Japan Scene

The Japanese tuning culture is one where the influence of the street cannot be ignored. Little regulation in the early 80's and 90's paved the way for street racing and the creation of more than one Japanese race driver. Couple this with a huge population and many car owners wanting to be original, the Japanese Domestic Market or JDM created small, powerful cars that drivers could enjoy on the streets. When Ama-san transplanted a rotary into a kei car, he started to battle Porsche 930 Turbo's on the tomei expressway, truely the stuff of legends.

When the government imposed its so called 280hp limit, manufacturers produced vehicles that easily achived this limit. These cars, including the FD rx7, formed a great starting point for tuning. With stock vehicles having so much useable power, and without requiring big heavy V8's, the turbo culture became king and the TwinTurbo FD was seen right at the top with the Twin Turbo GTR. Tuning houses simply removed the 180kph limiters and went ballistic.

These days as regulations increase, the new cars of the 00's are a little less exciting. The Rx8 simply doesnt have the punch of a good 15 year old FD. Although chassis technology has improved, the FD is still a weapon in the hands of a good driver. RWD is not a massive disadvantage for the Rx7 that can hold great mid corner speeds.

So from a street tuning culture where Semi-Slick S-tyres for the street are almost mandatory, and a mountain based Drift culture combine with the Mountain monsters of the Touge. you get something quite special.

More and more, its the circuit that's remaining as the only real option for fast driving, so tuning also seems to be heading in that direction. But until they kick em off the streets, I'll see you on the C1 Shutoko.

Russ.