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Posted
Oct 31 2009, 09:00 PM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 22 comment(s)
These are the posts I love the most, allowing readers to get a more down-to-earth look into companies and personalities. Away from the limelight it is always so refreshing to see just how normal people are and the guys at T&E were a great bunch to spend the best part of a day with. I dropped by their main shop in Yokohama to try to get a behind the scenes look at what is one of the most respected aero parts makers in Japan. The man behind it all is Takahiro Ueno, who currently drivers the 2JZ...
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Posted
Jun 30 2009, 08:00 AM
by
Linhbergh Nguyen
with 42 comment(s)
Many of us dream (with me pleading guilty on all counts) of one day owning a Bentley, Rolls Royce, Ferrari, Pagani, Lamborghini, or Bugatti. But, if you think realistically, a whole many of us, will never own a real luxury car or a real exotic, supercar or hypercar. All that exquisite luxury, with a seemingly infinite amount of power, soul, and passion comes at a terrible price --quite literally, at that. Enter Ernie. Like many of us, Ernie would love to own a super car, hyper car, mid-life crisis...
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Posted
Apr 22 2009, 07:50 AM
by
Jeroen Willemsen
with 21 comment(s)
Man, I'm jealous when looking at all the features my fellow contributors made, from the Formula D Long Beach event. After seeing all the pictures Mike, Linhbergh and Rod shot, I started thinking about some of the body-kits that were used on the driftcars. One of the coolest machines that competed had to be Calvin Wan's S15. It was sporting a full Vertex body-kit made by T&E, one of my favorite designs.... with this in mind, I thought it would be interesting to have a look through some...
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Posted
Apr 09 2009, 06:55 PM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 11 comment(s)
Let's face it, drifting wouldn't be half as fun without some proper tire smoke. As you can see from the opening shot above, taken back in 2007 at Suzuka, Ryoji Jinushi has no problem lighting them up with his 4-Real Works JZZ30. The candy green Soarer has been his car of choice since entering D1 at a professional level and ever since seeing it for the first time at Fuji, I knew I had to take a closer look. Jinushi-san started meddling in drifting during his mid twenties and as most people...
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Posted
Mar 18 2009, 01:01 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 22 comment(s)
The Toyota Soarer, or Lexus SC as it's known in the states, is one of those cars that a lot of people talk about building, but never seems to get past the "idea stage". As you've seen, there are plenty of high quality Soarer drift cars in Japan , but there aren't many legit drift SC's in the USA. Well, that's about to change. Veteran driver and fabrication master Alex Pfeiffer is in the process of putting together a new Lexus SC300 for use in Formula D Competition. The...
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Posted
Mar 18 2009, 07:42 AM
by
Rod Chong
with 12 comment(s)
I had to renew my yearly automobile insurance a few weeks ago, and was a bit surprised when the insurance agent asked if my car was right hand drive. It seems that British Columbia's insurance company, ICBC is trying to get a handle on just how many JDM import cars are on the road.... from what I can tell, there are many..... R32 Skylines for example, are a reasonably common sighting in Vancouver these days.... Anyway, this past Monday we shot two Vancouver based JDM import cars: this stanced...
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Posted
Mar 02 2009, 04:38 AM
by
Jeroen Willemsen
with 2 comment(s)
Just got an email from Jerry from The Perfect Exposure Blog . He had some nice pictures from a meet at the University of California Irvine Import Meet. Browsing through his blog I realized I didn't feature any Soarers, so I had to make it up with you guys. Be sure to check out Jerry's full coverage of the event. -Jeroen Willemsen
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Posted
Feb 27 2009, 07:05 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 16 comment(s)
When it comes to Toyota drift cars, there's basically two paths. You have the light and nimble AE86 OR the big turbocharged monsters like the Chaser and Soarer. For this post I'll be paying tribute to the latter - the "big" Toyota drift cars seen in D1 Grand Prix competition over the past few years. When I say "big" Toyotas here, I'm pretty much referring to anything other than the AE86 (don't worry, those will be featured next time)....
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Posted
Nov 01 2008, 12:47 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 7 comment(s)
Right now it's already Saturday evening here in Japan. Last night was Halloween, but it's not really the same as the USA. A pretty boring night for sure, but then I'm not really the hardcore partying type. Anyways, to celebrate the passing of another month, I figured I would post up a high res desktop wallpaper of Takahiro Ueno making a qualifying run in his Car Make T&E Soarer during last weekend's D1GP event at Fuji Speedway. Sad to see it go, but I also can't wait to see his new BMW at TAS this year! Widescreen and standard versions are available in the Desktops section....
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Posted
Sep 22 2008, 06:45 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 25 comment(s)
It looks like veteran D1GP driver and Vertex shacho Takahiro Ueno will be saying goodbye to his iconic red Soarer following the end of the 2008 D1 season. According to a press release from Vertex USA, Ueno will be retiring his beloved Soarer and switching to an all new BMW 335i coupe which will be powered by none other than a Toyota 2JZGTE engine. The new Bimmer is currently being built at T&E in Japan, and judging by the teaser photo it looks to be coming along quite well. I would imagine that the car should be debuting some time around Tokyo Auto Salon in January. I can't wait to see what the finished product will look like....
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Posted
Sep 16 2008, 05:32 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 14 comment(s)
I have always had a soft spot for the Toyota Soarer/Lexus SC. I even used to own of them back in the states and I always regret getting rid of it. The styling on these cars still looks fresh to this day and they look even better with aftermarket modifications. The Soarer has seen plenty of drift action over the years, notably as Takahiro Ueno's car of choice in D1 since the start of the decade. As far as traditional grip racing goes, I have only seen but a few Soarers running at Tsukuba in my many trips there. Last week at the HKS Hiper Challenge, I spotted this fully-tuned black JZZ30 Soarer running and I thought that it was cool enough to make a separate post about....
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Posted
May 29 2008, 08:47 AM
by
Jeroen Willemsen
with 5 comment(s)
Takahiro Ueno is one of the top D1 drivers. This JZZ30 Toyota Soarer has seen a lot of abuse but is always maintained to the highest possible level. Responsible for that are Ueno’s own companies, T&E and Sui:Vax. T&E is the company behind the Vertex body kits, while Sui:Vax builds the engines.
Paul Castillo from Japan was kind enough to share these pictures with us. Expect to see more of his work in the future on Speedhunters....
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