For the final 15 years, I’ve owned a workshop in Auckland, New Zealand, servicing, constructing, and tuning Japanese race and street vehicles. JTune, and a number 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 number of busy years, I lastly determined to take a break from full-time on the store and embark on a number of adventures in Japan.
My first journey this 12 months was for Tokyo Auto Salon, at which period I additionally travelled right down to Fuji to fulfill with HKS a few particular Toyota GR86 venture. I returned in the midst of summer time to examine in on the progress of the construct, and in addition go to another outlets. A kind of was Automotive Store Glow.
Although I missed 7’s Day (7/7) in Japan by every week, I used to be decided to go to and study extra about considered one of Tokyo’s most famous RX-7 outlets. Automotive Store Glow is in the present day most well-known for its customized LED lights, nevertheless it additionally does servicing and full automotive builds from a humble constructing in Nerima-ku close to the center of Japan’s capital metropolis.
Automotive Store Glow was established in 2006, with its proprietor, Yukimitsu Hara, initially promoting his LED gentle merchandise on-line. By April 2008, he opened a showroom, focusing primarily on customising American and European vehicles.
In 2009, a buyer – who was a supervisor at Tremendous Autobacs – supplied Hara-san his ex-Knight Sports activities Mazda RX-7, which he was not driving, at a hard-to-refuse value. Not desirous to go up the chance, Hara-san purchased the FD3S, signalling the start of the Automotive Store Glow demo automotive.
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 road 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 package improve allowed for wider tyres, prompting a return to Tsukuba on the earliest alternative, the place Hara-san lower his TC2000 PB lap time right 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 gentle 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 advanced by means of numerous 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 may elevate some eyebrows, however given TC2000’s observe structure – brief with just a few heavy braking zones – it is smart that balanced and simply warmed-up brakes may very well be simpler than a giant brake package. Generally, simplicity wins, particularly whenever you don’t need to spend an excessive amount of time fine-tuning brake steadiness and bias.
At the moment, the RX-7 is absolutely stripped again, with large plans on the horizon. Once I requested Hara-san about his aim for the automotive, he shared that he’s desirous to push the bounds and go even quicker; a 53-second lap is the dream.
In Tokyo and different Asian cities, bodily house is an actual luxurious, however in relation to modified vehicles, that doesn’t imply that construct high quality is compromised. Many lovers construct spectacular machines proper of their driveways or dwelling garages. Living proof, one other Automotive Store Glow RX-7: Tani-san’s wild ‘GT race automotive for the street’ as just lately featured by Toby.
To coincide with our go to, Automotive Store Glow organized for a number of customer-owned vehicles 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 could be straightforward to imagine it’s a race automotive, too. Whereas a few of these builds do hit the observe, most are solely road vehicles closely impressed by Hara-san’s FD3S. No matter how modified they’re underneath the hood, seeing these vehicles out on the street is fairly cool.
I need to give a giant because of Hara-san and the Automotive Store Glow workers for opening up their doorways to us, and for everybody who introduced their vehicles out. Keep tuned for the evening cruise!
Jacky Tse
Instagram: jtune_nz
Pictures by Ash Bechan
Instagram: pixeltoon_media
Easy methods to be a part of the IATS program: We’ve got all the time welcomed readers to contact us with examples of their work and consider that the very best Speedhunter is all the time the particular person closest to the tradition itself, proper there on the road or native parking zone. If you happen to assume you’ve got what it takes and want to share your work with us then it is best to apply to change into a part of the IAMTHESPEEDHUNTER program. Learn the right way to get entangled right here.
