12:30pm: Spirits
"I got first dibs on that red Hachiroku!" I yelled out in the bus, hoping to claim my stake. Without a second's notice, out from the back of the bus someone yells, "F* you Scott! You ain't got shit on dibs!" The second shop of the day is Techno PRO SPIRITS, located in the heart of Kawagoe. Not wasting any time, I ran across the street to the adjacent parking lot to get a closer view of the red AE86. As I circled the vehicle, the shop owner Toshio Kumakura approached me and asked if I wanted to check out the motor. With my enthusiastic, "YES!" he popped the hood and I proceeded to inspect the motor with a fine-toothed comb. To my disappointment the motor looked somewhat stock. "What does this engine put out?" I asked Kumakura-san. "Ehh? Put out?" said Kumakura with a puzzled look on his face. "Uhh. Yes. Horsepower." I quickly rambled in hopes of communicating with some incoherent engrish. "Ohh. yes... yes... 240 horsepower." Kumakura-san smiled . "WTF!?" I yelled out. "This car is putting out 240 naturally aspirated?" "Yes it is very high compression, and fully built with some secret stuff," smirked Kumakura-san as he climbed in the vehicle. With a turn of the key the motor came to life as the individual throttle bodies roared with every stomp of the pedal. Look for the SPIRITS Hachiroku in the near future, as this vehicle is definitely a candidate for an upcoming issue of 2NR.
3:30pm: Garage Work
Arriving at our last shop located in the city of Chiba, it was obvious the owner had a thing for Hondas. Custom built Civics, CRXs and Integras lined the garage from front to back. Sitting in the middle of the facility was the owner's personal white ED8; setup to perform battle on the circuit. As we huddle together, moving to the rear of the car, a voice called out from the pack to address the intricate fuel system that would be deemed overkill for the B16 engine. Using a set of dual Bosch fuel pumps priming into a custom surge tank, a complete array of steel braided lines and fuel filters filled the entire trunk space with no room to spare. Midway between the trunk and cockpit was a trick custom built block off shield, completely sectioning off the driver to the rear of vehicle. With 200+ hp on an 11:1 compression ratio engine, the owner stated the car is one of the top contenders in his class. Thanking the owner, we headed off to our final hotel stay at the Narita Airport Washington Hotel for a nights rest as we prepare to head back home the following day.
Day 9:
Departure: Home is where the heart is As the airplane began it's takeoff at 11:00a.m., I sat back, reflecting on the past eight days in Japan with TEIN. Although the days were long and seemingly endless, taking part in the TEIN tour has been quite an experience with many memorable moments. With this years debut of the Super EDFC (Electronic Damping Force Controller) upgraded for automated engine RPM based control of the damping force within the shock absorber and the debut of the TEIN hydraulic kit for the popular Scion xB and Xa series, we look forward to many more performance products from TEIN in the near future.