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Mike Kojima posted on December 30, 2010 22:00 

The Best of 2010: Scoop! Dai Yoshihara's new Formula D ride for 2010
By Mike Kojima
We did not want to spill the beans but since the car has had its first public viewing at the Formula D annual tech day yesterday, we figure that we can show you a brief insiders look at Dai Yoshihara's Falken/Discount TireFormula D ride for 2010. We know that the photography is not up to our usual standards but these are basically snapshots taken while working on the car.
There is nothing like a shiny new race car to take pictures for posterity of and we did to record the car's first few moments of running. It is 95% done and will be shaken down in the few weeks leading up to Formula D's round one in Long Beach. Metal master Scott Dodgion of SPD Metalworks overhauled and updated the Team Falken 8 day wonder Chevy LS powered S13 that we featured last year. The overhaul is so complete that basically it is a whole new car. Scott stripped the 8 day wonder to a bare shell, media blasted it, cut it apart and rebuilt it into its new form.
What we like about Dai's new car is that although is it super trick and well thought out, it uses many off the shelf components that anyone has access to. This car can actually be built by a determined privateer!
Lets take a look inside!
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The New Discount Tire livery is quite awesome looking and more eye catching over last year's graphics. The lower ride height over last season is also apparent in the photo.
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The body is mostly lightweight fiberglass with the only steel being the roof skin. This aids repairabilty in case the car gets into a fender bender, the fiberglass panels can be quickly changed. They are also responsible for the cars light weight in the 2600 lb range. This is some expensive coolio JDM aero kit which is cool but since we are not aero kit connoisseurs OR JDM fanbois we forget what brand it is.
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The fiberglass hood has a huge scoop to clear the big plenum FAST LSX intake manifold. The scoop is functional to help get rid of heat, keeping the intake manifold cooler. Can you see Dai's name hidden in the graphics? The lightweight lexan windows are by Percy's speedglass.
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The center piece of the car is the Chevy LS2 swap. Unlike the nearly stock engine Dai ran last year, this year's motor is heavily fortified. The high tech Chevy is bored and stroked to 400 plus cubic inches. Although still in a fairly mild state of tune, Dai will be packing nearly 100 more hp than he had last year! If need be the motor still has room for much more power. People contemplating expensive turbo builds should consider the LS. The LS is not your Dad's small block Chevy. It is a lightweight high tech version of it. Tons of low stressed reliable power with nearly the same weight and weight distribution as the stock KA24. It also fits into your S13/S14/S15 like it was made for it with plenty of room. It can also be made CARB smog legal with GM's new E-Rod package!
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Drift cars have to be rock solid reliable under stressful conditions. In one more time sudden death situations or if a team calls for a 5 minute hold, the car may have to idle for 6-8 minutes heatsoaking after an all out rev limiter punching run. It may have to do this many times in 120 degree heat without flinching. The Discount Tire S13 has a huge Griffin aluminum radiator and big Setrab heat exchangers for the engine oil and power steering.
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This tank is called a swirl pot, its job is to eliminate bubbles in the cooling system by trapping them and by providing a super high bleed point. It makes a big difference in cooling and we recommend them for all race cars.
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This device is called an Accusump made by Canton. It holds 3-4 quarts of pressurized oil and injects it into the engine's oil galley when the sump pick up gulps air. It ensures that the engine always has a supply of oil even under violent cornering conditions. It is essential for engine life in a fast Pro drift car.
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Remote pick up routes oil to the cooler, filter and Accusump.
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The remote oil filter uses K&N elements. The K&N filter has a tough blow off resistant shell, important under racing conditions.
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Much of the unibody has been cut away in the front of the car and the parts are hung from this tubular sub frame. This makes field repair of the car simpler in a crash and reduces weight while increasing chassis stiffness.
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Stainless long tube headers feed a big single 4" exhaust. You can also see the SPD solid steering rack bushings.
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| A huge single 4" stainless exhaust leads to a stainless Magnaflow perforated core muffler. The single exhaust is lighter and simpler than a dual. |
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| The fuel cell is well located for maximum protection and minimal affect on the car's chassis balance. |
Monday, March 29, 2010 11:34 AM
Wow, very cool. Despite all the custom parts and fabrication, the car still looks very simple. That's impressive. I was looking at the shots of the rear end, is this car still using S13 uprights in the rear? The shock mount was a spindle type, which is what caught me. Did you keep the steel for strength? Also, how did you do the 5-lug upgrade? Thanks for the answers and good luck in 2010.
Monday, March 29, 2010 5:11 PM
Mike, are you really saying that BAR would actually allow an LS engine with E-rod package to be street legal in a Nissan? Can you give us some more info or a link? I've been looking all afternoon and I cannot find any specifics about vehicle manufacturer.
Monday, March 29, 2010 6:25 PM
Benson, GM performances E-Rod package was specifically designed to be CARB legal in swaps. http://www.gmperformanceparts.com/erod/ Check that out. We will be working with GM performance to build an FD with a totally legal E-ROD soon. We maybe starting in a few weeks!
Monday, March 29, 2010 6:27 PM
Steel was used for strength. I think the hubs are Skyline, I will ask Scott when we test tomarrow!
Monday, March 29, 2010 6:42 PM
I'm guessing the brake system would be the only thing from keeping this a very competitive Time Attack car... Am I right? Also, what are the wheel/tire specs? please include offset if you know it. Pure awesomeness! Thanks
Monday, March 29, 2010 7:24 PM
Brakes and Aero are what's keeping this from being a Time Attack Killer.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010 8:53 AM
Mike - Can't wait to read that write-up! I know I said I would never put an LS in my s13, but if it can be street legal, I would actually consider it!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010 3:16 PM
I was wondering how long it would take for someone to build basically a silhouette drift car. What a great piece of engineering. The thought that went into maintenance and crash repair is evident. Only one thing troubling me, why struts on the front?
Tuesday, March 30, 2010 10:58 PM
you know if you relocate over here to sunny old Florida almost anything is streetlegal. nudge nudge. I've seen a couple of LS swapped S-bodies in my time. all of which were damn impressive performers. I must say that if I could do the swap for as much or cheaper than an SR I"d do it. LS motors are about as reliable and sturdy as granite. It takes skill to blow one up. NOW BOOST IT!!!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010 11:05 PM
The struts and the remaining unibody are there because of the Formula D rules.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010 11:08 PM
Just wanna drive, Tires are 245/40-18 in the front and 275-35-18 in the rear. Wheels are 18x9.5, 18mm offset front with a 25mm spacer and 18x10.5 in the rear with a 15 mm offset. The reason for the spacer is that we modify stuff for more steering angle and the spacer is needed to prevent from hitting the chassis. We have to run a lot of steering axis to get the scrub radius under control.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010 7:38 PM
Awesome feature. The build is sooo sano. RE30's right?
Thursday, April 01, 2010 2:40 AM
Mike, any reason why the rollcage has no gussets on the a-pillar and b-pillar? Wouldn't you want that, to add stiffnest any extra strength? Great S13, wish luck to Daichiro.
Thursday, April 01, 2010 2:47 AM
Mike...the bodykit is from a small Japanese company called Tra-Kyoto. Here is the link: (there is a little nudity....so...). http://www.tra-kyoto.com/
Thursday, April 01, 2010 6:26 PM
I think the aero kit is made by some company called angry bunny, rocket bunny or something. The trademark is some dumb looking messed up pig, all I know is that is cool and expensive and makes JDM fanbois spooge. I would have put some cheapo chinaman kit on it because the bodywork takes a beating. I bet we see people copying The pig sticker. I don't like it because I had to reduce caster because the wheelwell openings are to small. I just spent all day wrestling with the suspension to try to get the caster back so I am grumpy. What the hell nekked chick, thats funny. I am not sure why Scott didn't put the gussets there, he usually does on all of his cages. In my opinion it should be there.
Wednesday, April 07, 2010 4:15 PM
I'm not into the whole drifting thing (read, hype) although, to each his own. I think aero on a drift car is obsolete. The car sees top speed (120 mph at most) for a VERY short period....not to mention that many drifters wreck their car on a daily basis (I'm not saying I'd do better)....I'm just saying that a car that sees the wall all the time, should be dressed with cheap shit. Dai's car looks solid though.
Wednesday, April 07, 2010 4:30 PM
Actually Aero makes a big difference, Dai tells me that at places like Seattle and Irwindale, it makes one of the biggest differences. Example, at Irwindale, the front air dam broke off in the finals and Dai had to change his driving style to compensate. The Pros don't seriously crash very much.
# Tatsu@TokyoAutomotive.com
Saturday, April 10, 2010 12:12 AM
Yup that's TRA-Kyoto's kit. Miura, the owner is a really cool kat. If you own a shop and are looking to expand your product line with aero, drop him a line. He'll mass-produce it to whatever specifications you want.
Monday, May 03, 2010 8:37 PM
Nice love the electrical
Monday, June 21, 2010 7:00 PM
Hey Mike, Did you widen the overfenders in the Rocket-Bunny kit to fit the 10.5s with spacers? Or are they fitted just as they were supplied from Japan? Did you mould the kit so you can make replacements? Or you get a fresh kit everytime one is damaged?? Reason i ask is i am building a S13 and basing it heavily on your build, so any info you could give would be awesome.
Monday, June 21, 2010 8:15 PM
The Rocket Bunny kit is unaltered. We have 3 sets of replacement parts and a few more on order right now.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010 11:32 PM
Thanks Mike, is your diff maybe shorter than the standard Nissan S13? As having a S13 with overfenders, 10" rims @ 15p, if i put a 25mm spacer on they would be outside the guards. Respect for the way the car handles, seems to hook up so well.
Friday, December 31, 2010 10:35 AM
I think it is a little more narrow but we are running modifed GT-R axles so I dunno about the overall width.
Sunday, January 02, 2011 6:29 PM
prob, my fav car on the FD circuit.
 
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