FORMULA DRIFT IRWINDALE 2008 (Photos)

[EverythingDrift]

We have uploaded and added more pics from our post earlier in the day. With 190+ pictures and more to be added in the day. Enjoy this gallery of Formula Drift: Finals Pits/Practice and Un-Seeded Qualifying session. Click here for the Gallery...

[Brian]

I can't believe people made such a stink about the SA R34 when you go ahead and look at photos of that Sears car.

Jesus Christ. Is that even a "car" anymore?

unreal.

[110octane]

Grab a rule book and show someone at FD a rule the Sky breaks........Good Luck. The reason there was stink about the R34 was because they heavily modified the front of the Unibody. It's not anyone''s fault but there own that they chose a shitty car to try and drift. Maybe teams should consider a chassis and it's strengths and weaknesses before making a decision to try to build a competitive drift car out of it. Does that mean Rhys, Darren, Ryan, should be penalized for picking cars that lend themselves to the sport. I think it's pretty *Censored**Censored**Censored**Censored*ing smart! Why not set yourself up for success?

I am sick and tired of hearing everyone complaining about the Solstice/Sky yet no one can find anything wrong with it.

It is the prime example of a builder reading the rule book, understanding what is allowed and building a car to be what they believe will be competitive.

The Sky has yet to be consistently competitive but I feel it has a lot of potential and it looks sick. Sure, it's not traditional "cookie cutter" S chassis style, but I commend them for pushing the envelope. Besides that, the car is still in it's development year and I think it's had what, like 4 or 5 top 16 finishes?

Take notes Mr. negative. Because whether you like it or not, there's money to be made in Professional drifting and wheres there money there are people that are trying to get it. The cars will continue to evolve. If you don't like it continue your "drifting is dead" campaign, but spare the rest of us who enjoy watching the sport evolve and the engineering of the cars rival that of other autosports series.

Keep the negativity on ZipTied where it belongs.........K!

[Brian]

right


In one corner, we have a car that appears to be made totally out of tubes with some frp (maybe?) bumpers and body panels. This is totally fine.

In the other corner we have a car that changed the front suspension to the same kind most of the other cars run. This is 100% illegal.


Yeah, I'm sure I'm the ONLY one who thinks this seems a bit weird.

I really don't care to read a Formula D rule book. No thanks. I'd rather have FUN drifting. I'll just enjoy the money I have made from it already.

I'm not on Ziptied, but thanks for throwing it out there.


Who are you anyways?

p.s. I can only assume the SA team with the R34 is still higher placed than the Sky?

[chrisfb]

Originally Posted by 110octane

Grab a rule book and show someone at FD a rule the Sky breaks........Good Luck. The reason there was stink about the R34 was because they heavily modified the front of the Unibody. It's not anyone''s fault but there own that they chose a shitty car to try and drift. Maybe teams should consider a chassis and it's strengths and weaknesses before making a decision to try to build a competitive drift car out of it. Does that mean Rhys, Darren, Ryan, should be penalized for picking cars that lend themselves to the sport. I think it's pretty *Censored**Censored**Censored**Censored*ing smart! Why not set yourself up for success?

I am sick and tired of hearing everyone complaining about the Solstice/Sky yet no one can find anything wrong with it.

It is the prime example of a builder reading the rule book, understanding what is allowed and building a car to be what they believe will be competitive.

The Sky has yet to be consistently competitive but I feel it has a lot of potential and it looks sick. Sure, it's not traditional "cookie cutter" S chassis style, but I commend them for pushing the envelope. Besides that, the car is still in it's development year and I think it's had what, like 4 or 5 top 16 finishes?

Take notes Mr. negative. Because whether you like it or not, there's money to be made in Professional drifting and wheres there money there are people that are trying to get it. The cars will continue to evolve. If you don't like it continue your "drifting is dead" campaign, but spare the rest of us who enjoy watching the sport evolve and the engineering of the cars rival that of other autosports series.

Keep the negativity on ZipTied where it belongs.........K!

Is saturn in any other country?

so if its not why is it right hand drive? Thats firewall modifacation to me, but who knows right? No one knows and that's the problem!

[Mars]

I believe the saturn sky is called an opel in EU

[110octane]

The Saturn is available as an Opel in other parts of the world. However, it isn't currently available in RHD anywhere. If you think firewall modification is not allowed in FD you better brush up on the rules before assuming. The only mod made for the RHD conversion on the Sky to the firewall appears to be a 2" hole for the steering shaft to enter the engine area. Pretty sure that's not considered a modification as many competitors drill holes in the firewall for various reasons.

[Brian]

excuse me, 110 guy.

Who are you?

I'm just curious.

[Bebop]

lmao!!

here we go again,

brian basicly summed it all up

[Brian]

Hey Blaze, do you want me to let you in on a little somethin somethin?


The SA 34 now gets MORE angle than before.
Don't tell the other guys though, they might make a stink again.






DRIFT!!!!!



And and extra diddle daddle just for you


Changing a car from Left hand Drive to Right hand drive takes a lot more than a simple 2 inch hole being cut.

Shhhh don't let the cat out of the bag though!!!

Splash Mountain!!!

[chrisfb]

who cares though the season is over, no more speculation lets just let it be okay?

and no its not just a 2inch hole in the firewall, a new rack, power steering lines, a master cylinder hole, brake lines, clutch master and lines, but its cool i love d-mac hes a nice guy so no direspect to anyone, they were pre-approved im sure so its cool.

[110octane]

As usual, you guys are all out in left field making assumptions. So a 2" inch hole, 3 3/8 holes, and a few small holes to mount things constitutes a breach of the firewall rule? You guys should read the rules before you make yourselves look ignorant. Oops, you already did.

I guess you'll just have to trust me on this one.

Yea......right......apparently you really weren't there Brian. The SA car definitely does not make more angle.

Haha....I can't wait until you see JR's new ride and the car the NuFormz team is about to release at SEMA. You'll forget all about D-mac's firewall. P.S. They are smart and have been preapproved and inspected prior to final build.

Quit whining and enjoy FD for what it is. If you don't enjoy it, keep your negativity to yourself.

I'm done here. Have fun "summing it up" again for all your fanboys BH.

[GBC]

Drifting racecars is not cool.

Drifting is not racing.

...rulebook...

Drift Racing for the Win!!!

[Brian]

Let me guess, You are in the "industry" and don't want to show your real identity. lol.

I didn't say anything about the firewall being illegal. I simply said it was MORE than just cutting a 2 inch hole. Stop assuming things and chill out a bit Nobody here is attacking you. Stay calm.

Actually I was there and I stand by what I said. If you don't believe it, fine by me.


Well, I am fine with having "fanboys" I believe I speak for a lot of people who choose to remain silent.



I can't wait for somebody to take a go-kart and put a Dodge Caravan body on it. I hope that is the next big thing.

[deadpirate]

Originally Posted by 110octane

Yea......right......apparently you really weren't there Brian. The SA car definitely does not make more angle.

sorry...your wrong...we make more angle with the oem suspension than with the C34 suspension...we did however have to add stoppers in the arms to keep from binding up..but we do get more angle...sorry

Originally Posted by 110octane

The reason there was stink about the R34 was because they heavily modified the front of the Unibody. It's not anyone''s fault but there own that they chose a shitty car to try and drift. Maybe teams should consider a chassis and it's strengths and weaknesses before making a decision to try to build a competitive drift car out of it. Does that mean Rhys, Darren, Ryan, should be penalized for picking cars that lend themselves to the sport.

ummm...the r34 sucks and is a shitty car to drift??? yet..we finished top ten for the year in 7th place..just a few points behind 5th and 6th...maybe its not the car you should be talking about...because the car is amazing...while about 98% of the teams have ran into tremendeous amounts of problems..we havent had a single mechanical issues with our car

[Zephyr]

Originally Posted by 110octane

The Saturn is available as an Opel in other parts of the world. However, it isn't currently available in RHD anywhere. If you think firewall modification is not allowed in FD you better brush up on the rules before assuming. The only mod made for the RHD conversion on the Sky to the firewall appears to be a 2" hole for the steering shaft to enter the engine area. Pretty sure that's not considered a modification as many competitors drill holes in the firewall for various reasons.

It's known as the Opel GT, and it's LHD only because it's made here in the good ol' U S of A and the plant that handles its assembly does not have the capabilities to produce RHD vehicles for UK and Australian markets.

That car looks like a jungle gym under its shell though...monkey bars weeee..... from far away the differential looks like it's chillin on a PVC pipe

[chrisfb]

whoa! calm down everyone! lol

The season is over, lets just take a few months off and enjoy it! No more speculation on cars....at least not until next year! jk!

[Brian]

People are typing on a keyboard hooked up to a computer.
Who ISN'T calm?

[deadpirate]

Originally Posted by Brian

People are typing on a keyboard hooked up to a computer.
Who ISN'T calm?

the person who posted above me isnt calm

[Brian]

Do you mean ME?

[sa-drift.com]

Originally Posted by 110octane

Grab a rule book and show someone at FD a rule the Sky breaks........Good Luck. The reason there was stink about the R34 was because they heavily modified the front of the Unibody.

To name a few: 8.9.1.6, 8.1.1.4, 8.1.1.1 but honestly, does it really matter? This is supposed to be a pro series with uniform rules that apply to all the cars the same way. We didn't protest ANY cars, we don't feel spying and protesting other teams cars creates a happy series to race in nor does it seem like the right way to be competitive in a series.

Just to set the record straight. You're calling the use of unmodified, weld-on, OEM wheel tubs from the same platform "Heavily modified?" No fabwork, no custom parts, nothing but OEM. Really? I mean really? In many performance aspects, it's a downgrade. BTW, the brakes on the car have been downgraded to OEM R32 GTS models, are they "heavily modified" in your opinion as well? It's ignorance like that and fear of a new heavy hitter from Japan qualifying 1st at Long Beach that caused the "stink" about the R34.

Originally Posted by 110octane

It's not anyone''s fault but there own that they chose a shitty car to try and drift. Maybe teams should consider a chassis and it's strengths and weaknesses before making a decision to try to build a competitive drift car out of it. Does that mean Rhys, Darren, Ryan, should be penalized for picking cars that lend themselves to the sport. I think it's pretty *Censored**Censored**Censored**Censored*ing smart! Why not set yourself up for success?

Just the facts:

Round 1 - Top 16
Round 2 - 2nd place Podium
Round 3 - Top 16
Round 4 - Top 4
Round 5 - Top 8
Round 6 - Top 16
Round 7 - Top 4

Consistant top 16 or better finishes at every round, regardless of suspension setup and considering we're running a "safe" engine tune that was really lacking on a few of the courses but lasted the year without blowing.

5th in the series overall performance-wise (7th if you consider season qualifying pts stripped)

Triple Crown Champion performance-wise (2nd to rhys by 4 pts if you consider triple crown qualifying pts stripped)

2008 Rookie of the Year

So yeah...no success here. Just "trying" to drift a "shitty car."

Originally Posted by 110octane

Keep the negativity on ZipTied where it belongs.........K!

ehhh, yeah, what you said...


Oh and, go visit www.sa-drift.com new vids, galleries, etc. all the time!

[110octane]

To name a few: 8.9.1.6, 8.1.1.4, 8.1.1.1 but honestly, does it really matter? This is supposed to be a pro series with uniform rules that apply to all the cars the same way. We didn't protest ANY cars, we don't feel spying and protesting other teams cars creates a happy series to race in nor does it seem like the right way to be competitive in a series.

I suggest you take a closer look at the Saturn Sky. It doesn't break any of those rules as they are clearly defined.

Just the facts:

Round 1 - Top 16
Round 2 - 2nd place Podium
Round 3 - Top 16
Round 4 - Top 4
Round 5 - Top 8
Round 6 - Top 16
Round 7 - Top 4

Consistant top 16 or better finishes at every round, regardless of suspension setup and considering we're running a "safe" engine tune that was really lacking on a few of the courses but lasted the year without blowing.

5th in the series overall performance-wise (7th if you consider season qualifying pts stripped)

Triple Crown Champion performance-wise (2nd to rhys by 4 pts if you consider triple crown qualifying pts stripped)

2008 Rookie of the Year

Point taken. I am sorry I made that generalization. But, if you think about it that particular chassis is not an "ideal" chassis for drifting due to it's longer wheelbase and inherently heavy chassis. I guess what I should of said is that there are more competitive platforms to choose from. I DO believe that the car is well set up and the driver is VERY talented. And as I said earlier, I like the variation of platforms, so whatever. Nice Job. You don't know this but I worked with Takatori pre Skyline in 2006 and 2007 during D1.....cool dude!

[Bebop]

But, if you think about it that particular chassis is not an "ideal" chassis for drifting due to it's longer wheelbase and inherently heavy chassis.

.....

ROFL
LOL
LOLER SNAKES
HAHAHAHAHA

Are you seriously saying this car has a long wheel base and is heavy.

I can think of 5 cars off the top of my head that have had more success in Formula D and D1 that are much longer and heavier. 2 of which are on your team (I'm figuring you work with team falken, kinda think I know who you are).

Is vaughn's car any lighter and shorter then the SA skyline.

What about your favorite driver koguchis chaser?

Sam's vipers were always long and heavy

RMRs GTOs got some size on them also.

Nomukens R34 was probably heavier

I guess what I should of said is that there are more competitive platforms to choose from.

HAHAHAHA, and there are a lot worst and you should know this working with falken. There is a lot of hype behind the skyline, its a fan favorite. Its a harder car to set up, but if you can do it...why not? It helps at the end of the day for sponsors also (IE when RYO was going to come to the states and built a S15 over a RX7 and R32).

I think that's the main reason for using the R34, sponsors like that automatically your car is a favorite for a lot of potential consumers.


SA... I thought I was the only one at the end of round 7 thinking about that point deduction. What a shame, hope it doesn't discourage the team to come back next year.

[EverythingDrift]

Forgot to post this up, so heres Saturday's photos. Enjoy... Click It Or Ticket

[Angry Earl]

dope photos as always.