This is the Garage Mak S13. If you haven't heard of Japan's Garage Mak before, you certainly will again. Not only does Garage Mak offer repair, shaken (safety inspection), light body work, installation, and dyno tuning services, it also has an entire catalog of molded aero and exhaust manifolds. Garage Mak is one of the few tuners that leave people in awe. Tatsuhiro Miyagawa started this operation in 1996, when he was just 22 years old. Ponder on that a moment. Most car geeks spend their 20s developing their skills and open shop in their 30s.
The aero stuff looks mass-produced, the manifolds seem welded by robots. But you'll be shocked to learn that all the precision of Mak products is achieved by hand. Kazunori Miyagawa, brother (and part-owner of Garage Mak) explains that they are a certified TEIN master shop, a Blitz R-Fit Meister shop, and an official Reytec Tomei supplier.
In 1997, amid the Silvia tuning craze, they took third at Option II's 'World's Best Silvia' challenge at Maze circuit. Following the drift craze of 2004 to '06, they attempted the D1 circus, but placing only 16th made them long for the glory of time attack. In 2006, they took an S15 to second place in the street class at the Rev Speed time attack at Tsukuba. Keep in mind that, along with these pursuits, the Miyagawa boys still ran a growing business (the current 10,000 square foot facility is their third).
Second place in time attack is nice, but Miyagawa was green-eyed for more speed in a faster class. He had spent 2005 building a street-tire class time attack S15. The result was a sprint around Tsukuba in a minute flat. Although impressive, the stage was set for a bigger challenge. He stripped the car of some usable parts, and another reincarnation of one of their shop S13s was underway.
The renewed attempt is the open-class entry you see here. As yet untested, Miyagawa's mettle will be on the line come winter of 2007 at Tsukuba and Fuji. At first glance, the light pearl beast grabs you with all the subtlety of a Richard Simmons infomercial. The one-off Mak-original Type II front air dam is ugly and the rear wing more befitting of an HIN show car.
But their purpose is downforce, not aesthetics. Starting from the outside, Mak's own S13.5 conversion bumper, hood and fenders are paired with the above-mentioned air dam and canards. Visible through its ports are a GReddy 10-row oil cooler, and aluminum tunneling leading to a 35-degree mounted radiator and intercooler, also by GReddy. Starboard aero-grade rivets frame Mak's one-off FRP flared fenders. They accommodate Work Emotion CR wheels with a deep +12mm offset: 17x9 fronts and 18x9.5 rears, sporting 245/40R17 and 275/35/18 Goodyear Rev-Specs, respectively. Track duty will bring on Advan A048s of similar size. Fifteen-millimeter rear spacers help prevent oversteer. Garage Mak side skirts keep under-car turbulence to a minimum, while a Mak adjustable wing draws attention from their own rear diffuser. Made of dry carbon, it would easily go unnoticed but for the lacquered tubular dive planes on either side.
The lightweight door skins are made entirely from FRP. All glass but the front screen is Lexan and, peering through the wavy plastic, you'll discover something: not only is the car stitch-welded, but the body seams are riveted too.
Perfection is a relative term when you're on the up. To the Miyagawas, it's spending where it counts-a balance of skill, frugality, and splurge. That is, a blend of fabrication, off-the-shelf parts, and buying high-dollar parts as needed. Case in point: the doors. Anybody who's ever installed door speakers in an older car knows its panels are generally lighter. S13 panels are paired with an S15 dash, furthering the 'it's ugly, but it works' theme.
Following closely behind the Mak monster through Nagano, the drive to the photo shoot location is an ear-splitting cacophony, even with the windows up. Every upshift is greeted by an audible and violent smack. The red anodized inlay atop the white nylon shift knob of the high-mounted shifter confirms our speculation: HKS Sequential. The shift indicator in the center of the dash is something more often seen in WRC. Like platinum-teethed rap stars, Blitz DC gauges adorn the dash with boost levels, water, oil, and exhaust temps. An A'PEXi Power FC commander unit and its adjacent display are the brains behind the brawn. Boost control is by GReddy. An Auto Meter fuel gauge implies fuel cell, while a Neko A/F F700 keeps tabs on stoich.