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For 2011 Mike is upping his game by building an all new car; an E85 BMW Z4 roadster. Why a Z4? One theory that’s floating around in drifting car design is that the optimal wheelbase for a high powered drift car is around 100 inches. The Z4 is a close 98 inches. The Z4’s front suspension is much more straightforward than the E92’s so it can be easily modified for more steering angle, without causing scrub or messing up front grip, driver feedback and self steer.
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| The rear suspension links bushings are replaced with bearings and the links replaced with adjustable fabricated parts for camber and toe adjustment. |
With the right size and suitable suspension, the Z4 began its process into becoming a dedicated pro drift car. A lot of people don’t know that Mike Essa, the owner and chief guy at GSR Autosport is a talented fabricator and a technically oriented thinker as well as a top driver. With a road racing driving and car building background Mike has the advantage of being both a driver and a technically savvy car builder.
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| The rear subframe rubber bushings are replaced with solid aluminum. |
The Z4 was first stripped to a bare chassis. Mike then set about modifying the front suspension. The spindles were cut and welded for much more steering angle and quicker ratio steering with the correct Ackerman angle. The spindles were also modified to increase the steering inclination angle and caster to correct the scrub radius and to give more self aligning torque. Camber and caster will be adjustable through camber plates.
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| Vibrant goodies! Vibrant supplied all of the oval 304 stainless steel exhaust tubing. Oval is cool for more ground clearance. Vibrant also supplied all of the aluminum tubing for the charge pipes. |
The lower control arm mounting points are modified with spherical bearings and delrin bushings. The outer pivots are adjustable for roll center, camber curve and bump steer. A Speedway Engineering adjustable front anti sway bar will be used. KW Motorsports 3-way adjustable struts with inverted shafts and linear bearings will be used. These shocks are proving to be the damper of choice in Formula D. The finished result will be a car that should steer exceptionally well.
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| More Vibrant goodness. V-Band clamps make the exhaust system quick release for easy maintenance and repair. Pressure flex joints do the same for the charge piping. Silicone couplers and hose are useful. The most cool pieces are the Synapse Engineering wastegate and Blow Off Valve. |
