advice for real life drift.

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klevrah
hey guys, Need someone who actually knows a bit about real life drifting to help me out on a decision. Im looking at buying me my first drift car (base) and I ran across two very different cars which I would love to learn drifting in.
Im not wanting to spend much money after purchasing.

The first car is a 1994 Supra (2JZ-GE).

Manual, TRD LSD, upgraded flywheel, clutch, very clean and well looked after etc. But is non turbo, Im wanting to know if the base power output would be enough. I will probably change the suspension to adjustable's and leave it like that.

The second car is a 1994 180sx

100,000 km black top sr20det engine(in 2010), fully adjust suspension (toe, camber arms etc)all the bells and whistles under the sun (owner say's most work was done to the car in 2010 though) Fairly rough around the edges but allot of money has been spent on her, also allot of thrashing time I'm sure)

What does the community think, Should I go with the 180 or the 2j? Also my girl is leaning towards the supra a bit more so any advice on this car would be much appreciated. :cheers:
 
180sx... by far... outright... no questions asked.... best thing to do is ask on the driftworks forums... ill have a word with a couple of my mates and see what they think :-)
 
Well there is some positives and negatives
I know quite a bit about cars (Im a mechanic)
but so far from what im seeing you should go for the 180 but i do know a few things about the 180.
they have a tendency for the door and the quarter panels and the floor to rust out because they don't have drain holes or something(can't remeber exact reason) but that may not be a problem for you if you live in florida or something like that
now I don't know all that much about the supra's
but from what I do know is that the odviously come with a inline 6 so u'll get more power over the 180.
but most people do choose a 180, 200 or 240sx because they are easy to get parts for, they are cheap and alot of people like how they feel.
but what most people do on a 180 is they change the rings and get some better heads to up the compresion ratio because I have heard that they also burning oil problem but what older Japanese car doesn't haha plus your gunna spend a bit more on the supra than you are on the 180
plus if you want to it wouldn't be that hard to turbo the supra
but it's up to you
 
Is this just a drift car or are you gonna use one as a daily driver if they have rego?

strictly track car


Well there is some positives and negatives
I know quite a bit about cars (Im a mechanic)
but so far from what im seeing you should go for the 180 but i do know a few things about the 180.
they have a tendency for the door and the quarter panels and the floor to rust out because they don't have drain holes or something(can't remeber exact reason) but that may not be a problem for you if you live in florida or something like that
now I don't know all that much about the supra's
but from what I do know is that the odviously come with a inline 6 so u'll get more power over the 180.
but most people do choose a 180, 200 or 240sx because they are easy to get parts for, they are cheap and alot of people like how they feel.
but what most people do on a 180 is they change the rings and get some better heads to up the compresion ratio because I have heard that they also burning oil problem but what older Japanese car doesn't haha plus your gunna spend a bit more on the supra than you are on the 180
plus if you want to it wouldn't be that hard to turbo the supra
but it's up to you

thanks for this I will keep it in mind. I live in New Zealand, the 180 parts are also abundant here. Im hoping to hear someone who has experience with the supra so if anyone knows anyone please refer them here.
 
klevrah
thanks for this I will keep it in mind. I live in New Zealand, the 180 parts are also abundant here. Im hoping to hear someone who has experience with the supra so if anyone knows anyone please refer them here.

I don't have drift experience but I do have Toyota Supra experience. My father owns around 15 dealerships and one was a Toyota dealer. I had a used 94 but mine was turbo. These cars are very reliable so they can take a beating. They are more rare than the 180 on the other hand and parts will be harder to replace and more expensive. It is also expensive to maintain it. I took it to a track day once and it is very stable but probably not as easy to drift. I'm going to say go for the 180. I hate to say it but the 180 is just a better car for your use. For any other use I'd take the Supra any day. Hope this helped.
 
Why not an AE86?

Solid rear axle, 4-links need to stick to rock crawling and drag racing. They are also not easy to setup if you don't do 4-link alignments frequently. 4AG 16V, no power, TVIS is retarded, gettin' old. 20V 4AG can get real expensive real fast if you want power.

Well there is some positives and negatives
I know quite a bit about cars (Im a mechanic)
but so far from what im seeing you should go for the 180 but i do know a few things about the 180.
they have a tendency for the door and the quarter panels and the floor to rust out because they don't have drain holes or something(can't remeber exact reason) but that may not be a problem for you if you live in florida or something like that
now I don't know all that much about the supra's
but from what I do know is that the odviously come with a inline 6 so u'll get more power over the 180.
but most people do choose a 180, 200 or 240sx because they are easy to get parts for, they are cheap and alot of people like how they feel.
but what most people do on a 180 is they change the rings and get some better heads to up the compresion ratio because I have heard that they also burning oil problem but what older Japanese car doesn't haha plus your gunna spend a bit more on the supra than you are on the 180
plus if you want to it wouldn't be that hard to turbo the supra
but it's up to you

Can you please elaborate as to who makes an aftermarket head for any motor that ever came in a S-Chassis car? CA18, SR20 or KA? Let alone one that raises the compression ratio. Do you realize if you were to only change the cylinder head (aftermarket or stock), the only way to raise compression (provided the head gasket is the same bore and thickness) is to reduce the combustion chamber size (through milling or valve face design). Raising compression ratio can be a good thing, but that is a function of the engine build (i.e.- timing adjustment, camshaft profile, turbo size, fuel used, etc).

There are areas on both front and rear parts of the unibody of S-Chassis cars where water can drain. If you pull the interior in the rear, I've always injected expanding foam into the body crevices, this seals smoke from entering the cab. Environment and maintenance will make rust thrive more than anything.

Oil only burns when it's passed by a part that controls oil. Valve stem seals, loose valve guides, or piston rings. Or a pushrod V8 where the intake gasket leaks and vacuum pulls oil from the lifter valley. Or you have a hole in a piston, which is a different problem all in it's own. By nature metric rings packs have a lower expanding tension that a ring pack that is imperial (standard).

hey guys, Need someone who actually knows a bit about real life drifting to help me out on a decision. Im looking at buying me my first drift car (base) and I ran across two very different cars which I would love to learn drifting in.
Im not wanting to spend much money after purchasing.

The first car is a 1994 Supra (2JZ-GE).

Manual, TRD LSD, upgraded flywheel, clutch, very clean and well looked after etc. But is non turbo, Im wanting to know if the base power output would be enough. I will probably change the suspension to adjustable's and leave it like that.

The second car is a 1994 180sx

100,000 km black top sr20det engine(in 2010), fully adjust suspension (toe, camber arms etc)all the bells and whistles under the sun (owner say's most work was done to the car in 2010 though) Fairly rough around the edges but allot of money has been spent on her, also allot of thrashing time I'm sure)

What does the community think, Should I go with the 180 or the 2j? Also my girl is leaning towards the supra a bit more so any advice on this car would be much appreciated. :cheers:

When you say blacktop is it a S14/15 blacktop or S13 blacktop? Does the rear part of the valve cover have a downward slant to it? That would be an easy indication of what it is, and if it's a T25 or T28'ed motor. Common problems with SR's: valve stem seals, dead rings, coils and ignitor, hack wiring jobs (fender wiring tucks or swaps), early style timing chain guide/slack guide, oil pump, cracking front tension rods (area around where the 2 studs go through the tension rods connected to the front suspension brace).

"All the bells and whistles" is not always a positive. Plenty of Chinese knock offs that use subpar heim joints, poor welds, and poorly machined threads compared to quality brands. Example: coilovers where your only way to adjust ride height is to compress and preload the spring.

Common Supra issues: oil pump, dead rings, valve stem seals (Toyota used a polyacrylic material on both intake and exhaust side, they are not as resilient to high temperature as viton), N/A 2JZ blocks do not use a piston oiler (this is debatable as an "issue" but I personally have no problem with it), NA trans speed sensor gear is plastic and can strip over time (there are a number of other Toyota gears that are bronze that will fit the original sensor and can be had for about $15 USD), lifters (2JZ is a solid lifter setup, good, but can be a source of headache on a poorly maintained car or when rebuilding).

In the end, my opinion is the Supra even if it has been abused as much as a S-Chassis car would stand the test of time longer. Bolt on power wise, SR all day. N/A Supra is not so fun to go into an N/A-T setup if you are not mechanically inclined. Plumb oil feed and return to the turbo, water feed and return to the turbo, blah blah blah. Stock bottom end to stock bottom end under boost, 2JZ ALL day.

Realistically, nothing about drifting or racing in general is cheap. People who have opted to go cheap are usually the ones who get towed off the track, or puke their motors all over the track cutting everyones day shorter. Don't be that dude...

P.S. - This thread belongs in the "Cars in General" section of GTP.
 
Get the 180 mate, simply because it is a car that is more used in the USA, spare parts wise. That will definately make a difference in repair costs etc. And i would prefer the looks of it as well; but that's personal preferrance :)
 
Get the 180 mate, simply because it is a car that is more used in the USA, spare parts wise. That will definately make a difference in repair costs etc. And i would prefer the looks of it as well; but that's personal preferrance :)

Uhh, he's in New Zealand.
 
I'd recommend the 180sx, cheap and plentiful parts, used and aftermarket. Assuming you'll get a SR20det equipped car, it'll drift well from standard and won't need a lot of money put into it to have some fun. I've drifted a few different cars(not a supra though) and consider 180sx and s13 silvia to be a very good choice and you know for sure it will drift well too.
My 180sx was standard when I bought it and is the same car I used from novice to pro class, I also used it as a road car at the same time for 3 years. It has just over 100,000km on it now and the only problem I ever had with it was, I had to do the water pump gasket. It never burns oil, not even a drop, and it took a lot of abuse.
 
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Can you please elaborate as to who makes an aftermarket head for any motor that ever came in a S-Chassis car? CA18, SR20 or KA? Let alone one that raises the compression ratio. Do you realize if you were to only change the cylinder head (aftermarket or stock), the only way to raise compression (provided the head gasket is the same bore and thickness) is to reduce the combustion chamber size (through milling or valve face design). Raising compression ratio can be a good thing, but that is a function of the engine build (i.e.- timing adjustment, camshaft profile, turbo size, fuel used, etc).

A VE head swap on an SR20DET may bump the compression slightly.
 
It wasn't in the past, but is certainly gaining popularity lately.

Yes I noticed that alright, but the guy originally said "most people". It just seemed like he's giving advice about something he doesn't have real experience with.
 
Ok, thanks for all the replies guys, to you guys who gave me good info on the cars , thank you very much.

could I stick a 1JZ-GTE vvti engine in the supra later on?I mean I'll get a feel for drifting with the stock engine and then throw the rebuilt 1jz in. would it be a straight forward swap?
 
A VE head swap on an SR20DET may bump the compression slightly.

I've done the VE and VET conversions, the change in chamber size is quite nominal. Stock DET heads I've cc'd from 43cc to as large as 46cc. VE and VET I've cc'd from 42cc to 45cc. Some of the volume change is from valve face design as well. DET valves have a dished face, VE and VET are all flat faced from what I've seen. Dish volume from the valve faces is more than likely a tiny amount. The quench pads in the combustion chamber on the VE and VET engines seem to be a tad bit wider as well. In any case, it is again quite nominal.

Didn't mean to sound like a dick in the other post, just had to hire and fire more "mechanics" then I can remember. Pretty tired of fixing hack jobs too, but it pays better than doing it from the get go sometimes.

Ok, thanks for all the replies guys, to you guys who gave me good info on the cars , thank you very much.

could I stick a 1JZ-GTE vvti engine in the supra later on?I mean I'll get a feel for drifting with the stock engine and then throw the rebuilt 1jz in. would it be a straight forward swap?

Better using a built 2JZ bottom end with the 1JZ head.
 
The 180 sounds like the best choice. You say it has some nice bits on it already and that 180 parts are abundant there in NZ. The Nissan S platform cars are pretty much tried and true when it comes to drifting all over the world so you'll have no problem with aftermarket parts or getting advice on setting it up for drifting. It'll be a great base to start with. That being said still get a mechanic to check it out before you take the plunge.
 
I say Supra, only because in the NZ drift scene Supra's seem very very rare from what i've seen. There may be a genuine reason for that, but i don't know why personally.
 
do what tao did, bro. Get the S13 and put a 1J in that, 250+rwkw on an unopened motor, all day every day. Plus parts cheaper and more available, and you'll have people to discuss setup with at every track day you go to. If you go SR power, get rocker stoppers and an oil cooler IMMEDIATLY!
 
do what tao did, bro. Get the S13 and put a 1J in that, 250+rwkw on an unopened motor, all day every day. Plus parts cheaper and more available, and you'll have people to discuss setup with at every track day you go to. If you go SR power, get rocker stoppers and an oil cooler IMMEDIATLY!

I'd agree some good points, but rocker stoppers are a gimmick in my opinion, I never used them and never needed them, I rev my car hard too.
You can waste money trying to be different and end up with a car that may not be as good as a s13, like so many have done before, or you can spend the money and time you saved by getting an s13 and use that to go drifting and learn, instead of worrying about being different.
 
Buy both and send me the 180! Lol, I would go with the 180, but its what ever you feel comfortable in.
 
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