The first car she bought after getting her license was an RX-8

Ms. Rinka is now 24 years old. The first car she bought after getting her license was a Mazda RX-8. As a novice driver, it is quite an enthusiastic choice to suddenly choose a sports car as her first car. Why did she choose the RX-8? It was because of her unique circumstances as a car enthusiast.

Everything is an intuitive chance encounter

Ms. “Rinka” decided to purchase a Mazda RX-8 because of an encounter she had at a drifting competition at Mobara Circuit, which a friend took her to before she got her license. Many different drifting machines were running that day, but strangely enough, all the cars she pointed to were RX-8s, saying, “This is so cool.”

“Even though the aero parts installed were all different and the style was very different, I was naturally led to the RX-8 as a car that I liked,”

she said.

From there, She started looking for a used car even though she did not yet have a driver’s license. You can guess what happened next. She bought the car before she got her driver’s license, and it was delivered to her.

Also, perhaps by coincidence, Rinka, who had been indifferent to cars, did not know about the car her father was driving. However, when she looked at her father’s car again, she saw an emblem that made her wonder if they were the same make. When she asked his father about the name of the car, she found out that it was a Mazda FD3S “RX-7. Not only were they the same make, but she had purchased an RX-8, the last of the RX series, which was the same rotary engine car and its successor. This coincidental connection made her feel very happy.

After successfully obtaining her driver’s license, Rinka began driving the RX-8 around, using it to commute to work. At first, the car was completely stock, but she remembered seeing RX-8s in various styles at a drifting event. So, to change the styling to her liking, she once again did a lot of research and got into dressing up her car to change it little by little.

She aims for further evolution together with her trusted shop

The specifications of the RX-8 that Rinka has worked on now include a front bumper by LEG MOTOR SPORT, side steps by Mazdaspeed, a rear bumper by C-WEST, and a rear wing by a combination of aero parts from INGS. The rear wing is fitted with an INGS aero system. Also, the hood was replaced with FRP, but with the advice of a fellow rotary rider, a DIY hood that produces a unique pattern called “crash carbon,” which is not often seen in the custom world, was created. Of course, Rinka could not create it by herself, so she asked a friend who was an expert in customization to help her out.

As for the suspension, a special coilover kit is too expensive, so a down suspension kit for Toyota’s Altezza, which is available at a reasonable price and has enough down volume for a good look, was diverted and installed. The front and rear wheels are different brands, with Lowenzahn wheels on the front and Mahdi wheels on the rear. Both front and rear wheels are 18 inches in size.

The store where she asks for customization, tuning, and maintenance for her beloved RX-8 is “S2R/Ito Shokai” in Chiba Prefecture. Mr. Ito is a well-known figure in the rotary industry and is very knowledgeable. Rinka says she can trust him to take care of everything.

When we asked her about her future plans, she told us that she is planning to add more dress-up parts to her car to make it look like a crashed carbon fiber version, which is what he is most into right now. As expected, the entire body is impossible, so she told us that she would like to add more crash carbon to parts of the body.