Asami and I were walking about Kamakura this weekend when we spotted this beauty idling down the street.  Perhaps a 1976 Carrera RS in iconic Gulf Racing livery.

The entire atmosphere of the scene changed after seeing this.  You can’t get much better than this.  Just a stones throw away from Enoshima, a warm summer day, and a nice drive in your Porsche down the proverbial PCH of Japan.

Makes you wonder about things…

Last weekend, since we were in the area, we stopped by Honjyo Circuit to check out the fourth round of Drift Muscle that was taking place this past Sunday.  Here is a shot of the Wisteria/Bodyworks Matsui, GP Sports equipped RPS13 on a warm up lap, headed into the first turn of the outlined course.  I’ll get some coverage of the event up this week ~!

Cruised around Daikoku Friday night to find the typical mix of cars and people hanging out.  Matt and I slept in Sekinei’s van for like an hour before getting up to walk around; actually I don’t think Matt woke up until we went to watch the streeting.  Something about being in Japan makes me sleepy…I sleep a lot there.

Anyway, I walked up to this group of kids because I wanted to see this S15 closer up…

Nothing incredibly special, but for some reason I really, really liked it.  I told him I thought it was the coolest car there that night, and he quickly replied, ‘No no no haha, that one is.’, and pointed to a grey S15 with lambo doors on the other side of the lot.  He was right, it was cooler, but I still like this one better.  I haven’t seen this aero before, and even the owner wasn’t totally sure as he purchased it with the front bumper already on.

Looked good though so I thought I’d share.  Looks like Weds SA55′s with a blue trim, gives a nice touch of color against the white and black.

Cheers

I had been up North in the Gunma area photographing Takahashi’s FD at T-Ones the other week, and thought, while up in that area we should check out Honjyo Circuit because there was a Drift Muscle event going on that same day.  We had arrived a bit late, but made it in time to see the event through starting from the Top 8 showdown of the Super Muscle Class.  When we arrived one of the Wisteria GP Sports 180SX’s was going up against the AutoTec JZX100.

From our high up vantage point we were able to get a good view of battle.

The GP Sports kit is by far the best aero available for the 180.  The only other kit available that is as good is from Garage Mak; but unfortunately they don’ produce it anymore.

Back in the paddock, the red 180 was done for the day.

Unable to get a good enough run to advance it into the finals, Kono-san had to sit the rest of the day out, and try again next round.

Still in it though was the red Wisteria car’s counterpart.  The blue GP Sports equipped 180, piloted by Mr. Hideyuki Fujino, had a good run against Maeda-san in the Rossomodero S14.

He ended up beating out the S14 to take 3rd place overall in the top class.

Good result for what’s is probably the best looking car in the field.  Hang tight, I’ll have more from the paddock soon.

Like I mentioned in the previous post, we arrived pretty late to Honjyo Circuit because prior to coming here I had a photoshoot with Takahashi’s FD at T-One’s in Gunma.  We arrived at Honjyo in the early afternoon, and there was about an hour or an hour and a half left in the event; which happened to be just enough to catch the top 8 battle it out.  So, unfortunately this won’t be very comprehensive coverage of the event, but at least I caught some.  We ended up getting in for free basically after sweet talking/escaping the gate worker.  Check out some coverage ~ sorry if I don’t know all the driver’s names.  Admittedly, drifting isn’t my forte, although I enjoy it very much!

Above we have Mr. Okamura-san battling it out with it’s same chassis competitor; the red Motegi Motors S15.  The pink S15 won out to advance though.

Yashio Factory definitely have a certain look eh.

Next competitor was the Guild N One JZA80.  This car has a whole new look this season; ditching the old livery for a much more simpler look.

I don’t believe it advanced though.

The Rapid Service PS13 driven by Hiraoka Hideo – he’s actually sitting fourth in the series right now.  I’ve seen this car grip before as well – super cool.

 
After being knocked out, Imai-san was chilling on the phone in the paddock.  Such an odd creation of his…

Pretty cool 180 in the parking lot.  Model 5′s look great.

Pretty rad JZX100 in the paddock as well. The YMS Chaser was knocked out pretty early from what I was told….looks good though.

Burst made a presence on circuit that day, albeit a short lived one.  Tsuji Akira was out there pushing it, but ended up dropping out early.

 
Some fans enjoying the event.

Nice wheel combo ~

Pretty simple looking coupe – I like it.

Out of all the cars in attendance though, I was probably most please to see was Uchi-san’s JZX100.  Although he doesn’t update it much anymore, I had been following his Minkara page for a long time, but I’ve never had the chance to see the car in person.  He made the team ‘Unit’ almost 20 years ago, and runs the Car Hospital shop in Saitama.

His car, with an almost ‘ING Direct’ (Barclays for all you bankers out there) like livery, stands out amongst the others like a sore thumb.  First of all, it’s huge – the JZX has presence, especially in this color way.

It’s just a great looking car.  There are a lot of unique bits about it.

I went up and said hello to him as he was checking out his car after his last run.  He was pretty surprised I knew about Unit, but was pleased haha.

Check out Minkara for more of his car ~

Hope you enjoyed!

Very aggressive looking Zenki S14 in the lot of Fuji.  On it’s out lap it spun going into turn 2, but managed a lap under the 2 minute mark at the end of the day.  Fast!

To everyone in the U.S. – Happy Independence Day ~ be safe!

This past weekend marked the date for one of Japan’s largest motorsport festivals I think I’ve ever come across; not necessarily in size, but in overall variety.  A large part of that had to do with MSC and Formula D coming together to put on what would be Japan’s first FD event.  The plan was to bring you coverage throughout the week, but as luck would have it, I have to go out of town for work for a little while.  I’ll get some content up as soon as I can, which more than likely will be around Thursday evening.  I’m most excited to share with you the close-up of Under Suzuki’s new setup that he was testing at Fuji.

Stick around!  We’ll have more soon ~

I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t follow Formula Drift here in the States in the loosest sense…

My good friend Karl competes in FD, and the extent of my knowledge is how well he placed in each competition.  Sometimes I’ll watch the live stream, and if he advances, I’ll wait until the next run.  Other than that I seriously could not care any less about what happens in FD; who else is competing, who is winning, who did what, etc.  It simply doesn’t interest me. The cars (in my opinion) are not aesthetically pleasing, and the series doesn’t properly reflect what I think is drifting.  It’s like watching a drag race to the first corner, and then a destruction derby.  The judging is flawed, and the rules are incredibly contrive.  Actually, I was approached once by a firm that handles some of FD’s web marketing, and I politely turned them down.  It’s not a series I would typically promote, nor one that I would want to represent.  Yes, it is entertaining.  Yes, there is a lot of talent.  No, it does not embody what I think drifting is.

That entire paragraph was my PERSONAL opinion.  I’m not asking you to agree, I just wanted to put it out there.  I have spent a lot of time in Japan, and have grown accustom to what drifting is based on what I’ve experienced there.  Which, mind you, is where the sport originated.

This year, 2014, FD paired with Japanese event hosts MSC to put down the first ever Formula D Japan event at Fuji Speedway.  The series will continue later in the year with a second event at Okayama Circuit.  It was a major part of the event Motor Games, that was as previously stated, held at Fuji Speedway this past weekend.  The event as a concept on the whole was very cool.  It had drifting, time attack, motocross stunt stuff, a car show, etc.  It was literally the whole package.  Despite all this, I’m not sure that it drew the crowd the promoters had hoped for.  General admission was fairly high, and I’m not sure the attraction was promoted well enough.  I mean, from a series organizational stand point, I really question the idea of a US organization starting a two-part series in Japan without any foreign participants.  Yeah, they have MSC’s backing, but I still don’t understand it.  Isn’t D1, D1SL, D1 Venus, MSC and Drift Muscle enough?  I wasn’t the only one thinking this either…

Ken Block put on some sort of similar exhibition awhile ago in Odaiba pairing up with D1, and it had similar results.  It seems like the organizers are trying to replicate the type of events they have here in Japan and it just isn’t working.  There’s a good reason for that; the audience is completely different.  Yeah, there are a select few who are really into it, but from my experience it’s a minority.

NOB and Orido were selected to be the judges for this event.  After the fact, on Taniguchi’s blog he wrote:

““逆に、 「よその団体は敵だから」とばかりに、 力を貸さないどころか、 むしろ足を引っ張るようなことをする方もいらっしゃるみたいです。”” みんなで協力しあって、 業界を盛り上げるべきだと僕は思います。“

All drifting organizations hold something unique to themselves.  They really need to stop trying to solidify and just maintain as their own series.  FD will never be D1, FD will never be Drift Muscle, and vic versa.  They are truly different, so literally…stop bothering us.   You can read the whole post here…that is, if you can read Japanese.  I must agree, not only because it aligns with my personal opinion, but because NOB agrees.  It’s not necessarily downplaying FD in anyway, it’s just stating that IS in fact different than the series that exist in Japan.

With that being said, FD Japan seemed to be an entirely new experience.  While the FD name may be there, the simple truth of the matter is that there were hardly any foreign drivers in attendance.  So, I’m actually not quite sure what the purpose was.  Trying to start the series in Japan? There is no real point if the contenders can’t compete there.  I mean, Mike and Aasbo were in attendance, but I think in part because they’re factory backed.  Other than that…to be honest I’m not sure.  The whole thing seems misrepresented.  There are no FD drivers, and in their place there are FD banners and stickers.  The majority of teams can’t afford to compete overseas.  It ended up being more of an exhibition than anything.

On the other hand though, this worked in the events favor…at least from my standpoint.  The cars were all from Japan, all had Japan styling, and all had proper power plants.  It was basically just another Japanese event with FD stickers everywhere.  You had cars like the Car Modify JZX…

…that was obviously a domestic product…domestic to Japan that is…

…and the Guild N’ One, Tanaka Engineering Celica/Supra which is an obvious example of my bias.  This car is insanely cool.

Such an aggressive look for the rear end of the MK4.  Love the weight reduction in the doors…

TMS S14.

Tomei JZX100 that competes in other series.

I can’t say I’ve ever seen this S15 before…

Taniguch Atsushi‘s incredible machine.  This was by far one of my favorite cars in attendance that day.  Typically seen in the D1 series, he is one of the drivers that was on point this day for exposure.

Couple various Mazdas…

Bold World R34 driven by Fujio-san resting in the paddock.  Awesome livery by RYO.

Rear shot.

Awesome Soarer with Run Free aero.

RE Amemiya Hurricane FD3S quietly awaiting it’s turn on track.

Mad Mike was a hit at the event, driving his FD Asia FD car (?).  He laid down a couple great laps.

As well as many other cars…

I’m going to leave off here for now, although we have much more coverage from this event.  I’ll try to wrap up the drifting portion in the next post, and move on to what we really like here; the time attack.  We’ll also take a look at the car show, a special look at our partners in crime Garage Mak, and a totally seperate RX7 show that was on hand to celebrate 7′s day.  Lot’s more to come!  Huge thanks to Sekinei and Kingery for grabbing coverage.

Another draw of Motor Games was the World Time Attack Challenge Japan, which was a spin off of the famous WTAC Australia that’s coming up later this year.  There were four classes, but I’m not sure that all were filled.  From what it looked like, the heavy hitters used this day as a test and tune; especially because conditions weren’t ideal for Attack.  There was heavy rain before the weekend, and on Saturday, as you can see from this video that Andrew Brilliant took of Under’s giant rooster tail.

The highlight of this portion was of course the ‘unveiling’ of Under Suzuki’s new aero.  To say he had bad luck last year at WTAC would be an understatement, and with the help of a couple extremely talented people and a ‘brilliant’ aerodynamicist, he is looking to redeem himself this year.  Sekinei had the chance to chat with him a bit, and it seems like he really wants to keep the details of the rear end of the car under wraps until after WTAC.  I’m sure they came up with some very clever ideas, and don’t want the competition to see.  So, unfortunately, I won’t be posting any detailed shots of the car, but just overall profiles.  That shot above is probably the closest you’ll get from us.  I’m not sure if other sites will post, but I hope not; we will respect his wishes.  There was a picture of the rear floating around on Facebook yesterday, but I don’t think it was too detailed; even so, if you come across it, please don’t repost it.  I want to see Under do very well in Australia this year.

The entire car has really gone through a transformation in the past few months though; especially compared to the last time I saw it in person at Evome in the beginning of 2013…

…here.  I thought it was advanced then for a privateer.  He’s taken it to an entirely new level now though.

Under and his mechanics were assembling the car and making final adjustments throughout the morning.

With Under stopping for the occasional interview with what appears to be a very attractive MSC personality.

When everything was buttoned up and the car was back on the ground, Under adorned his race suit and took to the circuit.

Although this was a real event, I think many of the top class used it as an open day for testing, as he was not going 100%.  This is a good shot of the louvers on the hood and fenders reflecting in the clouded sun.

Awesome profile.

It seemed like there was an endless amount of ZE40′s wrapped in Advans laying around the garage.

The Scorch S15 wasn’t the only one in attendance however, although it garned most of the attention.  RE Amemiya brought out his Hurricane FD that is set to compete again.

The new Enkei RS05RR’s look amazing.  I wish they made them in a 17″ size!

Maybe not quite as evolved as Under’s car, but we can see a few changes.

This F40 took to the circuit as well.

Good luck in Australia!

Our partners over at Garage Mak put on a very impressive display at Motor Games last weekend at Fuji.  Amemiya’s S15 looked particularly great on the new Enkei RS05RR.

その後、程なくして、Formura Driftの写真。午前の予選が終わり、Offset Kingの会場へBakkyさんにあって、彼のS15の写真をパチリ。相変わらずかっこいいです。そこで

RWBのMr,Ichirakuさん達とLunchしました。ありがとうございます。

S15 Revolution kit with carbon rear overs.

I always refer to Baki and Amemiya as the Garage Mak twins, but their cars are actually completely different from one another.

While the exterior is similar, the two builds took very different approaches, with Baki’s S15 taking more ques from time attack cars.  Stripped interior and a much more lightweight approach than Amemiya’s full interior.

If you want more info on this car you should really go pick up the newest Import Tuner.  There’s a great article on this car in the current (and last) issue.

Friend of the NDF.

The third, if not fourth (white Z33), demo car of Garage Mak is the S13 of Mr. Seki.  It’s really too bad they don’t produce this kit anymore as it is one of the best kits available for the S13, rivaling GP Sports.  Those two kits are in a league of their own.

Seki drifts his car on a regular basis, but still maintains a comfortable interior.

Seriously one of the best all around show of cars at the Offset Kings event.  I’m working on processing some RX7 day shots from Fuji at the moment – I’ll try to get them up tonight as well.
Cheers!

July 7th marks a day in Japan that RX7 owners and enthusiasts rejoice almost religiously.  It’s a day of celebration of a lineage of car that has had an impact on this world rivaling any other; the Mazda RX7.  From a motor sport stand point, the RX7 introduced an entirely new way of tuning and made it almost common place.  The Wankel engine, was first adapted to an automotive application by Mazda in the late 60′s for use in their Cosmos 110S.  It wasn’t until the late 70′s when the first of the RX7 line was introduced  (the SA22C Savanna RX7) again in the form of the ever-popular 13b.  While the SA22 may not be the most popular chassis today, it’s not arguable that the FC and FD are amongst the most popular cars that Mazda has ever produced; especially in motor sport.

Amongst the other 7′s meetings that were taking place that week, one was held the weekend of Motor Games at Fuji Speedway.  The celebration of the Mazda car brought out many really cool built variations, like the Active built FC.

Which happens to have some of the most intense door bars I’ve ever seen.

Pretty cool, carbon backed cluster made from various Defi gauges.  His steering wheel reminds me of mine…

The infamous RS Pantera built FC was in attendance as well.  This is, to date, one of my favorite FC builds to come out of Japan.

Stripped interior, with dash escape bolt-in, still maintaining a head unit for those days where traffic is heavy on the Tomei…which is every day.

After it’s short stint on circuit, the RE Amemiya Hurricane made it’s way over to join in the celebration.

The Enkei RS05RR’s surrounding the custom AP Racing brakes nicely.

Good view of the massive end plates.

Our friend Ume-chan and his all too similar FD – CSG’s #1 fan I think （笑）

Fam Speed FD

Quite an array of gauges!

Ventus TD; as if you weren’t sure if this car was tracked.

Nice FD with the RE Amemiya 997 conversion and a set of lambo doors.

Yasuhiro-san’s Auto Rescue FD.

That’s it for now ~ !

A month or so ago Maruyama-san had got together with Sekinei and organized a Civic meet at Daikoku PA that was to be held last weekend.  The original idea came about because of Maruyama-san’s participation at the ‘Glow De Fever’ meet that Hara-san organized for the Attack guys.  It was nothing big, but he wanted to get some friends together to take some photos, and since Sekinei would be there, they’d have an opportunity to get some shots on the C1 and K6.  Kuni, Saito and a couple other Kanto region guys came out, as well as my personal idol Toshihiko-san with his turbo EK, and a few other friends.  Seemed like they all had a good time blasting through the C1!  Check out more below.

きっかけは、”Glow De fever” の 際に丸山さんから、今度、Civicのmeeting があるので、来てください！ と誘われたのが始まりで、丸山さんからお誘いを受けて、大黒ＰＡに集合しました。

Kanjoと言えば、大阪環状　Ｃ１と言えば首都高環状線。　どちらも長い歴史があり、 私　Sekineiは幸いにも全盛期を知っている世代に育った。 どちらかと言えば、走り屋でも、関東では大きく分けて、 「ゼロヨン」 「首都高（Ｃ１）」 「湾岸最高速」 「　ドリフト（湾岸と峠と住み分けがされていた様な。。）」 「峠グリップ」こんな感じでカテゴリー分けされていたと思う。だけど、大阪は細かいカテゴリー分けされていたのか、よくわからない。 だけど、大阪＝環状　と言った様な感じで、一番に浮かんでくる。 大阪環状を走ると分かるが、ものすごくオービスが多い気がする。 仕事で何回か走ったのですが、そんな所に環状族の息吹を感じていた。

今回、丸山さんのお誘いでそんな「息吹」を感じる事が出来た。 大黒ＰＡに到着すると、Civicだらけ！！ 環状スタイル、スタンス、痛車など、様々なスタイルのCivicが！ だけど、残念ながら騒音のせいで、大黒閉鎖でみな散り散りに。。。。 ですが、皆で海ほたるに場所を移動してイベントの継続。

その道中でローリングショットをする事にしました。参加ありがとうございました。 その中でも、参加して頂いてとても光栄だったのが、 「花売り太郎　氏」　のPurple のAE86 首都高Ｃ１Ｌｏｏｐ　の生き字引。 雑誌　ＣＡＲ　ＢＯＹの読者なら皆さん存じてる筈です。 また、環状スタイルの様々なCivicが列をなしていてとても壮観でした。 海ほたるに到着して、丸山さんと、花売り氏で色々とお話させて頂きました。

ありがとうございます。また機会がありましたら、是非誘って下さい。 またやりましょう！！

Another shot of Toshi’s EK; which I’ve personally been referring to for a few years as ‘The EK’.

Familiar Daikoku scene.

Of course, all Hondas were welcome.  The DB8 looked very nice.

Gotomo-kun and his SiR – one of the few kanjo guys that came out from the Kanto area.

Was really into this EK on SSR Longchamp XR-4Z’s – awesome look, heavy wheel though.  The full C-West aero is of course, standard.

Couple more shots of Toshi’s EK and his engine bay.

EK9 on TE37′s and a good amount of random aero.

Maruyama and friends.

Kuni-san’s EK.

Saito-san’s EF

After an hour or so of chatting and relaxing, everyone was a bit ancy to go driving, so with the Highway Star at the lead they took off out of Daikoku…

…bound for the Aqualine.

Maruyama-san’s Zero Fighter EK looking right at home amongst industrial backdrop of Yokohama.

Really cool EK with a pretty unique vented hood and really cool aero…

Hiroaki-san and his Idemitsu Kosan livery EG.

Toshi and his wife cruising through.

Getting closer to Umihotaru as they enter the Aqaualine with Kuni in the front.

With Gotomo following behind – and behind him is the mysterious Florist Taro 86 ~ Ryouiti-san!  Always C1 running, a legend that has more history than most know.

Reaching the destination of Umihotaru.

Stopping for a brief moment for a coffee or something cool and caffeinated I’m sure, before heading home, as it was already well past 1 am.

Seeing this parked nearby is almost akin to seeing a Great White Shark swimming amongst a school of flounders or something.  Almost as if it was asking if they were lost…this is the C1 remember? hahaha

In the empty back lot of Fuji Speedway, interceding between the rolling green hills and the cloud engulfed mountains, we encountered this lone NSX; parked almost as if to add to the beautiful Japanese landscape.

上杉 治憲 (Uesugi Harunori), a Japanese Daimyo of the Azizuki clan, king of samurai, was quoted as once saying, “なせばなる”; in English, “If you take action, it will become.”  It’s an excerpt taken from a poem written by Harunori himself in the Edo period:

為せば成る
為さねば成らぬ何事も
成らぬは人の為さぬなりけり

‘If you try, you may succeed.
If you don’t try, you will not succeed. This is true for of all things.
Not succeeding is the result of not trying.’

Not many people achieve great things; but you’ll never know if you’re among them if you don’t try.  They say you never finish 100% of the things you don’t start – and rightly so. For some, it’s often not a lack of will, but a lack of focus.  Nothing to concentrate their resolve to, or to jump headfirst into.  This is quite the opposite for Tomoki-san though…

For 25 years Suwa Tomoki has been completely taken by the Corolla 86.  At the impressionable age of 20, Tomoki-san remembers seeing the drifting taking place at Shinkiba and being totally captured by the performance of the 86.  Of all the cars he saw; the Supra, Skyline, FC, the S13…the 86 stood out to him as being the fastest in drift.  So, in an almost predictable Japanese fashion, he purchased his first Corolla very soon after and dove head first into the immense world of the 86.

For the past 20 years, Tomoki has been driving, building, working on, and racing his 86’s.  After owning more than 15 of them, he has come to collectively pool all of his knowledge into the car you see here.  Long before Battle Evome, long before Attack, there existed a series of timed, one make races known as Cashew.  Beginning nearly 14 years ago, Tomoki competed in this series of racing in his various 86’s;  along side him, Takumi Iwata of Garage Work fame – for the 7 years in this series, he has tried to one-up his now good friend Iwata.  You couldn’t script a better dogfight; NA EG6 vs. NA 86…Both master’s of their machines, it’s as if the battle was decided long before they met.

As Cashew faded, Tomoki competed in Hot Version N2 races, and Procrews events honing his skills, all with one goal in mind; to break the one-minute barrier at Tsukuba’s TC2000 and to catch up to his now rival Iwata-san.  A goal that he’s since achieved, and then some.

With a personal best of 58.254 seconds at TC2000, he not only destroyed his goal of breaking the one minute mark, but he is a blink of an eye away from matching Iwata-san’s speed (Iwata ran a 58.13 at the Attack event earlier this year).

It’s been a long journey to get there though.  The result of that journey, is what you see before you.

The morning sun of Tsukuba rises to wash over the tangible amalgamation of his life’s work…

…A collaboration of Tomoki’s knowledge, and the skill of a good friend Hisada Shunichi; owner of T’s Factory.  One of the fastest AE86’s in existence.

Utilizing a circuit setup of 225/45-16 all around, this is an extremely well-balanced example of the type of potential that can be had of the AE86 without having to go overboard.  The results, in my opinion, speak for themselves.

Taking a similar lightweight focused approach, Suwa is able to reduce the weight of the car to a mere 740 kilograms.  Again, extremely comparable to Iwata-san’s EG.  Not to overpower the chassis, the fully built, high revving 4AG has been bumped up to a respectable 209 horsepower.  About 30 shy of what Iwata’s EG is making.

The car’s exterior has been riddled with aerodynamic pieces to help aid in maintaining grip around track, and creates a rather aggressive look as a by-product; quite the contrast to Suwa’s cheerful appearance.  They even park together ^^

On circuit though, the cheerfulness drops, and it’s 100% attack.

Hard on the brakes and soft back onto the throttle headed into turn 4; the first of the hairpins.

The glorious sound of the straight piped exhaust resonates around TC2000 as the engine tirelessly revs past the 9k mark, propelling Suwa around the course.

Full concentration.  Unlike other motor sport, you cannot recover from a mistake in Attack.  One mis-shift, one missed apex, and your lap is destroyed.

Get it right however, and the feeling is unmatchable.

For now, the rivalry between the two friends will continue.  As Suwa inches ever closer to matching Iwata’s time, they both continue to develop their unique weapons; Suwa to close the gap, and Iwata to further himself as the NA champion of Tsukuba.  Great friendships sometimes make for the best competitions,  but either way you define the two, they are champions in their own right.  We owe much to people such as Tomoki for pushing the bounds of tuning in such a niche environment, and we can learn a lot from it.

I can’t wait to see what’s in store for the next season of Time Attack in Japan, and you can bet we’ll be on hand to follow it all.

Like Harunori said, ‘You can’t succeed unless you try’, and there is no doubt that Suwa is giving it all he’s got.

Sekinei stopped by Daikoku this past weekend for the first time in quite awhile.  It just so happens that Idjiri-san and his friend ‘Sardony’ had cruised through as well.  I’ve posted a few pictures from Idjiri’s Minkara on our Facebook page before; everyone seems to love his blue NSX.  This white one hasn’t changed too much since I last saw it, however he does have a new wing.  This car, in my humble opinion, is the end all.  I’ve been staring at this above photo for a good 10 minutes straight, and I can’t find a single aesthetic thing wrong with the car.  I’m looking forward to possibly shooting this car in the coming months; stay tuned for that.  In the meantime, enjoy the Encounter.

いぢりさん ~

Unicorn party.

It seems like such a long time ago, although it was only a few months, that Sekinei and I made the quick drive up to the Misato area to visit Zest Racing.  Zest is a small tuning shop in the Saitama area owned by Mr. Yamazaki-san.  Yamazaki is responsible for quite a bit of engineering behind Hara-san’s FD; something most people don’t know.  Actually, the majority of the work done on the car is done here.  When we arrived, he was working on a new canard set up on the aforementioned FD.

Soon after we arrived, Yamazaki-san went down to the driveway and got us some coffees from the vending machine, and while Sekinei and Hara-san talked, I wandered around the garage and pried Yamazaki for information on all the cool stuff he had lying around; like a magnesium Mugen valve cover he had stuffed under a table.

Hara’s FD looked pretty cool sitting in the shop.

I took the opportunity to have Yamazaki put the whole front end back on the FD so we could shoot the car; the shots eventually ended up in Import Tuner.  I still can’t believe how this car blew up in the states.  Seems like since I posted the shots of the car at the Winter Cafe, everyone fell in love with it.  Now all of a sudden people are slanging the CSG taillights in North America, which is totally cool for Ken and Hara-san.  I’ll stick to the attack side of things though, as you all know I’m not much on the show stuff.

Mr. Yamazaki mounting up the splitter extensions.  Yamazaki has been in the industry for quite some time, starting out in the late 80’s modifying a variety of cars.  In 1999, he began focusing more on time attack builds and customers who focused on weekend racing, so to speak.  Finally, just last year in 2013, he branched off on his own and opened up Zest; a shop which devotes Yamazaki’s full experience to date to create a new future of tuning.

I thought about releasing a canvas of this shot here, as I really think it captures the whole essence of the car; driver and builder.  I may still do it if I find the time.

It was a whole production just to get the car out of the shop…it was actually quite amusing.

That flatbed truck actually belongs to the G-Eyes shop, which is located right next to Zest.  It’s also, coincidentally, where my good friend Nao-san built their Taikyu MR2 (SW20).

Just a few centimeters shy.

I love how, in Japan, some of the coolest shops are located in the most obscure neighborhoods.

Driving around Misato, scouting for some locations.

I shot this sticking out of the Highway Star’s sunroof.  Good times.

If by chance you found yourself driving on the Hachioji Highway in Kitamachi, West Yokohama, there’s a possibility that you may catch sight of a bright red building in your peripheral vision.  This building, although by its outer appearance may seem a bit uninteresting, is actually a haven of unique automotive modification you’d be hard pressed to find elsewhere, and that’s precisely why it was my destination that afternoon.

Hesitantly leaving the sanctuary of the air conditioned van, we were immediately greeted with an unseasonably sharp heat; almost as if the sun had an increased need for people to notice it that day.  Sato was parking a flatbed opposite us as we approached.  As he jumped down from the cab to meet us you could see right away that he is different than most well-known shop owners in Japan. The sternness of his neutral expression faded instantaneously when he smiled as he turned to see his new visitors.

The transmission broke!”, he said in a somewhat light-hearted, yet disappointing tone that seems to only be portrayed correctly in Japanese. It took me a second to realize he was referring to the Evolution that he had just unloaded that his two employees, Nabeshima and Sekita, were now maneuvering into the back of the shop.  As he explained that this particular EVO 9 is probably the 5th or 6th fastest street EVO in Japan, the lack of worry in his voice made sense now; this sort of thing happens often when you tune cars at the level Sato does.

Over the past eight years, Kazuhiro Sato, or ‘Kaz’ for short, owner of Unlimited Works, has been tuning Evolutions in a way specific to his ideals; ideals that have helped him to achieve the bragging rights of having the fastest street Evolution in Japan.  Tired of tuning cars to specifications in a biased manner, and always putting numbers first, Sato made the decision to branch out on his own in the summer of 2006.  Believing that you shouldn’t have to sacrifice drivability and comfort for speed, he opened up Unlimited Works with his two right hand men.  Concentrating on knowing exactly what their customer’s requirements are, they form a relationship with them not unlike many other shops; a relationship that allows them to enjoy the experience of tuning together.  As an example he mentioned working with a recent customer wanting a very large turbo, “It’s no good to install a turbo that will give bad response with a street car.  Because it is the owner’s car, the owner will drive; they are not pro driver.”  So, in working closely with the customer they are able to accommodate their needs in the most efficient and safe manner.

Although this may seem as a sacrifice in some ways, you’d be wrong to interpret these ideals as a way of holding back.  Just because Unlimited Works’ final power numbers are lower than other Evo shops in Japan, does not mean that they are slower on track.  Kaz is quick to point out this out when discussing the ‘competition’.
“Look at the lap times! Look at their lap times!” he excitedly denounced when discussing another well-known shop that which, for the sake of diplomacy, will remain nameless (*cough*G-Force*cough*).

Sato’s philosophy of ‘Drivability, above all’ has been proven with his personal build time and time again.  His EVO 6, which has taken the title of fastest street-registered EVO in Japan, consistently runs low 56 second lap times at the proving grounds of Tsukuba’s TC2000.  If that wasn’t significant enough, it may be worth point out that the car is still comfortable enough to drive to and from the track.  This is testament to why he chose to make a career out of the Evolution line to begin with.  If that isn’t enough, then one just need to advert their gaze to the dozens of trophies displayed in Sato’s office.  Everything from Time Attack events, to Endurance races; cars built by Unlimited Works have placed in all.

This of course, being said fastest EVO.

Seen here at Tsukuba last year being driven by none other than Sato himself.

 
Along with their knowledge in tuning Evo’s, over the past several years they have been hard at work developing various in-house products to offer as well.  Exhausts, Manifolds, various turbo packages, and even a handful of suspension pieces now bear the Unlimited Works name and quality.  They’ve also had their hands on some pretty high profile builds as well.  I’m sure you’ve all heard of the Cyber Evo, but it’s very unlikely that you knew the shop behind its build.  That’s right; Unlimited Works played a crucial role in the build of the iconic time attack Evolution including all the maintenance and ECU development throughout its active tenure on circuit.

The upstairs office and showroom is filled with various products and little ‘Anrima’ trinkets.

Various fluids and automotive cleaners.

Custom transmissions.

Line up of GCG turbo packages.

Boss man’s desk.

 
It’s rare these days to find someone as enthusiastic as Kaz.  He is so adamant of the functionality of the Evolution chassis that, in his own words, “…they are fast, cheap and unbreakable.  They can be used in the comfort of daily life and yet be fast on track.  The effect of tuning is large. It is my favorite car, I am in love.”  I guess you could say his dedication to this particular automotive lineage is truly, Unlimited.

“Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity.” – HVD

Henry Van Dyke was an American pastor in the 1800’s, of course, back when Time Attack didn’t exist (well, save for horse racing; which I suppose is a sort of time attack.  Actually, now that I think of it, it is some form of time attack).  Anyway, no motorized sport was really going on then.  Despite that though, he did have a solid grasp on the importance of time and how it can affect different people.  It’s no secret that some value time more than others, and that time is not equal to all.

Those who value time though, have a better idea of what it means.  It’s the most valuable asset that any man can spend, and to those who understand that, to those who have a passion, it can be spent achieving great things.

58.114 seconds.  A time so insignificant to the majority of people that we don’t even blink an eye at it.  Even those who get that time is valuable, wouldn’t really think of anything under a minute as significant.  There are a select few though, who beg to differ.  People like Ozaki Mitsuyoshi, the owner of this Evo, who by trade goes by Totomaru.  People like Mitsuyoshi, who will put in countless late nights and long days to gain just a hundredth of a second track.

58.114 seconds.  Mitsuyoshi’s personal best on TC2000, a hundredth shy of 57.

Those who compete in the Battle Evome, and Attack series; these are among the rare people who truly understand time; Mr. Totomaru being no exception.  Starting with his iconic pink, circuit built Evo RS VI, he’s made a name for himself in the time attack circuit as being among the fastest.  Eventually working his way up to the need to upgrade to the EVO VIII you see here.

On this cold January morning at Tsukuba, during the second Evome event of this year, he clocked his personal best at TC2000.  If I recall correctly, there were quite a few people who broke their own records that day; conditions were good.

Take into consideration a 2’04.655 lap time at Autopolis in his CT9A and you have one formidable time attack competitor – keeping in mind that Autopolis is very unfamiliar to those out of Kyushu.

A few things had changed since I last saw this EVO. Although the Voltex wide-body had been somewhat unchanged, some changes had been made aesthetically; namely the green tinted carbon.  The diffuser, wing element, hood and front splitter (all carbon pieces), had been tinted in a green hue.  Somewhat insignificant, but it gave the car the a much more unique look.

It certainly didn’t detract from the aggressiveness of the car; especially with the wing element rising above roof-line.

Looks just as good on track as well.  Just as we’d expect from someone who has been building and driving EVO’s for years.

As he heads out for the first session of the day, fully aware of his goal, there is no doubt that the importance of time plays on Mitsuyoshi’s mind.

Putting all other matters in the furthest reaches of his mind, focusing only on the present, he attacks the circuit.  Taking each second as it passes, doing all he can to push the limits of both himself and his machine.  One minute of clarity, a moment of violent peace.

A moment in time that can be appreciated for what it is.

I look forward to what this next season of time attack has to store for Mitsuyoshi-san, and I have no doubt that he can break into the 57’s this upcoming season.  I wish him the best of luck ~

Super Now; an eccentric parts company located in Saitama that focuses mainly on the RX7 and rotary components, but dabbles in many other platforms.  To the average enthusiast, probably not the most familiar name when it comes to Japanese tuners, but one that those in the know would never fail to mention – especially in the Attack scene.  In fact, you’d be hard pressed to find an FD or FC running Tsukuba that isn’t using Super Now arms.

This company, led by Mr. Yoshiaki Imaizumi, may have made a name for themselves in RX7 parts, but that doesn’t stop them from enjoying other chassis’s.  Take Imaizumi-san’s GT3 RS seen here barreling into turn 1 of TC2000.

While he hasn’t starting making parts for Porsche yet, it doesn’t stop him from exploring what the car is capable of on track.

Check out him ripping up Sendai Highland’s below -