Dino's "J-Style" - GTROC Official Partner's Blog

Top Secret VQ32

dino — 2006-06-10T14:47:36+09:00

Top Secret never fails to amaze. Even when there is little out there they haven't done, they always manage to come up with original cars. Check out the VQ32 Skyline which was shown at the beginning of the year at the Tokyo Auto Salon. Gone is the RB26 and the AWD, replaced by a VQ35DE from the Z33 and V35. And if that wasn't enough it pushes out almost 360PS in NA form! Look at the detail that has gone in to making the custom twin carbon air-boxes and the 6 throttle set up with gold trumpets!

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How much can you chop??? CS Hiro Impreza

dino — 2006-06-04T11:25:36+09:00

Ever wondered what the chopped roof hot-rod look would look like on a modern Japanese car? Well so did Car Service Hiro, a specialized body-shop which develops and builds its own kits and has made some very special cars in the last few years.

CS Hiro built this car originally for Subaru, who displayed it at the 2004 Tokyo Auto Salon. Having no use for the car after the Salon CS Hiro bought the car off Subaru and eventually turned it into the 500 PS demo car you see here. Spot details like the full leather interior (including the leather-wrapped roll cage), radiator & intercooler mounted in V and the cool flake-effect paint job.
The car managed to lap Tsukuba in 1'00"912 during the Tsukuba Super Battle last December.

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Uncompromising position

dino — 2006-05-26T18:57:25+09:00

The H2 wheel arch after a 4-inch lift. Big enough to loose stuff in there! ;-)

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T&E 350Z

dino — 2006-05-15T11:26:24+09:00

Well it's been almost a month since the last update, apologies for that. I will try to get back on track with this blog from this month!

Following on from Nob's S15 here is the T&E 350Z sporting the full Vertex kit.

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[apologies if the thumbnails are not visible, for some reason I can't seem to be able to post them any more]

2009 Nissan GT-R, US-Website

dino — 2006-04-19T23:55:01+09:00

Nissan US has already launched a GTR dedicated website:

2009 Nissan GTR

The car will be sold in fall 2007 in Japan (spring 2008 in USA), yet Nissan Japan has yet to set up a similar site. The (huge) US market will no doubt be Nissan's primary target...at least Japan gets the car first!

Wallpaper 007

dino — 2006-04-12T12:13:10+09:00

Been holding back on the wallpapers lately. Enjoy...

T&E Vertex Lang S15 Silvia

dino — 2006-04-12T11:41:21+09:00

Got very lucky to shoot this car late last year. It is actually Nobuteru Taniguchi's personal street car and the most complete and well modified S15 I have come across. HKS engine tuning, of course, 380 PS, full Vertex Lang kit with a gull-wing door conversion coming soon, 19" AVS wheels, Project µ brakes all round and full Bride interior trim. The center console features a custom integrated LCD navi screen and what Silvia would be without a Nardi steering wheel...which just happens to be a special "Nob" edition.

Backstage pix

dino — 2006-04-01T10:03:44+09:00

Here are some backstage pictures from a recent photoshoot I attended. You may recognize the car;-)

Thanks Arturo for the pictures.

I'll post the processed studio pictures of the GTR Proto very soon

Lack of updates

dino — 2006-03-16T22:28:17+09:00

Apologies for the lack of updates over the last month. Been very busy but will get back on track very soon!

Drifting at Mobara Circuit

dino — 2006-02-15T22:00:07+09:00

Took a few snaps of a couple of mates drifting at Mobara circuit this past week-end. After covering D1 for a few seasons it's always such a breath of fresh air to drop by these amateur events. This is what drifting is all about. Now I've got to get one of these RWD cars myself!

Andy & Emily in full drift spec Kazama 180SX

Miguel & Michele with Techno Pro Spirits AE86 Levin. 200PS from a 1.6L !!

Subaru Tecnica International S204

dino — 2006-02-14T00:23:48+09:00

Not even a year has passed since the S203 hit the scene and its replacement is already here. Behold the S204, probably the best Impreza you can get straight out of the box.

Subtle grille badge

The 320 PS are courtesy of the blueprinted and balanced flat four which is fitted with a larger IHI turbine. Power delivery is as smooth as it gets and there is plenty of torque available at low rpm ready to give you a punch of acceleration whenever you need it.

What really surprised me was how well the S204 handled. The hard yet supple STi suspension offer precision and accuracy without sacrificing comfort. This is also down to the tiny Yamaha dampers which have been fitted inside the rear strut bar and front chassis stiffening bar. They might sound like a gimmick but they truly work!

Only 600 will be built and only sold in Japan at 4.8 million Yen

JUN Option Stream Z

dino — 2006-02-07T17:49:18+09:00

Will 2006 be the year Daijiro Inada manages to get a decent result with the Stream Z?? JUN has certainly done an impressive job in preparing this car and there is no doubt it can average an impressive high speed over the 90 miles of the Silver State Classic Challenge. The question is....will Dai not screw it up this time??

Here are some pictures taken in the JUN Auto Mechanic workshop. Many thanks to Koyama-san for having us after-hours!

The Stream Z wears a full Top Secret GT-style wide-body kit, and features a custom low-mounted rear wing

The wheels have been sized up from 18 inch to 19 inch while the blistering-prone Michelins have been binned for some Continental V-Max

All new paint-job and graphics for 2006. Last years car was totaled during a practice run.

Endless braking system (6-pot front & 4-pot rear)

Massive Trust T88-38GK 22cm allows the engine to develop 800 PS @ 6,700 rpm. Notice the custom built intake manifold

The 81.1 kgm are developed only 500 rpm below top power so it's essential to get your gear-changes spot on if you want the engine to pull the next gear ;-)

A massive FIA approved ø 45-t2.5 mm 18 point roll cage keeps the driver safe. It's been thoroughly tested!

Bit tight in there!

Honda Collection Hall

dino — 2006-02-04T12:44:04+09:00

I always love dropping by Twin Ring Motegi. Spent a whole afternoon taking in the history behind one of Japan most accomplished sports car and race car makers. Here is a small selection of shots of road and race cars (didn't bother shooting the bikes....tooo many of the damn things!)

1964 Honda S600 Coupe. Powered by a 606 cc, DOHC 4-cylinder. Power? A close to 100PS/Liter 57 PS at 8,500 rpm. Max speed a pretty impressive 145 km/h. 715 Kg curb weight made it a real blast!

1966 S800. 791 cc for 70 PS at 8,000 rpm. 160 km/h & weight of 710 Kg.

The extremely small 1970 Honda Z. Powered by an equally small 354 cc air-cooler twin. Develops 31 PS at 8,500 rpm which pushes the 510 kg Z to 115 km/h.

1st gen NSX-R, superb car

1.5L twin turbo V6 F1 engine. I'll have to make a wallpaper with this engine:D

Some of the more modern F1 machines

2001 DC-5 Tokachi 24 h race winner, driven by Tsuchiya

1995 NSX-LM. Winner of the GT-2 class with Tsuchiya/Iida/Takahashi at the wheel.

V12 F1 engine from 1991 (McLaren). 3,498 cc, 700 PS at 13,000 rpm

2000 GT-550 NSX. 3,500 cc V6, 480 PS at ????? rpm.

Tokyo Auto Salon

dino — 2006-02-03T12:41:51+09:00

Sorry not going to post any pix from TAS. There are so many galleries on the internet, plus give or take a few angles all the shots look the same ;-)

Bee-R R33 GT-R (track spec)

dino — 2006-01-26T17:07:59+09:00

Well, managed to shoot this little beauty right before it was shipped to the UK to its lucky new owner by Power Vehicles.

Fully built by GT-R specialists Bee-R, it sports a fully stripped interior, roll cage and custom dash as well as full Bee-R body parts including some tasty carbon front fenders.

Uhmm, carbon...

Not often you see OMP racing seats in Japanese cars.

Stack dash unit

Standard looking engine, but GT-SS turbines lie beneath

Carbon strut bar