Car Feature>> Bon-bon’s Driftworks 1jz-gte R32 Skyline

Most of us are familiar with the infamous Driftworks 2JZ-GTE powered S15, but some of you may not be aware of the other ‘Nisyota’ from the Driftworks stable. For 2009, the car will be driven by Ben ‘Bon Bon’ Broke-Smith, who piloted the Driftworks JZX81 Chaser to EDC glory in 2008. Bon will be competing the R32 in the newly created Prodrift Super Series, with rounds in both the UK & Ireland. The car was imported into the UK by Driftworks co-founder James Robinson in 2004 and has already been seen through several incarnations since it’s arrival. It was originally powered by a Nissan RB25 motor but the Driftworks team suffered more than one failure of the motor due to heat issues. One of the main problems drift cars suffer is overheating, as the car is always sideways, the front of the car is never collecting cold air during the run. Inspired by Bon’s Chaser in 2007, the Driftworks crew decided to make the swap to the well proven Toyota 1JZ-GTE engine in 2008.

The car was driven throughout 2008 by Phil Morrisson as he put the final touches to the S15. The car was used to help develop Driftworks own brand of Control System 2 coilovers, fast becoming the coilover of choice amongst European drifters. As to be expected, the car features a full Driftworks setup of upper and lower arms.

The DMAX bodykit was provided by EP Racing, with modified fenders and boot spoiler. The wheels are Rota GTR’s, powder coated in Driftworks orange and wrapped in Federal 595 RS-R in 245/35/18 front and 265/35/18 rear.

The 1JZ-GTE in the R32 uses standard rods and pistons with HKS 264 camshafts with adjustable pulleys and SARD 800cc injectors. Brian Crower springs and titanium retainers help the 1JZ to an 8,500RPM rev limit.

The boost is provided by an Owen Developments GT3076 turbo, providing a whopping 547bhp and 555ft/lbs of torque.

Like all competition cars, the interior is no frills and all functionality. A Sparco wheel with a hydraulic handbrake along with relocated stalks make sure everything that Bon needs is close to hand.

Bon is held into the car in a Driftworks bucket seat with Driftworks harnesses …

… which allows him do this, run after run !

The man himself, Ben Broke-Smith …

You may have noticed in one of the shots that the car has a registration plate, that’s because like the Driftworks S15, this car is road legal. Bon drove the car from Driftworks HQ in Birmingham to the Prodrift course at Donington Park. Even though he pretty much smashed the diff to tiny little pieces, he still managed to qualify first with superbly accurate and smokey runs. His first place qualification and top eight finish has put the 2008 EDC Champion on top of the 2009 Prodrift Super Series after the first round.

Interestingly, Driftworks will have one car competing in each championship in 2009,
with Bon in Prodrift, Phil in the Need for Speed European Drift Championship, Dan Chapman in JDM Allstars and
Richard Clarke and Andy Faulkes completing the team line up by
contesting in BDC. Driftworks are curently leading the way in both NFS-EDC and Prodrift, with the rest of the guys edging towards the tops of their respective championships.

When Bon and the car make it to Punchestown in Ireland for the second round of the Superseries, I expect to see the Kildare venue smothered in a cloud of Federal tire smoke !

– Paddy M

www.driftworks.com

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1

loved the chaser love this car its a smoke bomb !

2

Desktop of the 2nd last pic plz?!?!

3

Great car, Love it, great write up! Nice one DW!

Its inspired my brother to create a replica, with his 32.

4

@ Pistonhead Joe



I second that!

5

That is pure sex, no doubt! But those wheels are not Rota GTR's But Rota Grid Drifts. GTR's have 5 spokes not six.

6

lol bonbon

7

Damn this Skyline is freaking cool! I would love a desktop please of his car! This two shot would be my choice:



http://ll.dev.speedhunters.com/u/f/eagames/NFS/dev.speedhunters.com/Images/Paddy%20McGrath/Bon%20R32%201JZGTE/IMG_3198.jpg

http://ll.dev.speedhunters.com/u/f/eagames/NFS/dev.speedhunters.com/Images/Paddy%20McGrath/Bon%20R32%201JZGTE/IMG_4693.jpg



Tthe drift shot with the smoke coming out is very well taken.

8

Whats with euro-drift and rota's?



Anyways, nice, and awesome that its road legal too.

9

Do a burnout

10

great feature, great car, top bloke! please do a massive desktop of the second from last pic! bloody awesome shot!

11

gotta love how the smoke comes out from this car. sad to see the chaser go but ben will go just as hard in this i think. second last pic for desktop.

12

I miss the Driftworks JZX81 Chaser. What happened to it?

14

Rota's really???

15

Rota = Crap

16

driftworks guys have been running them for years and they seem to hold up to the abuse just fine.

17

What is annoying me is, if you have the real deal (for example CR KAI or TE37) and paid for the quality AND of course the design also you want to have some exclusivity.



However these cheapo philipine guys just copy the design, so every low budget kid can have

great designed rims which they normally could never afford.



If i buy some genuine TE37's for me i want to have some individuality, however if i see guys running these Rota TE 37 knock offs there is no individuality left anymore.



Also every second car in the UK have the Rota CR Kai knock off already installed, now the rest of the cars are getting Rota TE37'S knock offs. It is just a very sad development....



18

love this car and i was fortunate enough to see it up close before it was stickered up and when the wheels were just white and it looked soo mean - just straight black and white. i know the guys have to promote there company but it was way cooler without the stickers.



there's also still a 100ft pair of wavy 11's going outside the gate here at my work from when they brought the car in. cool.

19

Euro teams do not have the budget of American or Japanese drift teams. Rotas look good, do the job and are cheap. Funds saved from purchasing multiple sets rota's can be invested in more important area's such as the engine and chassis development. As mentioned in Tommy Roberts feature "it doesn’t matter what parts you have on your ride HKS, ARC, Cusco or Taiwan special, as long as it works and gets your ricer butt to the track!"

20

Price ist not an argument, you can get some 5Zigen FN01R-C for nearly the same price Rotas are costing... if you have even a little bit more budget you can get the Enkei RPF1 which are very good rims for their price.

21

"VV" People in the Uk are more interested in the cars working and driving properly than having cool wheels. Also there is NO money in UK drifting so purchases have to be made wisely. People just do not care that much about wheels here at a top level.

22

VV- don't be an idiot. FN's and RPF1's are ugly.

23

johnny, the only thing is ugly here is you. FN's and RPF1 are very good, light and reasonable rims.



@ MJ12



So if the guys in the UK don't care about the looks why don't they just get FN's, you can get them for ~ 1000,00 GBP (18x9.5.), Rotas Grids cost about 800,00 GBP (18x9.5),



So if the guys don't have the 200 bucks for the real deal i think they should be the same guys who have this chinese dip shit low quality products installed on their cars (SSA, XS-Power and so on).

24

Last I checked, Rota's are round and you can fit tyres on them. Happy days !

25

Don't forget competition drift teams need multiple sets of rims, not just one. That $200 saving would soon add up to a large sum.

26

thats a bad ride

27

Exactly, these are competition car, not posey cars. Practical and cheap without being entirely crap wins.

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