For the final 15 years, I’ve owned a workshop in Auckland, New Zealand, servicing, constructing, and tuning Japanese race and highway automobiles. JTune, and a few of the autos I’ve had a hand in creating during the last decade and a half have beforehand been featured on Speedhunters. After a couple of busy years, I lastly determined to take a break from full-time on the store and embark on a couple of adventures in Japan.
My first journey this yr was for Tokyo Auto Salon, at which era I additionally travelled all the way down to Fuji to satisfy with HKS a couple of particular Toyota GR86 undertaking. I returned in the course of summer time to test in on the progress of the construct, and likewise go to another retailers. A type of was Automotive Store Glow.
Although I missed 7’s Day (7/7) in Japan by per week, I used to be decided to go to and study extra about one in all Tokyo’s most famous RX-7 retailers. Automotive Store Glow is in the present day most well-known for its customized LED lights, but it surely additionally does servicing and full automobile builds from a humble constructing in Nerima-ku close to the guts of Japan’s capital metropolis.
Automotive Store Glow was established in 2006, with its proprietor, Yukimitsu Hara, initially promoting his LED mild merchandise on-line. By April 2008, he opened a showroom, focusing primarily on customising American and European automobiles.
In 2009, a buyer – who was a supervisor at Tremendous Autobacs – provided Hara-san his ex-Knight Sports activities Mazda RX-7, which he was not driving, at a hard-to-refuse value. Not desirous to move up the chance, Hara-san purchased the FD3S, signalling the start of the Automotive Store Glow demo automobile.
Taking the RX-7 to Tsukuba Circuit in the identical spec he bought it, Hara-san clocked a 1:06 lap time on 17-inch avenue tyres, setting a benchmark for future upgrades.
At the moment, lots of the different FD3S RX-7s within the Tsukuba paddock had been outfitted with RE Amemiya widebody kits, so Hara-san had one put in and completed the outside off with a contemporary paint job and a pair of his customized tail lights. The equipment improve allowed for wider tyres, prompting a return to Tsukuba on the earliest alternative, the place Hara-san lower his TC2000 PB lap time all the way down to a formidable 1:02.
From that second, he was hooked on time assault.
As Hara-san continued competing in time assault occasions, proudly flying the Automotive Store Glow flag, the corporate started receiving tail mild orders from Japan and overseas, additional boosting its profile.
On the again of this, Automotive Store Glow expanded its vary to incorporate lights for different fashions – the Toyota Supra, Honda S2000 and NSX, and Subaru Impreza, amongst others – and ventured into aero components, exhausts and suspension, all of that are in the present day offered in Japan and overseas.
Over time, Hara-san’s FD3S developed via varied time assault seasons, turning into lighter, extra aerodynamic, and extra highly effective. You’ll be able to learn all about it Dino’s 2015 characteristic.
The RX-7’s greatest time at Tsukuba Circuit is a formidable 56.4-second lap – achieved with OEM-based brakes and the manufacturing facility ABS eliminated. That setup would possibly increase some eyebrows, however given TC2000’s monitor structure – quick with just a few heavy braking zones – it is smart that balanced and simply warmed-up brakes might be more practical than a giant brake equipment. Generally, simplicity wins, particularly while you don’t wish to spend an excessive amount of time fine-tuning brake steadiness and bias.
At present, the RX-7 is absolutely stripped again, with large plans on the horizon. After I requested Hara-san about his aim for the automobile, he shared that he’s desperate to push the bounds and go even sooner; a 53-second lap is the dream.
In Tokyo and different Asian cities, bodily area is an actual luxurious, however in relation to modified automobiles, that doesn’t imply that construct high quality is compromised. Many fanatics construct spectacular machines proper of their driveways or residence garages. Working example, one other Automotive Store Glow RX-7: Tani-san’s wild ‘GT race automobile for the highway’ as not too long ago featured by Toby.
To coincide with our go to, Automotive Store Glow organized for a couple of customer-owned automobiles to cease by the store after which head out for a drive in convoy.
Given Hara-san’s penchant for time assault racing, when seeing some other aggressively styled RX-7s outdoors Automotive Store Glow, it will be straightforward to imagine it’s a race automobile, too. Whereas a few of these builds do hit the monitor, most are completely avenue automobiles closely impressed by Hara-san’s FD3S. No matter how modified they’re beneath the hood, seeing these automobiles out on the highway is fairly cool.
I wish to give a giant due to Hara-san and the Automotive Store Glow employees for opening up their doorways to us, and for everybody who introduced their automobiles out. Keep tuned for the evening cruise!
Jacky Tse
Instagram: jtune_nz
Pictures by Ash Bechan
Instagram:Â pixeltoon_media
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