Round 4 of the Lateral Drift Pro-Am Championship moved back to the metro in Eastwood City last June 26-27. With the championship going past the halfway mark, the points leaders tried to outdo themselves while those trying to catch up showed them that the series is far from over.

With great power comes great smoke – Pacho Blanco smoking the tires of the Motul/Autoplus Nissan S13

The Destroyer showing his own brand of power and tire smoke that made him the top qualifier for the Pro Division

Hot on his heels from his first podium finish during the last leg, Team AutoIndustriya.com-Kumho Tires’ Jason “The Destroyer” Choachuy truly put on a good show taking the top spot in the qualifiers for the Pro Division. Topping the scoresheets in the Amateur Division was Alvin Dayrit in his first outing in the series.

In the end, it would be classic matchup between Choachuy (Nissan Cefiro) and Yellow Cab’s Alex Perez (Nissan S13), where The Destroyer literally hands the victory to Perez on a silver platter with a spin during their first championship tandem battle.

Meanwhile in the Amateur Division, youngblood Kar Montaner drove his SR20DE powered Corona to the limit and took TRS’ Bjorn Ongtiaobok (Mazda BT50) to school.

Choachuy sticks it close to Blanco

Tayao tries to go side-by-side with Ronquillo

Hurt and still fighting – Audel Sison soldiers on after a brief encounter with the wall in the first turn

Pro Division
1. Alex Perez
2. Jason Choachuy
3. Kevin Tayao

Amateur Division
1. Kar Montaner
2. Bjorn Ongtiaobok
3. Alvin Dayrit

From just helping out in his father’s garage at fourteen to buying his first AE86, Cyrus Martinez is now a proud holder of a D1 Grand Prix US license. He is the first Filipino driver to achieve this feat and is also the first Filipino driver to actively compete in professional drifting. He visited Manila recently and we at Tuned got to have an exclusive interview with him courtesy of local Megan Racing distributor HART International.

How long have you been into cars?

I’ve been into cars ever since my dad got me working with him when we first moved to the states. I was fourteen then, basically changing tires and helping him out with whatever I could do. It was just a home-based garage for people who wanted to save money. I basically did it to earn some extra cash for myself.

What inspired you to go into drifting?

In 2003, after attending my first drifting event in Irwindale. The winner was Katsuhiro Ueo, who was driving a Toyota AE86. I was into drag racing at that time, but I saw drifting as a different form or art of drifting. It was exciting for the crowd and for the drivers at the same time. That practically got me into drifting. I bought myself a Toyota Corolla AE86 the next day and started watching videos and riding along with friends who were already into drifting at that time.

How long have you been with Megan Racing?

I’ve been with the company for three years, handling marketing, research and development, and product support. Driving was just for the last year and a half, which started when my boss saw a future for me in drifting, he decided to sponsor me.

What’s your impression of the Philippine aftermarket industry?

The local industry has a lot of marketing involved like Motul and Autoplus. At first, when I visited Banawe, it looked so disorganized and I actually thought the Philippines was really far behind. But when I got to visit high profile shops like Autoplus, who are really passionate with their cars. They also have a lot of nice parts from major brands there as well. Which brings me to conclude that the market shows a lot of promise for growth especially with the influences from the Japanese and American markets. Filipinos will always love cars, they love fixing up cars. There’s always new cars coming out and more cars to fix up.

What can you say about the Philippine drift scene?

I’m actually very impressed. I first got to see the videos of Lateral Drift online about two years ago, and I wasn’t expecting much. I was very surprised to see that its gotten far from what it was. The drifts were a lot better, and the cars also improved by influences from drifting in Japan and the States. I also saw that the Filipino drifters are actually stepping up their driving. The drivers want to learn, they want to get to the point of achievement. I’m actually impressed with the skills of the Lateral Drift drivers, especially with the level of competition they have. I’d like to thank Mr. David Feliciano for letting me drive in their series even just with a demo run.

What can you say about the cars here?

There are actually very expensive cars here. I actually had a chance to drive the Motul-Autoplus S13 in Round 2 of the Lateral Drift Championship. I was surprised when I first drove the car, it was very responsive. A lot of horsepower for such a small track, it was really easy to drive. The cars are starting to get put well together.

What about driving in the Manila?

I’ve driven, and its really crazy. Its really hard almost like you’re to crash every time, especially those crazy motorcycle riders who drive like there’s no tomorrow. The taxi drivers here are very good too, they can weave through the tight streets of Manila so easy.

What’s your best achievement so far?

That would be getting my 2009 D1 Grand Prix US license held in Anaheim. Because when I first started, I was actually watching these guys, now I’m actually a part of the action.

What are your future plans?

I’d want to be one of the top drivers for D1. I’m also aiming to get my license for Formula D in 2010. Its really hard to get in because you’re going against some of the best drivers as well. Some of the participants are actually demo drivers and stunt drivers. Not that D1 is easy, because the Japanese drivers are really good also. They started drifting after all. Its not going to be easy but you know the Pinoy way of thinking. Kung kaya nila, kaya ko din yan! (If they can do it, I can also do it!)

Any last words?

Well I’d like to thank Motul and Autoplus for letting me drive their car and for giving me a chance to show the drifting that I had to offer from the States. I’d also like to thank my mom and dad, “I’m here in the Philippines!” And last but not the least to my girlfriend, who regards herself as my number one fan.

The weapon of choice for propelling the car is an RB20DET, a 2.0-liter DOHC inline six cylinder engine with ceramic turbo and a side-mounted intercooler. This is a direct bolt-on engine for a basic drift car that has a decent amount of power and torque to be competitive in drifting events. In stock trim, the engine produces 215ps@6400rpm and peak torque of 265Nm@3200rpm. The low-mileage engine was sourced and installed by DMF Drift Garage. Additional fuel requirements of the new engine prompted the installation of an Airtex high flow in-tank fuel pump. A new Fremuff Drift-spec 3-inch exhaust system was also installed since the engine did not come with an exhaust.

Feeling the thirst for more power, the car was brought to Autoplus Sportzentrium for performance upgrades. A custom intake system was made and finished off with an HKS Super Power Flow filter. The engine clutter was vastly reduced with the modification of the standard intake manifold to a better flowing unit personally made by Raymond Go of Autoplus. This was then the blueprint used for the new aluminum piping system for the new aluminum front mount intercooler which was interconnected with Sard silicone hoses. To better control the fuel delivery, a Sard Adjustable Fuel Pressure Regulator was installed while the standard fuel rail was also modified. A Sard R2D2 Blowoff Valve was installed to help relieve excess boost pressure. To adjust the boost of the turbine, a Turbosmart manual boost controller was installed, while a Sard Electronic Boost Gauge monitors the pressure. The engine oil was then replaced with Double-Ester 100% Synthetic Motul 300V oil the engine’s new lifeblood. An aluminum radiator was also installed for better cooling and filled with Motul Inguel engine coolant.

Drivetrain

Essential for every drift car is a locking differential. We were able to source a surplus Nismo Limited Slip Differential from DMF Drift Garage, who also replaced the differential housing with a Nissan Silvia unit which has cooling fins which help a lot when the car is going sideways. A short-cut process to this is to weld the stock unit together to create a limited-slip effect. This is very cheap and also very dangerous. Therefore it is not advisable.

We also decided to upgrade the clutch to a metallic six-puck racing clutch with uprated pressure plate for better power transfer from the engine to the wheels. The uprated clutch is also able to handle more power. It was rated to work with cars with up to 300 wheel horsepower. Now flowing through the gearbox is Motul’s Gear300 transmission oil which provides protection for the gears under the stress of drifting.

Wiring

The backbone of every modern day engine would be the ECU (engine control unit), this controls the functions of the engines via processors which basically tells the engine how to perform based on the readouts from the corresponding electronic sensors. With all these inside, a proper electrical wiring system should be in place for the car to run properly. For this job, we employed the services of Auto Precision’s wiring guru Eric Evangelista.

Evangelista brings more than twenty years of experience in auto electrical wiring from mechanically controlled to electronically controlled models. His meticulous detail in working was also one of the considerations for the job, because we wanted a properly running car. With a major conversion like this, one bad connection or two could result in burnt out sensors or worse, a burning car. He carefully mapped out and reconstructed the wiring harness from the our RB20DET transplant engine which comes from a Nissan Skyline R32 GTS-T to adapt with the electrical system of the car. An extra detail added to the engine harness was a quick release coupling system for easy removal in case of major engine servicing.

After the wiring was done, and the car running properly, we decided to make the engine more tunable by upgrading our engine management. We chose the route of the Nistune system which is an add-on daughter board replacing the standard ROM chip allowing full ECU tuning parameters. Tuning was done on the Dynojet at Autoplus Sportzentrium by engine tuner Francisco Blanco. The result was an astonishing 249.1 wheel horsepower and 251 lbs-ft of torque on an internally stock engine.

Engine oils were made to clean, and lubricate engines. Advanced synthesizing and refining of lubricants have actually helped engines perform more efficiently while producing more power with less wear. Many engines today have in fact longer service intervals due to the advancement of lubricants, which makes cars use less oil throughout its service life.

It would be interesting to know also that not all oils are made equal. In a recent interview with Dr. Katsuya Arai, oil engineer for MOTUL Japan, we find out all about the company and what makes it different from other companies. Dr. Arai started with a little history of the company, which started more than 150 years ago in the whale oil business, which later evolved to developing some of the most advanced lubricants in the world. The company is based in France with subsidiaries and research facilities based in the US, Japan, Germany, Spain and Italy.

Dr. Arai also related that the company has been in Japan for more than 20 years collaborating with manufacturers and motorsports teams to develop lubricants for Japanese vehicles. He himself has been working together with the Subaru World Rally Team to develop lubricants for each challenging rally course they encounter. MOTUL’s participation in major motorsport events that include the FIA GT, Super GT, World Rally Championship.

MOTUL’s milestones actually include introducing some of the world’s firsts in the market. They were the one’s who introduced the first semi-synthetic lubricant in 1966 called Century 2100, and 100% synthetic lubricant ever designed for cars called Century 300V later in 1971. “Better than others” is the company phrase, which clearly shows in the modern 300V double-ester oil, which is one of the better if not the best oil in the market today.

Better lubricants also mean that your vehicles will run more efficiently, thereby providing a significant power increase and giving better protection at the same time. But of course, having high quality oil does not mean that you do not need to change your oil regularly. Dr. Arai reminds vehicle owners to follow manufacturer recommendations for lubricant replacement intervals to keep their machines in tip-top shape.

Recently introduced in the Philippines through AutoplusSportzentrium, MOTUL has become one of the most popular lubricant brands and is being used by some of the most demanding customers and top racing teams in drag racing, drift, formula 3, and touring cars.

The year was 1999, with the introduction of the all new R34 Nissan Skyline GTR road car, Nissan’s motorsports division Nismo, decides to use the all new chassis in the most popular and competitive racing series in Japan, the JGTC (Japanese Grand Touring Car Championship). With its potent twin turbo RB26DETT engine producing 500hp, the car clinches the championship in its maiden year. The next two years however would prove to be a dry spell for the GTR.

In 2003, Nismo decided to change the engine from the RB26DETT to a twin turbo 3.0 liter VQ30DETT unit. The change would prove to be for the better as the Xanavi Nismo team got back the championship. Nismo would be switching to the 350Z chassis in 2004 so the 2003 championship marked a grand going away party for the GTR.

2003 also marked the year that Motul, an international lubricants company, decided to sponsor the JGTC. Running the No. 22 Motul Pitwork GTR, the team would win the 2nd race of the season (Fuji-500) and get 4th overall in the championship standings with Masami Kageyama and Richard Lyons behind the wheel.

In March of 2007, four years after the GTR retired from the JGTC, Autoplus Sportzentrium, the Philippine distributor of Motul automotive lubricants, brought the No. 22 car for local fans to view and behold. Although this car shares the same name as the road going car, that’s about the only similarity they have. This is a pure race car with no expense spared in the pursuit of absolute performance.

The body is purely carbon fiber, with a steel roof to aid in chassis rigidity. The underside is also carbon fiber and completely flat to ensure that air travels at a fast velocity, creating low pressure and sucking the car down. Diffusers at the front and rear, aerodynamically tuned bumpers, and a massive rear wing all contribute to huge amounts of downforce. The suspension consists of horizontally mounted springs and shock absorbers with remote reservoirs. The engine is a 3.0 liter twin turbo unit, producing a restricted 500hp. Power is transferred to the ground via a quad plate carbon clutch, through the XTrac six speed sequential manual transmission, and finally down to the massive 13-inch wide rear wheels and Bridgestone Potenza slick tires (this race car is RWD unlike the AWD road going GTR). The inside is purely business with a carbon fiber dashboard, quick-detachable steering wheel with LCD monitor, as well as a multitude of switches to control brake bias (front-rear, left-right), engine mapping, and other vital parameters. A single racing seat holds the driver tight (an additional racing seat is installed at the passenger area for demo runs).

A curb weight of around 1000kg or approximately 600kg lighter than the road going GTR ensures a 0-100kph time of around 2.9secs. What about the results of the suspension and downforce modifications? Think 2.1Gs of cornering force (F1 cars manage 4-5Gs while road cars usually manage less than 1G) and being able to take a 90-degree corner at more than 100kph. The massive AP Racing brakes stop the car from 260-100kph within 100meters.

With the amount of R&D that has gone into the JGTC Skyline GTR, and the cost of the engines, parts, and other components, the cost for this vehicle adds up to around $1 million. Not that you could buy it though as Nissan reserved these units for demonstrations and shows all over the world.