Sunday, February 08, 2009

Tokyo Auto Salon...Part 3

Part 3 of Tokyo Auto Salon and I'll finish up by posting some Booth photos! For me personally, I thought some of the biggest news of the year was the return of APEXi Japan after 5 years away. With the absence of some of the bigger tuners (HKS, Greddy etc) during these hard economic times, when I spotted the APEXi stand, it was hard to stop grinning. Good times are returning even during this 'recession'. It's like I said previously in my posts below, the Auto Salon 2009 had a feel or vibe like that of the past, it's like the scene is going back to what it was before, maybe back to its best? Time will tell of course, but good to see everyone staying positive, not giving up, and introducing and still developing products. After a long chat with APEXi it was clear to see they are determined to stick around, with new electronic parts, mufflers, suspension and even more in the pipeline, including a return to motorsport! Certainly is interesting news!
New selecton of APEXi exhaust products...including R35 GTR
All the classic electronics return alongisde the new products!
Bomex were there also with some very cool Demo cars..
Project Mu brakes booth was very busy as usual...
MiNES had a big display, especially of new GTR parts...
No Tokyo Auto Salon is complete without Top Secret is it?
Blitz had the bigger booth with ALOT of cars and products!
HKS Kansai were there to represent the HKS brand!
Ark had some very trick and impressive products to show..
This is just a small selecton of the many, many trade stands and Tuning Companies booths. Alongside all the show cars, live drift action, talk shows, interviews and the MANY racequeens, Tokyo Auto Salon is still a show to display and debut companies new tuning products for the future. Recession time has certainly changed the style and approach to tuning, but I can't help but think that its slowly turning into a good thing, and reaching out to people the way it did many years ago. Are we on the verge of another tuning BOOM over the next few years like in the 90's? We will see, it definetly was a 'smaller/clsoer' more 'down to earth' Show, but great in this way! Big thanks to Ed and Joe for working on the Press side, roll on next year!

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