About a week after arriving in Japan, I received a message from my good friend Tsubaki. Since I photographed his S15 for Import Tuner back in 2014, we’ve always made sure to stay in touch as the years pass.
Tag: R35
Video: Visiting Garage Mak in Nagano – S15 Type 6 Delivery
This past weekend I headed to Nagano to photograph my friend Tsubaki’s new S15 delivery. He had the car fixed and fitted with the new Garage Mak Type 6 front end. While I was there, we take a close look at Amemiya’s 1,000+hp S15 at the shop, and I also took some photographs of our friend Masato’s DIY S13.
Gallery: Shark Attack – Auto Select GTRs
For over 30 years now, Eiichiro Sawa and the Auto Select staff have been tuning and racing cars throughout Japan. Using the knowledge they gain from track events, they’ve been able to succeed in developing quality parts that work well alongside their OE companions. Over the years Auto Select has made a niche for themselves in the GTR market and, as a result, have several demo and customer cars that frequent time attack events regularly. This gives them the ability to collect a wide-range of data from cars built in varying degrees; from street cars to dedicated track cars. All of which they can take back to their headquarters in Osaka, and use in development of their future services.
Encounter: Osaka’s Auto Select – GTR Rundown
When Eiichiro Sawa founded Osaka based Auto Select in the early 80’s, his main goal was to share his knowledge of tuning and racing spirit with not only his friends, but with a wider range of enthusiasts as well. In 1985, after establishing himself in the industry of aftermarket tuning, the popular magazine Carboy did a feature on Auto Select that highlighted Eiichiro’s story; this story resulted in a tremendous boost in customer base. Their decades of continuous R&D of new parts and tuning methods has kept them alive through many lulls in the industry, and is a major reason why they’re so well known to date. You’d be hard pressed to attend an attack event in Japan, or a motor sport event in general, without the Auto Select flag being flown.
Close Up: The HKS GT1000+ – The Final Act V.2
The poster child of HKS Premium Day; the GT1000+. An enormously high powered R35 that was built for the sole purpose of achieving the fastest lap possible. The build, which will compete in WTAC next year, was also the other half of the final event where they pit the GTR against the Endless Sports z4 GT3 I posted just yesterday.
One Shot: Bee-Racing GTR-SX
Imai-san sure sealed the deal on the controversy envelope with this one. His 2J powered, GT-R converted 180SX has made a resounding impact throughout the world. Catch it in the Drift Muscle series […]
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 […]
News: Super GT Round 3 Malaysia – Race Review
On the afternoon of June 16, the SUPER GT INTERNATIONAL SERIES MALAYSIA race, Round 3 of the 2013 AUTOBACS SUPER GT, was run at the Sepang International Circuit (Malaysia). The GT500 class race was […]
Event: Super GT Round 8 At Motegi 250km – Pre-Race Practice
So, it was 5am and the only thing I could think about was getting caffeine into my system; not if my friend was going to be late, not if it was going to rain […]
Preview: Super GT Round 8 – Motegi 250km
This past Sunday marked the end of the 2012 Super GT season with the final race at Twin Ring Motegi; and despite the cold, rainy weather, the action was as hot as ever. […]
Event: Super GT Official Test Day at Motegi
A few weeks ago Super GT held the final official test day for the 2012 season. The venue; Twin Ring Motegi. While the majority of the teams set out to gather data for the upcoming […]
Event: AutoCon 2012 – Los Angeles V.3
.
I’m going to try and roll everything else I have left into a third and final, massive leftovers post of AutoCon 2012. I can only imagine how cool it will be – especially since I’m kicking it off with this fantastic coupe on Panasport G7s. As far as the timeline goes, it’s still pretty early in the day, and definitely still in the morning. The show opened to the public at about 12 o’clock, and that’s just around the time I said that I’ve had enough. I was fortunate to have a good jump on the show without too much foot traffic, so I really got a good look at the lot in it’s entirety before the gates opened. The lot was so big though, that I think even if I hadn’t I’d still be able to get some good shots. Recapping the show, I must say the entire roll-in process and media handling was a gigantic improvement over last year. Thanks to the AutoCon staff for another good show and I look forward to seeing this event gain in popularity over the next few years. Take a look past the break for a grip of pics that wrap up my coverage.
Event: AutoCon 2012 – Los Angeles V.2
.
Man, I’ve been traveling a lot lately. I think I’ve flown about 3,000 miles in the past 3 days. Not normal, but I’ve been really busy at work recently. That’s probably the main reason that my coverage is so slow to come out – which I apologize for. I think just about all the other blogs have all but finished posting pics, but I’m lagging. I suppose that’s one of the side effects of doing this all on my own; I don’t have as much time as most people (running an airline is quite time consuming -_-;). With that said, let me quit wasting your time and let’s power through the rest of these photos. I’ll be making one more post after this and I’ll try to get the all edited and ready for upload in the morning. After 3 back to back 4am mornings, I have a feeling I’m going to be sleeping in tomorrow. I’ll start off round 2 with a few shots of this familiar Kouki S14 on Mag Blue Nismo LMGT-4’s – super clean build. Click past the break for more AutoCon 2012.
Event: Wekfest LA 2012 – Long Beach, California V.4
.
It’s almost been a week since Wekfest LA, and I’ve just about wrapped up all my coverage. I’m going to try and squeeze everything I’ve got into this final post – so it’s going to be massive. I went ballistic on this one so, by far, you’ll see the most diversity in cars throughout this post. I’ve also included another slideshow gallery at the bottom for the masses. Hope you see your car! Also, if you want some special VIP only coverage of the show, check out our friends down under at Street-Cover. I supplied them with a few shots to help spread the Wek love over in Australia. You should probably check the site out anyway because it’s pretty rad. Again, special thanks goes out to all those at Weksos Industries involved in organizing such a massive tour, as well as the city of Long Beach for being cooperative. Let’s just jump right into the coverage. You know the drill – click the break for more.
Event: Super GT Round 2 – Throwdown at Fuji Speedway v.3
.
In two weeks the Super GT teams will make their way over to Malaysia for the third Round of the series that takes place at Sepang International Circuit. So, that means I have two more weeks to show you coverage of the Fuji race! Just kidding; I have a few more shots of the race left, so I’ll throw them into this post. I also have some cool shots from qualifying that I’ll sprinkle around throughout the rest of the week. Judging by the traffic, it seems like you guys are enjoying this series. It’s really a unique race with some awesome cars – for me it was really enjoyable to watch, photograph, and now share. Hope you are enjoying it – click past the break for more .
Event: Super GT Round 2 – Throwdown At Fuji Speedway v.2
.
We continue the coverage of Super GT Round 2 from about the middle of the race. By now I had wandered myself around the better half of the track and started making my way back to the paddock area to get something to eat. While doing so, I managed to miss the massive crash of the Art Taste Porsche driven by Tim Bergmeister that ended up sending him to the hospital. I’m not sure if he had a puncture in one of his tires that threw him off, or if it was a driver error, but the accident was pretty horrific. This delayed the race for a good 30 minutes while they cleaned up and got the car off-track. It didn’t take long though for the GT cars to start up at full throttle again. Click past the break to check out more racing action from Fuji Speedway.
Locale: Cobb Tuning Socal – Shop Tour
.
After two straight weeks of work, I finally managed to squeeze in a much needed day off. This past Wednesday I had plans to shoot my friends Z32 but, due to a scheduling conflict, had to cancel. Not being one to waste a day off, I sat down and thought of some other things to shoot for the website. I had remembered someone telling me last month that COBB Tuning had opened a new facility in Southern California; I had also remembered reading about an open house for their grand opening. Well, after I had looked into it, I realized their grand opening had already past on the 22nd. No big deal, I figured I’d go ahead and stop by because I had plans on going that direction anyway – and I’m glad that I did. The brand new, 10,000 square foot facility that COBB Tuning inhabits is extremely nice. Upon my arrival I introduced myself to Ronnie, one of the cool dudes in charge of sales & marketing, and they gladly showed me around the facility. Check out more past the break.
Close-Up: GReddy Nissan 35RX
.
Bear with me on this post; there’s a possibility that I could still be a little intoxicated. I’ll keep the grammar in check as best as I can. It seems like Nissan has lost the battle in trying to keep the R35 GTR a machine that needs no modification. In the hands of the Japanese elite tuners, nothing is sacred. Take, for example, the GReddy 35RX; a machine so deconstructed, that it retains little to no trace of the original form. I want to show you something pretty amazing – so click past the break.
Preview: Nismo Festival 2011
. Let me first apologize for the lack of activity on NDF recently. I’ve been extremely busy with my new job and haven’t had time to update, or go to any events. I’m hating it […]
Close-Up: S Road MOLA Super GT R35 GTR
.
At the 2011 Motor Sport Japan festival, S Road MOLA had their GT-500, SUGO pole and podium winning Super GT car on display. JDM Clips was able to get up close and personal with the GT machine – click past the break for more shots.
Event: Motor Sport Japan 2011 – On Track Action
.
Before I post the coverage that JDM Clips got of the Motor Sports Japan 2011 Festival, I thought it would be cool to share the ‘on-track’ action from the event. Race teams, aftermarket companies, and car manufacturers give the fans a sample of the vehicles performance on a make-shift track in part of the lot at the site in Daiba, Tokyo. Famous drivers take to the machines for a few spirited laps around the course. Some of the cars include current Super GT cars, rally built cars, prototype and modified street cars. Click past the break for some more great shots.
Event: R’s Meeting 2011 – Fuji Speedway v.2
Welcome back to the second part of the R’s Meeting coverage from Fuji. I’m considering this a remote post because I’m actually not at home right now. If you’re a regular follower you’ll have seen my post about my computer crashing; so I flew to Oakland to get some software from my friend in Hayward. While I’m here I thought I may as well post up the second part of the Skyline madness. Remember we have a facebook page now – be sure to friend up on the side bar. Cheers!
Event: R’s Meeting 2011 – Fuji Speedway v.1
.
Have you ever had one of those months that seems to last only a few days? Between work and my unnatural, incessant need to constantly be inside of an airplane, it feels as if I haven’t been home for more than a few hours each week. It shows in the site traffic too; so here to remedy this is the first installment of the GT-R Magazine R’s Meeting 2011 at Fuji Speedway. I gave you a preview of JDM Clips’ coverage when I posted the Encounter with Auto Gallery Yokohama’s R32, but past the break is the first round of event coverage. Enjoy.
Event: ノスタルジックカー Skyline Festival 2011 @ Fuji Speedway v.3
.
Alright, now that I’m back in the US and have access to a computer again, I can finally post up the last of the Skyline Festival pics. In addition to the meet that was held in the parking lot of Fuji, attendees were given the chance to race their cars on the actual Speedway. Among these were a few real race cars, as well as a handful of perfectly matched replicas. The R32’s were a hit in the road racing scene, and there was no shortage of them at the track during the Skyline Festival. Let’s take a look at some of the machines that were lapping Fuji.
Event: ノスタルジックカー Skyline Festival 2011 @ Fuji Speedway v.1
.
Throughout the year, ノスタルジックカーショー (Nostalgic Car Show), hosts a series of events for classic makes of cars – included in this series is the beloved Nissan Skyline. Every year hundreds of Skyline owners and tuners gather to share each others passion for the Skyline. These one make car shows are great for getting an in-depth look at the history of the model, as well as capturing the individual creativity of each owner. Fuji Speedway was host to the event this year, and as usual, the owners had the opportunity to take their cars out on track. Click past the break for coverage.
Event: Wekfest LA 2011 v.2
.
Let’s get on with some more Wekfest LA coverage from Long Beach, CA. I ended up writing this entire post before I even wrote the introduction. I never know how to start off the second part of event coverage. This second part has a huge variety of cars, which is pretty cool, but it made it look kind of sloppy. The grass section was gigantic and hard to cover methodically, so my pictures are a bit scattered. At this point I was also running purely on Red Bull and Skittles, so it’s likely that I got a little sidetracked. Oh well, enjoy.
Event: It’s JDM Yo! 1st Anniversary Meet v.3
.
The stragglers. Leftover pictures that didn’t make it into an event post. This is what you’ll get with the final It’s JDM Yo! event post. Seriously, these events are getting so big that it’s near impossible to methodically post every car that was in attendance. It’s too bad too because some really good builds go unnoticed sometimes. Anyway, I’ve been working mad 12 hour shifts at work and haven’t had anytime to dedicate to the site in awhile. I wanted to finish up with the final pictures before I go out of town once again. With that said, on with the pics.
Event: It’s JDM Yo! 1st Anniversary Meet v.2
.
Welcome back to the second part of the It’s JDM Yo! meet coverage. The sites traffic has been way up recently, I’d like to thank everyone who checks the site regularly. I’ll be getting some merchandise together soon too, so everyone that’s been interested in it, hold on just a little longer! Anyway, after we checked out what was in the outside lot, we ventured into the main warehouse building. They put up a DJ in almost every room in the warehouse, playing different music. I thought that was pretty sweet. Check out the pics past the break.
Event: It’s JDM Yo! 1st Anniversary Meet v.1
.
Alright, let me just start out by saying that this meet turned out to be way bigger than I had expected. I had originally planned to stop by real quick, say hello to a few people, snap some shots and jam to Aliso Viejo to the Tamiya RC track. Despite my attempts to hurry, we ended up staying for about 2 hours. The layout of the meet was really cool, with multiple doors leading to new warehouses; all packed full of self-built cars. Some were track inspired, many were heavily VIP influenced, all were cool in their own right. I didn’t have my 28mm with me, so the majority of these were taken with my 50mm – forgive the lack of full car shots, but at a meet like this, and the lenses I had, it was all but impossible to snatch a frame without anyone getting in the way. Click past the break to see the first of the coverage.
Event: Super GT Fuji Results
. At the beginning of the month the delayed opening round of Super GT took place at Fuji Speedway and saw the first victory of the season go to the Autech GTR of the GT500 […]
Video: Calsonic Impul GT-R Test Run
. . Here’s a quick video from JDM Clips of the Calsonic GT-R testing a new set of Bridgestone’s at SportsLand Sugo. Be sure to watch it in HD, and turn your speakers up! You […]
Encounter: R35 at Eneos
. I actually heard this R35 before I saw it. This is an intersection near みなとみらい (Minato Mirai 21), pretty close to the base of the Landmark Tower. Actually, if you’re on the upper walkway […]
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.
Event: Tokyo Auto Salon 2011 – RH9
.
Describing RH9 in one word would be easy; Power. The Record Holder 9 club is exclusive to those cars capable of running 9’s in the quarter mile, the 1320, 0-400m; whatever you wanna call it, these things can do it fast. Once confined only to GT-R’s, it seems like they’ve expanded to other platforms as well; like the almighty Garage G Force X above. When you think of Japanese tuning, you’ll probably think of a few companies that take part in this club; and you’ll see some of their creations here. It’s not uncommon to see RH9 badged parts created by these companies as well. When I picked through these, I realized a lot were on the CF card that had failed on me. As a result I’m missing some (unhappy face). There are a few other sites though that have coverage of the RH9 too, so all is well. Enjoy.