Battle Magazine — March 1997
An archive project by Flock MFGNew issue alerts →
About this issue
116 available scans from Battle Magazine — March 1997, in rtl reading order. Original scans with English draft translations and searchable page text. Drafts have not received exhaustive image proofreading; unreadable source remains recorded in the archival data.All 59 provided PDF pages retained as 116 reader pages; completeness against a physical printed copy has not been independently established.
Page 5 — English draft translation
The 1996 drift champion was decided at a competition held on December 8 at Rally Kids Ina in Nagano. Drivers who placed near the top in the five 1996 Super Technique Challenge events gathered to decide the overall champion. Top drift drivers came together to decide who was number one, and the excitement was incredible—there may even have been more spectators than competitors!
Competitors came from Nagano as well as Yamanashi, Gifu, Shizuoka, and Kanagawa to test their skills. The judges were familiar faces in the drifting world: Izumida, nicknamed “The Destroyer” for his spectacular driving; Tanaka of ROUGH; and Hoshino of Magic, whose ability had been improving rapidly. In the freezing cold, the hot drifting was so impressive that judges and spectators alike gasped!
“My front setup is a Budō-no-Ki coilover combined with a short 92-spec spring (6 kg). The rear is a used coilover of unknown make, probably TRD (5.1 kg). I don’t use extended lower arms or a negative-camber master because I don’t think they suit the car’s performance. I’ve tried them before, but performance matters more than looks, right? My AE86’s distinguishing feature is its increased steering angle. Fitting a G V knuckle arm to the early-model Apex rack-and-pinion increases the steering angle. That lets me drive more aggressively and enter corners at angles an AE86 normally couldn’t manage. I also recommend the original adjustable coilovers from Budō-no-Ki. This AE86 is important to me, so I’ll keep doing my best!”