Ben,
I have to say I really enjoy your column...It's very well written and very insightful to the JDM tuning seen....

 

Very well written article.

I don't think "spocom" is necessarily a bad thing. Look at ASM. They have parts from Toda, Mugen, IS Design, K&N, etcc...a nice mix of parts from different manufacturers thrown together for a great result.

 

Thanks for the comments. Keep them coming.

Regarding the ASM example and it's relation to the current column on newstands, I didnt intend for there to be a connection between mixing and matching aero parts compared to mixing and matching engine parts.

The intent of the column was to highlight spocom's style of mixing and matching aero parts and how often it diminishes the performance and original design intent of the parts (as a trade off for visual originality). Mixing and matching engine parts (your example of Toda, Mugen, K&N, etc) often does not have a diminishing effect. In fact most Japanese "JDM" tuned cars use a variety of engine parts from various companies to their advantage. It's a totally differnet point, IMO.

On the ASM car all of their aero parts were designed together. As far as I know IS Design is a design studio that ASM hired to design their aero parts. The complete ASM aero package is all original ASM parts, designed to work in unison. And on a side note, K&N Japan makes some really cool JDM only applications.

 

I wish there was more to be written on the wind tunnel testing as well. Fact is that I'm given two pages each month. My aim is to keep the column interesting, fun to read, and informative. When I can and space allows, I give supporting data to back my points (this month I used wind tunnel testing and track testing to back up my points). However, what I cant do is make it a fully tech article. I'd like the column to be accessable to everyone interested in Japanese tuning trends, techniques and styles, and it's far too easy to get side tracked by all of the technical details.

For further informaiton, check out www.c-westusa.com, I believe that they've posted the wind tunnel data on their website so you can check it out there. Unfortunately the track data from RevSpeed on the Ings S-Tai car is not online and I dont have nearly enough time to translate the article for you.

 

And yes, I will begin looking into preparing a column about spocom's influence in Japan. I'll talk to some of my contacts and start gathering some info from their perspective for a future column.

One thing I'll want to do is to weed out the cheesy examples of spocom from the ones that have merged with performance tuning. For example, companies like Weber Sports in Japan essentially emulate over the top US tuning styles (and I happen to think that they are extremely lame, except for their S2000 kit which is only partially lame). Other companies like DAMD, and Ings have applied some spocom techniques to their own unique talents and styles. I'd rather focus on innovation than copying, so I'll be on the lookout for companies that have implemented spocom aspects into their own original style.

 

I like the Weber Sports S2000... Now, I will say the rest of their cars are ugly, but it looks more Veilside than anything... IMO anyways...

 

First off, I just read the article in the June issue and it was great. Second, is there any way to get more pics of the Stingray canards?

 

just posted images of them in the forum

 

great article on VIP tuning.

I'd be interested to see what real "JDM" is these days. To us, JDM is Spoon, J's, Endless, ASM etc....

But I've seen some video clips out of Japan showing older preludes and civics going the "rice" route, combat wings and kits, glow kits, stickers, LED's. Is Japan's JDM scene picking up from our fart can and flashing washer sprayer crowds?

 

Enjoyed the aero vs. body kit article. Gave me something to read while I was on the shitter.

Ryan