So sorry everyone that it’s taken so long for me to get back to the dil’. As luck would have it, I got sick right before Japan as well as right after I got back. Kent says it’s an Aquarius thing, getting sick after coming back, but half the time when he says it’s an Aquarius thing I think he’s just f-ing with me.
In any case, Wednesday we woke up at the butt crack of dawn to drive (yes, drive) to Hamamatsu where the Enkei facilities are. Here’s a pic of Mt. Fuji from the Starbucks we stopped at.
Our first stop was to one of the smaller Enkei manufacturing plants where they mainly do aftermarket manufacturing. Unfortunately we couldn’t take photos inside the plant so there’s no eye candy for y’all. Just come with us next year if you wanna see it first hand. I’m not kidding either, we took a bunch of people with us this year.
Inside the plant we saw the famous MAT (Most Advanced Technology) manufacturing process. The wheels are first cast with extra material on the barrel. Then, while the wheel is heated over four flames, the barrel is then extended via a rolling process to form the correct width.
We also saw what goes into putting together and welding the 2-piece wheels. The processes are amazing in themselves, but also impressive is the amount of checks and quality control measures the plant employs. Wheels are checked for balance and barcodes scanned after each step all to ensure that should ANYTHING be wrong with the wheel, they’re able to trace it back to the exact date, step, time and staff member working on the wheel.
The next stop was to Enkei’s development center where they do the design work and even manufacturing of molds. Here’s the entry. Notice the AME, Lorinser and Advan wheels sitting around, all part of Enkei’s repertoire.
Here we see the magnesium wheel used in GT on the left and Enkei’s latest addition, the GTC, on the right. People were encouraged to pick up the mag wheel to see how light it was. The shoulder partially blocking my shot belongs to Jay from Sport Compact Car. Thanks Jay.
Here are two wheels Enkei produced for racing. Notice the insane width and features such as the centerlock lug.
Here’s some of the Enkei guys hard at work. In this room they do various things such as designing molds or doing impact testing on new designs.
Here’s a screenshot of the impact testing done on our very own Tracer FS-01. Enkei also does impact testing with tires digitally mounted on the wheel. It’s actually very important since impact is more likely to occur with tires on the wheel and the tires pressurized. Despite this fact, no other wheel manufacturer tests that way.
Here’s a schematic of a wheel mold.
Here we see someone running a simulation on the production process of a particular wheel. The entire production process is simulated by this software before the first piece is ever made.
Here’s one of Enkei’s many (and I mean, MANY) manufacturing areas. In this particular section they start the production process for wheel molds.
Amusing enough, Enkei also produces their own Bento. But here’s some real food for thought. Enkei is the world’s largest wheel manufacturer. Enkei is one of the few, if not the only, wheel manufacturer that is ISO certified. Enkei’s main nut is producing OEM wheels for makes such as Honda, Toyota, Mitsubishi, etc. Aftermarket is peanuts to Enkei, a hobby even. Enkei’s aftermarket segment produces not only Enkei and AME, but also Advan, Racing Hart, Lorinser, Brabus and more.
I can’t tell you how crazy the experience really was. I can’t convey how much there was to see, learn about, and be blown away by. But I can tell you this… There were a few Rays boxes sitting around the Enkei plant and when we asked about them, they told us that Rays asked Enkei to test their wheels for them.
Gives you a completely different perspective on things doesn’t it?
After lunch we headed back to Tokyo. For those of you who have seen the trailer for JDM Insider: The Kanto Tuners, you’ve seen this lil guy. Had to snap a pic. Coincidentally, that volume just came out recently. Grab one here.
On the smokey side of the table we have from left to right: Kent, Mark & Charles (Auto Salon Magazine in Australia), Masaki (their translator), and Yoesoef (Importer of Work & Rays in New Zealand and Australia).
On the clear side of the table we have from left to right: Kyoichiro (the NICEST cat in Japan), Hashiba (int’l manager for AME), Nakashima (managing director for Kyoho), moi, Jay Chen (engineering editor from Sport Compact Car), Mr. Rodeo-KING-Dave-Fujii, and Kent. Wait - wtf? Damn you Kent for getting in both pictures.
Several beers and a few shochu’s later, Kent and I went to Shibuya again to chill. Here’s Kent and I infront of a statue of this one dog that met his owner at the Shibuya station everyday. One day his owner has a heart attack and died while at work, so he never came home. The dog came back every day to the station to pick up his owner for the rest of it’s life.
Ended up chillin’ with Kent’s friend Yo at a bar in Shibuya. Be forewarned people, the rest of Tokyo Auto Salon is gonna come at ya quicker than ya think.