Drifting
Story and Photos by: Michael Kent

In the September issue, I gave you some how to secrets on getting sideways. This time around, focusing on using engine horsepower and torque as your sideways tool, I’ll give you tips on making as much smoke as you can. Using raw power is not only the most comfortable technique for most drivers, but it is also the quickest to give you results. To enter a hairpin with speed does make for the better drift, but the skill factor required is also a lot higher.

So let’s get started! Power can be made in two ways; actual engine modifications creating more horsepower, or modified transmission or driveline pieces that utilize your engine’s current power. With the latter, we’ll start with naturally aspirated cars. NA’s usually require a fair amount of complicated work to get significant power changes. Swapping in a set of Cams may do wonders to an LT1, but on a 4A-GE 16 or 20 valve, cams don’t mean turbo. The result is little difference for the coin spent. How about fixing your car with an Exedy Carbon Series clutch and Pressure Plate? Not a cheap option, but instantaneous power transfer is now made on my drifting partner Paul Hand’s AE86. The addition of an LSD also ensures that he can get all of his 145 horses to the ground efficiently.

Getting the proper Limited Slip Differential is the best possible way to get the car sideways and keep it there using throttle as your sideways instigator, be it forced induction or NA. Beefy axles will then be the next upgrade to ensure reliability, and finally, spending the rest of your dough on tires is the best and fastest way to get your NA car drifting. The money you would spend on these driveline parts would probably equal all of the coin you could spend on your engine, but compare the difference. You will find that the clutch and LSD will be your better drifting bet.

On the other side of the spectrum, there are people like me. People who drift for two reasons; to get sideways and to do it turbocharged. Once sideways, a huge smoke show is possible with any car that can make power. The front nose steers while the rear smokes its way into tire heaven. Playing the turbocharged game however is much more expensive than NA, so expect to do all the drive train modifications in addition to extracting the necessary power out of the car. Do the drive train stuff first. Now you’re broke, but you can play hard. Here are some suggestions to get some more power out of your ride for cheeeeeep.

1. Boost Control – Regulated by the wastegate, boost pressure on a turbocharged vehicle controls how much of an increase in atmospheric pressure you are putting on an engine’s internals. All horsepower figures are quoted with an average atmospheric pressure of 14.7 lbs (1 bar) which equates to the pressure the atmosphere puts on us, our houses, the road and our engines. The closer you go to the atmosphere, the more this pressure increases. Elevate your turbocharged car to 1500 feet and watch how much more power it makes. The reason being that atmospheric pressure has increased; therefore more pounds of pressure are being placed on your engine, adversely, it can now output more power.
   
   Turbine boost pressure is judged in the same fashion. At 14.7 pounds of atmospheric pressure, your SR20DE makes 140 horses at the crank. Add a turbocharger at 7psi, now you have an SR20DET making 205 horses at the crank, with a total of 20.7 lbs. of pressure. An increase of 65 horsepower, or almost 50%, of the engines original power. What if you cranked boost to 14.7 pounds, mathematically, and almost exactly, you’d double the 140 horses you had with the stock motor, and pump out a whopping 280 horses at the crank.
   
   Of course, this is less than ideal for your T25 turbine, and your 370cc injectors, but somewhere in the middle would still be acceptable, and make for a quicker spooling turbine and more power. Creating a super cheap boost controller for $20-$50 is the fastest horsepower adder possibly in the world. So how do you do it? Follow my lead.
   
   The internal wastegate found on most OEM turbochargers has a regulator output that intercepts the pressure signal on the discharge side of the compressor before it hits the intercooler to get an accurate reading. This is a short hose that is crucial in monitoring your turbine boost pressure accurately. The secret is to intercept this line with an adjustable valve of sorts, and this way, you can control how much pressure your wastegate asks your compressor to make. Here’s how you do this:
   
   

   i. Get a pressure valve from your local hardware store with a screw type adjuster. Chances are that all you will find is the 90 degree elbow with 3 outlets.
   ii. Now grab two barbed fittings (1 ¼ inch, in this elbows case) and affix them to each of the ends on the elbow.
   iii. To ensure that a vacuum/airtight seal between the spring you are about to install does not occur, you must drill a small (1/32 inch) hole on the valve side of the elbow. This will for enough air to escape while the spring compresses.
   iv. Now find a screw plug and affix it to the end of the elbow, with a spring, and a spring bottom. You now have boost control. Adjusting the top screw type fitting will allow you do adjust boost pressure. The tighter it goes, the less air will be allowed to pass through it; therefore, tighter means more boost pressure.

   
   
2. Now that you have more boost, you will have less fuel. Your ECM will be able to compensate for some of the changes; however, the last thing you want is to run lean. If you’ve got no money, do the DIY route with larger fittings and a similar screw type set up with a fuel pressure gauge to monitor the changes you are making.
   
   Honestly, though, with universal adjustable fuel pressure regulators readily available anywhere, you may as well buy one and make your changes at the source. This change should run you no more than $150.00. Generally, if you are using an exhaust gas temperature gauge, a 10% increase in fuel will rob some horsepower as you richen everything out, but ensure that you won’t run lean in your boosting antics. This 10% increase should be good for a 3-4 pound increase in boost.
   
   
3. Now that fuel and boost is taken care of, you need to lower your engine temperature. Royal Purple makes a coolant temperature reducer that claims it can reduce temps by up to 20%. On my SR, using half instead of the suggested quarter of a bottle, I saw a 10% temperature reduction running hard on a 30 degree Celsius day, at 12 lbs of boost. Not bad for a $10 bottle.

So there you have it; three distinct ways to gain about 10-25 horsepower in less than 4 hours of work. This will help your drift car sound cooler and smoke the rears ridiculously. Trust me. Godzilla Drifting Renegades 4 LIFE.

Driving the Infiniti G35 Sport Coupe brought a wave of nostalgia over me; unlike what I’ve felt from most OEM’s these days. I’ve got a soft spot for Nissan, so lots of you are going to think that this article is a touch biased. Really, though it's not. If I thought nothing of Nissan/Infiniti, driving this car would make up my mind. If I hated Infiniti with a passion, driving this car would turn me into a believer. But I don’t hate. And I’m not indecisive. I’ve loved Infiniti from day one. All this car has done is made me more confident in defending my controversial statements about Nissan. Hands down, they are the most balanced and well rounded automobile manufacturer around today.

The one word slogan “Shift_” that Nissan/Infiniti uses represents exactly what the company stands for; compatibility. Infiniti successfully entered the sports luxury car market with their G series coupes in the early 90’s. Powered by the mighty SR20DE, the early G series sedans were simply awesome. In Japan, the SR20DE came turbocharged; launching the early G20’s to 60 in a scant 6.3-6.6 seconds. In North America, the NA SR’s pushed the lightweight 4 door to 60 in a hair over 7 seconds. If they were about $5000 cheaper, they would have easily been the Honda Civic of North America. The prolonged relationship Infiniti has with the G series line up represents how compatible Infiniti’s luxury platform is with Nissan’s sports car platform.

I have heard people bashing Nissan for using the VQ35DE in almost all of their platforms, but really, who cares? Not only is it one of the reasons that Nissan didn’t kick the bucket last year, but it is a really, really good motor. The new Nissan Maxima has 265 hp and the 350Z has 280hp as does this G35. Only 4 years ago, this same motor in the Maxima only had 210 hp. The VQ35DE represents that which is truly Japanese; dedication and determination in following a mathematically perfect platform. This is why I feel a bit nostalgic. Remember the 240sx? It came with a KA24E or DE, as did Nissan’s Axxess and Pick Up. People complained that the 240sx was extremely underpowered for its handling capabilities, so Nissan decided to bring over the SR20DE and slap it into the little NX’s and G20’s. They were indeed a touch more powerful and race bred on the streets, but in Japan, things were still a lot better. The Silvia SR20’s came turbocharged, and powered a ton of vehicles from the RWD Nissan Silvia and 180sx (our 240sx), the FWD Primeras to AWD Pulsars to name a few. Ripping mid 5 second 60mph times in 1991 was no joke, but with a $20 home made wastegate valve controller (see my Drifting article for how to make your own), $300 rubber, and a $250 exhaust, the SR20 was capable of achieving this. Again, these motors are no bloody joke. Nissan kept their motors in Japan only. This time around, things seem to be a bit different…

Okay, back to the G35. I brought all of this up to mark the comparison of how the 240sx shared the platform of the Silvia; the G35 coupe is on the same platform as the newest Japanese Nissan Skyline. Not familiar with the Skyline? Hit it up on Google and download a video. I’ve got footage of a 1200 hp Skyline smacking 328 km/h in 23 seconds on the streets of Japan. All of this rounds out to why the Infiniti is so cool here. If it wasn’t for the Skyline, it wouldn’t have the crazy ass Brembos it has now. It wouldn’t have Michelin Type S 245/45/18’s on 7 spoke alloys. It wouldn’t have a six speed transmission or sport tuned suspension. Simply, it wouldn’t have the compatibility with the twin turbo Skyline, and it wouldn’t be a Nissan. Whatever is good enough for the Skyline is no doubt overkill for the G35. But it makes the driving experience so cool. Imagine that the Crossfire was a down tuned Viper. People would still complain about a few things, but come on! It’s so close to a Viper!

Aside from all of this performance blood, the G35 still represents all the luxury you would expect from an Infiniti. A hidden and beautifully blended DVD system disappears behind the 225 Watt Bose sound system. With a 6 CD in dash changer and 8 speakers in a relatively small cabin, the car really bounces tunes loud. Mid range sound is a touch weak, and after driving a Nissan Titan that had 8” subs under the driver’s and passengers seats, I’m a little jealous that I can’t shake the neighborhood awake with my Best of Busta Rhymes CD, but the system is really sufficient for the space it needs to amplify. The DVD system runs off of DVD Rom CD’s only so don’t plan on watching Scarface on a Saturday night cruise. The navigation system voice is friendly and pleasant without being too jumpy. Navigation graphics are also detailed and the various color combinations of maps are a neat feature to play with. Perfect. Simply perfect. The navigation system is only a $3400 package, which is a lot cheaper than most. Add everything I had on my press vehicle and the total comes to… $52,358 Canadian dollars, which is about $40, 275 US, including destination and delivery. Do you want a fling without all the bling? Like the G35 for its looks alone? Then plan on paying only $29,500 Canadian ($22,692 US). Since I work for the same show, I cannot steal Tom’s infamous “Do you want a car like this…”, but dammit, I need a car like this. And one day, mark my words, I will own a G35.

Let’s face it, the G35 kicks ass. All we can do is pray that we get the Japanese version, and then all it will take is time for everyone else out there to Shift their beliefs to mine.