Drift Tengoku — October 2003

Drag a corner or click a page to turn it
/ 310

About this issue

English draft translations are available throughout this issue. Unclear or unreadable OCR remains flagged; these drafts have not received full image proofreading. The archive retains 310 scan files, including two duplicate captures, representing 308 unique pages.

Browse all magazines · September 2004 issue

Page 33 · English draft

Draft translation. Unclear OCR remains flagged; full image proofreading has not been performed.

Open enlarged scan

  1. Thorough [OCR damaged]
  2. How to build a car that corners
  3. Improve direct feel with spherical-bearing tension rods!
  4. …with… [isolated fragment]
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. [Unclear: isolated character]
  8. You might drive faster in grip driving…
  9. …to the bracket… [fragment]
  10. It also increases the tension rods’ effectiveness!
  11. pegahn
  12. [Unclear: isolated character]
  13. …that is how it is. [fragment]
  14. …too!? [fragment]
  15. Reduce cornering roll for more direct feel and quicker steering response. He uses a Largus anti-roll bar to reduce roll in corners while retaining travel under braking, making front-end response quicker when turning the wheel.
  16. Spherical-bearing lower arms give quick, direct handling! Reinforcing the lower arms further improves direct feel!
  17. Rigid steering-bushing mounting dramatically changes handling!
  18. The factory steering-rack bushes apparently deflect considerably, so he uses Nismo reinforced bushes for more direct feel. He is interested in the aluminum steering collars recently released by Yanack.
  19. Quicker steering response! Because aluminum spacers can produce judder, the article recommends spacers made from the softer material Duracon. They provide more direct feel than reinforced bushes.
  20. If I use rigid collars…
  21. …will it be more direct…
  22. Aluminum…
  23. Spherical bearings make suspension movement smoother!
  24. Lower it with engine mounts too! He fitted Kazama reinforced engine mounts to position the engine lower than standard for a lower center of gravity. He remarks that Nismo mounts raise the engine. These are the article’s product/setup claims.
  25. …I wonder? [continued]
  26. …with the mounts… [clipped fragment]
  27. Try the Duracon version too! [material name OCR uncertain]
  28. With an S14 crossmember…
  29. A steering-bush spacer quickens response and transmits road and tire conditions more clearly, helping control. The tradeoff is that correcting a mistake becomes more difficult.
  30. The article says the S14 front crossmember’s engine-mount positions are slightly angled compared with the S13, lowering the engine by approximately 1 cm. It credits the lower center of gravity with improved handling.
  31. The engine’s mounting position…
  32. …is lowered!
  33. Lowering the center of gravity…
  34. 31
  35. …also contributes to better handling!
  36. [Continued from page 32.] He had used aftermarket or modified factory lower arms with roll-center correction. That worked very well: the front moved and turned much better, but the excessive movement made drifting harder. He began to question whether drifting needed such responsive suspension. “You often have to correct entry mistakes. If the setup is so sensitive that it won’t forgive anything, that’s a problem. It might be fast for grip driving, but some softness may make it better suited to drifting.” He switched to Nismo lower arms with reinforced bushes, later cutting the arms and fitting a Yanack spherical-bearing kit for more directness. The current setup suits him: direct feel with some margin for correction.
  37. More direct feel does not automatically mean better handling! Targeted tuning delivers true ease of control.
  38. Pillow-ball tension rods improve direct feel. The article reports that the welds at the tension-bracket base can peel after fitting them; once that happens, directness is lost. It recommends reinforcing the welds beforehand and fitting a tension bracket for further improvement. Factory rubber bushes flex under braking and cornering loads, so Fukuda recommends starting with spherical tension rods. Any brand is acceptable to him, but he favors turnbuckle-adjustable rods because adjustment is easier.
  39. Pillow-ball lower arms give quick, direct handling. He originally used Nismo reinforced-bush lower arms for more direct feel than standard, then fitted a Yanack spherical-bearing kit for further improvement. The arms are reinforced on the back because they can flex. Fukuda says reinforced bushes already provide satisfactory directness, while spherical bearings improve movement further. However, some cars become too abrupt and difficult to drive, so he recommends trying reinforced bushes first.