Friday, May 8, 2009
Nissan Cefiro A31- Drift in a family sedan
Back in the 90s, every guy wanted a Nissan skyline R32 or Honda Integra type R (DC2). They overlooked a performance car that Nissan produced which gained popularity as a Drift machine in Japan - The Nissan Cefiro A31.
Released in September 1988 to the Japanese Domestic Market, the A31 series included many hi-tech features, such as HICAS (Nissan’s rear wheel steering system), sonar controlled electronic damping, automatic headlights, and an automatic electric rear view mirror.
Cefiro engines were known as RB engines, came in a wide variation of sorts. The stock, untouched ones were:
* RB20E - single-cam (85 to 96 kW (115 to 130 ps) @ 5600 rpm, 167 to 181 N·m (17 to 18,5 kgf·m) @ 4400 rpm)
* RB20ET - single-cam turbocharged (107 kW (145 PS) @ 6000 rpm, 206 N·m (21.0 kgf·m) @ 3200 rpm)
* RB20DE - twin-cam (110 to 114 kW (150 to 155 PS) @ 6400 rpm, 181 to 186 N·m (18.5 to 19 kgf·m) @ 5600 (and later with a NEO-Head 4400 rpm)
* RB20DET - twin-cam turbocharged (158 kW (215 PS) @ 6400 rpm, 265 N·m (27.0 kgf·m) @ 3200 rpm)
* RB20P - single-cam (94 PS @5600 rpm and 142 N·m @2400 rpm)
* RB20DET-R - twin-cam turbocharged (210 ps @6400 rpm and 245 N·m @4800 rpm
Most of the Cefiros came in the RB20E engine, which was underpowered and disappointed lots of drifter wannabes. So what did they do? A RB25DET engine swap, which gives the car higher torque than the RB20DET engine, suited better for drifting.
Many of the Silvia (S13) and Skyline (R32) parts are interchangeable for the A31. That was a very juicy clue, right or not? *wink* And yes, Cefiro A31 is a rear wheel drive, for all the Initial D Touge wannabes.
For ideas on how to mod one, Jerome’s Cefiro should provide you with strong visual aid.
All good things have to come to an end. After production for the cefiro A31 ended in 1993, Nissan never came up with a sports sedan ever like the A31 (Infiniti not counted).
So we mourn the loss of a classic sports sedan. The lucky ones in Australia & Malaysia can still find this vehicle probably at a used car dealer.
The rest of us will simply hope Nissan comes up with another turbocharged-rear wheel beast disguised as a family car again.
Released in September 1988 to the Japanese Domestic Market, the A31 series included many hi-tech features, such as HICAS (Nissan’s rear wheel steering system), sonar controlled electronic damping, automatic headlights, and an automatic electric rear view mirror.
Cefiro engines were known as RB engines, came in a wide variation of sorts. The stock, untouched ones were:
* RB20E - single-cam (85 to 96 kW (115 to 130 ps) @ 5600 rpm, 167 to 181 N·m (17 to 18,5 kgf·m) @ 4400 rpm)
* RB20ET - single-cam turbocharged (107 kW (145 PS) @ 6000 rpm, 206 N·m (21.0 kgf·m) @ 3200 rpm)
* RB20DE - twin-cam (110 to 114 kW (150 to 155 PS) @ 6400 rpm, 181 to 186 N·m (18.5 to 19 kgf·m) @ 5600 (and later with a NEO-Head 4400 rpm)
* RB20DET - twin-cam turbocharged (158 kW (215 PS) @ 6400 rpm, 265 N·m (27.0 kgf·m) @ 3200 rpm)
* RB20P - single-cam (94 PS @5600 rpm and 142 N·m @2400 rpm)
* RB20DET-R - twin-cam turbocharged (210 ps @6400 rpm and 245 N·m @4800 rpm
Most of the Cefiros came in the RB20E engine, which was underpowered and disappointed lots of drifter wannabes. So what did they do? A RB25DET engine swap, which gives the car higher torque than the RB20DET engine, suited better for drifting.
Many of the Silvia (S13) and Skyline (R32) parts are interchangeable for the A31. That was a very juicy clue, right or not? *wink* And yes, Cefiro A31 is a rear wheel drive, for all the Initial D Touge wannabes.
For ideas on how to mod one, Jerome’s Cefiro should provide you with strong visual aid.
All good things have to come to an end. After production for the cefiro A31 ended in 1993, Nissan never came up with a sports sedan ever like the A31 (Infiniti not counted).
So we mourn the loss of a classic sports sedan. The lucky ones in Australia & Malaysia can still find this vehicle probably at a used car dealer.
The rest of us will simply hope Nissan comes up with another turbocharged-rear wheel beast disguised as a family car again.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
drift techniques
Drifting Techniques
Heel Toe Shifting
Learn proper race shifting to get your car into the right gear for drifting. Section also includes double clutch shifting so you can downshift before drifting without blowing out your transmission too quickly.
Power Over Drift
A throttle induced drift, this is performed when entering a corner and using the accelerator to slip the rear wheels, producing heavy oversteer through the turn. You will often need lots of horsepower to make this happen.
E-Brake Drift
This drifting technique is very basic, pull the E-Brake or side brake to induce rear traction loss and balance drift through steering and throttle play. This can also be used to correct errors or fine tune drift angles. Main drift technique used in FWD vehicles, however since it does decrease speeds, e-brake drifting is looked down upon during solo (tansou) type drifting competition.
Clutch Kick Drift
This drifting technique is performed by depressing the clutch pedal on approach or during turn in to a corner. The clutch is "popped" to give a sudden jolt through the driveline to upset rear traction, causing the power wheels to slip. Drifting is maintained by balancing the throttle.
Shift Lock Drift
This is performed by letting the revs drop on downshift into a corner and then releasing the clutch to put stress on the driveline to slow the rear tires inducing over steer. This is like pulling the E-brake through a turn, but this should be performed on wet ground to minimize damage to the driveline. Similar drifting technique to Clutch Kicking.
Dirt Drop Drift
This is performed by dropping the rear tires off the road into the dirt to maintain or gain drift angle without losing power or speed and to set up for the next turn. This technique is very useful for low horsepower cars. Do not attempt this technique at the Drift Session.
Feint Drift
This is performed by rocking the car towards the outside of a turn and then using the rebound of the vehicle's suspension to throw the car into the normal cornering direction. This is heavy rally racing technique used to change vehicle attitudes during cornering.
Jump Drift
In this technique the rear tire on the inside of a turn or apex is bounced over a curb to lose traction resulting in over steer. Do not attempt this technique at the Drift Session.
Braking Drift
This is performed by trail braking into a corner. Loss of grip is obtained and then balanced through steering and throttle motions. This is mainly for medium to low speed corners.
Kansei Drift (Inertia Drift)
This is performed at race speeds. When entering a high speed corner a driver lifts his foot off the throttle to induce a mild oversteer and then balances the drift through steering and throttle motions. The car that is being used for this style of drift should be a neutral balanced car therefore the oversteer will induce itself. If the car plows through any turn this technique will not work.
Long Slide Drift
This is done by pulling the E-brake through a strait to start a high angel drift and to hold this to set up for the turn ahead. This technique can only be done at high speed.
Swaying Drift (Manji Drift)
This is a slow side-to-side faint like drift where the rear end sways back and forth down a strait.
Heel Toe Shifting
Learn proper race shifting to get your car into the right gear for drifting. Section also includes double clutch shifting so you can downshift before drifting without blowing out your transmission too quickly.
Power Over Drift
A throttle induced drift, this is performed when entering a corner and using the accelerator to slip the rear wheels, producing heavy oversteer through the turn. You will often need lots of horsepower to make this happen.
E-Brake Drift
This drifting technique is very basic, pull the E-Brake or side brake to induce rear traction loss and balance drift through steering and throttle play. This can also be used to correct errors or fine tune drift angles. Main drift technique used in FWD vehicles, however since it does decrease speeds, e-brake drifting is looked down upon during solo (tansou) type drifting competition.
Clutch Kick Drift
This drifting technique is performed by depressing the clutch pedal on approach or during turn in to a corner. The clutch is "popped" to give a sudden jolt through the driveline to upset rear traction, causing the power wheels to slip. Drifting is maintained by balancing the throttle.
Shift Lock Drift
This is performed by letting the revs drop on downshift into a corner and then releasing the clutch to put stress on the driveline to slow the rear tires inducing over steer. This is like pulling the E-brake through a turn, but this should be performed on wet ground to minimize damage to the driveline. Similar drifting technique to Clutch Kicking.
Dirt Drop Drift
This is performed by dropping the rear tires off the road into the dirt to maintain or gain drift angle without losing power or speed and to set up for the next turn. This technique is very useful for low horsepower cars. Do not attempt this technique at the Drift Session.
Feint Drift
This is performed by rocking the car towards the outside of a turn and then using the rebound of the vehicle's suspension to throw the car into the normal cornering direction. This is heavy rally racing technique used to change vehicle attitudes during cornering.
Jump Drift
In this technique the rear tire on the inside of a turn or apex is bounced over a curb to lose traction resulting in over steer. Do not attempt this technique at the Drift Session.
Braking Drift
This is performed by trail braking into a corner. Loss of grip is obtained and then balanced through steering and throttle motions. This is mainly for medium to low speed corners.
Kansei Drift (Inertia Drift)
This is performed at race speeds. When entering a high speed corner a driver lifts his foot off the throttle to induce a mild oversteer and then balances the drift through steering and throttle motions. The car that is being used for this style of drift should be a neutral balanced car therefore the oversteer will induce itself. If the car plows through any turn this technique will not work.
Long Slide Drift
This is done by pulling the E-brake through a strait to start a high angel drift and to hold this to set up for the turn ahead. This technique can only be done at high speed.
Swaying Drift (Manji Drift)
This is a slow side-to-side faint like drift where the rear end sways back and forth down a strait.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Most Important Thing? Budget!
this will tell you your options...it all comes down to the money! We have put together a list with the most popular cars for drifting.
| Select a manufacturer | ||
There are a lot of other cars that can be drifted. The more popular choices are listed above but here's a short listing on some other brands and their drift cars.
Bear in mind that aftermarket support is very limited to none regarding specific drift modifications. Also a lot of older cars usually have RWD so if you keep an eye out you are bound to find some good cheap cars for drifting.
Mercedes is not a very popular brand for drifting since it's more of a luxury brand, but you can drift any Mercedes, except for the A-class of course. 190Es are great for drifting!
Porsche makes high performance sports cars and so all RWD Porsches will be a joy to drift. Be aware that you need to go after one with RWD, and not one with a 4WD system.
Suzuki has the Cappuchino which is actually quite a good and very balanced car for drifting. It is sometimes even spotted on drifting events, but isn't the most popular choice.
Volvo's older car line-up used to be RWD and offered some great cars that are happy to go sideways. The 340 till 360, the 240 till 266 and the 740-780 are the ones you want for drifting.
Opel/Vauxhall has quite a lot of RWD cars but again, most of them are older cars like the Omega, Manta, Kadett, Ascona, etc. If you want something newer get the new GT or Speedster.
Dodge offers the Charger and the Viper. Both have been used in Formula D. You don't see these cars around amateur events, but you stop wondering why if you find out their pricetag.
Pontiac has the GTO, also known as the Holden Monaro it has been quite an influence to the American drifting scene. Rhys Millen drove a Pontiac GTO in the Formula D competition.
There are a lot more cars for drifting, but you get the idea of getting a RWD car. Today you even see 4WD vehicles being converted into RWD, like for example the Subaru Impreza or the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo.
What makes a drifting car?
Most importantly it has to be RW
In essence any RWD car can drift. It is up to the drivers skills whether it can get it to drift. Some cars will drift easier than others but you as the driver are the decisive factor. However the easiest way to go by is to simply buy a popular drifting car; it's not for nothing that it's popular for drifting!D! (rear-wheel-drive)
It's not that 4WD, AWD or FWD vehicle cannot drift, it's just that drifting other drivetrain layouts is quite a different ballgame. It's best to stick to RWD, because you need to balance the rear with the throttle.
But that's not all when it comes to choosing your car. Besides personal taste also the price, power-to-weight ratio, upgrade possibilities, parts availability and fuel consumption are all very important details.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
popular drift cars - Hachi Roku
Here are some of the most popular and best cars for drifting.
US Name: Toyota Corolla GT-SJAP Name: Toyota Trueno AE-86/SprinterNicknames: AE-86, eight six, Hachi Roku(meaning AE-86 in Japansese).
Specs Engine 4A-GE DOHC
Cylinders: straight 4
Discplacemnet: 1.6L 97 ci/1587 cc
Horsepower: 112
Torque: 97lb/ft
Drivetrain Rear Wheel Drive
LSD (Limited Slip Differential)
5-speed manual transsmission
US Name: Toyota Corolla GT-SJAP Name: Toyota Trueno AE-86/SprinterNicknames: AE-86, eight six, Hachi Roku(meaning AE-86 in Japansese).
Specs Engine 4A-GE DOHC
Cylinders: straight 4
Discplacemnet: 1.6L 97 ci/1587 cc
Horsepower: 112
Torque: 97lb/ft
Drivetrain Rear Wheel Drive
LSD (Limited Slip Differential)
5-speed manual transsmission
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Today I want to go over some advanced drift techniques.
You probably know the names of all the techniques,
ie. hand-brake slide, faint, clutch kick, drop-off,
overpower. braking drift etc. But which ones are
the best to use in which situation?
If you're just starting out in drifting, you probably
use the hand-brake technique mostly. That's fine.
It does slow your entry speed down a fair bit though,
but that is necessary for some corners. Some beginners
use the hand-brake too much so be aware.
The most popular technique used to get the rear out
is the clutch-kick. Clutch kicking is where you jab
the clutch at speed while jerking the steering wheel
to get you sideways.
However, before you try it on just any corner.....
Practice at low speeds first and make sure there is
plenty of room because more than likely, you're going
to spin out or go flying off track in a direction you
weren't planning to!
Once you get better, you can go faster and try bigger
corners. Just start out small.
Next Advanced Tip.....
Line is everything. Sure it's easy to go around a
corner sideways but when it comes to linking corners,
the line of drift is vital. I was told this when I
was starting to learn how to drift. "Out, Out, Out,
Out, In!"
Basically, you stay to the outside of the corner
until you are pointing in the direction you want to
be in for the next corner. When flicking back, use
your foot brake if you are going too fast or even
your hand-brake.
Have fun using these techniques but take care of your
self and your car :)
ie. hand-brake slide, faint, clutch kick, drop-off,
overpower. braking drift etc. But which ones are
the best to use in which situation?
If you're just starting out in drifting, you probably
use the hand-brake technique mostly. That's fine.
It does slow your entry speed down a fair bit though,
but that is necessary for some corners. Some beginners
use the hand-brake too much so be aware.
The most popular technique used to get the rear out
is the clutch-kick. Clutch kicking is where you jab
the clutch at speed while jerking the steering wheel
to get you sideways.
However, before you try it on just any corner.....
Practice at low speeds first and make sure there is
plenty of room because more than likely, you're going
to spin out or go flying off track in a direction you
weren't planning to!
Once you get better, you can go faster and try bigger
corners. Just start out small.
Next Advanced Tip.....
Line is everything. Sure it's easy to go around a
corner sideways but when it comes to linking corners,
the line of drift is vital. I was told this when I
was starting to learn how to drift. "Out, Out, Out,
Out, In!"
Basically, you stay to the outside of the corner
until you are pointing in the direction you want to
be in for the next corner. When flicking back, use
your foot brake if you are going too fast or even
your hand-brake.
Have fun using these techniques but take care of your
self and your car :)
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