Coverage: Hyper Meeting 2008 (Now with Video!)

 

I have to apologize for the lack of updates recently, I have been quite busy the past few days and you will see why in a moment.

This past Sunday was an event I had been waiting for since I first arrived in Japan last year, the famous Hyper Meeting at Tsukuba Circuit. It is the best that Subaru and Mitsubishi tuning world has to offer. With the Evo X and new Impreza on the market, the '08 edition of the Hyper Meeting was sure to be exciting.

Quite, simply it was a spectacular event.

I actually covered this event for a well known publication and the full article should be appearing soon. While I am saving the details for the magazine article, I have plenty of "extra" photos to share as well as video coverage for the first time!

Anyways, let's have a look at some photos first-

Evo's older and newer...

...and newest.

Car Service Hiro was out with a pair of crazy Impreza's.

Team Orange!

A few new STI's.

And a few Evo X's.

Ladies.

VARIS GDB.

Cyber Evo 5.

Fresh Legacy.

Power Enterprises Evo.

Deck Mechanical Power Evo X.

Zero Sports time attack monster.

AWD Heaven.

Tarzan's office.

Unlimited Works rules at Evo's.

Original Runduce Impreza.

Super Taikyu Evo X.

Now for some action-

HKS Kansai Evo X was running very well.

Tarmac rally?

Downright amazing.

Runduce Impreza.

Runduce X.

Team Orange smoking things up.

This Legacy brings it. It's even written on the side.

ARC X with none other than MCR Kobayashi behind the wheel.

Yay for demo runs!

New guy chasing the old guy.

JUN X.

Absolute craziness from CS Hiro. It's damn fast too.

More Orange.

Trial Tottori.

ORC's wild supercharged Legacy.

Tarzan wrestling with the Zero Sports machine.

HKS Kansai Impreza in battle.

Besides the photos, I also managed to get a little video footage. I am still adjusting to the video camera and editing software, but I think the results came out OK. You will probably notice the lack of different camera angles, but it's kind of tough to get a variety of angles with just one guy. Anyways, I think it really brings some excitement to the coverage. Hopefully you enjoy it.

There you have it. The first Auto Otaku video.

Please excuse the horrible YouTube quality butchering. I hope to upload the full HD version once I find a decent server. Let me know what you think.

To see all the rest of the photos (300), check out the gallery here .

Update: Here are some of the results from the event-

Hyper Battle & Circuit Trial (Top 5)

#1. Sun Auto Cyber Evo 7         56.283

#2. VARIS Cyber Evo 5             57.881

#3. Zero Sports Impreza          59.717

#4. Garage KM1 Impreza GC8  1:00.8.00

#5. SEI Evo 5                          1:01.109

Tuned New Evo & Impreza Free Session (Top 5)

#1. JUN Auto Mechanic Evo X  1:01.309

#2. HKS Kansai Evo X             1:03.509

#3. Runduce Impreza GRB      1:03.947

#4. Runduce Evo X                1:04.244

#5.Fujimura Auto Impreza    1:04.983

Tuned New Evo & Impreza 5-lap Battle (Top 5)

#1. Runduce Impreza GRB

#2. HKS Kansai Impreza GRB

#3. Zero Sports Impreza GRB

#4. Trial Tottori Evo X

#5. Fujimura Auto Impreza GRB

(The JUN Evo X actually ran fastest in the race but it was running as a separate entry)

   

Comments

[fwd]

I appreciate this site so much <3

[アート]

本当にありがとう！

I have been reading/viewing auto-otaku for a few months now and I have to say that it is my favorite blog on the Japanese motorsports/car scene I have come across to date. You never fail to satisfy my thirst for good 'ol "car porn" :P I go to Japan at least once a year (currently wrapping up school in San Francisco) and I would love to collaborate with you.

これはちょっと失礼かもしれませんが、聞きたいから聞きます。今どうやってお金を稼いでいますか？

Keep up the awesome work,

アート　in SF, CA

[bojan]

I like your site.One question if you know any lap time EVO x and Impreza WRX STI 08,and if you know if there HKS Kansai have SST or manual transmision?

[James]

Any time sheets? Would love to see who got what time.

[Kultivate]

Hey Mike,

The video is no longer available ;( nice coverage once again :)

[salvation]

I saw the new photos pop up on flickr so it would have been rude not to check the site.
And I must say I like what I see, some cool and somewhat crazy stuff. But now there is
the added bonus/torture of the video footage, before I was content with surveying your
photos but now I know how the cars sound and go around a track.

Keep up the good work

Cheerio

[Clive]

the vidéo works for me, thx to post vidéos now! good editing.

[Ron]

Results!!!!!

[Matto]

Great job on the pics and the video! I wish my pics came out as good as yours haha. It sure was an exciting event and I am already looking forward to next year's show. It was a pitty I didn't have any time going through the parking lots. Wow, there were some awesome machines parked there. Would definitely fill another coverage *lol*

[freddy]

great coverage! the video is awesome. keep it up.

[Ilya]

I'm really speechless... It doesn't get any better than this for a die hard Evo fan like me. Thank you so much, once again!

[Nick]

Wow!! Great work!! Thanks!!

[Charlz]

Ive never subscribed to any other blog until now. great work! keep it up! the picture quality AND quantity is great and I liked how you didnt overkill the music and let the exhaust and tire squeal be the symphony. You are the true JDM insider. cheers!

[Charlz]

Ive never subscribed to any other blog until now. great work! keep it up! the picture quality AND quantity is great and I liked how you didnt overkill the music and let the exhaust and tire squeal be the symphony. You are the true JDM insider. cheers!

[jae bueno]

Mike, great coverage and excellent photos as always!

I've been waiting anxiously all weekend for this update and i must say its ten times better than i expected it to be. Your photo coverage is the best i have seen, from other blogs to magazines, and the video makes it so much more amazing.
The scene with the red Evo X rally drifting turn 4 was the best shot of the day. Seeing the Jun lemon X in action was great as well.
Can't believe a one man camera/photo crew could do all this.

[chris]

Thanks for the great pictures I alway enjoy this Site.

[Burabuda]

this is interesting stuff, even to an old school lover like me. i love rivalries. do nissan and toyota have any head to head motorsports these days? or will we have to wait for the supra replacement?

[noelski08]

Good Job put some Divx videos if you can.

[Remigio]

Damn! Thanks so much for the coverage. This is exactly why I love your blog and check it everyday.

[Remigio]

Just posted this Video on a Subaru forum. Are you an AWD guy because a good number of your uploads are about Subies and EVOs?

[Vincent Lo]

you make my day better everyday..that is all i need to say

[saru-kun]

Dope track...Dragon Ash?

[matthew clarke]

for one man you truely do amazing work. the video was perfect. keep it up.

[Mike]

Thanks for all the compliments guys. I'm glad the video went over well. I will try to make it better next time.

I updated the post with some results at the bottom.

-Mike

[leongsoon]

Limited angles, yea, but that's a very well put-together video. So much coverage, thank you! Btw, kids nowadays are so lucky; they have WRX pedal cars!

[emeric]

hi!

i've been watching your blog for 2 or 3 months and i have to tell you it's not every time that I regularly go see a blog.
it has everything i want.Japanese track meetings and time attack.
so thank for all of your work.And your video is so nice, please make more.
Emeric from france.

[tobeng]

Wohoo we got video! great work, you are running one of the best carblogs i know thank you!

Try one of these for better quality than youtube, embedding works well too

http://www.viddler.com/
http://www.vimeo.com/

Cheers, Tobias

[Kent]

This is the site that I wished existed for so many years. Now I don't have to read through poorly translated Japanese. It is really fantastic. I'm sure you get suggestions all the time, but I'd like to see some in depth stories on the more well known Japanese tuner shops.

Keep up the great work!

Kent

[Chris Urzua]

after veiwing yor coverage reports for some time i have to finally post something and say thanks! always enjoy all the pics and info you share.

-chris

[CorollaTTE]

Hello, do you have the best JDM blog of the planet! Great videos and photos!

You can upload the HD video to this site: http://www.vimeo.com/

[CorollaTTE]

http://www.vimeo.com nice HD video host

Nice blog! The best about JDM! Keep going!

[Kevin Trinh]

VIMEO.com allows HD video uploading!

[VQ35DE]

Great blog, I love it! Would you happen to know the name of the song and band performing the song?

[Puma Shoes]

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[SARAHRios]

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[oil paintings]

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[Air Jordan Retro]

Thanks for the tips Jeff! My cousins suggested the same thing, but I've yet to locate a FP in decent shape. Then again 200 RMB isn't all that much when converted to USD. Just don't want to start racking up bikes when one quality unit would do.

[oil painting]

Merci pour le partage. Je suis entièrement d'accord avec vous, vous obtiendriez probablement plus de lecteurs, si vous avez interviewé des gens controversés pour votre blog.