Soooo… first one of these. Not sure how exactly I wanna write/make these. But since I love blabbering on. I think that’s what I’m gonna do.

For the first one I felt it would be fitting to start from January 2000, Drift Tengoku (aka DoriTen)

Posts wont necessarily be in chronological order, and I AM NOT sticking to a schedule.

What I can promise though, is I will go through the magazines as thoroughly as possible, scan all the pages I find interesting, then post them here in the highest quality I can, and try and give y’all some fun facts/my thoughts regarding what ever is in the magazine.

First two pages, GP sports full spread ad. I believe GP sports was founded in ‘97 or ‘98? Either way it’s a super OG brand that did a lot for the drifting scene early on.

One of the first brands to have a big aero lineup, lots of cool stuff came from them in the 2000s.

This ad has a few cool pieces I love, most notably the “Type II” 180sx side skirts, I own a set of these and love them, the EXAS F1 exhaust is believed by many to be the best sounding SR20 exhaust, but I won’t agree or disagree with that. I also love the gold cooling panel!

Back in the day, it seems like there were lots of enthusiasts focused car dealers with modified and drift ready cars for sale, you’d see these kinds of ads in all the tuning magazines of the time.

I can’t imagine picking up a magazine back then, looking through the cars for sale, then going to the lot to see the car you want in person, and if you like it, you buy it! This has been a thing since forever I’m sure, only ending in the mid-late 2000s when internet ads took over. It’s not something I’ve ever experienced though so kinda crazy haha.

An interesting build, Mooneye’s A31 Cefiro. A build I haven’t seen anywhere else before but definitely caught my attention.

Mooneyes has a very interesting story, the brand is original from the USA. The founder, Dean Moon started the Hotrod garage/brand in the 60s. But after his passing in the 80s the business would be put on hold.

However, sometime in the 90s, a Japanese dealer for the brand who had a close relationship with Dean would restart the brand and bring it back to its glory. Opening an iconic Yokohama branch that is still open till today (I visited it!) and building Japanese cars with an American Hot Rod style never seen before.

This A31 has a very nice mash of the two cultures, it’s low, simple but has plenty of custom work you probably wouldn’t expect.

I’m no expert on A31s to be honest, but it seems to have custom shaved front and rear bumpers, a very slick custom grill that looks amazing. Some kinda American 30s/40s style side mirrors retro fitted to the A31, and lots of other small bits I’m sure.

Something that really caught my EYE… is the interior, more importantly the seats. Custom reupholstered Bride Ergo 1.5 recliners in white and yellow leather. Looks super unique and cool!

Kei Office is the tuning brand founded by “Drift King” Keiichi Tsuchiya. The brand has a major focus on suspension and finding balance. Their coilovers seem to have been considered top of the line for the time.

G-Grow, a Hokkaido based Tuning/aero shop. Were pretty much 180sx/S13 specialist only. One of the first shops to make OEM style Kouki aero in fiber glass, offering the oem style in a more cost effective way. Over time they’d make more versions of the aero pieces, which would have their own unique twist on the beloved oem kouki 180 aero style.

[COVER CAR] Takahashi’s 180sx!

One of THE 180s of all time in my opinion, as a self proclaimed 180 connoisseur. This one is a classic.

“Ika-Ten Tohoku Tournament Individual 1st place, Ika-Ten National Tournament Team 3rd place, Sendai Highland Break Cup Single Class 2nd place, All Japan Dori-Con GP Twin Dori Class 1st place, Ebisu Silvia & 180SX Championship 2nd place…….
This man has a truly brilliant record, and what’s surprising is that he has captured so many major titles in just three years since getting his license, which is anything but ordinary.
He got hooked on drifting when he was 18. On the night he got his license, he went to a local mountain pass for the first time and was impressed by the drifting he saw up close. Well, this is a common story. However, in his case, he was so incredible that he joined the line of racers himself before the spectators’ excitement had even cooled down and drove on the mountain pass for the first time on par with the local racers. This was with zero basic practice.
“Without even knowing how, I just did what I saw and was able to drift. From then on, I went every week and worked to improve my technique. Eventually, I wanted to enter contests… And from then on, my life revolved around drifting. It feels like I just realized that this is where I am now.”
After he started entering contests, he naturally had more opportunities to meet experts, and his driving style was established based on advice from numerous seniors.
Looking at his extremely low ride height and body color, you can tell how much he was influenced by the experts in the Kitakanto & Tohoku regions.
The techniques he gradually mastered were completely aimed at conquering contests, and they can be described in one phrase: “reliable driving that doesn’t forget to appeal to the gallery.” In any situation, white smoke billows from his rear tires as he enters a corner at a shallow angle. And of course, at an incredibly high speed.
His beloved 180SX is also tuned practically to win contests, with a GT2540 turbocharger and other settings carefully adjusted to match the responsiveness and power needed for mini-circuits.
“For me, this car is enough. I just want to enter more contests and re-evaluate my own skills. I also want to get my team’s name and my own name out there. Ultimately, just as I was influenced, I want to become a ‘person who is looked up to’ by younger drivers,” he says, seemingly unable to wait for the season to start again.
Kitakanto and Tohoku are ultra-competitive regions where many skilled 180SX drivers are concentrated. The fact that he wants to test his skills there shows his level of confidence.
In the year 2000, with the start of the full-scale contest season, a new, youngest charismatic 180SX driver may be born…”

Lots of cool bits to cover on this car.

Exterior/aero setup:
-K-Style Ver2 front bumper
-Ikeya Formula Side skirts
-Oem chuki/kouki rear valance
-JUN hood
-clear side markers

Footwork:
-Wheels/tires
Front:Blitz BRW-03 (17x9j+38 with 30mm spacer) on 215/40/17s
Rear:Blitz BRW-03 (18x9j+32 with 15mm spacer) on 225/40/18s
-Ohlins coilovers (F10kg/mm-R9kg/mm)
-Cusco control arms
-BNR32 front calipers
-K-Style front brake pads
-Kei Office rear brake pads

Interior:
-Bride Pros recliner driver seat
-5 point roll bar
-HKS glove box insert
-330? Nardi classic

Drivetrain:
-SR20det
-nismo 1.2mm head gasket
-Tomei 256 INT/EXT cams
-BNR33 fuel pump
-Nismo 550cc injectors
-GT2540 Turbo
-Z32 air flow sensor
-Trust intercooler
-BOSS exhaust manifold
-K powers turbo outlet
-K-style downpipe
-Yashio 2 layer radiator
-APEXi power FC
-ORC twin plate clutch
-Nismo LSD

Another new comer, Satoh and his PS13. Won’t go too in depth on this one.

Looks pretty cool though.

Drift parts check:

PCR SPEC D Coilovers

To be honest I’ve never heard of this brand before, but the s14 in the testing looks really cool, super low on AVS Model 6s.

Super nice simple aero, no nonsense setup. Right up my alley!

In almost every early 2000s DoriTen, there is a “Drift emperor special column”.

Dedicated to Yoshinori Koguchi, it usually covers Koguchi’s opinion on different topics with a Q&A section. This one discusses his clutch preferences, nothing super interesting that I feel noteworthy. But when I do come across something more interesting I’ll talk more about it. After all Koguchi is huge deal to a 180 enthusiast like me!

On a Koguchi related note, an ad for Auto Shop HOT ROAD!

Hot Road is both a parts shop and dealer to this day, their own original products consist of aero mostly. Most notably known for their 180sx aero as ran by Koguchi and Itai in 2000-2001.

This is a very early ad before their popular 180sx aero that’s still produced till today was made. At this point in time they offered an oem style kouki front bumper, lip, n1 vents and universal hood vents. Plus their own exhaust lineup. Can see Koguchi’s ‘99 spec black 180 in the corner looking super cool!

A quick article regarding the ‘99 competition winning machines! Covered by Orido.

“Compared to a while ago, drifters are all over the place. For example, there are guys who are like, “Let’s just have fun,” and then there are guys who pursue performance. It has split into two types: the “meticulous” type and the “speed-focused” type. Of course, even among the speed-focused guys, there are some who have their own specific quirks and unique modifications. So, they’re constantly pursuing their own style of drifting, or rather, just pursuing drifting itself…”

I’ll spare the details, but it’s a unique perspective of how drifting was viewed back then. By this point D1 has not started and so competitions weren’t as serious yet. So building a car purely for competition wasn’t as common of a thing.

Another two ads, we got Garage B.B

A pretty unknown aero shop that produced parts only for the 86 and 180sx as far as I know. The 86 aero they made is probably one of my favorites! Had a super unique and aggressive nature not seen often on 86s, very big front bumper vents and thick fender flares.

The 180sx aero however… is interesting for sure haha. Their 180sx side skirts are somewhat noteworthy, they aren’t featured in this ad but I’m sure I’ll come across them at some point later. I frankly only know about the brand because of 224.Racing’s 180sx which used the skirts as a substitute for the Type II GP sports skirts as they have a very similar design.

Next on, BN Sports. BN actually stands for Bangladeshi-Nippon.

I am unsure of the details but the founder is of Bangladeshi origin and started the aero brand in Japan some time in the 90s, as can be seen in this ad, the BN sports of the 90s/early ’00s is not the BN sport we think of today.

The aero parts specialist was yet to find their trend setting style of big, low, flared body kits. I believe all the aero parts in this ad would be discontinued within a year or two in exchange for the style we better associate with BN today, more on that at a later date.

Car Shop Garage East: The main article on the right-hand side is about a shop called “Garage East” in Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture. The shop specializes in drift tuning and promotes their services, including turbo upgrades and full tuning. Parked upfront is a pretty cool Onevia and s14, mostly why I scanned this page.

Garage Hope: The top left section features “Garage Hope,” a shop known for producing S15 and S14 faced kits for the 180SX and selling complete drift machines.

Brush Boy: in Ichikawa City, Chiba Prefecture. The shop promotes a “power-up campaign” that includes turbo and cooling system upgrades. They also mention their own custom coilovers based on Apex’s damper kits and a “35 turbine kit” for Silvia and 180SX models.

Two of these shops (Garage East & Garage Hope) seem to be open till today which is cool to see!

It seems that the Doriten team would sometimes go to street spots and ambush street drifters for interviews and car showcase sessions haha.

This time they caught a few guys from Kanagawa, and went over their machines.

-JZX 90 Chaser
-AE86 Levin coupe
-JZX81 Chaser
-S13 Silvia

I feel like this is a cool glimpse into what the average enthusiast would’ve drove back then, nothing too crazy but can see the influence and taste of the cool stuff we like till today on them.

And that wraps up this issue from my perspective, I’d say I covered all the interesting bits in this issue, a few ads I skipped as I know I’ll come across cooler versions of later on.

I don’t really feel like covering competition results would be that interesting, considering it’s 20+ years old results and most of that stuff is text anyway and not many cool photos haha.

If you enjoyed this post, let me know, if you would like to see something changed in the format, also let me know.

This is what a casual conversation would look like if I was going through one of these magazines with a friend. Instead of just translating everything in full or simply giving out the specs without any of the story. This seems to be a nice middle ground of blabbering and being factual.

-Malek