To Infiniti And Beyond
Partners in battle

Hello fellow Speedhunters! I’m very excited to announce my collaboration with Speedhunters in this upcoming season.

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I’ve always been a big fan of the site so when I was approached to join the family at the end of 2013, without a second thought, I immediately said yes. I couldn’t wait to share my passion and love for motorsport with you all through my racing endeavors around the world!

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Some of you might have forgotten about this guy with the shortest last name on the grid and some of you might not even know me. My name is Charles ‘Kaki’ Ng and I’m from Hong Kong, China (not to be mistaken with the notorious serial killer, though I wish I was that famous). Back in 2010 and 2011, I used to drive an FC RX-7 originally built by the reigning Formula Drift champion, Mike Essa. This year, I’m back with my brand new Infiniti G37.

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This G37 project actually started in 2011 but soon afterwards, I had a really good opportunity to race in the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC), which was once my ultimate goal in life. So I packed up, moved to Europe and left the project behind.

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The past two years in WTCC have been an invaluable experience for me; I gained a lot of technical knowledge and learnt how to handle stress under extreme pressure. But one thing was for sure – I missed the challenge in competitive drifting and the pure pleasure that one can get from simply throwing a car sideways, making tons of tire smoke and seeing the world through the side windows.

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Whenever the schedule allowed and opportunity arose, I always tried to practice as much as I could to keep my skills sharp. I knew that one day I would make a comeback to Formula Drift to once again challenge myself against the best. Though this time, I’m coming back with slightly more beastly machinery.

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I’ve always wanted to compete with a large-sized vehicle. There were not many choices for a four-door sedan in the States, so I chose the G37 for its classy looks and long wheel base. In fact, it shares some of the characteristics with the Nissan Z chassis which was already proven in previous years of drifting. Then I found one on Craigslist for cheap that had a salvage title.

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Plans changed. I took off and left the car at my friend’s shop right after it was stripped and acid dipped. Then one morning in February 2013, while I was instructing at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, there was a fairly modified 370Z parked next to me. It reminded me of my G, so I called my friend to find out its latest status.

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To my surprise, the bare metal shell had been sitting in my friend’s shop all this time. I immediately messaged my good friend Matt Field to see if he could help and this was where it all began.

So it begins
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Matt and his crew at Drift Cave picked up my car and built it up while I was away racing in Europe and the rest of the world.

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At that time, I didn’t put much emphasis on power, because I was more of a firm believer of having usable power and a balanced set-up, especially after driving the perfectly balanced 1.6 liter turbo WTCC BMW for two consecutive years. The original plan was to run with an engine of 600hp at the crank, plus 100 shot of nitrous.

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The car was close to completion at the end of 2013 except for some bodywork, wiring, dyno tuning and the angle kit which we have been waiting to buy off the shelf in the market.

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I felt very lucky that after all this time away, I was still able to reconnect with the majority of my old sponsors and partners, and even managed to pick up a few new ones. Since this G project restarted, all of them have been putting so much effort into getting me the right set-up to keep up with the top runners. I definitely don’t want to let them down.

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I’m honestly not a big fan of the horsepower war but this was the only thing that all of my sponsors and partners stressed about the most. They insisted I should boost it up.

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So I brought my car over to CX Racing for the power upgrade. We began to develop a custom supercharger set-up and angle kit with all the necessary parts supplied by CX Racing and Sparkplugs.com.

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I have two great crew members working with me this season: Jonas, an ex-WTCC Chevy team crew chief from Sweden, and Tom, the engine builder/tuner/fabricator at CX Racing and THR Development. The development work of the supercharger set-up and angle kit turned into countless sleepless nights for the three of us.

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We blew the first engine on the first test day. All eight pistons and various parts of the block were destroyed. Needless to say, we needed a completely new engine build which would be capable of the targeted horsepower. This time we got a stronger and more reliable engine block with a lower compression ratio. Tom then worked his magic overnight on the engine build. On the second dyno run, the car ran stronger than ever! It made the same amount of power with half the amount of boost we had before.

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Track testing the next day turned out to be an ultra successful outing. The angle kit still needs further development and we have yet to iron out all the bugs on this new car but all in all, the performance of the engine was top notch. Frankly, I had never felt so much usable power on my right foot throughout my entire racing career!

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Some of you might have noticed the flower on my G bears some resemblance to the one on my old RX7. I have to give it up to the one and only Andy Blackmore for this whole new design and my good friend Terry Liu for applying the vinyl graphics. The car may look stock for now but I can assure you that it will keep evolving throughout the season so stay tuned for updates.

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As Long Beach is just around the corner, we’re very positive about our first outing but not over-confident about it. Lastly, mega thanks to all my sponsors, partners and those who have helped me throughout the build. The G has officially been brought back to life! This is going to be a great season!

Charles Ng
Instagram: charlesngracing

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36 comments

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2

Welcome to the team Charles!... Also a big round of applause to Andy Blackmore for the livery design... I love it!

3

wheatgod  Yeah, who in the world would want an unlimited aftermarket, bullet proof motors, multiple transmission choices, and proven power recipes?

4

Derelict wheatgod  if everyone was jumping off a bridge, would you???

5

Is that Winters Performance rear differential ? Winters Performance's rear diff seems to be very famous choice in Formula Drift , much like LS-swap ... but unlike LS-swap , I love that rear diff ! XD

6

ae70 Derelict wheatgod  If it resulted in a known result with a nice soft landing, yeah, I would. The LSx is that soft landing with a very known result.

7

Derelict ae70 wheatgod  welcome to Instant Era guys. Nowdays is all about instant on every aspect on life.

8

wheatgod try getting sponsorship in motorsport with an engine that stands less of a chance at finishing, and that has an endless amount of possibilities for modifications, at a lower overall cost than most import engines, and it becomes apparant why the LS is so often chosen

9

ae70 Derelict wheatgod   I'm so sick of all these LS swaps , seriously , all they do is ruin the car's soul...all these LS swaps lack creativity , and originality....there's plenty of other V8's to chose from and they are reliable too , hell , V8's aren't the only Engines capable of good performance...Last time I checked , it's been quite a while since a LS powered car has won the FD championship...

10

Novac Darius ae70 Derelict wheatgod  Hahaha, soul. Its competition and since when do you not want something that will work all the time every time? What about maintaining it as well? I would take an easy V8 over a high strung, heavy boosted, very stressed 4 or 6 cyl.

11

Thanks Rod! See you guys soon at LB :)

12

Is kaki real part of your name?

13

Hey Charles I have a quick question. What E-Brake setup did you run with? and is there a kit was your dual rear caliper setup custom or a kit? I really want to go rear hydro with its own caliper on my 350Z

14

Yup. Thats my Chinese name.

15

Its a wilwood dual caliper set. Give it a try. They make good products.

16

Ewww.... now I have Infiniti in my eyes.

17

I couldn't disagree more. I usually don't take the time to argue over people's opinions but -sigh- here I am. Everyone is entitled to think whatever they want. That being said, how in the world could an ls swap lack creativity? Do you seriously think that's a factory ls engine? These engine swaps produce solid, well researched power while keeping the reliability needed for having fun with your machine. I suppose if you enjoy replacing timing belts and piston rings in SR20's after a few track trips, that's cool. I enjoy going as hard as I want without the worry of destroying amything. I'm also assuming that your 'soul' comment is referring to keeping factory or at least the same company's engines to power your car. I would like to think I am the soul of my machine.. not my motor. For me, and other enthusiasts with a budget in mind, lsx just makes sense.

18

Can't wait to see this thing sideways at Long Beach. Welcome to Speedhunters. :)

19

do you by any chance have a Track ready S15 with no plate parked in Poseidon Coast 帝濤灣, Siu Lam, TuenMun, HK ?

20

Hong Kong represent!!! Way to go and wish you the best this season.  Good taste on the 7 btw!

21

brianelmore181  Okay then , have it like this , that LS swap ruins the car as a whole. No I don't care about performance , i am just saying that this is over-done , even more than a 2JZ or RB swap. When I see a good looking let's say s13 and I hear it has an LS engine ,  that just makes me sick...no offense to you "budget minded" "enthusiasts". Sorry but this is not something an "enthusiast" would do.

22

Novac Darius brianelmore181  Haha, a motor swap that functions exactly as it should is something that an enthusiast would not do? Are you joking? You do know that Chevy motor swaps into non Chevy cars is the quintessential hotrod move, right? Chevy small blocks have gone in as a replacement for 4, 6, and 8 cylinder motors since it was introduced. Something enthusiasts would not do? That is hilarious. I would say that anyone not recognizing the work, tuning, fabrication, and research involved in a motor swap of any type is not an 'enthusiast'. We normally call those people web wheelers (within the circles I am familiar with). 

Do us a favor. Go and do what this guy has done, document it, and then come back and profess what an 'enthusiast' is for, or against.

24

As a G37 (Skyline here in Japan) owner in the past, I am officially a fan! Hope to see more of this in the future!

25

Charles Kaki Ng  
Just curious, it means something else in Malay language. Cheers!

26

Ok all I see are a bunch of kids crying about the roar of a well tuned V8. There is nothing "ruined" about this car, it was built/tuned for the track. 
I admit I was shocked to see that LS in there, but for getting sideways why not!?

27

Derelict wheatgodAmen!

28

852 Represent!! Good luck with the season , will be watching with anticipation!

29

I dont own a car in Hong Kong. I know ...Haha.

30

Nice to see a G37 in Formula Drift - all the best this season

31

Derelict Novac Darius brianelmore181   And that is something I am not going to do. Why would I ? It is plain stupid and wrong. Yes give the credit where is dues where people pour their last cents in ANY swap but still , it is something stupid. You can argue all day that it's more reliably than let's say a rotary in a FD RX7 so that's why folks do it , but in the end it just ruins the car, the epic sound of the original engine is gone , and all you hear now is a lazy V8 that's going to rev to 7000 if you're lucky. 
Still , not everyone sees this your way, the only place where people are going stupidly mad over these swaps is USA. You rarely see them do that in Japan, probably that's why D1 GP is still a better than FD US, 4 and 6 Cylinders still dominating the field and they don't replace the motors as much as the folks in US do , but maybe that's because their skill level is way beyond most of the drivers in FD US.

32

Novac Darius Derelict brianelmore181  Not too sure about the plain stupid or wrong part but ruin the car? Hardly. Also, Why do you need to rev to 7k if the same power is available at lower revs? You only need to rev high if there is power to be made there. On a V8 you do not. Oh, and you can build a V8 to rev higher than a 4 cyl. All it takes is money. But then again, whats the point? Rev limits are a dumb thing to argue about. Rev limits are not a measure of performance. 

Keep arguing, I am sure someone, somewhere agrees with you. Boost in, seals out. Fried rings, thrown rods, blown gaskets because of insane boost and motors barely able to handle it.

33
Project 350ZTT

Derelict Novac Dariusbrianelmore181I just want to drop in my 2 cents here because I see both sides and understand where everyone is coming from, but why not go the route of Chris Forsberg or Ryan Kado. I don't like how everyone jumps straight to LS swap. I really like how those two drivers moved up to a V8, but still kept it in the Nissan family. The VK56 makes strong reliable power look at Forsberg's! He has the strongest running NA V8 on the planet by Nissan. And Kado is running the VK56 turbo mounted behind the drivers seat. So yes I do see were people are coming from with running the LS motors instead, but I do feel there are more options out there.

34

The car looks and sounds amazing!! Great job, guys!

35

Had a drink with Gopi last night, he send regards to you ^_^

36

If only Hot Wheels got the permission to use the livery in their infiniti G37 casting instead the 2008 lancer evo

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