Tatsuru Ichishima and his Philosophy

Hit the jump if you care to read the rest of what I have to say haha.

After having seen the video I just posted, I just had to dig up dirt on this man and show it to the world. Why? Because I think the way he looks at cars is exactly the same way I look at mine. Simplicity and detail over exaggeration and mishmash. Anyways what I found is this fairly recent interview with Speedhunters. I am not too eloquent so I’ll just quote him directly:

“I’m not saying that’s bad but for example shooting for 500 HP in a car that is not designed to take that level of performance will lead to failures. I think some Japanese people are different, they tend to focus more on the background and mechanical side of a car to fully understand its history and lineage.”

“As for the concept it was and still is very simple, make cars fun, not fast. Obviously slow cars are not fun but what I mean is to create a well-balanced package that doesn’t break or fail and thrills in every way. A good balance between power, handling and light weight. For example a GT-R is exciting because of its power but then in a corner, a small well prepared Civic will easily overtake it. So balance through tuning is our philosophy.”

Love the all around approach. It’s cool to be able to pump 800 hp out of a 2 liter, but it’s not all there is to building or racing a car. I would just like to see more well-balanced builds on magazines and videos. A lot of the time it’s either all show or ridiculously boosted motors that can’t get the power to the ground in any kind of appreciable way (I guess except a quarter mile). Anyways enough of my own ranting, good stuff Spoon Sports, hopefully you guys don’t go anywhere, at least until I have some money.
Here’s a picture of the Type R at the 25 Hours of Thunderhill endurance race.