Today, October 14, is Sports Day in Japan. It was created in 1966 to commemorate the opening of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, an event that set off a massive infrastructure program — bullet trains, expressways, satellite broadcasting — that helped spur auto manufacturing. Today, Sports Day is a general health and fitness reminder but we’re here to put our vehicular spin on it. From Honda Insights hypermiling to Hino Rangers charging through the desert, motorsports takes endless forms. Amateur gymkhanas can be just as thrilling as Formula 1.
What is your favorite form of motorsports, and what car would you compete in it with?
The most entertaining comment by next week will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “LED headlights, yea or nay?“.
Usually our readers are pretty aligned on questions about mods, but not in this case. In the “nay” camp, Kieron offered a flat-out no. TheJWT points out that people drove at night without LEDs decades ago, and still could today. From the perspective of a traffic flagger, エーイダン says modern lights are blinding (never mind how many people unknowingly leave them on the high position). Brakeservo pointed out that even if you can swap bulbs, like he tried on his 1948 Bentley, they might not be focused correctly and thus useless.
In the “yea” camp, Ian G. said upgrade was a great way to modernize a car as long as it doesn’t change the aesthetic. Lakdasa argued that LEDs are ok for a daily driven classic, but not for a restored show car. Fred Langille probably would have kept his 1939 Buick longer if he could’ve found an LED that looked proper on it.
daniel says it’s okay, as long as it’s reversible and thinks Holley might have a solution. However, Franxou found that the lens is flat, not convex, and would be willing to upgrade if he could find ones that look right. Negishi no Keibajo reckons that a color temperature of 2800K is about the limit. poblano wonders, shouldn’t a manufacturer have come up with something?
This week’s winner was Randy Hone who many have found the best option — just get a car with retractable headlights. While it might not be the perfect solution, at least the LEDs can only be seen when in use.
I have installed GE Nighthawk LEDs in my 1991 MR2 Turbo and love them. Being popups, they are only noticeable at night. Where they shine, making the road nice and bright. So, yes to LEDs.
Omedetou, your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop!
I contend that the most entertaining form of motorsport to watch, either in person or televised, is drifting. There’s never a dull moment, and you can always see 100% of the action taking place at any given time, unlike at a conventional circuit. The drivers are all super friendly, down to earth people, and unless you’re at a top level event, you can pretty much spectate from anywhere you want and walk freely through the paddock. Plus, at least in the case of D1, you have Manabu Suzuki’s frenetic commentary which is excellent whether you speak Japanese or not.
As for what I’d compete in- I’d be terrible regardless, so I’d just go for style and pick an old school, screaming NA AE86 like Katsuhiro Ueo’s old car
I dont like circuit racing much, I would say Rally would be my favourite type of motorsports. If you ask me why, I would say that you have to have balls of steel be adaptable to any situation as you are not in a controlled environment and you need to have some mechanical knowledge as well. So for the car makes me wonder what I would try out, should it be a Evolution or a Subaru or a Yaris or a Celica GT4? Difficult to pick from the lot, so I am inclined to go with the old group B era Celica Twin Cam Turbo (King of Africa) which would have been a quite a handful to drive. In another universe I can see Mr. Bunta Fujiwara driving it terrorizing the other participants all whilst his eyes are closed and smoking.
My favourite racing series generally goes back and forth with the level of competition and depth in the series, so in any given year it could be a different answer. But right now, it’s easily the World Endurance Championship. We haven’t seen a global sports car championship with this level of manufacturer interest and competitive depth since peak Group C in 1989, but that was really only at Le Mans. In 2024, between the common rules of IMSA and WEC, we now have 9 different brands in the top class of endurance racing, with a 10th coming in 2026. Ever since we had the GT race car mash-ups of Gran Turismo 1 and 2 in the late 1990s we’ve been dreaming of this, but it never happened. Until now. So, yeah, if I somehow were in my dreamworld and got to compete in a race series, right now, I’d want it to be in WEC, ideally with one of the Acura ARX-06s that are in IMSA only right now. They’re the only good car missing from WEC at the moment, and I’d love to live out my Gran Turismo fantasy with a pair of ARX-06s. I’d maybe even enter one in a Yellow Corn tribute paint job just for the hell of it.
I discovered a category of races that I would really like to try, with the added bonus of being a 24-hour endurance race and on the Sepang circuit in kei cars with various preparations. from the simplest to very prepared. the K Car Global 24 hour race
Australians definitely have their V8s but they also know how to have fun with simpler things. Thanks migthy car mods for making me discover something like this.
I’d love to go for something illogical, outdated and most of all weird!
We’re going to take an autech Zagato Stelvio and make it into a Group 5/kaido racer inspired gymkhana car!
It’s one of those cars that in spite of rarity, good mechanicals and pedigree never got the love it deserved.
And that’s to good reason as it’s styled like someone booked a love hotel for an Easter Island statue and an autobot…
But imagine those body fenders even boxier, a fat chin spoiler and longtail with very big wing that offers not much but shock value.
I think we’re on to something here, cherry taillights angled on the rear and a Nascar style boom tube down the side.
sure there’s loads of suspenion frame and other work to be done but i wont bore you with the details.
I’ll paint it a dirty grey and call it ‘project beluga’
another one for the spam filter, i think i’m doing something wrong here!
Got it!
Rally is my favorite motorsport. I wish coverage were better, but that’s not really part of the question. I think at its heart, rally is just more “real world” relevant – real roads in all types of weather & surfaces, and without the reassurance of safety runoff & tire barriers. If something breaks mid-stage, it’s up to driver/co-driver to fix it. So the drivers need to be skilled in many areas.
What would I drive?
Ideally –and by this I mean with his resources & connections– I would follow the lead of Toyota’s WRC team boss Jari-Matti Latvala and drive an st165 Celica GT-Four. At least, that’s my first instinct, considering I am a happy owner of an st165. It would be tough not to go with a Castrol liveried st185 Celica GT-Four though, as it’s iconic and brought the manufacturer’s trophy to Toyota.
But in reality, when I took my previous st165 to drive in an SCCA Rallycross event, I was scared I was going to break something…and that was 20 years ago. Parts have gotten much more scarce.
So in a slightly more realistic world, probably a blob-eye WRX in World Rally Blue, because Petter Solberg is my favorite all-time rally driver not named Carlos Sainz.
Honorable mention goes to endurance racing, because Le Mans.
I don’t have an exact favourite series, but through hours of playing older Forza titles I think that a GT3/2 series racer is the fastest thing any production-based car can be.
I also LOVE the 3rd gen RX-7 (no matter how overrated people might think it is) and I bet if Mazda made a GT2 version of it back in the 90s then the Porsches and Vipers would’ve had some serious competition. I mean, even in stock form the FD was considered one of the best-handling cars of all time.
And don’t forget the nostalgic white and green livery 🙂
My “wish Group S rally came to be and the all wheel drive RX7S prototype got to race” thought is also worth mentioning.