T: Do you feel the Vertex Soarer has an advantage over its competitors that is naisho (secret)?
TU: This car is very lightweight. The backup Soarer I campaigned at the D1 driver search at Irwindale Speedway is approximately 400 pounds lighter than a factory Soarer. Even though that's considered light, it's hard to compete in weight against a car like the FD3S (RX-7). The car tipped the scales yesterday at 3,084 pounds. A Soarer is approximately 3,527 pounds.
The car I am using for the D1 Grand Prix in Japan, which is also my second backup car, is about 110 to 130 pounds lighter than the car I am racing in the United States.
The Soarer has a plethora of carbon-fiber parts including doors, hood, bumpers, trunk lid, dash, and fenders to help minimize weight. The judges in D1 say my car is the "beautiful, carbon-fiber masterpiece," which is humbling.
T: You recently dynoed the car at 460-plus hp at the wheels. What do you think is an acceptable horsepower level in drifting?
TU: For the Soarer, my goal was to have a minimum of 430 hp. Even though the car has been significantly lightened, if you compare the car to a Silvia it's still heavy.
In order for me to compete with lighter cars that weigh 2,425 pounds with close to 500 hp, I would need to have sufficient horsepower to be competitive. If I was just playing around on a circuit track, then horsepower wouldn't play a major factor. The power-to-weight ratio is most important when building a drift car. The car needs to be equally balanced to be competitive in drifting. About 350 hp in a Soarer is all you need if you're looking to have some fun.
Now, if you're planning to be competitive, more than 400 hp is a necessity. If it's a Hachiroku, as long as the car displays 170 hp, the Hachiroku is a fun car to drive. If you want to be in a competitive level like D1, then it's necessary to get the car up to 200 hp. Ueo in the Revolver-sponsored Hachiroku is a good example; he is pushing out approximately 220 hp to the wheels.
T: What are your thoughts on the slower, more underpowered Hachirokus in D1? Do they have a harder time competing with the more powerful turbo cars?
TU: How you drive the car on the track determines what kind of horsepower is needed. With all the horsepower that the Hachiroku is capable of, a high-grip compound tire is recommended to efficiently transfer all the horsepower to the ground.
Believe it or not, I also own a Hachiroku in my lineup of cars. It's set up with high-grip tires and my suspension is tuned for maximum traction when hitting the tracks. With my Hachiroku's custom setup, I like to power my way into and out of a drift, which is my style of drifting. Surprisingly, many underpowered cars, such as the Hachiroku, do have an advantage on certain types of tracks. High-speed courses, such as Fuji Speedway, have long, sweeping turns, which makes it difficult for the Hachirokus.
There are some D1 courses that are tight, with many windy configurations that make it difficult for high-horsepower cars to drift the courses. An example would be if Turn One is a tightly banked radius, using too much of the accelerator to fight your way out of the turn causes oversteer. While you're fighting your car, the judges are watching and screaming in their microphones from their tables, automatically disqualifying you from the event for doing such a poor drift.
People think if you lack horsepower, you can't drift. That's not the case. Regardless of whether you have the power or not, it's the skill of driving that makes the difference in taking home the trophy or being disqualified.
T: Do you feel you're at a disadvantage using a heavy car in D1 while you have competitors such as Gen Terasaki in the turbo Hachiroku or Kumakubo in the S15?
Tu: Hai, hai [Yes. Yes]. No matter how much I lighten the Soarer, compared to a factory S15 there is still a significant weight difference. Keep in mind Kumakubo's S15 has been extensively lightened over factory specs and the way the cars respond on the track is different from, say, a FD3S to a Laurel.