The signature yellow, Rocket Bunny wearing, drift machine from Bee Racing in Tokyo, has caused a stir and created a lot of discussion since its conception late last year. Arguments have sprung up on all corners of the net debating what it actually is and Kiyonori Imai from Bee-R just sat back and laughed at all the attention it is receiving. You see, it’s not a Scion FR-S despite wearing Scion badges and anyone with half a brain will also figure out that the Scion FR-S is a LHD model since it was a North American designated model… Read more
It was an absolutely MEGA end to 2012 for 7Tune – with almost a dozen events to attend, countless people to meet and a couple of international events to fly to. Here is a rundown on what you can expect on 7Tune in the coming weeks during the first month of 2013… Read more
It was back to Thailand for me at the end of December to enjoy another crazy week at one of the absolute best racing festivals on the planet; the 2012 Bangsaen Festival of Speed. My hosts for the week, MAX TV Thailand, graciously arranged for the entire trip, and in very short notice mind you, so all that was left for me to do was pack the Nikon D3, a couple of lenses and document as much of their weekend ( and everyone else’s ) as possible. Here’s how it all unfolded… Read more
Having left the paddock, it was time to get serious and train the Nikon D3 and 70-200mm on the cars and drivers as they battled it out on the track. There was an absolutely packed schedule of action going on throughout the day, right from the opening sessions at 8am and culminating in easily the biggest parade of 86′s that I’ve ever seen at 5pm. Which left me with a lot of work to do… and a lot of shots to post… Read more
Easily one of the best and biggest 86 festivals in the world, the Okayama 86 fest provided an absolute overdose of Hachi goodness in all shapes, colors and configurations. It was quite a hike East to get to the circuit but it was damn well worth it and there’s a lot to cover, so let’s get started… Read more
There’s just way too much content to go through for one or two overviews of this absolutely EPIC day down south at Okayama international circuit. Up to 400 of the countries best Hachi Roku’s converged on the place and I made the 700km south along with Keiichi Tsuchiya and the team from Hot Version to make sure every angle was covered. Go and check out the preview… Read more
Come March I always feel a bit excited! The racing season is kicking off and and it is great to see all the new cars, liveries and teams through all the divisions of the Motorsport calendar.
While March get’s the excitement going, it’s May and June that will really get my blood pumping. With both the 24 hour races at the Nurburgring and Le Mans approaching, it is the right season for the endurance race fan. Read more
So… Where to start? My first full 24 hour race and at the famous “green hell” no less! I had no idea what to expect. I was looking forward to this one like a fat kid looks forward to his next piece of pie! I wrapped up work early on Friday to meet Mat on time for the Team Falken drift demo at the Mullenbach corner! I arrived with a familiar site for those who visit the ring frequently; The Nürburg castle. Read more
Last year’s Formula drift venue really took a toll on many of the cars, but this year’s venue is of a more driver friendly surface with a challenging layout, with a long straight that allows for a high speed entry into a series of S-Shaped corners. Read more
This two part series on the fourth annual RB Meeting at Nikko is going to be HUGE. I’ve got over 80 filthy shots and plenty to say about one of the best events of the year at the famous circuit; The meeting an absolute must see for any fan worth his/her “RB” branded salt. There were Nissans, some other Nissans and again more Nissans just going at it hell for leather all day and into the evening with the weather playing its part; helping to keep festivities jovial and smoke clouds pouring off tires… Read more
The South Australian humidity, tumbleweeds & twirling dirt tornadoes made for a Texas like theme at Mallala Raceway; despite an expected 40 degree heat wave, trailer loads of eager entrants lined up to kick off the drift season at the G1 drift series round 1. Read more
The AE86, or the Hachi Roku, which literally means 86 in Japanese, is worshipped by many in the motorsports world, and made famous by the anime that took the world by storm, Initial D. The aura and the driving physics of this car is definitely not one of luxury or class, but more along the lines of raw unprecedented fun, and the car’s handling capabilities are quite forgiving which entitles many novice drifters to learn and experience drifting and extremely fun driving all in one readily available package, one of which many modern cars are unable to achieve. The AE86 is truly a legendary piece of engineering, that gives one an adrenaline rush regardless of whether you are behind the wheel or just watching it in action from the sidelines.
The Hachi in question here is known as “Pinky”, and it’s definitely not your normal AE86, judging by the eccentric colour chosen, one can already begin to understand how different this Hachi is. The owner of this Hachi goes by the name of Anep Dorifuto, a local drifter in Kuala Lumpur, who’s just beginning to learn the ropes. His drifting exploits began in 2009, and he bought his very own Hachi in 2010. After beginning to perfect the art of going sideways he has won several events. Events that Anep participated in have all been on the local scale, namely the Cyberjaya Drift challenge and the KBS drift challenge to name a few. In one of the races he earned 6th place in the expert category and 3rd in the novice category.
When one talks about Hachi’s, one usually revels about the 4AGE engine, and the brilliant toyota handling, but there are other cars out there that have parts that fair a little better than the Hachi’s, which leads to another unusual piece of information. A normally aspirated SR20 lifted from an S13. Other parts have also been exchanged and include the front axle and front suspension, all also from the S13. All this is made possible with the help of Under3 Garage, who takes care of all the mechanical details. With these modifications, Anep has successfully negated all of the issues had with the original parts, and now with a car that has more power and more precise handling, this hachi is now a weapon to Anep, ready to tear up the track.
To many this is just another Hachi with an unusual colour scheme, but this is no doubt a tribute to Anep’s passion and hunger for speed. Fueling his burning desire to have created this precision drifting machine, which now has the characteristics of a poison dart frog. Blazing about with it’s brightly coloured skin to show that its a highly potent and worthy adversary regardless of its size. Drifting is a sport which requires immense precision and control on the driver’s part, and as for the car, it has to stand out and appeal to the crowd and judges. It’s safe to say that Anep has managed to achieve that combination with flying colours.
If you are from Malaysia, Catch this car in action in SpeedCity Serdang ( near Astro building ). This car is one of the main attractions, which you could hop on and feel that intense adrenaline rush.
Check out Retro Garage for more awesome pictures and also don’t forget to drop on our 7tune Facebook Page. Have a nice day.
7TUNE. The Ultimate JDM Experience Since 2005
Words – Eugene Chan
Photos – Praveent Chelvam
One of the most popular Japanese time attack drivers for fans around the world is going “Down Under” again for the WTAC this year. I was at a dinner gathering up in Nagano for some amazing fun in the snow before my trip to Thailand the next day, which incidentally, was almost a month ago now, when Mitsuhiro Kinoshita told me about the plans… Read more
In the last post, I gave you the warmup to what unfolded the night before the snowy action in Nagano. In this post, you’ll be seeing all sorts of awesome cars going very sideways on the trickiest surfaces you can imagine. The best thing about the Megamiko Snow Driving Park is that the entire place is so well managed and totally safe for car and driver – you can really have a ball here and not have to worry about damaging your car unless you are a complete and total idiot… Read more
Audi was good enough to offer me a bright red A1 to play in the snow with for the weekend and I met up with a bunch of friends shortly after for a whole load of fun up at the Nagano based, Megamiko Winter driving park. This awesome place is a couple of hours drive north from Tokyo and offers a safe haven to practice your snow and ice driving techniques… Read more