Based out of Kibichuo in the mountains of Okayama Prefecture, Flat Out is an all-around tuning shop that will work on anything from a big horsepower GT-R to an off-road Jimny. They’re also only 40 minutes from Bihoku Highland Circuit so drifters make up a part of their customer base.

As I mentioned in a previous post, a soukoukai is basically a practice meeting. Flat-Out hosts these every year, and I’m assuming they usually do it at Bihoku since it’s so close. This one in particular happened in 2008. If I recall correctly, they ended the day with a friendly drift competition, but I only took a handful of pictures in the pits.

180SX and S15 Silvia from SA/R. They’re both supported by H.D.O. (Hydraulic Drift Oldies), a famous drift shop based out of Fukuyama. That’s my black 180SX sitting in the back.

A better shot of the 180SX. No graphics on this side. I’m not the best at identifying aero, but I’m fairly sure this is BN-Sports. You’ll notice the D1 Street Legal sticker on the hood. It didn’t run D1SL, but rather the D1SL Regional series, which is essentially a feeder for D1SL that any driver can enter.

Seek Speed S13. A very basic car that always worked. A little more power with a boost-up T28, coilovers, 2-way LSD and clutch. You’ll be a better driver and get there faster if you start with a basic car like this.

A very pretty JZX90 Mark-II from Okayama. It’s hard to argue with black and Meister S1s. The X90 and X100 chassis were no where near as popular then as they are now.

4-doors and black just go together so well. This C33 spent the day in the pits and never made it out on the track. I guess that’s why it’s still so clean…

The JZX90 and this JZZ30 Soarer did get out on the track though. I’ve always been a big Soarer fan. Its’ so easy to make them look really good. Aero, low, wheels, done. All three of the cars above were from a shop called Lowered.

Auto Craft FC3S RX-7. I’ve always loved FCs, but I’ve never owned one myself. As you probably guessed, this one wasn’t drifting, but gripping B-Course. You may have noticed it’s running “MB Battle” wheels. They’re actually CST Zero-1 Hypers. The same Chinese wheel, but sold by different companies.

Not the greatest picture, but I thought the interior was cool. Pretty typical for the time. Carpet pulled, bolt-in cage and gauges and doo-dads everywhere.

I prefer simple engine rooms so this thing stressed me out. You may have noticed it’s running nitrous, which was very rare in Japan. I forget what turbo it was running, but probably a Trust 20 or 25G. Either way, it was fast.

A clean S14 with BN Sports aero. Another basic setup with a boost-up T28, clutch and LSD. It also had a bolt-in cage, which was pretty common. Full weld-in cages were few and far between.

This S14 spent plenty of time on track, but it was gripping, not drifting. I thought the Supermade front bumper looked pretty good.

If you don’t like low, black R34 4-doors, do the world a favor and walk off the nearest cliff. Another car that spent all day in the pits.

St. Rowdy is another tuning shop in Okayama that does a variety of work including building crazy drag cars. This A31 isn’t around anymore and was replaced with a yellow C33.

The RB20 is gone in favor of an RB25. This was the first RB25 that I had seen running the RB26 6-throttle setup. Also, that’s a tiny-ass downpipe…

Another FC RX-7, but this one was there to drift. Uras aero looks great and I’m torn between this and Sexy Style. This one was owned by a Mazda technician.

Yakushiji Masahiro’s S14 Silvia. An NK-Company supported driver, his S14 ran K’s FRP Factory aero and he competed in everything from D1SL to MSC. Also, chrome Zero-1 Hypers are SOOOOOOOO good.

Not quite “basic”, but nothing crazy under the hood. Stock motor, cams, A’PEXi turbo, ekimani, intercooler, clutch, etc.. Yakushiji is actually a Nissan technician and very good at diagnosing any issue at the track.

And that wraps this post up. The pictures aren’t the best and there’s no on-track shots, but I know some of you guys like seeing these old events so I’ll keep on posting them.