Karuizawa Meeting 2018

The Karuizawa Meeting 2018 was a huge annual Mazda MX-5 Miata Roadster meet last week on May 27. I made another 9 hour drive to beautiful Karuizawa in Nagano, Japan, to check it out.

The event was held, as in the previous years, at the Prince Hotel Ski Slope parking lots. There, as far as the eye can see, were rows upon rows of unique Roadsters in all years, conditions, and modifications. This year, I felt there were less NBs and NCs, but many more NDs. There were still a fair number of NAs present.

(Sadly, due to various commitments, I was not able to attend this year’s meet.)

I wasn’t sure I would be able to snag parking, so I actually ended up stopping at Naka-Karuizawa Station and parking there, though I realized later I came early enough to potentially get a good spot when I walked up around 8:30 AM. I did learn a lesson last year: since there were three lots, I had to work quickly to cover as many cars and as much ground as possible.

I started with Lot 2, which was already full, instead of Lot 3, which was still filling up. While I appreciate a good stock, well-kept NA or NB Roadster as much as anyone, I came here for the custom ones.

I didn’t spend long taking beauty shots of the stock ones or the ones with minimal modifications, as my time was limited.

Another big change this year is the wider variety of wheels and many NAs rocking smaller diameter wheels with fatter tire setups than I saw the year prior.

Now that it was getting into the late morning, Lot 3 was full and closed up. (They stop entry into the 3 main lots at 9:30.)

There were more NAs, NBs, and a few NDs, even the “Fiata” (Fiat Spider) versions.

Finished with the outer two lots, I entered Lot 1 where the dealer booths and shop cars were shown, along with the main tent. RS Factory Stage had two sporting NDs quite heavily cosmetically modified. Autoexe made a good showing with their variety of braces for the ND, Barchetta with their always… unique… NC, Car Make Corn’s with their lifted car and variety of parts.

Even though the NA stopped being produced 20 years ago, Garage Vary still had a few new parts to showcase, such as their newly redesigned aero lip, hardtop, and yet-to-be-sold rear diffuser. According to the staff the diffuser is tested and is flat-bottomed to ahead of the rear axle, though I couldn’t see well underneath to confirm.

Nakamae’s Beautiful Shop Car Interior

Jet Stream’s blue NA looks posed to take a track and on the other hand, Esqueleto’s ND is ready to just cruise.

Although this wasn’t part of the official booths, a few companies brought their shop cars. SS Works was probably my favorite of those. It had some serious engine work… and nitrous!

Finished with the shop cars, I set about to go up and down the rows of Lot 1. As with the other two lots, there were a range of heavily modified to virtually stock, but most had at least a set of aftermarket wheels. I took plenty of pictures of those, especially since I recently became inspired to change up my own Miata. I finally determined that 14” wheels with fat 60 Series rubber fits the look of the NA the best, especially since my own has a retro-modern theme. Watanabe? Work Wheels? Enkei RPF1s? Volk Racing TE37Vs? Ah, the potential is endless...

If you’re gonna do something strange, you might as well go all in. This has some cool Buzzin Hornets livery used on Hondas in the late 90s.

Full bumper and fender conversions really change the look of an NA Roadster.

Aston Martin NB, anyone?

I saw a couple more Project-G -style G-String Bikini Tops this year from last. A few of them are definitely homemade, though a few I thought might actually be legit.

I definitely noticed a few more lowered, stanced Roadsters with minimal wheel gap and greater camber this year, but few I would consider “slammed.” I know there are quite a few in Japan, but maybe those guys don’t really come to these type of car meets. In either case, these are really clean and well-taken care of. The love for their cars shows, as they all have properly rolled fenders and reputable wheels. Thankfully, I didn’t see the likes of the haphazard, poorly slammed ones I often see bouncing around on Los Angeles freeways.

On the opposite end of the slammed spectrum, perhaps literally, were these two lifted cars, riding high on all-terrain knobby tires. Excluding the shop car, these two owners really wanted to be able to take their Roadster anywhere. I know in North America, Paco Motorsports sells a lift kit for the Miata, but I’m not sure how these have been raised. Either way, I really love the NB2 with its off-road LED lighting array, custom skid plate, and spare tire and gas racks bolted to the rear decklid. Flawless execution.

There were plenty of beautiful examples of absolutely stunning custom paintwork.

While I could probably write whole articles on each individual NA or NB on the lot, I think these two cars were my favorites this year because they each pulled off a theme very well. This NA, while not adorned with massive flares, body kit, or extremely wide wheels, managed to draw my eye as it pulled into the lot. It was beautiful, simple, and cleanly executed. The owner likely wanted to keep true to the “M2” classic Roadster theme and yet offer his own unique plus alpha take on the concept with some custom work.

Kudos to this gorgeous one as well, rocking simple fender flares, beautiful Hayashi Racing wheels, chrome roll bar, topped off with a bikini top.

And then there is absolutely so much to love about this NA. With so much kit from a fastback hardtop, huge fenders, slick diffuser, fat wheels, and a huge bulge in the hood… certainly hiding something monstrous underneath.

As always, I am attracted to the little custom things that some guys do to their roadsters. Added hood vents, interior gauges, and engine work are often seen, but sometimes you get a few really unique things. Now this was something special. It is definitely the cleanest original work I’ve seen in awhile.

This one has a few things that I personally like, cut rear bumper, full cage, 14” TE37s…

Yesss… Fender mirrors, anyone? How do y’all feel about them?

This made me smile. Is this supposed to be old school Alitalia rally car livery???

Not everything was peaches and cream, though. Sometimes less is more.

Completely exhausted, I meandered back to the train station and took another 9 hour drive straight home. There were so many things I wanted to buy, but my funds sadly are tied up in my Alto Works and Swift Sport at the moment. I’ll make it a point to bring a bit of cash next year for these show-exclusive deals they offered... There’s always next year! I’ll definitely come again.

www.karuizawa-meeting.com

[ Swift Sport ] Project Mu TYPE PS Brake Pads (Modifications, Part 5B)

I agonized weeks over the decision on my replacement front pads, comparing prices, reviews, and brands of several major manufacturers. Prices range from 3000￥ ($25 USD) for OEM-level equipment, to well over 20,000￥ ($190 USD) for track-use pads. Since the fronts do a lot of the braking work, especially for a front-engined, front-drive car, and the fact that I do somewhat harsh spirited street driving, selecting carefully between price and braking performance is critical. Also because this is a daily-driver, cold braking performance, brake dust, and noise are also important.

Due to a lack of real trustworthy reviews I could rely on, I recognized price is not the only determining factor. My Miata has cheap Pep Boys pads, but as I hinted before, pads do not make the only difference. For that car, I used high quality DOT4 fluid… and the car stops consistently well, even after hard autocrossing and track use. Granted, the car is rather light, but that setup is more than good enough for my use.

For my Swift Sport, though, I finally settled on a set of TM Square Street Brake Pads which are priced at 8600￥. TM Square is a small, but well-known manufacturer of primarily Suzuki Swift parts. While I’m fairly certain they don’t make the pads in-house, they claim their pad compound was engineered specifically for them. The company has a lot of race experience with Suzukis, so I expected them to work fairly well.

However, I was glad I was patient on the decision-making because during the waiting interm, I found a great deal on a brand new, unused but “second hand” set of Project Mu TYPE PS pads. They originally retail at  20,000￥, but because they were considered “open box”... they were about 5000￥ ($45 USD), shipped. Ridiculously cheap for arguably one of their best overall pads from a well-respected manufacturer, as these pads claim to have a great balance of braking performance, pedal feel, little noise, and reduced rotor wear.

I opted not to replace the rotors at this time, given that the overall condition of them are still quite good. Maybe after these stiffer pads wear down would I replace the rotors then.

Time to put it up on a lift and replace the brakes. One thing I absolutely love about modern disc brakes is the fact they are super easy to replace. Remove the one lower bolt and the whole brake assembly pivots on the upper bolt.

Perhaps the most difficult task is to push the piston in… without the right tools, it’s a minor hassle, but luckily I have access to a proper piston compression tool here at Rodeo Cars.

After a bit of cleaning and some application of high-temperature lubrication to minimize pad chatter, the whole assembly is back in place. This is also a good time to drain a bit of the brake fluid and replace it with fresh fluid. Since it is still pretty clean from my last shaken, it doesn’t need a full drain or flush.

The first thing that needs to be done once everything is cinched back up is bedding the brakes. The process to bed in a brake pad is pretty easy, but it’s quite important. The main reason to do this is to ensure some friction is done and wear surfaces are mated properly. Essentially, I need to heat the pads and rotors sufficiently by having a few relatively hard high-speed stops. Without anyone around, I found some empty stretches of road nearby where I could do this safely and not bother anyone.

After a few hundred kilometers of fairly typical street driving, my initial impressions are pretty darn good. The brake pads have never squealed (other than the first drive after a wet night due to rotor rust… but that applies with all cars). The brake pedal is firm and braking pressure is consistent.

I only had a chance to flex the pads a bit on some local winding roads before I made this post and I can say quite certainly they are as they claim. I purposely tried to quickly push hard on the brakes on every corner in order to get the brakes as hot as possible. The initial bite is strong and feels consistent through several hard braking passes. Even afterwards, I noticed minor brake dust on my wheels, but it is not that much different than the previous pads and to be fair, I tried to drive relatively hard on them.

In truth, however, I have not tested them to their maximum heat capacity, so how they fare on hard driving or circuit driving is another matter. I do have faith in their advertised performance based on the driving I did thus far and Project mu’s reputation in racing. Brake job done!

[ Swift Sport ] Project Mu TYPE PS Brake Pads (Modifications, Part 5A)

After all my recent Hokkaido and Eastern Honshu road trip around Japan, my brakes have been run down to about a quarter remaining, so I figured one of the most important “modifications” I can do is maintenance in the form of a good brake job on my Suzuki Swift Sport.

Brakes are one of the most important safety aspects of a car. In conjunction with good tires, good brakes can literally be the difference between life and death... or a wrecked car. Almost all modern cars use disc brakes, but some economy cars, such as kei cars, use drum brakes for the rear. Their stopping methods are different and there are some minor positive reasons to use drums over discs for the rear, but suffice to say most sport-oriented cars utilize discs all around.

Disc brakes, as the name implies, use large, typically steel, disc rotors attached to the wheel and hub. One or more brake pistons push against brake pads which apply pressure to the spinning disc, slowing the car down by changing the kinetic energy state to sound, heat, and wear. Most discs also incorporate vents and spacing in the center of the disc to better dissipate heat. More advanced rotors are made of materials that better reject or give off heat like carbon-ceramic or use of mixed metals like steel in the disc and aluminum in the hub hat.

The stopping action of disc brakes is very similar to the way a typical brake system on a bicycle works, with two little pads applying pressure against a spinning disc. Well, in the case of a bike, the wheel itself.

Drum brakes are a completely different design, because they utilize brake pads that push outwards against a spinning brake drum to reduce speed. The main problem with this setup is the inability to reject or reduce heat quickly, critical for sporty applications. 

The benefits of a disc brake are numerous which is why almost all manufacturers currently employ at least disc front brakes. They reject heat quickly, are durable and easily maintained, and may have better stopping power than most drums. Some economy cars utilize drum brakes for the rears simply because of manufacturing costs. However, on off-road truck applications, drum brakes can have some advantages. Drums are essentially sealed items, so in muddy, dusty, or wet applications, drums can still stop despite environmental effects. One additional benefit of drum brakes is the ease and reliability of the mechanical parking brake which does not require the hydraulic booster system to function at all, since the lever actually moves the brake pad directly.

Brakes are an oft overlooked modification for ricers (Iike me). Some car guys dump money into exterior mods or some into improving power or handling… but overlook or cut corners on the brakes. For me, many of the cars I’ve had stop well enough with their stock setup… that’s my excuse at least.

Basic upgrades to brakes mean replacing pads to a more aggressive compound. This usually means more dust and noise, since a more heat-resistant, “stronger” material means more sacrificial wear to the rotors and eventually, the pad itself, resulting in more frequent replacements.

The next level of upgrade is usually to also replace the stock rotors with slotted or cross-drilled disc rotors. Such opening slots allow worn dust and material to be “swept away,” and there are some additional cooling benefits to the increased surface area, but there are some drawbacks like the additional risk of warping or cracking under extreme duress.

The biggest upgrade is to replace the brake system with larger calipers, allowing the use of bigger pads and discs. Some larger calipers also mean there are more pistons which can put more consistent and firmer pressure on the pads, resulting in amazing stopping distances, repeatable over prolonged use. (Assuming the tires are not the weakest link.) Of course, model-specific brake upgrades can be wildly expensive.

Is it all really even necessary? It’s true stock brakes can more than handle slowing a car down quickly for normal day-to-day traffic. But repeated, quick, and harsh stoppages in extreme conditions as found on a racetrack or even on a long touge mountain run, the brakes “fade” and squeak in agony due to warping from heat and pressure, potentially leading to spongy, inconsistent braking feel, weaker pressures, or failure to stop.

It sounds strange to say brakes “fade” because they are still there. It actually just means brake pressures fade or weaken to the point of failing to stop as expected. Assuming the pads and discs are otherwise properly maintained, the most common fault of brake fade during spirited driving is fluid fade, the boiling of the brake fluid itself due to heat transfer. This increased heat in the fluid leads to air separation and loss of pressure. Typically, one can feel the fading gradually from a “spongy” brake pedal that requires more pressure than usual to slow the car.

The commonality of all modern brakes is this brake fluid. The standard OEM-supplied brake fluid is acceptable, but DOT4 or synthetic fluids allow much more heat transfer before the liquid reaches the boiling point, allowing consistent brake feel during aggressive use.

But I digress… it’s time to change the brakes on my Swift Sport!

[ Alto Works ] HKS Super Power Flow

Turbo cars can benefit greatly with a well-designed aftermarket air intake, as the stock intake can be, on some cars, a bit restrictive and can limit the additional amount of air necessary for high boost pressures. A higher flow filter, directed to draw air from cooler areas of the engine bay or directly from the front, can help improve power at higher RPMs.

However, there can be several drawbacks with aftermarket intakes, even the best designed ones. Noise is increased, unshielded filters can draw in hot air near the exhaust manifold, and exposed filters can draw in more debris or potentially water. Also importantly, engine tuning can be negatively affected, as the proper balance of air, fuel, and timing is absolutely critical.

Simply dropping in a cone filter does not necessarily improve performance. Many unknowing car owners pull out the stock intake piping, drop in a cone filter, and call it “good.” Stock intakes are designed a certain way for a reason; sometimes extra piping and large, empty Helmholtz chambers are needed and the location of air snorkels are well engineered. Moreover, the Mass Air Flow sensor is placed a certain distance away from the intake throttle body to properly measure air, but sadly, I’ve seen under enough hoods to realize not everyone knows this.

In California and some states in America, the replacement intake must also be certified CARB legal, so options are limited. In Japan, virtually any reasonable intake can be installed and still pass Japanese inspection. Knowing the potential drawbacks of installing an aftermarket intake, I figure the potential benefits still outweigh them and so all my cars have aftermarket intakes installed at the moment, all from highly reputable manufacturers.

Upon inspecting the original intake and filter, I found that it seems actually quite well designed as it is. The intake is piped in from just behind the right headlight, potentially drawing in plenty of fresh air, though sadly the intake piping is slightly small in diameter and has too many sharp bends, potentially decreasing airflow speed and pressure.

The filter design itself seems actually quite good, as the pleated filter offers plenty of surface area to draw air in. I contemplated keeping the original air box and simply altering the intake snorkel to improve airflow. Thankfully the previous owner of this Alto was gracious enough to include an uninstalled HKS Super Power Flow as part of the package, so I neither needed to buy an aftermarket part, nor modify my existing intake.

HKS filters have been criticized in some circles for being ineffectual or even poorly designed, as they say it can allow too much air particulates to enter the intake. Some famous Japanese tuners swear by them, though, and I’ve talked to a few owners who have put many miles (or should I say, kilometers) with the intakes and claim they work well.

Well, why not drop it in and see how it goes?

The mounts it came with were OEM and did not appear to be the mounts HKS originally included, according to their manual, so I had to use some aluminum brackets for a proper fit to avoid hitting the hood or other components in the engine bay.

While there is likely not a huge benefit for a stock-tuned engine, it might open up an ounce of HP if the engine can breathe more. The replacement HKS Super Power Flow intake sound is lovely, the sound of rushing air clearly audible in the cabin, even with windows up. These sounds, combined with the woosh of the recirculating valve, make the car sound lively around 3000 - 6000 RPM.

Along with this installation, I used a super thin .3mm aluminum sheet bent and shaped to block off extra radiant heat from the engine, hopefully encouraging cooler air to be drawn in from around the right headlight. (Although it looks like cardboard from some angles, the brown is actually just an adhesive backing sheet I opted not to remove at this time.)

This heat shield modification is only temporary until I redesign it with a thicker and larger aluminum sheet, which is already in progress. I would also like to use the dummy right inlet to the side of the headlight to potentially force more air directly into the air filter. Let’s see how that goes in the future...

Karuizawa Meeting 2017

I had a chance to attend the largest annual Mazda MX-5 Roadster meet in Japan on May 28. (Miatas to us Americans.) Nestled in the mountains of central Japan, Karuizawa is a small, fashionable, and beautiful city in Nagano Prefecture. Though centrally located, the small, local roads make it a slow drive to reach from Tokyo, Osaka, or Fukui, where I am from. Luckily, the weather was absolutely gorgeous that day and I had a wonderful time chasing down local Roadsters on a curvy mountain pass from my hotel.

Coming across the first lot, little convertible cars stretched as far as I could see. Briefly walking the first of the two visible lots, I was mesmerized by the sheer amount of varying combinations of colors, wheels, and kits. Most were tastefully adorned with a few select parts, like a beefy set of wheels, a roll bar, an aftermarket front bumper, and/or lowered to just the right usable height.

To an MX-5 fanatic, this was absolutely heaven. Nearly every car present was meticulously maintained,  despite the early NA6 Roadsters ticking at 27 years old. Here, one could find all generations with crazy conversion kits, rare parts, NB coupes, lovely stock examples, and everything in between.

For you Stance or Slammed fans, sadly, very few would have made you tingle. The blue one looks like it is rocking a Project-G bikini top.

Stopping halfway through the second lot, I was puzzled. How could this possibly be the largest MX-5 meet? While it was impressive, where were the booths of manufacturers, the demo cars, the free lunch I was promised? My stomach gurgled, sustained only on rice balls, water, and Monster.

Maybe it was the tiredness of driving so much the past day, but I was certainly not aware of the procession of people passing beyond the trees. And there it was. The main lot.

I had been wasting entirely way too much time on each individual car. It was already noon and I rushed straight to the dealer tents drawing the crowds.

ZOOM Engineering, Barchetta, and Jetstream had so much to offer. My heart raced as I wiped a bit of sweat from my brow. How much could my wallet handle? The cash and carry society made it impossible to overspend.

Here were some of the demo cars that certainly were excellent displays of the company offerings. Garage Vary's ND looks ready to attack the track or local mountain roads alike.

Also in attendance was the 1,000,000th Roadster made, an ND Roadster in Soul Red, adorned with signatures from its travels abroad.

One thing I noted, after walking the lots, was the distinct lack of engine swaps. (Of course, definitely not the V8 LS engines Americans often swap in.) Most of the open hoods had element filters and tower braces and were meticulously clean. Few others had ITBs or forced induction. Closed hoods had no hints of intercooling, so I could only assume the rest were similarly stock. Nonetheless, you could tell these owners appreciated taking care of their car and leaving it as the Mazda engineers had intended.

Some car clubs were out in full force. The two more notable groups were the Nara Gundan Roadsters were adorned with huge stickers and usually some strange theme.

Shin-kai went with full kits, gorgeously blended into the fenders. Absolutely stunning examples.

The love was evident all around. Plenty of homemade DIY modifications and customized parts if you look carefully enough.

See you guys this year. I’ll be there.

www.karuizawa-meeting.com

May 28, 2017