Here’s a project we’ve been excited about for a while now…

Yes, that is an Amuse exhaust and a Zele kit among the more obvious great mods!

Check out Bill’s blog for a full mod list and authentic JDM aplenty: http://jdmphasis.blogspot.com/

Parts by Bulletproof
Install and photos by Kaizen Tuning

Here are some recent pictures of the MY11 model year Mines R35 GT-R sporting the latest Rays wheels – G12 in 20×10 and 20×12. Featured is a new size (12″ wide!) and a new special finish.

After seeing these pictures we just bought up a bunch of inventory for these new Rays limited edition color/finish used on the GT-R. We will keep good stock of them for all the GT-R guys out there.

The pictures are in high resolution so feel free to click on them to get wallpaper size!

If I’m honest with myself I’d have to say that TAS was a disappointment for me this year. The hybrid cars seemed to be the “hottest” sector of the show and as has been stated previously on this blog, the change in the scene is a little difficult to digest. Even the mighty GT-R which has single-handedly brought so many companies into our segment of the aftermarket didn’t quite have the breakthrough products I was expecting.

What’s an enthusiast to do? Looking to the past for platforms and inspiration as Ben mentioned is certainly one way. While I certainly appreciate the cars of the past I’m starting to think that another approach might be looking outside of Japan for platforms. For the first time in a long while, America is making world-class cars and Japan seems to be falling behind the curve and into disrepute (Toyota recalls anyone?). Even Korea is getting in on building cars with genuine potential for mods.

One car that has long had JDM support is the Corvette. The appeal of a V8 powered sports car wrapped in an attractive fiberglass body has been appreciated around the world. West Corvette has been working with these American machines since 1982 and they offer many nice upgrades including TE-37s in both aluminum and magnesium, awesome brakes and brake hats and of course their own long tube headers and exhaust. With the recent release of the ZR-1, you could produce quite a monster. They even have parts for the C4 which is typically unloved.

Even the C6 platform is admittedly a bit dated so what about the future? Well, I’m looking at the new Ford Fiesta. This car is everything we used to love about the little cars from Japan, it just happens to be made by Ford. Am I the only one imagining this car with a Cosworth motor in white with carbon accents?

There are many other potential gems including the Pontiac G8, Cadillac CTS-V and even the new Mustang. As much as we used to hate on these brands, they sat up and took notice. Their lineups are still a bit spotty but the potential is undeniably still there.

The Volk VR.G2 was released earlier this year as an updated successor to the TE37. Paired up against the TE37, it has huge expectations to fill which it has yet to do.

The guys over at SP Engineering ordered a set, not for a GT-R or anything JDM for that matter, but for a Lambo Gallardo Superleggera. This is the first set in Lambo specifications, 20×9 in the front and 20×11 in the rear.

I was really surprised at how good the G2 fits the Superleggera. The car looks simply stunning. It is a perfect choice not only cosmetically, but also in the performance category. The G2 is a one piece forged monoblock design that is both incredibly light and strong. The 20×11 G2 only weights in at 25.8 lbs which follows the “super light” Superleggera theme. The car is matched with a set of Swift springs to create the perfect package in helping the car put down the 600+whp courtesy of the twin turbo upgrade from Heffner Performance.

Hopefully, this example is just the beginning of a trend. I want to see JDM wheels on more non-Japanese cars. It will create an interesting combination that is both visually amazing and performance oriented.

For more info and pictures, click here.

EDIT FROM BEN – This car is indeed incredible with that color combo and wheel package! Bulletproof is also selling these Lambo fitment Volk wheels for anyone interested! The second I saw these G2s on a Lambo I had to get into the game and get supply on these!

When Mana-P and I collaborated on the design of this car’s graphics nearly a year ago, I really wondered what Top Secret Gold Te37s would look like on there. The color combination of gold and chrome foil always matched perfectly for some Top Secret gold rims. Unfortunately Volk did not have any GT-R wheels that I wanted to rock at SEMA 2008 so we ran BBS LM’s instead and the rest is history…or is it? With this GT-R going back to New Jersey where it’s home ultimately will be, we sent it back to its home in style with a set of ultra exclusive Top Secret TE37 wheels in 19″ for alternative use (BBSs will still be the daily rims).

The Top Secret rims looks as amazing on the car as I expected, but I was left wondering just how much better they’d look if there were a proper size for the GT-R (all 19″s look a bit small on the massive GT-R). So what you’re seeing in the introduction picture is a quick photoshop to bump the rim sizes up to something more appropriate for the GT-R. If only Top Secret could convince Volk to make these in a size this large…

The following pictures are the actual size of the rims on the car (still looks hot to me, but 19″s will always look a little small on the R35). The car was set for “transportation” height so it was a little 4×4 style since that day we loaded it into a transport rig to send it home. Because we’re running the Top Secret suspension with cup kit, we can set the car lower ultimately and the height can always be lifted with the touch of the remote control.

I’ll be out in NY and NJ next week with the car as we enter into the next round of tuning out there. More is still to come, believe it or not. I’m happy that we sent the Purple R35 from SEMA back to Hawaii last year and finally this car goes back to the east coast. Having GT-Rs that we’re proud to have created on each end of the country is very satisfying to us all over here!

I wonder what the next project will be…we’re always taking client requests to do custom builds so we’ll see soon perhaps.

I thought I’d make a post on some cars you’d never expect to see rocking Volk wheels. Thanks to Phillip at Mackin, I have a few pictures to show.

Without a doubt Rays makes some highly functional wheels, but due to marketing and image its unfortunate that often they dont get much play on non Japanese cars. In recent years we’re seeing more of them on BMWs, Porsches and other German cars thanks to Rays international marketing, but still it is relatively rare to see some of our favorite Japanese rims on a wider range of rides. The Ford GT above is a great use of the lightweight 1pc forged RE30 wheels and I’m sure it was a great upgrade for that car.

Here’s a picture I took in Japan 10 years ago of a Japanese market Camaro Z28 with Te37s. This car was my own personal introduction to this topic. Sorry for the low res pic, thats how they made digital cameras back then!

That JDM Camaro was up on game, check the Brembo BBK hiding behind those TE37s. I’m sure this was a super tough car for the late 1990s in Japan.

One more car for this topic: Te37s on a BMW X5. This is something I never thought I’d see.