Auto Otaku: Car and Life

Coverage: Mooneyes Street Car Nationals '08

I can't really describe the craziness that is the Mooneyes Street Car Nationals. While most car gatherings have some sort of "theme", it virtually impossible to put a label on the Street Car Nationals.  At the event you can see everything from '32 Fords and Escalades to kei cars and classic Toyota Crowns. I guess you could say the only common theme among the cars is that their style somehow has roots in America.

Mooneyes Japan holds a number of events every year and the Street Car Nationals is probably the biggest and most well attended of them. It is not a new event by any means. 2008 was the 22nd annual edition of the Street Car Nats in Japan. I had been anticipating this event for some time and on Sunday the big event was finally here.

I had seen a lot of pictures from the event in the past, but I was still overwhelmed by the size of the event. I can't think of any other event that such a variety of vehicles and automotive subcultures in one place.

Let's take a look at the show-

Early Crown pick-up with a chopper in the bed. It doesn't get any cooler than that.

Nissan hardbody with an SR20DET swap.

110 Sunny wagon.

Vans never went out of style in Japan.

Mazda Luce, probably the cleanest ever.

'61 Chevy wagon lowrider.

Kei hot rod style.

JDM Del Sol.

The infamous Carina fire wagon.

Beams 3SGE under the bonnet.

Mooneyes' radical Nova drag car.

This Accord wagon was so fresh.

Mopar or no car. '70 Dodge Coronet.

The VW guys were getting in on the fun too.

Dodge van front end conversions from Dream Factory Blow.

Suzuki Lapin's with the Chevy/GMC pickup front end conversion. These are also from Dream Factory Blow.

Beautiful Prince wagon.

Driving this thing on Japanese roads is like trying to drive an aircraft carrier in a swimming pool.

SR20-powered CSP311 Silvia.

I really liked this Chevy Astro. I'm not sure why, but the Astro/Safari is really popular in Japan.

Custom shop Skills had several demo cars on display, including this R34-faced S14 Silvia with crazy bodywork and paint. 

This turbocharged S2000 is Skills flagship democar. Check out the stereo work in the rear.

'32 Ford, the quintessential hot rod.

There were a lot of mini trucks sporting cool engine swaps at the show, like this Toyota...

...with 5 valve 4AGE power.

Mitsubishi Debonair.

Very early Prince/Nissan pick-ups.

The swap meet was a very popular spot for visitors.

Hippest Volvo ever.

It's still 1978.

Putting the plates back on for the drive home.

BRE 510 replica.

Long roof Crown.

What a mid '50s Ford truck should look like.

'Cuda SCCA Trans Am replica.

There were a large a number of late model Mustang's at the event.

Nissan Figaro.

This photo shows just the type of variety found at the Street Car Nats.

All in all it was a fantastic event.

Check out the full gallery with over 300 photos right here.

Speechless

I have a seen a lot cool stuff in my time, but this might be the coolest.

A squad of 70 chassis Corolla sedan's from Motor Fix out in Gifu. The guys from Motor Fix don't need much description. They simply build the most radical 70 chassis Corolla's and drive them to the brink of (and sometimes past the brink of) complete destruction.

Seriously, this stuff is so awesome.

MSC has some great photos of these guys absolutely tearing it up in both single and tandem competition.

Rust and battle damage have never been so sexy. The epitome of a privateer warrior.

The 5 valve 4AGE provides no shortage of power and also sings a beautiful song on the track.

Headlights, turn signals, and straight body panels are for girls!

But if you are running headlights, the quad units are quite handsome.

The 5 valve-powered car in the paddock.

MSC tandem comp last year at YZ Circuit.

16 valve 4AGZE swap in a TE71.

Someone stateside should build a 70 chassis Corolla and run in Formula D.

Oh yeah, there's videos too-

Response soukoukai at YZ Circuit.

Suzuka Twin Circuit. Watch the angle and entry technique of the silver car. Nuts.

Going for the glory at MSC YZ Circuit.

How can you not love this stuff?

Found on YJA: T78 Aristo

Another cool Yahoo Japan find here-

Here we have a relatively sedate looking JZS161 Aristo. It looks much like a standard VIP car and the only real sign of the devil lurking underneath is the large brake calipers visible behind the wheel spokes.

Exterior-wise, the car is running a Blow Design Mode Parfume series 3-piece aero kit. The subtle trunk spoiler is from Aimgain and the LED tail lights are Wise Square pieces. Curious folks might notice the "78" on the license plate. Custom plate numbers in Japan are quite common, but since there are no alphabetical characters allowed, they have to make do with numerals. Common choices are the chassis code or engine displacement of the car, but in this case the "78" refers to this....

The factory 2JZ has been outfitted with a single T78 turbine and the output for this set up is about 650 horsepower. Besides the turbine kit, the hot rod Aristo is also running the following-

Trust intercooler

HKS 264 intake and exhaust cams

Ported head

HKS Twin Power Ignition

Trust E-Manage Ultimate

650CC Injectors

Underneath are full coilovers from Quantum, along with various TRD and Ikeya Formula suspension arm and bushing modifications. Brakes are sourced from a JZA80 Supra and the wheels are Work Meister S1 18X9J +21 front, and 18x10 +29 in the rear.

The interior remains stock for the most part, with the exceptions of the driver's seat and the added meters to keep the 650hp in check. As you can see, the car is still using an automatic transmission (the Aristo was never offered with a manual from the factory). I wouldn't complain one bit about the slushbox.

The car is also sporting a whole catalog's worth of audio upgrades, but since I know next to nothing about car audio, I will just say it appears quite impressive.

In this shot you can see the Trust intercooler, FRP hood, and the add-on front canards. The Lexus front grill is a nice touch as well.

The price for all of this? About $11,000 USD.

That's a couple grand less than a new Toyota Yaris. It even has more than a year of valid "shaken" inspection left.

Check out the detailed YJA listing right here .

Coverage + Video: Mugen Circuit Challenge

It was Honda heaven this Sunday. I headed out to Tsukuba Circuit to have a look at the first round of the Mugen Circuit Challenge series. Of course Mugen needs no introduction, as its name is found on everything from Super GT and Formula Nippon race cars to cheap knock off "tuner" parts around the world.

While Mugen made be known for its high dollar tuning cars and pro racing ventures, the company also offers grassroots level events for the "common man". The Mugen Circuit Challenge offers Honda drivers a full day of track time and includes pro racers on hand to give driving tips and pointers.

Held on the winding TC1000 course, the event was open to drivers of all skill levels. The participants ranged from beginners in near-stock Honda Fit's, to "semi-pros" in full-on race cars. Mugen itself brought out a pair of lightly tuned demo cars, an FD2 Civic Type R and an S2000. The cool spring afternoon was filled with the sounds of high-revving VTEC engines as the H-badged cars attacked the tight course.

The new FD2 Civic Type R is very popular here despite the fact that it has been on the market for less than a year. With the demise (hiatus?) of the Integra and NSX, the Civic is the only Honda left to carry the legendary "Type R" badge. Fortunately, the car more than lives up to its name, delivering performance comparable to much more expensive cars.

I didn't spend a lot of time at the event, but I was able to get a decent amount of photos and a little bit of video footage.

Let's take a look at the photos first-

S2000's like this are a common sight at circuits all over Japan. The parts are all functional, they just happen to look cool as well.

The EP3 CTR doesn't have quite the following of its older and younger siblings, but I was surprised to see several nicely tuned examples at the track.

CL7 Accord Euro R with the handsome Mugen aero kit.

This EF9 was the classic of the bunch, but you couldn't tell from the way it was running on the track.

Pre-facelift DC5 Integra Type R.

The Honda heads from Fuzz Garage were out with their DC2 Integra track special...

...and this EK9.

There were several tuned Fit's at the event. The short TC1000 course is a perfect match for the lightweight, nimble Fit. They were passing other cars with twice the power.

Now some on-track action-

Mugen S2000 and a new S2000 CR/Type S.

Hey who let the Spoon car into a Mugen event?

Wingless FD2 looks really sleek.

I love the optional Fit 1.5S front bumper.

Another CL7 Euro R.

No hard parking to be found.

DC2 showing that the hardworking B-series should not be overlooked.

The grass at Tsukuba may be green now, but Championship White was the color of the day.

There are plenty more photos in the gallery right here.

Here is a short (about three minute) video I put together. It was quite windy at the event so the sound quality is not great, but what can you do? Hopefully you enjoy it.

Zeroyon Champ!

For the past few days I have been fooling around NES and SNES emulators in my spare time, reliving childhood memories seeing if my old favorites have stood the test of time. I vaguely remembered playing some sort of strange SNES/Super Famicom Japanese drag racing game at my friend's house a long time ago, so I hunted around and found the ROM version of the game.

The game was originally made in 1995 and is called "Zero 4 Champ". Unlike traditional racing games with things called "corners" and "braking", this game is all about acceleration and top speed. In fact, the game lacks any controls for steering your car, as it as always pointed straight ahead. While this may seem like a snooze, the game makes up for it by having an innovative (challenging?) control system.

As you can see in the screen capture, the game uses an H-pattern shifter. One button operates the accelerator, another operates the clutch, and the d-pad/arrow keys operate the gearshift. You put the car in first, dump the clutch when the light turns green and engage the clutch each time you up shift, manually moving the gear lever with the d-pad. It's pretty tough to get the hang of, but once you do, it's actually pretty fun.

The game has a decent selection of mid 90's licensed cars, including the R32 & R33 GT-R, RX-7, Impreza, Evo, MR2, GTO etc. You can also tune the cars, switch tires, transmission and other parts.

I take winning VERY seriously, which is why I am using a 1200hp "fanny" car to race a stock Subaru Legacy.

Impreza vs. Evo battle in all of its 16-bit glory.

The game has also has an RPG-like story mode but it won't be very fun if you can't read Japanese.

I actually just found out that there has been a new zeroyon game released for the Nintendo DS. I wonder if it is worth 2800yen or if I'd be happier playing the classic version?

Anyone else play this before?

HP10

After reading Patrick Callahan's post over at The Real JDM about bringing uniqueness to the world of "JDM" tuning, I couldn't help but think of one of my favorite underdog platforms, the HP10 Nissan Primera/Infiniti G20.

Originally imported to the United States in the early 90's as an entry level sport sedan to compete with the BMW 3 series, the car's front wheel drive layout, compact car roots and lack of engine choices kept the car from being a mainstream success. The G20 was eventually replaced by the massively successful, Skyline-based Infiniti G35.

While the car never really caught on with luxury car buyers, it offers a lot of potential as a project car. Even in stock form, the car offers a decent driving experience with its tight suspension and naturally aspirated version of Nissan's famous SR20 engine. The car also has its motorsport credentials as it appeared in both the British and Japanese touring car championship series under the Nissan Primera nameplate.

I like the car because it offers the look and feel of a compact European sedan while retaining Japanese simplicity. When it comes to power, there are a number of options available, both naturally aspirated and turbocharged.

When going the turbo route there are many shared components with the famous Nissan Pulsar GTI-R and its individual throttle body-fed SR20DET.

The naturally aspirated route also offers a lot of potential. The car is perfect candidate for Nissan's later model variable valve timing equipped VE-series SR engines. The VE motors are easily capable of 200hp with little modification.

Here are a few examples of tuned Primera's in Japan-

 

The car was even popular enough to get its own Hyper Rev book.

Used G20's can be found now for well under 2 grand now, making them a perfect start for a low buck, yet unique project.

Anyone other Primera fans out there?

The Real JDM - Dare to be Different

JTCC: Japan's Forgotten Racing Series

More USJDM

If you are not familiar with it, I made a post about USJDM Style last summer . This past weekend was the 2008 USDM Jam held out in Mie Prefecutre, which is the biggest gathering of USJDM style cars in Japan.

While a lot of the cars look exactly like the fixed up Honda's in the US (that's what the owners are trying to do), some also manage to bring some unique styling features. While looking through some photos from this year's event, I found some pretty cool cars. The wheel choices in particular are worth a look.

Hiro's DC2 on SSR Formula Mesh (not the replicas that are all over the place in the USA now).

EF Civic sedan with ATS Cup wheels,  a popular wheel among VW enthusiasts.

Another EF, this one with rare TE37 Cup wheels.

A Civic coupe with a 5-lug conversion and polished R32 Skyline GT-R wheels. It looks so cool.

There should be more photos on the official USDM Jam site soon.

NHK's New Classic Car Drama?

 

Japan's government-funded media giant NHK typically broadcasts programming that's about as exciting as watching grass grow, but it looks like they may have actually made something worth watching...for classic car fans at least.

"Top Sales", the new NHK series or "drama" as they are called in Japan, is set in the 1970's and follows the story of a young woman who leaves her job to become a car salesman. The story follows her eventual rise to president of the company as she deals with working in the male-dominated industry.

Naturally, since the series is about car sales and is set in 1970's Japan, there should be quite a bit of vintage Japanese machinery that appears in the story.

The first episode debuted this past Saturday night but I missed the original broadcast. Fortunately, there are sites like D-addicts where you can download episodes of Japanese TV shows.

I'm not sure exactly how much of the show is car-related, but it should be an interesting series nonetheless.

Hopefully someone will do do some subtitling for foreign viewers.

UPDATE:

Here are a few screen caps from the first episode. The car company in the show is the fictional "Omiyake Motors", but all of the cars they show are renamed Nissan's, Toyota's, etc.

 

"Top Sales" Offical Site (Japanese)

"Top Sales" DramaWiki

Chop Shop

My good friend back home sent me some photos of the latest progress on his SR20DE-powered Datsun 510 project. Actually, he is transferring the guts of a running SR20-powered car he already built to a car with a much better body.

That's the new car in the garage with the engine on the hoist.

There's my friend Mike taking old 510 for one last spin down memory lane.

These pictures make me quite envious of the nice California weather and wide driveways. I'll post some more updates on his work as the project moves along.

In Japan, Even Ice Cream Bars Drift

No explanation needed for this craziness.