EVENTS – 24 Hours of Racing, 36 Hours of Fun! – PT3.

Let me take you back to the Nurburgring 24 hour race once more. Due to the trip both Allard van Grafhorst and myself made to the Le Mans 24 hours these photo’s have been laying around catching dust. Here is more on the Sunday of the race. Read more

EVENT – ART OF SPEED 2012 IN MALAYSIA

Publika at Duta Solaris in Kuala Lumpur played host to one of the most exciting events of the year. The Art of Speed event is billed as Malaysia’s first “Kustom Kulture” and hot rod show that features everything “custom”. How does this fit into the JDM related world? We will soon find out.Subaru Leone pick up truck and the orange “Dragon” Toyota Celica

The Art of Speed event was held at Publika’s The Square and White Box. The Art of Speed event is inspired by the successful Mooneyes Yokohama Hot Rod & Custom Show in Japan, which had recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. I was happy to be invited by one of my best friends and co-organiser of the event, Mr. Rahmat from Playhouse Garage.

Rahmat, the owner of Playhouse Garage, specialises in rust repairs and restorations for classic and retro cars. He offers custom modifications and repair jobs to old or new cars.

The event was held over a period of two days. Various local celebrities, bands and artists had made their appearance on that day, where they have performed on stage, playing rock and punk music. People were mostly occupied by the diversity of activities that were offered in the event. The crowd was also exposed to airbrushing, pin-striping, tattoo demonstrations and various related activities. Performing artistes include Altimet, The Malayan and LOKA Band, among others that were present that day.

It was very interesting to find that there was a Moon Eyes authorised dealer in Malaysia. Moon Eyes were hardly heard off outside of USA and Japan, unless you follow the retro and classic JDM scene a lot. It was nice to find that finally decided to bring the cool range of products from Japan. There were tons of imported T-shirt and automotive related accessories for sale. Sadly, due to time limitation, I was unable to make any purchases, because there were too much to choose from!

KickAss Choppers from Jakarta, Indonesia and Thor Chops and Kustoms from Bangkok, Thailand were flown in for this special event, along with their awesome customised motorcycles. A lot of modified motorcyles and bicycles were on display. It was nice to see some bikes to be turned into a work of art. The bikes were a mix of either European, American or Japanese bikes.

The Harley Davidson Club of Malaysia were also present to lend their support to the movement. This beautiful Harley Davidson on display in Beautiful Machine’s booth takes cues from both Japanese and American modifications. I definitely like the customised Japanese artwork on the bike helmet.

Asep, the owner of Switchblade lifestyle diner, is the proud owner of this star car, a modified Chevrolet Impala with air suspension lift kit and a muscular V8 engine. He is also the brainchild of this event and he is responsible for bringing this wonderful customs and modification culture to Malaysia for the first time. It was great for me to witness the Impala first hand in Malaysia, as Left hand drive cars or more-so, American cars are pretty scarce in Malaysia, due to the horrific road tax system, that taxes cars on engine cubic-capacity or size. The V8 growl was definitely an awesome engine soundtrack that took my heart away.

Rock and roll music were played until late evening. After the bands had wrapped it up for the night, participants of the Midnight cruise were told to assemble in front of the Square, to be led by the local Royal Malaysian Police bike outriders for a car cruise around the city of Kuala Lumpur.

I brought my passenger along and we went off in style, revving the engines loud in my 1995 Jeep Wrangler and hooning around the city of Kuala Lumpur, along with other cars and bikes. We started our journey from Publika, passing by Jalan Duta, Jalan Kuching, Jalan Tun Razak, Jalan Bukit Bintang, Jalan Sultan Ismail, and then back towards Jalan Duta again to assemble our cars and bikes in front of the Istana Negara car park for a photography session with the event organisers and participants. (Editor’s Malay language translation note : Jalan = Road ; Istana Negara = National Palace)

About 20-30 cars of Japanese, European and American mix turned up for the Midnight cruise. The event was overall a great success. I wish that in the future, there will be more JDM participation, but this is just the beginning, and being this successful, I have faith that JDM participation will increase.

Words – Kevin Lee

Photos – Kevin Lee

7TUNE. THE ULTIMATE JDM EXPERIENCE SINCE 2005.

ODD SPOT – UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH SENNA’S MP4/4 IN MCLAREN OSAKA HAKKO

F1 racing has always been an open wheeled, open tempered affair. From the likes of Jackie Stewart, Mario Andretti, Jacques Villeneuve, and Michael Schumacher, fans have seen some of the greatest racing ever to grace the tarmac. But as of late, no F1 driver has had more presence than the legendary Ayrton Senna De’Silva… Read more

EVENTS – FAST CAR FESTIVAL – AN OVERALL LOOK

For the second time Fast Car Festival was held at the circuit park of Zandvoort. It was the first time for me to attend the event and I really looked forward to this Sunday. From what I’ve heard, the first edition of FCF was a succes and the high quality level was undeniable. But to be fair I didn’t have a clue what to expect. Allard asked me to cover this event for 7Tune since he had something important to do in France (Editors note – LeMans 24H). So I will try to show you readers an overall look of the event in this coverage. Read more

FEATURE-TOYOTA CELICA TA23-THE CELESTIAL BEING

 

Not everyday you come face to face with legends, and we were extremely lucky to be able to feature a pristine 1975 TA23 Celica that belonged to one of my many friends who had a united passion for restoring and maintaining Japanese Legends. Read more

EVENT-SUPER GT ROUND 3 MALAYSIA

 

After much anticipation and hearing the commercials on radio for the past 3 months, the day of Super GT finally came and boy were we an excited bunch. For me it was my first time and i seriously did not know what to expect but for Kevin he has been to Super GT in the past few years. All of us had problems sleeping the night before because of the excitement creeping on us; like a feverish disease and the blistering heat that is notorious here certainly did not do us any justice. Read more

VIDEO – BRZ RUNS 0-100 IN 6.2 SECONDS

On a recent test with the Subaru BRZ, I decided to verify the manufacturers claims on its run to 100kph. The results were a surprise. Many claimed that the car could only manage the sprint to 100kph in a tick over 7 seconds but I managed to get the car to launch and reach the marker point in a timed 6.2 seconds. I think the manufacturers are downplaying the performance of the car for some reason, perhaps in an attempt to drive hype but it’s a counter intuitive approach… Read more

EVENTS – 24 Hours of Racing, 36 Hours of Fun! – PT2.

It’s early Saturday morning. My body feels like a wreck and I get out of the Renault Clio, my hotel for this weekend. Next to the Renault a door opens and an evenly blurry sight crosses my view. This is your 7TUNE N24 team reporting for duty Read more

FEATURE – THE FAIRLADY ZED 432R

I simply could not believe it. I just stood there staring at it in disbelief, wondering if it was really the genuine holy grail for all Zed lovers. Could it be the rarest and most valuable Fairlady Zed in the world; the Fairest Lady of them all?

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NEWS – PANSPEED RUMORED TO BE GOING TO WTAC WITH NEW CAR AND DRIVER

While it cannot be confirmed at this stage in the developments leading up the the 2012 WTAC Time Attack Challenge at Eastern Creek, sources close to Panspeed have hinted to 7Tune that the world renowned Panspeed RX-7 will not make the trip “Down Under” and neither will its driver in 2011, Sasaki san… Read more

FEATURE – THE PERFECT EF9 HONDA?

I’m going to show you around an extremely special little EF9 that is packed with modifications and built to such a high standard but at first glance you may just pass over it without a second look at it because it appears…normal.

 And yet, there is so much under the surface here, that it’d be foolish to overlook it! Trust me, this EF is properly hardcore. I had some quiet time with the car to see what really made it tick and then a rundown on what went into the build with the owner… Read more

EVENTS – 7TUNE & WANGAN WARRIORS PRESENT: MEETING AT SUNSET

Wangan Warriors and 7Tune. It’s been a match made in Heaven from the get go! There was a strong connection between us ever since we met these guys. We tend to think the same about the JDM scene in Holland and Europe and their support towards 7Tune was unconditional from the beginning. So it was a no-brainer when Rens from Wangan Warriors asked me if we would like to team up with them for a meeting! Read more

WORLD EXCLUSIVE – RE AMEMIYA HURRICANE FD RX7 SHAKEDOWN AT FUJI SPEEDWAY

It happens more often than not that I end up in the right place at the right time. Only a few days back, I randomly bumped into Amemiya san at the same spot where we were waiting to meet people. It was an incredible coincidence but a timely one that led to this article. You see, Amemiya san told me that, after all the issues and false starts to their WTAC time attack campaign, they were finally ready to shake down the world famous Hurricane FD at Fuji Speedway. There was no way I was going to miss the opportunity to witness that… Read more

EVENTS – 24 Hours of Racing, 36 Hours of Fun! – PT1.

Come March I always feel a bit excited! The racing season is kicking off and and it is great to see all the new cars, liveries and teams through all the divisions of the Motorsport calendar.
While March get’s the excitement going, it’s May and June that will really get my blood pumping. With both the 24 hour races at the Nurburgring and Le Mans approaching, it is the right season for the endurance race fan. Read more