I’ll be completely honest….I’ve been thoroughly surprised by how much traffic the USDM Jam coverage has brought in so far. I mean, the USDM Jam stuff is pretty popular every year but it seems to be as popular as it ever has just based on traffic numbers alone. A ton of the traffic has been coming from Japan as well and it makes sense. I’m sure the enthusiasts in Japan want to see the coverage of the event as well and the guys that were there want to see if their cars made it here on the site. It’s gotta be a pretty cool feeling to see your car featured prominently on a website that’s on the other side of the world. It really validates what you do and shows that a worldwide audience appreciates your efforts in building a car. Traffic numbers aren’t overly important to me, I mean, of course I’m happy when the numbers are good but I’d honestly be posting this stuff up whether or not you guys really liked it or not, haha. Why? Well, because it is something that I’d like to see myself. Everything that I’ve ever done on this site is based around how I would view the site if I was on the outside looking in. If I wouldn’t want to see it elsewhere on another site, why would I possibly post it up here? I’m a huge fan of the USDM Jam series because it brings out some really unique builds, Honda or other. I like that they have taken our style and adapted it in their own way to their own cars. I think their idea of what is “USDM” is still kind of skewed universally, but there are a number of individuals over there that truly “get it”, so to speak, and they understand what we are about. Many of them understand the little details and aren’t that quick to just do whatever they see is super trendy here in the states. The ones that have a good grasp of the U.S. tuning style have in turn been able to produce some really cool builds that you would even appreciate here, and that’s the whole idea behind adapting the style…
With that said, I also have to be completely honest in that I’m just completely burnt out from writing at the moment. I’ve hit the fucking wall actually. After spending this week putting together 4 different stories for Import Tuner, Super Street, and Honda Tuning, I am just done with writing for today. I just really need to get some rest and to let my brain reset. The love my job though and I welcome the challenge every month of creating new stories. On days like this however, it’s tough to put together 1,000 word posts right after a full day of work. Even still, I don’t want you guys to miss out on any of the USDM Jam coverage, so we are gonna move forward. I guess I’ll let Shota Mori’s great shots tell the story for today…
Here are the previous two posts if you missed them…
USDM Jam Ver. 10 Coverage…Part 1…
USDM Jam Ver. 10 Coverage…Part 2…
Today we’re gonna take a look at some more cars inside the Messe Wing hall and then head back outside to see a couple more cars before Shota captures the roll-out process and some more shots towards the end of the day. This post, I think, is probably the best in the series. Part 4 is pretty cool too since you get to see Mori’s journey back home alongside the guys from Ujos Society…
Kohei Taguchi’s Integra Type R on Sprint Hart CP-Rs and BYS front bumper…
Seiya Suzuki’s DB8 Type R Integra also on CP-Rs…
Masaki Fukuda’s EG6 Civic with a complete set of Sprint Hart CPs, center caps and all, with Spoon Sports front lip and duckbill wing…
I’ve been on a real Odyssey kick lately because I am in the process of putting one together myself. It’s great to see that they are still very popular in Japan because RA1-3 vans like the one you see above are motivation for me and give me a ton of ideas as to what I’d like to do to my own van…
Yuya Yasanari’s 1998 Honda Integra Type R that he’s recently converted to a U.S. ’97-spec ITR. I have a couple more shots of this car so I’ll give you more details on it when you can see a better angle of the car…
Clean FC3S Savanna RX-7 on white Enkei RPF1…
One of the surprises from USDM Jam Ver. 10 was Kazu Imai’s Integra Type R. I knew he had been making changes to it but when I saw a photo of it from the event, I was shocked to see what he had done. I tried to explain it on Instagram and Facebook but a lot of people just didn’t understand. What Imai did was a process called “radiusing” which is when you cut out the fenders and rear quarters in a way to bring the overall ride height of the car down while still allowing for full suspension travel. This process is common in the Japanese VIP community but I can’t say I’ve seen it in non-VIP builds except for some S13/S14 drift car builds. It’s hard to see in the photo but in my other set of pics I have a better shot and I’ll try to give you guys a better idea when we get to Koji Karimata’s photos…
More of Kei Takafuji’s beautifully-executed EG6 Civic. Simply one of the best Honda builds that Japan has to offer, whether you’re a fan of the “stance” movement or not. Like I said last year, it’s the closest thing we will ever see again to Phaze2 Arnel’s EG…
The talk of the USDM Jam Ver. 10 event HAD to be Teru Ito’s H22-swapped Odyssey that ended-up going home with FIVE awards that day. His RA used to be an F-series turbo car but he took it apart, shaved the engine bay, cleaned everything up, and dropped a H22A swap in there and also converted the van to a 5-speed manual transmission. Just a fucking awesome build, especially being that it’s originally an automatic van with a column shifter…It would have been worth a trip to Japan for me to just see this car in person…
Masaru MSR Tanaka’s AE111 Corolla that was chopped-up and converted to a U.S.-spec Corolla…
Yasuhiro Hashiba’s Toyota Mark II to U.S. Cressida conversion on Rotiform wheels…
Koji Karimata’s DSM Eclipse/Talon on HRE vintage wheels. Koji, of course, is one of my other main contacts in Japan that often provides photos for me from events….
A DSM Galant on OZ wheels that often rolls with Tanaka and Hashiba’s crew…
Another regular of their crew is this Mazda MPV minivan on Work Meister S1…
Kazuki Hirota’s BMW M3 coupe on Rotiform TMB…
Masaki Morohashi’s S13 Silvia coupe with U.S. 240SX/Zenki RPS13 180SX front end conversion from Lowballers JP…
Lexus IS on CCW wheels also from Lowballers Japan…
A couple more shots of Eric Lizer’s old EK, which I believe is owned now by Lowballers Japan member Tomohisa Tanaka…
ES1 Civic sedan from IB Complete…
Ujos Society CR-X del Sol on old Work Ewing wheels…
A shot of Kazu Imai rolling out of the venue. Here you can get a better view of how low the car can be and how there is no unnecessary negative camber to fit the wheels. With the radiused fenders, he can clearance to ride with a thicker tire also because he used to stretch 195-wide rubber on a 9-inch wheel…
Awesome 1st generation VW Scirocco on Rotiform-modified BBS Motorsports E76 wheels…
Hiroyuki Nakamura’s KA7 Honda Legend on Regamaster EVOs…
Masaki Fukuda’s EG once again…
My Japanese buddy Takeru Tojo and his Element from L2P…
Daisuke Ito’s USDM-style DC5 Integra…
ASM-equipped S2000 reppin’ LEVEL ONE Japan…
The Savanna RX-7 from earlier posted up outside with Yuya Yasunari’s ITR…
I’ve always been a fan of the FC3S chassis as well and it’s really rare to see some clean examples of them these days, whether it be in Japan or elsewhere…
Rotiform wheels looking really good on this S2000….
Some more shots of Yusunari’s 97-spec ITR conversion. He’s one of the guys that I spoke of earlier that truly “gets it” when it comes to understanding pure USDM Honda style without all the crazy trends. His Type R features a pair of Status Racing seats, Rotora big brakes, and rarely utilized Team Dynamics wheels, all of which are or were used in the U.S. import scene…
Akifumi Ikeda waving as he pasess Shota Mori on the way out of the Messe Wing hall…
I guess we can officially call this Tanaka’s EK now. I wonder if he has plans to change up the car at all or keep it as Lizer left it…
More of the aggressively-seated EF CR-X that you saw detailed in Part 2…
Mori and Tamiya’s Accord and Hilux, respectively…
Though Mori made the initial trip to USDM Jam 10 with Daiki Tamiya, they would part ways for the drive home as Mori would head a different direction…
I love 80’s Hondas with old school, era-specific Speed Star Racing wheels. The EF is on SSR MKIII and Mori’s CA Accord on MKII…
Atsushi Ishiyama and his DB8 exiting the Messe Wing hall. You can see Tanaka/Lizer’s Civic loaded onto a tow truck in the background, possibly because it’s not registered to be driven on Japanese roads…
One more of Yasunari’s Integra Type R…
Masaki Morohashi’s S13 on custom-colored SSR Professor SP1…
Shunichi Hatta’s 4-door DB Integra on white Enkei NTO3…
Touma Kaga’s EF9 hatchback…
Really liked how peaceful this shot looked…
Cool angle of Kazuhito Hirabayashi’s CR-X del Sol…
Hadn’t really had a chance to see more of this black Civic Ferio on black Enkei RPF1 but it was too late as he was driving away already…
Another Ferio, this one from IB Complete…
Loaded-up and ready to roll…
More of Mori’s slammed Accord. I’m glad he’s been open about taking more pics of his Accord now. Back when he first started submitting photos to me, I never got to see any photos of his car and I knew he had this Accord and also built an EF hatchback previously that I really liked…
A couple more from some Japanese Chronicles’ regulars as they exited the event…
One of my favorites from USDM Jam 10, Teru Ito’s Odyssey on Mag Blue Volk TE37s…
…and a parting shot to close part 3 with Satoru Hasegawa’s custom Civic Ferio…
Thanks for looking, back with more tomorrow….
Takeru Tojo’s Element is so bad ass!
Please tell me one of your photographer friends got an interior shot of the H-swapped Ody? Being more a fan of the F/H-series cars, I’ve always thought a first-gen Odyssey would be a really cool project. It’d be interesting to see what the shifter setup looks like. Oh, if I had the means, I’d retrofit an EP3 dash, with the shifter right up there by the steering wheel. That van’s awesome.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a 1st gen Eclipse that clean. Loved the FC as well. It was interesting seeing cars built that usually don’t ever seen as meets, such as the Odysseys. Great coverage.
The radiused fenders on Kazu Imai’s DC2 is so clean it looks factory. The biggest giveaway is how close the fender opening is in relation to the fuel filler door now. Some people get it and some people don’t.
The white Odyssey is also my favorite car of the show, if I ever have the ability to build one I would want it just like that. The shaved bay maintaining all the comforts of AC and PS makes it that much better in my eyes.
I love the 1g DSM! I got a white talon that is just as clean but not as low. Nice to see one out there still doing these kind of events and not just shootouts lol
The white EG on Sprint Hart CP’s is on fire…loving the whole look even if I am not a huge fan of the EK side skirt mod.
“Masaki Morohashi’s S13 Silvia coupe with U.S. 240SX front end conversion…”
Isn’t that just a zenki 180SX front end?
“…Yusunari’s 97-spec ITR conversion. He’s one of the guys that I spoke of earlier that truly “gets it” when it comes to understanding pure USDM Honda style without all the crazy trends. His Type R features a pair of Status Racing seats, Rotora big brakes, and rarely utilized Team Dynamics wheels, all of which are U.S. domestic product…”
First, Team Dynamics wheels were almost never used in the US, with the exception of enthusiasts during late ’90s who were trying to emulate the touring-car look (before it evolved into what we now know as “rice”). Second, Team Dynamics is a strictly Euro product (made in the UK). Third, Rotora and Status are shitty US brands imho…he shoulda stayed either with the factory Recaro seats and Nissin brakes, or upgraded to aftermarket Recaros and Brembo brakes (all 3 brands used by Honda as OEM). And fourth, enthusiasts world over look up to this blog, have a sense of journalistic integrity.
“Koji Karimata’s DSM Eclipse/Talon on HRE vintage wheels.”
Now that’s “pure USDM style” imho – USDM exterior (as DSMs were never sold in Japan, save for the gray market), ’80s/early-90s style rims, teal paint job, and what looks like a OEM body kit.
I get the argument with the Team Dynamics wheels but I can’t really argue with his choice of using Status seats or Rotora brakes. They may be “shitty US brands” in your opinion but he’s going for a U.S. themed look according to how he would envision an Integra here being built. What would be the point of running Recaros and Nissin brakes if that is already available from Honda in Japan? The whole purpose is to build a car that is U.S. themed, and I think he executes that idea pretty well despite the product being “shitty” or not.
As for the 180SX front end, I’m sure it is a Zenki front but since it was a USDM themed show, the attempt by the owner was to make his Silvia look like a U.S. 240SX so the front end was swapped to resemble the 240SX, hence why I put it down as a conversion. It would be kind of lost on the viewer if I just listed it as a Silvia with 180SX front swap…
The Eclipse is “pure USDM style” to the fullest and the owner was rewarded for his efforts as he went home with an award that day. The car wasn’t previously painted or finished before and this was probably his first event with the car complete.
Thanks for your opinion about the world looking up to this site and me needing “journalistic integrity”…
If he was really desperate to replicate the USDM look (how are functional items considered a “look” is beyond me, it either works or not), he could’ve went with the StopTech brakes for example. Another thing is, isn’t the point of modifying a vehicle to “improve” whatever area needing said “improvement”? That is to either build on whatever you already have, hence the Brembo (or aftermarket Nissin, as in Spoon Sports) upgrade, as factory components are usually built to last, OR to go with something at least proven in say, grassroots motorsports, like StopTech. Why not have the cake and eat it too?
As for Onevia, you could’ve easily explained what exact parts the owner of said car most likely had (given the location of the meet) and what “look” he/she were trying to achieve with those parts, but it’s your blog and you write how you see fit…imho I just don’t see the point in “babysitting” your readers for “traffic numbers”, which apparently is something you don’t care for.
Also, what I meant by the Teal “paint job” was that the color (for lack of a better term) wasn’t offered (for the most part) and/or well-received outside of USA on Japanese vehicles in the post.
Thanks for the coverage nonetheless…