2009 Tokyo Auto Salon

Surprising JDM Gems at TAS 2009

Tuners in Japan still turn out hot new JTUNED rides in the face of a down economy.

For the first time since 1997 I contemplated not going to the annual mecca that is the Tokyo Auto Salon. Having been disappointed by last years event and just being jaded by the changing laws and lack of uber cool J-Tuned rides I thought it wouldn’t hurt to pass up a year. After all I had been going for the last 12 years in a row. Faith intervened and another endeavor in Asia routed me through Japan right around the annual gathering of Japans’ finest tuners so luckily for me I got my yearly fix of Tokyo and TAS.

Even with the global economic melt down, one that has affected the already recession hit Japan – I was pleasantly surprised and glad to see that a select few had still decided to believe and invest in their company’s future. The R35 Skyline was still a standard affair most on the show floor featuring simple mods such as a lip kit, exhaust, intake pipes, wheels, suspension components, and a retune. With the ECU literally linked and monitored by Nissan Japan that is likely not to change and in all honestly not much needs to be done to that car to make it even more kick ass than it already is. Power Enterprise was one of the few brave souls that tried to produce more aggressive tuning components developing twin rotax-style superchargers to aid the twin turbos that are already mounted to the powerful yet sweet V6. Estimated HP was at 600 but I have a feeling they are still sorting out the bugs on that kit. Wald and Zele Performance also braved a new aero tuning direction by offering full bumper replacements for the GTR with Wald being the aggressively style kit and Zele being the clean carbon fiber option.

The Car That Took The Show

The performance car of the show was definitely the 370Z. Though fairly new in Japan there were a number there that sported complete kits, suspension and brake tune up packages, and performance upgrades. When the new ZED debuted here in LA I couldn’t stand looking at it but the more I see them tuned the better I like them especially when the stock front fascia is replaced and the fangs that are there are deleted. The best examples came from Zele, Rays, SunLine Auto, and Impul. Dai Yoshihara tells me that the new ZED drives impeccably better then the out going model and feels that it is easily a champion contender if built correctly and put in the right drivers race mittens. Bottom line is the new Z is even more of a driver’s car than it’s predecessor so keep an eye out for many of them to pop up on the street and the track.

There were also a good number of Evo Xs and STIs that were much more tuned than the ones shown in 2008. The yellow JUN Auto STI looked ready for Track Battle while ChargeSpeed presented a full aero kitted Evo and mega wide Body STI that would look mean on any street. RE Amemiya also had a complete concept car styled FD that was well, different and original, but too much of a design study for me. He lost the relationship to street tuning in that particular project but if he was trying to push the design barrier than he definitely achieved it.

Personal Favorites

The two cars that peeked the most interest though would definitely be the Mugen NSX RR concept and Ueno’s BMW Drift Car with it’s 2JZ power plant. For me the NSX RR was the car of the show – bar none. It blows away the Spoon GT Concept both in form and function and was just a sight to behold. I was drooling for days. Ueno raised more than a few eyebrows with his DTM/JDM hybrid and it will be interesting to see what he can do with the E92 3 series that is powered by the same engines found in his iconic Soarers in the D1 series. Maybe he’ll finally win a championship?

The Verdict

All in all, I was surprised to find more aggressively tuned rides at this years salon and I am thanking the heavens that I didn’t miss out on this annual mecca.

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