The guys at Team Blackjack and Wrecked Magazine got together to build a Formula Drift spec drift car for the avid game Forza Motorsport 3 drifter. In case your not familiar with Team Blackjack they made this very famous Forza 2 video Project Blackjack.

Here is how to build and drift a S13 to make you slide just like Daijiro Yoshihara in the Falken Tires x Discount Tire Nissan S13. You can find the Discount Tire design in the storefront by searching My Design Make: Nissan Model: S13 and use keyword search: discount. This will give you several designs at several prices to pick an exterior wrap.

Here is the Stuff You Need to Buy:
HKS Sport Air Filter
Hitachi Sport Fuel System
Greddy Race Ignition
Greddy Race Exhaust
HKS Sport Cams
Nismo Race Valves
Nismo Race Displacement
Supertech Race Pistons
HKS Sport Single Turbo
HKS Race Intercooler
HKS Race Oil Cooler
TODA Race Flywheel
AP Race Brakes
Tein Race Springs/Dampers
Tanabe Race Front Anti-Roll Bars
Tanabe Race Rear Anti-Roll Bars
OMP Race Chassis/Roll Cage
Race BRIDE Weight Reduction
Exedy Race Clutch
Nismo Sport Transmission
KAAZ Race Differential
Sport Tire Compound
Front Tire 225/45/17
Rear Tire 245/35/18
Upgrade Front Rim to 17
Upgrade Rear Rim to 18
Modulare Forged M3 wheels
Origin Front Bumper
Origin Rear Bumper
Origin Side Skirts
Seibon Street Hood

Now that you spent all that cash on parts, it’s time to tune your ride for some ideal drifting.

Front Tire PSI: 32
Rear Tire PSI: 32
Final Drive Gearing: 4.30
Front Camber: -4.0
Rear Camber: -1.0
Front Toe: 1.0
Rear Toe: -0.5
Front Caster Angle: 6.0
Front Anti Roll Bars: 20.0
Rear Anti Roll Bars: 26.10
Front Springs: 602.4
Rear Springs: 524.5
Front Ride Height: 4.7 inches
Rear Ride Height: 4.5 inches
Front Rebound Stiffness: 3.8
Rear Rebound Stifness: 7.9
Front Bump Stiffness: 2.8
Rear Bump Stiffness: 5.7
Brake Balance: 44% front
Differential Acceleration: 100%
Differential Deceleration: 100%

The Hard Facts
S13 Cost: $5,000
Design: $1,000-$50,000
Install Upgrades: $136,790
Weight: 2,266 lbs.
Horsepower: 473hp
Class: S622

Big Thanks to BLKJ SD9K for the tune and for driving the S13 against us for these photos.

We got some news from the Falken Tire/Discount Tire team about some upgrades being made to Daijiro Yoshihara’s S13 for a new season.Returning for a 4th season with the Falken Tire Discount Tire team is crew-chief and car builder, Scott Dodgion of SPD Metal Works in Anaheim, CA. While new body styling and a set of new wheels will improve the appearance of the brilliant red and white machine, engine upgrades and modifications look to push the 6.0 liter, LS-2 V8 power-plant over 650 horsepower! A new gear set-up in the rear-end will help Dai negotiate his drift runs with more predictability and improve the overall performance of the Discount Tire-clad drift machine!

Rhys Millen and Daijiro Yoshihara were called upon for a drifting project at Road & Track magazine. The January 2010 issue which just hit stands this week takes seven completely bone stock vehicles to find out how well they will drift. The seven cars they tested are:

Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport
Nismo Nissan 370z
Ford Mustang GT
BMW M3
Hyundai Genesis Coupe
Lexus IS-F
Mazda MX-5 Miata

Falken Tire Team with Go Pro HD at Irwindale Speedway

Falken Tire has documented their season very well in video. 2009 has marked their strongest season for Team Falken while they managed to sweep the podium at Wall Speedway back at Round 3. This video by Patrick Barrett captures some quality content with GoPro HD cameras and gives you some great perspective of the drivers taking on Irwindale Speedway.

Watch the video: http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/watchvideo/falken-tire-team-with-go-pro-hd-at-irwindale-

Here is a PR we scored from John Choi about the new Falken Azenis RT615-K tire and I cannot wait to see it in drifting action already.

FONTANA, CA (November 6, 2009) – Falken Tire is proud to announce the launch of the new Azenis RT615-K. While the original RT615 proved to be a dominant force in the DOT approved and truly street functional competition tire category, we’ve decided to make it even better.

The K in the new RT615-K can have many meanings but none describe the second generation 615 better than KAIZEN.

By definition, this Japanese word means “continuous improvement” which precisely describes the newest edition to the Azenis lineup. Visually, nearly identical to its predecessor, the subtle K on the sidewall is the only tell tale sign of what lies within its completely revised tread compound.

Although taking uncompromised grip to the next level, the new RT retains a 200A/A UTQG rating, still making it eligible by nearly all “Street Tire Class” competition sanctioning bodies.

Other familiar features adopted by the RT615-K include an 8/32nds molded tread design, light weight casing construction and high tension carcass resulting in superior grip, improved handling response and high speed stability.

With 21 sizes ideal for a wide range of today’s most popular applications, the RT615-K is refined on the track and bred for the streets.

Daijiro Yoshihara had this car out at time attack for Super Lap Battle this past week and his 350z Vert is looking good. The 350z was originally a SEMA build car by GT Channel and they have since allowed Daijiro Yoshihara to take over the car and have some fun in it. Check out his personal blog for more updates on this gorgeous 350z.

Check out his blog: http://www.gtchannel.com/content.php?cid=99643

The rumor mill has been ablaze since coming off SEMA that Calvin Wan is no longer a Team Falken driver for 2010. From what we have heard is that Falken is going to an even slimmer team for next season just running the four official Team Falken cars. Calvin Wan did account for Team Falken’s first victory back in 2005 at Sonoma but recently he has struggled to keep his S15 in one piece at events such as Long Beach where he smashed Turn 10 battling Ryan Tuerck.

This leaves them with a strong chance of picking up a championship in my eyes for next season with Darren McNamara, Tyler McQuarrie, Vaughn Gittin Jr., and Daijiro Yoshihara all in the mix.

Falken Hunting with Speedhunters

Speedhunters dropped a 2009 Formula Drift season review piece. It highlights the Falken Tires team taking on the season as a whole. The video is titled Falken Hunting and has a great soundtrack for the Speedhunters team. Don’t miss this one!

Watch the video: http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/watchvideo/falken-hunting-with-speedhunters

Turn 10 Studios and ID Agency invited us to CEC in Century City to bring the new Forza Motrosport 3 video game. Over a hundred people came to receive an early copy of Forza 3 and a huge Audi R8 Forza Motorsport poster.

Here I am drifting a Ford GT500 on one of the units provided by Turn 10. Even though I had played the game several times this was the first full copy I had played to date. So this was my first chance at drifting in the game and I just loved every second of it.

Here is Daijiro Yoshihara enjoing some Forza 3 at the event. He was one of many Formula Drift drivers in attendance at the big launch. Standing next to Daijiro is Ceso from Formula Drift who also was there to try out the game and get a copy. He challenged me to some Xbox Live but we have yet to meet for some battles.

The crowd was a great mix of people and a huge crowd around the three screen racing wheel setup. The three screen setup is great for cockpit view as you really get a true sense that your sitting in a vehicle while racing. If you have the budget at home you should check out doing this without a doubt.

Here you can see several Formula D drivers in attendance at the event. Some people have even been building Formula Drift cars before the game has  been released which we documented in our story “Forza Motorsport 3 Drifting Preview – Released This Week.” If this is a sign of the storefront and support this game will have then it’s going to be worth it beyond a shadow of a doubt!

Photo Credit: http://www.theidagency.com/