Ryosuke Takahashi is the strategist of Initial D. Before he founded the Akagi RedSuns he raced alone on Akagi in a white RX-7, won gymkhana events, never lost a battle, and became known as the White Comet of Akagi. He then built the RedSuns from hand-picked drivers with the aim of setting records on every pass in the Kanto region. He is also a medical student, sent to medical college by parents who expect him to become a doctor.
Takumi Fujiwara changes his plans. After the Eight-Six beats his brother Keisuke twice, Ryosuke challenges it formally, sending a bouquet of flowers with the date and time, and detunes the FC for the race to around 260 PS. He follows Takumi at first, copying his technique and pace, passes him at the first of the five hairpins, and loses when his own tyres let go. He stops racing and leads the RedSuns from the sidelines, coming back to beat Emperor's Kyoichi Sudo and his Lancer Evolution III on Akagi, scraping the FC's nose on the guardrail to stay in touch. Then, with a job that will take him out of Gunma within a year, he dissolves the RedSuns and builds Project D around Takumi and Keisuke. Later the FC is secretly modified for a grudge race down the Hakone Turnpike against Rin Hojo.
The second-generation RX-7, coded FC, was still sold as the Savanna RX-7 in Japan. It was softer than the first, more sport-tourer than sports car, and it closely resembles Porsche's 944. Its new rear suspension carried DTSS, the Dynamic Tracking Suspension System, whose toe-control hubs let the rear wheels steer slightly under cornering load; the Japanese market got only the turbocharged 13B. Ryosuke's car is the ∞ III (Infini III), a limited edition built at 600 a year with an aluminium bonnet, BBS wheels, lighter weight and more power — and the Series III Infini was only ever sold in Shade Green. His is Crystal White, and the manga's specification panel lists a toe-control canceller among its modifications: DTSS removed.
Aoshima's Snap Kit No. CM-3 builds Ryosuke's FC3S at 1/32 from 32 parts, released in December 2025. The body colour is moulded in and the colour-separated details are stickers, and it snaps together without glue. Aoshima lists a front lip spoiler, 17-inch wheels and tyres, a custom steering wheel, a sports muffler, and pop-up headlights that can be built open or closed. First-production boxes include a "Connect!" diorama papercraft, which does need scissors and glue.