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If you are a true sports car enthusiast it is probable you'll run into the word "Wangan." Wangan is a stretch of highway in Tokyo, Japan that is infamous for street racing. Part of the Shuto Expressway, the Japanese meaning of "Wangan" is "bayshore". This coastal route is so famous for racing, that several legendary racing icons have illegally street raced this strip of pavement. Video games, television series, and more have been based on the street racing saga surrounding Wangan.
Wangan is more than just a place, route, or thing. Wangan is also a lifestyle of street racing JDM vehicles. JDM inspired racing vehicles, aka "street racers" around the world proudly sport the Wangan badge of honor. Typically, highly modified vehicles that are of eastern Asia decent are found with Wangan badges. It is also common to find the Wangan badge as a first mod for a 100% stock vehicle. Word to the wise: not all Wangan badged vehicles are fast!
Wangan racing is a high speed race, and usually starts from a 60-70 mph rolling start maxing out somewhere around 200 mph. If your car can't go 200 mph, don't bother wasting your time racing on the Wangan! Racing usually starts on the last curve just before the tunnel. Some famous tunnel runs by Smokey Nagata of Top Secret feature his V12 Supra, Nissan Skyline, and other extremely fast cars barreling through the Wangan at break neck speeds above 200 mph. The most famous Wangan racing group is the "Mid Night Club", not just a video game.
Video content: Corvette Z06 on the Wangan
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The real Mid Night Club (not the video game), according to wikipedia; "The Mid Night Club (pronounced Middo Naito Kurabu) was a Japanese street racing gang that hosted illegal races on the Bayshore Route (known natively as the Wangan) of the Shuto Expressway between Tokyo to Yokohama. The gang became one of the most notorious and highly respected clubs of its type, which led to it being featured in over 200 editorial features in most of the leading Japanese auto magazines and even in foreign magazines such as the Danish Autoviz, the British Max Power and the American Turbo magazine. One of the earliest non-Japanese media referrals was in the first episode of Jeremy Clarkson's Motorworld in January 1995, when the presenter Jeremy Clarkson, driving his Skyline GT-R around Japan, stated that his car "is more likely to be seen in the Mid Night Club". That and because of its dangerously high racing speed, it gave street racing in Japan a worldwide notoriety, The club was regarded as one of the longest running street racing gangs."-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid_Night_Club
Video content: Wangan Mid Night Club
Wangan's Mr. Chiba and Smokey Nagata
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Comments
Just a small not, the Wangan is in Tokyo not Osaka as you have stated in the first part of this article. You are right it is part of the Shuto Expressway and it Wangan is Japanese for Bayshore thou.
This is a really great article, Michael -- jam packed with info. I'm going too give it to my son Drew to read. I'd love to visit just to spend some time around the cars... gorgeous, fun stuff.
I think what you meant was 200kph not mph.. 200kph=320kph.. :-)
Pretty sure he ment 200mph. 200 kph is only like 120 mph. That's not nearly wangan speeds.
some of these cars can travel past 350KMPH
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