Tag Archive for ‘exceed japan’

The One Where Our Friends From Japan Experience California Car Culture…

The One Where Our Friends From Japan Experience California Car Culture…

Finally after 3 years, Yasu is finally back in America! It feels like it has been forever since he’s been back and he even brought our friend Ryuji from NO GOOD RACING with him. A lot has changed over the last few years so he definitely had a lot to catch-up on. With it being Ryuji’s first-time in America, we wanted to make sure he had the best experience here in California. Luckily, there seemed to be a plethora of automotive events happening every week here. That’s just one of the many perks of living out here I suppose. Whatever they wanted to see, we found it whether it be car shows, meets, lowriders, the American Honda Collection Hall, etc. We did it all. This episode consists of our many adventures during the past few weeks with bits and pieces of everything we experienced. I know it seems like Yasu is typically the one showing me around Japan but it was time to return the favor and catch him up on all the amazing things our car culture has to offer…

The Return Of A Local Legend In Japan…

The Return Of A Local Legend In Japan…

You know, I’d never thought I’d see the day when this Civic coupe would re-emerge over in Japan. It wasn’t the best kept secret ever, but Yasu from Exceed Japan actually purchased this coupe about 5 years ago as a bare shell. DPK David had decided to move on from Hondas and Yasu leaped at the chance of owning it. The two-door was one of Yasu’s favorites from the West Coast and one of the builds that really got him fascinated with how enthusiasts build Hondas in America. He had planned to rebuild the car as an homage to its prime years here in Southern California but with some updated details to make it his own. As the business grew over the years, it became less of a priority to get this thing back together. This year marked the first time Yasu even had a chance to even touch the car and over the last few months, it has started to look like its old self again. After I left Australia, I flew straight to Japan to see it for myself…

Art of Attack 2-Year Anniversary Meet in Photos…

Art of Attack 2-Year Anniversary Meet in Photos…

This photo set came out pretty decent so I decided to host them here on the site even though I post a majority of them already on Instagram. I figured you guys would appreciate seeing them in a larger format than a small Smartphone screen. These are from our weekend doing car activities in Southern California. First, I woke up at an insanely early hour to bring the Battlecraft x Exceed GR86 over to Art of Attack to celebrate their 2-year anniversary. I was originally going to drive the GR86 over the weekend anyway but Kristian messaged me to see if I could get there earlier since the guys from Art of Attack had wanted it in their display area. Premium parking never sounds like a bad idea so I grabbed my camera gear, hopped in the GR and got there just in time for the festivities. It was a chill day and great to see all the usual suspects. After, I sat in traffic for an hour so I could go back to the shop and do absolutely nothing until the NBA Playoffs started, lol. Here are the photos, enjoy!!…

We Bring Der’s Civic Project Out For The First Time On NEW Wheels!!…

We Bring Der’s Civic Project Out For The First Time On NEW Wheels!!…

Leave it to Der to stress and take months trying to figure out how to fit his TE37 wheels on his EK only to change them a week after he makes it work, lol!! Sometimes things fall into place and happen unexpectedly which is exactly the situation here. Not gonna lie, dude was stressed! But an immaculate set of wheels just popped-up out of nowhere and Der leaped at the opportunity. The Mag Blue mismatched Volk wheels were never going to be the final phase of this build regardless so it wasn’t a difficult decision to ditch them. After the new wheels went on, Der decided that the weekend was a perfect opportunity to bring the car out for the first time!!…

Autofashion AF Fest Japan 2023 Photos…

Autofashion AF Fest Japan 2023 Photos…

While I was in Japan back in February, there was a week gap where I didn’t have any other visitors with me. Sara had gone home, Kristian and Der wasn’t set to arrive yet, and there was some free time to just recover. January had been pretty crazy so this was the week where I’d sit down finally can create some content. Creating meant chillin’ inside Yasu’s office at Exceed with the heater blasting while inhaling nonstop second-hand smoke. It’s now April and I can still smell the Seven Stars cigarettes every day, I swear. I put a couple of Vlog episodes together during that time while Yasu caught-up on work at the shop. By the end of the week, it was time for us to resume our adventures and the event I was looking forward to was the AF Fest car show hosted by my friends from Autofashion USA. I’ve known these guys since like 2004-ish so I always appreciate what they do and try to show my support. These guys were doing big things back then and allowed a young scrub like me to tag along and occasionally show my Accord with their fleet of VIP cars. I don’t know why but they me chill with them. Maybe it was a San Diego thing where you just look out for one another, who knows. But it’s been almost 20 years now and I’m happy to say that we are all alive and kicking while still remaining pretty relevant in the scope of the automotive tuning industry. Bascailly, I fuck with these dudes. They’re homies. If they’re doing something or hosting an event, I always try my best to go and every year when I used to do my anniversary meets, the guys from Autofashion would be out to help DJ even though they were dead-tired from building SEMA cars. They are good people and I think their accomplishments translate worldwide because they’ve also created a pretty cool event series in Japan over the last few years. Cool cars, good people, I don’t have to be there all day…that sounds like a fun day to me, lol…

Finally! Some Major Progress On Der’s Civic Build!!…

Finally! Some Major Progress On Der’s Civic Build!!…

It’s been a while but we are back with some major updates! After coming back from Japan, I took some time off just to recover and get back into the swing of things here at home. There wasn’t a whole lot going on so I just stayed lowkey and hung out here at the shop. Before Der met up with me in Japan, he actually was at the shop every weekend working on his Civic. A lot of big changes happened while I was gone so when I came back home, I came back staring at almost a completely different car! Over the last two weekends, we finally started on something that he had been dreading; installing his Safety21 roll cage. The main thing was getting all the parts over the to shop but once we did, Der tore his whole Civic apart again so we could fit the bolt-in cage. I thought it was easy but I also spent most of the afternoons watching sports and only jumped in when he needed a second hand, lol. If you’ve been wanting to see what’s new with Der’s EK, this is the episode you need!

Attack Tsukuba Is Tuning Car Heaven!!…

Attack Tsukuba Is Tuning Car Heaven!!…

Ask any of my friends who have been to Attack Tsukuba before and they’ll tell you with certainty that this is their favorite event in Japan. It’s literally tuning car heaven and everything you could ask for if you’re a Japanese automotive enthusiast. There’s no other place where you can combine some of the fastest cars in the country with the style that we’ve grown-up appreciating. The quality is top-tier and the execution so unique on so many of these competition vehicles. It really needs to be witnessed in-person to truly be appreciated. You just have to be there at the famed Tsukuba Circuit. For those of you who have never been, don’t worry, I’m here to show you guys a little piece of why this event is so interesting. This year, I didn’t have any particular group of people or specific car to follow so my friends and I just tried to consume as much of Attack as we could. Der and Kristian came later on in my trip to Japan this year just so they could go to Attack, they almost didn’t care about seeing anything else—and I showed them all kinds of stuff!

Suzuka Adventures With Top Fuel Japan, Voltex & More!!…

Suzuka Adventures With Top Fuel Japan, Voltex & More!!…

Well, as sad as it may sound, the Osaka portion of our journeys have come to an end. I’m glad it ended the way it did but it was time for us to move back over to the Tokyo-side of Japan. As we approach our final major event at Tsukuba Circuit, we stop by over in the Mie prefecture to pay a visit to Top Fuel. If you watched my videos from my last visit to Japan, I had the opportunity to see Top Fuel for the first time. It was such an epic visit that I made sure to go again so that Der and Kristian could see this place for themselves. After Top Fuel, we made a stop at a local restaurant that we had previously frequented multiple times before. The food was always good considering it’s the only restaurant out in the middle of nowhere. Since the pandemic, however, it’s changed a little bit—to say the least. Eating there was an adventure in itself…

Happy Honda Holidays From Me To You…

Happy Honda Holidays From Me To You…

Seasons greetings everyone! It’s the holiday season and everyone out here seems to be organizing toy drive-themed car events every weekend. It’s all for a good cause so we make sure to show up to as many as we can to give back. It’s also nice just to do car things and see friends of course so why not take advantage of time to do both? First, we stop by the GReddy Food Drive to drop-off some raffle prizes, then we head to our friend Barry Ancheta’s Stay Classick Sleighride event to drop-off some toys and see some good Honda builds!! I think you guys will enjoy this particular episode if you’ve been a subscriber for a long time here. It’ll give you guys a good glimpse of what 2023 holds….better video quality, including 4K resolution! I’m still undecided on whether or not to go full 60 FPS because I enjoy the more cinematic feel of 30 FPS but I’ll leave it up to you guys. Let me know what you guys think!! Oh yeah, and Ryan Der continues to make progress on his Civic project as well. He’s ramping up to finally make some major changes to the car so stay tuned if you enjoy his build thus far…

California Dreamin’ At Wekfest San Jose…

California Dreamin’ At Wekfest San Jose…

With the Battlecraft x Exceed GR86 together now, it was time for me to make the 6-hour drive up to San Jose for the annual Wekfest super show! Not only was I shooting and working the event this year, I also had to make sure to get the GR86 there for display. Our goal was to have this car showcased at the two biggest Wekfest events of the year so it was important for me to get the car to San Jose. The drive itself wasn’t so bad, but it definitely made me remember why I stopped driving so far for shows, lol. Being that it was such a hectic event, I didn’t have too much time to film during the show but I did manage to capture some of what happened behind-the-scenes. After I got back to Los Angeles after the show, I found out that there was another event to attend mid-week so I cleaned-up the GR once again and cruised over!