Let's head back to Tsukuba for Part two of the Battle Evome soukoukai, for yet more time attack goodness, of the amateur variety. There is something so addictive about chasing lap times, for both those that do it as a hobby as well as for those that just like to drop by and spectate. The whole technical aspect of the cars will satisfy even the biggest nerds out there and I am admittedly one of those. There is a lot to learn…
…by walking around and checking out what each owner/driver has done to his car. Little individual touches make each machine bespoke, with lots of alterations having come from years of testing and pushing for that fast lap time.
One of the most interesting things about Tsukuba, and this goes for pretty much any event held there, are the cars parked around the paddock, parking lots and the main internal access road. The latter is where I came across this very pink Stile 11 Alfa Romeo 156…
…and this appropriately lowered ISF running on TE37s.
This Stagea 260RS looked pretty serious too!
I quite liked the subtle look of this kouki S14 on RPF1s. You can see the oil cooler on the driver's side was taped up. That's probably due to the freezing air that morning, helping the oil get up to operating temperature by limiting cooling.
This is one of the most in your face Evo 5s around, a collaboration between Varis, Cyber Evo and Garage HRS it once served as a demo car at various time attack events. Now it is privately owned and still doing the deed around tracks like Tsukuba!
A couple of FDs getting ready for the first session of the day.
The owner of this white BNR32 was very happy that I had brought some Speedhunters stickers with me, as he is an avid follower of our blog.
During his first lap on cold tires he ended up spinning after the in-field hairpin…
…but quickly recovered and posted some impressive times, all consistently in the 58-seconds!
It's always so cool for me seeing GT-Rs at this event, and great to see a few R34s too.
I think nobody is going to forget this Totomaru pink Evo 5 in a hurry!
Under Suzuki was in attack mode at every outing, his newly perfect S15 carving through the corners with impressive speed.
The new hood and front splitter refinements definitely increased front end downforce, but this meant that the rear end, which has been left untouched since the car's last outing, also needs a few changes now.
At the end of the first session Suzuki came in…
…and dropped in a Gurney flap…
…onto the trailing edge of his carbon GT wing to help get a little more downforce. This helped and allowed him to set his record time, and reach his long time goal of breaking into the 54-seconds.
The action continued out on track with the second group, cars that are a little less extreme and in most cases driven daily on the street.
I really liked this R34 with Z-tune bumper and front fenders. I've decided I also need to get taller rear wing stays, as they look so cool. Now to find carbon fiber ones that don't cost an arm and a leg!
At the level the top cars in the Battle Evome series are at, aerodynamics play a great part in making fast cars even faster. You might have all the power in the world and infinite adjustability in the suspension department but if you can't maximize traction and grip then you aren't going anywhere. The Top Fuel Racing FD has one of the tallest rear wings I've seen on what is essentially a stock body RX7, and to balance things out at the front it employs a very large and complex splitter.
This bug-eyed GDB set up and tuned by Aqua put down a best lap of 59"583.
It's all about big and tall wings!
Battle Evome does attract the fastest time attack cars in Japan, but they all tend to be pretty old discontinued models. So it's always refreshing to see "new-blood" at times too like this Evo X from MK Sport. Out of the 31 cars that entered it for the 22nd fastest time, a very respectable 1'00"212. A minute flat at Tsukuba warrants a lot of respect!
That's it for now but I'll be back shortly with the third installment from Tsukuba and Battle Evome!
Battle Evome coverage on Speedhunters
-Dino Dalle Carbonare