One of the most common questions I received during and after my trip to Sydney, Australia this year was how it compared to the U.S. Both residents of Australia and people I ran into back here in California asked me the same thing. I didn’t really know what to tell them. I got to experience Australia for the first time ever but I don’t know how much I really got immersed into the culture of the country. I spent half the trip on a race track and the rest of it in downtown Sydney, so I don’t know if I really got to develop an ‘accurate’ depiction of the place. Just from what I experienced, I told people that it wasn’t very different from home. I think Tiffanie and I even sort of came to this conclusion that Australia was just sort of an alternate California in a different universe. I felt that way because I noticed that Sydney is a huge melting pot of different cultures and ethnicities, much like California. Whenever you have such a huge mix of cultures, you’re not really going to get this feeling of distinction or feel very differently, especially if you grew-up in the melting pot. For the most part, the food was the same, living conditions were very similar, and downtown Sydney looked like any major American metropolitan city. Most of the stores and surrounding businesses were even the same. People spoke differently and had an accent, or if you lived there, you could say we were the ones with the accents, but yeah, it wasn’t that different. I will say this though. Before going, I had a couple people who had been there before tell me to be careful with the people in Australia because they were kind of rude. I hadn’t been before so I was weary of that and paid attention to how people interacted with us. I pick up on people and personalities pretty well and I don’t think people from Australia or rude at all. They can be a bit brisk but I think that is just how people are raised. It wasn’t bad by any means and it was refreshing to be honest. Everyone we ran into was pretty nice and very generous. We were so well taken care of by Yonas Liu from JDMyard and his friends that it made us feel even more at home. Sydney is a pretty nice place and I enjoyed it. I also liked that we were able to eat everything and not run into any issues like we did when we went to Indonesia last year…

The other question that was asked to me quite often was how their car community compared to our’s here at home. It was a question asked more by the people in Australia because they were curious. Much like what I mentioned previously, the car community also didn’t feel very different. The time attack community is completely different, in that it is so much more developed in Australia than it is here, but the hobbyist community is generally pretty similar. I guess you can say it is also like an alternate universe California, where Hondas are built similarly, but the steering wheel is on the right-side and there are S15 Silvias readily available for purchase. Australian car enthusiasts have a great grasp of Japanese tuning style and it shows in the execution of their builds. From a aesthetic standpoint, the builds don’t look too far off. I think the major difference is in the engine bay execution and showcasing of little details. Out here, we are very competitive and take a great deal of pride in making our show cars pretty, so further development is important. Many of the enthusiasts I spoke to in Sydney made it a point to tell me that they really look-up to the enthusiasts on this side of the world in regards to engine bay execution. They know that it isn’t nearly as developed there but there are guys who are building at that level and many more are starting to steer their builds in that direction. I honestly don’t know how I feel about that because I am sort of over the whole shaved engine bay look, where everything is incredibly smoothed-out and showy, if you know what I mean. I like the engine bays with the factory holes and just some minor clean-up. I mean, it definitely needs a tucked harness I think for it to really look good but the days of the completely shaven-smooth firewalls are behind us. Many are gearing their builds towards restoration and preservation now. Wild engine bays are popular as ever in Japan and I guess they are starting to get pretty big in the Honda community down in Australia. I personally like how their cars look because it is closer to what we’re doing now. It might be cool if they just completely skipped that whole timeline where engine bays were filler-heavy. I don’t know how far they will take it but I imagine time will tell. I dig how Hondas are built out there. Time attack and road racing is super (heaps) popular so many Hondas are built for speed and power. You see a lot of forced induction stuff too which is pretty cool. They care that the cars look good and how they perform so you can’t really go wrong with that ideology. As far as looks go, the Hondas out there are similar to what you’d see in our West Coast Honda community in say 05-06, which is a time period when I think we did it the best. Things aren’t overly-done, there is still that sense of Japanese tradition and inspiration involved, and the stance stuff is few and far between. I think it is a great thing that they have shops like JDMyard out there because they can get pretty much any part you can ask for and they have a huge influence on the Honda community down there because they not only build great-looking cars, they also have a racing pedigree and reputation for winning. They’re like an alternate universe Evasive Motorsports, if you really had to make a comparison…

I’ll elaborate more on how this whole meet came together in Part 2. It’s interesting because it was very close to not even happening at all. Today, we’ll go through some of the photos I captured during the meet, which took place just a day after the 2017 World Time Attack Challenge. Everyone involved was pretty tired from the multi-day event but there was a different type of energy there because we were all pretty excited still from their huge Open Class Championship win. Sit back and enjoy the photos. If you disagree about my views on Australia, I’m perfectly okay with that. I will be the first one to tell you that I didn’t have too much time to really experience things thoroughly while there…

By the time we got there, many people had already arrived before us to get a good spot inside the business plaza where JDMyard was located…

We quickly got out of the car and began setting up our little booth where people could acquire limited edition JDMyard x Chronicles collab gear. The shirts moved pretty quickly and were sold out in under an hour. Luckily they were still available online via pre-order and enthusiasts who couldn’t attend or didn’t live in Sydney could still acquire the gear…

At the centerpiece of the meet by the JDMyard storefront was the 2017 World Time Attack Challenge ‘Open Class’ Champion, the JDMyard K24 turbo Honda Civic. Next to it was the 2016 Club Spring class champion, Daniel Meredith’s K24 Civic…

Also making a rare appearance was Yonas’ personal drag Civic and a car that I have a bit of history with, being that I wrote the Honda Tuning feature for it about 7 years ago…

The front end of the JDMyard Civic featuring a custom carbon front end from Topstage Composites…

You get a giant metal trophy when you are one of the fastest time attack cars in the world. That’s pretty nice…

Meredith having a beer with his Civic. Would have been amazing if he drank the beer out of the trophy, even though he didn’t compete this year, so I guess it would be weird if he drank out of an old trophy in celebration. I don’t know why I brought that up…

Pretty awesome to see how well this car did at WTAC this year considering we all didn’t go in with crazy high expectations of needing to win or anything to make the trip special. When it did win the championship, it was a welcome surprise and just another layer to add on an otherwise amazing first trip to Australia…

One of the first cars that caught my mind at the meet was Mike Brescia’s CR-X. The guy is a true CR-X fanatic and has spent many years collecting any and all CR-X parts he can find to build the cleanest, most refined CR-X…

Squeezed tightly into the engine bay of Mike’s CR-X is a K-series swap running a Mugen air-box with a valve cover refinished to match it…

Connecting the air box to the motor is a massive K-Tuned side-fed intake manifold…

Brescia’s CR-X also featured one of the more unique ways to run a Rywire mil-spec engine harness, with the plug on the upper passenger side firewall by the hood prop….

His immaculate interior looked like it was brand new from the Honda assembly line, but had additions to modernize it, such as the K-tuned shifter and Mugen steering wheel…

The rear panels have also been removed, along with the entire carpet assembly. There’s a Cusco strut bar mounted on the towers which, along with the rest of the interior, has been completely resprayed…

This Integra once belonged to the guys from JDMyard but has since been sold to a good customer. The car is still stored at the shop however, and is currently awaiting parts to complete the K-series swap under the hood. Interesting to note is that the powerplant on this Integra is the same one that once powered the JDMyard time attack Civic…

Renel’s Spoon Sports-themed EK4 Civic originally caught my eye when it was on Volk CE28 wheels at the World Time Attack Challenge event, but the Spoon Sports SW388 wheels definitely help to complete the ‘Spoon package’….

The Spoon Sports theme is carried into the engine bay, with a host of the popular Japanese tuning company’s parts. The only thing missing to complete the package is a legit yellow Spoon valve cover…

David’s K24-powered FD1 Civic sedan which he tracks every now and then. I met him the first day we were in Australia and the first thing I noticed was all completely fucked his front lip was. He ended-up using zip-ties to hold the lip together and you can barely notice in photos…

Yonas from JDMyard is cruising around in an FK8 Type R now but previous to that, he’d been driving this FN2 Type R hatchback with Endless brakes and Volk CEs…

Civic coupe running Spoon CR93 wheels in blue as well as a Chargespeed (or Chargespeed-style) front lip with a custom front splitter added…

Under the vented carbon hood is a B-series turbo set-up utilizing a tried-and-true Edelbrock Victor-X manifold…

This EK looked pretty aggressive with a big front-mount intercooler peeking-out behind a Rando Sports front bumper. It also features a set of widened and vented front fenders, PCI sideskirts and a custom front splitter…

Turbonetics turbocharged B-series engine set-up with some Works Engineering and Skunk2 components used throughout. Interesting full-sized radiator that looks like it has been modified to by used with this particular engine set-up…

HKS EVC boost controller mounted in one of the A/C vents with two gauges used in the cluster shroud featuring two gauge pods. Notice the carbon fiber door panels also and the gauges mounted in the climate control section of the console…

This white NSX reminds me a lot of Ryan from Rywire’s old NSX, which was also white and sat nicely on black Desmond wheels, though Ryan’s were EVOs and not Marquis Promadas…

Kouki EK Civic sitting on a set of Desmond Regamaster EVO wheels highlighted by rarely seen Desmond “Superforged” decals…

This FN2 Type R on Enkei RPF1 wheels had a built K-series engine crammed into the bay. I don’t remember what exactly it was, but I believe it was a K24…

S15 Silvia with Ganador side mirrors and Volk CE28SL wheels…

Silver S2000 running a Voltex front bumper, half-cut rear bumper, Volk CE28 wheels (which are quite popular in Australia), rear wing, and OEM hard top…

This gray EK pulled-up to the meet about an hour or so after it started but ended-up with one of the best spots at the meet…

In the engine bay is a turbocharged K-swap featuring some components from K-Tuned and Skunk2 Racing…

The EK9 CTR-inspired interior featuring a set of Type R Recaro seats, door panels, steering wheel, and console. A K-Tuned shifter unit replaces the factory piece and the instrument cluster has been deleted in favor of a AIM digital display…

It was nice to see some Mitsubishi Evolutions that we never got to have in North America. Always been a fan of them but I don’t see very many of them even when I am in Japan…

AP2 S2000 wearing an Amuse front bumper and Mugen hard-top, sitting on Volk CEs…

This blue EK hatchback had a BackYard Special front bumper and bronze Volk TE37s…

White Civic coupe with SI front lip sitting nice and low on Work CR01 wheels…

Yez Racing EF9 Civic hatchback looking very J-inspired with the livery and Osaka JDM front fenders and rear wing. Nice staggered SSR MKII set-up as well. Overall a good-looking EF…

One of my favorites is this red EK hatchback on silver Mugen MF8 wheels. Love the look of the car with the blue caps. Looks like a car you’d see cruising around back here in California, especially with the Hasback decal on the windshield…

Closing-out Part 1 for now with a shot of this black DC2 Integra Type R, looking spectacular with a set of Mugen MF10 wheels and a set of Spoon Sports brakes up front in a matching silver…

So much good stuff from Australia and much more to come in Part 2, stay tuned!!…