Tag: blacktop (Page 1 of 2)

Toyota 4AGE overview [JDM Trivia]

October 19, 2016 / banpei / 1 Comment

Today’s trivia is about the Toyota 4AGE. I will give you an overview of all the different 4A-GE models, how to recognize them, what their (basic) differences are and on which cars they were available.

All five Toyota 4A-GE NA generations

The video contains all five 4A-GE naturally aspirated generations: from the first 1983 bluetop 16 valve till the last 2000 blacktop 20 valve. We will go over each and every generation with their specifics. Some may have had changes since the previous generation, like the oil squirters in the 4AGE smallport.

I will skip over the details of the 4A-GZE and the TRD/Formula Atlantic engines as I will do a separate video on those engines. Watch the video below: Continue reading

WTF: Toyota Sprinter Trueno Black Limited BP Kraft?

December 27, 2015 / banpei / 1 Comment

I bumped into this Toyota Sprinter Trueno Black Limited BP Kraft lookalike while I was doing research on the Black Limited for the rediculously long car names where it took third place. I guess lovers going to love, haters going to hate…

The most obvious change are the Lambo-style doors and the change of the pop-up headlights for the integrated ones that were featured on the BP Kraft Sprinter Trueno.

Here you can see a picture of the car that inspired the car above: Continue reading

Carina Sightings: Yokosuka’s Toyota Carina AA63 for sale

December 8, 2014 / banpei / 0 Comments

Occasionally I browse Goo-Net to see if there are any interesting Toyota Carinas for sale, like a Carina Jeune or a 20v Carina. So when I spotted Yokosuka’s deep blue Toyota Carina AA63 for sale earlier today I really felt a strong pain in my heart:

Why? It is one of the nicest Carinas around and he put so much time and effort in the car!
Yes it really is the same…

On the positive side, this allows us to have a peek on all the internals of this beauty: Continue reading

JCS 2010 highlights (part one)

July 22, 2010 / banpei / 0 Comments

I just uploaded all worthy pictures I took at Japan Classic Sunday 2010. I haven’t commented them yet but I surely will do that in the upcoming week. I’ll also start posting pictures from the meet now and then. Let’s kick off with some highlights!

Trip to the JCS 2010
The trip to JCS was already a highlight! Five old/youngtimers cruising on the highway and of course we could all keep up with modern traffic. Only the TE71 (currently an AE71 with 20v blacktop) had some difficulties now and then: who says a blown headgasket can keep you from going to a meeting? So he just filled up that radiator with some water now and then… ;)

Double Beat!
These double Honda Beats sure look great! If you read my blog regularly you will recognize the red Honda Beat as the one I posted in the DOTS a few weeks ago! I spoke to the owner and he has an extensively large collection of cars and motorcycles and does indeed owns the FJ Cruiser. More on that later!

German Corolla AE86 in Haselbeck trim
What’s so special about this German AE86 except for its AE86 vanity plate?

German Corolla AE86 with 401k on the odo!
401k kilometer on the odo meter? Indeed: I spoke to the (young) owner who bought it only three weeks ago from the first owner! The first owner had the car for 27 years and drove 400k kilometers with it and then sold it off to this young lad. From the sound of the engine that 4AGE was still purring like a kitten! :)

More highlights tomorrow and on Saturday! In the meanwhile you can already have a look at the pictures here:
Japan Classic Sunday 2010 gallery

Carina sightings: tuned Carina Surf (van) with 20v 4AGE blacktop part 2

August 12, 2009 / banpei / 2 Comments

More than a year ago I posted some pics of a very nicely tuned white Carina Surf van. I got reminded of it last week and browsed through the owners pictures taken during the passed year. So, here are some highlights:

How the white Carina Surf van (AA63) looks now

How the white Carina Surf van (AA63) looks now

And what I really liked was his attempt to find the ideal tire/rim combination on the Carina:

Pre stretch the tires first

Stretch the tire 175/60/16 to the max on a 8.5J rim!

Compare the lot: 195/50 on 8.5J vs 175/55 on 8.5J vs 175/55 on 8J

And then fit them to the Carina:

Fitment of a 195/50/16 8.5J on the Carina Surf

Fitment of a 175/55/16 8.5J on the Carina Surf

Personally I would choose the 195/60/16 combination. But that is, of course, my personal taste. ;)

In the end he chooses the 175/60/16 8.5J combination. It is a tiny bit too wide and hits the fender regularly and damages it a bit:

175/60/16 8.5J hits the fender
However I don’t think the owner will car about it that much: he will probably keep it this way because of the looks and fix it up whenever needed. ;)

Picrtures can be found here:
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Carina Sightings: Carina AA63 20v Sedan on Goo-Net

February 25, 2009 / banpei / 3 Comments

I found this Carina AA63 on Goo-net:

Carina AA63 20v Sedan
I know what you probably thought first: that must be a scale model!

Well, it is not! Have a look at this:

Carina AA63 20v Sedan
That looks a lot better, doesn’t it? ;)
I have no clue what the photographer did wrong in that first picture, but is surely looks weird. Maybe it is the combination of the garage floor and the rollcage creating an illusion of a reflection in the windscreen…

4AGE 20v blacktop with a set of ITBs
This Carina GT-R got its heart swapped for a nice revving 4A-GE 20 valve Blacktop. As you can see the radiator has been upgraded as well. Also the owner did not bother to swap the cooling fan in the process.

Funny thing: I just realized that relocating the waterpump and distriubutor are not necessary for the Carina AA63: it sits more in front of the firewall than in the AE86! So all you have to do is reroute all piping of the radiator to the back of the engine! I verified this by looking at Revolverdrift’s AA63 20v setup.

Unfortunately his Carina got stolen last week. So, if anyone has seen his car, in or outside Malaysia, please let him know! I hope it will return soon!

Talking about theft:

Anti fuel theft?
Looks weird… Only logical explanation I can come up with is that this car either has a fuelcell (not visible), a weird D1SL or MSC rule I’m not aware of or an anti fuel theft method. I suspect the most probable is the last explanation.

Rollcage, bucketseats and new tach
The rollcage is of the removable type so the cage itself is placed a bit annoying nearer to the center of the car. The rear bench has been stripped and a set of bucketseats have replaced the original front seats.

The car is sitting on a set of deep dished SSR Mk. IIs. The rims can’t be much wider than 7J because they don’t stick out of the fenders.

You would think: what’s so special about this car then?
Well, the car itself isn’t that special. It is more that the surprise picture caught my eye, then the anti fuel theft and then I also realized the 20v problem didn’t apply to the AA63 Carina. So that’s worth a Carina Sightings posting I guess. ;)