The announcement of the first Tokyo Xtreme Racer title in two decades dropped last week, just a few days before the anniversary of the Rainbow Bridge’s opening on August 26, 1993. Coincidence? Probably, but it does raise the question of what kind of car you’d take midnight blast around a Tokyo expressway teeming with hashiriya. You’d need something with excellent high-speed stability, quick steering response, and strong brakes in case a random Hino wanders into your lane. Which Wangan-tuned racer capable of taking down the Devil Z will you choose?
What’s your ultimate hashiriya build?
The most entertaining comment by next week will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What’s your favorite Japanese motorcycle?“.
We received plenty of excellent answers spanning the Big Four of Japanese bikemakers. Receiving the least number of votes was Kawasaki, with Oldschollio‘s 1972 H2 the sole representative for Team Green. Next up, Yamaha had its advocates in Chris from LMM with his Yamaha TW200 and Frank Cooper with his Yamaha RD350F.
Suzuki made a strong showing with james‘ Katana, Franxou‘s TU250X, and Lakdasa‘s Hayabusa. However, Honda is still king when it comes to bikes, with the most models nominated, from Fred Langille‘s Honda 50 Super Cub to StreetSpirit‘s Spacy/Elite to Land Ark‘s Honda CBR600RR, from JJ‘s 1984 XR200 to Alan‘s Honda NR750. Hondas encompassed all types of two-wheelers from basic transportation to cutting-edge race bikes.
An honorable mention goes to Bryan Kitsune‘s selection of Kaneda’s bike from the seminal anime Akira. In the end, last week’s winner was TheJWT, who pleaded an impassioned case for the Suzuki GSX-R750:
Finally, a question that’s up my alley, and a very easy answer- my 1996 Suzuki GSX-R750 in classic Suzuki blue/white, which is currently sitting as a bare frame and engine in my garage.
Not my utterly fantastic 2023 Kawasaki ZX-4RR which embarrasses bikes with twice the HP at the track with its screaming 400cc-4 cylinder, nor my gorgeous 1983 Honda CB1100F restomod with more work done to it than I can list here, but my piece of junk, leaky Suzuki that hasn’t run in over a year.
In fact, in the time I’ve owned my Suzuki, many “better” bikes have come and gone through my garage- a mint, low mile, all-original Honda RC51 SP2, a vintage Yamaha RD400 race bike, a 90’s FZR600 which I completely rebuilt during the early days of Covid, and a very sensible and logical CBR300R. I sold all of those, but the Suzuki remains.
Why? Because it was my dream bike as a kid, and I’ll never get rid of it. I’d sell all the other bikes I own, my Toyota Crown, and my daily driver Civic before I’d ever even consider selling the GSX-R.
Omedetou, your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop!
The Red modified NSX from the arcade game “Midnight Run”.
Don’t know the specs. of the car but it would be my #1 Wangan car…
I had NO idea what hashirya was until I looked it up … aha! The drift cars well, I think I can answer this one … after seeing Fast And Furious – Tokyo Drift, with all of its drift machines, it appeared to me that the one they put together from the Mustang fastback and the car(a Skyline, I think) that the kid wrecked trying to drift in a high rise garage would have been something else. Talk about a sleeper … with its AWD and DOHC 6, it would surprise those on the highway big time. If I had the time/cash, I’d try it myself but, all I can do is wonder what happened to it AFTER the movie. An classmate of mine in a film master class was one of the stunt drivers in the movie … I should have asked him how that car drove. (He actually drove Han’s car through the Ginza). But I didn’t, sigh ….!
exotic, 6 cylinders, 3 carburetors, with racing pedigree, unknown to the general public (I would even say forgotten) of Japan, so rare that they would not know what they were listening to, like a demon coming to kill them or what kind of car overtook them. .. IKA TORINO 380W NURBURGRING SPEC
I am not really into being on a team, so I’d be a Daybreak Wanderer since I have to get up so early anyway. The easy answer for what car would be an R34 or the Devil Z. But, if this is going to be my lifestyle, I would want to be comfortable. So, if you have a luxury car without a modified exhaust (loud exhausts are annoying), you’d be able to find me on the Ariake left Shinkanjo straightaway in a red Aristo with Kyoto plates that say BLEUSPD, matching red neons, 3 massive turbos, and wearing Volk GT-U (3)19″ mesh wheels only on Tuesdays.
Of course, in SS Limited came calling, I’d be willing to help them out and teach them some driving secrets. Sedan drivers need to stick together after all.
I’ve spent the last seven years turning my 1994 Toyota Mark II Tourer V into my perfect 90’s hashiriya build. Period-correct Hipposleek aero, Panasport G7 C5C2 wheels, and a big hi-mount turbo conversion along with a lot of other bits and pieces. It only makes 430hp at the wheels so it wouldn’t hold a candle to a lot of the wilder cars back then but at least it looks the part!
Well, I believe the term hashiriya pretty much means “street racer”. This would mean several different racing environments which would call for different cars/setups. Which means that there’s no one ultimate hashiriya setup. A Wangan monster wouldn’t work as well running in a Touge race. Similarly, a drift missile might not be the best choice for a street drag (however rare those may or may not have been back in the day).
Anywho…let’s see what the old think tank can dream up real quick.
I’m thinking and A70 Supra with aero to make it hug the pavement a little better. Painted in violet purple metallic with gold metallic piping along the body lines, twin turbos, lightened flywheel and pulleys. More than likely a bore over kit with cams. 300+ mm rear tires for grip, 275-ish mm fronts. 6 piston brakes up front, 4 pistons out back. For suspension, I’ll be honest, I’m thinking replacing the springs with airbags due to their really progressive rate. Polyurethane bushings and mounts to try and tighten up the suspension a smidgen more. For wheels I was thinking of going with Enkei 92’s or the classic Hayashis.
I used to work at an arcade that had two Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 2 games next to each other. On slow days, I’d load up the machines with free employee credits and use my ID card to load my tuned up TT Z32. It had around 800 HP at its max upgrades. I had plenty of high scores and times on multiple maps. I’d do crazy things to be able to drive that car in real life, I have always loved the look of the Z32 300zx and love seeing the things people do to them. I still have the ID card to this day!
FD RX-7, single turbo, c.500hp, stock 17″ wheels with factory big brakes and CL brake pads, probably Ohlins dampers.
The FD is very faithful and responsive at speed, and tucks in nicely if you find yourself needing to turn slightly tighter than you’d anticipated. It’s small and light so makes speed easily.
Oh boy, not another one of these “dream builds” QotW! There are a few builds, but I’ll try and keep them relatively short.
1995 Honda Civic Si, in MIlano Red. Swap in a B18C motor with a Type-R transmission that comes with the LSD. Koni Yellows with Eibach Race springs, adjustable top hats, Cusco strut bar. I am still a fan of the single “pillar” headrest style on these cars, but I’ll have a BRIDE Brix as the driver’s seat. Spoon Sports carbon fiber hood, carbon duckbill spoiler, and 5×114 SW388 in 15×8 that barely fit into the wheel wheels, and 225/45 Bridgestone Potenza RE-71RS to wrap around. Brakes from an NSX swapped over to contrast the black wheels. Spoon Sports headers going into a high-flow cat, and then a GReddy Supreme catback exhaust out back. Alpine UTE-73BT media player in the single DIN connected to Infinity Kappas all around.
1994 Skyline GT-R V-SpecII, white, with black NISMO LMGT4 wheels with Dunlop Direzza III, and 6-piston Brembos up front, two pistons each on the rears. HKS mushroom intakes, shiny HKS Super Drager exhaust, upgraded turbos from the R34 GT-R married to an N1 engine. Lower it on Ohlins suspension, Keep that simple steering wheel, but swap in R34 GT-R seats. Top of the line Alpine double DIN with a nice set of Infinity Kappa speakers.
Finally (and I know I won’t win any races with this one) 2006 Infiniti G35 6MT sedan in Twilight Blue and OEM aero kit. Make sure this engine is not the earlier oil burning variants. Full NISMO intake, NISMO exhaust NISMO S-tune suspension, 18×9 Volk Racing TE37 in silver, and 255width Continental ExtremeContaact DWS06. G35 coupe Brembos up front. Put in a melon air freshener inside, upgrade the deck to a modern Alpine double DIN,
QOTW seems to be dead set on making me name the 3000-gt/GTO as my be-all end-all answer…
Must…resist…the…urge….
Let’s go, get me a Charger Daytona!
I wanna go all out, let’s give it a fat front air dam and a set of deep deep august feroce wheels.
Two big round lights in the air dam so I can see what’s ahead of me.
Will I be the fastest, surely not but imagine a late summers night with the sunrise incoming, empty roads save for a few nighthawks and earliest of early risers off to work. You’re cruising along in your r33 GT-R looking for some action, hoping to put the moves on a Porsche 930 or an Italian stallion of sorts and a thunderous roar sounds from the distance as a giant orange machine looking somewhere between a spaceship and a powerboat in freefall as closes in on you, as it comes side by side the vibrations and rattles begin to drone into your cockpit.
As you take off the orange giant lags behind as it takes a while to accept your invitation.
It downshifts, flames burst from the boom tubes on the side and in a barely controlled outburst it shoots by, the air feels heavy, humid and the droning exhaust sounds like a drum, what madman could be piloting this relic throwing all logic out the window. Your GT-R catches up quickly and the tribal Daytona slowly but surely disappears into your rear view mirror, a quick glance reveals a bearded long haired driver, wide hands folded over the steering wheel grinning and putting up one of them in a friendly greeting. An Oni, a caveman? No you’ve been visited by the Street Spirit!
oh no, i’ve fallen through the spam filters again!
Got it!
Pearl white 1978 Pontiac Firebird Trans AM with a twin-turbo setup. The original 6.6-litre engine block would be used to maintain some semblance of the original car. Everything else on the engine be sourced from a tuning house like HKS or Cosworth. Brembo brakes front and rear, BBS RS lace wheels. Roll cage on the interior and a host of controls, such as electronic turbo controls to alter the boost provided or to switch off one of the turbos if desired. No need for passenger capacity, as passengers would be too inclined to scream….. so fill the void with a Nos bottle and roll cage. Swap out the original transmission in favour of a Borg-warner T5 (the one used in the Ford Sierra Cosworth, among others) and last but not least, racing seat with harness…..because why not?