How do you tell people that don’t understand cars that there’s something so romantic about being in love with a hobby that makes your heart beat just a little differently?…
Archive for ‘Exclusive Content’
The U.S. debut of the first Voltex Widebody GR86 and Exceed Japan FL5 Civic Type R…
After landing back at home in California, Yasu and I show up with a bunch of parts and only a few days to help complete the USA’s first Voltex Street Version II widebody GR86. Kristian and Jay had been hard at work on the GR86 over the last few months but I had been in Asia so even I had no idea how the car would look. Before I left, the car was literally in pieces. I was excited to see how much the car had changed and boy was I surprised but how far along the car was. We had enough time to even work on my FL5 Civic Type R! Since we had brought the brand new Exceed aero kit for the Type R back from Osaka with us, we immediately had to throw it on to see how it looked in completed form. Good thing I already had wheels waiting to be installed and a meaty set of Yokohama ADVAN tires…
Debuting my new Civic Type R N1 build in Japan!!…
It’s been a crazy last few days! After finally revealing to you guys that I had an EK9 Civic Type R here in Japan the entire time, I went and explained the reasons why it no longer existed. It was a terrible accident and thankfully everyone came out unscathed. Sure I was bummed about it, but Yasu and I tend to view things pretty positively most of the time so I knew we’d find a way to turn this awful ordeal around. Our good friend Shogo offered us a bare Civic Type R chassis and the gears were then set into motion to make it an entire build that would debuted at the 2024 Wekfest Japan event. In this episode, you’ll get to see the N1 chassis come out of the shop for the first time after it was completed and I give you some detailed information on exactly what parts were chosen along with an explanation of why.
The Chronicles Highway Attack ‘Gameplay Footage’ in 4K…
Well, I figured there would be no better way to put a bow-tie on this fun project than to actually provide you guys with some footage of it in modern-day 4K. This has been such a fun project. After starting it one-day randomly two years ago and then rehashing it all with much more content in late 2023. It all started with the basis of just having fun and being creative, imagining an alternate timeline where The Chronicles would have had a 16-bit racing game on a Super Nintendo console. Obviously there were some liberties taken with how much I could actually make look ’16-bit’ but I think for the most part, it pulls off the feel of an old racing game faithfully. There was a lot of inspiration taken from some of my favorite games like Tokyo Xtreme Racer, Option Tuning Car Battle and some more obscure titles from Japan that I discovered over the years.
Always Up To NO GOOD In Osaka…
Well this was a fun one. After Der and Kristian arrived in Japan, it was time to get Act 2 of my adventures in Japan going. I had a lot planned but didn’t want them to miss out on anything so I waited for them first. Kristian had never been to Japan before to do strictly car-related things so it was important to provide him with the best experience. Being that it was the weekend of Osaka Auto Messe, and the boys were in town, we decided to host another late night meet. I didn’t want to risk getting in trouble again with over 300+ cars showing up to a parking area so we moved the event outside of the city to the quiet island of Awaji. The longer distance made for some fun driving and of course, any time you throw a bunch of straight-piped Civics into an area that’s supposed to be peaceful, a little bit of chaos comes into play. Let’s just say that we were up to “no good” again in Osaka…
Welcome Back To Osaka…
So, we are back in Osaka for a few days, just catching-up with old friends and meeting new ones. I had a couple of friends from America ask me if they could possibly see some car stuff while they were in town. Hearing so many interesting stories and lore over the years from Osaka, they wanted to see if it was real. Is Civic culture as big as its been portrayed to be? I wouldn’t normally try to put anything together since I enjoy being lowkey while I’m here but Sara was in town as well, so it was a good time to get car enthusiasts together again. So, a meet happened very last minute on a Wednesday. Many of us haven’t been able to reconnect since the borders re-opened so it was time to pump some life back into the car community in Kansai! Everyone be safe out there and abide by all the rules and regulations please!!
A Modern Day Look At The Legendary Top Fuel Japan…
I should preface this story with a warning that whatever you’re reading is based on my own memories and my own research. They say that “everything on the internet stays forever” but that is certainly not the case for so much of the early 2000s car content. A lot of it is missing now, websites have disappeared, assets from servers are gone, and we are left with whatever we can find, which is scarce. Especially when you consider how much Japanese car content wasn’t on the internet back then so it’s even harder to dig-up information now…
As the title states, this is a look at Top Fuel in Matsuzaka, Mie, Japan in 2022. If anyone has visited them recently and done a story about them, I don’t know about it. It’s actually quite hard to find information on Top Fuel because the term “Top Fuel” is terrible for SEO. Like, you search it and all kinds of shit comes up, just nothing about Top Fuel, the tuning shop in Japan. For the younger viewers, this shop is iconic. Top Fuel shaped so many of my generation’s ideas on what a Honda should look like and how it should be built. It defined an ideal for us. I don’t think anyone has gone there lately to do much of a deep dive on their shop, considering the pandemic and all, but had they, it wouldn’t matter to me. This is my story on Top Fuel, what it looks like now, and how its history was the foundation for my love of Hondas. I don’t think I would be a Honda enthusiast today had it not been for Top Fuel. And had I not been a Honda guy, there would definitely not be “The Chronicles”…
You Won’t Believe What We Found At Top Fuel Japan…
This one might be one of my favorite episodes yet! Just based purely on all the stuff I unexpectedly found while in the Mie prefecture. First we visit one of my all-time favorite shops for the first time ever, Top Fuel in Matsuzaka. I honestly didn’t know what to expect when we arrived, thinking that Top Fuel had shifted their focus to other cars and hadn’t placed much focus on Hondas anymore. I thought it would just be a empty shop with a bunch of Suzuki Swifts being worked on but boy was I wrong!! After that we stopped by Voltex in Suzuka for a visit which was also very cool because neither Yasu nor I had ever been. This area is so rich in tuning history that there was so many surprises. Wait until the very end, it’s a wild one! You’re gonna love it!
A New Year Means New Goals & NEW PROJECTS!!…
If the title and the click-baity cover photo didn’t give it away, we’re unveiling a new build! I’ve been hinting at a new project car since the year started and I guess I must have spoken it into existence because here we are! We introduce you to our new Exceed-supported Battlecraft demo car and give you some updates on what Ryan Der has been up to with his Civic. A guest with a pretty unique build passes by the shop and more!…
Spoon Sports and The 25 Hours of Thunderhill… Part 2…
Most of the photos that I captured at The 25 Hours of Thunderhill were done before the event even happened. It was important to document everything that led up to the race itself. The actual ’25 hours’ would be spent just watching the car go around and around, and around, the track. There wasn’t much I could capture. Of course there would be the occasional pit-in but those shots are going to look the same after the first few. We weren’t allowed to go into the pit lane area either since the rules of engagement were pretty strict, so I spent most of my time just filming when I couldn’t get photos. I actually loved the way the Vlog episodes came out, though the view counts are down because it isn’t something my audience typically gravitates towards, but it was expected. I have more fun putting the videos together than I do uploading them. It’s always been that way, lol. I could really care less about views or the monetary compensation that comes from an extra revenue stream like YouTube. It’s all about the content creation for me and an event as unique as this is one that I made sure to give 1000% to. The return on investment is the experience itself. I had an amazing time…