Fat Five Racing
Drift tuner shop · Japan
Daigo Saito's shop. The wildest builds in the catalogue.
Daigo Saito's personal workshop. When you see a JZX with absurd offsets, a 2JZ swap in something it has no business in, or a Lamborghini Murciélago drift car at FD Japan, that is Fat Five Racing energy. The aesthetic is consequence-free: if it can fit, it ships.
Daigo Saito opened Fat Five Racing as his personal shop after a decade of competing in D1 Grand Prix and Formula Drift. The defining principle is "no platform is off limits", Saito has competed in JZX100 Mark IIs, 2JZ-swapped RX-7 FDs, a Lamborghini Murciélago drift car (which competed at FD Japan), and a Camaro programme during his FD Pro years.
The build language is aggressive: 2JZ swaps in unusual chassis, massive wheel offsets, fully-caged interiors, anti-lag flame programmes loud enough to set off the alarms in the next paddock. Where TRA Kyoto chases visual continuity, Fat Five Racing chases driver-spec aggression. Every shop has a different philosophy; this one is engineering-as-statement.
Saito himself still drives the catalogue. The shop is the engineering-and-aesthetic arm of the most decorated Japanese drifter of his generation, and the visible identity of a no-limits approach to platform choice.
At a glance
- Country: Japan
- Founder: Daigo Saito
Signature moves
- 2JZ everything
- Outsider builds
- Driver-owned shop
- No-limits catalogue
Iconic builds
- 2JZ-swapped RX-7 FD (2010s →). Saito famously discarded rotary purism, the FD chassis is too good to retire, even if the powertrain isn't the canonical one.
- Lamborghini Murciélago drift car (2015 →). A V12 Lamborghini built for D1 / FD Japan tandem competition. Maximum no-limits gesture from the catalogue.
Milestones
- 2008: D1GP Champion. Saito wins the All-Star D1 Grand Prix series, establishing the competitive credibility behind Fat Five Racing.
- 2012: Formula Drift Pro Championship. Wins FD Pro in the US, only the third non-American to do so. Builds the team's engineering reputation in the American market.
- 2015: Lamborghini drift programme. A V12 Lamborghini Murciélago in drift trim. The signature no-limits Fat Five Racing gesture.
Source: Fat Five Racing