EDITORIAL – THESE DON’T MAKE YOU JDM AS F*CK, YO.

No doubt all of you reading this are familiar with the green/yellow “leaf” and orange/yellow “tear-drop” symbols that Japanese motorists are required to have at various stages of their lives behind the wheel. In recent years, these are being increasingly seen in overseas tuner circles with some pretty crass variants having sprung up; all of which, an element of the industry appear to be defining as the things to have if you want to be “JDM as F*CK“, whatever that means. And on top of all this, a lot of people don’t actually know what these symbols actually signify… Read more

EVENT – World Time Attack Challenge: Friday Morning

It’s a sunny but windy day here in Sydney, Australia. We’re at the new Sydney Motorsport Park, formerly known as Eastern Creek Raceway. With the World Time Attack Challenge (WTAC) underway, cars from all over the world have gathered to race against the clock. With the morning session done and dusted, the current leader is Nemo Racing’s Mitsubishi Evo 9 with an astonishing time of 1:25.74, a whole 3 second faster than the record set by Tarzan Yamada in the Cyber Evo last year.

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FEATURE – ARE YOU ADEQUATELY INSURED?

Nobody likes a damaged car and that is especially true for the enthusiasts among us that pour their hard earned money and time into projects of all shapes and sizes. Insurance is just one of those small things we must have in order to protect our pride and joy but you’d be surprised how many people over look it… Read more

EVENT – Showcased Presented By The-Lowdown.com

It was a beautiful sunny day in Sydney, Australia as it played host to the one of the best meets Sydney has ever seen; Showcased presented by THE-LOWDOWN.com. This was the perfect opportunity for enthusiasts from all over Australia to come together and share their love for cars, whether it’s a time attack machine or a show car on bags, this meet had it all. With cars from interstate driving more than ten hours to attend and workshops working overtime to get their car ready to be debuted at Showcased. 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

EVENTS – The Return of the Sun, Wangan Warriors Spring Meeting

 

 

The last two editions of the Wangan Warriors meeting had either a lot of rain or thick amounts of fog to deal with. Now at the beginning of the spring, their meeting got treated with the Return of the Sun. Read more

SHOP VISIT – CAR CRAFT BOON (OSAKA JDM)

It’s around noon on a cold day in January, I’m standing in the lobby of my hotel at the pay phone punching in the number that my girlfriend is reading to me from the computer. The phone rings and I wonder if I’ll even get an answer as it’s only a been a few days since New Years and in Japan, most shops are usually closed. The phone keeps ringning but as I was about to give up hope, someone picks up. I reply awkwardly as I didn’t expect an answer. Read more

FEATURE- KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – A KID IN A CANDY STORE

As Forrest Gump says, “life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get”, this can literally be directly applied to the JDM Scene in Kuala Lumpur. Read more

EVENT – HONDA NATIONALS 2011 AUSTRALIA

The 10th of October 2011 marked a stepping-stone for the Honda community in Australia with the first ever Honda Nationals debuting at the popular Wakefield Park in Goulburn, 2 hours south of Sydney. Never before have there been so many Hondas sharing the same piece of tarmac at Wakefield or any other racetrack in Australia for that matter, there were a total of 52 Hondas that entered and even more that came to spectate from both New South Wales and Victoria.

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FEATURE – HONDA NSX-R HEAVEN

If the traffic lights were green this post probably would never have materialized. Nick Itoh and I were on our way to Suzuka circuit that morning after a treacherous drive through torrential rain from Shizuoka. I slowly pulled the Audi A1 up to the lights and stopped directly outside the equivalent of Honda NSX Nirvana; a place where “dreams” can be touched, drooled over…even bought. What I’m about to show you is quite simply one of the most amazing car showrooms you could ever hope to see… Read more

VIDEO – FASTCAR FESTIVAL 2011

Dutch based GT Events hosted the very first edition of the Fastcar Festival last weekend at the Zandvoort Racetrack. Featuring everything from time attack races to drifting and from show & go to trackday experiences for amateur drivers, the venue had a lot to offer. Read more

KEI CARS – A SHOT OF SUZUKI CAPPUCCINO ANYONE?

No it’s not a flat white, but it’s a frothingly great car to drive.

The F6A engine was a piece of automotive technical brilliance, not to mention the astounding suspension setup in such a small package. I’ve been a fan of these ever since i got to drive one, it’s something very special indeed. Read more

WTAC NEWS SCOOP – CYBER EVO LAUNCHES PROTEST

In the wake of Sierra Sierra’s stunning 1:29.024, the Cyber Evo team has launched a protest, claiming that the American team is running NOS; a claim the Sierra Sierra team deny.

Sierra Sierra has invited the Cyber Evo team to come and inspect the car but as of this moment no one has visited.

This news has come as a surprise to the paddock as the Sierra Evo has blasted out of the box to take the top time by a long way, leaving the Cyber Evo team to make up almost a second over the next 3 sessions.

Just to add a little more drama to the situation, the Sierra car is currently out of the running for sessions 2 and 3 with a blown head gasket but they expect to run for the final session which is sure to be a blockbuster ending to a fantastic event. Crucially, the weather has cleared here and the rain clouds that threatened the event have been blown upwind meaning there is plenty of action still to come.

7Tune is live on hand with the latest news and we’ll be back soon with more from a bright and sunny Eastern Creek raceway with more news, entertainment and information.

7TUNE – The Ultimate JDM Experience Since 2005

Words – Adam Zillin

Photos – Adam Zillin and Brendan Mok

WTAC 2011 – SATURDAY TIMES: PRO CLASS SESSION 1

There’s been a big upset in the first session for the Pro class with David Empringham taking the Sierra Sierra Lan-Evo to top spot with a commanding 1:29.024; some 7 tenths faster than the best Tarzan Yamada could muster with a 1:29.791. Empringham’s stunning time was made when everybody believed that the track would be at its best and with the threat of rain closing in for the afternoon, there is every chance that we already have our final result. Read more

WTAC 2011 – THE FRIDAY RESULTS

The 2011 WTAC has already heated up and the pace was frantic from the very minute the lights went out in all three classes. There were plenty of surprises today and none more dramatic than the way Tarzan Yamada clinched top spot in the dying moments of the final session with a 1:30.369 smack-down to his nearest rivals; the Revolution FD RX-7 and the Sierra Sierra Evo Lancer… Read more

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