What size stack to prepare

Saddened

Saddened

Member
Hey!

New to the site and not in drifting yet at all. But the tempation is real. RWD cars are most fun, sideways or not and they make for great show/meet vehicles.

To my understanding I will definately need an FR car, as light as possible, relatively common and relatively simple.

My poison will most likely be a Sileighty.
I am prepared for high cost of this kind of fun but I dont have the cash ready. I will most likely be going to the bank for for a loan. So I need to have a number in mind.

I will pick up an SX180 (from europe) and do a Silvia conversion because the flip up lights are so 80' and draw more unwanted attention than the more crowd blending Silvia. While at it I will do a resto-mod, repainting the whole car. I want the car to be show ready because I already go to a lot of shows and meets and I like spending weekends that way.
The only style modifications will be the nose conversion, flared arches with the trendy visible nuts and a possible decal.

The rest of attention will be going towards the suspension and if need be engine.

I enjoy doing research but you just have to learn some thi gs the hard way. Help me jump a step and share your experience on the following.

I can see how the nose conversion means nothing for going sideways, but what about wide body?
What size of rims and tires do you guys use for competition and what do you suggest to an amateur for the s13? What kind of street legal tires are recommended?
Help me have a show car and a parking lot drifter. Promise I wont go with stupid stance negative camber mods or too low wit the coilovers.

I understand that more power is better for this as long as throttle response is not sacrificed. I do not intend to compete any time soon but I am curious, how much should a competition car be putting out?

I intend to preventively replace the head gasket, sparks, belts, tensioner, oil, add a COI (unless sports panel is good enough for unmodded rb18det) and replace all wores and hoses. I also wish to go with a turboback exhaust. Car will be a daily so a sports cat and some muffling is neccessary. Do I go with a new header too?
What engine (power) modifications would you be doing to my future 1.8turbo as priority?

Suspension wise I was going to go with poly bushes all around, coilovers and adjustale anti roll bars (sway bars). Not going to go for more countersteer yet. Will add adjuster plates to front strut towers as the front is macpherson as I understand.

Wont mind any general suggestions either.

Thank you for reading and for our help.
 
Welcome to the forum!
I'm assuming from your terminology, you are from the US?

For what you are hoping to do (and also bearing in mind Europe never got the 180SX - only the 200SX with CA18 or SR20 depending on chassis model), would you not be better off picking up a flip front 240SX S13? Given the cars are of reasonable supply, you'd have to source a PS13 front end anyway which are PRICY so why don't you limit your costs by sourcing a car locally?

Yes, the KA is a little lack lustre but you can get good power out of them AND you have a local engine and parts supply - Tomei do an extensive parts catalogue for the KA.

If you are set on the 180SX, then so be it, be prepared to check over the bottom end bearings or even think about replacing them and the oil/water pumps for longevity on a CA18DET.

Wide bodies aren't necessary for drifting, they look cool, yeah, but seat time over spec. Get someone decent to tuck/roll your OEM Steel fenders: not your buddy with a Louisville Slugger "because driftcar".

Lock mods are always handy, even if it's as much as rack spacers to start off with, don't just go mental and Wisefab/SLR kit it!

Wheels and Tyres are down to feel and what you want to run. I love the 4 Stud, wide 15" wheel look at the moment but that's just me. Run on 15/16/17 or whatever. Befriend someone in a tyre garage and pay for some of his better part worn tyres that he replaces for customers.

Don't bother with Adjustable ARBs, at this point, you'd be better spending the money elsewhere.

And with THIS bit...
Saddened said:
Help me have a show car and a parking lot drifter. Promise I wont go with stupid stance negative camber mods or too low wit the coilovers.
Click to expand...
No such thing as too low ;) Take Keeve for an example. Stock body, just rolled fenders.

13615240_10154951286699018_4755560679374909246_n.jpg
 
hey, thanks for the response

I am actually from europe and we did indeed get the 200SX here and with the 1.8t engine. I want my next car to be turbo and somewhat modern for better chance of high power gains if need be. I just recently dumped some 3500€ into a N/A for about 40HP gain while the same money could get me a compressor and gains of 100HP+. At the time I was convinced how much better N/A is. Not in a 2.0 litre form unfortunately.

ARBs were on my list of things to get anyway and I have read elsewhere they are rather important suspension upgrade for drifting too. The money I spent on my FWD for ARBs was money well spent.

I can't go too low because the car will be a daily and we have some brutal speed bumps over here. One thing I saw being written on different pages repeatedly was not to go too low for drifting because you can bottom out.

SX200 in europe should have an intercooler stock, am I right? Do I upgrade that right away or do I do it in case of power mods?

tnx

this is the look I am going for but maybe in blue/black
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/9c/77/0b/9c770b44205a48ab32ed21287c5fbcf0.jpg
 
No problem, where in Europe are you from? You had me fooled by the American terminology ;)

In that case, you do have the 200SX available of local supply. CA18DET can come as a spec, or find a cheap Auto CA18DE and then spend the money you saved (by having a mint car that's been babied all it's life) and either do an SR or a CA18DET swap with Manual Box.

I don't know how important they are to people here. I think most people have gone for bushes/adjustable arms, Coilovers. Some have even removed the front ARB.

I'm not too sure about the S13 but some Silvias/200SX had wing mounted intercoolers that did something on the way to cooling the charge but a lot of people swapped them with front mount I/Cs anyway. It comes down to power mods I guess, build the engine for longevity, make sure the turbo isn't going to explode on you and wick the boost up.

There are plenty of people running fair power out of CAs without them blowing up every 2 seconds so just have a look about :)

If you're set on a Wide kit, be prepared to fill it with some decent wide wheels...not poncy narrow ones with 50mm spacers!
The spoiler looks like a "Wangan" on that.
 
Here is a pretty good place to start:

http://www.driftworks.com/forum/faq...ift-modifications-drift-day-preparations.html

If you are doing a "resto-mod" as you call it, and repainting the whole car, then get whatever isnt rust/corrosion damaged. Manual gearboxes and CA18DET or SR20DET engines are easily available.

Buy some tires, coilovers, weld the differential, get a seat and off you go.

For power (when you have a CA18DET or SR20DET) the usual plans are a boost controller, uprated fuel pump, air filter, exhaust system, and a big front mounted intercooler. The T28 turbo from an SR20DET is a common upgrade for the CA18DET, and along with bigger fuel injectors and an ECU, can get reasonable power for beginners.

Larger brake calipers and discs from other models are usually a good idea. (S14 / 300zx / R33 parts).

A Sileighty will be, unfortunately, quite an expensive conversion for what you are actually getting, as the front end wasnt originally available in europe.



HOWEVER.

You mention getting a loan for all this, and needed a number. I hate to be boring and adult, but this doesn't really sound like a good idea.

I would highly recommend buying the car first and saving for parts as you build the car - you can get good deals on parts if you take your time to shop on eBay and car forums, and a lot of companies (such as Driftworks) offer finance on big purchases such as coilovers.

If you took one big loan it is very easy to spend a lot on money on unnecessary things, and drift cars have a habit of costing a lot more than you expect.

Concentrate on getting the car, getting it on the road, servicing it, making any repairs that are necessary.
 
Can you please stop typing SX200, it hurts my soul.

Besides that, everything you asked can be found on Google in about 5 minutes. You're willing to get into debt for this shit (which is an exceptionally stupid idea), at least put some effort in researching this stuff.
 
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part of my research was coming here, asking people that have the car and run it
finding a result on google does not mean the content has any merit, so far I have seen a few contradicting opinions already

I was most interested in how much power should my car be putting out ideally for drifting. No one has answered that. I honestly expected drifters with competition vehicles to at least state what their figures are on their cars.
 
It's a hard one to answer, people run MX5s with 115hp, comp cars can be anywhere from 200-1200.

Someone elses' Ideal, isn't your ideal. I guess it's personal preference and what level you want to be at
 
Drifters with competition vehicles are in a totally different place to you and your vehicle. All of it is meaningless and its just another stat to attract attention to their cars.

You will "need" in the region of 200bhp. 200-280 is really comfortable and easy and is achievable with the advice given above.
 
ok, got that, tnx

I can imagine at least some of you here use the car as a daily and go to the track/empty parking lot on weekends.
From experience, which mods to stay away from because they ruin the daily commute/functionality?
 
Saddened said:
ok, got that, tnx

I can imagine at least some of you here use the car as a daily and go to the track/empty parking lot on weekends.
From experience, which mods to stay away from because they ruin the daily commute/functionality?
Click to expand...

Clutches with very high bite/grabby engagement. Makes edging forward in traffic/slow speed manoeuvres a pain in the arse.

Completely stripping out the interior. Noisy, hot in the summer, cold in the winter, water dripping on you from condensation, slippy. Just not a nice place to be. Don't even bother removing the heater/blowers.
 
stripped out interiors, replaced panels etc. are illegal here unless a TUV certified replacement panel is installed. I haven't heard of a supplier of certified panels yet, so that is a no go.

Speaking of clutches, I can imagine there will be a lot of pressure on the stock clutch and will give in sooner or later. What kind of aftermarket clutch do I go after as a replacement?
 
I have read quite a bit about converting S13 from 4 to 5 studs. Why is a lot of you doing that? Is running 4 studs a big risk of actually breaking the bolts off while drifting? Or is it something as simple as easier to get a hold of rims?
 
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