As these words are laid, the brand-new 2004 season of D1 Drifting is set to get underway. Despite the United States' relative squareness on the world motorsport scene, this year the inaugural series event was scheduled to take place in America, at Irwindale Speedway in Irwindale, Calif. And for this month's issue, we were lucky enough to lock down one of the top competing vehicles to appear on our coveted cover space. Owned and built by Blitz Co., Japan, it's the first and only four-door Skyline to slide in sanctioned drifting competition. We got our dirty little hands on it thanks to our friends at Blitz North America, who trailered the ER34 sedan to our studios for a set of beauty shots just three days before the highly anticipated Irwindale event.
The 2004 season marks the third year this car has been in the D1 Drifting series. It placed seventh and third overall the previous two years, impressive when you consider the car's a lot bigger and heavier than other, more popular drifting platforms like the nimble Silvia and AE86. The Skyline's driver, Ken Nomura (tagged in drifting circles by his Alpha Street Fighter name, Nomuken), has been called the number-one crowd pleaser in Japan, and has been compared to the NHRA's John Force (top-fuel burnout king) in terms of track presence and spectator popularity. Like Force, Nomuken is best known for deliberately producing copious amounts of tire smoke while behind the wheel, a product of extreme cornering angles and liberal throttle use. While any seasoned drifter will tell you boiling the tires isn't necessarily the fastest way to get around the track, there's no question it makes for a hell of a good show.
Frankly, we can't think of many cars better suited to converting solid rubber into smoke than a modified Skyline. This one has had its front wheels unplugged (the 4 door skyline comes standard RWD) and now runs strictly RWD, since the all-wheel drivetrain simply produces too much grip to break traction for any decent length of time. The engine was rebuilt with forged internals that increase bore and stroke slightly by 1mm and 2mm respectively. This increased total displacement by about a tenth of a liter, from 2.5 to 2.6, and dropped the compression ratio to 8.9:1. Up top, the cylinder head has been ported and polished, while the valvetrain equipment remains untouched except for a pair of Blitz cams pushing 9.5mm lift at 252 degrees of duration.
Obviously, it's the stuff outside the motor that really puts the power to the pavement. Blitz replaced the entire exhaust tract with premium stainless steel and titanium equipment: Blitz exhaust manifold, Nismo cat, full Blitz exhaust (downpipe), URAS Type RT titanium muffler. A single big turbo now spins on the screaming hot exhaust gases, a Blitz-spec K5-660R, which pumps the intake manifold to the tune of approximately 1.2bar (that's nearly 18 psi). Boost and fuel curves are modified and monitored by a Blitz/URAS SBC I-D, Power Meter I-D and proprietary Blitz engine software. To keep the fire breathing powerplant running as cool as possible, a Blitz Type B oil cooler and big front-mount intercooler have been set in the lower front bumper.
The result of the engine upgrades? That would be about 468ps if you're speaking in metric terms, or 52kgm of torque. Here in America, that corresponds to an even 460 hp and about 376 lb-ft.--scary, scary stuff.
Since the car's been converted to rear-wheel drive to make it competitive on the drifting circuit, other drivetrain upgrades have been employed to make sure things stay in crisp running condition. Most importantly, the factory final drive has been replaced with a more capable Nismo diff, along with GTR axles to deal with the increased torque. Up front, a muscular ORC twin-plate racing clutch mediates between the boosted straight six and the car's transmission.
Comprehensive Blitz upgrades were also applied to the suspension, including Blitz/Sachs coilovers at all corners and augmented Blitz (Nismo) anti-sway bars, 22mm front and 27.2mm in the rear. The brakes remain untouched except for upgraded pads. The rear suspension arms were replaced with improved Nismo units. The car's wheel and tire package now consists of Blitz Technospeed Z-2 wheels, sized 18x95 and 10x10.5 inches front and rear, respectively, shod in Dunlop DZ101 tires in 245/40-18 and 275/35-18 formats.
Despite the very real tendency for drift cars to occasionally kiss the odd barrier or wall (or fellow competing vehicle), the car's exterior received aerodynamic enhancements to bring its outward demeanor up to that of its driver--who, incidentally, was recently billed on www.drifting.com as "the ultimate drifter...and loud mouth talker." These exterior treatments include URAS D1 Spec front and rear bumpers and side skirts, as well as fiberglass front fenders and fiberglass rear fender flares. The whole idea, we guess, is that if the unthinkable should happen and something does break, the panels can be replaced in their entirety rather than having to be repaired. Other additions include a Blitz original carbon-fiber trunk, and Top Secret carbon fiber hood designed to funnel air into strategic locations within the engine bay.
Last, the interior has been subject to a few choice safety mods--placed, obviously, in the interest of protecting the driver. There's a four-point roll cage, carbon-Kevlar-backed Blitz competition bucket seats, and Team Tech racing harnesses to keep the driver strapped down. Engine feedback is facilitated by Blitz Racing Meter DC gauges. The rest of the interior has been basically stripped.
This year at the Irwindale event, the Blitz ER34 placed third overall in a compelling bid to get the jump on the rest of the competition. If you missed the show, you're just going to have to witness Nomuken and the Blitz ER34 tearing up their tires on a video or Web site. That is, unless you've got the funds to get you to Japan sometime in the next couple months. We'll be hoping next year for another event or two scheduled to take place on this side of the ocean. God knows we've got the fever.