50 Years Strong - HKS Honors the Past and Present at SEMA 2023
Record-breaking R33 GT-R joins a GR Corolla and widebody Nissan Z for HKS' golden anniversary.
After making its official return to the states, HKS USA established a foothold at SEMA in 2018 with a moderate sized booth that housed a few new products and an FK8 Civic Type R. Since then, the legendary tuning firm that celebrates its 50th anniversary this year has grown their footprint at the annual industry show and displayed a trio of livery matched cars last week.
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The World Beater
One of those vehicles was the iconic T-002; a 1995 R33 GT-R HKS purchased brand new by the company and immediately torn down for product development. It would go on to be used as a record-chaser and conqueror starting with a sub-minute lap (58.714) at Tsukuba Circuit in 1995, followed by an attempt at a 20 second 0-300km/h run at Yatabe High Speed Course, which they overshot substantially with a blistering 17.64 second finish. For the sake of comparison, a modern McLaren Senna does that sprint faster, but only by a slim margin at 17.5.
After its parts development role and records established, the R33 sat for years until 2019, when HKS restored the car and put it on display at the Tokyo Auto Salon. It carried the same look from its past and served its role on the big stage and was then sent to auction where an American buyer and collector (@lowballergtr) was lucky enough to purchase it and he was nice enough to hand it back to HKS to display at SEMA this year.
Before the car was shipped to its new home in America, HKS Japan performed a complete engine and drivetrain overhaul, including their Step 2 Complete Engine program that completely reworks the iconic RB26DETT and brings displacement up to 2.8L. Its forged bottom end, high volume oil pump, high angle cams, headwork, and valvetrain help produce 600whp on low boost and 750whp turned up, under control of the latest version of their FCON system. That's done with a single HKS GT35R as compared to the engine set up in the 1990s that used a pair of smaller turbos. Just to note, this particular RB is the very first of the high-powered engine program offered by the tuner.
HKS' livery accompanies the car's exterior with Craft Square carbon fiber mirrors and carbon fiber block off plates mounted to cover ducts on each end of the front lip. Like all HKS creations, Yokohama Wheels' Advans, in this case concave GT, are fitted and perfectly flow with the all-business icon turned collectible.
The Legacy
Right in front of the R33 was HKS' Nissan Z RZ450 Concept. The widebody kit seems remarkably toned down when compared to the current crop of widened aero that adorns just about every make and model these days. Subtle "bump out" rear quarter additions aren't joined by a huge wing but instead, a mild carbon fiber hatch-top extension.
Front bumper side additions complete with canards and lip-mounted winglets lead into wider front fenders that terminate with pressure relief cuts just behind the front wheel, which are highlighted with carbon fiber stanchions. Those uprights are connected to curvy side skirts that serve as the most obvious clue as to the width of the kit, as much of the angular drama is hidden by the car's matte black finish. Like the other two demo cars, the wheel choice is stellar with Advan's R6 chosen for the new Z concept.
A very nice HKS billet and carbon fiber shock tower bar sits above their carbon engine cover that matches their radiator cover, flanked by a pair of Super SSQV blow-off valves. The exhaust used appears to be their newly released Dual Hi-Power system with titanium tips and is comprised of two separate main muffler canisters that exit through the factory bumper openings and two more mini mufflers that branch off the exhaust tubing right before the canisters. Similar to a Helmholtz resonator, the smaller mufflers have down-turned exits that sit just below and behind the license plate. They can be capped off for a quieter sound or uncorked for full power and sound, which based on this clipis amazing.
The Hottest Hatch
We expected to see a larger number of GR Corollas at SEMA this year given its fanfare upon introduction, but there were only a handful on display. One of them sat in the HKS booth and serves as their development vehicle. Like most HKS projects, the intake and exhaust system are first to receive attention and we spotted a pair of blue tinged exhaust finishers within the factory rear diffuser.
Under the hood, a familiar mushroom-shaped Super Power air filter sat within a carbon fiber heat shield and was attached to a carbon fiber arm. Additional carbon could be seen in the form of an engine cover with an HKS badge attached, which partially covered their signature blow-off valve.
Gunmetallic Advan TC-4 fill the luscious factory fenders with Endless brake calipers right behind. The HKS livery sits over its matte black finish that carries onto a GRC Circuit Edition wing that sits atop the hatch.
