Almost Pro-Am: Kouki s14

The professional drifting scene is pushing the boundaries of keeping drifting fun, with the whispers of a horsepower cap coming to the FormulaD series to keep it fair for the lower budget teams, it seems that especially with the ultra high budget teams getting more and more budget, the upper and lower classes of drift cars are slowing widening.

 Despite all the roomers, there is one thing that unites the lower and upper levels of drift, the S-chassis. This is easily the most drifted car in America if not the world. A shell of one of these fellers can be found at the local junkyard for a couple hundred bucks. Take that cheap starting point and the sky is the limit in terms of power plant, suspension, drive train etc.

 And according to the time commitment one is willing to give in seat time, shop time and the depth of their pockets, these rigs can be taken from the grassroots level to the professional level in no time. And with almost all off the shelf parts.

 This Kouki S14 was spotted at a Stateline Drift event, first I thought this was just another missile for thrashing on, but once the trunk was lifted I knew there was something a little more to this car than met the eye.

The fire extinguisher in this car goes to show that the driver was all about safety, and that was the goal of this event in the first place Get people in their cars and keep them safe, I'm sure the tech inspectors were happy to see that. Especially considering it fed right into the intake system of the engine, this has to be one of the safest set-ups Ive ever seen, any way if this isn't a testament to the fact that this was a really safe machine maybe the next photo will do it?..

Although the Ls1 filled engine bay wasn't the prettiest it didn't take much to notice, that wasn't the goal here. In addition to the Ls1 and the nitrous ... err fire extinguisher, there were some other fun goodies I didn't bother to ask about, but none the less show the competitiveness of this setup.

I never got the specifics on the tranny besides the ACT Clutch, but the shifter doesn't look stock and with an Ls1 up front leaving the stock tranny alone might be a mistake. The rest of the interior featured a OMP racing bucket seat for the driver, a real long hydraulic E-brake handle and a FormulaD spec cage among other goodies.

The footwork featured some Fortune Auto 500 series coil-overs hidden by a drilled and slotted rotors behind  a set of KiKi design 006r wheels hugged by some Achilles ATR sport rubber. This is the first time I came across these wheels, and I have to say they looked pretty sharp, especially with the flat black paint.

And if you look sharp, you drift sharp. And of all the cars pumping mass amounts air that day this was one of the best looking, most fun having Pumps for sure. and that is the goal of drifting, keeping it fun just like the kids who started it all in the mountains on a far east island of the rising sun.

Joshua Sewell

Instagram: josh_sewell_photo

American Missle Crisis: AE86 notch

(This is the first of many posts to come that will host photography from my brand spanking new Nikon D3300, and a hefty arsenal of lenses, enjoy folks).

Some people are all about the moment. Its pretty safe to say that low budget drift missile build is all about this "moment". Take a rear wheel drive chassis, drop a second hand engine in it, a bucket seat if you have any sense of self preservation and go have a blast without a worry in the world, until it breaks.. then, fix it, and repeat.With this little Toyota corolla AE86 notch back, the case seems be pretty strait forward, but taken to another level as this was also a daily driver, and a bold one considering its cosmetic state.

Not only would it most likely be dangerous to drive around the street, but it's also stranded to daytime driving, or at least I hope so with a headlight like the one it was proudly sporting along with a very minimalistic approach to the front license plate attachment, not to mention the task of avoiding the pastry patrol as they look for a reason to flash their roof rack lights and talk to someone about their day. I guess it goes to show how much fun has been had in this feller.

 One thing that was nice to see was that this driver had his priorities strait, along with the one strait piece of metal that hosted his priority phrase. I enjoyed the very prominent American ingenuity with the lack of the bumper. The more air hitting that oil cooler and radiator the better. And we all know that cool air is good air, especially when we are talking missiles.

It is always a treat to run into little gems like this out in the wild. Especially ones that seems to know what a good beating feels like. It's inspiring to see an owner so committed to motor sport and the joys of pumping air, that they will drive something as socially unacceptable as this car.

With Missiles It's a love them or hate them thing. I personally love the way that they mirror their driver, it shows that a man, or woman, can indeed have a bond between themselves and a seemingly useless piece of metal.

So with that, this is Joshua Sewell covering a recent spotting and update on the American missile crisis, signing out.

Joshua Sewell

Instagram: josh_sewell_photo