How much of touge is spent drifting?

[sevenphotos]

Well, there is drift, and there is getting a bit loose in the corners. Running a skyline run, it's not about drifting per se, it's beating the other guy to the end of the 'course'. You won't beat him/her if you try to drift it D1 style. You'll also likely get t-boned by the runners coming the opposite direction if it's a 2-way road.

Nikko is used mainly by the drifters - it's one way up the mountain, one way down. All curves either way. So it's all about the Show there. I remember the first time I was there and just driving around everybody on the way up because, well, drifting is damned slow most of the time.

Hakone is two-way roads all around. Lots of cops, too, so not much areas being set up for all night drifting.

Tsukuba-san has four different areas. Two skyline routes, the old and the new, used for touge racing. One old downhill used for drifting. One downhill that's used for a mix of touge/drift/motorbikes. That's my main driving area, so I know all the roads around there. There's only one cop in a kei-car, and about 15 tow-truck companies.

Cheers,

Paul Hansen
www.avoturboworld.com | www.sevenphotos.com | www.scoobymag.com

[hatebbobbarker]

i just drive up and down the mountain a few times with whoever else is at the top, sometimes i drift through turns but usually im trying to keep my car stuck to the asphalt

[Buddyworm]

Damn Seven. That sounds like a rip-roaring good time over there (I'm assuming you're living in Japan). 15 towing companies, hahaha. I've always been curious though, what's it like being the "black sheep" so-to-speak? Do they make fun of the noob gaijin?

B-Wurm

[zdss14]

hey just remember to be crazy carful, i already wrecked on car out there (damed truck came out of no were! forced me off the road). wish i got pics but i was to shaken up at the time.

but yeah option v.5 is nothing but touge drifting, and some crazy rx7 wangon at the end.

[sevenphotos]

No, the hashiriya are pretty cool - we are all car guys, so to speak. They are mainly curious, and hella competitive.

It's kind of funny, in a way - the more local 'routes' in rural Japan definitely have a bit more of a Initial D feel, in that there are those 'specialists' for each area. Tsukuba-san, for instance, has this black Toyota Starlet turbo driver that is absolutely balls out fast, a good 10-15km/h faster through the corners than anybody else.

But then, that's his third or fourth turbo starlet (he gets different colours each time), so he learned the corners the hard way...

Cheers,

Paul Hansen
www.sevenphotos.com | www.avoturboworld.com | www.scoobymag.com