Memories of My School Days (Nissan March R -Toyota Collora Levin(Hachiroku) AE86 GT APEX)

Continued in the previous article "Memories of My School Days (Mazda Familia 4WD – Nissan March R)"

Nissan March R was really fun, because I was able to drive downhill of the winding road as desired.

Because the March R was very lightweight, I freed from the fear of downhill.The brake works well, and even if the behavior goes out too much, it stops. And the front wheel with the intense torque of the twin charger, if I step on the accelerator with the steering direction, I did not feel that it would go off from the running line by pulling the carbody.

Ten months have passed since I got the March R, and I have come to understand the setting of the suspention.

At first, I drove a tarmac road with a rally competition-use tire fewer remaining grooves, but I wanted to increase the cornering speed more and i put on a general high-grip tire that was not for competition-use.

To check the condition, the usual downhill of SSR pass. With fierce acceleration, the cross ratio's transmission quickly made it to the third gear. The moment I braked and shifted down in front of the relatively shallow right curve, the usual course disappeared from the windshield, and a reddish-brown view approached in front of me.

I could not steer at all, jumped over the gutter, and it crashed into the mountain surface.

Bounce off and stop at right angles to the road.The big damage that was not even seen when it descended was a wreck of the left front part, and the floor panel and the ceiling were in a state of wavering.

Rally tires that were worn out on unpaved roads had sufficient performance for paving applications because the block rigidity increased when the remaining grooves were low, and high-quality rubber compounds were used.

Because it was practiced with such a controllable tire, there was an overconfidence that it was possible to control even if it began to slide.

For general high-grip tires, the grip suddenly "slips out".It was an accident that I realized it.That's reason why I don't recommend high-grip tires.

It was difficult to correct the frame of the March R with reinforcement, and I looked for the next car while selling the parts.Everyday i can't practice even for a few months is boring, and I wanted to get a car with high fighting power as soon as possible, but there was a limit to the student part-time job.

At that time, Hachiroku(Toyota Collora Levin), a close friend rides, the chance to get a car comes up because changing his car. At that time, it was an outdated rear-wheel drive car, but it is a lightweight car of 900kg with a displacement of 1600cc.The provisional rally specification, which consisted of a 4 pinion mechanical LSD (Limited Slip Diffarential) and a shock absorber of the KYB Super Special Series and roll cage in, was faster than expected.

The normal specification 4A-G is less than 4000 revolutions, but the torque is thin and useless, but the steering and driving are different axes, and the rear rigid axle is heavy and stable under the spring, and by adjusting the initial torque of LSD, I was able to get honest cornering without dropping the engine rotation.

If you want to drive fast by Hachiroku, it is a failure you drive such as applying the counter steer. It will be a loss of a few split-seconds per turn. It is not flashy by any means, but I remember that the fear of driving downhill was also less when I set it to understeer and balance the sliding amount betwoeen front and rear tires.

1993 Panasas Night Rally