TRA Kyoto & The Rocket Bunny x Crank and Piston

Kei Miura has been been an underground hero within his native Osaka for many years. Outlaw kanjo racer by night and with a yancha bōsōzoku past that, even at 42 years old, he refuses to outgrow. Miura-san also happens to be the man behind TRA-Kyoto.

TRA-Kyoto are leaders in the design of body kits, embracing modern CAD design in an industry that still heavily relies on clay and foam sculpturing. Working with most major tuning shops and body kit brands within Japan, TRA-Kyoto also produce their own range of products such as the 6666 Customs range focusing mainly on the Nissan S chassis. When Miura-san turned his attention towards the car of the moment, the GT86/FR-S, few would have expected the explosion in interest that his Rocket Bunny creation would have.

Sebastian Vettel: Three-Time World Champion

As the dust settles after the dramatic ending to the 2012 Formula 1 season, it’s time to celebrate the amazing achievement of Sebastian Vettel: three-time World Champion – the youngest triple champion and only the third driver to win the title in consecutive years. He joins Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher for the latter achievement, who both went on to score a fourth (and in Schumacher’s case, a fifth) consecutive title. You can be sure that Sebastian will be aiming at those stats next.

Sebastian’s luck held out in Brazil (just as it had in Abu Dhabi) in the face of a chaotic opening lap at Interlagos: by turn four he was facing the wrong way as the pack streamed towards him. Surely it was all over, as two other cars self-destructed around him and he was relegated to last place. The epic wet/dry race that followed allowed Sebastian to show his quality with a race back through the field. Eventually he finished in sixth place, gaining the points he needed to secure the title after a heart-stopping yoyo through the lower-order points positions.


Sebastian scored five victories and six poles in the Adrian Newey-designed RB8 on his way to the 2012 championship, fending off a rampant Fernando Alonso in the slower Ferrari and both McLaren drivers. Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button appeared to have the fastest car for a lot of the season but failed to realise their potential. Sebastian Vettel’s tally of race wins has now hit 26 – from only 101 race starts. If you include just his four seasons at Red Bull, he’s won an astonishing one in three races from the 75 he’s started. And at just 25 years old, he’s only just getting going! There are plenty of years ahead for him to target yet more of the big historical statistics in the sport he loves so much.

With Sebastian heading up a bumper crop of quality drivers, it looks like the new generation of young Formula 1 drivers are now well and truly established at the front of the field. It’s a great time to be a Formula 1 fan.

Chris Basselgia's Mint Chocolate 2013 Scion FR-S

Sometimes opportunities come by chance, and some come by knowing the right people. For Chris Basselgia, I’m not sure how he got the chance to compete in this year’s Scion FR-S Tuner Challenge, but for me, I had the opportunity to shoot this Minty FReSh beast by knowing the right people. It’s no surprise that I like the FR-S/BRZ. If you recall, I got the chance to drive the Subaru variation of it a few months ago and it definitely caught my attention. When I drove that BRZ through the backroads of Maryland, just outside of Baltimore, I got a good sense of how the car handled and how it could benefit from a few upgrades. I know a lot of you have been thinking the same as well. Fortunately for me, the same guys that let me drive their BRZ also allowed me to see this Minty FR-S.

But let’s get to what this Scion FR-S Tuner Challenge is all about. In it’s eighth straight year, Scion USA hands three builders (or tuners, if you prefer) the keys to a brand new, bone stock Scion car and $15,000 to modify, accessorize and customize it however they’d like. The catch? You have exactly 90 days to wow the world when they are unveiled at the SEMA show in Las Vegas, NV. Winner takes a check for $10,000 and the bragging rights to say they won the Scion Tuner Challenge. This year, the lucky three builders were Daniel Song of Orange County, CA, John Toca of Chicago, IL, and Chris Basselgia of Lebanon, PA. Each builder had to stretch out that $15k, make the car they originally rendered and submitted to Scion USA and do it all under just three short months.


On the outside, the first and most obvious thing that grabs your eyeballs is the Mint Chocolate Chip color. I say mint chocolate chip because the mint green color of the body mixes quite well with the chocolatey goodness of the Rotiform SNA wheels and smoked out headlights. The Rotiforms, sized 19×9.5 in the front and 19×10 in the rear are finished in a matte root beer finish with a highly polished lip to go with the Mint Chocolate chip theme. Nineteen inch wheels may sound extreme, but when the car sits as low as this FR-S thanks to the Airlift suspension, no one seems to mind. It’s crazy to see the car literally rise as soon as you turn on the ignition switch as if it were KITT in Knight Rider and he was ready to roll out.

The FR-S has a very aggressive look to it in the OEM body lines, and Chris wanted to accentuate the lines without destroying them. I would have to agree with him here, as part of the reason why I’m so drawn to these cars is the overall styling. Chris’s reasoning for the overall look of the car is best explained by the man himself, “I approached this challenge with the goal to build something unique, functional and what I would want to drive,” which is to say, something that appeals on a very street car level.

That also meant that Basselgia wanted power to match the looks. All three entrants were supercharged, something no one expected. Two of the FR-S’s had Vortech Superchargers, but only one Scion had what basically set this car far apart from the others, a custom, one off water-to-air intercooled, Eaton based Supercharger complete with a billet CNC intake manifold made by the wizards at IAG Performance. The idea, as Jabaji describes, “is to make this supercharger/intake manifold so easy to bolt on, it could be installed in a backyard with some hand tools and a few hours by anyone that can turn a wrench”. The idea was simple enough, and with the internet screaming that Toyota/Subaru should have made the car with more power, IAG listened and decided to make a Supercharger kit that is nearly as efficient as a turbo setup and to make it easy for the end user to install. Power numbers are still a mystery as the Supercharger was literally installed a day before the transport came to snatch it up for Scion, but the early estimates are somewhere near the 50-60whp range, a respectable bump up to make the lightweight FR car fly while maintaining drivability.

The car was officially unveiled last week during a Scion promo party in Vegas, and this week was crowned the “Hottest Sport Compact of the 2012 SEMA show” which is apparent after walking through the vast space of the Las Vegas Convention Center. So how did Chris fair? He won first place for his entry with John Toca taking second and Daniel Song taking third place. All three cars had their own personality that was shown and as Daniel Song told me, “people’s posts seem to be all over the place… so i love that the cars are pretty dynamic, and people are all reacting dynamically to it”. So they say, “different strokes for different folks”, and I would agree, everyone had their own favorite, and hopefully we will be seeing what the aftermarket industry holds for our beloved FR-S/BRZ when Ervin returns from his drunk nights at SEMA!

Specs:

Powertrain:
IAG Performance Billet CNC Intake Manifold
Eaton M62 Roots Supercharger
IAG Performance Water to Air Intercooler Located Inside Billet Manifold
Bosch Cobra Water Pump For Intercooler
Frozen Boost Heat Exchanger
(2) Frozen Boost 12” 900CFM Electric Fans
IAG PerformanceT304 Stainless Steel Exhaust System w/ Dual Oval 3.5” Exit
IAG Performance Polished Water Tank
IAG Performance Polished Coolant Overflow Tank
IAG Performance Polished Intake system and MAF Housing
Green Filter

Chassis/Suspension:
Wheels/Tires
19×9.5” Rotiform Super Concave 3-Piece SNA Wheels (Front)
19×10” Rotiform Super Concave 3-Piece SNA Wheels (Rear)
Matte Root Beer Finish w/ Polished Lip
Falken FK453 Tires – 225/35ZR19
Suspension
Airlift FR-S Double Bellow Air Struts
Airlift Auto Pilot V2 Digital Control System w/ 4 Corner Control
5 Gallon Air Tank
Vivar Compressor
Brakes
Neo Motorsports 6-Piston Calipers w/ Neo Chrome Finish (Front)
Neo Motorsports 4-Piston Calipers w/ Neo Chrome Finish (Rear)
Neo Motorsports 14” C-Slot Race Rotors (Front)
Neo Motorsports 13” C-Slot Race Rotors (Rear)
Neo Motorsports Braided Stainless Brake Lines

Exterior:
Body and Paint by RMiller Autobody
BASF Fresh Mint and Matte Root Beer Paint
Juevos Designed/RMiller Produced Molded “Lipster” Lip Kit
RMiller Autobody Molded Duck Bill Spoiler
RMiller Autobody Rear Diffuser w/ Center Exit Exhaust
IAG Performance Diffuser Exhaust Trim
Wiper Delete and Smoothed Rain Tray
Shaved Antenna
Mild Smoothed Engine Bay
Shaved Center Grill
RMiller Autobody Side Brake Vents w/ Lateral Slats
APR Race Mirrors
Smoked Headlights
Red Tinted Brake Lights
Yellow Font Turn Signals/Marker Lights
Vinyl Partner Graphics by Advert Graphix

Interior:
Custom Leather Re-Trim by BK Rodz
Distressed Leather and Black Ostrich Leather Provided by Roden Leather
Shaved Rear Deck
Arm Pads added to Rear Panel
Custom Rear Panel Speaker Grill
IAG Titanium Shift Knob
Floor Mats Trimmed with Distressed Leather
Stewart Warner Gauges: Boost, EGT, and Volt
Nardi Classic 360mm Wood Grain Steering Wheel w/ Chrome Spokes
NR-G Quick Release Steering Wheel Hub

Audio:
Sony XAV-601BT Double DIN Touch Screen Head Unit
JL Audio HD750/1 Amplifier
JL Audio HD600/4 Amplifier
(2) JL Audio 10W7 Sub Woofers
(4) JL Audio 6W3 Mid Bass Sub Woofers
JL Audio Power/Audio/Speaker Wiring and Fuse Blocks
Optima Yellow Top Battery

Left to Right - John Toca, Chris Basselgia and  Daniel Song . 

- David. Mayday Garage.

The ILLEST RWB Porsche 911 - Pandora One

Separated by some 5100 miles, two hugely influential car builders, Mark Arcenal and Nakai-san, have collaborated to create a car that is sure to send ripples through both the American and Japanese car scenes. Say hello to their creation: the RWB Pandora One Porsche 911.

“It was very special to see Nakai do his work” Mark said. “It was inspirational to see how much dedication he puts into each build.” Indeed, Nakai-san has quickly built a reputation as being an artisan who has dedicated his life to his craft. Each Rauh-Welt Porsche is given its own name from Nakai-san. For this particular Porsche, Nakai-san christened it Pandora One.

Mark purchased his 964 C4 four years ago after being inspired by RWB. “After I saw Nakai’s Porsche I bought mine in 2007” Mark divulged. Little did he know that one day he would work hand-in-hand with Nakai-san to create the first US-built RWB Porsche. While many of RWB Porsches are built for the street, the 964’s focus is solely on racing. As such, the Porsche was dropped off at FFTEC Motorsports from Hayward for a full engine build.

Before any of the modifications took place, the 964 was stripped down for a full roll-cage, which uses gussets to link to the pillars. FFTEC Motorsports were once again called in to handle the cage fabrication.

Two Recaro Pro-Racer SPG seats have been fitted along with Stack gauges. The Porsche rolls on exclusive 18-inch RWB wheels constructed by Rotiform. While there’s been much discussion on the internet regarding these particular wheels, I personally think they look fantastic in sinister black. Instead of idlers painted on the sidewalls, Pandora One runs the Falken logo on the 265/35 front and 315/30 rear Azenis tyres.

Behind the RWB Rotiform wheels are Brembo GT brakes, while the standard springs and shocks have been replaced with KW V3 coilovers. Mark has also fitted KW's HLS System, which is a remote-operated hydraulic lift that is fitted to the shock body.

At the press of a button, the HLS extends up to 45mm (1.75-inches) to provide additional ground clearance. The HLS isn't an active part of the suspension, so it doesn't compress or create additional suspension movement.

Pandora One features the full complement of Rauh-Welt Begriff aero, including the enormous rear wing. Once all of the RWB panels had arrived to US shores, the car was entrusted to TNT in Sacramento for the satin green paint to be applied.

Over the course of the build, Mark has been providing me with updates on the car’s progress. It was by no means a straight forward affair, with plenty of hard work and long nights spent piecing the 964 together. “I especially want to thank everyone involved on this build” Mark said. “Rob Daehn for managing the car’s paint, the guys at FFTEC and of course, a huge thank you to Nakai and Toshi for our meetings in Japan and bringing Rauh-Welt to the USA.”

With RWB branching out into Japan's Kansai region, Thailand, UK, Australia and now the US, it seems like one artist's work has suddenly captivated a worldwide audience.