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Posted
Nov 20 2009, 04:04 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 6 comment(s)
We've been running a lot of vintage Japanese car material this week, so I thought I'd add a high res wallpaper of the much-requested Hakosuka drift photo I snapped last year. Widescreen and standard versions available now in the Desktops section. Enjoy, and have a good weekend everyone! -Mike Garrett
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Posted
Oct 12 2009, 01:36 PM
by
Jeroen Willemsen
with 22 comment(s)
I saw some of the comments in my previous random snap , asking what lap-time these cars do on Tsukuba. Well almost all cars build by Rauh Welt are around the 1 minute mark, as can be seen here . Funny thing is though that a Nissan S14 was faster than all the Porsches during this race. -Jeroen Willemsen
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Posted
Jul 01 2009, 02:45 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 21 comment(s)
Subaru will always be known first and foremost for its Impreza, but in Japan the Impreza's bigger brother the Legacy is just as popular. Although they are generally favored as street cars, tuned Legacy's do show up to the track pretty often. I spotted this fully built second gen Legacy Wagon at an HKS track day at Tsukuba last year. I recall it being one of the fastest cars of the day, and that's not hard to imagine when you look at what's been to this thing. In the photo you can spot the full cage, Endless brakes, Advan wheels, and a fat front mount intercooler along with that aggressive aero kit. And that's just on the outside...
Do you guys want to see some more Legacy love this month?
-Mike Garrett...
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Posted
Jun 19 2009, 09:12 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 30 comment(s)
For my next post from the Idlers Games at Tsukuba Circuit, I thought I'd take a break from the on-course action and share some of the images I shot while exploring the paddock. With all of the cars on hand, one could easily spend the whole day wandering about, taking in the fantastic machinery up close....
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Posted
Jun 16 2009, 11:30 AM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 16 comment(s)
Time now to take a look at the final part of the InterClub Historic Car Race in Tsukuba. The event mixes so many modern and historic cars together it is like no other track-day event in the world. This picture of the Chevron around the first corner at Tsukuba might as well be taken back in the 70's! I used to see cars like this at hill-climb events in Italy... ...it certainly looked the part but wasn't running very well due to mis-tuned carbs which made it cough and splatter around the circuit...
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Posted
Jun 15 2009, 08:11 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 26 comment(s)
I still haven't even had a chance to sort through all the pictures I took at the Idlers Games at Tsukuba on Sunday. Unfortunatley for my hardworking little laptop, I managed to come home with nearly 2000 photos from the event.
Perhaps I got a bit trigger happy with the camera as I was overwhelmed with awesome cars and great driving?
Anyways, lets jump right into some more Idlers coverage....
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Posted
Jun 11 2009, 04:30 AM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 16 comment(s)
While walking through the paddock the other day at the InterClub Historic Car Race I couldn't help but be amazed at the broad selection of cars. It felt great seeing the owners actually use them on track like they were designed to. And despite this being a friendly race series, some out there were taking it pretty seriously, which made for some great footage! Now this little selection here is something I was just not expecting. Vintage Formula 1 cars, and a few other racers, mixing it up with...
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Posted
Jun 07 2009, 08:30 AM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 37 comment(s)
It was an early rise for me this Sunday morning as I packed up the car and headed straight for Tsukuba circuit. After the seamlessly non-stop rain that has plagued Japan over the last two weeks (well it is the rainy season after all) the weather miraculously changed giving us clear blue skies all day. I knew I was going to get very sun burned (and I did!) but as soon as I set foot in the paddock at Tsukuba I really didn't care as I was greeted with an impressive assortment of motoring jewels...
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Posted
May 18 2009, 03:35 PM
by
Jeroen Willemsen
with 27 comment(s)
After checking the RE-Extreme blog I came across this picture. I have seen this same FD numerous times before on pictures when it was going through its paces on Tsukuba, even Mike has captured this car before. I never realized that it was a street legal car. That in itself makes this car even cooler than it already was. Can you imagine driving a car like this to and from Tsukuba on any given Sunday and compete in a Time Attack event? The thought alone... -Jeroen Willemsen
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Posted
May 13 2009, 01:45 AM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 16 comment(s)
I always tell people that I had never seen so many Ferrari's and Lamborghini's before moving to Japan. This, coming from an Italian, must sound pretty funny but it's the utter truth. Japan is a car crazy nation, no question about that, and people love to drive their exotics and classic cars around the cities as well as tracking them regularly. So I got pretty excited about covering the Old/Now Car Festival in Tsukuba last week, as I knew I would be drooling over some pretty mean machinery...
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Posted
May 06 2009, 02:01 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 4 comment(s)
After seeing all of the cool Karmann Ghias at Bug-In last weekend, I got to thinking about this incredible circuit-tuned example I saw running a few times last year at Tsukuba CIrcuit. The over-fenders and RS Watanabe wheels give the Ghia a distinctively Japanese look, but this car is about much more than just looks. In fact, it was running circles around of some of its Italian and British sports car competition on the track.
I'll post more VW photos from Japan later this month.
-Mike Garrett
...
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Posted
Apr 30 2009, 04:01 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 3 comment(s)
Wow, I can't believe we are already at the end of drift month. Here's a proper desktop wallpaper to close out the month - Yukio Matsui's JZA80 Toyota Supra at Tsukuba Circuit. This Celica-faced Supra can be seen in both D1 Street Legal and the MSC series, which Yukio won last year with this car. Widescreen and standard versions available now in the Speedhunters Desktops section.
-Mike Garrett...
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Posted
Apr 21 2009, 08:28 PM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 25 comment(s)
With the 2009 D1-GP in full swing, and Round 2 at Autopolis coming up this week-end, I thought it would be appropriate to take a look back in history. Well, only 6 years at least! This is one of the first D1 events I covered, back in November 2003. Armed with my new Canon 10D I headed to check out what these pro-drifters could do, little did I know that I'd be covering drifting for many years to come! This '03 final was the first time I saw D1 cars at Tsukuba, with only one round being held...
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Posted
Apr 15 2009, 04:58 PM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 5 comment(s)
When getting a breather from all the track action at Tsukuba this past Sunday, I tired to take in some behind the scenes shots of of all the other type of action that goes on in the paddock. After drooling around the Team Orange Evo X I caught this quick snap of Kumakubo and Suenaga as they were taking a little breather after one of their drift runs. I'm sure if Tanaka wasn't busy digging for food he would have flipped me the bird, his trademark salute! Being a 10-year old at heart I still...
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Posted
Apr 14 2009, 08:52 PM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 9 comment(s)
It wasn't all about turbocharged fury at the Hyper Meeting this year. Smaller cars like the TM-Square ZC31S Suzuki Swift above captivated the minds of those looking for more affordable cars to tune. The entry-level rally-car image the Swift has gives it quite a following in Japan and I have to say I quite like them too! TryForce, who specialize on smaller cars like the Suzuki Jimny and Daihatsu Copen brought their Swift demo car sporting a very aggressive body kit with massive canards fitted...
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Posted
Apr 14 2009, 01:40 AM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 12 comment(s)
If there is something I really like about the Hyper Meeting it has to be the mix of race cars the organizers throw into the event. As an opening shot I chose this action snap of the Super Taikyu (ST) Team Endless EvoX, flying past me just before the main in-field hairpin. ST regulations dictate that the cars need to stay in a pretty "stock" state of tune, so it's all about fine tuning. The Evo's chassis is stiffened up with a beefy looking roll-cage, while the interior is all stripped...
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Posted
Apr 13 2009, 12:37 AM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 13 comment(s)
The 2009 Hyper Meeting in Tsukuba turned out to be a very reassuring event for the whole tuning industry surrounding Evos, Imprezas and the odd Legacy. Compared to last year's event the uncertainty with the new Impreza and Lancer has all but disappeared thanks to tons of new products having been developed. You can now find all sorts of new bits and pieces to spice up the exterior, while on the engine front things have taken a huge leap. This however doesn't mean that older cars have been...
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Posted
Apr 12 2009, 07:47 AM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 8 comment(s)
Just got back from the 2009 Hyper Meeting in Tsukuba and what a day packed full of action it was. For now a little preview will have to do as I'm dead tired, sunburnt and sleep deprived! The Subaru and Mitsubishi guys were all out in full force embracing the latest generation Impreza and Lancer Evolution. Action on track was almost non-stop, with some new and old demo cars battling it out. Plenty of exhibitions were put on to keep the crowds entertained with some very interesting cars. The turn...
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Posted
Feb 26 2009, 08:48 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 25 comment(s)
After checking out Paddy McGrath's coverage of the AE86 track day in Ireland, I came away very impressed with the quality of the cars that were on the track. These days, "JDM" is the most overused automotive term around, but lot of those Irish-built carsgenuinely looked like they came straight off a Japanese racing circuit. After getting those heart-warming feelings from Paddy's post, I thought I'd answer back with some photos of rear-wheel-drive Toyotas I've captured at various events at Tsukuba Circuit. This includes not just AE86's, but MR2's and other RWD Toyotas....
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Posted
Nov 17 2008, 02:21 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 31 comment(s)
Last week I tried I new kind of post where I showcased some of the cars I spotted on the streets of Tokyo, and judging by the feedback on that post, it sounds like you guys want to see more of that kind of stuff. With this in mind, I took my camera along yesterday when we out shopping. "Inaka" is what the Japanese call small town rural areas and the cars you find out here make an interesting contrast to the stuff you see in Tokyo. For example, check out this '90s Toyota Crown wagon dropped on some big-lipped wheels that I spotted cruising down Route 294 near Shimotsuma city. Cars like this are common sight in rural Ibaraki Prefecture....
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