Feature Car – Kyoto Rob’s Immaculate 240SX

I met Rob for the first time at Ebisu for the drift Matsuri a couple of weeks ago and I couldn’t get over the fact that he owned one of the coolest drift cars at the event that weekend and one that was in LHD of all things.

This is a rare thing to see here. It is very hard to come by re-imported vehicles in Japan, let alone ones that have been taken care of as well as this – and it is being drifted!

I find it prohibitive in so many ways but there is an element of society here that caters for people that need these types of things and in Rob’s case, it was definitely for functional purposes.

You see, Rob is American and drifting in an RHD car, something he acknowledged is possible, is simply too risky especially so when it comes to using the side-brake – the controls are all around the wrong way! So Rob went hunting for a left hooker and came across this example you see before you. There is an interesting history behind this car but I’ll get to that in a minute.

It was undoubtedly the coolest looking car at the second round of the G1-GP and I couldn’t help but wonder how Rob had managed to convince himself to drift the thing – amongst a sea of hammered torpedoes and wild Australians!

Rob recounts what happened when he first came to Japan, “I got into a nice S15 but never really could get used to the RHD configuration. I could drive it but it just wasn’t the same, since I had been drifting for many years back home in the states using LHD.”, he went on to say.

“The previous owner of the car was Michihiro Takatori, former driver of the SuperAutobac’s R34 in D1 and current FormulaD driver. He originally bought the car as a LHD practice car for his time in the US for FormulaD.”

Here’s the view from where I would expect the wheel to be…

“It was originally a KA24 Sileighty purchased from Yahoo auctions and he turned it into what it is today. The only changes that I have made to the car are the wheels, the Kouki wing, and a good amount of lowering.”

The car looks amazing and I’m sure I was but one among many who wished Rob a crash free Matsuri, something I am proud to say he had.

His G1-GP event performance landing him a very credible 4th position and a place in history.

I am glad to say Rob is also wearing the right stickers…

The 9 hour trip each way though, to get that fourth place, is something only Rob knows the feeling of. Kyoto to Fukushima must be a right killer!

Rob has been around on the net for a long time and his site is well worth checking out – click here

Words: Adam Zillin and Rob Riter

Photos: Adam Zillin

Engine:
Kouki S13 Blacktop SR20
OEM S14 Turbo @ 1bar
HPI Exhaust manifold & turbo outlet
Origin Exhaust
One of a kind Koyo mid-mount intercooler

Footwork:
Stance AL+ Pro coilovers
Swift 10k/8k springs
Nismo GT LSD (4.3final)

Stance:
Pillowball suspension links
Riverside Kuroi Knuckles
JIC Tie rods
S15 rear subframe

Exterior:
Origin Stream Aero
OEM Kouki rear wing
Yokohama AVS Model 5 (17×9 +20 / 17×10 +30)
Goodyear Revspec 215/40 front, 235/40 rear

Power:
Estimated 280ps

And Rob would like to tell people about a couple of special items he keeps getting questions about. They include the tail lights, which are full LED by Looking Down in Osaka and the beautiful door skins, which are Origin carbon, custom cut to fit an LHD vehicle.