Tag: Esprit

Read More

Encounter: Mitsuyoshi At Suzuka – S-Complete 320 Onevia

I ran into Mitsuyoshi at Suzuka Circuit late January during the Attack event after not having seen him or his car for some time.  Having a background in drifting has given him a strong grasp of car control, and now with a car that’s becoming finely tuned, his lap times have been getting very quick.

Read More

Gallery: A Recipe For Suzuka – Esprit JZA80

Esprit has always been a shop that prides itself on building cars of all varieties.  Regardless of the make or model, they will take a customers idea, or a demo car, and make it into something that excels in both performance and aesthetics.  So when Sugimori Takuya propsoed the idea to build a JZA80 strictly to attack Suzuka Circuit, the shop embraced the challenge with open arms.  The end result is a 2900 pound, 800 horsepower power house that runs 2’04.4’s at Mie’s home track.

Read More

Encounter: The Fuji Blues – Esprit’s New Look

The Kakimoto NSX wasn’t the only Honda at Fuji this month that’s received a facelift; Esprit was on hand with their NSX, now in special blue edition.  Like so many other competitors this day though, they were not to see any track time around the Speedway.  Inclement weather doesn’t bode well for fast track times, and certainly doesn’t allow opportunity for accurate testing.  So Esprit let their car rest in the paddock, devoid of canards and engine cover, while they waited for the weather to pass.  Sekinei strolled over to their garage to snap a few shots.

Read More

Feature: Tsukuba Revisited – Tomizawa’s Wild Heart

As I sit in front of my gate at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport, with the hopes (although very little) of catching an earlier flight back to California, my mind can’t help but wander back towards days that I enjoy more than those of which I spend inside the depths of US airports; which I relate now more or less to that of a colony of bees.  Filled to the brim with people going about their every which way, connecting to cities across the expanse of the Earth, each with a unique task to complete (varying in importance).  The days on my mind? Those of which are spent in Japan, at the circuits which I’ve grown all too comfortable being at…

Read More

Close-Up: The Circuit Scalpel – Esprit’s NSX

On many occasions, probably due to lack of my creativity, I’ve written excerpts on this site comparing certain managerial techniques to a variety of car builds.  That may or may not have something to do with my education and work background in the business sector, but I feel it’s something I can comfortably relate to.  These topics, at surface level, I would imagine to be somewhat obscure on an automotive website.  The truth of the matter is, in almost all regards, the processes discussed are very much applicable to time attack builds.  The practice of Continual Improvement is one such business practice, and in the realm of time attack, not many shops demonstrate this practice better than Esprit in the ongoing development of their NSX.

Read More

Event: HKS Premium Day 2015 – Assault on Fuji

 

There I found myself; laying on the ground, the unmistakably cold chill of the natural wooden planks pressed against my warm back, staring blankly at the clouds drifting lazily overhead.  I slowly closed my eyes, ignoring the incredulous stares from the other men in the room, relaxing my exceedingly overworked muscles.  As the cool breeze consumes my elevated body temperature, and a somewhat effervescent steam radiates from my naked body, I couldn’t help but let my mind wander – recollecting upon the events of the day.  It had been a long one, I thought to myself, and ending the day with a trip to an onsen was nothing short of perfect (I realize that introduction has very little to do with the event, but I thought it was notably humorous).

Event: Tokyo Auto Salon 2011 v.5

.

I have a feeling this last installment is going to be filled with R35 goodness.  Mine’s, Endless, HKS, Option; they all had GT-R’s on display, and they were all fantastic.  For a closer look at the Mine’s built GT-R pictured above, check out Taka’s video @ JDM Clips.  This thing is pushing out near 800hp.  Although this may be the last ‘walk around’ TAS post, I’ll have a few more specific shots coming soon however.  It’s kind of sad to see it come to an end.  Click past the break to see more of the final coverage post from Tokyo Auto Salon.