A German Skyline Running Wild In Norway
The German Gatebil

Over the last few years, Gatebil Rudskogen has really blown up; so much so that it’s now completely natural for drivers from all over the world to make the pilgrimage. We’ve already seen drivers come all the way from the US, Russia and as far afield as New Zealand for smoky shenanigans at the Norwegian race circuit.

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For whatever reason, despite geographically being just around the corner, Germany had never featured on the driver roster. But that all changed this year when Marcel Uhlig turned up with his Skyline drift car.

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I think the word had gotten out too, because throughout the weekend the event staff kept referring to Marcel as ‘The German’, rather than using his actual name.

2015 Humans of Gatebil PMcG-15

Marcel popped up on my radar back in the day when I used to cover the International Drift Series in Germany. He competed in the street class then, but in the years since Marcel has progressed in leaps and bounds, winning the Drift United Championship in 2014, just three years after starting his pro career.

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His weapon of choice, a 1996 Nissan Skyline R33 GTS-T built from the ground up. It’s known as the TZ33 after Marcel’s title sponsor, TurboZentrum Berlin.

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Germany has always had a spotty history when it comes to drift series’, and over the last decade many have come and gone. As a direct byproduct of this, most of the cars built in Germany are, specification-wise, not up to an international level.

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So it’s refreshing to see guys like Marcel going the full length to create a stand-out, competitive machine.

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Of all the drift cars built in Germany, Marcel’s is considered to be amongst the most well thought out and best built, hence why I made a point of shooting it at Rudskogen earlier in the year.

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With the sun setting so late in the evening around the time of the summer festival, the officials kindly let us on the track after hours to get the feature done.

The Oomph
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Gatebil is known for insane engine swaps, so naturally this is a good place to start looking. When it comes to reliably producing big power on a budget there aren’t really that many options on the table, but rather than going down the V8 swap route, the base engine here is 2JZ-GE VVT-i.

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At PARTS33.com (Marcel’s drift parts shop), the naturally aspirated 3.0-litre straight-six was decked out with JE forged pistons and Pauter rods in preparation for a substantial boost injection.

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And providing that boost is a massive BorgWarner EFR8374 turbocharger.

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A Fuelab digital fuel pump and fuel pressure regulator delivers a self-mixed explosive cocktail of 102 octane fuel and ethanol via DeatschWerks 1500cc injectors. Maximum output? 850hp and 997Nm. I quite like how Marcel hasn’t rounded it up to a nice, even 1000 newton metres of torque just for the sake of four-figure bragging rights!

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All this grunt demands sufficient stopping power too. Looking through the spokes of 18-inch Nismo LM GT4 wheels by RAYS, the front brakes are sourced from an S14, with Wilwood discs and Wilwood callipers for the foot brake, and additional Kawasaki ZX10R callipers for the hydraulic handbrake all in the rear.

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Stock steering angle definitely doesn’t cut it at a professional level, so there’s a Wisefab kit in the mix too.

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A Driftworks kit out the back helps Marcel fine tune the Skyline for mid-drift traction.

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Far away from the hot engine bay, this setup also ensures efficient cooling, even on hot days and during heavy operation.

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Previously, the R33 has run with an enormous chassis-mounted GT wing, but that’s now been ditched in favour of a ducktail spoiler.

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To keep the weight down as much as possible, all of the body panels are finished in fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP).

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That includes the custom wide front fenders, which were designed by Fameform and produced by Mücke Carbon.

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The doors are unashamedly light – just look how thin they are!

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Even the headlights have been replaced with FRP shells, all in the name of weight reduction.

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The diet has worked wonders too, and today the Skyline tips the scales at just 1,150kg (2535lb). That’s light considering the physical size of the car and the amount of power its packing. As I watched Marcel manji at over 120mph on the main straight at Rudskogen, I kept worrying the thin polycarbonate windows were going to peel the doors off the car!

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With the rear bumper cut away, smoke from the 275/40R18 Achilles Radial ATR Sport2 tires is easily liberated. Up front Marcel runs a 245/40R18 size tire.

Office Space
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Regulations require the driver cabin to be separated from where the fuel system is located, and because of this everything rearward of the seats is completely sealed off and isolated from the trunk.

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It’s a bit odd to see a completely closed-off cabin though, but that’s probably just my claustrophobia talking.

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Currently, the R33 features a K-Sport bucket on the passenger side and a Sparco for Marcel due to fitting issues, with both sides featuring Sabelt harnesses.

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The driver’s seat is flanked by a custom CNC-milled handbrake lever built to Marcel’s specification, while the IRP shifter is hooked up to a BMW E60 530D 6-speed manual transmission. To handle a lot of kicking and abuse, the driveline also features a Tilton 3-plate clutch with a custom adapter kit, and a BMW 750i differential.

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All that abuse starts with a shiny OBP V2 pedal box.

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The passenger side footwell is more safety oriented, featuring the automated fire suppression system.

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A custom rollcage was built for Marcel by Stahlus Rennsportzellen; beefy side impact protection bars part of the requested design.

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As I write this, the Skyline is being prepped for the upcoming season, and included in the upgrade is a set of Feal Suspension 441 coilovers being custom made for the application by company owner and Formula Drift driver Odi Bakchis.

Hustle & Flow
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Marcel told me how a remarkable amount of research went into building this car. Because the team had limited time and very little experience, a lot of their knowledge comes from studying the field and plenty of testing.

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One example of this is the rearward-shifted seating position, which also require the use of an extended steering rack and relocated pedals. This was done to improve the Skyline’s centre of rotation – a key factor in drift car handling during transitions.

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Working with the Uhlig33 crew you quickly realise just how much of a tight-knit family it is. Marcel’s girlfriend Tanja, who at the time of the shoot was pregnant with their daughter, even did her part, holding up the lightweight hood with a fishing rod so that I could get my shots of the engine bay.

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Over the last few years I’ve been driven further and further away from the local German drift scene, mainly because of the lack of personalities and great builds. But I’m happy to say that cars like this and people like Marcel keep me coming back.

Alok Paleri
Instagram: rennworksmedia
alok@speedhunters.com

Cutting Room Floor
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37 comments

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1

The most beautiful Skylines. R30 and R33. I think a lot of people don't like them...

2

Need more info on the Audi-esque dual plenum intake.

3

Interesting how its not just a VVT-i equipped 2J, but an NA-T build as well. And all wrapped up in a Skyline skin. Have the internals just been brought to GTE spec or is it still running higher compression than the GTE?

4

CyroMiguel777 Yep, the R33 is my favourite too

5

Killer write-up Alok ! and Dope Pictures. wee need more features like this !

6
jbfromsiliconvalley

Why? ...because Gatebil. I bet with those internals/the large single a higher output could be achieved, but why? 850 is plenty (prob reliable and responsive) when you have a body made from recycled surfboards. The extra calipers for the handbrake is the definition of proper garage engineering as well.

7

CyroMiguel777 I must confess I was never really a fan of the R33 shape back in the day but over the past couple of years it's been appealing to me more and more, maybe because it's such a '90s shape.

8

Because Marcel also comes from the same town than I do, I'm pretty proud how he and the car has developed over the last years! Just great!

9

GE and GTE blocks are the same. As in the block, crank, and rods. GTE blocks though had piston oil squirters. Both had aluminum heads, but the GTE heads were flowed differently for forced induction. So with the addition of a VVT-i head, I bet you wouldn't tell the difference between this big single turbo build and a GTE single build. FWIW.

10

They're such beautiful wheels

11

LOL! Holding up the hood with a fishing rod. Now that's creativity. XD

12

Maybe someone can help my noob ass out here, but why two sets of break calipers? I get the ZX10R calipers are for the handbrake, but what's the other set connected to? The foot brake? So foot brake engages all four wheel braking?

13

HunterHunted  Yes the foot brake on a drift car has to be working on all 4 wheels, that is the rule in every drift series.

14

jay8393  There has been no other way to make it happen :D

15

tunerguy21  The base engine has been the 2JZ GE VVTI out of Lexus IS300, but in order of pushing the power Level we had to use forged parts plus Drilling extra oil channels.

16

Mook Genius  Not entirely correct, the GE VVTI has really weak rods so they have to be replaced at first.

17

AmirIzham  Hey, just an email to

18

Wow in Australia everyone chucks a rb30e from a commodore vl or a skyline r31and dohc it using a cylinder head from a rb25 or rb26. Great and unique build. Happy to see a 2j go into anything

19

CJC_Matty Yes, the R33 is the face of the 90's, like the Supra was. I think they do a good battle.

20

The cars from Gatebil look different from the cars used in other drift champioships around the world, it looks like each country make drift cars in a different way...

21

when your girlfriend is pregnant with your daughter, you must stop doing manjis at 200kph

22

HunterHunted That's what calipers on a street car do.... This is no different. They've just added the handbrake caliper.

23

Why S14 brakes?

24

CEL400  Because they have been available :D

25

@Ratpacker  I get your Point but the car is really safe and the track is not a narrow one.

26

CyroMiguel777  But that's the great thing or isn't it?

27

MarcelUhlig that's the greatest thing bro!

28

Id like to see people start using Nissan v8s. If I was rich Id like to see what could be done with a vk56.

29

Smiggins Chris Forsberg uses the VK56 in his 370Z drift car.

30

No RB engine has ever been available in Germany (that R33 is a grey import as well). The 2JZ has been tho

31

What do you think is the reason that Germany has such a weak drift scene?

32

Acc  There are 2 reasons in my opinion, first ist the strong noise and pollution regulations in Germany that make it really hard to organize a good event. Second ist the attitude of many German Drifters, most of them are happy as it is and believe thats the top Level, we have many different Events every year but compared to the international Level we are not good due to the fact that a German drifter has no need to push him self to the next Level. I think most of them have already gave up to fight for a professional carreer in drifting.

33

Acc  There are plenty Rb's in Germany but I have been using the RB for 3 Years and its by far more expensive and difficult to use on an international drift Level. The Engine needs a lot of specs to make it reliable at 800hp. And even if you have the funds to do it, you still Need nitrous to cover the lack of displacement

34

Speedhunters thanks for sharing Speedhunters, have a great Thursday :) (insight by http://commun.it)

35

Does anyone know the brand that sells that switch panel with the ignition switch and battery disconnect, etc.? I've seen it on a few other builds on the site and I cant find it anywhere.

37

It took me a while to realize what it that I was absolutely loving about the shape of this R33, and with the ducktail and chopped rear bumper it looks like a wild Japanese NASCAR, ready to battle Cole Trickle and Rowdy Burns. Beautiful machine.

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