Archives » 2007 » December

DriftBox is an electronic device that uses a GPS engine coupled with motion and yaw rate sensors to measure speed, position, acceleration and drift angle of a car. DriftBox was originally designed to provide real time stats to D1 Grand Prix Judges to make evaluating drivers runs more precise. There are two versions of DriftBox – DriftBox and DriftBox Pro. The main difference being that DriftBox Pro can relay information in real time via radio signal. DriftBox Pro is the system used by D1 Grand Prix.

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Drift City is a free online drift game that features extensive car customization and street racing action in a RPG format. Originally named Skid Rush by Korean game developers, Drift City rewards players for completing races and story based missions. Learning how to drift is key to mastering game play in Drift City.

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Rhys Millen suffered an unfortunate accident leaving him with five fractured vertebrae while practicing for a stunt sponsored by Red Bull and ESPN. The stunt was to feature Rhys Millen doing the first ever intentional backflip in a truck! Millen landed the first three attempts safely, but on the forth and final run the truck overshot the landing, placing Rhys in the hospital.

“After successfully landing the 360-degree backflip three times into the cardboard boxes in training, I am disappointed that our last jump ended in an accident. As I lay here in the hospital with three broken vertebrae in my neck and two compressed and broken vertebrae in my back, I am also disappointed that we cannot perform the 360-degree backflip at the Red Bull Experiment on New Year’s Eve, but I’m happy that I will be able to walk again,” says Rhys Millen.

Thankfully Rhys is expected to make a full recovery, but whether or not the 2005 Formula Drift Champion will be healthy enough to compete in the early rounds of the 2008 Formula D season is still unknown.

Time Attack is a race to secure the fastest lap time possible on a designated circuit or section of track. Also referred to as time trail, tuner battle, or super lap, a time attack is used to evaluate car performance in real racing applications. Similar to a qualifying lap, the higher average speed you maintain the faster your lap time, so drifting around certain corners can save valuable time.

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Best Motoring International The EVO Strikes Back is a great dvd for Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution fans, but I was eager to get to the My Car Challenge and Touge Showdown sections of this dvd.

EVO Strikes Back DVD Chapters:

• The EVO Strikes Back
• EVO vs STi – 4WD Shootout at Tsukuba Circuit
• My Car Challenge
• Touge Showdown 3

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Dirt Drop is a drifting technique that is done by dropping the rear tires of a drift car off the sealed street onto dirt or gravel, or whatever low grip surface borders the street, to maintain or gain drift angle. In some countries, the Dirt Drop drifting technique is referred to as Dirt Turbo.

Oversteer occurs during a turn when the REAR wheels of a car do not track behind the front wheels but instead slide (drift) toward the outside of the turn in a more straight-line trajectory. Drifting is the art of controlled oversteer. To drift is to maintain a car in an oversteered position using countersteering, e-brake, throttle and drivetrain inputs.

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Drifting occurs when vehicle momentum or horsepower exceeds tire traction, causing the car to slide sideways. Through driver skill and certain car modifications like suspension and LSD, drifting is utilized to maintain higher rates of speed through corners.

Drafting on the other hand is a racing technique that gains aerodynamic advantage by following closely behind a lead vehicle. Common to NASCAR, drafting reduces the average energy required to maintain a certain speed since the lead car is blocking wind, creating a slipstream that decreases drag for the chase car or cars.

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The Nissan 180SX is a JDM hatchback produced from 1989 to 1998. The Nissan 180SX name comes from the 1.8 liter turbocharged CA18DET engine that originally powered the Japanese car. The 180SX is based on the Nissan S13 Silvia chassis and sold only as the 180SX in Japan. In Europe and South Africa the 180SX sold as the 200SX and in North America the 180SX sold as the 240SX Fastback.

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In Japan, the word Hipari refers to a tire style that is achieved by stretching a narrow tire over a wider wheel like a 215 35 18 inch tire on a 9.5 wide wheel. The difference in widths causes the sidewalls to stretch from the lip to the tread giving the tire a unique low profile stance and increased sidewall rigidity. In drifting, less sidewall flex means smoother weight transitions, improved throttle response, better steering feel, and less body roll when cornering. There are higher end tires that can provide these same handling characteristics when drifting without the sidewall stretch, but they are expensive and herein lies another advantage of the hipari style tire – narrow tires are cheap.

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