The Soarer's weight causes it to drift at a wider angle, while cars such as the Ichigo (S15) and Hachiroku are lighter, enabling them to perform more of the smaller technical movements of drifting. I'm aware of these disadvantages, but I've learned to drift using my own technique to compensate for the weight of the car.
Heavier cars need to power their way out of the drifts, like Ken Nomura's Skyline, and that's where the flashy side of powering in and out of drifts became my fortff,.
T: What are some advantages to drifting a Soarer? Can they be competitive in D1?TU: Most definitely, if I didn't think the car was at a competitive level, I wouldn't be campaigning one today, nor would I have six of them in my garage! The car is a heavy luxury vehicle, so it needs to go into a turn at higher speeds than other competitors.
If your car is going through the turns in a wall of smoke, you'll get the audience's attention as well as the judges'. The judges take entry speed into consideration when awarding points. At times, they'll use the weight disadvantage to favor the points, but many times they will overlook the issue and make the drivers work for their title.
Take Ken Nomura in the Blitz-sponsored Skyline. His is a heavy car, but he manages to drive it like a two-door sports sedan. In drifting, either you're right on or you're completely off. Drivers don't have the luxury of half-assing their driving skills in hopes of winning a competition.
T: You're the owner and founder of Vertex. How did that come about? What's the difference between Vertex and T&E?
TU: T&E is the corporate company name, while Vertex is the aero parts brand name that we sell at the shop. We sell a number of aeroparts for vehicles ranging from wagons to high-performance vehicles. "ISM" is a brand for wagon aerokits, while "Vertex Ridge" is the name of our wide body kits for cars in the D1 series. Taniguchi in the HKS S15 is currently campaigning the "Vertex Ridge" series kit on his car.
T&E began eight years ago, specializing in window tinting and car detailing. At the time, I was driving a Soarer and a friend of mine asked if I could make him a body kit for his car. After the kit was complete, I had positive feedback from a number of people who asked me to make kits for their cars as well. It was from that point that I took a chance and began producing aero parts for cars and Vertex came about.
T: Vertex is one of the top body kit makers in the United States and many enthusiasts want to purchase them. What are your thoughts on that? Any plans to expand Vertex into the United States?
TU: I'm very happy that people would consider a Vertex kit out of the many aerokits on the market today. Yes, Vertex will be coming to the United States and has already established a supplier, Speed Alliance, based in San Diego. You'll see their booth at the next D1 event in August. We hope to bring Vertex kits for the Hachiroku, Silvia, Altezza, Aristo and Soarer to the United States. The carbon doors on the Soarer can be sold depending on demand, but as of yet it's a one-off model only.
T: You sponsor a number of cars in the D1 series. What do you look for when sponsoring each of those cars? Has sponsoring some of those drivers helped expand Vertex and it's image?
TU: For the most part, we've never asked anyone to put our body kits on their drifting or other high-profile car. People approach us about either purchasing or being sponsored by T&E. There are drivers who wreck cars or damage kits after every race. We tend to shy away from them.
Also, if someone owns a lot of cars but is sporting a Vertex kit on only one car while the others sport rival body kits, that's a no-no. We want people who are proud to be sponsored by Vertex to sport the name and products; they'd best promote our company and have close relations to the team.
T: In the D1 Grand Prix series, who is currently using T&E products?
TU: Quite a number of drivers are using our kits. Nobuteru Taniguchi (sponsored by HKS), Imamura Youiichi (sponsored by A'PEXi), Yoshioka in his orange Hachiroku, JIC's S15, up-and-coming driver Devura (pink S14), Kawamura in the D1 challenge group, which hasn't reached the full ranks of D1 (orange S14), Top Secret's S15, and finally, my mechanic Tomotane. There are perks and rewards in using a Vertex aerokit if you want to win a D1 event (smiling).
T: Any tips for newcomers interested in drifting?
TU: Most importantly, the individual must enjoy the sport. You have to enjoy what the sport is about and what you are doing or chances are you'll end up a short-term driver. I wasn't taught how to drift in the beginning. I learned on my own and enjoyed learning the movement of the car into the turns.