One of the many questions I often get asked when I post up photos of the Tactical Art cars is why one of them rolls around on XXR wheels. I too wondered the same thing so I asked Shimomukai-san, the owner, the reasoning behind using the wheel. If he liked them, then that was all good with me. I am not particularly a fan of the brand but to each their own. I enjoy all of the cars from Tactical Art because they are built with style and function in mind. These guys enjoy their cars by cruising around the streets in them, regularly attending small meets, as well as participating in track/circuit racing. I like what these guys are about so I can look past what wheels are on their car. Seeing the XXR wheel on his  car was interesting though, considering how the other two cars you’ve come to know as “The Tactical Art Civics” are running SSR and Work wheels. Shimomukai-san’s explanation for his wheel choice was simple; he is a big fan of the American import automotive scene and wanted to bring that style over to Japan. While there are many who have the same idea as him, the sub-culture for USDM style is still rather small in that country. He also told me that he wanted to bring to Japan a more realistic view of the American style of Hondas. Shimo-san also wanted to run American-branded products on his Civic to use them on the track. He felt like it would be a good test to see how the parts held up. I can totally understand that and I have tons of respect for the guy for taking that route…

He asked me awhile back what was a good American-brand of wheel to run. I explained to him that there were a couple wheels that haven’t really been seen yet over in Japan like 949Racing wheels. He said that Japanese wheels are getting really expensive in Japan these days so he wanted to have a wheel from over here that people weren’t accustomed to seeing yet on a Honda in Japan. Shimomukai explained that brands like CCW and Rotiform are starting to appear in Japan now, but they are mostly used for show and haven’t really been used on the track yet. He then went on to tell me that he recently ordered a set of 15-inch Rotiform ROC wheels. While I am unsure if he plans to actually use these when he races, I was delighted to hear that he was going to have a new look that didn’t include anything from a company like XXR. Rotiform, as you all should probably know by now, is a pretty popular wheel company these days that is based out of Westminster, California. Their wheels are starting to show up everywhere in the U.S. so it makes sense that the Japanese enthusiasts have taken a liking to them. Their wheels are custom built out here in the U.S. and represents the latest in American import styling so it was a good choice for Shimomukai. It took a while for them to finally be built and shipped over to Japan but when the wheels arrived, Yasutaka was quick to grab the process on camera for us…

I’m sure he was like a kid on Christmas when these were dropped off at the shop…

Unpacking his gold-faced Rotiform Race ROC wheels…These are a vast improvement over his old wheels because these are actually forged multi-piece wheels and not wheels that are cast-molded to look like they are….

I am not sure on the specs because I forgot to ask Shimomukai-san, but you can clearly see that they are very aggressive…no stagger either, they are the same specs all the way around. When he had his car painted, fender modification was done to be able to house wheels of these sizes and specs….

They have their own tire-mounting machine as well so there is no need to wait around at a tire shop or risk some dim-witted employee damaging the massive lips of those wheels…Look at the stack of R-compounds on the side!…

Getting ready to stretch some 15-inch tires!…

A couple days after he mounted the tires and had them fitted on his EG6, Yasutaka headed out to meet up with his friends from Team Madame to get some new photos…

Here’s a shot finally of the ROCs on his EG6…changes the whole look of the car and while it may be a little over the top, fitment-wise, for many, I think it accomplishes the look that he was going for… Click here for a larger version (1400×933) ….

Shot of the rear-quarter…. Click here for a larger version (1400×933)….

A couple close-ups of the rear…

Here are some photos that they took that night of some of the Team Madame cars…

Beeyan Hamada’s Toyota Wish mini-van on Work Meister S1R…

Kazuya Kawashima’s Honda StepWGN, also on S1Rs…

I am unsure of this gentleman’s name, but he is a regular over at Tactical Art as well… This photo doesn’t really do this Ej1 coupe any justice so click here for a daytime photo… you kind of have to dislocate your neck to get a good look at it though, haha…

Masashi Kameoka’s Toyota Mark X with newly-installed HKS coilovers and Work Meister S1….

Here are a couple shots of Shimomukai’s EG6 during the day so you can see how the Rotiform wheels look…

Posted up in front of Tactical Art… Click here for a larger version (1400×933)….

Thanks for looking… As the slogan reads.. “Enjoy car life”…