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Coming from Canada, snow is nothing new for us. As a matter of a fact we got so tired of shoveling snow we moved to Japan. (^_^) Here in central Chiba Prefecture snow is a very rare sight. In fact in the nearly 4 years we have been here we only had a light dusting once that pretty much disappeared in a couple of hours. Last night before we went to bed we could hear the thunder outside as it began to rain hard, rain turned into snow overnight and we awoke to a white Kiminomori, a first for us since we moved here.

Snow in the Kanto area (Tokyo and surrounding areas) mean chaos as people here are not used to heavy settling snow. And we aren't even talking about a lot of snow, maybe 5-10cm. But what that means is cancelled classes, people not going to work (empty bus stop in the morning above), 100+ snow related accidents overnight, suddenly a mad rush at the auto center with people buying chains and snow tires. I almost have to laugh at how a little snow can turn everyone crazy.  My neighbors all met on the street in the morning discussing what to do with the icy roads in front of our houses. We just said ah it will  melt and took our dog Saku, who loves snow and has not seen it in years, for a walk.

Before going for a walk I just moved my car around the corner under the sun and the snow melted off within half an hour. Its a rare sight seeing white powder and palm like trees in the neighbors yard.

Saku was thrilled to go to the park where the snow was waiting for him to play.

Even after we got home he wanted to run around in the backyard and catch the snow balls we threw in the air for him.

I guess in Japan this is what they call a "Snow Day".  Looks like the golf course is closed today! (^_^)

Tario (aka gocchin) joined Tourspecgolf back in 2008 after spending over a decade in technology and business operation roles at a major Canadian financial institution. Before joining TSG and following his dream of moving to Japan, Tario and Chris (aka Tourspecgolfer) hit it off though their similar passions for Japanese culture. Chris hired Tario to manage TSG online operations, sales and marketing. While those are Tario's primary responsibilities, he has also taken up the role of blogger and custom club tester and fitter along the way. Tario's hobbies include golf (of course), gadgets and technology, cars, Japanese pop culture and idols, photography, sweets and walking the dog.

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Having a press pass at the 2012 Auto Salon also meant covering the Option D-1 Drift event out on the track next to Makuhari Messe. When I got to the track I was asked to sign a waiver excluding the organizers from any responsibility over injury or death. I thought hey it can't be that bad as I looked at the spectator areas which had thick concrete barriers and padded walls. Then they led the media to the other side of the track right at the apex of most of the drifts and we were only separated from the track by a flimsy plastic railing! The staff told us "you guys better be careful!" These drivers are all top professional drifters in Japan so I was not too concerned and none of them came very close to the railing except in this double drift clip I shot.

At the 8 to 9 second mark the back end of the cars drift right in front of the railing making the plastic banners flutter. Even the professional camera man on my left who shoots these events for a living stepped back. I'll share more clips later but in the mean time you guys can check out this close drift... and I mean close to me. (^_^) Shot with my Nikon D5100 SLR and Tamron 17-50mm in Manual focus mode.

Tario (aka gocchin) joined Tourspecgolf back in 2008 after spending over a decade in technology and business operation roles at a major Canadian financial institution. Before joining TSG and following his dream of moving to Japan, Tario and Chris (aka Tourspecgolfer) hit it off though their similar passions for Japanese culture. Chris hired Tario to manage TSG online operations, sales and marketing. While those are Tario's primary responsibilities, he has also taken up the role of blogger and custom club tester and fitter along the way. Tario's hobbies include golf (of course), gadgets and technology, cars, Japanese pop culture and idols, photography, sweets and walking the dog.

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I received a press pass to cover the 2012 Tokyo Auto Salon here in Chiba.  I went yesterday as the first day on Friday is always the least busy and best for picutres. I love the Auto Salon as its the worlds biggest car tuning show and really brings out the hardcore in Japan whether it be automotive otaku (nerds/enthusiasts) or idol/race queen otaku. Luckily I am a bit of both. I ts always nice too that TAS is so close to home at Makuhari Messe and I can get there and back in no time unlike trekking out to the far edges of Tokyo.

I brought along my trusty Nikon D5100 and a single Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 lens which I used for all the photos at the show (I don't use a flash since I don't own one but I think I should get one).  I tried this year to actually enjoy the show more and not get caught up in the battles to take photographs thus less pictures this time around. I covered the 3 main aspects of the show, the cars, the drift event and of course the girls. I'll start today by posting the girls since I know there are many who look for these photos even before the cars!

So click on the photo below or read more to see pictures I took of only a few select girls of the Tokyo Auto Salon 2012 (there are just too many of them to take). Tomorrow I'll recap the drift event.

While some of my favorites from last year were not present on Friday, there were still some nice girls around (you can tell by the ones I took more of who I liked! (^_^).

Tario (aka gocchin) joined Tourspecgolf back in 2008 after spending over a decade in technology and business operation roles at a major Canadian financial institution. Before joining TSG and following his dream of moving to Japan, Tario and Chris (aka Tourspecgolfer) hit it off though their similar passions for Japanese culture. Chris hired Tario to manage TSG online operations, sales and marketing. While those are Tario's primary responsibilities, he has also taken up the role of blogger and custom club tester and fitter along the way. Tario's hobbies include golf (of course), gadgets and technology, cars, Japanese pop culture and idols, photography, sweets and walking the dog.

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I have a been a big fan of Sumo since my father in law first took me back in 1999. Its a big part of Japanese culture and is always quite an event. Interestingly sumo has become more international than ever now as well with many of the top wrestlers originating from countries outside of Japan. So when my father in law told me last week he had 1st floor box seat tickets to the January Grand Sumo Tournament I could not say no! My wife and I headed out to Tokyo early this morning to meet her dad and brother. We had sushi for lunch before heading over to the Ryogoku Kokugikan where all tournaments in Tokyo are held.  For the most part of the day, staring in the early morning, matches are held between lower ranking sumo (usually in front of much sparser crowds) and its not until 4pm when Sumo's top division, the Makuuchi begin their matches and the majority of the audience start rolling in. My father in law however is a very big fan so we were at the tournament by 1pm.

I got the chance with the early matches to see how I would do with photos. I brought along my Nikon D5100 and at this time I have no lens longer than 50mm!!  So it was quite a challenge to shoot today. I brought along a Tamron 17-50mm (NO optical stabilization/vibration control) and shot using NO flash. In order to freeze the action I shot everything at high ISO (1600 all the way up to 6400) with shutter speeds of around 1/320 to 1/400. The D5100 does very admirably shooting in low light and pictures weren't too bad considering my very very limited reach at 50mm.

For those who have the chance to visit Japan, I would suggest getting tickets if a Sumo tournament is on. The 2nd floor tickets are only 2100 yen and its a great way to take in some Japanese culture. Plus you can drink Japanese beer, shochu, eat bento (lunch) boxes and yakitori (skewered grilled chicken).  You may not understand it or even care to appreciate it but its worth checking out!

Tario (aka gocchin) joined Tourspecgolf back in 2008 after spending over a decade in technology and business operation roles at a major Canadian financial institution. Before joining TSG and following his dream of moving to Japan, Tario and Chris (aka Tourspecgolfer) hit it off though their similar passions for Japanese culture. Chris hired Tario to manage TSG online operations, sales and marketing. While those are Tario's primary responsibilities, he has also taken up the role of blogger and custom club tester and fitter along the way. Tario's hobbies include golf (of course), gadgets and technology, cars, Japanese pop culture and idols, photography, sweets and walking the dog.

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I posted a Happy Holidays and New Year message last week but since New Year is actually here now I thought I'd make another since most people are now off and spending time with their families. We started the year off with 6.8 magnitude earthquake south west of Tokyo. Parts of north eastern and eastern Japan including here in Chiba felt shaking for about 15 seconds or so which is something we haven't experienced since months ago from after shocks of the big March 11th Tohoku quake. I guess even though its a new year, it was a small reminder of the power of nature and that the disaster is not behind us yet. We were already at my in laws' house over in Yotsukaidou for New Years day lunch and dinner. My mother in law cooked all day and it was nice to have a home made New Years meal.

January looks to be an exciting one for TSG. There should be a steady stream of new product announcements as we get closer and closer to the Japan Golf Fair towards the end of February. I will be getting up posts reviewing the new Ryoma FW as well as recapping the best clubs of 2011 this coming week.  TSG has once again been granted press access to the world's biggest car tuning fair and I'll be heading over to Makuhari Messe here in Chiba for the Tokyo Auto Salon in less than 2 weeks.  Those who missed our coverage last year can go here.

I'll be heading over to Aoyama at the end of January to represent TSG at the 2012 Pre-season meeting for the JLPGA which we will be more involved with this coming season. It's going to be a great year with over 20 tournaments on the schedule.  We've always found the players bags on the LPGA a great example here in Japan of what average and recreational golfers can look at when it comes to new clubs and popular choices.  We hope everyone will have a safe and happy new years and continue to follow us through 2012!  In the mean time, in honor of new years, here is our home made dinner for today!

Tario (aka gocchin) joined Tourspecgolf back in 2008 after spending over a decade in technology and business operation roles at a major Canadian financial institution. Before joining TSG and following his dream of moving to Japan, Tario and Chris (aka Tourspecgolfer) hit it off though their similar passions for Japanese culture. Chris hired Tario to manage TSG online operations, sales and marketing. While those are Tario's primary responsibilities, he has also taken up the role of blogger and custom club tester and fitter along the way. Tario's hobbies include golf (of course), gadgets and technology, cars, Japanese pop culture and idols, photography, sweets and walking the dog.

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My wife took her parents out for a Christmas dinner today and we let her dad choose what we would have. Of course he chose sushi so we were off for sushi again tonight. The restaurant was out in Sakura and was very full for Christmas dinner so we reserved a private room ahead of time.  A wonderful Christmas dinner Japanese style!

It wasn't all sushi as we also had kaki fry (fried oysters) and each person had their own personal tori nabe (chicken hot pot) cooking right in front of us.

But mostly it was about having sushi.

My sushi above (toku-jo plate), had very fresh ikura (roe) and uni (sea urchin) as well as a piece of chu toro and oo toro (fatty melt in your mouth tuna).  And it came with a very tasty side chawan mushi (steamed egg custurd) topped with a hint of yuzu.  A great meal but wait until you see New Years!

(pictures all taken with wife's Lumix GF1 camera and 20mm f1.7 lens)

Tario (aka gocchin) joined Tourspecgolf back in 2008 after spending over a decade in technology and business operation roles at a major Canadian financial institution. Before joining TSG and following his dream of moving to Japan, Tario and Chris (aka Tourspecgolfer) hit it off though their similar passions for Japanese culture. Chris hired Tario to manage TSG online operations, sales and marketing. While those are Tario's primary responsibilities, he has also taken up the role of blogger and custom club tester and fitter along the way. Tario's hobbies include golf (of course), gadgets and technology, cars, Japanese pop culture and idols, photography, sweets and walking the dog.

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I had forgotten to post this up when I got back from Yokohama. We've talked about this place before as its a favorite of TSG Staffers - Uogashi Standing Sushi Bar in Tokyo Station. Ultra reasonable prices for Tokyo and fresh and delicious fish. You just call out what you want and they make it for you right in front of you. There is always a lineup at this place but its worth the wait which is usually not long since people don't lounge around after eating because they have to stand. As part of the Tokyo Station lifestyle its just eat and go on the run.

While on the way to Yokohama and the hot rod show I just had to take my brother as I know he had never stood up at a sushi bar.

Somehow I always end up with this same guy above making our sushi.

No chopsticks required... just pick it up and take it down with one bite... sure speeds things up! Below are a few of the favorites of Tourspecgolfer and Tourspecgirl so I just had to take pictures to post here. Toro Salmon Aburi with ponzu on top:

Yaki Gesso with Mayonnaise on top:

And currently in season SANMA with a bit of fresh green onion and ginger on top:

Tario (aka gocchin) joined Tourspecgolf back in 2008 after spending over a decade in technology and business operation roles at a major Canadian financial institution. Before joining TSG and following his dream of moving to Japan, Tario and Chris (aka Tourspecgolfer) hit it off though their similar passions for Japanese culture. Chris hired Tario to manage TSG online operations, sales and marketing. While those are Tario's primary responsibilities, he has also taken up the role of blogger and custom club tester and fitter along the way. Tario's hobbies include golf (of course), gadgets and technology, cars, Japanese pop culture and idols, photography, sweets and walking the dog.

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It's the weekend and the weather has been nice so I thought I would take a break from golf though I do need to post up my Itsy Bitsy Ghost review later on, and take an hour or so to install my new Defi Boost Gauge and the Defi Advance Control unit. To make it simple for those not familiar with a Boost Gauge and its purposes, wiki states: A boost gauge is a pressure gauge that indicates manifold air pressure or turbocharger or supercharger boost pressure in an internal combustion engine. Turbochargers and superchargers are both engine-driven air compressors and provide varying levels of boost according to engine rpm, load etc. Quite often there is a power band within a given range of available boost pressure and it is an aid to performance driving to be aware of when that power band is being approached, in the same way a driver wants to be aware of engine rpm.

A boost gauge is used to ensure excessive pressure is not being generated when boost pressure is being modified to levels higher than OEM standard on a production turbocharged car. Simple methods can be employed to increase factory boost levels, such as bleeding air off the wastegate diaphragm to 'fool' it into staying closed longer, or installing a boost controller. To prevent the Air-fuel ratio from going lean (caused by increasing the boost beyond the fuel systems capacity) care must be taken to monitor boost pressure levels, along with oxygen levels in the exhaust gas, using an air-fuel ratio meter that monitors the oxygen sensor.

I wanted the install to be as clean as possible so I took a direct line right into the intake manifold by adding a "T" line into an existing tube.  I then took that line back through the firewall into the cabin of the car making sure there were no kinks and a smooth passage (building water cooled computers in my younger days certainly helped this process).  In this case the tube pressure is not read by the meter but rather the Defi Advance Control Unit which is a control center for up to 7 gauges (you can add water temp, oil temp, oil pressure etc) that in turn sends the reading signal to the gauge.  The great thing about the Control Unit is expansion later on as gauges/meters can be daisy chained together for easy installation. The control unit can record and replay driving data, set warning and peak levels and control gauge color and brightness as well. I placed  the Control Unit under the passenger side seat as it does not need to be touched in anyway once installed.

Next was choosing the location of the boost gauge. I originally wanted to place it on my left or towards the center of the dash (remember Japan is right hand drive). But by being on the left side it is harder to conceal wiring so I decided to place it on the right side of the console where I could pull one wire down through the back of the dash to the Control Unit. After selecting placement it was as simple as plugging the gauge in and aligning it. I connected the remote controller for the Advance Control Unit within easy reach of the left hand right above the SI Drive (though I'd probably never touch the Defi controller while driving).  I'm happy with the install and here are the finished pics!

Tario (aka gocchin) joined Tourspecgolf back in 2008 after spending over a decade in technology and business operation roles at a major Canadian financial institution. Before joining TSG and following his dream of moving to Japan, Tario and Chris (aka Tourspecgolfer) hit it off though their similar passions for Japanese culture. Chris hired Tario to manage TSG online operations, sales and marketing. While those are Tario's primary responsibilities, he has also taken up the role of blogger and custom club tester and fitter along the way. Tario's hobbies include golf (of course), gadgets and technology, cars, Japanese pop culture and idols, photography, sweets and walking the dog.

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Roads and especially parking spots in Japan are very narrow. Consider that half the cars are Kei class, Japan's sub compact sized car which is barely wider than a smart car., and the STi feels wide and large. Because of this door dings and dents are common on cars yet Japanese manufacturers love the clean bare doors with no protection as it gives the mirrored impression of a larger car.  There was no way I was going to let my new STi get dinged on the doors so I found out that North America Subaru offered body side mouldings as an option for the STi, an option that Japan surprisingly does not have.  So when my brother visited from Toronto last week I asked him to bring a set for my STi which he picked up at Willowdale Subaru at Yonge and Finch.

The install is quite straight forward and only took about 10 minutes. You just have to make sure the doors are very clean and the kit actually includes alcohol wipes too "sterilize" your doors before install. For aligning the mouldings, the kit includes templates for front and back doors that are attached to the doors. You then simply line up the mouldings with the template and attach to the car.

I originally had my concerns that the side mouldings would ruin the look of the car but after installing them, I actually like the lines they create with the side STi emblem. Without the side mouldings, the doors look so vulnerable and now with the 1cm+ thick cushion the mouldings provide, I feel a little more secure parking in tight spaces (though I usually try and stay clear of heavily congested areas). A quick and easy 10 minute install!

Tario (aka gocchin) joined Tourspecgolf back in 2008 after spending over a decade in technology and business operation roles at a major Canadian financial institution. Before joining TSG and following his dream of moving to Japan, Tario and Chris (aka Tourspecgolfer) hit it off though their similar passions for Japanese culture. Chris hired Tario to manage TSG online operations, sales and marketing. While those are Tario's primary responsibilities, he has also taken up the role of blogger and custom club tester and fitter along the way. Tario's hobbies include golf (of course), gadgets and technology, cars, Japanese pop culture and idols, photography, sweets and walking the dog.

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Today was a nice day so I headed over to the range to test the ONOFF Iron and when I got home I thought I'd play with the car. Both mods today were more electrical mods.  First I removed the standard push start ignition button and replaced it with the red STi one. I don't know why they don't just include the STi one as a standard button on the STi but I guess they save it for their limited edition cars. Looks much better now though this is more of a cosmetic change as it has no difference in functionality obviously.

I got around to installing the PIAA Deno 1 LED lamps also which was pretty straight forward. One wire on the minus terminal of the batter and the other in the fuse box on a switched fuse meaning it comes on with the ignition so the lights won't drain the battery (snapped a shot of the fuse box above in the slide).  As I mentioned these are meant to be day time running lights as cars here in Japan are not required to have day time lights but I prefer them as it makes the car more visible especially in bad weather (even when visibility is bad all the Japanese are driving around with no lights on!). Very nice blue. I was worried how it would match the HID lights and 6700k LED position lamp but it looks good and the car is plasma blue afterall! Took a shot as the sun had just finished setting... very cool. (^_^)

Be no modifying for a few days as I will be at Kings Fields tomorrow for the Hitachi Three Tours season ending even featuring tour pros from the JPGA vs the JLPGA vs the Senior JPGA including Ryo Ishikawa and Sakura Yokomine! Next week need to finish ONOFF reviews and the Ryoma F writeup!

Tario (aka gocchin) joined Tourspecgolf back in 2008 after spending over a decade in technology and business operation roles at a major Canadian financial institution. Before joining TSG and following his dream of moving to Japan, Tario and Chris (aka Tourspecgolfer) hit it off though their similar passions for Japanese culture. Chris hired Tario to manage TSG online operations, sales and marketing. While those are Tario's primary responsibilities, he has also taken up the role of blogger and custom club tester and fitter along the way. Tario's hobbies include golf (of course), gadgets and technology, cars, Japanese pop culture and idols, photography, sweets and walking the dog.

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Another cold and wet day outside here in Japan which makes it hard to test golf clubs and modify the car. I was able to get out earlier before the rain and take preview snaps of the new ONOFF 2012 lineup which you see below. I also had a few deliveries which allowed me to do a quick mod on the car for today. The standard interior of the STi is pretty much off black and silver accents here and there.  Fellow Japanese STi owners discovered that the center console piece for the new Subaru Forester tS (tuned by STi) which has the carbon fiber look in fact is an exact fit for the STi as well. So yesterday I placed the order for Subaru part number 66065FG040 and it came this morning.

Installation was pretty straight forward and took about 15 to 20 minutes, most of that time just making sure the clips and brackets are carefully removed off the original center panel.  The panel is easier to remove and reinstall if you remove the air conditioning vents as well which also adds some extra time. Overall it is a very inexpensive mod at about 4000 yen and 20 minutes of time but it looks a lot classier than the matte off black plastic panel.

Also arriving today were my PIAA Deno-i 1 Day-Time LED Running Lamps. I have to decide where to put these on the front bumper and if I should drill through the bumper (which I would rather not) to secure the lights. The kit comes with super double sided adhesive or brackets with screws.  I guess it will be the adhesive but I need to figure out how strong the bond is. This hopefully will be an easy 30 minute install sometime this weekend if it gets warm and dry enough so that I can lay on the driveway to put these in. I can't believe that I have been away so long from car customizing and modifying. I thought I out grew it but I was wrong. Its still so fun. I am also starting to get a hang of snapping photos of the car, quite different from golf clubs and cityscapes. Stay tuned for more to come... including performance tuning.

Tario (aka gocchin) joined Tourspecgolf back in 2008 after spending over a decade in technology and business operation roles at a major Canadian financial institution. Before joining TSG and following his dream of moving to Japan, Tario and Chris (aka Tourspecgolfer) hit it off though their similar passions for Japanese culture. Chris hired Tario to manage TSG online operations, sales and marketing. While those are Tario's primary responsibilities, he has also taken up the role of blogger and custom club tester and fitter along the way. Tario's hobbies include golf (of course), gadgets and technology, cars, Japanese pop culture and idols, photography, sweets and walking the dog.

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It's been so busy lately with work and my brother's visit, that I haven't had the chance to get going on my new project which is Project JDM STi.  Project JDM STi is based on a 2011 Japan model WRX STi. In Japan they dropped the Impreza tag a few years back to differentiate their uber sports car line from their more budget car line. Hence now the cars are referred to only as WRX STi or even just STi.  I know there are several car enthusiasts on the forum and blog, and many golfer can appreciate nice cars as well.

In the late 1980s, Subaru created the Subaru Tecnica International (STi) division to coordinate development for the FIA World Rally Championship and other motorsports activities. After the company had grown, the division was used to create high-performance consumer versions of the Subaru Impreza WRX, an all-wheel drive car with a turbocharged boxer engine, leading to the development of the Impreza WRX STi. The Subaru World Rally Team has used a race-prepared version of the WRX STI as its rally platform since the model trim's creation.

The all wheel drive turbocharged WRX STi has long been a dream car of mine. Back in university and my twenties, all the cars I owned featured forced induction, either a turbocharger or supercharger, with my favorite being the mid engine  white MKII MR2 Turbo (SW20) which I heavily modified.  The most fun car I had was the 1988 blue MKI MR2 Supercharger (4AGZ) which handled like a little go cart. As I got older and needed a more practical car, I switched to the Audi A4 1.8T Quattro which was my first all wheel drive car with forced induction. The A4 was fantastic in the Canadian winters but alas the engine was not up to par performance wise and I could not afford an Audi S4 or RS4.

As most of you know I moved to Japan with my wife who is Japanese about 3 and a half years ago. At that time the priority for us was settling into a new life here and purchasing a house. Even though I was now in the land of extreme car tuning I ended up having a Nissan Cube and most recently a Subaru R2. I loved the R2 as did my wife, its a little kei car with 66hp and amazing for driving around the narrow and tight roads in Japan. Superb on gas and easy as hell to park.  In the end though it was simply too small and too weak which we noticed when driving visitors from out of town or any type of long distance trip. The logical choice for us was the WRX STi especially since it was a car my wife has always loved (that and the RX-7) so having the wife approve was luckily not a problem. I was finally able to get one of my dream cars which I have been saving up for years for.

We decided on a Plasma Blue Silica 5 door hatch since having a dog and lugging around golf gear would be more practical with a wagon style, though we both loved the new sedan. One sad compromise I had to make being a one car family and having a wife who I love very much but unfortunately cannot drive a manual transmission car if her life depended on it (god knows I've tried teaching her on all my other cars), was to go for the automatic GRF model. Unlike the rest of the world, Japan gets two engine variants of the WRX STi. A 2.0 liter 308 PS (227 kW; 304 bhp) EJ207 engine with a Twin scroll turbocharger called the GRB, or a 2.5 liter 300 PS (221 kW; 296 bhp) EJ257 engine with a single-scroll VF48 turbocharger called the GRF. The much desired Twin Scroll Turbo is found in the GRB model which has a 6 speed manual transmission which my wife cannot drive but I so desired. So GRF or A-Line as they call it here it was. I can't complain really as with narrow roads and speed restrictions and terrible road conditions in the countryside, I may never have had a need for a 6th gear and driving the the A-Line which features "Downshifting Blipping Control" and steering wheel-mounted paddles is actually quite fun.

I finally got around today to doing a little modding on the car. Basic stuff really before I get into the internals. The first thing I did was replace the chrome SI-Drive knob with a Prova racing dial. I had actually gotten the dial before the car even and it was something I had planned on doing right away. I looks far more stealth and much less shiney than the chrome dial. Some of you who don't know Subaru may wonder what SI-Drive is. SI-DRIVE’s purpose is to maximize engine performance, control, and efficiency.  SI-DRIVE has the effect of giving a vehicle three different engines in one. The modes are selected by a knob located behind the shifter, and they’re marked [I] Intelligent, [S] Sport, and [S#] Sport Sharp. The selected mode is shown in the multifunction display window in the instrument panel along with a representation of the corresponding torque curve. Choosing a mode sends signals to the vehicle’s body control module. From there, wiring carries signals almost instantaneously to the engine’s and automatic transmission’s electronic control units. The SI-DRIVE settings change the control units’ programming (mapping). This programming changes modify engine torque characteristics by adjusting how engine and transmission components function. These components include the electronic throttle, fuel delivery system, ignition, turbocharger wastegate, and automatic transmission response. SI-DRIVE modes deliver three distinct types of driving:

Intelligent: With its moderate power delivery and smooth drivability, this mode is ideal for around-town driving and for difficult driving conditions such as slick roads or loose surfaces. It is the most fuel-efficient of the three modes.

Sport: This mode is versatile, providing linear acceleration that is as ideal for freeways and suburban streets as it is for climbing mountain roads.

Sport Sharp: Delivering maximum driving enjoyment, this mode is ideal for tackling twisting roads and for confidently merging or overtaking other vehicles on the highway. In other words, more boost, more aggressive driving.

The second mod I did today was to install a Sharp Plasmacluster minus ion air cleaner. Cars get dusty and smells from dogs or food or even wet floor mats are unwanted. The STi happens to have two cupholders in the center console as well as on the sides of the driver and front passenger. So I decided to put a Plasmacluster in the first cup holder behind the SI-Drive to keep the air fresh and clean and for those relaxing minus ions. I did not want wires running around the car so I drilled a little hole at the the bottom of the cup holder and routed the power wire to the back cigarette lighter which is concealed in a storage box. I can easily unplug the unit if we happen to have 4 drinks up front.  Since neither of us smoke, I decided to turn the front cigarette lighter into a USB port for charging my smart phone or iPad. There is a perfect little padded cubby hole there too for placing my phone.

It was getting dark so I decided to finish off the afternoon modding session with a couple of light replacements. Strangely many new cars still use incandescent style bulbs. Here in Japan LED everything is all the rage. 3 to 6 times brighter and 2 to 3 times less energy used.  I decided to change the front turn signal bulbs and the front corner position bulbs. The ugly big orange signal bulb is not very bright and the very little position bulb puts of a weak yellowish glow.

I picked up PIAA's new Tera Evolution turn signal LED and a set of Philips Ultinon 6700k T10 position LEDs.  The turn signal LED are a bit more tricky to install because they draw much less power or current from the flasher unit (less than half the power of the original bulb) so the unit compensates by flashing the signal 2 to 3 as fast to make up for the less current. Nobody wants their signal lights flashing twice as fast so I had to install a parallel resistor to the circuit in order to trick the unit into flashing at the right speed.

The position bulb does not flash so it was a straight forward install.  Amazingly the 6700k position LED's produce s whiter light than even the HID projector lights on the car thanks to their higher rated Kelvin temperature.  It is also considerably more noticeable than the previous incandescent bulbs it replaced.  Here is a shot straight on during the day.

I quickly rinsed off the car which does feature a Three Bond Glass coating and snapped a few pics before I ended my first mod session with the car.  Little mods can go a long way! This weekend for part 2 I'll be installing a Defi boost gauge as well as daytime running PIAA blue LED lights. In Japan cars are not required to have daytime running lights which I cannot understand as I think it makes cars far more visible and less prone to accidents. Even on dark rainy and stormy days, many cars on the road here have no lights on and cannot be seen clearly. I will change that on my STi plus it should look cool, and thats a big factor too. (^_^)

Tario (aka gocchin) joined Tourspecgolf back in 2008 after spending over a decade in technology and business operation roles at a major Canadian financial institution. Before joining TSG and following his dream of moving to Japan, Tario and Chris (aka Tourspecgolfer) hit it off though their similar passions for Japanese culture. Chris hired Tario to manage TSG online operations, sales and marketing. While those are Tario's primary responsibilities, he has also taken up the role of blogger and custom club tester and fitter along the way. Tario's hobbies include golf (of course), gadgets and technology, cars, Japanese pop culture and idols, photography, sweets and walking the dog.