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NOTICE : AW only MR2 Meeting in Nov. 2009

17th MR2 Meeting will be held on Sunday, November 1, 2009 at Fuji Speedway in Shizuoka, Japan.

picture from 16th MR2 Meeting on Sunday, 16 Nov. 2008
This announcement has recently updated at MR2 Meeting Web page.

This MR2 Meeting is only for AW11/AW10 MR2.
No SW or ZZW series MR2 is not allowed to join.


However anyone can enjoy the meeting by coming to Fuji Speedway on the day of the MR2 meeting parking your car at the nearby parking space.
So, if you are living in Japan, please come to Fuji Speedway.

Details of 17th MR2 Meeting

Date : Sunday 2009/11/01
Place : Fuji Speedway
Fee : 2000 yen per MR2
Requirement : MR2 owner who can drive one's car on the day of the event to Fuji Speedway

Other than the above MR2 Meeting event fee, you need to pay the entrance fee when you pass Fuji Speedway entrance. The entrance fee is, 1000 yen for adult, 700 yen for high-school kid and free for much younger ages.
If you hold JAF membership card or SD card or your driving license is gold-colored, you can get a discount.

Please check for the details at Fuji Speedway Web page.

No lunch is prepared.
There might be some places you can buy lunch however prepare your lunch before entering Fuji Speedway is recommended because those places might not have enough supply and/or price is rather high.


Special Event #1
This year Mr. Yoshida, the leading project manager for AW series MR2 will give a speech.

Special Event #2
Experience Fuji Speedway racing track.
You can actually drive in the circuit!
No details are relieved.
Additional 2000 yen per MR2 needed is the only detail as far as I know as of today.


In case you register your name/address at this meeting you can get the postcard invitation.

I got this invitation at the end of September.
This picture is from last year 16th MR2 Meeting on Sunday 16, Nov. 2008.

It is written only in Japanese but if you would like to get one next year, you need to be at Fuji Speedway on Sunday 1, Nov. 2009.


Hope to see you at Fuji Speedway!!!

TK

2009/10/30 Hakone MR2 Gathering Announcement

Hakone gathering on Saturday, October 30, 2009.


(picture from last year TMCJ Hakone Gathering in May, 2008)


Some TMCJ members are planning to have an MR2 gathering in October.
This event is not TMCJ official event.

Normally, TMCJ Hakone Off-line Meeting is scheduled in May.
However it was not scheduled for this year so some members started to think about to have it voluntarily.
There is no requirement to attend this event.
Anyone who drives MR2 or has an interest in MR2 is welcome.


Date : Saturday 2009/10/30
Place : Ashinoko Skyline @ Hakone
Time : 9:00am - 15:00pm
Gathering point : The parking lot between Fuji View (coffee house) and Heliport.


Do not hesitate to come to this local Japanese MR2 gathering.
I can be your translater if you prefer.
Of course, your direct communication with other owners is more than welcome.

When you plan to come to this event, please comment on this article or give me an e-mail.

Hope to see you at Hakone!

TK

Night off-line meeting @ Daikoku parking area (PA)

Night OFF-Line Meeting

I have joined off-line meetings but all are day-time off-line meetings.
Normally, I depart the meeting point in the afternoon and drive back to the garage before midnight.

However, this time, this off-line meeting’s gathering time was 6:00pm.
The schedule for this off-line meeting is the meeting continues until everyone goes home.

Actually, when I joined the Daikoku PA off-line meeting in July, it was the night off-line meeting. But I just be there for the first 1 hour and left the place so I think I can say that this is the first time for me to join the night off-line meeting.

Preparation
I did not drive my AW11 for long time.
Actually I just moved my AW11 from the old garage to new garage approx. 100 meters in August.

Thus, I worried about the battery had gotten flat and if so I need to fix it before the off-line meeting date. So, I decided to wash my car at the car wash place a day before Daikoku PA night off-line meeting.

Please note, it is difficult to wash my car at the tower parking so I need to go the car wash place where I can wash my car by myself.


I inserted the car key to my AW11 and turned it.

Clank, Clank, Clank….

After the rather lengthy cranking, 4A-GELU engine woke up.
From its cranking speed, I felt the battery was a bit loosing its power however it was enough to start the engine without a trouble.




I drove to the wash place and wash AW11 first.
The body coating was still there but weaker. I again put the body coating on the roof, front hood, engine hood & trunk lid
I’m ready for the meeting.



To Daikoku PA
When I headed to Daikoku PA driving on Tokyo Metropolitan Highway (TMH), the sky started to lose its shines. I like this fading timing of the day especially driving on TMH. It does not necessary with the high speed but enjoy the time with the car with the moderate speed driving.



When arriving at Daikoku PA, I needed to turn on the head lights. The sky was not completely dark so I felt the shaded light in the sky. I like this feeling.

At a little past 6:00pm I arrived at Daikoku PA and there were many AW11 gathered already.



I took this photo a little while after I arrived.
This is not the end of the off-site meeting but when the meeting started.

More AW11 came in late. This off-site meeting does not have any group-run or moving transition so some came and some left time to time.
During my stay at Daikoku PA, there were more than 20 AW11 gathered.


Other than AW11 there were a few SW20 but some were not MR2, Subaru SUV, the 1st golf cabriolet, Ferrari, Lamborghini and others.

Ferrari and Lamborghini were interesting because these cars have engine at middle of the car. Thus it is similar engine layout but the how they treat the engine and other mechanisms were so different from AW11. It was a good chance for me to closely observe the differences.

I especially had interest in F355 because it has MR layout as same as MR2.
Personally, I think F355 is the best model so I have a scaled model in my room.

F355 engine room is started right after from the driving seat stretched out until the rear end. There is no luggage room space as you can see in AW11 or SW20. The heated air can move out from the engine room at the end of the car. Also, the large empty space is prepared after the engine with the air intake manifolds open at the end of side air intake holes.
The left 2 squared boxes are the air intake manifold with air filters. Just besides these air intake, the outlet from the side air-intakes end.

The air that does not used for the engine is combined with the heated air from the engine and escapes to outside from the engine hood or the meshed rear end.

MR2 prioritize the usability to the heat reduction from the engine.
The original concept of MR2 is the car is used casually for daily shopping and owner might go for a drive with a partner. Thus, the head reduction is enough for non-racing run I suppose from looking at its design and construction. AW11 has a luggage space after the engine.

On the contrary, F355 is designed to accommodate the racing speed driving from its cooling mechanism and air handling design. Thus, it does not have any room for a luggage after the engine.

The both car, Ferrari F355 and Toyota MR2 (AW11) have same layout, mid-ship engine mount and rear wheel drive but they are very different in the architectures due the concept is different each other.

I could hear that even F355 has that large space in engine room, the rear combination lamps might bent from the heat after the heard driving from its owner. This hands on owners’ talk cannot be boring at all if it continues on and on.

I know most of the facts before this night off-line meeting but it was fun to hear the same thing especially from the maniac owner.


Interested Car
Each AW11 has its story and I cannot cover every car joined for Daikoku PA night off-line meeting.

This AW11 is in my attention during this meeting.



This is the two-toned AW11 as you see.
The owner purchased this AW11 from Toyota and has driven it. So, this is one owner car. Thus, I thought it was possible to choose this color when AW11 was sold.

σ(^^) : We are the same team, TWO-TONED, aren’t we?
Owner : Well…, y, yes.

σ(^^) : I didn’t know AW11 has this color when it was sold.
Owner : This AW11 was painted as whole.

σ(@_@) : What??? Isn’t it an original color?
Owner : When I bought this as a new car the color was different.

σ(^^) : Then, what is the original color?
Owner : When I bought it was white.

σ(^^) : I think this coloring looks very natural.
Owner : Well, I think that is because the paint work was done great by my husband.

σ(^^) : ….


Some dramatization there…
σ(^^;)

This owner is running a body shop.
It is true that there should be a skilled professional to have a good paint.
However I think the choice of colors are very good.
This combination is good with AW11.
I think it is sharp and very sporty.

I would like to see this in the daylight and if possible take photo with my AW11.


TK


Links (リンク)
My AW11 blog in Japanese
みんカラ
Mixi

TMCJ : Toyota MR2 Club of Japan
IMOC : International MR2 Owners Club

にほんブログ村
にほんブログ村 車ブログ
にほんブログ村 トヨタ
にほんブログ村 ホンダ

Summer MR2 off-line meetings

I have not updated my blog for more than a month.
During this period, many off-line meetings have been taken places in Japan.

At least I know the following meetings were held.
Hiroshima MR2 off-line meeting on Sunday 6, July
Daikoku PA MR2 off-line meeting on Saturday 12, July
Nara MR2 off-line meeting on Saturday 19, July
Kyushu MR2 off-line meeting on Sunday 20, July
Tsukuba AW off-line meeting on Saturday30 to Sunday 31, August
Clam soup night cruise MR2 off-line meeting in Kyushu on Saturday 6, September
Norikura Car-fun meeting on Saturday 6 to Sunday 7, September
Gymkhana meeting on Monday 8 and Tuesday 9, September
Daikoku PA AW off-line meeting on Saturday 14, September

Of course, more mini gatherings were there but I excluded the gathering of a few owners without widely announce the off-line meeting on the Web.

I wish I could have participated in all of these off-line meetings. However from many reasons, it is not practically possible.
I only participated in 2 of the above meetings. July Daikoku PA MR2 off-line meeting & September Daikoku PA AW off-line meeting.

July meeting was for MR2 and the organizer was SW owner so most of the cars gathered were SW20. I participated only the beginning of this meeting. Thus I do not know how many MR2 gathered on this meeting.

September meeting was for AW11 so most of the cars gathered were AW11. Still we see some SW20, one Ferrari & one Lamborghini. On this meeting, I participated about half of the meeting but could see most of the participants. It was fun to see more than 20 AW11 gathered around the parking lot in the night time.
This off-line meeting started from 6:00pm and ended after the sun-rise. I was at the meeting until 1:00am.

Please wait for a few days to report on this September meeting.

Also, I am planning to participate a small AW11 off-line meeting, Lake Hamana AW11 meeting on Saturday 20, September. I am planning to report on this gathering also.

TK





Links (リンク)
Links (リンク)
My AW11 blog in Japanese
みんカラ
Mixi

TMCJ : Toyota MR2 Club of Japan
IMOC : International MR2 Owners Club

にほんブログ村
にほんブログ村 車ブログ
にほんブログ村 トヨタ
にほんブログ村 ホンダ

Nagano MR2 Meeting report (July 2008)

Sunday 27, July 2008


I joined Nagano MR2 Meeting held in Japan.
The meeting place was in Nagano prefecture & gathering point was Kirigamine-Kogen Drive In.


Pre-notice

Unfortunately, no one showed up from seeing the above notice.
Anyway, I briefly update you on Nagano MR2 Meeting.


As for the full detailed Nagano MR2 Meeting report, please access the below links.
Nagano MR2 Meeting report vol.1
Nagano MR2 Meeting report vol.2
Nagano MR2 Meeting report vol.3
(Sorry, these are Japanese only pages.)


What is AW/SW anyway???
AW : AW10/AW11 is MR2 (1984-1989) before major model change.
SW : SW20 is MR2 (1989-1999) after major model change.
Wikipedia on MR2 in English
Wikipedia on MR2 in Japanese




Mr. Kaitoh Shinshi (meaning an Gentleman Phantom Thief), an AW11 owner planned this meeting. I initially heard this MR2 meeting idea when I joined Shirakaba-ko MR2 meeting and got an invitation from him in June.

He is an AW11 owner thus more than half of the gathered cars were AW series.
As for AW series, 2 1st generation AW11 & 8 2nd generation AW11 were there.

Other than MR2, there were 5 SW20, 1 Mazda roadster coupe (second generation in NB) & Subaru Impreza WRX.


On the way

The weather was so good thus I see many bikers and drivers were heading toward the same direction when I was on the way to Kirigamine-Kogen.

In Japan, Harley-Davidson (HD) is booming in the bike category so that the majority of the bike I saw on Sunday was HD. Most of HD drove slowly especially on curves. I assume most of them were so called Sunday-Rider who rides on a bike only on Sunday and not skilled well.

Thus, the most of the winding road way up to Kirigamine-Kogen I drove slowly with the decent frustration.


Meeting with other owners

When I reached the gathering point, I was late for the gathering time (9:00am) about 15 to 20 min and all other owners already started chatting. Some even had already displayed their radio control cars.


Cute!!



As you can see in the picture, some owners had matching radio controlled cars as their cars.

I envy that SW20 body is available but not AW series for radio controlled car chassis. If there is AW body I'm sure I buy AW body and paint it with my AW two-tone color.


After each introduced oneself in front of each own car, we drove off to the next destination, The Utsukushi-ga-hara Open-Air Museum.



When we drove to The Utsukushi-ga-hara Open-Air Museum, again bunch of slow HD were in front of our group. Well, it was shiny bright good weather Sunday so that the scenery was so good thus they may slow down a lot.


(Can you see the car running in front of me is another blue AW?)

The parking lot at The Utsukushi-ga-hara Open-Air Museum was not so packed. Thus, members with radio controlled cars could enjoy their cars.


After having a lunch with other MR2 owners sharing experiences and with deep discussion about cars, we moved to the final destination, Lake Megami Large Parking.

This time, the traffic was rather smooth and I could enjoy the driving. During the lunch, it was raining hard and after the lunch it was on and off. So, fewer bikes were on the road at this time.


At the Lake Megami Large Parking, there were not many cars so we lined up our cars to have a photo shooting session. It was not raining and was a good condition to take photo.




A few minutes after starting the photo session, the heavy rain came back or was it followed us?

Initially some were chatting with their umbrellas however suddenly the strong rain noise came from the woods. Actually, HEAVY HEAVY rain attacked us.

Well, after 10 seconds, it was gone.
OK
Let's start chat again.

After a minute, we heard another heavy strong rain noise from the woods.

Some were crunching to ready for the rain.


The heavy rain did not go away after some time so Nagano MR2 Meeting was adjourned.


With other AW/SW owners, I had a good weekend. Even after this weekend meeting I communicate with other owners through Blog/SNS.



Japanese blog updates
Nagano MR2 Meeting report vol.1
Nagano MR2 Meeting report vol.2
Nagano MR2 Meeting report vol.3



In coming months, I hear more MR2 meetings are planned.
As I get the permission to resubmit the announcement, I'll update the meeting schedule in advance.

Hope I see more AW series MR2 owners at meetings or on Web.

TK



@ Yahoo! Japan
http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/aw11japan

OFF in Japan

There is an MR2 off meeting @ Nagano on Sunday 27, July.

Date: Sunday 27, July 2008
Place: Venus Line : Drive-in Kirigamine parkign area
Schedule:
Gather : Drive-in Kirigamine
Drive : Drive-in Kirigamine to Utsukushi-gahara museum
Break : Utsukushi-gahara museum
Drive : Utsukushi-gahara museum to Lake Megami (Megami-ko) large parking area
Communication : Lake Megami large parking area

If you could or may join this off-site meeting, all my friends welcome you.

Hope to see you.

TK