Tuesday, July 29, 2008

The Red-Rocket- The Machine That Defined Me.

It was just like yesterday when I bought her, my dream car that I wanted for 3 years before I purchased it. Straight from Stevens Creek Honda, yes...right out of a dealership, pretty crazy huh? She sat in the lot so calm and relaxed, with the reflection of the sun complimenting her color, giving her that glow. After starring at it for 2 hours, it was finally mine, a 1989 Nissan 240sx (Nissan RPS13 180sx Hatchback)or some know it as...The Red-Rocket.

She was perfect, just how I wanted her to be, ready to be built into a machine that expressed my lifestyle. Just sitting in it, I could feel her, and she could feel me, driving in ways that satisfied us both.

Since I wanted to build her to handle well, tackle corners as if they were on rails, I started with a simple suspension set-up. I put a Tokico Blue shocks with Tanabe GF210 spring combination, and I must say it was the perfect set-up for a daily driver or a cruise through the curvy roads. Plus it was the perfect ride height, it sat on the roads perfectly, ready to be driven. After driving it for over a month, I thought it needed something else, something that gave it "the look," so I gave it a zenki front lip. So I found one at the junkyard, haha. And with that, she not only sat perfectly, but she had the look of "I am ready to charge through the winds," and boy did she look mean, fearless yet calm and tammed.

Then I felt that she wanted to tell me something, expressing herself with words that I could understand best....an exhaust. I started off buying a titanium look-a-like muffler on ebay for $25, and I had my friend Jeff weld me a custom piping, at that time he left it a 2 1/2 inch piping just so I would not lose any back-pressure, so it sounded decent. After a few months, the muffler was wearing out in the insides since it was cheap, so it was time for a new one, but this time it was no joke. I ordered me an awfully beautiful GP Sports Exas Spec D exhaust. I can even remember the day Jeff, Richard and I picked it up. And man does she sound MEAN! Even today, she roars like a lion. That had to be the best upgrade on my car, she could finally express everything to everyone, and trust me, everyone could hear her. Before the GP Sport exhaust, a new clutch had to be installed, so I decided to get something affordable, nothing too agressive, yet good qualtiy, so what else could be better than Exedy from Daikin Clutch. The installation process was probably the most complicating thing I have ever done on a car. Richard, Jeff, and I worked at Jeff's house with the professional help of his father...Jeff, hahaha. It took us two long days to finish the installation, all of us were just covered with oil, dirt, oil residue and probably a bunch of other stuff. But it was fun at the same time, and I think we all learned a lot out of it. Finally after being finished, running with fresh Valvoline gear fluid, shifting felt so perfect, quick and responsive. My main focus on building the Red-Rocket was just the same as my favorite driver, Manabu Orido. He built his Ridox JZA80 Supra to be JGTC ( Japanese Grand Touring Championship) everyday, a circuit performing car driven as a daily driver. I wanted my car to be something like....D1/ Wangan everyday, hahaha. Simple drift/wangan concept, blasting though highways, ever since 7th grade, I wanted to blast through the highways going fast enough to feel the car ripping through the winds. Out of all of those cars, they had something important, coilovers.I've been wanting coilovers since the day I got my car, but money was not so easy to maintain, but easier than these days. I finally got some used D2 coilovers, other than the fact that I was scammed since the rear shocks on the suspension were blown and both front and rear dampening could not be adjusted, they were still very stiff. Even though I still had a lot of body roll, the front camber set-up helped me turn slighty easier. I know if I had proper coilovers, like Megan Racing, HKS, or Teins, the car would have handled almost perfectly. *Before the coilovers: Finally the day came, the day I regret so much every second I think, watch, or see drifting and Nissans. I crashed my car, to keep the story short, Richard and I drove up Hicks road, a pretty nice hill with tons of turns. It was early morning, the roads were damp with some mud. No drifting was involved, just doing what she was meant to do, tackle corners. I understeered, thats all I could say. I understeered. We both noticed the mistake and both saw what was coming to us. I hit a wall of fat, dry mud, and the crash did not feel that hard, but as I drove away from the wall I took a look, the hardest look I could make. It was over. Instead of the sharp fearlesss look she always displayed, she had the look of sadness, and like always, I could feel her. Because of the crash, I lost some faith, I felt that it was all over, nothing was left to do. Both the Red-Rocket and I were both done. After recieving my 2007 Subaru Impreza WRX Tr, which I could not be more in love with, I started to miss what I have been attached to for so long, a machine that did what I wanted and felt what I felt, something that the White Stallion/ Ridox Impreza could not really come close too. The more I miss it, the more I want to bring it back to life. The Red-Rocket was what opened my mind to what tuning cars are about, creating style and brining out vision. This not only represented my interest and passion to cars, but symbolized who I am. Nissans and Sivlias, those are some of the cars that dominate the tracks, mountains, hills and just basicaly...racing, and I could not be more lucky and more honored to own a piece of beauty that many well known tuners build and unleash. Its more than just a car, more than just a machine, its a symbol of lifestyle, and honestly I must say that I could not find anything else that could fit me more well. Perfect in every way.

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