Tokyo Auto Salon 2011

The Tokyo Auto Salon is so big it draws major-league displays by most  of Japan's major makers and fills the giant Makuhari Messe centre on  the outskirts of Japan's capital, even though it is now too big for  the mainstream Tokyo Motor Show.

The lineup at this year's event is down slightly, but there are still  361 participants with 640 vehicles to draw a crowd of 238,000 visitors just three days. Toyota sets the pace at this year's Tokyo Auto Salon with 17 models, led by the Gazoo Racing concept built on the tiny iQ and the Lexus ISF CCS-R, short for Circuit Club Sport Racer.

There is also the Toyota TES Concept T-Sports, a rear-wheel drive coupe voted as the most  popular concept by employees, sitting on the old MR-S mechanical  package. Not surprisingly, Nissan's GT-R gets the most attention from tuners. 

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At the Nissan stand, the sharp looking Nismo Racing Concept comes standard with a lightweight carbon body and rollcage, as well as  upgraded brakes and slicks. At least a dozen other specialist tuners tackle the GT-R, with the Blitz GT-R topping the power war with a ballistic 745 kiloWatts.

The Tommy Kaira GT-R, with jet fighter inspired aeroparts, also weighed in  heavy with around 595kW. Another car to come under Nissan's in-house microscope is the new  electric Leaf, which becomes the Aero Style Concept with drag-reducing  aerodynamic parts and wheels that effectively lengthen its range.

Across at Honda, the focus is on the CR-Z based TS-1X with more personality and the 20th anniversary NSX with matt-black paint and a swag of aero and racing parts. The CR-Z is the second-favourite tuner targer, with customizers like Top Secret boosting power to over 220kW.

One of the Salon's traditional favorites, the Subaru Impreza STI, came under special scrutiny this year, with a race-bred factory car prepared for the 24-hour race at the Nurburgring. "With a projected lap time of around 9 minutes 10 seconds, we are  confident that we can outclass the Audi TTs and the VW Sciroccos," says STI factory team director, Hideharu Tatsumi, at the car's unveiling.

Among the craziness at the Salon is the Nihon [Japan] Automobile  College booth, where students out-did themselves with the bright yellow "Wamerican" that sits on a Toyota Crown base and "Justice," a  left-hand drive concept inspired by the Batmobile using a Mitsubishi  Eclipse Spyder.

Long-time Salon participant RE Amemiya returned with a fully tweaked  450kW Mazda RX-7, while well-known tuner Veilside showed what happens when you tack a mock Bentley front end onto a Nissan GT-R R35. But the prize for the most outrageous body kit went to Value Progress for its Toyota MR-S based DragStar F1 Dragon concept.