TRK's Garage

Today marks the day of a new start. I've settled in, grown accustomed to the hills of Ireland and made some friends that really know how to shred a tyre.
Today also marks the beginning of something.. Blasphemous. A bloke named Shane called me today, we used to run rally races way back in Australia.
He and his WRC Fiesta had an unfortunate accident and the team at Ford sent them five new EcoBoost engines, complete with gearbox.
Now there's something you need to know about Shane.. He's not really big on doing things legal, let's say he's a master at bending the rules.
He also has a undeniable hate for everything Japanese. When he heard his old mate was running a ricebox (his words, not mine) up and down the bends of Ireland he felt slightly betrayed.
Now I've been known to drive Japanese cars, I love their nimble lightweight precision, but I must admit that I cannot get the good old F20C dialed in to keep the S2K sideways.
The Irishman said he had the perfect solution, he just had to mess with some numbers, or something..

So, we've come to today and after a slightly disgruntled phonecall Shane showed up to my house in the mountains of Ireland.
With a f*cking "totaled" 1.6 liter EcoBoost engine and gearbox in the back of his truck.. Doesn't look totaled, it's brand spanking new, straight from Ford's rally division.
He wants $5.500 for his expenses. It's a bargain and I don't think I have much of a choice now, do I? On top of that, it'll solve a lot of my problems, too.
We crack open a cold one and start unloading the stuff into my garage. Shane shows me the ins and outs of the engine and we try to figure out how to get it into the S2K.

I've got work to do! These next few weeks I'll be able to build up this engine, hopefully. The chassis needs some love, too.
It's a start, I've got a plan and with Shane's delivery, the means to execute it.

First things first, let get rid of those restrictor plates. That should up the power of the EcoBoost by quite a bit.
I've also ordered a HKS GTIII–4R with supporting parts to up the power some more. Shane and I are working to figure out how to increase
the displacement from its original 1.6 liters to at least 2 liters. Quite a substantial upgrade, but doable according to the Irishman.
The only problem is that we can't exactly ask the technicians at Ford to help us out, this engine being borrowed and all that.
We'll need to find a shop. Or start up Garage K again, but before I could do that I'll need clientele and money. Quite a lot of it.

The idea of opening Garage K here in Ireland has lingered for a while now. Sometime ago my friend Louis from the UK asked me to
help him tune his M4 and brand new Civic Type-R. Both already modified by him, ofcourse, the guy never could keep his hands still.
Both cars were set up in a similar way, fully adjustable track suspension, ARB's front and rear and amazing exhaust systems.
I'm not sure what exhaust was under the Civic, but the M4 ran an Akrapovic exhaust which sounded mental. Louis gave me free reign on a choice of tyres.
He needed the BMW back in a hurry so we decided not to dilly dally and get moving. While we drove up and down the mountain in my backyard Louis explained
what he'd like the car to feel like, tight, but ready to party. Can't argue with that. Time to get to work.

A few weeks passed, the BMW is ready to go back to Louis. It's quick, let me tell you, spent a good day or two to set it up proper, but it was totally worth it.
When I delivered the M4 with the new HRE P101's and wider tyres to Louis he was stoked, to say the least! This was the first time he saw his new rims.
A new part delivery always feels like Christmas, to me. Quite positive Louis felt that way too, by the looks of it.

We talked about all things car related and eventually came to my build. I told him all the ins and outs of what I'm currently working on.
Even though he couldn't wait to see me drive off in his Civic so he could drive the M4, he stayed polite and listened to my blabbering.
Eventually I popped the question if I could loan his Civic while I work on the S2K. A bit reluctant at first (he know I'll drive it hard), but we struck a deal.
I tune it for free in the time I get to drive it. To be quite honest, I could probably finish the S2000 within a week, but Louis doesn't have to know that!
This Civic is a lot of fun, I might need to get me a front wheel drive car, too!

Build related stuff, I took out the sound proofing and all unnecessary electronics to save weight. Since I have the Civic to drive,
I can start pulling out the F20C and gearbox and begin figuring out how I'm going to fit everything in. Hopefully it won't require too much fab work,
but if it does, we'll manage anyways.

Time has passed and I have since pulled out the good old F20C. It's a beauty, I truly love this engine and hope to find a suitable chassis for it someday.
An AE86, perhaps? One can only dream. With the engine out of the way it's time to clean up the bay a bit. Tidy everything up and make space for the swap.
I'm redoing all hoses, cables and tubes as it's easier for me to built it in a way that I can get to it if something goes awry. Should also shave some weight while we're at it!

On other news, I received some packages today. Project Mu sent me all the power in the world I'll need to stop this beast once it's finished, the craftsmanship is stunning!
Cost a heavy penny, too, but you can see why. I'm excited to put them on once it's time. Now just to find rims to fit around those rotors..
And then wheel arches to fit those rims! That last bit won't be too much of a problem as I called TRA Kyoto today and ordered myself their Pandem kit.
It's so aggressive and I think it'll look good, chasing doors like a hungry shark.

Still haven't tuned the Civic that Louis lent me.. However, I have been tinkering with the setup a bit and tested it in the field, but he doesn't need to know that.
All I can say is, it's quick. Quicker than my S2000 last time I drove it. That said, I'm looking for something to drive so I can give him back his car. All in due time!

Alright. I haven't kept my diary, to say the least. That doesn't mean I haven't been busy.

Since my last entry there have been a couple additions to my stable, starting with a reliable grocery getter for the missus,
a pretty Brilliant Black metallic Golf MkII GTI. She thinks it's her car, but I didn't tell her of the C Class FWD championships that have been going on around the festival..
Might snag this boxy beauty for that.

We also got an absolute steal on an '08 Aston Martin DBS, low mileage and in near pristine condition.
A family friend of ours is getting too old to enjoy the car and gave us a hell of a deal. This is probably one of the most beautiful cars I've ever seen.
Tungsten Silver metallic suits it so well, too. No plans to race this, it'll be our GT for vacations and cruises. I will probably daily this as long as I've got money for gasoline..

Last but not least, I "needed" a track toy. Opportunity came in form of a beautiful Fire Orange BMW M3 GTS. This has got to be my favourite V8 of all time,
quick, nimble, fun to drive. Will see if I can get the track package from BMW, hopefully my contact still works there, been a while since we've been in touch.

Back to the present, the S2K is still in pieces as I had my hands full on the other cars and the drift season took a bit of a simmer.
That said, she'll be getting some use! Heard there were some B Class events going on near us and I reckon the S2K will do pretty well with the F20C installed.
The car should fit well within parameters without too much of adjustements. Suspension will need an overhaul, but luckily the Tein kit is easily adjustable.

Signing off for now, I'll try to keep this updated a bit more from now on.

There's been a couple of events and me and my cars have been doing well. I installed the F20C back into the S2K and to be honest,
I might keep it like this for a while. It's a shame I've got an amazing engine just sitting pretty, but so be it.
I'm on the hunt for a car to replace the S2K in the B class events, though.

The MkII is still doing well in the C class events even though I feel like the car lacks power. Might need to get it inside for a while.
Don't want to overdo it as my significant other needs to be able to drive it, too. It's her car, anyways..

No real plans for the other cars. I've been trying to get in contact with BMW about the track package, but it's taking longer than expected.

Rumor is there's going to be another A class event soon, might need to sneak out the DBS again..
Would probably be better if I had a dedicated racecar for this, my SO is NOT happy that I push the cruiser so hard..

Things to come, things to come!

Louis had asked me about the S2K on several occasions, he's been eyeballing it ever since he sold his.
The project had run dry a bit with so much other things to do, drifting really wasn't on my mind.
I agreed selling the S2K for a friendly price, but when I saw him driving up to make the transaction in his RSX I kinda felt something.

For a while now I've been meaning to get another FWD car, at Garage K we've only just tipped our toes into FWD tuning with the MkIII,
but it's oddly enjoyable for me. Proper trailbraking and coasting is just a different ballpark and driving style.
One I think suits the slower classes very well. We talked for a bit and decided a straight up swap was our best option.

Two happy dudes!

Other FWD news, the MkII has gone through a pretty big transformation. A completely rework you might say.
The car felt underpowered and way too grippy. This was partly because I made the car for my girlfriend,
but competing in it was just not fun enough. She shouldn't complain, she gets the V12 DBS as a daily now..
The plan is to swap in a VR6, I've already bought the motor. It will get some goodies and I'm going to switch to a less aggressive tyre compound,
to keep the car in C Class, where I think it does pretty well! The Golf has entered a lot of events with most of them podium finishes.
On top of that, I'm working on a livery, since I race more frequently now, sponsors are getting attention and want to get involved.
We figured it's best to have a flashy car to get noticed more.

On another note, there are Dirt events coming back again! Still got my eye on a 944 as I enjoyed the Garage K car so much.

Something fell into my lap. Something big! Well, small, but it'll have a big impact to my career I hope!
Organizers from the Horizon Festival notified me that Dirt events have started and while I knew this,
this bloke steered me in a direction for a car. He told me a mate of his was selling a nice Japanese Trueno.
It's only my very favourite car so once I got the number of his friend I rang and went straight there in the DBS.
This car was looking good! Got its fair share of usage by the looks of it, but everything was straight and rust free.
Upholstery seemed decent enough, some nicks here and there, but I felt that was fair for a car 35 years old.

To be honest, I kind of fell in love.
I needed a car to enter the RWD A Class rally events and what better car to that in than my very favourite?
The Hachi has some rally racing heritage, too, so it's been proven to perform.
Unfortunately, the seller smelled my enthousiasm (and that damn DBS doesn't scream budget..) and asked a casual $20.000 for it.
Now I'm no lowballer, but 20k seems very steep for a Hachi in this condition. We went back and forth and I finally caved at 17 big ones.
Around $5.000 more than I wanted to spend, but f*ck it. I've got a Hachi again!

Another interesting thing happend around the festival, it seems livelier.
People are talking about an increased interest from sponsors, which seems super valuable to me!
I mean, get stuff discounted? Maybe even free? Count me in! Time to hunt some down.

It's so much fun to swing the Hachi around corners, it's totally reviving my drift days.
Over the course of a few days I've been testing the car on my favourite back roads,
trying to get a feel for what should be upgraded first. I figured I should upgrade suspension first,
as we're going to drive some pretty rough terrain in the future. TEIN has always been one of my
number one go-to brands as they've never let me down. Once I talked with a representative I ordered
a complete suspension overhaul for the Hachi.

A few days past and my package arrived. The worksmanship is amazing, such high quality parts!
No time to waste, let's get these parts installed. Hachi on the lift and within a few hours the kit was installed.
Pretty easy to work on and similar to the TEIN kit I installed a while back on my drift Hachi,
so it was all plain sailing. It's turning dark, but I really want to test the car so I went out
on a little adventure. Rideheight wise I left the car pretty much at stock height,
it's the advanced dampening system that really works wonders on these bumpy back roads.
There's room for improvement, but I think that'll be able to tune out the kinks and get this car right where I want to.

Now onto the rest of the car. After some research I landed on a couple of manufacturers I'd love to get involved with.
TODA RACING makes amazing go-fast parts and that's exactly what I need. A rep and I talked on the
phone for a while and they agreed to send someone over to talk details on a eventual sponsorship.
Must admit I'm stoked on that, it'll save me a lot of money going forward. I've also ordered some
Pirelli K's to get some more grip on the dirt. Their rep told me they need some more results before
they're comfortable enough sponsoring me, which to be honest, I get. After contacting some more
companies they all told me the same; get results and we'll think about sponsoring you.
Guess I'll have to reach into my savings first.. Let's get some results!