The 2005 Tokyo Auto Salon is the premier show of Japan. Many of the best Japanese manufacturers showcase their latest and greatest car creations and parts at this annual show. When Bergenholtz Racing was invited by Nitto Tires to attend this event we were simply excited. We had never been to the Tokyo Auto Salon, let alone to Japan period.
We knew it was going to be quite an experience. We were expecting a Las Vegas, SEMA-like show atmosphere but with a Japanese flavor. Our expectations for the Japanese craziness we expected mainly came from Turbo magazine's coverage of the events over the years.
We knew we were in for a heavy dose of Japanese culture from the moment we saw the plane. It was covered with giant Pokemon figures. In essence we flew to Japan in a Pokemon plane. From that point on we knew the TAS was going to be real crazy as far as styling and construction of the vehicles.
The show encompassed three different rooms, totalling about half the size of the SEMA show. The overall feel and appearance of the show was different than SEMA in many ways. The first difference we noticed was the booths. Booths at SEMA have the typical dressed up cars, performance parts, as well as a few models. At TAS the booths had all that too, plus entertainment. The shows really woke up the booth and made it exciting.
Types of entertainment used to introduce cars and/or products ranged from dance skits to singing and even comedy skits. A cool part was the signs next to the stage showing when the next entertainment segment began. We eagerly went from booth to booth looking to see when the next show was.
This was a key difference that stood out about the 2005 Tokyo Auto Salon. The entertainment was dope. Our favorite show out of the ones we saw was "The Stomp Show" at the Falken booth. It was similar to the show here in the U.S. where dancers take trash can covers, trash cans, and sticks use them as instruments. That was the best show.
What other import performance show has tuner cars, performance products, JDM models everywhere AND entertainment all in the same booth? It was like going to Vegas and walking down the Strip and getting a free show at every casino. The isles at TAS were the Las Vegas Strip! Roughly 20 percent of all the booths at the show had some form of entertainment.
In addition to the entertainment offerings at TAS, the styling of some cars was just completely crazy. Like the Pokemon plane, the Japanese build some really outlandish vehicles. For example, we saw what we think was once a PT Cruiser and added humongous swooping wheel well flares and two extra wheels at the front. There were a few cars constructed with this kind of style.
In the United States, we see a lot of body transformations but the Japanese have taken it a step further by using styling cues from the 1940's. We were not overly impressed with these cars but impressed nonetheless at how well they were constructed.
Not only were the cars crazy, some products on display were equally crazy. One product that stood out was the Wheel of Fortune wheel. Just imagine the "Wheel of Fortune" wheel without the numbers and put it on a car. A brand new G35 sedan was outfitted with these wheels.
Most of the cars at TAS had a certain "The Fast and the Furious" appeal to them. A lot of tuner cars had lots of graphics. It's as though the U.S. and Japan are in a paradox. Many in the U.S. are taking styling cues from Japan, particularly the JDM theme. The opposite is true in Japan. It seems the Japanese follow a style that was popular in the States two to three years ago.
Not many cars really impressed us at TAS. At SEMA there are plenty of vehicles with lots of good fabrication and a lot of high horsepower engines. These aspects were not quite as abundant at TAS. There were only four cars that really caught our attention.
The first was the debut of the Mazdaspeed 6 AWD Turbo model due out in the summer of '05. This car was a highlight of the show considering the vehicle was turbocharged, intercooled, AWD, and has direct injection. The direct injection alone is an incredible engineering feat. We were very impressed with this feature of the engine. Considering, the market is full of WRXs and Evos this would be a great car to mix things up with.
In addition to the Mazdaspeed 6, it was really cool to see Abel Ibarra's RX-8 in Japan. A piece of American flavor on Japanese soil. Abel's car received a lot of oohs and ahhhs when attendees got a look at the engine bay. We felt a sense of pride when we saw how impressed the Japanese were with the workmanship of an American-built car like Abel's.
The Acura RL, showcased in the Mugen booth was ultra trick. Mugen put one of their eight-cylinder Le Mans engines into the new RL. The hood was outfitted with a Le Mans-style scoop to feed fresh air into the individual throttle bodies. It was quite a sight to behold.
They shoehorned a Le Mans engine into a street car. That's like putting the four rotor Le Mans engine out of the Renown car into a Mazda 6 street car. It was insane.
The other vehicle that caught our eye was the blue 240Z in the Options booth. It had a V8 engine from a Q45 shoehorned into it. For even more power they added twin turbos. The install was immaculate and intriguing. We can only imagine what it would be like to drive that car or even just be a passenger. Turbo's and V8 in such a light car is one hell of a crazy ride!