Auto Otaku: Car and Life

Auto Otaku FAQ

Recently I have been getting a lot of questions from readers about various things related to this site so I figured I will do a short "FAQ" of sorts to clarify some things. Hopefully this will answer some of the questions people have and correct some misconceptions.

What is Auto Otaku?

I started this site almost one year ago with the purpose of sharing my passion for cars with others and to have a place to put my photography and writing. I think a lot of people wanted something besides the stuff that is commonly tied to the "import scene". I know there a tons of people out there who are basically "geeks" for the Japanese car scene, thus the name "Auto Otaku". 

I do not really consider my expert on any one type of car, but I try to stay familiar with many of the different car subcultures and my passion is not limited to one type of car, or even to Japanese cars alone.

A common misconception about this site is that there is a whole "team" of contributors. Nope. It's basically just me alone trying to hard to make this site more enjoyable and informative. I don't make any direct profit at all from this site.

I have thought of making some stickers or something but it might be a little difficult seeing as how I'm in Japan and most of my readers are not. For now, if you would like to help support the site to see more coverage in the future, feel free to click the Google Ads on the right.

Who are you and what are you doing in Japan?

I grew up in Central California, and while studying at college I met a wonderful Japanese girl who now happens to be my wife. After saving up some money, graduating with a degree in digital media, we decided to move to Japan for a while where I would start down the path to a career in auto journalism.

I know I will not get rich doing this, but through this site I have been able to make many new friends and establish a lot of working relationships for with publications and websites all over the world. I am always looking to work with new publications so if you are interested or know someone who might be, don't hesitate to contact me.

If you would like to see more about my life in Japan outside of cars, check out my personal blog right here.

What kind of camera equipment do you use?

My camera equipment is nothing special at all.

Right now I am using a Canon 30D camera and the lenses I use primarily are the Canon 10-22mm and Canon 70-200F4L (Non IS). I have other equipment, but about 95% of my shots are done with those two lenses. I'm sure I will expand/upgrade in the future but for now I am happy with the results I get.

I'll also use this opportunity to announce that Auto Otaku video content is on the way. I just bought an HD camcorder and after I re-familiarize myself with video I will be adding video coverage to this site. It won't be Spielberg, but I think it will add a certain amount of excitement that cannot be shown with photos alone.

What kind of car do you drive?

Right now  my wife and I are driving a completely stock Honda Fit. Pretty boring huh?

In the past I have had a number of different cars including S13's. AE86's, S30Z's and a Honda Accord Wagon. I have also owned my share of V8's as well.

I may purchase a "fun" car in the future though I have not made any decisions yet. I would hopefully look for something that I could bring back home to the states with me if possible. AE86? Toyota Carina?  I'd  love to have a  GC110 Skyline  but the lack of garage space, tools, and $$ may keep that idea on the back burner for a while.

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Hopefully that answers some of your questions. If you have any more questions or feedback, please respond in the comments section email me. If there are additional questions I will add them to the FAQ.

 

Taniguchi Returning to D1!

After nearly a two year absence, it looks like former champion Nobuteru Taniguchi will be returning to the D1 Grand Prix in Japan. It had been rumored for a while and Taniguchi himself finally confirmed it on his blog yesterday. According to the blog post, he will be competing in the second round of D1 next month at Fuji Speedway as part of the HKS team. His machine(s) will be the well-known pair of HKS drift-spec Altezzas.

Due to scheduling conflicts with Super GT and other events, he will be running a limited D1schedule for now. In the post, he talks about the dealing with the limited number of weekends in the racing season where it is nearly impossible to avoid schedule conflicts with other events. Nonetheless, he seems quite energized to be back, stating that the level of D1 drivers been getting higher and he is anxious to compete again.

His fans had long been hoping for his return to D1 and it looks like their wish has finally come true. There are nearly 30 comments from fans on his post saying things like "We have been waiting!".

In addition to Round 2 at Fuji Speedway, there is also talk of a June D1 exhibition event at Odaiba, Tokyo where he would also make an appearance.

D1 at Odaiba again?

With Taniguchi?

Sounds like the good old days. I can't wait to see what happens with this.

Check out Taniguchi's blog for more (Japanese of course)

Coverage: Tsukuba with Amuse 3/27

On Thursday it was time to head back to Tsukuba Circuit as Amuse was holding another testing session/track meet. From my past experience I know these events are not to be missed. The Amuse events always attract a large number of well known attackers and the March edition was no different.

Amuse, which has become quite famous for its R35 Phantom GT-R, decided to leave that one at the shop and instead they brought out the no less impressive NISMO 380RS Super Superleggera. This car recently won a Gran Turismo award meaning it will be featured in the upcoming GT5 game.

Besides shop cars and customer cars, a number of other big name machines come to Tsukuba for the Amuse events.

The Pan Speed crew was out with both their FD and RX8 time attack cars but they wouldn't be the only fast rotary cars at the track.

Mr. Imaizumi of Super Now Engineering had the FC out again and it was sporting some unusual changes. First, Imaizumi-san switched to 15" wheels and tires up the front and he told me this was an improvement over the 17" wheels the car has run in the past. In addition, the roll bar was removed for this event. How would it run?

Here we see the always enthusiastic Imaizumi-san sporting the coolest helmet I have ever seen. He is actually a fan of this site and he even wanted to take a photo with me! 今泉さん、がんばれ！

This event was also the debut of the just finished '08-spec EXCEED MOAT S14. EXCEED MOAT is known for having the fastest Silvia's at Tsukuba, sometimes running in the 57 second range.

New GRB STI was on the track for a short time during the morning. The silver CE28N's look really nice with the WR blue.

I was also pleasantly surprised to see a large turn out from the RAUH-Welt guys, adding even more to a mix of already awesome machinery at the track.

It wasn't just Porsche coolness that RWB brought to the track, I finally got my chance to see the cult-classic RWB S15 in action. It's just as awesome in the flesh as it is in photos.

Under-hood shot of V-mount equipped FD. Even though I had a decent knowledge of the Japanese tuning scene before moving here, I have truly been amazed at the continued popularity of the FD RX7 in Japan. There are SO many FD's at track events and they are all so fast and great looking. Now I know how Russ at REXtreme keeps up such a great blog that only deals with only one model.

Just a Ferrari and sexy wingless JZA80 Supra.

Now for the action-

Pan Speed ran the RX8 in the morning and the RX7 in the afternoon.

One of the two Amuse GT1 S2000's on the track. Always sexy no matter how many times I see them.

FD ripping out from under the Dunlop bridge. At Tsukuba the Dunlop corner is one of the most exciting corners to watch from. You get the feeling that drivers don't really "attack" the corner but more just throw their car through it trying to carry as much speed as possible. Some try to enter without braking and many of the high power cars get heavy oversteer at the corner exit.

While the Toyota JZX chassis is mostly known for its drifting use, it also makes a great grip platform. There were two examples at this event.

The first is this JZX100 Mark II from Rasty. She is outputting around 600ps and back in '05 set a record lap of 59.6! It wasn't running that fast for this event, but you could tell it had the power as it struggled for traction pulling out of the final corner.

The other JZX was the RD7000 JZX100 Chaser. This one of a few RD7000/Traum JZX100 demo cars. Times were in the 1:01 range.

One could also see a BMW M3 of every generation. From this E30...

to this E36...

E46 too..

...and of course the new E92 with its Ferrari-like V8. The exhaust note is symphonic.

GRB diving into the first hairpin.

Looks like this Evo X is still on the stock suspension. I can't imagine it will stay like that for long.

The Killer Storm R35 was back out as well. More on this car soon.

Too many crazy FD's to keep track of.

This RWB car was the probably the angriest-sounding car of the day. That is a good thing.

964RS

Messing with 1/60 shutter speed handheld.

The infamous RWB S15 blasting down the back straight.

They should have used this car for "The Dark Knight".

More Silvia grip style-

1:01 for this S14.

Scorch S14.

The EXCEED MOAT car was able to clock some laps in the 59.3 range for its '08 debut.

It was a shakedown for the car and I was told it has a lot more in it. There is no reason to doubt that after seeing what it has done in the past. It looks damn fine as well.

Tanabe-san putting the Super Superleggera 380RS through its paces.

Unfortunately, at the end of the day the car had an incident on the final corner, causing some cosmetic damage. I have no doubt the car will be repaired and back on the track in no time though.

How would the Pan Speed FD perform?

By the afternoon the car was able to get into the 57 second range. Fast, but still off from the car's previous best. Maybe it didn't like the warmer temps?

And last but far from least-

Mr. "Super Now" Imaizumi with his new wheel set-up and cage-less interior managed to drop into the 58.8 range.

He is shooting for the 57's and I think he can do it. Keep in mind this is a car that can and is driven on th e street. After events he throws on some different wheels and tires and drives it home! Truly awesome.

Is he posing for the camera in this pic?

Congrats to the Super Now crew for a great day.

Check out the full gallery  for more photos. There is plenty more cool stuff to be found there.

So another Amuse track meet is in the books. It's going to be a while until the next one which is in October. I suppose Amuse prefers to run in the cooler winter and fall months.

Another sign of the changing season is that for the first time I noticed Tsukuba starting to transform from its winter time brown into its spring/summer green color.

As the weather gets nicer there are many more events and a few surprises in store. It's going to be a great spring!

New Tsukuba Record for Amuse Phantom R35

Earlier this month the Amuse crew brought their R35 Phantom GT-R back to Tsukuba Circuit for another go at setting a new R35 lap record.

With the Amuse Hi-tech ROM, exhaust system, and newly increased boost levels the car is now outputting 610ps through a Dynapack.

Over 600 hp with light tuning? And the buzz said it would be extremely hard to modify this car. Awesome.

With Tanabe-san behind the wheel again, the car brought a best lap of 59.061, a few tenths quicker than the Mine's car. There is no doubt that the car is easily capable of breaking into the 58 second range in its current state.

Actually, I was at Tsukuba yesterday for another Amuse test session/track meet, but Instead of the R35, this time they brought out the Fairlady Z Super Leggera 380RS.

It was an awesome day. Full coverage will be up tomorrow.

Buy it Now: NISMO 380RS-C

NISMO Japan just released info on the 2008 Fairlady Z 380RS Competition Model.

In this case, "competition model" does not mean colored stitching on the steering wheel and stiffer springs. It literally means competition.

You are basically looking at a ready-tor-roll racing car much like the cars used in the Super Taikyu series.

The car includes all of the following-

-3.8L VQ engine outputting 400ps (about 40ps more than the 380RS street model)

-6 speed cross ratio close ratio tranny

-MOTEC engine management system

-Super copper mix racing clutch

-NISMO mechanical LSD

-Adjustable racing suspension (duh?)

-Brembo brakes with six piston calipers up front and 380mm rotors.

-Carbon fiber hood and doors with NISMO aero parts.

-Polycarbonate windows

-Full Super Taikyu-spec roll cage

-Bucket seat

-Harnesses, cut off switch, other safety items.

Basically, you just thrown on some wheels and tires (the only things not included) and you are ready to race.

And the cost for this competition-ready machine?  About $283,500 USD. Wow.

I don't expect to many average Joe's to head down to their local NISMO shop to order one. Even if they did, the car is not legal to drive on the street anyways.

Anyone wanna go halfsies with me?

Check out the offiical NISMO press release  (in Japanese) for more info.

JUN Auto Evo X Update

Last month I reported on the JUN Auto Evo X test run at Tsukuba with Nob Taniguchi behind the wheel. Option magazine was covering the test as well and there is a detailed article about it in the new May issue.

The base car is a 5 speed manual RS model and is still in the light tuned stage.

Underneath the car are Endless Function coilovers and brakes and a combination of Advan RS and RG wheels wrapped in A048 rubber.

Added power comes mostly from upped boost levels, a Trust intake and exhaust system. An F-Con V  Pro management system is also being used.

At this point the external modifications are still are mild. The most notable additions are the SARD GT wing and the side mirrors.

With the light tuning and ace Nobu behind the wheel, the car was able to run a lap time of 1:01.638.

With only light modifications, that is nearly a 5 second drop from the stock lap times! It is also in stock R35 GT-R range.

While the car may not deliver mind blowing performance out of the box, it is now clear just how much potential the Evo X has.

Imagine what is to come as JUN and other companies start tearing into the  4B11 engine and developing more hardcore parts for these cars.

In a little over a week, tuned Evo X's from all over Japan will converge at Tsukuba along with their STI counterparts for the Hyper Meeting. We will see the true state of Evo X tuning.

Coverage: BE Time Attack Rd.6

Happy late Easter everybody.

While the Japanese celebrate holidays like Christmas and Halloween in a novelty fashion, I had not heard any mention of the Easter holiday here in Japan. It wasn't until I talked to some of my friends and family back home that I realized that this past Sunday was Easter.

While Easter back home may be a time for chocolate rabbits and egg hunting, the only hunting that I saw on Sunday was the hunt for a faster lap time at Tsukuba Circuit. Sunday was the 6th and final round of this season's BE-Circuit time attack series. Weather conditions were decent with sunny skies and temps in the 60's. How would things go down?

Most of the major BE players were at the track for the event with the exception of the Super Now FC. The VARIS MKSport Cyber Evo 5 was back to defend its top ranked position.

With an early start at 8:00am, the event would last just two hours. Each run group would get two 30 minute sessions to achieve their fastest lap.

While the top couple spots are usually occupied by AWD Evo's and GT-R's, there is always a large pack of RX7's hanging right behind them. This event was no different and the rotary turnout was as big as usual. Also to be noted is the Silvia time attack movement which appears to be stronger than ever.

As expected, at the end of the morning the Cyber Evo 5 was on top again. Best lap was a 57.633 which is still about one second off the car's all time best. I wonder if they will be able to squeeze any more out of it for the upcoming Hyper Meeting?

Coming in a close second was the ATTKD BNR32 with a 57.840 after running only nine laps total. Will it be able to catch the Cyber Evo 5 next season?

The R Magic Maru FD was the fastest rotary of the day, narrowly missing the 57 second barrier with a 58.052.

Taking the 4th spot was the CP9A Evo from Technical Factory Hirano with a 58.214.

Under Suzuki's S15 was running hard as usual. Best lap was a 59.283. Suzuki-san told me some of his plans for this car and it sounds like it is going to be amazing when it is completed. Check out his blog in the links section.

The Arios FD held the 6th position with a 59.432.

Next was the Unlimited Works Cyber Evo6 with a 59.528.

Rounding out the sub-minute club was this sharp-looking FEED-tuned FD. Best time was a 59.781.

In 9th position was the Fukuo SPL FD with a 1:00.135.

Finishing up the top 10 was the Sanai FD3S with a 1:00.511.

Just out of the top 10 were two more Silvia's tuned by Scorch, including this mean looking S14.

And the blue Scorch S15. Check out how low it rides. I love it.

Now a few other machines on the track-

Y's Factory/Aragosta BNR32. The passenger side headlight has been replaced with an air intake. This car seemed like it was not running at its full potential though.

Flared Evo6.

If KITT was a circuit-going RX7 it would look like this.

"Rocketing" out of the Dunlop corner.

More seven sexiness.

This mild ER34 sedan was pretty quick at 1:05.693.

There are a few more photos here .

So that wraps up the BE Time Attack season. They will start up again towards the end of the year. At the rate things have been going it looks like the Cyber Evo5 may have some stiff competition come next season.

We will see what happens.

Straight Outta Kyoto

If you hadn't heard already, former D1 driver Michihiro Takatori will be competing stateside this year in Formula D. Takatori is no stranger to drifting and has been competing in D1 both in Japan and in the US behind the wheel of his A31 Nissan Cefiro and ER34 Skyline coupe. Just like in the past, the FD team is being supported by the Kyoto Fushimi branch of Super Autobacs.

The small team has been facing challenges as they adapt to the American drifting scene. For the past several weeks they have been hard at work building an all new R34 that complies with Formula D safety standards.

After many hectic weeks the new car has finally been finished. The single turbine RB26 should provide more than enough power to slide across the US this year.

Here we see the car dockside as it is prepared for shipment across the Pacific for the next month's opening round at Long Beach. It is now on its way west coast.

It will be interesting to see how this car does against the Signal GT-R which has been running in FD for a couple years now. With this, and many other off-season developments, 2008 is shaping up to be an exciting season for FD.

Photos courtesy of the official Super Autobacs Formula D Project site . Check it out for more info.

RIP Yatabe Test Course

For the past 10 years or so racing circuits like Tsukuba and Fuji have been the biggest proving grounds for both Japanese OEM performance and for the tuning industry. But it hasn't always been this way. There was a time when Japan's tuners yearned for flat-out speed alone, and at the center of this movement was the famous Yatabe test course.

Following the rapid growth of the Japanese auto industry in the '60s, the Japan Automobile Research Institute (JARI) facility at Yatabe (now part of Tsukuba city) was opened in 1964 as a high speed test facility for automakers and for the government to gather data on various automobiles. The 5km banked oval allowed maximum speeds to be achieved. Of course, the thought of a closed oval located a short distance outside of Tokyo also caused Japan's growing tuning industry to take notice.

Starting around the early 1980's, tuners from all over Japan would gather at Yatabe to try their machines on the massive banked course. Early tuning pioneers brought out their hopped up S30 and S130 Z's and SA22C RX7's to clock top speed and acceleration records. These exploits are chronicled in the excellent "Legend of Option" magazines.

In the 1990's the Yatabe speed trials drew top tuners like JUN, Top Secret, Waste Sports, Fuji Dynamics and Veilside who brought out their GT-R's to battle for supremacy in the 0-300km acceleration test.
These gatherings got a lot of exposure mid to late '90s Option videos.

Here is a an R32 sedan GT-R conversion from ATTKD running the course in 1997.

The early 2000's would see the growth of Tsukuba city and a new express rail line would be opened connecting Tsukuba to Tokyo. The route for the new line would cut directly through the Yatabe test course. Around the same time JARI opened it's new test facility in the more isolated location of Shirosato, a little north of Tsukuba. 

This spelled the end of the historic Yatabe test area and the course was officially closed in 2005. With the addition of the Tsukuba Express the city has expanded and the former course area is now filled with a train station, shopping malls, apartment buildings and restraints.

For a while, parts of the old track remained and there are a few pictures of the abandoned banked sections on some Japanese blogs.

In this picture you can see the vegetation that is already starting to reclaim the old track.

It's hard to imagine this was once a place where super cars blasted by at 300kph.

The site of the old Yatabe course is only about 10 minutes away from where I am living now. But by now it looks like all of the old track sections have been removed and the only signs left of its existence are some odd clearings in the trees.

In this photo from Google Earth you can see the outline of the course and the new development including the rail line. Actually, there has been even more houses and buildings constructed since this photo was taken. The funny looking white building is JARI's crash test facility which is still being used.

It's hard to think that every time I hop on the train to Tokyo that I'm traveling through what once was an isolated high speed race track in the middle of nowhere. RIP Yatabe.

Coverage: Idlers Games Rd. 1

Over the past few months I have covered car events of all types and each time I get a better grasp on the vastness of Japan's love affair with the automobile. This past weekend I got the opportunity to cover one of the most unique and exciting events I have seen here thus far.

Where can you see everything from vintage Mini's and Honda S800's to fully tuned Porsche 911's and Skyline GT-R's engaged in full-on sprint racing? Welcome to the Idlers Games. The Idlers Club is a Tokyo-based organization built on the tradition of European clubman-style sports car racing. The Idlers organization includes a network of car owners groups and tuning/restoration shops for everything from Porsche and Alfa Romeo to Caterham and Volkswagen.

Throughout the racing season, Idlers hosts a number of racing gatherings. Among these are both sprint races held at Tsukuba Circuit and endurance races held on the road course at Twin Ring Motegi. Ever since I had first become familiar with the Idlers events a few years ago, I was anxious to see one for myself. With the date of March 16 set for the opening of the 2008 series, I made plans to head out to Tsukuba to have a look.

The scale of the event became obvious as I pulled into the parking lot and saw empty car transporters parked everywhere. Tsukuba has a two relatively small paddock areas and both of these were literally jampacked with racing machines of all types, old and new. The air was filled with the smell of racing fuel and the sounds of engines being ran through one final check. The weather was overcast most of the day but the track was dry so conditions were not bad. The temperatures were in the pleasant 60 degree range. It was to be a good day for racing.

The flagship car of the Idlers club has to be the Porsche 911 and the 930 and 964 models in particular. There were a couple different Porsche-heavy race groups with cars ranging from showroom stock restorations to fully built race cars. Of course as you will see, the event is not limited to European makes alone.

Idlers Porsche undergoing some last minute adjustments before the morning test session.

Of course no event with Porsche's in Japan is complete without RAUH-Welt. RWB-tuned cars occupy many spots on the grid at Idlers events.

TE37-wearing 911 from Met's-Speed.

Meet "Tommy", an RWB-tuned Porsche 993.

Only an RWB Porsche can manage to look intimidating in this color. Rad.

The second most popular car at the event would have to be the original Mini Cooper. These cars are still quite popular in Japan and many can still be found as people's daily drivers. Of course it helps that they were sold here well until the '90s.

RS Watanabe wheels are a perfect match for a Mini.

Looking into the cockpit of a low-windshield Honda S800 racer.

There is something so awesome about an air-cooled VW bug wearing RS Watanabe's and Advan A048's.

I fell in love with this car. How often do you see a circuit-tuned Karmann Ghia?

Rough World AE86. Another one of my favorites. Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't "RAUH-Welt" the German translation of Rough World?

Some random late model domestic car.

Amazingly clean KP61 Starlet with TRD flares.

The Ginetta area.

It does not get any more radical than this.

Heavily disguised Eunos Roadster from Active.

Seductive hips.

Now that you had brief look at some of the cars in the paddock, it's time to hit the track.

RWB 930 Turbo being chased by a Ford Escort Cosworth.

Lancia Delta Integrale 16V.

Hot Rod.

RWB 930 Carrera.

Mini coming out of the Dunlop Corner.

Porsche 356 passing a Lotus Elan at the first hairpin entrance.

Another shot of the Bug from K Project.

Nissan Cherry, a rare sight on the race track.

S800 Roadster. I really liked this photo.

Three-wheeling Mini.

Check out the rear over fenders on the Ghia.

Minis coming through the esses.

One of the race groups was nothing but Caterham's and small Formula cars.

This machine was sporting turbo rotary power. You can see the top of the intake manifold coming through the hood. It was fast.

Mr. lavender RWB 964 Turbo into the Dunlop Corner.

More RWB 964 goodness.

Width.

The same 964 I spotted at Tsukuba a few weeks ago.

RWB Dominance.

Mazda vs. Porsche.

Porsche tuned by Pro Modet.

A little Ginetta Action-

Now the fastest Super Cup SS Class.

Porsche 993 also tuned by Pro Modet.

Active Roadster.

Porsche parade into the Dunlop.

The Kagotani R32 would have a good chance at fighting off the Porsche army but it developed mechanical trouble and had to retire early.

More Japanese fighters trying to defend their turf from the German invasion.

Another 930, this one from Pro Shop HIRO.

The fastest Porsche of the day. It was running in the 59 second range.

The SEYA-MAX BNR32, one of the fastest Japanese cars of the day.

This 964 , one of the top runners from RAUH-Welt would also end up retiring early with mechanical issues.

It sure had presence on the track though.

Here we see an R34 GT-R attempting to chase it down under the Dunlop bridge.

A more subtle, but no less beautiful Carrera RS from RWB.

This RWB 964 RS was one of the top finishers. Lap times were in the 1:02 range.

The Idlers car was running well into the 1:01 range.

Now the GT class race where Japanese metal gets its chance to battle it our on the track.

The field enters the first hairpin led by an FD from Dream Factory.

Rush hour in the S-curve section.

The new kid in town.

Low EK Civic.

This may be 86 perfection.

Or maybe a Levin better suits you?

Another BNR34.

A bashed driver's side door didn't stop Garage Miura's N2 Levin from running the race.

Hey! Is that OK?

A few more shots to wrap it up-

For the pride of Deutschland, M3 vs. 911.

Cosworth Escort.

Beetle vs. 356.

A couple Mazda's floating in a sea of Porsche.

Desperado FD attacking the corner.

I think I want a Porsche now.

Lastly, one more shot of some Mini action.

Wow, this post took me a while to put together. Hope you enjoyed it. If that wasn't enough there are over 400 photos in the galley right here .

Check out the Idlers Club official site for more info and complete results. I can't wait until the next Idlers Games.