Kansai Service 86 & BRZ At TAS

One of the things that’s so fantastic about the 86/BRZ is the car’s versatility when it comes to tuning. For those looking for moderate power with an emphasis on handling, there are limitless options out there. On the other side of the coin, those in search of high power output are getting treated to more and more options with superchargers and turbos. The car was always intended to be an everyman’s sports car and it hasn’t disappointed. I always look forward to seeing what Kansai Service are up to at Tokyo Auto Salon. This year they’ve unveiled both an 86 and a BRZ with varying levels of tuning.

Kansai Service cars are never over the top in terms of exterior styling and always serve as nice examples of street tuning.

Their 86 is fitted with the usual allotment of HKS, Advan and in house parts.

Under the hood is an HKS supercharger kit which should be perfect for some extra power on the street. It makes sense as the car has been dubbed the “86 Super Tourer”.

Parked next to the Toyota is the Subaru BRZ.

While relatively simple, this is easily one of the best looking BRZs I’ve seen yet. Kansai Service have a way with injecting just enough aggressiveness into the looks of their cars. Those Advan RS-IIs where made for this chassis.

The rear quarter angle gets even better. I believe the carbon wing is their own design and it looks fantastic!

Under the hood things have been left mostly stock with an HKS intake pipe being the only addition. It provides a nice contrast to the 86, as some may be looking to retain the car’s naturally aspirated power plant.

A couple very clean builds from Kansai Service and certainly no shortage of 86s and BRZs at Tokyo Auto Salon. More to come!

Photos courtesy of CarWatch.

HKS Kansai Service GVB At TAS 2012

Here’s more of the HKS Kansai Service GVB. This time it’s holding it down at Tokyo Auto Salon.

The car is sporting a few changes, including a new wing, wheels and a quad-tip exhaust.

Tokyo Auto Salon is officially over, but there’s still tons of coverage pouring in, as everyone empties out their SD cards.

Photos courtesy of Car Watch.

HKS Kansai Service GVB

For whatever reason, there seems to be a real lack of GVB demo cars in Japan. Look around the paddocks of any lap battle or meet and you’re unlikely to find many. The GRB is still fairly new and that could explain the lack of interest. I suspect the real reason has something to do with the GT-R. As far as AWD platforms are concerned, the R35 is king and will probably remain as such. Japan has also  seen a growing interest in European tuning and that’s definitely had an impact on the domestics.

Despite this, HKS Kansai Service has been involved with Imprezas since the beginning and they’ve not stopped with the latest iteration.

I’ve been hunting this car down for ages. It first came to my attention at Hyper Meeting a couple years ago.

All the usual areas have been upgraded with the latest and greatest from HKS. Kansai Service also produces their own original parts, including my all time favorite rear diffuser and the carbon intake box above.

As with all the HKS demo cars, Yokohama has taken care of the wheels and tires: 19×8.5 Advan RZ-DF’s and Neova AD08′s.

You may have noticed, I’ve avoided a rather obvious problem from the first photo. It’s a problem that has been plaguing all HKS Kansai Service demo cars, in recent years.

The global economy is still bad, I’m preaching to the choir. It’s had a major effect on the Japanese aftermarket industry, I’m still preaching. This has caused a lot of companies to cut costs on manufacturing, including moving production to places like mainland China. Some say despite being made in China, the quality hasn’t changed. Others would disagree. You may be wondering where I’m going with this and what it has to do with the HKS Kansai Service GVB.

The bad economy and cheaper manufacturing processes, have opened the floodgates for a slew of knockoff brands. Many of which are slowly eating away at the Japanese aftermarket industry, forcing shops to close their doors. The ones that are still weathering the storm, have had to reduce their line up of products. This could be another reason why we see so few GVB Impreza demo cars. It’s just too expensive to create new parts for every make and model that are released. Brands like Seibon have flourished in this climate, made their way to Japan and hopped into bed with companies like Rays Engineering. If you know anything about Rays, then you know they basically run the industry. This is a big reason why we’ve been seeing Seibon products, on HKS Kansai Service demo cars. It’s certainly not because Seibon has ever created something original and of quality. Money talks and you may be reminded of a certain Seibon Edition of the Volk TE37, from a few years ago.

Of course, I don’t know the entire story and that’s why I can’t really go any further with it. The most important thing to note is, where else are you going to get this kind of in depth coverage? Only on A Class can a car feature turn into a rant about the industry.

Photos courtesy of Yokohama.

GT-R’s Of Tokyo Auto Salon 2011: Part I

There are so many GT-R’s at Tokyo Auto Salon this year. With VIP and hybrid tuning reigning supreme, it’s nice to see that people are still thinking about going fast. There are far more GT-R’s at the show than I’m going to post, but these are some of the ones that stood out to me.

Endless was there showcasing their latest braking technology for the GT-R, including the Mono 6 calipers with the insane 430mm E-Slit rotors, designed specifically for the car. A number of shops have been involved with the building of the Endless demo GT-R, including HKS and MCR.

I know the politics behind it, but I just don’t understand why anyone would put Seibon products on their car. I’m sure their presence on all the Kansai Service demo cars is all some people need to think it’s legit. It’s not people, don’t be fooled. It’s a shame because this is a really clean car Kansai Service has put together.

After not bothering to show up last year, Top Secret is back with not one, but two new GT-R’s. I’m really digging the new Top Secret aero. It’s a little over the top in some aspects, but that’s what makes Top Secret so great!

Smokey also brought out the shop’s 700HP BB700. The side profile of this car, with all the new aero is just menacing.

JUN was also on hand with their new GT-R test subject. The company is using the car to develop a range of new engine components and aero pieces. It looks great in Hyper Lemon Yellow.

I’m going to be posting up a few more of my favorite GT-R’s from Tokyo Auto Salon later on.

Photos courtesy of Car Watch.