!) to develop a modernized electronic version of the OEM mechanical pressure sensor. 

As the Facebook advert shows, this new part will be available starting in OS Giken's online store, OS Factory Line, beginning in December of this year.  I recall them telling me to expect the price to be about 150,000 yen.   Interestingly, they also told me they are experimenting with a version that can be user modulated/controlled so potentially one could control how quickly ATTESA-ETS reacts in a given situation - for example, with some lag for track days but super quick/OEM on the road for example. However they could not give me pricing nor timing on this, but if they go through with it I expect the price will be twice as much and timing would likely be mid-next year.  I guess we can wait and see.

I did a quick Google search fro OS-EPC and found this Web Option article - which shows these two photos of the basic prototype unit.

https://motor-fan.jp/weboption/article/36927/sgatbhn005/

https://motor-fan.jp/weboption/article/36927/sgatbhn006/

So has anyone had any problems with this ATTESA-ETS pressure sensor? To be honest, when I had Nismo Omori Factory redo my car's chassis, there was no mention of this.  Rather, they did get me a new nitrogen accumulator.

In any case, you can bet I am very interested in this new tech.  The other tech I am interested in is some kind of digital version of the yaw rate sensor which I have been thinking about since this post back in 2014!

Ok next post I'll be talking about some more mundane stuff. Check back soon!

R's Meeting 2022 - Part 2 - Chronologically Taken Photos

So after running into Dino again where he was taking photos of the long line of cars trying get to customer parking, we walked back to my car so he could change out his camera lens.

On the way back, we ran into this car, on the end of the row of guest parking spots:

So what, just another Autech R33 GT-R, right? Well, this one is well known for being owned and cherished by legendary Nissan test driver Hiroyoshi Kato! Yep, a fellow R33 GT-R owner, and if you look closely he's outfitted his car with the carbon ceramic rotors from the Spec V R35 GT-R.  So if Nissan's best test driver prefers the R33... I mean if he's driven them all, his choice for his personal car I think really means something.

I guess he really likes the Bitburger beer?

Once back at my car Dino quickly changed lenses (and yes he was grateful for not having to haul his bag around with him, as he might have done if he had parked further away - you're welcome DCD!):

And quickly went back to work.

Meanwhile I turned back to make sure no one was messing with my car:

And then headed over the Nissan Prince Tokyo Motorsports booth to catch up with some old friends. 

Today only - a new N1 Engine!

The most popular booth seemed to be Robson Leather's - not surprising as they were discounting their line up of shift and parking brake boots for each GT-R generation.

Back in the parking lot for cars awaiting the GT-R Magazine photo shoot, I spotted this beauty:

simple and clean!

Pulling back a bit, you can see how many other cars were in the lot.

Meanwhile I heard some talking over the PA system - the "Talk Show" with the guys responsible for each generation of GT-R was there to talk nerd and answer nerd questions!

I quickly lost interest and got a text from Dino to meet him at the OS Giken booth.  When I got there he wasn't there but I did find something interesting I will discuss in a future post.

Heading back towards my car, I stopped off at the Kyosho booth to see what they had...

No 33s so I quickly left.

I then got a text from a good friend, and current GT-R /Z Chief Product Specialist Narita-san, to join him watch the end of the talk show.  There, a German photographer named Alex who is responsible for a certain GT-R book was being introduced on the stage. 

Spotted this guy as we waited for Alex to come off the stage

Alex had somehow heard of me and my car, and wanted to meet. Narita-san made the introductions, and then we headed towards my car so he could do a quick impromptu photo shoot.

Opening the hood seemed to attract a lot of people who wanted to check out the car

Alex got intercepted by Tamura-san so they went off right before he started shooting, so I was left talking to the Nismo guys and several other people - and some new friends - who stopped by.  Finally, Alex returned and did his thing, but I was getting hungry so I threw the keys to Dino who promised to watch the fun.  Narita-san and I went upstairs by elevator to a suite reserved for Nissan...

Where over this bento lunch, we discussed a few interesting projects. 

Of course I can't publish what we talked about, but I will tell you the bento was tastier than it looked.  Once finished, we grabbed a few extra bottles of free drinks for the guys who were waiting by my car.  Dino reported that Masa and Daiki from Robson had stopped by to check out my car... too bad I missed them, but an excuse for me to call them!

Anyway, any one who has been to Fuji Speedway on a Sunday knows that the earlier you drive back, the better, given the crazy PM traffic into Tokyo. So even though the festivities continued, we left, driving very slowly through the crowd, at about 2pm. A great day, I had a lot of fun and I think Narita-san and the guys at Nismo for the invite and the hospitality!

Check back soon for a couple of posts that go into detail on a couple of interesting finds!