HKS History in Motorsports

Headquartered in Japan, HKS specializes in aftermarket automotive high performance parts engineering and manufacturing, and perhaps is the most known aftermarket brand in the world. Formed in 1973, and named after the founders Hasegawa, Kitagawa, and Sigma, HKS began tuning engines and cars with a vision to tune and manufacture high performance engine components and turbo kits that surpasses OE Manufacturers. Their success in motorsports business gave them reputation amongst performance enthusiasts and allowed them to develop parts that were commercially available for the first time, such as exhausts, turbo timers, boost controllers, and many others. Today, HKS is one of the biggest, and most known companies in the world. HKS has its own research and development facility, as well as its own manufacturer. HKS is also a parent to several subsidiary companies it has in USA, UK, and Thailand. HKS USA offers parts for Japanese sports cars as well as American domestic cars and their wide range of products cover everything from engines to transmissions, from suspensions to electronics, as well as other interior and exterior accessories.


HKS Motorsports History

Born from speed and performance, HKS is always active in motorsports and competition racing, including various professional drag racing series, JTCC, JGTC, Formula 3, D1 Grand Prix, Superbikes, and many others. No other aftermarket company comes close to what HKS has achieved. In 1974, HKS unveils the industry’s first aftermarket turbo kit. 1983, HKS M300 Celica is the first Japanese Car to break the 300km/h record. In 1986, HKS enters the highly competitive Fuji Grand Championship and finished in 9th place. In 1988, HKS RX-7 Turbo II achieves 307.56km/h in the C/M class at the Bonneville Speed Trials. In 1990, HKS GRAD 70 SUPRA wins RRC Drag Racing Championship for 2 consecutive years. In 1992, HKS unveils the 300E V12 F1 spec racing engine. In 1993, HKS R32 GT-R enters the JTC Group A series and achieves its first victory only two years later. In 1994, HKS Drag R32 GT-R wins the RRC Racing Championship for 2 consecutive years, and the same year HKS also unveils the 310E engine and enters the Japan Formula 3 Series; HKS Opel also enters JTCC Series and finished 1st in Round 1 and 4th Overall. In 1995, HKS T-002 (R33) achieves the fastest lap of 58.716” at Tsukuba Super Lap and again, the same year HKS Super Bike YZF enters the Suzuka 8 Hour Endurance Road Race. In 1996, HKS Drag 180SX wins the BE Drag Series for 2 consecutive years. In 1997, HKS T-002 (R33) achieves the fastest time of 17.64” at the Yatabe 0-300km’h Test Course. In 1998, HKS Drag Celica achieves fastest FF class time of 9.727” at Sendai Highland Raceway. In 2000, HKS Racing Altezza, or the “Dream Monster Machine”, achieves the fastest time of 55.853” at Tsukuba Circuit. In 2001, HKS launches the Drag Supra based on the 3UZ engine outputting 1400ps. In 2002, HKS CLK enters the JGTC GT500 series. In 2003, HKS Genki Hiper Silvia S15 enters the D1 Grand Prix. In 2004, HKS TRB-02 achieves the fastest lap time of 54.739” at Tsukuba Super Lap. In the same year, HKS Racing Performance IS220R enters the D1 Grand Prix. In 2006, HKS Racing Performer CT230R broke the fastest records at several circuits in Japan. In 2007, the same HKS Racing Performer CT230R broke the fastest records at not only the Japanese circuits, but USA’s as well. In 2008, HKS celebrates their 35th anniversary, their technology and passion continues to live on.