There's always a "big one" for everything you could possibly be obsessed with. Comic book and art fans have the San Diego Comic con, Baseball fans have the World series, and heavy metal fans have Ozzfest. We Japanese car enthusiasts have the Tokyo Auto Salon. Through some careful planning and lots of overtime, I got a chance to take the pilgrimmage to Japan and attend the worlds largest show for customized and modified Japanese vehicles.
Every major player involved in the automotive aftermarket in Japan was represented here. HKS, Greddy, Jun Auto mechanic and many others pulled out all the stops and brought their finest to showcase what they have in store for 2008. In addition, many of the OEM manufacturers also use the show to highlight their dedication to the customization world, and also bring some new models out to gauge interest from those who show more than a casual interest in motor vehicles. The difference between the two types of booths? Budget. The OEM's have huge displays with large flashing lights, dancing girls, and professional announcers, while the aftermarket booths usually let their products and fabrication do the talking.
Every major player involved in the automotive aftermarket in Japan was represented here. HKS, Greddy, Jun Auto mechanic and many others pulled out all the stops and brought their finest to showcase what they have in store for 2008. In addition, many of the OEM manufacturers also use the show to highlight their dedication to the customization world, and also bring some new models out to gauge interest from those who show more than a casual interest in motor vehicles. The difference between the two types of booths? Budget. The OEM's have huge displays with large flashing lights, dancing girls, and professional announcers, while the aftermarket booths usually let their products and fabrication do the talking.
Here are just some highlights from what was on the main floor:
HKS had a fine booth at the very forefront of the first main hall. HKS was celebrating their 35th anniversay and decided to showcase many of the parts that made them the oldest and perhaps most trusted name in Japanese performance parts. Everything from the first turbo kit they sold all the way through their current host of electronics were all on display. They even brought a timeline of cars, which included their drag skyline as well as their time attack Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution.
A shop that some of you may not be familiar with is Tec-Art's. They're a small shop on the outskirts of Tokyo specializing in fabrication and engine building. They are perhaps best known for their involvement in the AE86 N2 series from Hot Version, where their high-tech AE86 continues to impress with its 17" wheel setup and sequential transmission. Here, we have an example of one of their customer cars, which is an FC RX7 with a custom wide-body kit to house the tremedous wheels and tires, as well as a custom Trust turbo upgrade to help battling those pesky I-6's on the track. Beautiful indeed!
Up next, we have this wonderful example of "old meets new" with HotStaff's AE86 with F20C 
powerplant swap. This vehicle was recently showcase in the "VTEC Club" dvd series and has also motivated many AE86 enthusiests to think about using Honda power in their usually underpowered vehicles. With 240 naturally aspirated horses on tap in a lightweight 2200 pound car, this thing moves like there's no tomorrow. You'll certainly suprise a few unsuspecting Porsche owners with this setup.
powerplant swap. This vehicle was recently showcase in the "VTEC Club" dvd series and has also motivated many AE86 enthusiests to think about using Honda power in their usually underpowered vehicles. With 240 naturally aspirated horses on tap in a lightweight 2200 pound car, this thing moves like there's no tomorrow. You'll certainly suprise a few unsuspecting Porsche owners with this setup.
The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution is known worldwide as one of the premier bases for rally racing. Its turbocharged powerplant combined with its technologically advanced all wheel drive layout allow the car to be fast out of the box, and even deadlier in modified form. Here, we have the Japanese Rally Championship Evo 8, modified to the strict standards that the JRC enforces.
Suzuki only seems to be a major player in the motorcycle and power sports industries, but they are alive and well automobile motorsports. Suzuki runs a factory backed Swift in one of the lower classes in the Junior World Rally Cross Championship, and this is an example of one of those fine machines. With a 2.0L naturally aspirated power plant producing roughly 240 horsepower, you can be things thing makes short work of tarmac, gravel and road courses. This partciular vehicle was actually featured in Best Motoring's "Hot Version" DVD magazine series, pitted up against Keiichi Tsuchiya's tougue king AE86. An impressive machine, indeed!
This story wouldn't be complete without at least one offering from the world of Super GT, or perhaps more widely known as JGTCC. This team Yellow Hat 350Z showcases all the current technology being utilized in Japan's premier sports car series. Underhood is Nissans' new flagship engine, the VQ35 although modified to compete with other 500 horsepower machines via route of a twin turbocharged system. While the machine looks very close to a road going 350Z (or Fairlady Z in Japan) it is definately modified beyong the reach of most aftermarket tuners.
So concludes our coverage of the floorshow of the Tokyo Auto Salon. Hope to see you on the trip with us next year!
