C1 Parking - Tatsumi 1st

Tatsumi 1st is the C1 highway rest stop in the anti-clockwise direction. One of only a few places where you can take a break from racing without having to pay a 800yen toll to rejoin the action. Toilets and vending machines. This is where you can get steaming hot coffee to warm your body on a winters night. Then releive yourself after your next lap of the C1.

Even if you are driving a Pajero, tut-tut, this is still a place to stop and oggle the awesome parade of cars that cruise around the C1. On a Sunday night at 3am this place is teaming with performance cars. Not many spaces and they are always 2 deep waiting for the right competition to roll by.

It's a popular place for a few other reasons. The first is that it's a place to chat about tuning and it is also a place to witness the speed of the C1. Recently a large wall has been installed to stop people "viewing the racing" But you can still climb up top in places and see over it. There is a long straight following a 4th gear corner that allows a downhill run to 300kph heading towards Odaiba. Seeing a GTR in full flight here is an awesome experience.

Its also a place to marvel at the engineering of the expressway. At this particular point there are three levels of roads criss-crossing each other. About 8 lanes wide underneath and you're about 100meters in the air. Look over the edge and you realize why the road "wobbles" a bit when trucks cruise by.

As the first stop off the Wangan its also a popular stop for "cooling off" after a prolonged high speed adventure. Lots of idling down here. If your familiar with Tokyo, you're not far from the rainbow bridge and you have a good view of the metropolis. I only wish I could get an appartment within view of here or the rainbow bridge.

I think you can all get an idea where my Facer 9 fettish came from. Pure JDM street Racing.

Yahoo Map

Russ

Tsukuba Skyline

Tsukuba Skyline is rarity in Japan. A non-toll road.

Daytime, tsukuba is a great place for some test and tune.

From the top of the mountain along the ridgeline, there is a nice winding road.

Jump in your car and drive, up and back all day long.

Some interesting views and 360 degree turns.

Snake along the road.

Leaves a smile on your face.

there is one car park that fills up regularly with all kinds of machinery.

But midnight is when it comes alive.

Thanks to Blue Blood for the rides!

Russ.

Hakone Turnpike

You've probably seen this location in countless Japanese magazines over the years. It is a rest stop on the turn pike road.

The Hakone Tunpike's  Odawara entry point leads you in an up hill direction. It's a good start to a days exciting driving. Once you enter the turnpike it is pretty steep, but turbo cars have no issue. The downhill return journey is exhilarating.

This road gets such a workout that it is actually recently sponsored by TOYO tyre company and known as the Toyo Tyres Turnpike. Its a favourite for journalists and photographers as some of the shots from here are truely breathtaking. You will often pass someone reviewing the latest ferrari or audi.

Maybe you'll see someone setting up their touge car or meet an old guy just scoping out the competition. The road has a view of the coast and fuji on a clear day with a view of lake ashi at the top parking area. There are lots of places to turn around, chat with friends or let your brake pads cool.

Perfect spots for a photo opportunity.

 or enjoy the views if you need a break.

The view from the top is over the Ashinoko(lake Ashi) and along the left side in this view is the Ashinoko skyline, yet another awesome road.

A must try on your Japan road journey.

Yahoo Map


Russ.

Nikko Iroha-Zakka

The say in the tourist brochure, "If you haven't experienced Nikko, then you haven't experienced Japan"

Well, they may be right! This is the mother of all Mountain Touge! Iroha-zakka pass is a single direction road, 2 lanes up-hill and a single lane down-hill. All up there is 46 or so corners that are named after the Japanese characters of the language. Hairpin after hairpin, turn after turn lead down the mountain amongst picturesque scenery. But you dont really get time to witness it as you concentrate on the road, especially at any real speed.

I took my Fd on one of its' last trips in Japan. It received a hell of a caning on a withering set of tires. To be honest, it is quite difficult to drive here and the sheer number of hairpin corners does your head in. It definitly has more corners in succession in such a tight space that any road I have ever been on. It is almost mandatory that you power oversteer the hairpins just to make life easier for yourself.

A true experience that has to be put on the agenda of any visit to Japan. There is a lot more to do in Nikko as the Temples and scenery are among the best. At different times of year you can see the monkeys in the hot springs and there's always the monkey shrine, majestic mountain lakes and great hiking.

Downhill its simply like this.

If you follow Initial-D, then this is the Third Stage Movie MR2 Battle Stage. This web site http://gallery.tsukaeru.jp/ has great shots of all the Japanese touge featured in Initial-D taken by a die-hard fan who travelled the country. When you zoom in on this map (Yahoo Map) your jaw will drop.

Russ

Aqua-Line

Laying in the depths underneath Tokyo Bay is a 15klm straight piece of road that begs for full trottle. It consists of 4.4 km of bridge starting from the Kisarazu side and roughly 9.5 km of tunnel from the Kawasaki side. Its not much to look at and it is exactly that, straight, boring and long. To shorten the experience, add a 500+ hp machine and remove the speed limiter. Now you are ready to head into the tunnel.

In the centre there is a rest stop called Umi Hoteru "Sea Hotel" that allows for cooldown from 2 mins of constant full throttle.

The reason why you can go 300klm an hour here is that the road is empty. With the toll costing $30 one way for cars and $130 for trucks, which has halved in recent times from 7500 yen for cars, it is no wonder it became a legendary place for top speed runs in the wee hours of the morning. I paid my 3000 yen and made sure I got my money's worth.

Check the link for an insight into this insane waste of Japanese taxpayers money. But I am glad they made it. I love these technological wonders that can only happen in one of the worlds richest economies. Don't worry when those information boards start flashing at you, Just keep the hammer down.

http://www.pref.chiba.jp/syozoku/b_soukei/keikaku/outline/aqua-gaiyo-e.html

Yahoo Map

Russ.

Wangan

Well, You have heard the stories about the Bayshore Route and yes they are true. Almost any night of the week you will find someone running near 300kph on the Wangan expressway from Tokyo to Yokohama.

This road has huge tunnels that undulate over portions of reclaimed land then under the waterways that separate them. Its a sub 10 minute ride that usually takes about 30mins at the speed limit from Daikoku Futo rest stop to the Start of the C1.

On the south bound Journey there is a toll booth, but on the return run its full throttle all the way if you forget the speed camera half way along. Folding number plate usually takes care of that. You think your going quick and then a ferrari or some tuned pig just flies past. Lucky you can see their HID beams from a mile away.

Everyone says its dangerous but when you are the only car on the road. There really isnt much of an issue. For the FD though, It's not a great place to test your luck. Having seen full tune NSXs and twin turbo Lamborghinis whith 1200hp blow by, a lowly 400hp Fd is slightly underpowered to be a contender here. This is where you NEED a Scoot 4 rotor and its also exactly where you can use it.

I was luckily stupid enough to witness some insane journeys in cars like an 800hp Supra and GT-R34. These things are awesome in their own territory. So take my advice. Get your Fd out of the way when you see the big guns coming.

Yahoo Map

FE&E 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_JHmJk6kmE

R-Magic's FD3s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L05_9oehXvA

Dino's review http://speedhunters.com/archive/2010/05/30/roadway-gt-gt-the-wangan.aspx

Russ

UK Scene

The UK Scene is still in its infacy but its begining to thrive on low priced imports that are flooding the market free of restriction. Not uncommon for a 2500 pound car to be found screaming for the attention of a HUGE turbo addition.

Breaking free from the Super touring 2.0litre phenomenon that previously embraced Brittan, the abundance of horsepower is becomming addictive. The move to host the rotorstock event is also increasing the profile of the rotary which has really grown in the last three years. Add D1UK to the mix and we are beginning to see a really good mix of street, show, drag, drift and race cars that all get driven.

Regular london runs, track days and heaps of "pub" meets all see these cars being used and abused. I cannot write from in country experience, but through regular appearance on www.mazdarotaryclub.com you can really gain a fantastic insight into the owners and the things they get up to in the UK. A great bunch of guys that all enjoy the technical challenge and enjoyment of Fd ownership.

We all came fom the convicts. Does that make me English?

Russ

USA Scene

Carbon and Chrome, this is the USA. Big power and bling, silicon valley and silicon implants. the tuning world of steriods and surgery where anything goes and freedom of expression rules.

3rotors on the road. Options by Pettit racing produce probably the ultimate road going seven. with 500hp and bags of torque on tap you can take on any corvette you like. As long as you can put up with the ugly rear fenders it could be a real option. Peter farrel has also been around for a while and his accomplishments on the Pikes Peak hill climb take the FD to new territory. I guess for a while now the Americans have been shoving small V8's and adding Cubic inches to the rotary. I guess its in their blood.

The tuning scene throws fuel costs to the weeds and big power rules the day, any way you can get it. With little Turbo experience, like in Austrlaia with it's v8 heritage, these modifications seemed warranted. But these days as D1 places a heavy influence, as well as the tokyo drift experience. Somehow the Veilside FD will seem right at home in America. Wild custom lines that show no trace of the original machine underneath sits well with the American culture of making the FD their own. As more and more companies provide rip off copies of Japanese originals maybe the scene will change but if bigger is better, you can't get more that a big, fat wide body FD with a boat load of power. I love it.

Russ.

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.

OZ Scene

The Austrlaian tuning scene and the show scene are almost one in the same. With limited numbers of cars on the road and the extremely high price of FD Rx-7s, the rotary scene has merged into a street cruise, drag, show culture with very little emphasis on driving. Finding a JDM style FD in Australia is like looking for a perfect woman. The police are everywhere and it basically means you polish your car and cruise around. Proving you have 400hp is done from a single set of lights to the next. That's it, but it is slowly changing.

So what are the good parts of the OZ scene. Well FD's still have a legendary status since the Bathurst 24hr wins and the SP special editions that conquered there. They are unavailable for cheap import which keeps re-sale high and as we all know an FD is an awesome machine. These cars are quick. Huge Turbonetics turbines and FMIC setups fueled by the mighty Aussie Microtech ECU. Thats about your only option. Choice is something we don't have but what we got aint bad. Exhaust tuning is always custom with most stainless mandrel bend systems reaping huge power gains. You will always find a flexible joint and a cat on an Aussie exhaust system. They just make sense.

The show influence brings 19 and 20inch rims on most examples and suspension is always LoW. Bodywork is usually near stock but perfect paint is a big expense. The cost of importing parts is restrictive with a front bar from Japan costing around $2000aud. Interior re-trimming in tan leather is almost compulsory but does look and feel awesome. Older cars like the Rx3 enjoy monster status down under and they are simply tuned the same way. 9, 10 or 11 seconds over the quarter is not unusual for a rotary streeter. Beware.

If cruising and drag racing is for you, then Australia is the place to be.