Drift Tengoku — September 2004 · Page 271
Page 271 — English translation
A sport-compact look, with satisfying functionality! EL stands for electroluminescence: put simply, it is like a G-Shock display backlight. A sheet-shaped light source makes the whole dial face glow instead of just the lettering. I once made my own version, featured in Drift Tengoku's May 2003 issue. Using a scanner and printer to add the markings took quite a lot of work. But…
…green. You can even adjust the brightness—it really has everything! EL can be quite dazzling, and I had wished for brightness adjustment.
Easy installation is another plus. Summit Racing showed us the entire fitting process, and I reckon even a DIY beginner could finish in about an hour. How can such a dramatic makeover be so simple?
Even more surprising, it costs exactly ¥20,000. For the price of one extra gauge, you can transform the whole instrument cluster. It may become a standard Silvia/180SX accessory rather than an unusual personal touch.
I'd better get one soon and show it off!
Captions and page details
Drift Tengoku editorial staff — Test Check
Previously, the only ways to dress up the instruments seemed to be changing the bulbs or fitting white dials. I made my own EL conversion, but apparently a new product is even better-looking and easier to install. I'm interested!
The factory instruments really do look dated. I think the Neutron Meter is ideal for freshening them up.
3
7
x1000r/min
2
8
PUSH
RESET
:51
120
100
km/h
80
60
140
40
160
20
180
40
20
Ono's…
Recommendation!
Biprise
Neutron Meter
¥20,790
PRICE
Tel. 044-431-4030
Distributor
Installation
Digest
Remove the instruments. First remove the surrounding trim, then take out the instrument cluster.
…it certainly isn't!
Just a white-dial conversion? With EL illumination, its nighttime looks are…
…even the nighttime appearance [heading fragment]
This switch changes the EL lighting between blue and green. Brightness is also continuously adjustable. That's beyond what I could achieve with my homemade version!
Photography: Hiroki Iwashima
Blue
Lay the panels over the original dials. Remove the instrument cover and the small screws securing the original dial faces. Place the Neutron Meter faces over the originals and reassemble. Since you do not remove the needles, the article says this avoids introducing gauge-reading errors.
3
Green
ISO
…it was very distinctive, so I was pleased with the result. Even so, learning about the Neutron Meter honestly made me a little sad. Although it also uses EL, its sport-compact dial design looks far better, and the color changes between blue and…
Connect the illumination supply. Find the illumination feed at the instrument-cluster connector, so the EL lights when the position lights are switched on, and connect using the tap connector described in the article. The wires to connect are the illumination feed and…
…ground [word inferred from truncated wiring sentence].
Finished in no time! Refit the instrument cluster and it is done. Very simple—and…
…it looks great!
Tel. 046-267-5191
6-9-24 Fukuda, Yamato, Kanagawa
Reporting assistance: [shop name truncated; article identifies Summit Racing]
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About this issue
ドリフト天国 (Drift Tengoku), September 2004, is a Japanese drifting magazine. This archive preserves 316 scanned pages in their original right-to-left reading order, including the covers.
English translations are available through the outlined text areas. Hover over a box on desktop, or tap it on mobile. The original photographs and Japanese lettering remain visible on the scan.
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