7's Day 2011 - X3

7's Day brings out more than FD3s mad fans... Sometimes unique is still cool.

Tom's RX3 is one of those miracle rescue finds in a modern world of replacement society. He has worked hard to restore this to near original condition, with all it's period correctness.

No huge over-fenders or Watanabe rs wheels, no 13b turbo swaps or wheel tubs, It's simply wearing it's original clothing very well, Tom's ready to let his time (less) machine go, so if your interested... it could be yours.

Russ.

Champ by Name...

Champ by nature.! Champ lives in Thailand and runs a shop, Let's look at what he get's up to in his free time.

There's some nice detail work in the car that's used as a demonstration of his skills. The front fenders are carbon wrapped for an interesting talking point.

Wheels are Rays RE-30 which protect a big brake upgrade. Stance is perfect for the kit.

 I think the word is flush. Rear spacers have been added to get things in line with the RE-Amemiya AD GT Kit.

I think Ama-san got more than a bit of Champ's money in this build.

The result is a Touge Monster replica of show spec finish.

Engine bay is stunning. The welds on the IC piping are pretty cool. The plenum chrome is pretty BUFF!

Alternator and other items are chrome plated and pulleys and other small items highlight the work.

In side has some carbon door cards and dash cover along with maybe more than you need.

But it all works. The zoom mirror is a nice touch.

It's always interesting to see tuning done in different ways.

Champ's FD3S Spec

Tire and Wheel
Yokohama Advan Neova AD08   F: 235/40/18 

Yokohama Advan Neova AD09  R: 255/35/18

VOLK RE30 F:9.5 offset +12  R:10.5 offset +15 (18 inch)
RAYS Aluminium lightweight Wheel Nuts M12x1.5
Aluminium 15mm 114.3PCD 12x1.5P Wheel Spacers For Rear Wheel

Footwork
Suspension JIC magic
Carbing 3 point brace Front Strut Tower Bar

Engine Torque damper

Cusco Sidebar 

Brake

Calipers F:Greddy 6 Pot   R:Greddy 4 Pot
Rotor F: Greddy 355 mm 2-PIECE R: Greddy 330 mm 2-PIECE
Project Mu Brake Hose

Drive System
OS-Giken Twinplate

Exterior
RE-Amemiya Hood 9 Carbon
RE-Amemiya Facer N1-02  RE-Amemiya GT-AD KIT (Front Fender Wrap Carbon)
RE-Amemiya Rear Diffuser PRO Carbon
RE-Amemiya REAR SPOILER-GTⅢLow (CF)
RE-Amemiya AD MIRROR-PRO
RE-Amemiya UNDER SWEEP Carbon
RE-Amemiya CANARD-PRO Carbon
RE-Amemiya SLEEK Lights kit
RE-Amemiya BOWTECH GENERATOR Carbon

Interiors
BRIDE Vorga Blue
DEFI BF Blue Illumination Turbo Boost, Water Temp, 
Oil Temp & Pressure , Exhaust Temp ,Fuel Press and Tacho Meter
Knight Sport  driving meter
Greddy Profec-B Spec II and Remote
APEX FC Commander
RE-Amemiya Column meter panel & METER SET
RE-Amemiya quick shift
RE-Amemiya Gear Knob
Safty 21 4-point roll cage
Steering Nardi
TAKATA Belt
Cover Console carbon
Zoom Engineering Rear View Mirror carbon

Engine
Turbo Greddy T88-34D
HKS Regulate
Wastegate Turbosmart
Greddy Type R  BOV
Trust Titanium R Muffler
Titanium Full Exhaust System
Titanium Intercooler Piping
StillWay 70mm Piping Elbow 
KOYO 55mm Z-Type Aluminium Radiator
CPU APEX Power-FC
Intercooler APEX 4.5" Make V-Mount
GruppeM Air Cleaner System
Samco radiator hoses
Billion Low Temp Thermostat
Battery moved back in BOX

Rocket Factory Pulley Aluminium Kit 

If you are in Thailand, drop in to www.masterpieceservice.com There are regular meets in Bangkok and popularity of the FD is gaining. Champ says that with cars being expensive in Thailand, owners need great passion. I think we can see his through this machine.

Russ.

Feeding the Blues

Here's one of those evolution cars with a parts list longer than your arm (babies not included).

In the United States Japanese cars are loved just as much as their local born v8 vettes.

Philip certainly has embraced the tuner scene and co-runs a rotary club in the states.

Through the car's evolution, it has become wider and more aggressive, replacing some parts for others eventually settling on the current spec.

Work XD9 were chosen to fill the guards.until recently they were one of the few dished 10" wheels at +38. With the additional width came some 10~15mm spacing and the result is enviable. Almost as wide as the APR rear wing.

There's a lot of carbon on the car which some may argue complements or detracts from the blue. On a dark car like this it's only noticeable in the "right" light with photography is very difficult to represent the true colour.

The "designs" from Fujita Engineering, RE-Amemiya are a feature.

Interior has received a carbon skin that looks great. Apexi EL commander is a vast improvement over the LCD type.

There's a set of Bride Exas III seats and loads more.

 Engine bay has that rubbed and tweaked feel.

 I leave you with The List....

Engine:

-Ported 13B-REW engine
-BNR Stage 3 Twin Turbos
-polished Efini-Y pipe
-Polished upper intake manifold
-Polished 90mm Rotary Works Throttle body
-Polished Greddy elbow w/injector ports
-Apexi GT Spec FMIC

-HKS RS intake with KN filters

-HKS seq. BOV

-Custom polished pipings By: BNRSupercars.com
-Constant tension T-blot clamps for IC pipings and Intakes.
-Simplified seq twin set up

-polished hardline intake pipes for secondary intake.

-Ported JDM Upper Intake manifold and polished by David Garfinkle. Also all the misc. vacuum ports have been welded shut and clean up and polished for cleaner look.

-Tanabe Catback

-SS Pettit DP

-Apexi PowerFC

-FC Datalogit

-HKS twinpower ignition amp

-Custom Grounding kit

-Mazdaspeed ignition wires

-Remote Start/pager/alarm/turbo timer

-Koyo N-Flow Radiator

-2 x 4 blade fan set up for better cooling

-Custom Carbon Fiber Cooling panel

-Fast acting Airtemp sensor
-Pettit Polished AST

-Added R1 Dual oil coolers
-FEED oil filler cap
-FEED coolant filler cap
-Braille light battery
-Braille Verticle mounting kit

-Unorthodox alternator pulley (red)
-Unorthodox power steering pulley(blue)
-Pettit Racing water pump pulley
-Tweakit Racing tensioner pulley kit

-Exedy Hyper Single Clutch Kit

Suspension:
-M2 launch kit
-FEED coilovers
-Racing Beat sway bar brace
-Racing Beat sway bars (front and rear)
-Garfinkle Motorworks Engine torque brace
-FEED front strut tower brace
-RZ larger front and rear brake calipers
-Hawk HP+ pads front and rear
-Newly sandblasted A-arms and other suspension parts
-Custom Garfinkle Motorwork cross drilled RZ rotors
-Braided SS brake lines
-Racing Beat sway bushings
-New Delrin bushings for all suspension parts
-Transmission brace
-Dragon's diff brace
-WORK XD9 18x10 +38 with 10mm FIC spacers front and 15mm Ichiban spacers rear
-Yokohama Advan Sport 255/35 front 295/30 rear
-Raceshop rollbar with much stronger rear strut tower brace.

Interior & Stereo:
-Converted Black interior - including, door panels, rear panels, head liner, seat belts, and black main carpet
-RZ floormats
-Rare moon roof interior cover
-JDM rear seats with panels, seat belts, and special rear carpet
-added R1 rear speaker pods for 7 speaker system
-Prosport boost, A/F, Fuel, Boost, and Oil temp gauges
-Prosport center speaker pod
-Bride Exas III seats with Bride rails
-Nardi shift knob
-red leather stitching shift and ebrake boots
-LED interior lights
-Rare red stitch Nardi wheels
-Custom install of Protege cruise control to the Nardi wheel
-RE steering column pod with 52mm Prosport boost gauge
-JKL Engineering Carbon Fiber Gauge cluster, hood AC panel, shifter,etc (not overlay)
-JVC 7inch AV system
-New EL PowerFC commander and Gotham Racing PFC Commander holder
-RE-A speedo cluster gauge
-FEED Carbon fiber rear trunk add on.
-Base model hatch cover
-added OEM fog light switch to turn FEED HID driving lights
-Carbon look oem door step

Exterior:
-Feed Type 2R front bumper
-Feed Carbon fiber canards
-Feed Carbon Fiber side skirts
-Feed wide front fenders
-FEED rear wide flares
-RE-A Carbon Fiber N1 hood
-Rotary Extreme hood dampers
-R-Magic oil cooler ducts
-FEED front tow hook
-RE-Amemiya Carbon rear diffuser
-Carbon Fiber rear hatch with FAL lexan glass
-APR Carbon Fiber side Mirrors
-APR GT 300 Carbon Fiber rear wing
-Custom 1/8 inch mounting kit for GT 300 wing
-Custom LED tail lights
-Custom rear bumper CF signal covers
-FEED head light cover
-rare glass moon roof
-SportTuner HID projector head lights
-LED signal lights in FEED signals
-HID FEED Signal lights
-Spirit R fender badges
-Efini front are rear badges
-Carbon look rear bumper lights
-Carbon fiber gas door (one off made)
-Custom front canard add on
-Carbon Cooling panel (custom, made by me)
-LED Front bumper strips
-FEED signal light covers
-FEED door handles
-Carbon Fiber back of the door handle covers.
-Back Off 3rd light flasher
-Rear tail light lip by ------
-Feed carbon Fiber bumper guard by -----

Check out www.dealsgaprotaryrally.com & www.RotaryCarClub.com


Russ.

RE-Xtreme Version III

This is what it's all about. You. Your car. Your favourite roads.

Nothing like some winding mountain action.

But alas it's probably the last time. I'm reluctantly selling my single turbo FD3s due to life's priorities and realities. I've hardly driven it in six months. There were supposed to be shots like this every month.

Stay tuned for more. But for now, the 1920x1280 Desktop Image is Here

Russ.

ADH Motorsport

Readers of my facebook page may have seen this, but for others, here's the latest pics from ADH Motorsport's Britcar Entry.

It was about a year ago I posted the last pics and the story behind this car.

Since then the rules have changed for their target series, so the guys had to make a few changes.

The RE-Amemiya AD-GT was not allowed so some changes to the frontal area and side skirts had to be employed.

The resulting design is none the less aggressive and the inclusion of a different splitter seems effective. Perspex windows, small mirrors, single wiper, frp rear hatch with the intention of speed and distance.

As the body goes through it's re-design, the interior is complete and almost ready for action. Clean and simple.

Engine already includes the goods.

This UK build includes all the best of the worlds items.

Coefficients of Traction and Friction. There's some mathematics behind this.

Plans are for a debut sometime this year. So the drivers will soon be sitting in their Bride Seat with a more motivating view than their garage.

Russ.

Blood Orange

You may remember this recent post of Ty's FD Jet in Australia.

Well the car now has some more impact! At first glance you need a second look.

I chatted a little to Ty about getting some CE28s for the car and also his thoughts of selling it altogether. Seems he still has the car and it's now on Red CE28N. Which I must say suit the car very well.

Looks impressive. Just the other day, I too was thinking Red. Maybe now I'm thinking Blood Orange.

He chose an 18" rim up front that seems perfect for the space challenged front fenders.

However a second look reveals something brave that will bring some discussion. This much size and lip on the rear is certainly the current trend in America with 19inch tyres with 245/35ZR19 stretched out meaning the tyre is inside the guard and the wheel is out side the guard.

With the rest of the car near perfect show quality, Its definately bold path to take.  Sometimes the real performance reasons for a forged lightweight wheel are purposely ignored. Style is the only reason you need.

Russ.

Missing the Monster.

Remember this RX-perfection. Rob does. His old car appears in DSport magazine this month.

We all attach ourselves to our cars in some way or another.

"I'll never sell it", "I'll be buried in it", "I'll get a divorce before I sell it.", "The baby won't impact on my hobby"  etc etc. I too have sold a beautiful car I poured a boatload of cash into. Only to sell it due to "economic circumstances".
Then
12 months later, the magazine comes out and feeling arise. Rob and I both share this experience.

If you are feeling nostalgic.

Check out RE-Xtreme article and then Check out D-Sport's article. For those in the US, pick up a copy.

These last images are from the Pettit Racing website and the car was also featured in in early guise on the cover of Turbo magazine as "RATED-R"

Russ.

Project Phoenix

My friends at Newera Imports had a customer request for a nice FD to build into a beautiful road car.

Stephen's project is one he nicknamed the Phoenix. When you have your heart set on something, you can find something mostly ok or build exactly what you want. It's more expensive but you get a load of brand new components, new paint and the satisfaction you created something special.

 

Wheels are WedsSport SA-55M gun and subtle blue highlights works well. Direzza Z1 handle the traction equation.

There is something about a white FD that reveals all the lines of the car. He chose some big names for his build and hoped they'd join together to create something special he had dreamed about.

Exhaust has been improved for flow. Kakimoto item was selected with a titanium tip.

Engine remains usable. blitz intake and necessary hardpipes are polished for impact. Mazdaspeed strut bars highlight an otherwise normal engine bay.

A Bride gradation seat gives the driver a secure point for screaming at other traffic.

Sanai Works Super Vatman wing is a max downforce item. Another friend, Sato-San applied the paint and arranged the aero and panel finish.

Stephens words were "In my mind I thought they would work, but you never know until you see it in the flesh."

So did it work? Yes! RE-Amemiya Facer N1 (2005 model) with canards is the face of the car.

Pan Speed 2002 Spec side skirts and overfenders split the cars lines and line up very well. Other key items are the craft square A-pillar mount mirrors and RE-Amemiya Pro diffuser finish the car.

The car will soon hit the UK streets so keep an eye out for another user created mix that cuts an awesome image. This is just the beginning.

Russ.