The Road to Abu Dhabi Part Two- Getting There is Half the Fun
By Mike Kojima
If you recall, last month, Formula D Team Falken ace Dai Yoshihara got an invitation to participate in a Formula D expansion event in Abu Dhabi the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The event is going to be held at the Yas Marina Circuit, a world class F-1 approved facility on February 25th 2011.
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| Fabbing away for hours straight, Costa made this whole pile of trick stainless exhaust parts! Kerryann De La Cruz’s R32 GTR sits as a backdrop! |
Dai’s normal Factory Team Falken S13 was completely dismantled as it was undergoing refurbishment for the 2011 Formula D season so Dai’s normal ride and crew were not available. This left Dai with having to rely on the crew for his privately funded time attack program to convert his time attack car over to drift spec.
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| Weld, Weld, Weld. Often we would take a part Costa had just finished and install it on the car. |
Of course the car had to leave a month early to make the trek by ship to Abu Dhabi. This left Dai’s crew with just a few days to convert his mildly built street class time attack car into a Formula D Pro drift car. In our last installment we chronicled the first 48 hours of converting the car over to drift spec, now you can witness the last 36 hours as Dai’s time attack crew of Costa Gialamas, Chris Marion and Mike Kojima struggle with cold, sleep deprivation and bad luck to get the car to the LA Port in time to make the boat!
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| After finishing the exhaust, Costa turned his attention to the intake piping with just 24 hours to go until the car has to load on the ship! We chose the big Greddy intercooler because Eric Hsu told us to go big tube and fin for lighter weight and better airflow through the core for the radiator. The two inlet, one outlet design also worked well for our twin turbo system. The JWT intercoolers that came with our turbo kit would not fit under our aftermarket nose. We didn’t plan it this way but this setup flows really well and is good for lots of power. |
If you are a fan of Navy Seal, Dick Marchinko’s writing you will understand what our title means.
