Omori Factory - Nismo

We arrived at our last shop we had planned to visit in Japan, Nismo's Omori Factory. Nismo Japan (which is completely seperate from Nismo USA) is Nissan's racing branch with a lot of racing history behind them. They offer complete car care to any Nissan car, sell many high-end bolt on parts, custom engine builds, and even build complete "Nismo tuned" cars to be sold at dealers in Japan with a full warranty. Take the Z33 (350Z in America) for example. In Japan, you could go to a dealer and ask for a Nismo Fairlady Z33. From there, you then specify what package you would want it in, such as E-Type, S-Tune, R-Tune, or S1. How cool would that be to have a fully built Mazdaspeed RX-8 autocross monster, right off the dealer floor, with full warranty?

Tomei Powered

By now, I was already used to Japan. Going to Yoshinoya for breakfast by myself like a big boy, practicing Japanese that I haven't spoken in ages, hanging out in Akihabara at night for some Wangan Midnight: Maximum Tune 4 and the new DDR...I was turning into a "Man of Japan"! Our next stop was to Tomei Powered. I knew very little about Tomei before the trip and what they had to offer, other than what they had were good products. After getting off the train, we set out on foot to Tomei. We originally planned to stop at UP Garage which is actually next-door to Tomei, but we unfortunately had no time. When we entered, we were greeted by Allen Lorenzo, their International Marketing Coordinator, and by Jun Hamamura, their International Sales Manager.

Power House Amuse

Our next stop was my favorite non-rotary tuner shop, Power House Amuse. I grew up watching Best Motoring and Hot Version movies, so I was no stranger to Amuse. They sell their BMW products under a different name, Ericsson, but it is the same shop. My favorite build of theirs was always their S2000 Touge monster. Infact, the S2000 Touge Monster is the car that lead me to the RX-8 in the first place. Watching a properly built under-powered car demolish any car it was pitted against (especially ones with more power) was truly an amazing feat. It motivated me to see how far I could take the RX-8 while keeping the build naturally aspirated.

Super Autobacs

Stand aside Autozone, PepBoys, etc... These guys will do it all and more! Super Autobacs is like a very large candy store for anyone who loves their car. Want to get some rotary-specific motor oil and track brake pads, while picking up Recaro seats for your car? Super Auto Bacs is your place. Want to look at some amazing lightweight wheels in person and the tires that will be going on them? Not a problem. Oh, did you want racing shoes, a helmet, quality car wax, and some wheel totes? Sure, they have all that too, along with some "spirited music for spirited driving".

Tokyo Auto Salon 2012

Tokyo Auto Salon (TAS) is dubbed the "world's largest car show" for a reason. Imagine three aircraft hanger sized rooms, one half sized room with stadium seating, and a large outside parking lot with more cars and a drift show, all dedicated to this amazing event. It literally took me two days to see everything they had to offer, and I found out later that I still managed to miss some cars!

Andrey & "Tigri"

Hello everybody! I am Andrey (Dre), and I will be giving you a look at the weekend racer/luxury modifier along with my ride, "Tigri".

I will be going to a lot of road racing events with Francesco, however, whereas Francesco's goal is to compete, mine is to learn the car and learn how to drive. In the meantime, my car is at Speed1 (formerly known as KDR) in Pennsylvania getting the finishing touches done to my GReddy turbo kit.

Francesco & "Blueberry"

Hello world! Francesco here with the Winning Blue RX-8 aka "The Blueberry".

Photo Courtesy of Bazooka Photography

You'll find the Blueberry darting through turns this season as the track build begins in the coming months. Here is a quick and dirty run down on the work at hand. All of this work will be documented here on RE-Zelse throughout the build process.

2012 - The Year of Change

 Photo by Ed Savage - NoWin Photography

Happy New Years everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying the new year so far, because I know I am! For starters, I wanted to apologize with the lack of content. Granted, it is the off-season, but that doesn't mean I should be leaving everyone hanging without content. I only have some minor updates, but I can promise you that they will be sure to excite you.