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The championship points have changed for the 2014 season. The points awards in black on the left are the 2013 championship points and on the right in red are the 2014 championship points. I interviewed Ryan Sage will be released talking about some of the changes. This championship point structure points more of a focus on winning events. All other placements during an event weekend have been reduced with the exception of a victory. Third place as you can see really took a big hit from 78 to 64 points.

Posted in Chris Forsberg, Daigo Saito, Formula D, Major Announcements | 9 Comments »

A follower on Twitter (@michaeldrisk412) pointed out to us the big angle that Ron Ewerth has put into his Scion FR-S as well after we published the Kyle Mohan image. The 2JZ powered Scion looks like it is also coming together for the 2014 season. After Michael Essa won a championship with a WiseFab kit in 2013 it seems more and more drivers want to put a focus on big angle. We even have an upcoming interview with Odi Bakchis where we dive into the dark arts of drift suspension.

Posted in Formula D, Kyle Mohan, Michael Essa, Odi Bakchis, Scion | 12 Comments »

Rumors have been flying around about a D1GP driver making his debut to Formula Drift this season. After some leaks this weekend from a new potential sponsor it appears that D1GP driver Kuniaki Takahashi will be driving Pat Mordaunt’s old Lexus SC430.

If you want to know more about the build we actually highlighted it in Issue 30 of Wrecked Magazine that came out this month with a full feature (direct link to feature here). Kuniaki Takahasi was spotted at various Formula Drift events in 2013 making the connection and probability even greater.

Kuniaki Takahasi ha been a “big body” drifter over the past few years as you can see above with his Toyota Mark X in D1GP. During an episode of Wrecked Weekly recently Patrick Mordaunt even picked him out as a driver he would want to see in the Lexus. Perhaps a genuine comment or some strategic foreshadowing from Pat.

Posted in D1GP, Formula D, Kuniaki Takahashi, Patrick Mordaunt, Rumors/Gossip | 12 Comments »

Fabian Fernandez’ Nissan 240sx S14 is up for sale. The car was built by the guys over at Blu808, and kept the Ka24de which produces 300HP. The car competed  in the ThunderDrift ProAm Series in 2010, Formula Drift ProAm Nationals in 2010 and Formula Drift in 2011. For $12,000 you can skip the whole build process and hit the track. Check out the listing on Craigslist.

Here are some specs on what the car has:

Exterior:
Version Select body kit
VLED FD spec led brake lights strips
VIS carbon hood
Stealth Custom Fab fender braces
Enkie RPF1 17×9 +22

Interior:
Blu808 Fd spec roll cage per 2010
Sparco Evo drivers seat
Sparco Evo3 passenger seat
Sparco steering wheel
Crow 5 point harnesses
Blu808 custom hydro E-brake
Autometer Phantom gauges
Jordan Innovations chassis harness and switch panel
Safecraft FD legal fire system

Engine :
Ka24de turbo
Arp head studs
Cometic head gasket
300whp using 110 octane & safc
JGS top mount turbo manifold
Garrett gt3071r turbo
Tial 38mm wastegate
Mishimoto radiator with dual 8″ electric fans
Godspeed FMIC and piping
Custom Blu808 wastegate dump pipe
Custom Blu808 3″ exhaust

Drivetrain:
Spec clutch
Stock trans with B&M short shifter
Stock motor and trans mounts
Stock driveline

Suspension:
SilkRoad coil overs
Front sway bar

Front:
PBM V1 knuckles
Ikea inner tie rods
Stock LCA with max mod
Wicked Tuning tension rods
Stock brakes and lines

Rear:
PBM V1 ruca
SilkRoad toe link
Stock traction rods
Stock LCA
Energy suspension bushings
Stock brakes and lines
Subframe spacers
Nismo 2 way differential
Stock axles

Spare parts:
Full car set of Z32 rotor and calipers with steel braided lines
4x 350z wheels
Spare side skirts (painted)
Spare rear bumper (painted)
2 spare stock transmissions
Rear sway bar

Posted in Buy This, Formula D, Grassroots | 7 Comments »

I bumped into Kyle Mohan sadly after I packed my camera gear away but I snapped this shot of his front angle on my iPhone. Even though Kyle Mohan has lost Nexen Tire he has built his best drift car to date. The motor is a 3 rotor with an impressive rear radiator and cooling setup. This front suspension turns huge angle while keeping the wheel flat was all built in house at Kyle Mohan Racing. We will see how he does with a loss of title sponsorship but Long Beach always seems to be a solid performance for him.

Posted in Formula D, Kyle Mohan, Spy Shots | 5 Comments »

Tech Day for the 2014 season happened a little earlier than years past and it seemed to really catch teams off guard. Most cars at Tech Day seemed far from finished and many slots remained opened for the day with people canceling. A fine is levied to specific drivers within the region who didn’t make it to Tech Day. Charles Ng did unveil his Achilles Radial Infiniti G37 with a brand new engine (he blew his last one in testing). We also had extensive talks with drivers and Ryan Sage about the new sporting regulations in the sport. So keep an eye out for some videos on that this week.

Check out the Gallery: http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=379

Posted in Andy Hateley, Charles Ng, Formula D, Gallery, Odi Bakchis, Taka Aono, Tyler Wolfson | 5 Comments »

Maxim Lemonine retired his Chevrolet S10 drift machine in 2014 and has been building a Nissan 350z chassis. He was so impatient to test he just took it out in the snow by his shop. It looks like a great time!

Posted in Drift Mania, International, Video | No Comments »

ARK Performance threw a party to show off the cars of Patrick Mordaunt and Dennis Mertzanis for 2014 Formula Drift. Patrick Mordaunt was first to unveil his Hyundai Genesis. The two cars look similar on the exterior but are built differently on the inside.

Patrick’s Genesis coupe retained the factory V6 LAMBDA and is actually using the same chassis that Dennis Mertzanis drove in 2013 for Formula Drift but it has a complete refresh. The motor package is a 3.8L V6 bored to a  4.0L Hyundai Lambda V6 turbocharged that makes 700hp/700ft. lbs of torque. This is adding an insane amount of torque from the build last year. Parts by Max has taken care of all the suspension on this car.

Dennis Mertzanis built a new ground up Hyundai Genesis for the 2014 season. The ground up build comes with a Winters Quick Change, dog box, and a Vortech Supercharged LS7 engine that is making 1000hp. His build also features Powered by Max suspension and with a build he told me is very close to his perfect vision of a drift car. This seems to add  pressure for him to preform  at an all time high this season.

A glance at the interior features a SPARCO wheel and Takata Seat/Harness inside the chassis of Dennis Mertzanis. Pat has some slightly different products featuring inside his interior. The cars look good and will be attending Tech Day later today to start the approval process for the season. Neither car is 100% just yet and they will be testing shortly. I interviewed Patrick Mordaunt and Dennis Mertzanis on these builds and the new season over at Wrecked Weekly which you can give a list by clicking here.

Posted in Dennis Mertzanis, Formula D, Patrick Mordaunt, Spy Shots | 11 Comments »

Here is a highlight reel video from the last round of Drift UAE. Ahmad Daham shows off his driving skills inside a 2JZ powered S15 Silvia and lines up against some of the Middle Eastern heavyweights of drifting. Below are the battles highlighted in the video as Ahmad Daham finished 3rd for the weekend.

Battles in Video:
Ahmad Daham vs Ahmad AlRumaithi (V8 R33 Skyline)
Ahmad Daham vs Jihad Hassan (S14 Silvia)
Ahmad Daham Vs Ahmed AlAmiri (2JZ GT86)

Posted in International, Video | 2 Comments »

This render is for Italian driver Filippo Pirini who is showing off the look this his FC Mazda RX-7 powered by a 2JZ-GTE engine. Here is some progress of the build below and it will be set to unveil at Round 1 in England.

Posted in International | No Comments »