It is a little more than a month ago that Project 964 received its RAUH -LOW BOFFIFF (RWB) transformation.
While the car was during the holidays for a few weeks, so that the sealing agent around the mudguards and other areas could heal well, I have done my best since then to drive on as much as possible. But for this message I want to focus specifically on the first of the car Touge Outing in RWB form. After all, these builds are all about the experience – and you can’t experience it if you don’t drive.
The new width, riding height and RWB-specific alignment of the 964 had to be tested, not alone, so that I could get an idea of how the dynamics had shifted, but to really embrace them and of course having some fun.
But the first task of the day was to get lost in the RWB lines. I still can’t believe how different the car is now, so I had to make every opportunity to make shots with Alec along the roads that end up through the mountain range in the middle of the Izu peninsula.
I love the balance of the Auto-de Klemming of the assembly, the height of the ground, the thick back and especially, the way in which the wing inspired by Turbo has fully transformed the presence and impact of the 964.
If I had doubts about whether the RWB treatment was the right move or whether I had chosen the right combination of parts, they were completely erased the moment I got out of the car at the first laymen with a view of Mt. Fuji.
But to be honest, there were never regrets from the start. Project 964 was always intended for the adapted touch of Akira Nakai, even before I found a donor car.
The few hours spent climbing the Hakone Turnpike and then diving on the Izu -skyline – one of my favorite roads – more than a huge grin on my face. They taught me a lot. Everything I knew about the 964 and its dynamics had to be learned again. I had to calibrate again: the handle, to switch on, outward. However, what made the most impression on me was the cumbersome of the car in the middle of the corner.
When I applied the KW variant 3S to Hashimoto Corporation last summer, together with the sticky Yokohama Advan Neova AD09S, the 964 got a completely new level of calmness. The grip was monumental and the entry became Pin-Sharp. I will not go too deep in the handle itself-because the tires on the loan wheels of Nakai-San are so old that they are currently chemically in plastic-muted but the treatment? That is a different story. Let me explain …
While the aging tires wash wide through the tighter corners, I remember every RWB that I have driven with a safe level of understeer for safety. Due to the sweeping second and third-race corners, the car feels and under brakes and the rather decent back switching the old-school couples in manual mode puts the car in it and waves up the next set of Apexen impressively smoothly. Although the outdated tires rinse through tighter corners, every RWB that I drove has chosen a healthy dose understeer for safety. The car feels planted on the wider, swordy second and third-corners. Under brakes, and with some very satisfactory retirement of the Old-School couple formers in manual mode, the car puts in and waves apexen impressively smoothly around the next set.
In its current state, the 180,000 km-old, naturally leveled flat-six of project 964 will never be a match for the grip of the back, but it is torque enough to bear a decent pace, and I came under the impression of the car general character. Now that I think about it, this was probably the third time I had pushed the car to the limit.
The really nice piece was the rediscovering something that I had experienced years ago with the RWB 964s and 993S that I go to the drizzle Race of 12 hours in Motegi. If you withdraw to the center of the corner, the weight transfer fights the line in a way that you need to be ready to give a quarter to a half wheel to the opponent to make full use of the progressive slide, not forgotten, To get back on the power to speed up smoothly.
It changed to this satisfactory dance, where every turn synchronizes more by car while I drove through those beautiful pieces of blacktop.
It ensures that I want to go back again and want to experience that moment again – when you associate yourself again with your car. They are days like that all the work on this, so worth it.
Although the RWB conversion can be done, there are still a few things to complete with the appearance of project 964. First: the wheels. They have been ordered, but I am still about a month away from getting them. When they arrive, I have to relax myself again with both aesthetics and the handling, because they are linked to grippy modern tires, albeit slightly narrower, and Nakai-San can be a slightly more aggressive negative negative camber at the front and rear.
There is so much more to do with Project 964 – believe me, I am hardly working – I am finally close to completing the aesthetic side of things.
I will continue to take you through every step, share both the victories and the setbacks en route, because the latter seems to be popping up more often with these cars.
Dino Dalle Carbonare
Instagram: Dino_Dalle_Carbonare
dino@speedhunters.com
Photography by Alec Pender
Instagram: NOPLANSCO
