New Drifter needs help!

[JoeBlack]

Hey guys i'm now getting into the art or drifting. I say art because i don't think of it as a sport when man and machine merges and becomes one. But anyway I now have a A31 cefiro n/a with a mine'secu which give me a little torque, the car is automatic and still got the foot pedal for the e-brake.
I want to make this car into a drifting machine. so i have a couple of questions and you'll can just give me some advice and pointers on what to do.
I should also say i'm not into competion so all the parts don't have to be expensive!!

1. what should i put in the car?

2. can i leave the car N/A and mod the engine to increse performance?

3. HOw do i drift wit a Automatic car? do i change to manual

4. Can you all teach me please?



I know some of these questions may seem dumb but please bear with me. I live in the caribbean and Drifting is now starting to develop. not much people are doing it actually very few like 30 persons comes out to a meet so i just want to show i can do a little something too.

Thanks guys. I will send a pic of the car soon and i'm sure this post will be valuable to many newbies coming up and are just afraid to ask..

 

[SkYwAlKeR]

- change to manual gearbox
- install LSD
- install bucket seat

voila, u can dorifto adi... i guess stock engine still have enough ummph to drift... once u can control ur drift, then only think of increasing ur car bhp... too powerful car also not easy to handle for drifting....

 

[kei-office]

better way to mod to change ur A31 into drift machine is :

1. RB20DET
2. handbrake (not foot brake)
3. manual gearbox
4. suspension
5. lsd
6. go for ur camber/caster setting
7. u are ready to go

just my suggestion for beginner and it's my exprerience also !!!!

cheers

 

[wenshen]

stick with kei's office's idea.. most importantly is change manual gearbox.. and handbrakes.. for ur car.. its footbrakes.. get lsd

but i suggest u to get a bucket seat as well.. for safety.. and also u will learn better in a good sitting position..

 

[JoeBlack]

Ok thanks i can do those things!! the Diff Lsd how do u know the difference between non LSD and LSD basically all of the look the same? I have a Diff from a R32 it seems beefer than the normal A31 suspension, do the R32 normaly come with LSD?

 

[JoeBlack]

Hey Wenshen do u have parts for the A31? and do u ship to like the caribbean? if so how cna we do business?

 

[space_cowboy]

Hie there..

Joe
Firstly, welcome to the world of drifting. As you can see, drifting unites us all. As u have mentioned, ur using a stock A31 N/A with Mine's ECU. Is the ECU for NA or Turbo Charged RB's...? If its for NA its ok, if its for Turbo's, then i'm worried it'll run a bit rich in fuelling. Furthermore, regardless of its Mine's or what, an A31 NA is a bit tougher side when it comes to drifitng, this is because of the weight of the car. The A31 weights 1380 kgs. So I advice a engine conversion will be the best.

As for the LSD. The outside shell looks all the same, as it the inside you should be looking for. Its hard for me to explain, as u need to take out the cover and look for a diamond shape with a tiny circle inside it. Rotate it on the shaft clock and anti clock wise cant help you as it need excessive force to do it. Normally R32 GTS comes with viscous and four wheel steering, if i have not pronounce it wrongly.

Yes. R32's are slightly beefer comapred to A31's suspension, then in the art of drifting, u need real hard suspensions like Tein's, HKS, JIC n etcs. Those after market suspensions.

With a e-brake (hand operated) all all those mentioned modded, u'll find drifting more interesting. U can PM me if u need parts which u cant get there..

Just my 0.005 cents opinion.


cheers'

 

[MrNismo]

1. what should i put in the car?

2. can i leave the car N/A and mod the engine to increse performance?

3. HOw do i drift wit a Automatic car? do i change to manual

4. Can you all teach me please?

Hi JoeBlack,

1. First of all, there is a very basic simple rule to drift - A rear-wheel-drive vehicle with LSD (Limited Slip Differential) and enough power to spin the rear wheels. So obviously, you would want to have a LSD in your car. I've compiled a fairly general write-up on LSD and you can view it here. With the LSD, you will be able to perform some power-oversteer drifts, which is where most people start.

2. Yes you can leave the car N/A, but you'll have to spend quite a lot to mod it up. A cheaper option would be to drop in a RB20DET turbocharged engine, together with the manual transmission. This item can be easily found in Malaysia. If you have more budget, you can go for the RB25DET, which is a 2.5L turbocharged engine with more torque, or a SR20DET, a lighter 4 cylinder 2.0L turbocharged engine from the Silvia series, which is said to be able to improve the weight distribution of the A31 Cefiro as the engine itself is shorter thus sits further back.

3. You drift the auto the same you would with a manual. You can do power-overs, shift-lock, feint, braking, lift-off oversteer. However, you wouldn't be able to fine-tune your drift with the clutch and handbrake. You may want to think of converting your foot-activated parking brake to hand-activated. However, the handbrake is virtually useless with an Auto as when you handbrake, it's trying to lock the rear wheels, which is your driven wheels. With no clutch, the only way to get it locked up is that you put the transmission to N, pull handbrake, and shift it to L again. Something will definitely go wrong soon. I would suggest you convert to a manual transmission to get further excitement. Items you would need to get it done would be the transmission itself, the manual transmission ECU, and the clutch assembly. Once you have the above items it should be a fairly easy job.

4. We do have drift clinics to kick-start beginners and to further refine the skills of the novices. But you're in Trinidad, we're in Malaysia!

Good luck on your project. Don't hesitate to drop us a line.

Regards,
Yoong

 

[JoeBlack]

this is so informative guys thanks but every one has RB20 DET i wanna be different at least for now if u know what i mean! I have a RB20 DET just waiting to go in the car but i like to be the under dog and try to do the unexpected which when all the Skylines, Supra's, RX7, comes out i wanna be able to say yeah N/A power. The Mines ECU give me a lot of Torque i'm not really tech inclined but it has a lot of power like if i'm crusing at 100kms i'm at 4000rpm, i does beautiful burnouts, i had one of my friends test it out yesterday and he did a couple of burnouts he's into drag racing and he was impressed with the car but the ECU is one thing. If i want to get more power from the engine what can i do? I have the rear end of a R32 gts, it's LSD as i fornd out so i will in stall it bet then i have to buy some five stud rims since i'm still four stud but i can handle that. I'll slap in a gearbox in tthe next 2 months as money kinda tight but that is definetly on the cards. But i do think i need more engine power without forced induction but how?

 

[dorikin]

Get manual, without it you wont have clutch kick and other usefull things clutches provide. Get an aftermarket lsd, 1.5 or 2 way.(you could also wind up the stock one for the same effect for hardly any money. It might be illegal there though.
Coilover suspension. Spring rates should be an r32 front with s13 rear so something like 8-6? Get the camber for a good compromise between tyre wear and resonse(2 degrees negative). Change the tie rods. Increase caster. Also make it toe out a few millimetres(2-3?)Change all of the bushes for either solid types or urethane. On the rear subframe put th bushes at the front on top and on the back on the bottom for more sqaut. Thicker swaybars(preferably adjustatble)
The usual intake exhaust mods maybe oil cooler for reliability.
May i suggest an sr20. They are an alloy block versus the iron of the rb20 so the car will feel like a silvia!

The main thing is the lsd and suspension. To start drifting, start with handbrake entires or better yet try to get a ride in a drifters car.