The great lunch debate

Posted on January 31, 2010

Nine times out of ten, we inevitably spend half our lunch break debating over where we should eat. It’s impossible for us to come to a unanimous decision when it comes to food, so on Friday we headed to Market City’s food court so everyone would be happy. Here’s Willy digging into his egg noodles.

Papz went for pho.

Although he had Korean the day before, Kula chose bibimbap. I think he’s found a new favourite dish!

Deep-fried pork chop was my choice. Greasy goodness!

A dead mouse, a new mouse

Posted on January 28, 2010

Previously I used a Sony mouse whenever I had to do work on the laptop. And it would always give me the shits. Sure it looked nice; but it was uncomfortable to use, too heavy and the Bluetooth connection wouldn’t work half the time. While in Japan it gave up the ghost completely, so I hunted around the nearest Yodabashi and bought Microsoft’s Arc mouse. You have to love Tokyo; 8PM on a weeknight and there’s an electronics store around the corner that’s still open.

And after using the Arc for the past week, my review is that it’s f*cking awesome. It folds to take up minimal space in your bag and then snaps open when you need to use it. It uses a USB dongle to connect to your laptop, which stows away on the flap via a magnet. The buttons are a bit flimsy but I’d recommend this to anyone looking for a travel mouse.

Random car from TAS #2

Posted on January 28, 2010

This may come as a surprise, but this was one of my favourite cars at this year’s Tokyo Auto Salon. Alisa thought it was a rather left-field choice - she thought I’d opt for one of the hard-tuned GT-Rs or Zeds - but out of the 600-odd show cars this was the one that stuck in my mind. The name of the company that built it is a bit of a mouthful: Toban Shokunin by And Factory Produce - Japlish at its finest. I remember them from last year’s event, when they showed off another new paint effect technique known as ‘grinder tattoo’.

While I would never do paint effects on a car I owned personally (I don’t think I’d even buy a car that was resprayed for that matter), I appreciate those who go in a totally different direction and manage to pull off something unique. From a distance it looks like pearl paint, but up close tells a different story.

Here you can see the additives mixed into the paint, which have striking luminescence. It looked familiar but I couldn’t put my finger on it. At first I thought it was something similar to PPG’s Prizmatique (which was all the rage six years ago), but they tend to throw random colours when hit with light.

Whatever it was, the painter would have spent a fair bit of time flow-coating it to achieve a smooth surface.

Turns out its opal, developed by Kyocera (who make everything from paints to printers). Currently its available in 12 different colour variations.

Random car from TAS #1

Posted on January 27, 2010

Over the last couple of years, quite a few big name companies have elected not to participate in Tokyo Auto Salon. HKS was one such company, with their vast black stand absent for the past two years. This year HKS did have a small presence in the outdoor area of Makuhari Messe, ironically to promote their own event at Fuji Speedway.

Japan’s ‘hero’ modified cars have a very short shelf-life. They’re hot one year, castaway’s the next. The last time I saw HKS’ controversial CT230R EVO it was engulfed by a six-deep crowd. This year it was parked anonymously, drawing very little interest from the spectators. While we’ve covered most of Japan’s high-profile cars in ASM, this was one that slipped through the net for various reasons. In fact this was my first opportunity to see it up close. I think I spent a good 15 minutes pouring over the EVO, even getting down onto all fours to look up its skirt.

There are two arguments when it comes to this car. A) You love it. It’s dessimated the opposition and so fast that it’s lap record of Tsukuba isn’t likely to be broken anytime in the near future. Or B) You hate it. It’s not in keeping with the spirit of time attack; it breaks the unwritten rule that time attack is a modifier’s sport, not a playground for GT300 race cars. I lean towards argument A.

Impressive build quality.

Retainers to prevent the Lexan windows from flexing and flapping when the car reaches high speeds.

Plug in a cylinder of compressed air and onboard rams lift the car off the ground, negating the need for jacks during a pit-stop. That’s the beauty of having air-jacks. Although these are nothing new and quite common place, I particularly like the two switches to choose between front, rear or all four.

Anything not required has been cut out, so you can easily see the titanium exhaust from the wheel arch.

Is that Nico I hear?

Posted on January 25, 2010

Nico popped by the office today to drop off some cartons (thanks to Nico and Matt for being duty-free mules!), and he brought over his latest toy, a Gallardo.

Nico’s been a pretty serious modifier since I met him a decade ago (it’s scary how every conversation I have with him revolves around ‘the good old days’), and he’s already starting to play with the Lambo. Those rears are 20×12-inch.

Love the side profile.

ASM Japan Tour: inside Tomei HQ

Posted on January 22, 2010

Allen and Eiji from Tomei opened up their doors to give our tour full access to their facilities. I have to give them a massive shout out, as arranging behind-the-scenes tours are quite difficult in Japan as most companies closely guard their secrets.

Here is Tomei’s engine dyno room #1.

Engine dyno room #2. As you would’ve guessed, Subaru and Nissan are a major focus of Tomei.

Participants were shown how Tomei’s camshafts go from design to final product.

Test engine used to evaluate prototype components. Can you guess what it is?

Here’s a clue.

Packaging for Tomei’s fuel pressure regulators. Allen told us that Tomei’s facing a huge influx of counterfeit parts from China, which look almost identical. It’s quite scary as many of these China knock-offs have failed, and the last thing you want is to muck around with your car’s fuel delivery.

Every room inside Tomei’s factory is temperature controlled between 18-19 degrees Celsius. This is the optimal temperature to build engines and gauge tolerances.

Head machining room. Although Tomei don’t offer this service to the public, they do a lot of headwork for leading Japanese tuning houses. The vents are to suck debris.

Lathe used to create prototype components.

Every inch was crammed with heavy machinery.

Camshafts being grinded to exact profiles.

Temperature is a big deal for Tomei. Parts are ‘rested’ after they’ve been handled to ensure that the heat from the mechanics’ hands don’t cause even the slightest of variations. Each part is measured with an infrared heat gun, usually taking between 1/2 - 1 day of resting before the metal returns to the correct temperature.

Here’s a titanium exhaust for a Subaru fresh from the jig and ready for TIG hand welding. Tomei’s new range of titanium exhausts are worth a mention as they’re completely titanium (rather than a titanium muffler mated to a steel exhaust) and are priced some 40% cheaper than other Japanese brands. The GFC has had a big impact on Japanese brands, with many resorting to high-volume, gimmicky products (such as gearknobs, decals and so on) to keep afloat. Tomei on the other hand have stayed true to their performance roots, and in spite of the economy have also released their own range of turbochargers.

Behind Tomei’s factory we found this tiny seat. Rather surprisingly it held Willy’s weight, although there was a good chance it would get wedged between his ass cheeks.

Tomei’s mechanics have even created their own ashtray, including a well to extinguish the cherry! Awesome.

Cusco/Tomei’s WRX will be heading to Sydney for Super Lap in May. Eiji is confident that it will do well, with Tarzan Yamada flying down to drive it.

Super Lap will be held at Eastern Creek, and Eiji let slip that Tomei would be retuning the WRX for more power to suit the high-speed nature of the track.

Infinitely adjustable shocks.

Pizza-sized Brembo brakes.

ASM Japan Tour: workshops

Posted on January 22, 2010

Didn’t have much luck checking out the street scene this year, as the police had not only shut down Daikoku Futo but they had also blocked access to the C1 rest stop where many of the hardcore racers meet. Instead the tour headed down the Aqua-Line - the world’s longest underwater tunnel - where many a top-speed run has been conducted. We spotted two R34 GT-Rs doing some, err, testing; along with a few cars in the Umihotaru rest stop.

Perfect daily driver/weekend warrior combo.

Spotted outsite Super Autobacs in Odaiba.

Toyota’s Historical Garage is small but well worth a visit. Here’s a Takumi replica.

More hachis.

Probably the coolest thing about this museum is the prep garage, where historical cars are restored.

Toyota fanatics will be frothing at the mouth at the sight of these two gems.

Ichishima-san, the well-known Honda prophet, was kind enough to give our group a guided tour of his Spoon Sports facilities. He’s one of the nicest people you could meet, and you can’t help but be impressed by his dedication to the art of NA tuning. Efficiency is what Spoon is about, with Ichishima-san even showing us how tweaked CV joints can shave time over the course of an endurance race.

Many a trophy is scattered around Spoon Sport’s HQ.

Fresh sand-blasted rocker covers ready for a lick of Spoon yellow paint.

Identification markings from an S2000.

After a tour of their workshop, Ichishima-san took us down the road to their Type One showroom. Nestled up on the mezzanine level was this baby!

Civic Type R. I’m dying to drive one!

This insane S2000 is a customer’s street car, believe it or not.

Every inch of space is maximised, including the air above the car spaces. You pretty much have to play limbo to get into one of the cars.

Collection of used, battle-scarred bonnets.

Type One’s DC5 race car. Although nearly everyone on our Japan Tour was a Nissan fan, I think many people enjoyed visiting Spoon and Type One, as it showed a completely different tuning philosophy to some of the other workshops we visited. The great thing about Japan’s tuning scene - and society as a whole - is that anything and everything is embraced. Sometimes you have to wonder if Australia’s scene is held back by the amount of haters we have, who shoot down anyone who has a different approach to modifying.

ASM Japan Tour: Free day

Posted on January 20, 2010

Sunday was the designated ‘free day’ of the tour; so participants could visit wherever they wished. We held a voluntary trip to Harajuku, which most people took up. The tour took the JR train to Harajuku for some shopping, a visit to the shrine, and some exploration of nearby Aoyama.

Cheaper alternative to an Elton John auction.

Some of the outfits were really out there.

Stop drooling!

ASM Japan Tour: D1GP drift exhibition @ TAS

Posted on January 20, 2010

Like previous years, there was a D1GP demo session exclusively for the press.

Prior to the demos, it was announced that a World Championship final will return in D1GP’s 2010 calendar.

Remember me? I think we featured this in 05, just before it entered into D1GP.

Nomura is still a crowd favourite.

When it comes to shooting cars, I don’t have a problem sticking my neck out to get a good angle. However this vantage point was a tad scary; with only a thin plastic barrier separating us from the cars. There was one run where Saito ran wide of the apex, our eyes locking for a moment before he collected it up a metre away from the barrier. I managed to get some cool video of the drifts, which I’ll edit up and post online later.

ASM Japan Tour: Tokyo Auto Salon

Posted on January 20, 2010

Spent two days of the tour at Tokyo Auto Salon. Although there were notable absentees, the show was still decent. It’s shrunk in size quite substantially as Japan has been hard hit by the GFC.

After some last-minute scrambling, we were able to get the whole tour into the Tokyo Auto Salon’s media day so they could see the cars before the thousands of public crammed into the Makuhari Messe.

Carbon-clad Odyssey which was executed well.

Close-up of the weave.

Initially I thought this was a mannequin. It was actually some poor dude who had to stand up there for hours!

Knight Rider themed sat nav. I want one so bad!

Just a random arty shot. I’m starting to fall in love with the GF1.

Honda Life campaign.

Tomei had two stands at both ends of the venue. It was awesome to catch up with Tomei’s director Eiji and my good pal Allen Lorenzo. Like SEMA, TAS is a big water cooler for the aftermarket industry, so there’s always plenty of gossip to catch up on each year.

Another arty - although somewhat boring - shot. Did I tell you I love the GF1?

Veilside’s R33. A true classic.

There was a trick collection of hard-tuned GT-Rs next to Option’s stand.

Awesome full scale Super GT replica… made out of cardboard!

Nice concept for a trade display.

Spotted outside the Makuhari Messe.

ASM Japan Tour: Day 1

Posted on January 20, 2010

Glad to be back home as I’m well and truly running on fumes. Obviously its been a hard week, as the timing of the ASM announcement couldn’t have been any worse. Literally an hour after shooting off the release, we were on our way to the airport for the ASM 2010 Japan Tour. I can honestly say that I have a new found respect for tour operators; it certainly isn’t easy!

Since we folk coming from all around Australia, we used Singapore as a hub before we all caught the same flight to Tokyo. A380s on all legs! Also managed to get Kula and Willy a stint in business class on the way back (they’re still kicking on in Japan).

Kula’s a big plane geek and this was his first time on an A380. He swears that the Main Deck is the better option, but I much prefer the Upper Deck.

Grabbed a couple of bottles of Snapple (which is no longer sold in Australia) when in transit at Changi.

Japan was much colder compared to this time last year, so it was a big change from the Aussie summer. Spottted this at a rest stop on the way into Tokyo. That’s deep.

There was a MOS Burger at the rest stop, which seemed appropriate for breakfast.

Perhaps I was just unlucky, but this was crap. I was a big MOS advocate before I tried this.

This year, Top Secret didn’t have a stand at Tokyo Auto Salon, so our tour’s first stop was a visit to their famous Chiba workshop.

Back in the day Ryuji Miki was my favourite D1GP driver. Here’s his championship trophy.

Times are certainly changing. We counted more hybrids than GT-Rs during Tokyo Auto Salon, and Top Secret are certainly on the case.

Nearly everyone’s favourite car at Top Secret.

Being at Top Secret certainly wiped away the tiredness from the long flights.

Although we could’ve chosen a much cheaper area, we elected to stay at our usual hotel in Shibuya. Being close to the action - even if you’re paying a $100 a night premium - makes things so much more enjoyable.

View from my hotel room. Staring at those red neons all night made me remember that episode of Seinfeld!

Really wanted to get my hands on a pair of Blazers, but I totally forgot to go back to this store. Kula, wanna carry a pair back for me? Please!

Last year Kula and I found a decent ramen place near our hotel, and I think everyone on the tour loved it too.

Plenty of celebrities have eaten here, including that guy all the girls love from Prison Break. I forgot his name, but he’s the pretty boy dude.

There’s nothing better than a belly full of ramen before heading out into a Tokyo winter.

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