The End of Drifting or a New Beginning?

StreetFire.net

This weekend I am stoked to brave the desert heat, stomach the $1.99 All You Can Eat Buffet and resist the temptations of the blackjack table and champagne room to watch those Formula Drifters tear up the tarmac of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. If we don’t have to pawn the cameras to cover the costs of our hedonistic delights we should have our coverage on StreetFire by early next week.

Are you down with drifting? If so, are you down with Ken Gushi’s tC? No doubt it’s an ill communicator with the Beams motor and RWD conversion, but is a car like this good or bad for drifting? As a drift fan I tend to prefer cars like Ross Petty’s S15 to say, Tanner’s tC. But that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate a Frankenstein’d build either. I’m torn, what do you think about this new crop of drift cars? I can’t worry about it now, I’m off to a Vegas strip club, er I mean, the Vegas strip, er the racetrack outside of Vegas. Focus, I need to focus.

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Posted at 11:45 am in

Comments

1096548
Jul 15, 2009 at 12:18 am

It’s easier to break traction and more exciting to drift a high power RWD. Not the end of drifting they just built the cars to be competitive. Although I agree with most, why not just start with a proven platform instead of a one-off custom.

2008835
Jul 14, 2009 at 6:44 pm

Thanks to youtube and a few araabs ive seen just about everything drift including a cadillac escalade!! im all for integration awd,rwd,fwd, fwdlwd bring it!

4Wheelin_Forever
Jul 14, 2009 at 4:27 pm

Go big or go home, but dont waste your money converting a car to RWD or AWD when you can see that RWD cars are a dime a dozen. If my buddy can take a 97 nissan pick up and go drifting, then why convert a scion?

Batman59
Jul 14, 2009 at 3:57 pm

If you can turn it sideways I’m all for it

PapaCherry
Jul 14, 2009 at 3:07 pm

AWD cars are not for drifting. If your thinking about the Lancer Evolutions that have been drifting, they have been converted to RWD just like the Skylines have.

PapaCherry
Jul 14, 2009 at 3:03 pm

I think it is good that new cars are comming in to the drift scene. At least it isnt like nascar and everything is the same going around in a circle. If you can build a car to go sideways and you can actually keep it in the line you want and kick the car sideways, I dont see any reason why any car wouldnt be allowed.

pttransamdriver
Jul 14, 2009 at 2:53 pm

I don’t pretend to know a lot about drift racing, I love it and think its a really cool sport with a lot a very talented drivers. It just doesn’t make sense to me that you would take a car thats so far from drifting capabilities and spend so much time and money making it race ready. To answer the question the I think the TC is junk for this sport, the driver even said so himself, (in a nice way) why not just drive a real RWD or AWD car that could handle the sport to begin with?

1_eyed_bob
Jul 14, 2009 at 1:51 pm

I do not claim to be into drifting (although the sports awsome to watch), nothing I own is considered a drifting vehicle. With that, I think its a decent thing for the sport. It opens up a hole new spectrum of vehicles and car lovers to the sport. In drag racing you see alot of former FWD vehicles that now have a rear pumpkin flying down the track. This just opens up a new creative way for people to customize the cars they drive in the sport. Someday (if there arnt already) there may be rules regulating RWD conversions at events, but every car lover has thier place.

chevyman327nova
Jul 14, 2009 at 11:19 am

driftng is kinda pointless so it dont matter to me i mean who wants to ruin a set of tires every run? id rather drag race or go in a circle because thats racin so it should be called lets almost wreck but not. im not hatin im just sayin i dont see the point if i wanna drift ill go drive too fast on an icy road but that dont make it fun just sayin i dont need a special built car to do it either but to each his own i guess

mvautodunn
Jul 13, 2009 at 9:53 pm

Has anyone seen the Toaster (RWD converted turbo honda element). I love S13-15 and RX’s, but its nice to see a well build ride doing something it was never made to do. I got pics of the toaster and some roasted tires from Nopi when they where in Columbus last year. Wish drift would come back but I don’t think it will.

beefyboy242
Jul 10, 2009 at 2:17 pm

I say just make the TC rear wheel drive… from the factory. All of them. I don’t think it messes with the purity of the sport by frankensteining a scion but I’m already mad at Tanner for getting to drive the hell out of supercars all the damn time, do rally and drift (all really well) plus be exposed to hot women all the time. that bastard.

hotrod_heven
Jul 10, 2009 at 6:13 am

Vibrant yellows, bright!

Cinomed
Jul 10, 2009 at 5:20 am

I would say it is OK but not great.
As a drift fan I can appreciate the looseness of the rules and the diversity of the cars.

If you really want to ponder this, watch some Japanese D1 competitions, their cars are much closer to street tuners, or production race cars, but their drifting tends to be much slower and technical.

All things considered, one of the TC’s is just about as stock as Gitten’s Mustang, which appears quite stock, or even Rhys’s Genesis.
Both cars having full Carbon fiber bodies, replaced suspension, and create/race engines.

I would like to point out how cool I think it is, American sponsors jumped all over this sport, in just some 6-7 years the major teams are better funded than almost any Japanese teams.

I do miss BubbaDrift though and their ElCamino…

gerca_1984
Jul 9, 2009 at 9:26 pm

Was that Johnny Chang from the Fast and the Furious movie?

___nes___
Jul 9, 2009 at 6:26 pm

I always saw D1 as the import version of NASCAR in its beginning, people will see professionals use cars that they can go out, buy, modify, and drive just like the professionals. With cars like Gushi’s it looses that feel. Not sure it’s a good thing, but I don’t see how it’s bad either. Is like saying that you wouldn’t do Megan Fox because of her ugly thumb!

oldscoob
Jul 9, 2009 at 3:31 pm

Drifitng is me playing in the maine snow with a delta88 25 years ago.I then learned all japanese is a miick of a large aemercan. it is ashame resources are swapped..kings starve and pawns play.