Don't Sweat The Technique
Author/Photos : Tj Sanethong
The last entry that I had living in the back log features the most mentioned chassis of 2022 in my opinion, none other than the ZN6/ZC6 chassis. While it may not seem like it, this car is 11 years old. I could go on for days on why it’s a great idea to switch to this chassis but we’ll save that for a separate entry. Instead we’ll just leave a few comments below. Thank you to those who have been sending kind words about the recent activity on all the social outlets. It means a lot to me when people engage in the articles and the podcasts. More content will come in time. Enjoy!
Devin’s Williams Brz meets Eric Clark’s Brz. While it may be common knowledge now, the FR-S, BRZ, GT86 share the same chassis and drivetrain. They may have exterior and interior differences but they are the same car.
Eric’s car started life as a BRZ but was then fitted with a zenki FRS bumper to give a bit more aggression. Devin opted to change his Kouki BRZ bumper with a zenki BRZ.
Eric is the person who inspired me to purchase my FRS. I knew I wanted to get into drifting but couldn’t get myself to buy an old crusty east coast s chassis at a premium price. Eric showed me how great these cars could double duty as a daily street car and a lethal drift weapon.
Eric and his BRZ are definitely wolves in sheep’s clothing. I molded my car based off his recommendation but the major differences between my car and his is the Unicorn Racing cut knuckle, 25mm extended front lower control arms, a Tomei 2 way limited slip differential, a Buddy Club Racing bucket seat, and a Nardi classic steering wheel. Major changes but not too far from what I daily.
My car has evolved once again. This year it has seen some steering and suspension upgrades to support the new (to me) wheel setup. The front end of the car received Megan Racing inner tie rods additional angle and a Whiteline Performance roll center kit to correct the suspension geometry. The rear end needed adjustment as well so I threw in a pair of Stance Suspension V2 25mm drop lower control arms courtesy of Jayro Machado and a set of Godspeed Project rear toe arms. These were simple yet very affective modifications.
Now just because I made all of these changes to my car doesn’t mean you need it to drift. Devin’s car is as simple as it gets. He equipped his car with Silver Neomax coilovers, a Thrash Racing bucket seat, Greddy 340mm steering wheel, aero, and some wheels….No really thats it. The car is 100% stock everywhere else. Devin is no stranger to this chassis and isn’t afraid to push the car to its absolute limit.
Devins 18” square setup is a great look but a bit too large for me liking. Although, it does make me want to switch over to 18’ wheels in some angles.
I also forgot to note that I made a wheel and tire change this year. I was lucky enough to trade my old set of Wedsport TC105N’s for my first set of 3 piece wheels. These are Desmond Wise Sports. My favorite thing about them is the staggered setup. The fronts are 17x8.5 +38 with a 20mm conversion adapter making them a nice +18 offset overall. While the rears are a 18x9 +35. At first glance its hard to tell they’re staggered because they use a 17” face square. The rear has a 17-18” step lip giving me the overall look I’ve been wanting to achieve. I finished them off by wrapping the fronts with a pair of 215/45/17 Falken Azenis 615k’s and the rear with a pair of 225/40/18 Lexani UHP’s. The reason for the difference in sidewall is the trick the car into thinking its a square setup to avoid throwing itself into limp mode.
Eric has a classic Gramlight 57DR painted in a custom color installed on his car.
Cruising around with them was the most fun I’ve had in a while that didn’t involve drifting. It was cool to see 3 of the same cars with very different styles built for the same goals and do it well. As time goes on the cars will evolve. I am excited for the changes being made on all 3 of these cars this year.
Here’s a teaser for a future post. A legend is being put together as we speak. Stay tuned