7's Day 2011 - Something Blue.

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. You know how it goes.

Something old is the FD3s Rx7 itself, thats now pushing 20 years of use (although I'm unsure of this vehicles build date). Something new is the paint and panel, wheels and mechanicals including brakes. Something borrowed is the headlight design direct from Porsche 997 and the something blue is easy to see.

RE-Amemiya Super Greddy II parts are finished in blue and I purposely cropped the rear bumper out of the picture.

Wheels are Racing Sparco Viper R in 18x9.5 with 255/35R18 AD07, Under the hood there's a T04R and associated V-mount while inside there's a Stack meter system and other nice options.

Full spec is here on the Advan Gallery. I captured the above pics as the Advan and Option media were shooting this machine. Car is also features in Option Mag this month.

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7's Day 2011 - Sound of Rotor

I have finally got around to loading up the 7's day 2011 video I shot at Tsukuba. Turn up the volume!

Check it out. The Sound of Rotor

I may link some favourites to RE-Xtreme's Youtube Channel in the future.

7's Day 2011 - M7 SGT Replica

The M7 SGT replica is still going strong. On track, pumping tunes and from it's huge rotary sub-woofer.

The sweeping fenders are a focal point. Front bar is a mix of AC037 and the '99 FD3s we all know.

On track where the real SGT car should be. I still want to see the super GT car with a big turbo! GT2 style. Take it to Le Mans!!!!

So all that remains is this car as a link to the era of JGTC and Super GT.

I have certainly missed the rotary FD in Super GT this year. Almost no interest.

Pit straight. TC2000 is a good place to be.

M7 support in Japan should see this car around for a while longer at least.

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7's Day 2011 - AC037 FD

Here is one of those love/hate cars. The RE-Amemiya AC 037 wide version.

The original AC '987 was updated and this AC 2003 incarnation was based around the Porsche 993 headlight and incorporates a deep carbon splitter and new canard design. Ama-san had tried a few versions of this combination of porsche components, but the Green Street Beat 7 set the standard. Since then the wierd Super Greddy 20b rear bumper (that adorns this car) was introduced but it doesn't work with the front end.

Personally the front end is a favourite and the only version from RE-Amemiya that successfully blends the two. You may remember the carbon car also wore this front, although with wider fenders. Anyway, this is a timely post as I'm currently interested in this again for my own car.

These are Rays 18x9.5 with a deep offset around +22 with 255 Neova for the street. The car is very well finished and enjoyed regularly in the north of Tokyo.

You can see the full spec here.

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7's Day 2011 - Panic Attack

 Pan Speed's Rx8 is a purpose built time attacker that takes advantage the rotary for pace.

The car circulates a little quicker than a boost up twin turbo machine.

You can imagine that. BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA as it went past my camera.

The car is super low. I think that's what makes it so amazing. Low and 17" rubber is a little undersize for some people running RX-8s but the car becomes incredibly flat and allows the race track ground effects to work well.

You can see some of those effects here. Splitter and canards. Note the rear fenders are a little fatter than original and the front fenders also feature some pump-action.

All this FRP and carbon means one thing. Light Weight. Details pieces like the small mirrors go un-noticed.

Pan Speed will be heading to the Rotary and Roadster event at the end of the month. Expect some fast times on the newly refurbished post-earthquake Sendai Highland track.

Pan Speed's head mechanic is making sure the driver is happy before his start from the rear of the grid. The fastest qualifier in the Hot version race.

Circulating well but with too much traffic for a rear to front win.

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Flashback - Tas 2011 - Hattari 8

Let's take a look at the RE-Amemiya D1 bodykit on this comfortable daily driven RX-8

 The image of this car was probably better than the Hurricane 7 at TAS in January 2011, however the car went almost un-noticed on the stand. It is an automatic which may seem strange, but in tokyo as a daily car it makes total sense. RE-雨宮 has a number of support parts to complete the car from front to back - everything from the radiator to the upgraded LSD and Ultimate silent muffler. Behind the mesh is an inter-cooler pointing to the RE-雨宮AT Turbine Kit linked to TRUST E-Manage ECU. This may make up for the AT drive-drain.

One might wonder about the impact of the matt gun metal finish applied to the Hurricane 7. However not to be, This RX-8 is a subtle cruiser that is designed to be aggressive however not pull that extreme attention.

The full kit includes RE-雨宮 AD Eight Facer II and RE-雨宮 AD Eight Facer D1 parts, RE-雨宮 AD Eight Hood D1, RE-雨宮 AD Eight Wide Fender Kit, RE-雨宮 AD Eight Rear Bumper D1 and RE-雨宮 Rear Spoiler.



  The finish creates a nice subtle contrast when light hits the vents and curves on the car. Classy.

Graphics are also subtle in comparison to most RE-Amemiya creations. Slight colour changes match the contrast. Almost unnoticeable in some lighting. inside there's Bride seats and some nice meters for the sports touch.

Suspension includes DG5 suspension and an upgraded power plant frame for rigidity complemented by RE-雨宮 steel front and rear strut tower bars. Amemiya racing 4 pot calipers and 330mm rotors do the stopping.

The rear outlets on the front fenders attract a lot of attention. Wheels are Enkei GTC-01 in 20x8.5 + 40 with Advan Sport V103 245/30ZR20. They seem small among the generous fenders however with the car's sunken ride height, the stance is awesome.

Rear tuck is very well suited.

Rear also receives some nice treatment. It's a really well integrated design to the previous normal bodykit and fenders. i like how RE-Amemiya create body kits you can build onto in an evolutionary way.

The overall image of the car is striking. The updated RX-8 is another that benefits from another point of view in the second design attempt. One thing that I think could be improved is the D1 front bumper. I wonder that the simple mesh doesn't provide much depth to the front face of the car. Some deeper ducting would really add to the design and finish what some may think as incomplete.

However the positives on this car surely outweigh the negatives. RE-Amemiya have created an incredibly "current" and usable machine.

By the way. It's for sale. and check out the Advan gallery for more.

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Flashback - Ef-Shi

Having owned 2 FC Rx-7's in the past, shooting this car was a lesson for me in what is possible. Sign up below for FC SCHOOL!

Lesson 1. Dangerous Curves.

This is a Super Greddy 1 Body kit by RE-Amemiya. We might say the curves are generous.

 The rear fenders are simply massive. The louvres beside the rear lights add about 50mm but the rear fenders are much wider than that 150mm at a guess.

Lesson 2. A Side dish.

Filling the generous curves are these Panasport G7 wheels. The dish is simply amazing in person. 295 section rears are stretched slightly for an amazing stance.




 Lesson 3. Menacing Vison.

When your car appears in anyone's mirror, that's sometimes a call to action or a call to submission.
The converted lights don't reduce drag at night like flip up lights do. The vents mean that something needs cooling and the custom race tow hook means that sometimes there also maybe that need for serious circuit action.

Do you want to challenge?



Lesson 4. Back it all up.

If you drive a car that is so far off the normal scale. You's better have the power to support it. You may want to enlist someone special to build an engine capable of serious performance. Koseki-san from Scoot preformed the engine work and built something ported and capable.

A generous snail of the Trust T-78 variety provides generous boost to produce over 500hp with ease. Wangan specials like this often are tuned for top end so the low end lag of a big turbine is irrelevant.

 Of course running this sort of power requires a myriad of upgrades for reliability. Huge radiator and inter-cooler and the custom piping required is also installed.

Lesson 5. Driver Support.

For this to not go out of control, the driver needs to have control.  A huge bucket, grippy Personal suede steering wheel, brake bias controller, and ample engine monitoring is necessary for good decision making  and input at speed from the driver seat. An 11 point roll cage provides the rigidity and reassurance that if it does get a bit wild then you aren't going to do too much damage. Heat reduction on the floor and solid foot work is a also supported in this car.

Lesson 6. Show Off!

If you have something like this, don't leave it in the shed. Get out and enjoy it! The car commands respect.

Even sitting next to the Scoot 4 rotor, this FC gets just as many looks. Huge Scoot rear wing adds another dimension. You will get attention. Some people crave it, some people hate it. If you hate attention, don't build a car like this.

Lesson 6. Drive it and Enjoy.

When you have a beautiful machine, the pleasure comes from the feelings and aura surrounding something special.

A car like this also creates that bespoke image that has people guessing. What's that? In this image the uneducated wouldn't have a clue.

Practical ride hight is useful, sometimes 300klms/hour does something to ride height. So don't be fooled by this stance. Easily able to negotiate the odd parking area and service station. It's a street car after all.

Lesson 7. Membership.

The other thing that happens is that you end up with an equally obsessed group of car crazy friends to help you enjoy your machine. In this picture you have some of the best cars in Japan. It's kind of a natural attraction.

Lesson over.

Your graduation assignment?...   Build something better.
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7's Day 2011 - Old School is New

These two represent over 20 years of design from the house of RE-Amemiya.

I shot this 1989 Greddy 1 bodied FC back in 2004 and it hasn't changed at all since then. It was already perfected with minor body changes and a 500+hp Scoot engine. Panasport G7 complete the picture.

The Rx8 below represents the newest design from RE-Amemiya lifted from the D1 Rx-8, but basically takes the same philosophy. Super Wide and Vented = Super Cool. I've seen the RX-8 before so I didn't take any more shots this time, but it was interesting to see them side by side within a few meters of one another.

Maybe a detailed flash back is in order of both cars as I didn't feature any FC or RX-8 on RE-Xtreme in the past. Stay tuned.

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