Flashing Lights

Resisted the urge to go HID and kept it safe with the white halogen bulbs. Honestly, the 4500K halogens are plenty bright.

タバコ禁止

Japanese people smoke way too much. Which is fine.





Just not in here.

My Rims Can't Buy Beer

But they can buy cigarettes.







And porn.

Dis(Incentive)?

Serious question. Which makes you want to steal more?

Exhibit A?



Or Exhibit B?

Engine Issues

Just kidding.

Tire Issues

Woke up this morning to a flat tire. I guess I managed to run over a screw in the midst of putting in 160 kilometers the other day. The guys at the gas station patched it up real quick and I ended up being only about 5 minutes late for work, but I suspect that I may be reprimanded should another automobile-related mishap hinder my punctuality come Tuesday morning.



I was secretly looking for an excuse to get new rims, but I suppose that it can wait.

Battery Issues

Woke up the other morning to a dead car battery. I managed to get the thing replaced pretty quickly and was only about a half an hour late for work, but it turns out that I had a 4-year old Kei unit under the hood. It's a wonder that the thing lasted for as long as it did, especially considering all the juice that I'd been running to my speakers.



Much better. Might have actually been a blessing in disguise since I'd been planning on driving around the island on Sunday.



Unfortunately, dead batteries generally mean that your audio settings get shot straight to hell.

To Drive Or Not To Drive

Spent about 6000円 at the pump today. These Japanese gas prices are killing me. It probably doesn't help that I tend to drive around aimlessly in the middle of the night for no apparent reason, but ah well. I figure that you have to pay for some of life's pleasures. You know, it wasn't much to look at, but my old Suzuki was a bona fide miracle as far as fuel economy went...that being said, I never, never want to go back to driving a 658-cc car again. Its affinity for gas aside, I've got precious little to complain about with my current ride. My new favorite thing to do is park my car next to someone else who drives my car.



The Chaser seems to be the vehicle of choice among JZX100 owners, but there's just something so sleek about the tail lights on a 平成12年 Mark II.

In With The New

Kenwood eXcelon DDX814. What's it do? There's not too much that it doesn't. Touchscreen display, Bluetooth support for your mobile w/ noise-canceling mic, iPod/iPhone direct control through the head unit, DVD playback, MPEG and DivX support, multiple USB inputs, navigation/satellite/HD radio ready, blah, blah, blah.











And of course, 2 Kicker CVR 12" subs in the back. I've already got Japanese people looking at me crazy.

Out With The Old

Farewell old factory head unit...



...it wasn't anything that you did or didn't do, it was just time to move on.

Ridin' Around Town (With Nowhere To Go)

My initial plan was to not mess around with the factory head unit because it looks so clean with the wood dash, but I'm going to cave and get something with a few more bells and whistles.



...but more on that later. Got limo tint on the rear.



Pretty crazy how 5% pops off of pearl white. On the negative side, I can barely see a damn thing out the back when driving at night.

マークII

Here’s my new baby:





Broke the bank to get my hands on her. I looked at a lot of rides, but I’ve figured out that I like my whips like I like my kicks: white & clean. If she behaves herself, I just might get her a little boom for the trunk and something shiny for her feet.