Chp3 – A new start…

Three months later…

Rob had done a variety of things after he bought his car. The first was finding a job because the money was running out fast. He asked around in Ameyoko street if there were any employees needed. He eventually found a job at as a parts runner at a local parts warehouse. He basically drove a Daihatsu Hijet all day delivering stock parts to various garages. This got him some money to start fixing the apartment. The first thing he bought was a new mattress and some laminate floors. Then he painted the rooms a nice warm color and the place was basically fixed. A couple of days ago he could buy a second hand couch from his boss and used the Hijet to bring it home. Because the place was in a reasonable state now, he could start working on the car some more.
Today was Saturday and he had a day off. The car received a nice wash and wax revealing the very glossy, almost pearl white color. “Just need some wheels cause these steelies are embarrassing it .” Rob said to himself. “Wow it looks great!” a voice said behind him. Rob turned around seeing Hiroki. Hiroki was just a year older than Rob and had moved into the apartment above him 2 weeks ago. Rob had seen a AE92 Toyota Corolla Levin pull up and park in the designated spot for that apartment. As he was interested he had gone down and introduced himself. They had been friends since that day. “Oh, hey thanks” Rob said while smiling, “it doesn’t look half as great as your car though”. Hiroki laughed, “Let’s get you some new wheels, then it’ll come close”. They got into the Levin and sped of to the nearest Super Autobac. “Don’t worry, ill get you some nice wheels for cheap, I know some people here” Hiroki said as he parked the car. They walked to the garage area and saw a bunch of second hand wheels. “Well, start digging, just call me if you find something.” Rob smiled and said “pinch me please, I think I’m dreaming”. After skimming some of the wheels quickly he couldn’t decide between three sets of wheels. A set of Enkei R02, a set of Loversoul /Classic Spirits(the word DAMD was shown on the rims edge), and a set of GAB Sports All White wheels. The Enkei R02 were the lucky ones eventually. Some nice four spoke wheels, they really fit the car great with their late 80’s/ early 90’s look. They got the wheels and went back to the apartment. The wheels went on immediately and the process began.
As it was Saturday night, the guys went out cruising on the expressway. They had some fun over taking and watching the various tuned cars come by when Rob saw the group he had seen two months ago just a few cars in front of them. It was the same Aristo and the same Cefiro. The Civic wasn’t there but the cube completed the suspicion. This time it looked finished. The first time he saw it, it had looked plain, not very interesting looking. He could see the color now, it was bright exotic orange, something you would see on a Lamborghini or some other exotic, not red like he thought before. Rob accelerated to see if he could catch up so he could get a better look. As he got closer, the Cubes driver accelerated hard and the sound coming out of the exhaust was like nothing Rob had expected. He knew for sure now, he needed to meet that driver. As the group quickly left their eye sights, Rob and Hiroki pulled over at the nearest rest stop. “Did you see the Cube?” Rob asked jumping out of the P10, “or should I say did you hear it?!”. Hiroki nodded, “Probably an engine change, because it didn’t sound like it had a turbo or a supercharger. It would have probably whined of wooshed (*lol*) . That’s the only way to get power from that car, unless you spend A LOT of money on blueprinting, stroking, fine tuning, etc”. They watched the traffic for awhile, Rob still thinking about the cube, making him think about what he wanted to do to his car . “We should head back, I still have to change my brake pads upfront and I want to catch some sleep as well tonight” Hiroki said as he started moving towards the Levin. They both started up and drove off.
Hiroki’s Levin was more than just a normal Levin. It was the GTS model with the 4 AGZE engine pumping out 165hp. It had a two-tone black up top and grey on the bottom paintjob with some gold Epsilon Mesh rims with a polished lip. He didn’t have a lot of mods, just the basics which included a HKS Hi Power exhaust, HKS cams, Project U Brakes, Tein coilovers, Tom’s Strutbar and some other small changes.
As the guys came back to the apartment they quickly got the Levin on jackstands and started taking of the wheels. As the shiny disks with blue calipers appeared Robs attention went to the coilovers. “I’ve been thinking about some coilovers for the Primera. Are they very expensive? I bought a magazine awhile ago but couldn’t really make out the prices in there.” Hiroki handed Rob one of the wheels and said, “About three times the price of lowering springs, but to be honest, it’s well worth it”. Rob smiled and they continued what they had started. Robs mind was restless; thinking about all these things he could do to his car gave him a headache...