7's Day 2011 - Ca Co E

 Kakko ii! in Japanese means cool!

The CCE Fd3s has been slowly evolving. It's one of the newer companies in Japan and offers some unique parts that form small enhancements, but when combined offer a complete car parckage.

Front Bar is complete with ducting and under-panel, fenders allow for same size wheel selections, in this case 18" Rays RE30.

Splitter is wide enough to offer effective aerodynamic enhancement.

The flat floor is also effective for drag reduction.

The car had it's issues on the day, but still managing 1:05 on Direzza in qualifying for the Hot version race.

Smooth profile is very .... smooth.

Sard Fuji rear wing and the RE-Amemiya rear diffuser is supported by an additional wing on the wottom of the car.

I'll call it the shredder! If the front doesn't get you, the sides or rear will cut off your ankles.

Starting in the reverse grid race in front of these, the result was opposite as expected, but for a car with almost stock power, it's still a good achievement with about 50~70 hp less than these other monsters.

If you want some fresh ideas, check out CCE Web
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7's Day 2011 - Black Magic

This is the R-Magic street demo car driven daily by Ohara-san.

Running on Federal 595RS-R tyres, this car can still set some pretty impressive times. 1:05 range for a pretty basic boost up street car is not too bad.

Almost with no aero, just a stock rear wing, you can bet it's a bit of a handful. The R-Magic "RE-Quarter" wide body doesn't add too much to the width of the car. It basically allows you to run 265 or 255 all round. This version is for the R-Magic rear bumper also. It's a little deeper than the standard bumper version.

Disappearing down the front straight, you'd hardly give the car a second look. However, we need a closer look.

18" Gram Lights 57 Ultimate in black and translucent blue clear over the machined finish are nice highlights.You can still see the front fenders struggle to hide the larger rubber though.

 Ai:z are the trademark R-Magic headlight feature and their vented bonnet is the matching  item for their massive V-mount kit. The N1 bumper is a remnant from older super taikyu "N1" racing, but somehow looks dated without the additional extended lip spoiler and splitter so common these days.

This shot shows the ride compliance side of the suspension. A little softer than others on the day.

Rolling through the hairpin, the suspension is hunkered down in this image as I took cover behind the barriers. Stock brakes are adequate.

You can also see the body roll here, but still controlled. Which kind of presents some questions, why is the car on track?

And the squat from the rear under acceleration makes this car look a little out of place. But that doesn't matter. Does it?

Although still one of those very pretty cars that you don't want destroy. The track is the only place these days you can drive safely at speed. If you are happy to practice some driving skills on the track and then cruise home and drive to work, you hardly need a full tune monster that's totally impractical. Just a clear track, no speed limits and silky smooth tarmac can still bring that smile.

With the right mods for reliability, you can still get out there and have fun improving yourself while enjoying the fun of driving your car. You may only even practice one safe corner to learn a car or enjoy just the straight. It's all good.

Driving is something you must learn, it's not just the car. Driving is a bit of "Black Magic" and maybe this car could showcase a great driver more than others, requiring experience and the strong, yet deft touch to get the most from it.

This car can reward driving with looks to match, every day of the week.

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7's Day 2011 - Gunship McQueen

This RX8 from R-Magic represents the new breed of Japan's rotary tuning.

Putting aside R-Magic's lightening McQueen style bumper for a moment, with a best of 1:04 at Tsukuba with relatively low power and 3 rotor tuned versions out pacing the FD3s, there's no doubting the RX-8 chassis dynamics work. Revolution and Pan Speed are running sub 1 Minute.

R-magic have been focusing on tuning this car however as an affordable motor-sport option.

With minimal bolt on modifications and a bit of ecu and exhaust work, these car's can be made to be pretty quick. On shorter circuits they'll even be faster than much higher powered machines.

Older used Rx-8s are ridiculously cheap in Japan at the moment. While this car is a later model, the fundamentals remain. Reduce weight on a good chassis and even lower power doesn't mean slow.

Motorsport is expensive and more and more people are looking at ways to still have fun and not kill their budget. While not as cheap as say a MX5 roadster, they offer a little bit more all round ability and for larger drivers a little more comfort also. If anything breaks, It's almost cheaper at the moment to buy a whole new car and strip components. There's so many on the market.

The Rx8 has grown on us over the years, When you can can get them this low on a set of 18" VR G2 then all the better. I'm a sucker for the low contrast Gun and Black combo also.

That rear wing gives a battle ship feel. Not bad for a 4 door.

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7's Day 2011 - White Spirit

Another Spirit R that's had more than just cosmetic surgery. A few transplants also.

You simply can't ignore this car. Making it's way from Kansai for the event was this monster machine and luckily on the day he receive the no 7 door sticker.

An abused race car that wasn't so long ago hitting up the touge as a street car. Since it's rebuild though it became a bit more serious after a full cage was installed and some seem welding.

this 500+hp machine wears a customised RE-Amemiya 2002 Super GT replica bodykit and that massive Espirit rear wing with huge end plates is also reminiscent of Super GT. Around 2meters in width.

 The wheels are Rays TE37 18x10.5J +15 and there's still space. Titanium exhaust is a new feature. If you notice the REsonance stickers on this machine. It's a club for hardcore road racers from the late 90's.

Now prepped by Still Way and Gluck, the car is pretty quick as you'd expect and a pretty good machine for a privateer to be running. It's been through 4 colour schemes from memory and always looks good.

I'm not sure how much has changed since I featured this car before. But here are the old specs.


Engine
Side Port (FEED Stillway)
Rotor Compression　8.5
Stilway 3mm Apex Seal
HKS TO4Z Turbine
HKS　Racing Wastegate
ARC　intercooler
TRUST　16 Oil Cooler × 2
Trust Aluminium 3Turn Radiator
Stillway Big throttle body

Footwork
Crux Shox
Swift Springs
NAGISA　F.Pillow Upper Arm　
NAGISA　Rear Pillow Rod
NAGISA Pillow Tension Rod
NAGISA Rear Lower Arm　
F　Brembo　F50Brembo Caliper
R　Brembo　Brake Caliper
Mazda Sentia Brake Master Cylinder
Front Brake Pad Change
CRAFT.S 　F.340mm
Brembo　 　R.320mm
Stabiliser Bracket Aluminium

Drive
EXEDY　Twin Metal Clutch
EXEDY　Light Flywheel
M/T　NORMAL
OS Giken　SuperLock LSD　2Way　

Electical
HKS V PRO
A'pexi POWER FC
TRUST PROFEC e-01
BOSCH Fuel Pump
Boost Hi・Lo Switch
A'pexi FC Commander
Defi　BF　Water Temp
Defi　BF　Oil Temp
Defi　BF　Oil Pressure
Defi　BF　Boost

Other
RE-Amemiya 2002 GT Replica kit
RE-Amemiya Hood 9
RE-Amemiya Diffusser
Carbon Doors
Acrylic Windows
Stillway Rear Gate FRP
Stillway Titanium Muffler
RECARO SPG seats
320mm steering Wheel
NAGISA LED Tail lamps
SAITOU　Roll cage  10Point with custom install.
Brake Bias Valve
Collector Tank
Gasoline Cooler
Original Canards

After all those components, you need another look.

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7's Day 2011 - Goes well with Beef

 What colour? Burgundy, Shiraz or Wine Red. Elegantly tough. Sink your teeth into a big steak and then have a sip of wine.

Details are rough, but that's half the appeal of a circuit machine. When you USE something, perfecting visual details don't really matter. As with most cars on 7's day, the owners weren't around when I was. So getting details was difficult. 16 and 17" TE37 with deep offset and Advan S-tyres.

Like the burnt rear bumper. Flamage! Forsight body panels and some complements with extended guards and RE-Amemiya carbon diffuser make this wider and that little bit tougher.

Heading out on track. Serious time.

On track profile is awesome. Mirrors are smooth. High rake bonnet has a massive vent! Rear hatch is also acrylic for weight saving. Privateers sometimes have the best cars being unrestricted to mix and match.

Even from afar, its still awesome. Like a drunken carnivore.

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7's Day 2011 - Pink bits.

This car was doing double duty on the day. Grip and Drift.

7's Day 2011 - Shining Armor

 Knights Sports have always had the reputation for sensibility. Nothing too crazy or wild. Just stuff that works well with good reliability.

Well, when I say not too wild, we are still talking over 420hp from a single turbo v-mount setup, however it remains quite street-able. Note the air pump for emmisions and AC remains.

Some close up details include the flip top release oil cap and big throttle body.

Pull back and you can see the chrome hook and a front bar with large openings. Any tuner that has a Type 5 bumper has usually been around for a while. In Knight Sports case, that's since 1971.

So this car still perplexes me a little, it often circulates with slower results than others and just seems a bit soft. Tall ride height for the street, I guess has it's drawbacks.

Somehow this much sideways correction coming onto the main straight isn't good.

The other thing that interests me is the reasoning behind wider rear fenders and normal fronts. Al most every other company runs wider front wheels and pumped guards on the front.

 Maybe it's just that their type 4 front fenders don't match the front bar. However it is strange that the car can't run lower. The rear image continues to be one of the defining images of a tuned FD. The vented Knight Sports rear bumper is a favourite among many and the new diffuser makes it even better.

The car drinks like any FD. Regular trips to the gas pump are something we all know about. About 150yen/l in Japan at the moment for high octane. A quick fill after the qualifying runs.

This is the cool down lap after the DVD tuner feature race. It was a congested at the start and many were stuck with no way past in the reverse grid race. The car started with only the CCE  fd in front of the car. It was only 5 laps for the fast guys to get past. Most didn't.

The way it played out left the car in a good position which was enough for a semi-celebratory drift.

Still an excellent machine for a street car. I wonder what they are planning for the future. Their new RX-8 body kit is looking awesome, so we shall see that debut soon.

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