Worldwide JDM: Japfest 2008, Castle Combe, UK

May 22, 2008 by Adam Zillin
Filed under Car Shows

Japfest is a Japanese car enthusiasts dream come true; Castle Combe race circuit in Wiltshire is the venue where the cream of the UK’s Japanese cars were in attendance.

The Japanese UK car scene continues to grow exponentially as new trends and scenes are exported from the shores of Japan. This years show had a strong drift contingent, although a scheduling conflict saw the European Drift Championship being held at the other end of the country on the same day…

As the biggest show of its kind, the Japfest event sees owners and enthusiasts travel from Europe and throughout the United Kingdom to share and experience the best the UK has to offer. The day starts early at 6am with a brisk drive to Castle Combe circuit from the budget comfort of a local hotel. Bleary eyed but full of enthusiasm I pull my Suzuki Swift into the confines of the circuit and set up shop, after a quick clean I’m ready to explore. As can usually be expected the weather isn’t up to much but it doesn’t dampen spirits. My Suzuki owners club has a rather modest stand but with the temperatures low we’re all glad someone remembered to bring the barbecue. A quick walk around the outer age of the circuit shows what the younger generation have to offer the UK tuning scene, smaller platforms such as the Toyota Yaris, Suzuki Swift and Mazda 2 highlight where the lower end of the tuning market is moving towards.

Castle Combe is an unforgiving circuit, its high corner entry speed and fast exits coupled with the relatively short runoff areas means the event rarely passes without incident and this year was no exception. Accidents by two of the Driftworks demo cars were swiftly repaired with the use of a large hammer! They were back skidding in no time at all. Regular demos by the Driftworks supported drivers demonstrated how far we’ve come in comparison to our D1 counterparts .

The Eight-six club stand saw a tuned Toyota KP30 rub shoulders with a Garage Snapple N2 AE86 and also one of my favourite cars of the day was present, a Toyota Corolla DX with AE86 running gear. Having followed this car home I can vouch for just how great it sounds at full throttle. Although there was a strong showing as always by the Subaru owners, the Impreza scene seems to be standing still with very few notable standout cars. The popularity of Time Attack series and the release of the new version should kickstart this.

After a quick walk around the showground I spy the Trial NSX. A previous Tokyo Auto Salon show car, the front splitter barely clears the access road and a large audible scrape soon confirms how low this car is. You’d move out of the way if you saw this prowling the countries motorways! I bump into Bryn with his hard looking R32 GTR on the Skyline owners stand, rolling on Work XD9s he’s flying the flag for flushness in South Wales. Look out for his Tafftune Bee*R R324 later on in the year, it’ll be a monster!

With fuel and taxation reaching all time highs in the UK, Banzai Magazine’s Toyota Aygo with a supercharger conversion by TTS could be the future performance car of choice. The stand also featured a Subaru Impreza S201, I’ve never seen nor heard of this model but needless to say its ultra rare albeit with questionable styling! Overall Japfest shows that the UK Japanese car scene is bigger than ever and with the increasing popularity of Drifting and its acceptance as a mainstream motorsport it’s helping to driving tuning forward. This coupled with the increased popularity of Time Attack, Japanese tuning is here to stay.