There are a select few cars that, despite my frequency in traveling to Japan, always seem to elude me. Most of the time it’s due to a geographical hardship, as I’m often in the same parts of the country time and time again.
Tag: FD
Encounter: Shark Attack – Hiroyuki’s Naturally Aspirated FD3S
In a clutch drive at the end of last year, Hiroyuki ‘Shark’ Iiri set a new track record for the naturally aspirated, rear-wheel drive class with a blistering 55.887 lap around TC2000. Considering that this project hasn’t been in development for very long in comparison to some other builds gives you an idea of both the talent that Hiroyuki has behind the wheel, and the people involved in making this car what it is. I’m looking forward to getting some time in Hyogo this month to talk to him about the car a little more in-depth. For now enjoy some photos from the record-breaking day.
Encounter: Nakashima’s Off-Season FD3S
It’s been awhile since we’ve come across Nakashima and his red FD. No stranger to Attack and Evome events, Tomo has been competing in the Japan based time attack events in his RX-7 for years now. Stumbled across here in a Saitama parking lot, you can see a couple obvious changes since last year. New GT wing element, and Craft Square mirrors replace the Ganadors that were once affixed to the doors. Carbon side strakes line the skirts and help tie together the front and rear aero of the car. Looks a lot more aggressive!
Feature: The Pleasure of Drive – CCE FD3S
In the furthest Southeastern part of the Saitama prefecture lies the small commuter town of Misato City. The suburb that serves as home to many employees of Tokyo, also serves as the headquarters for CCE; a fairly new, by some standards, tuning shop that offers a one-stop option for a variety of cars. The president, Yoshihiro Nakamura, chose this FD3S to serve as the companies flagship build. It’s gone through minor changes each year for the past several years, but I think that it’s current state is one that strikes a good balance between street and track; a goal that many enthusiasts in Japan strive for.
Close-Up: Masaki Kitajo – Craft Company’s Flagship
I ran into Masaki this weekend at the second round of Battle Evome at Tsukuba Circuit. He was not driving his shops demo car, however, but his street ‘practice’ Porsche 996. On radials, he had hoped to get a still respectable 1’05.000 out of the German made sports car (and if I recall correctly he ended up lapping in the 1’03 range). We made small talk about his drive to Tsukuba from Kobe, and the day’s unseasonably warm weather. The conversation didn’t linger on the day’s drive for too long though, and I soon changed the subject to that of his flagship build; the Craft Company FD3S.
Close-Up: Atsushi Shimaya’s Endless FD3S
Out of the thousands of cars at TAS, it’s always exciting to see, in person, a car you’ve followed online for years. Every once in awhile a build will snowball into something so involved that it makes you wonder if the end result was ever really envisioned. A perfect example of this is Atsushi Shimaya’s FD3S.
Encounter: ワッキーメイトFD3S
Exciting Car Sports indeed, Wacky Mate. Expand to see more of the WM FD3S take on Fuji Speedway to the tune of 1’51.759.
Encounter: アドバンステクニカル FD3S
As you know by now, Advance builds their shop cars specifically to take on Fuji Circuit. Their FD, which they’ve been developing for some time now, is hands down the shop’s fastest build. It’s able to lap Fuji Speedway in a very respectable 1’56; a lap time most street cars can’t touch.
Close-Up: Mister ヮ タ ヮ タ’s Dogfight FD
I’d say that, after three years of attending Evome, the one thing I really get excited for is seeing everyone again, as well as meeting new friends. The privateer ‘Attack’ season in Japan is such a short lived experience each year that my time with the drivers is fairly brief. This is somewhat of a Catch 22 because while it does make each encounter much more special, I end up having to divide my time between talking to people and photographing the hour long event; and with just 3-4 Evome events a year, my time becomes very limited (especially not living in Japan).
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…
Feature: The Pan Speed FD – Reborn
The last time I saw this car was literally a year ago; and I can tell you, it looked nothing like this. Yes, this is the same FD chassis that PanSpeed commissioned last year at HKS Premium Day, except that this year the car has gone through quite a cosmetic transformation. Actually, you can see it’s previous reiteration here. Over the course of last year, the car was stripped of it’s exterior and fitted with an entirely new aero kit that PanSpeed has been developing. I know this is a bit late in the day, but I finally stopped fiddling with my new audio equipment that I got for the new Podcast long enough to get the article out.
Feature: Deep Grip RE – Tomo’s Circuit-Bred FD
Saitama native Nakashima Tomoyoshi, or Tomo for short, is an avid fan of the RX-7. Unique in many ways, the car has stolen his attention for better half of several years. Before he built the FD you see here, Tomo was the proud owner of a white Savanna FC.
Feature: ネギ Shooting In Gunma – テクニカルオートワンズ
Well, this post has been a long time coming! Hard to believe it was about 8 months I ago that I made the trek out to Gunma to shoot Takahashi’s FD for Super Street. Now that the magazine has been off the stands for awhile, I think it’s about time I post up some new and behind the scene shots that weren’t used in the magazine. To be honest I’ve been so caught up with other coverage and work in general that I forgot all about posting some shots. I ran into Takahashi at the last Battle Evome and it reminded me I had these shots just sitting around. He was at the event supporting the Wood Village S30, as he had just completed some work on it.
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).
Wallpaper: Pro Shop Fukuoh Upshift – HKS Day 2015
With another weekend trip to Japan under my belt this month, I’m finally back home for the night. Yeah that’s right, for the night. I have to wake up tomorrow and fly to Dallas […]
One Shot: アイエスオートＦＤ３Ｓ
AS Auto is an outfit out of Saitama that sells highly modified sports cars; not unlike their demo car seen here at TC2000. Good style, fast speed.
One Shot: 青木さんのFD3S – Tuning Fest
Most of my attention next week will be geared towards processing my recent shoot with Garage Mak and Baki’s NDF Link car, but I’ll do my best to get some coverage up from the […]
Event: Private Testing At Ebisu With The CSG
Last week the CSG boys and a couple friends rented out the Nishi course at Ebisu for some testing. Mainly so Hara-san could test out the new HKS transmission […]
Encounter: Tatsukuro-san’s TFR Blessed FD3S
No stranger to a variety of cars, S15, Altezza, JZX100, (even the FD, having owned one before this) just to name a few, Muraki Tatsuhiko has more experience than most when it comes to how different […]
Event: 7’s Meeting Fuji Speedway
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 […]
Event: Motor Games 2014 – Scorched Fuji
ピットの端まで来るとUnder Suzukiさんの S15 BodykitをUpgradeなさったので、是非とも取材したかったのですが、Except Rear aeroeffectのみ写真OKとの事だから、RearはWTAC Australiaまで 秘密にしてとの事なので、Detailはありません。 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 […]
Event: Motor Games 2014 – FD Japan V.1
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 […]
One Shot: An Afternoon In Misato
I decided to run through some of the unused shots from the shoot I did with Hara-san that was featured in last months Import Tuner issue. I’ll have some time throughout the weekend […]
One Shot: テクニカルオートワンズFD – Evome Profile
With the second part of our Garage Work Feature being posted tonight (still finishing the processing), I think it acts as a good segway to restart our Evome profile series back up starting with […]
Event: HKS Premium Day 2014 – Hiper Challenge
The first on-circuit event of the day was the Hiper Challenge; an event open to those amateur’s and privateers. Despite that fact though, there were quite a few cars that got very close […]
Event: HKS Premium Day 2014 – The Paddock V.2
So we’ll continue the delayed NDF coverage of HKS Premium Day 2014 with a walk-through of the garages at Fuji. While the majority of the Hyper Challenge cars pitted in one of the main […]
Feature: Battle Evome’s Wild Heart – Tommy’s FD3S
There is a feeling that some have experienced that is as nerve racking as it is exhilarating. Some may crumble under it, feed off of it; becoming stronger, faster. A sort of pressure that brings […]
Encounter: パン・スピードアタック! – The Pan Speed FD3S
Pan Speed. In the realm of rotary tuning, very few names come before it. They are top tier; specialists in their territory. Their flagship car, seen here, is iconic in both build and […]
Site News: Select Canvas Prints – Time Limited Release
I’m very excited to finally be able to release these after working to perfect them for the last month. When I offer something with the NDF name attached to it, I want to be […]
Feature: クラフトカンパニー企画 – Masaki Kitajo’s CCFD3S
In the Hyogo prefecture just Northwest of Osaka, is an industrial city named Amagasaki. A mid sized city known for it’s manufacturing contributions to the Hanshin Industrial Region, and funny enough, the home to Formula […]
Encounter: R-Magic FD – みんカラミーティング
みんカラミーティングで、プロスタッフR-Magicデモカーありました。 このホイールがR-Magic TE37です。 あの日の天機がいいでした。
Encounter: Bayshore Blackout – Shibaura FD3S
The boys cruised through Shibaura PA this weekend to chase after a few cars they saw at Tatsumi earlier in the night. This FD was one of the more interesting ones. Our friend Riyouiti-san […]
Encounter: Muraki Tatsuhiko FD – The Dark Horse
Tatsuhiko’s all black FD sure made a presence at Tsukuba on this cold Sunday morning. A menacing profile that was backed up by sub one minute lap times around TC2000. The buddy club QF’s […]
One Shot: RE 雨宮ﾄﾞﾗえもんRX7
Aoki’s Doraemon themed, RE equipped FD.
Feature: Misa-Chan R-Magic FD3S “Blacky”
Meet Misa. Misa was showing her car at the Minkara Meeting and after discussing it a bit with her, I knew I had to make a post on it. I’m not sure what everyone will […]
Event: NDF Winter Cafe 2013 V.3
Well, I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend. It feels like I was away for quite a long time; sorry for the lack of updates. I’ll pick up from the break with the last […]
Encounter: Direzza Challenge – Dreamworks FD3S
Dreamworks built FD being prepped for a run around TC2000… A nice departure from the aero saturated Evome series – not that you ever need a break from that…
Event: NDF Winter Cafe 2013 V.2
Well, I suppose I’ll just dive into the second part of the NDF Winter Cafe; my apologies on the wait, work has been pretty busy since I returned (If you missed it, check out […]
Desktop: 早朝ドライブ – Sunrise Japan
There’s something incredibly peaceful about dawn; a time of limited movement, of still air, a time of recollection. A perfect time to drive out to your favorite location to watch the sun rise. Head […]
Close Up: R Ma g ic まる号 vs. 夢工房 NISMO 180SX
The R Magic FD3S, and the Dream Works RPS13, both incredible in their own right, however, there is really no comparing the two. Different manufacturer, different chassis, engine, power output, one runs a good […]