2JZ SEXY

 Two sequences from some Tsukuba Sexy Knights Action!

FD2JZ

2Jz into FD3s = insane drift on the limit!

I don't care if you are a die hard rotary fan. If you can't open your mind and enjoy this, then you are hard to please indeed. Definitely my favourite car at the Mazda Tuning Festa 2012.

While I'm not the biggest fan of itaishya amine styling, there's soo much going on with this beast that you can't help but enjoy something about it.


Or the great driving that goes with the sexy nights style. Excuse some shots... I want you to see a lot so I haven't limited my shots to two or three.

Mazda Tuning Festa 2012 - Suzuki FC

That crazy man Suzuki in his crazier FC.

Drift cars don't last long. They eventually get re-shelled and the successful components transplanted.  The cool pieces from the last FC3s have found their way onto this FC3c.

The shell is not a hack job. It's actually pretty straight and clean.

Mazda Tuning Festa 2012 - Mocomans Twin

I think readers of my website understand it... and I think the guys from Mocomans know it. If you are going to drive an FD. You can't be subtle. 

I handed out a couple of stickers to these guys last year. and they were proudly running them today. Pretty stoked actually. This street legal drift FD is pretty special.

The owner of this car loves the shots I took last time before this car was tainted during some passionate drifting. So this year it new wears some new panels, new color and some pretty cool features.

Two Thousand and Eleven

This is a very long post as it was a very long year. A lot has happened with a lot of learning and decisions along the way. Let's rock out 2011 with a look back through my lens as it happened.

TAS as always brings out the best of the best. The Hattari RX-8 from RE-Amemiya drew my attention for line and colour.

But the bling from Junction Produce had me thinking about other things.

R-Magic's ventures into the small screen include the use of this car.

And their ventures in D1 include the outright abuse of this car. I wondered weather it would last the year without a refresh. It did not. By half year, the body was refreshed and D1 was again up and running... kind of.

But this car really stole my imagination. A lot of vinyl and imagination can work.

One car that was a star at TAS was the Hurricane RX-7. But the year ended without the key aturn.

The main reason was of course this event. Ebisu circuit felt the brunt of it. It effected us all.

My shoestring budget for track adventures dried up and left me with the reality of a great car that I couldn't drive.

One last drive for contemplation was actually the first real drive I had around Hakone.



While the economy has slowed the markets for sports cars for most are a non-reality. I did manage to get the car on track during the year, but it was non the full attack I had initially planned.

One thing I started at the beginning of the year was a side project .RSG. design. While Ebisu based Powervehicles.com were recovering from the March events, I helped them out with some designs for their D1SL machines.

It seems like 7's day was a spark to get the ball rolling again. The turnout for events was huge!

Tuners keen to get back on track and boost the economy.

I started to take my photography a lot more seriously again also.

I think the results have paid off with my range improving through the year.

With 7's day attracting so many different people and styles it was ideal time to relaunch RE-Xtreme's new format.

Aoki-san from revolution watches on as lucky passengers were seated for some rides of their lives.

My favourite shot from 7's day. The R-Magic Gunship in action.

but the graphics and design also captured my attention.

While my hobbies have turned away from real racing for the time being, I found a niche in RC Drift which also allows me to prototype designs in a relatively inexpensive, fun way.

My father owning an RC shop has meant RC cars have always been around, but the reality in them these days is amazing.

The FD3s was sold and funds made available for new ventures in 2012.

Where and What are in my mind somewhere...maybe.

As the year drew to an end, I have a few cool experiences, Tsukuba super battle always showcases the best. I enjoyed the day immensely.

This shot really strikes a note with me. I think it sums up my attitude towards cars at the moment.

Although not an FD3s, this shot was by far my best picture from TSB.

However, this is an FD3s and it is my favorite at the moment. Minus the graphics, this is my pick a car that very well could be the perfect FD.

TSB is also a place I can meet and try to chat with some great people in my broken Japanese/English. If I'd kept my roadster, it probably would have had a 2.5L block and many more parts from Nopro by now.

But the sights, sounds and atmoshphere are what I like about track days in Japan. While some target for 52seconds these days, I'm just happy to look and admire.

I love this out of focus shot, It proves passion is still red.

Next year and the future are very uncertain. it seems in the last one or two years, things have changed rather quickly. Is this the way forward with re-chargeables from a nuclear source?

Or will this beast shake up the driving passion and re-ignite the industry.

for Mazda owners... I've given up trying to pump up a new rotary sports car. I thought the announcement would come on 07/07/07, but that was 5 years ago now. With 2012 being the 10th anniversary of the demise of the FD3s from production, new parts are still coming for the rotary fans, so I'll be at TAS 2012 to show the best from the event, but where we go from there, the future is uncertain.

Russell Gander
RE-Xtreme

Speed Hunted

I was recently approached to put together a small article about obsession. What makes us fanatics live and breath car obsession?

The Speedhunters guest blog for a look inside RE-Xtreme is Here.

http://speedhunters.com/archive/2011/11/18/guest-blog-gt-gt-russell-gander-re-xtreme.aspx

My first article on Speedhunters was a long long time ago and I looked at the top5 most influential FD3s.

That article is Here... but maybe it needs expanding to a top ten. The top 5 still bear true but the scope was limited.  The Scoot 4 Rotor and Veilside Tokyo Drift car would make popular additions.

http://speedhunters.com/archive/2009/01/05/user-ranking-gt-gt-re-xtreme-top-5.aspx

On a side note... RE-Xtreme Version III has recently left my possession, so I'm not as obsessed as people think... What's Version IV?

Russ.

RE-Xtreme Version III at Ebisu

RE-Xtreme headed to Ebisu for D1 and during some downtime after the event, I managed to hit up Ebisu's Higashi Circuit.

GT Wing is a must for the circuit with stability and braking are greatly effected. Removal of under bonnet vent covers and other usual prep included, light taping, and regular mechanical checks.

Any car sitting in the pits looks like a race car. Mine looks like any other Time Attack car.

The helmet came out of the closet and finally got some use.

I took these shots after the on track adventures, because the car is still for sale. I am confident that this one has decent potential. It performed very well on the circuit even without some things others might have.

The plan for the day was not an all out attack. As the first time this car has been on the track, I was wanting to play with suspension settings on the KTS dampers and just get a feel for the car's ability.

 I am amazed how much grip the FD chassis has. I found myself pushing harder, just because it felt so good and balanced.

I was a little reserved however as I was only running Pirelli Dragon street radials, which are hardly a recognized track tyre.  I was pleasantly surprised by the grip available. I was expecting huge slides and poor braking, but the chassis was working very well indeed proving I am close to the setup I chose for the car.

Interior is also well set up. I was watching all the things I needed to. Oil and water temps. Making sure it's all ok. Boost sitting at 0.9 bar.... a lot!.

Safe and secure.

I recently replaced the rear sections of the hatch interior. The weight saving is about 2kg. Which is more than covered by the engine power and light weight components elsewhere. I didn't even bother removing the passenger seat.

It was hot though, with temps around 30 degrees, I was only doing ~7 lap stints to make sure the car was operating OK. Warm up, Attack, followed by cool down laps or something like that.

13b Single Turbo, Large IC, Koyo Rad etc etc. All the goodies.

Greddy TD-06-25G with external wastegate on full song is awesome.

Here is the car over the hill on the Ebisu Higashi (East) course. It's great grabbing 4th right about here and still accelerating.

I set the GT wing on the flatest position for balance. It worked very well with these photos showing the car running flat without rear squat or front dive.

One of the only other 2 drivers using the course was kind enough to snap these shots  His full tune Nismo S1 engine 400hp GT-R34 on Dunlop Direzza was lapping in the same times as me to my surprise. He even headed over to the down hill side through the fence. Thanks very much.

A fun day. Will be sad to see the FD go.

D1 coincided as part of the Summer Matsuri, Drift or Grip can be undertaken at any of the Ebisu tracks for extremely low cost. Monday challenge is all day at Ebisu Higashi for only $120. As many laps as you can do. Matsuri is also on right now and Powervehicles has services from car purchase, rental and tuition from Team Orange's Naoto Suenaga and other circuit drivers.

Powervehicles.com can arrange all kinds of motorsport tours and if you are wanting a competent street/track car, give them a call. RE-Xtreme Version III needs a new home before I spend more cash.

Track days are addictive.

Russ

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