Mine's Factory Visit
 

Hi everyone,

In the second part of my Japan visit, I made a stop at Mine’s Motorsports. I took a train from Tokyo and arrived 100 minutes later at the Misakiguchi station. Upon arrival, I was greeted by a Mine’s rep and was driven in a Nissan Fuga (it’s a domestic luxury model). The care was modded with some nice Sportec wheels and Brembo BBK. We drove for about 10 minutes and arrived at Yokosuka, the location of their office. It’s a nice town by the seaside and there is an American Military camp in this town hence a lot of Americans living in this area.

Upon arrival, I was introduced to the all the staff. There are only eight people working in this company. I was then taken on a tour of their facilities, from the general workshop, to the engine rebuilding room, the suspension testing room and etc. I was surprised to see that all Mine’s ESTA suspension are assembled and tested on site. The parts and components are purchased from Ohlins and not bought as a built-up unit.

The highlight of the visit was the opportunity given to me to take a ride and also test drive their brand new HR 350Z. The car is only lightly tuned – Mine’s Exhaust + Y-Pipe, Mine’s Drop In filter, Brembo 4-pot brakes, Mines Ohlins Esta coilovers, and Mines VX-ROM.

But performance was really outstanding. The engine pull was strong all the way to redline. It was definitely much stronger compared to my standard 2003 car. I never had a chance to drive a normal a 2007 HR model, so I don’t have bench mark to compare the Mines version versus a standard HR. The combination of the Mine’s Exhaust system, High Performance Filter and tuned ECU + VQ35HR model is significantly stronger than the VQ35DE in my experince.

The handling and braking were also significantly improved. We were driving at 120mph on a curving single lane road and suddenly came up on a slow car. The brakes were jammed, and the car slowed down at such a brutal force (After that experince, I'll be saving some money to invest in some Brembos). The ESTA suspension was really a huge improvement over stock. The car’s handling was extremely stable and allowed me to attack slow corners at higher speeds and high speed corners with more confidence.

It was an enjoyable visit, and looking forward to return again sometime in the near future.

Regards,

P.

Photos
 

Just some pics of my visit

Workshop photos
 

Some photos of the workshop and also the Mine's R34 which won the recent American Touge Battle at California

The car i drove
 

This was the demo car i drove

damn, thats sweet. howd you get the opportunity to do that?

damn nice! im so jealous

Very cool!

I made a request to take a ride as a passenger, they obliged and also offered me a chance to drive the car too.

very sweet....kind of surprised that their Z would not have their new '06+ lip

I like their philosophy when they tune their cars - high response.

+1. usable power is best!

i can't believe they have the new legacy already... that is one car i really rike.

wow very nice car you got to drive......i'm so moving to live in japan

and i'm gonna be an engineer for nissan

What are the wheels on that Z?

Mine's R34 is SICK!

damn, I like that spoiler. Looks clean

Looks like prodrive. Hey Ramses, how did you get the chance to have a visit? Called them up directly?

eiher that or he knew some shady ppl :icon10:

very nice, I wish I can have the chance to go to Japan

i wish i lived in Japan......:(

While you are in Japan, you may want to visit the factory where they build the Z's. It's in Tochigi. I went there about 2-3 years ago. I totally enjoyed the tour. It may take a bit of effort to arrange. It is one of their smaller plants. BTW, the Fuga is built on the same assembly line as the Z. It is sold in North America as the M.