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 number of the autos I’ve had a hand in creating over the past decade and a half have beforehand been featured on Speedhunters. After just a few busy years, I lastly determined to take a break from full-time on the store and embark on just a few 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 couple of particular Toyota GR86 venture. I returned in the midst of summer time to examine in on the progress of the construct, and likewise go to another retailers. A type of was Automobile Store Glow.
Although I missed 7’s Day (7/7) in Japan by per week, I used to be decided to go to and be taught extra about certainly one of Tokyo’s most famous RX-7 retailers. Automobile Store Glow is right this moment most well-known for its customized LED lights, however it additionally does servicing and full automotive builds from a humble constructing in Nerima-ku close to the center of Japan’s capital metropolis.
Automobile 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 – supplied Hara-san his ex-Knight Sports activities Mazda RX-7, which he was not driving, at a hard-to-refuse worth. Not desirous to move up the chance, Hara-san purchased the FD3S, signalling the start of the Automobile 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, most of the different FD3S RX-7s within the Tsukuba paddock had been geared up 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 minimize his TC2000 PB lap time right down to a powerful 1:02.
From that second, he was hooked on time assault.
As Hara-san continued competing in time assault occasions, proudly flying the Automobile Store Glow flag, the corporate started receiving tail mild orders from Japan and overseas, additional boosting its profile.
On the again of this, Automobile 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 right this moment bought in Japan and overseas.
Over time, Hara-san’s FD3S developed by way of varied time assault seasons, changing into lighter, extra aerodynamic, and extra highly effective. You’ll be able to learn all about it Dino’s 2015 function.
The RX-7’s greatest time at Tsukuba Circuit is a powerful 56.4-second lap – achieved with OEM-based brakes and the manufacturing unit ABS eliminated. That setup would possibly increase some eyebrows, however given TC2000’s observe format – brief with just a few heavy braking zones – it is smart that balanced and simply warmed-up brakes may very well be more practical than an enormous brake equipment. Typically, simplicity wins, particularly if you don’t need to spend an excessive amount of time fine-tuning brake stability and bias.
Presently, the RX-7 is totally stripped again, with massive plans on the horizon. Once I requested Hara-san about his aim for the automotive, he shared that he’s desperate to push the bounds and go even quicker; a 53-second lap is the dream.
In Tokyo and different Asian cities, bodily area is an actual luxurious, however in terms of modified automobiles, that doesn’t imply that construct high quality is compromised. Many fans construct spectacular machines proper of their driveways or dwelling garages. Working example, one other Automobile Store Glow RX-7: Tani-san’s wild ‘GT race automotive for the highway’ as lately featured by Toby.
To coincide with our go to, Automobile Store Glow organized for just a few 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 another aggressively styled RX-7s outdoors Automobile Store Glow, it will be straightforward to imagine it’s a race automotive, too. Whereas a few of these builds do hit the observe, most are solely road automobiles closely impressed by Hara-san’s FD3S. No matter how modified they’re underneath the hood, seeing these automobiles out on the highway is fairly cool.
I need to give an enormous because of Hara-san and the Automobile 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
Images by Ash Bechan
Instagram: pixeltoon_media
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