J's Racing, named after the president and founder's first name, Junichi Umemoto, has built their reputation with some of the fastest Hondas to blaze Japan. Established as a Honda special tuning and parts development company, the Osaka-based company has been known to cater to a wide array of clientele, ranging from Honda S2000's competing in Super Taikyu to race-orientated Honda Fit's which battle in the ultra competitive One Make Race series. Among the dozens of track bred race cars that filled the garage at J's Racing lies a vehicle that lacks the usual crumpled fenders, tire scuff marks on the door and shards of molten rubber and track debris laced on the body panels. Nestled between a pair of mangled wide-body S2000's was a show-worthy DC5 that J's Racing employees best describe as a "wolf in sheep's clothing."
Built as a company demo vehicle, this DC5 is often seen being driven by Umemoto. "We've built quite a few race cars and high-performance street cars throughout the years but I'd be a glutton if I didn't admit that the J's Racing DC5 is my all-time favorite when cruising the streets or blasting through the Touge," he says.
"There's a time for building race cars, and there's a time to build a responsive, fun-to-drive vehicle. This DC5 was built for the streets, yet is able to hold its own, whether at the track or through the mountain pass" Umemoto says. The factory K20A powerplant was torn down and rebuilt from the ground up by J's Racing engineers, who know a thing or two when it comes to making power on a Honda. Using their own DB8-R stainless 4-2-1 exhaust manifold, the DC5 expels spent gases through a FX-series 60RS Blue, full-titanium exhaust system. With some fine tuning of the custom J's Racing-programmed N1 ECU, the team upped the horsepower level from the factory 217hp to 280hp with the powerband focusing on the midrange without the sacrifice of top end power. Samco radiator hoses feed coolant though a J's Racing SPL RR 3-row aluminum radiator while an over-the-counter J's Racing thermostat switch, lower temperature thermostat and upgraded radiator cap ensure the Honda maintains a balanced temperature even in the sweltering summer heat of Osaka.