This time from Autopolis… it’s nice to see the OG guys come back and do well.
I guess side brake entry is required for a course layout like this… I just hate to see it if it isn’t for the purpose of going ass-backwards into the corner.
And has anybody else notice how many of the cars out there have ~800hp?! What a testament to Japanese tuners! How do they keep from contantly overheating? Breaking axles, transmissions and clutches? Oh yeah and blowing engines? Not that I feel that competitive drifting requires 800hp, but how the heck do you campaign such a setup and make it reliable?? America, we are doing it wrong!
Some various notes I’d like to mention:
Okamura is CRAZY in that car. I’ve never seen such an old dude adapt so well (and quickly) to drifting. He rocks it so hard in this video.
Drift Samurai gets into 6th gear?!
I do not enjoy watching that huge Crown drift.
Naoto Suenaga is always driving one of Kumakubo’s many hand me down cars and it’s so confusing
Yamashita in the Weld Mark II!
Shinji Minowa is awesome for putting Hey Man so huge on the side of his car
My car went through a lot of different phases. It started as a 240 with faded paint, then it got a fresh black paint job and silvia face, then it got a wangan spoiler and a zenki front lip, then I got 5 lug 17″ wheels, got side skirts, then Japanese rear unders, then an aero bumper with a zenki lip spoiler then I went back to 180 face and painted it red. And throughout the whole process it got new stickers, got rid of old stickers, etc.
Although I look at my car these days and think that it looks really cool, it’s still not my favorite era of my car. It was my favorite back in 2003 when I got my tapered face TE37s and I had stickers going from the rear part of the door and up the rear fender.
I’m being honest when I say that I really don’t see any sileighties that look good to me. Back in the days of 1998 I did, but I never really liked any others… besides mine. I think the silvia face just really does not match a hatchback s13 or something. But for some reason I still think mine looked cool and I can’t really come up with a reason why. Is it because it’s black? Maybe it’s that combined with the zenki lip and wangan wing? Maybe it’s just because it’s mine and I’m being nostalgic. I’m not sure! All I know is that I could spend hours on end looking at my car in the driveway and I still feel the same way when I see these old pics.
Here’s some pics of what my car looked like during my favorite stage. Maybe with my r32 wheels in the rear instead of those 5zigens.
I remember when I first started drifting, it was pretty close to 95% AE86s out there. Those that didn’t drift an AE86 were myself and Mark Hutchinson with S13s, and a small handful of others. I remember being the only 240sx at Drift Day… nowadays you will probably only see a couple AE86s with the rest being 240sxs (and maybe a Miata or a couple FCs, but mostly 240sxs).
Time keeps passing and the 240sx keeps getting older, which means the beloved SR20DET is also getting older and will eventually be pretty hard to come by. I think you’ll eventually see the 240sx die out at drift events… but probably not as much as the AE86 has. Drifting may die out too, but I think the 240sx’s popularity would die out before drifting would.
So what’s going to replace the 240sx? The 350Z and G35 since they’ve been in production for almost 10 years from now and I think it’s pretty safe to say they are starting to become pretty affordable to buy as a dedicated track car. Oh, and not to mention the obvious – these cars have huge aftermarket support.
Every once in a while, I’ll see a car and think to myself – I wonder what that would be like as a drift car. I think a lot of people are starting to think that way… Now I see people buying Mustangs, Lexus GS300s, Cressidas, IS300s, etc. I think we can also thank Formula D teams for showing us that it’s possible to drift almost anything (although maybe not always successfully at that level of competition).
I decided to compile a list of cars that I often wonder about as an alternative to the 240sx. What do you think?
Cadillac CTS-V – Would definitely be fun to drive. I was also going to say these things are ugly and what’s the point… but then I found the image below. Looks good to me!! But expensive…
Subaru Impreza STI – I think this car has a lot going for it… it looks good, it’s got a lot of aftermarket support, and it’s got proven engine. Plus it’s a hatch, so you can fit plenty of spare tires in the trunk. The problem (I’ve heard) is the suspension is setup for AWD, so there is no self steering as you’d find in a car based on the FR platform.
Infiniti G35 Sedan (V36) – Engine is a blast, I can see it looking good, and I know that it drifts well, but expensive as well.
Lincoln LS – I know that they come with a V8. But they also look like a yacht.
BMW M3 (E30) – These cars are so gorgeous! I just can’t see myself destroying one on the track!
BMW M3 sedan (E36) – The reason I picked this is because I think we need to see more 4 doors drifting.
Nissan 300ZX (Z32) – Street legal turbo v6… why aren’t more people doing it?
Acura NSX – Just because I think the engine makes a great sound and it would look crazy doing some skidding.
Hyundai Genesis – This is a pretty boring selection, but I think it has a lot of potential to become really popular in drifting.
I was reminded of my old SSR MKIII by my buddy Rob who is selling a bunch of cool used wheels from Japan. All of my old 15″ wheels were bought from friends or businesses when they were already imported to the USA… except for my SSR MKIII.
Did You Know…
that my SSR MKIII were sold to me by one of the dudes in Night Zone?
My buddy Ogawara Ken was in contact with them and made the deal happen.
My car with SSR MK-III in the rear and MK-II in the front
How about haunting you in a good way? Logan just showed me an old picture of Nadine that Steve Demmitt took back way back when… it was definitely my favorite photo shoot ever.
Turns out Steve Demmitt was featured in a Digital Photographer magazine and he proudly presents that infamous photo of Nadine!
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