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Mike Kojima posted on September 12, 2011 22:00 
The Story Behind the Bergenholtz Racing/Nitto Tire 2009 Mazda RX8 Formula D Pro Drift Car
By Ron Bergenholtz with Mike Kojima
Bergenholtz Racing has always been a fan of Drifting since the very beginnings of its introduction at Irwindale. We have always enjoyed the entertainment value as well as had the utmost respect for the skill of the Joons (Ron’s nickname for driver Joon Maeng). We knew we wanted to get involved, and in a big way. In 2007 we were first able to enter pro drifting with our long-time sponsor Apex Integration USA.
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| In typical rotary fashion the Bergenholtz car is known for its fan pleasing flame belching and cannon like bursts of noise from the exhaust. The Jugdes might not like this but the crowd always seems to. |
We were able to engineer a great program right from the start using their Mazda RX7 as well as enlisting the professional services of 2004 D1 Champion Ryuji Miki. We learned so much in 2007 and 2008 about drifting from both an event perspective as well as a car engineering perspective. We knew sooner or later we would have to build our own Bergenholtz Racing Drift car. We knew we wanted to build something that would feature out of the box innovation in construction as well as visual/audio impact. We wanted to build something crazy that nobody in the drift community has ever seen.
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| Bergeholtz racing is a tight knit, hard working team. Ron can often be found under the car late into the night at both the track and the team's Santa Ana California headquarters. |
We learned a large amount from our experiences with the Apexi Mazda RX7 and knew improvements could be made on a performance level as well as service level for the mechanics. All Bergenholtz racecars we have built in the past have had the best parts available and we would not stop here with our own Mazda RX8.
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| I guess from the text Ron calls driver Joon Maneg "Joons". For some reason I never knew this even though Joon is one of my friends and I often hang out with the Bergenholtzes. Joon is seriously one of the nicest most sincere guys I know and I have the pleasure to call him my friend. |
Every step of the process required a lot of engineering and we wanted to make sure we produced a drift car that was perfect in every way possible. If we took time to think through every meticulous part on the car, we would never have to redo the car. It was a nightmare. I was facing time constraints and at the same time making sure we did a good job. I did not want to keep redoing the car. The saying goes: “There always time to do the job twice but never enough time to do it right the first time.”
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| The Bergenholtz Racing RX-8 smoking the Nitto NT05s at The Wall New Jersey. |
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 1:38 AM
Awesome long feature, finally some real rotary love! Bergenholtz Racing is a true OG of US import motorsports. Also cool pics, it must have been a real challenge getting some of those tight engine shots, hopefully no cameras were hurt in this production of this story. Im thinking the lower intake manifold was a pain to modify, also assuming the 20B is running pre-mix? 2 main questions: Is the Star Mazda dry sump system able to be adapted/used for 13B applications? Mazda Comp is still charging too much for their dry sump set up... Any info or hints regarding a real-time telemetry system for us DIY'ers?
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 5:13 AM
I'm curious on the aero function of the splitter.. In my undergrad days when i was into vehicle aero, i've done a bit of research on the effectiveness on a front splitter at a high yaw angle such as drifting. I stumbled across a study on the interweb of a CFD analysis and it seems the amount of down force from the splitter decipates with just a small amount of yaw. At angles drift cars are seeing (average 30 degree stead state), it seems like it does close to nothing. In 08-09, ive went around asking drivers who had splitters, and D-Mac was the only one who i got a response from. He was convinced it did nothing and it was just pure asthetics for his Sky. Has Joon and Berganholtz racing experienced other wise? I would imagine some sort of end plates that are angled in would make the splitter much more effective but would prob be funky looking.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 5:16 AM
I would suspect the flat bottom of the splitter is contributing more to down force than stagnating the air on the top portion. Any input?
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 7:51 AM
I can't speak for the Bergenholtz car but on our car it helps at higher speed courses. In fact it makes a pretty good difference. We don't use much of a belly pan so its the stagnation effect of the splitter itself. On the Sky it is only for looks and to make the front of the car larger for judging as it doesn't seal to the nose of the car. In fact it is spaced down with an air gap.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 8:46 AM
Amazing attention to detail. I hate that the cage cannot connect to the front strut towers. Is there a way around this rule? Perhaps attaching a bar to the inner fender area w/ a plate and the other bar from the tower to the plate? Maybe running tubes through the front inner fender? Something to help with crash worthiness and chassis stiffening would benefit the sport.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 8:48 AM
Great article, VERY up close and personal look at a lot of this cars intimate details, kudos to the bergenholtz team for this one! I really want to go dry sump in the miata for the next year!
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 8:56 AM
Awesome article Mike! Love the "wall slider" concept, very ingenious.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 9:59 AM
Silverbullet, I wonder if a similar concept to rear WRC wings could be applied to front splitters on drift cars for added downforce? See here http://www.toysauto.co.uk/images/CR02-13-021-4-3-------WRC-8th-Spoil.jpg Side note, how does one insert an image into the comments instead of just a link. I have seen it done before once or twice. Thanks! Dan
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 10:02 AM
Splitters don't work like that.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 11:28 AM
Mike, Would you explain a bit more why the elements on the top of the wing wouldn't work on the top of a splitter? I see it as the same use of end plates on the outer edge of a splitter (see the FXMD NSX at http://www.turbosmartonline.com/images/5981.jpg). I vary well could be wrong, but I was under the impression that the end plates are used to keep the stagnant air above the splitter rather than allowing the air to spill off the edges. Adding the strakes wouldn't take away from the splitter's performance in a straight line and may create more area for stagnation points if the car is traveling at a high degree of yaw. Just a thought.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 12:47 PM
Nitto Tires FTW.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 3:51 PM
I don't have the time to reply to that right now because it is not a simple answer.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 4:29 PM
Thank you to Ron (and Mike!) for such a great in-depth look at "the Joon's" RX-8! A lot of guys have been yearning for more Rotory content and now our minds have been blown :) Although, I don't think I've seen any love or witness a truly built Renesis in an Rx-8, if they even exist?
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 4:59 PM
a6killa: Yes, the start Mazda dry sump is adapted from a 13B. Its all in the front cover so it can be adapted to a 20B with relative ease. The hard part is being able to purchase it. I don't believe its sold to the public. You have to own a Star Mazda race car I think. Ron is certainly a colorful personality. I've known the Bergenholtzes and Nate from Motec since waaaayyy back when. I used to work with them on their turbochargers on their drag CRX even. Those guys are all great and bust ass.
Thursday, September 15, 2011 10:03 PM
Glad to see some rotary info showing up, thanks again Mike for making this happen.
 
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