Wangan Cruising and Parking Area Meets

As we roll into warm summer months in what appears to be set as another awesome automotive season, the the inevitable, yet undesirable rainy season has poured gallons of water upon Tokyo forcing everyone back to their garages.

On rare occasions where it would clear up though, everyone tends to immediately get in their cars and head down to Tatsumi PA.

It was during one such trip I was able to get a closer look at a certain Nissan Skyline GTR R34 and speak to the owner.  Perhaps its the fitment of identical wheels that put the beginning to the conversation lasted a few hours,

and then joined by some of the friends....

Soon it became one big Top Secret party,

but being aware that authorities do not appreciate our usage of right of free assembly we quickly moved to nearby Tatsumi-2 parking area, where we wouldn't be bothered.

That's where our quiet meet continued into the night.  With rain being foretasted for the following week we weren't in any hurry to leave.  At least that is what we thought it was,...


until the latest weather update promised us a sunny afternoon the following Sunday. Which only means one thing: Daikoku PA!  Originally I was going to post some of the older Tatsumi pictures to complete this post, but instead I found myself rushing down to a car wash,

and back on Tokyo highways heading towards the usual Sunday Daikoku PA gathering, which I haven't visited for several months.  Needless to say, I was craving some car action really bad.

And it looks like I couldn't have arrived on a better occasion as there were several lots occupied by fellow BMW owners,

among which, my E90 brothers, giving me plenty of opportunity to scout for parts and upgrade options.

Needless to say, the 3 series is one of the most popular platforms for Japanese owners to modify.  Just look at all the carbon parts and accents.

While this exhaust along with custom carbon diffuser does a great job giving the pre-LCI 335i a more sporty look.

Then this happened.... No, this is not my car, this is absolutely identical 335i N54 LCI MSport in Le Mans Blue,

sitting on Enkei RS05RR 18 inch wheels finished in matte black.  The owner was still on stock suspension, so it was difficult to compare, but given that I was seriously considering these wheels, I can only emphasize how badly Enkei needs to release them in 19 inch diameter.

I parked next to this car to get a few shots out.

The owner even had a similarly finished matte grille,

You can see the difference in ride height in this shot. 

Soon, the BMW owners started to leave, while I stayed to check out other cars that were present in the parking lot.

There were plenty of photo opportunities opening up.

I am starting to see more and more Lamborghini Huracan's being delivered to the lucky owners in Japan.  What better way to break in the new set of wheels than taking it out for a cruise to Daikoku PA?

Yes, Huracan is getting extremely popular, but by no means it makes the Gallardo look dated.

Especially, if it's a special edition Squadra Corse!

Other Lamborghini owners were soon making their presence noticed.

as did the Ferrari owners

You don't see a lot of black F430 Spiders but they do look gorgeous, don't they?


Then the  1975 512BB rolled in, clearing way for one more classic Ferrari:

The F50; same car as we covered in our last update, the gorgeous Giallo Modena F50 is a frequent visitor to Daikoku PA.  With the owner always happy to show off his ride in all details to the crowd, this F50 is definitely a crowd favorite.

From Italian Supercars, to German - we all know how much car guys here are in love with their Porsche's, and each time I am here at Daikoku I get a doze of Stuttgart awesomeness.

One such car guy is actually an American, who is living and breathing Japanese car culture by owning a one-of-a-kind RAUH-Welt Porsche 964 Carrera 2.

There is never of shortage of Mercedes Benz at any time in Daikoku PA, and this classic 190 Evolution is one of the most desired of them all.  Owner went for the DTM look with adjustable front lip spoiler and a set of light weight OZ wheels.

There is nothing light weight about this 560SEC, which was epitome of success in the under-world in the early 90's

It is interesting to see how the premium coupe has evolve but style of custom design stayed the same.

Of course new line-up of Mercedes Benz is targeted at younger buyers seeking high performance in smaller packages.  A-class and its derivatives such as this GLA45 AMG Edition 1 seem to fit the bill as they are flying off the shelves.

There was plenty of USDM muscle scattered around the parking area on this occasion, and since I do have a soft spot for everything American, I knew I needed to check a few of them out.

And what a way to appeal to my inner yank by showing off to two Dodge Vipers, one of them being the race-spec ACR.

In a country where engine size is aggressively taxed and fuel is rather expensive, cruising around in completely impractical over-sized sports car with the largest engine in any production automobile in the world has a making of some kind of petrol-head hero! Great job, whoever you are!

The C7 Corvette also has a large engine, but Americans are really giving the Europeans the run for their money with all the latest technologies and innovations being hidden within the sexy form of the latest sports car from Detroit.  Cylinder shut-off, magnetic ride suspension, high quality interior combine for one awesome package available for only fraction of the price that you'd pay for similar machine from Europe. 

Of course, with Corvette having such a vast history these meets don't go without some of the older examples showing up.  There were also a C3 and a C6 nearby, but this C4 caught my attention as it was sitting on a set of bronze TE37 wheels.

Before being carried away with muscle cars I spotted this extremely clean El Camino sitting on 20 inch wheels and air suspension. 

Perhaps these things can be seen as JDM answer to El Camino.  The little K-trucks are overwhelmingly popular among local farmers as their compact size allows them to easily whiz between their rice fields, while the tiny 660cc engine helps to reduce costs of gas and taxes

A whole group of these micro machines showed up and revealed a whole different angle of JDM scene.  As usual, execution, styling and "badass" factor are top notch.

But it was the more common JDM icons that turned most of the heads.  After spending a few minutes drooling over this matte black NSX on TE37 wheels, I moved on..

..to the latest and greatest of the JDM world - the Lexus RCF.  Powered by a 5L V8 packed with race spec components this luxury cruiser is in a class of its own.  Having driven it once I was overwhelmed by its composure, refinement, and sheer power of extremely well built V8.

If it's not compose or refinement that you are after, there were plenty of GTR's to be checked out,

Including the rare Nismo model, that despite their limited production numbers are quite a common sight in Daikoku, central Tokyo, and even Fuji Speedway.  Nothing makes me happier than owners not being afraid to put some miles on their prized possessions.

You could say that it's a good day out in Daikoku if classic Skylines are seen, and undeniably today was such day.

From the pair of perfectly modified R32's

To absolutely perfect R34...

But if there is one Skyline that proves to us that we can go beyond perfection, it's this R34; same as we saw in the beginning of the post.

During the day car's hidden treasures including the lifted rear wing, Top Secret Bumper and full size intercooler and custom pearl Bayside Blue done by Top Secret are clearly visible.  But what's even more impressive is what lies under the hood.

Capacity of the RB26DETT has been increased to 2.8L, HKS lightweight camshaft, Top Secret titanium exhaust system, and massive BorgWarner EFR9180 ceramic ball bearing turbocharger, with numerous other mods combine for one of a kind extreme performance machine.

To add a bit of attitude the owner opted for a side-exit waste-gate, which originally Smokey Nagata installed on his time attack R35.

The mods combined for quite a performance difference.  Horse power reads 940 with medium boost, but it's the 961Nm of torque that makes the jaws drop.  Uncharacteristic to Japanese cars of that era, especially after undergoing performance modifications, the high flow turbocharger spools at around 3000 RPM allowing almost linear torque to peak at 5000RPM ultimately yielding faster pulls and refined street performance.  With sequential gear box being the next scheduled mod, we will definitely return to this car in near future to have a another look in greater detail.

It was late afternoon when we decided to wrap it up and head home.  Thanks everyone for commenting, sharing, and following, we will return soon with coverage of Motorgames Offset Kings and Formula Drift Japan.  Until then please enjoy the bonus gallery below and follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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