Well with the global car market currently in freefall, its good to see that tuning is still very much alive. Instead of long drawn out paragraphs Im going to let the pictures do the talking... This is only a tiny oveview of what you can see as TAS
Drifting is still big in Japan and one of the 1st cars you saw on walking in the door was Daigo Saitos 2008
D1GP Championship winning Toyota Mark II...
...along with his 2009 D1GP car, a Ford Mustang, will it be as competitive or as consistant as the Toyota? A supercharger should keep the power up anyway
Another all new D1 car and another import - Takahiro Uenos
T&E /
TP Checker BMW335i, Id been following the build of this car on Uenos
blog, an amazing build but Im not madly impressed with the colour, looks a bit too WTCC for my liking, but as anyone in motorsport will tell you, keeping the sponsors happy is vital
But under the (carbon unsurprisingly) bonnet lies a Toyota 2JZ engine with a HKS T51R turbo, good for 650bhp. Many people have said Uenos driving was held back by the big heavy Soarer he used to drive, lets see how he does in the slightly more lightweight BMW...
Apart from import mania, the return of
A'Pexi was big news. With HKS and Trust/Greddy giving the show a miss, A'Pexi picked a good time to relaunch themselves onto the market. A good sign considering the company were rumoured to be on the verge of closing a few years ago and are now back, stronger than ever
Moving on...... (its
DAD-Co's crystal clad Mercedes SL, worth $1million)
Evil graphics on
J's Racing Honda S2000, a week after AutoSalon I visited J's so a few more photos of this car will be seen
Any
Best Motoring DVD fans will know this car,
MCR R34 GTR. With the overload of R35's there were not many older GTR's to be seen
The bodykit designs are getting worse it would seem, with this
URAS R34 GTT
Or are they?
Origin Labs OneVia
Wasnt just new stuff either, this immaculate C110 Kenmari Skyline drew many glances
As did
Impulses spotless AE86. Subtle carbon, every nut and bolt replaced, toomuch to mention
Zele 370Z, not many 370Z's at the show but this was probably the best 1 there
Rauh-Welt 's Porsche 930. A lot been done to this 1 as it is the boss's own car ie the testbed. Personally I feel Porsche tuners like RuF, Gemballa,Cargraphic and Techarts stuff is overlooked unfairly in favour of Rauh-Welt. Maybe if Rauh Welt were not Japanese....
Sticking with the Porsche theme,
RE-Amemiya had this Porsche nosed Rx-7
and this High Speed Lotus Exige themed example which won car of the show for RE-Amemiya for the second year in a row
TM-Squares pair of Suzuki Swift Sportd, I adore these cars
D1GP demo outside
R35 GTR on the
Nismo stand, where the stupidly overpriced R35 V-Spec was announced
And finally for now, my personal car of the show,
Mugen NSX RR-Concept
A new for 2009 feature was Import Auto Salon, for import cars, but mainly German and American
'Ed if you could have ONE car tomorrow what would it be?' Ive only 1 answer - BMW M5!
The new Dodge Challenger, even though this 1 had air suspension it was nice
A 1960's Chevy Camaro, with a blown V8, very tidy
A white Maybach Limo, girls in long white dresses, whats not to like
Very cool anime graphics on this Super GT BMW Z4
Not sure if bolt on arches work on the Golf GTi
Top Secret had NOTHING of note, same cars as last year with the exception of a Toyota Celsior, same parts as everyone else, maybe the pinch is starting to affect them. The V12 Supra still attracts the crowds though, even though they failed to crack the 400km/h barrier when the car was shipped to Nardo in Italy last year
Yet another D1GP S15
And another R35, this 1 is from Hasemi Sport, but with nice subtle mods
unlike the awful Branew bodykit design
The Looking Mazda RX-7 , very cool!
Classic Toyota 2000GT - with a RB26, actually it is a 240Z based replica
One of the better of the current crop of different D1 cars,Masayoshi Tokitas Goodyear/Bee*R Toyota Crown, packing a 2JZ transplant for over 650bhp
Amuse R35, one of the most powerful in Japan with over 650 bhp
Alongside some of the other most powerful R35's in Japan
