Tanaka Saimi from PARADE and Nakamura Naoki from BURST are two of the most looked drifters from Kansai(southern part of Japan)area right now. Not only they have been placing in bunch of local drifting contests but ranking high on Msc and D1stree legal. They are team mates when it comes to D1SL because of the same sponsor backing but for MSC and local contests, they are rivals....we decided to take a closer look at both of them and compare their drift cars and their life style.
BURST Nakamura Naoki age: 27years old Heights:170cm weight:75kg Occupation: landscaping, broker hobby:just drifting girlfriend? i'm married.two kids First time? when I was 15 First drift? when I was 17, my older friend took me to the mountains in his kei truck. I thought it was "cool" How many times do you drift in a month? 2~3tmes to the mountains in my silvia,2~3times to the track. I also drift kei truck on dirt for 5~6 times a month. How much do you spent a month for drifting. $600~$700,thats for gas mostly. What are you good at when you work on your car. changing Exhaust manifolds. I use to change the exhaust every month and use to take off manifold like at least once a month. I can change the stock exaust manifold on the SR in 40min! First coverage on Drift heaven magazine? summer of 2005. when you guys did the "shakotan special with a~bo~moon"
What do you think of Tanaka's drifting? Complete opposite of me, he uses his head. when he is on, he is scary good.
Machine check.... "I like s13, because to me s13 is gangster looking" This chassis is Naoki's third one and even the front end is actually been hit really hard and has another chassis's front end welded and strengthen. Naoki believes that s13's weak point is weakness of an old chassis. Adding roll cage, stitch welding the engine bay, and minor support bars around the fire wall keeps his S13 the way he wants. "One year ago I raised his front end about 1.5cm and found out that the car feels better for my driving style, so when people asks for advice I tell them to create a car that understeers. 10mm toe out in the front, 2º negative camber in the rear."
Front Federal RSR 235 40 17 Rear Federal ss595/kenda 265 35 18 D-max suspension section arms Risky knuckles TD06SH-20G turbo
PARADE Tanaka seimi age: 31 Heights: 163cm weight: 55kg occupation: gas station manager hobby: karaoke,outdoor girlfriend? haven't had one for 2~3 years first time? summer of sophomore year first drift?when I was 19, in ca18 NA silvia. How many times do you drift a month? I go to the mountains once a month, 5~6 times a month to the track. How much do you spend a month for drifting? $800~2000. mostly tires and gas. when I have extra, I save it for D1SL. what are you good at when you work on your car? I can change the diff in 30 min. I've done it at the track way too many times.
What do you think of Nakamura's drift? I don't like it but he is extremely good! his style looks rough but actually a really define driver. He seem to have a really good reflex.
Machine check....
SMS body...(seimi mawaranai system=seimi never spin system) Seimi believes that his old twisted cracks every where body is good for holding extreme angle while drifting. He says that "since my chases is so old and crashed so many times that every time I jack up the car, the car feels little bit different. so when the car doesn't feel right, I loosen every suspension bolts and retightening them,,this helps a lot. I don't even have roll cage in my car." "I believe that when the chases is weak, it acts like big a rubber band,,, giving you more room for extreme angle etc.." He also says that raising the front of the car by 1cm gave him better feelings. "You basically setting more weight in the back for traction and slide the front end more."
Front federal RS-R 235 40 17 (some times ss595 235 40 17) Rear federal ss595 255 35 18 Dmax suspention Yanak arms (Toes at 0 Camber is at 1 and a half to 2 and a half depending on the track) Ryo knouckles Nismo 6 speed tranny (final gear of 4.1) T300 turbo+Tomei 265º cams