The sport of drifting is best described as controlled chaos. Racers slide their cars on the ragged edge between slip and grip only inches apart. And while import machines dominate this mechanical ballet, the sport is about to enter a new era...
Where the sport of road racing can be traced back a century to the country roads of Europe, the sport of drifting draws its origins from the serpentine mountain roads of Japan. In the late '80s, a group of racers took to the hills where they perfected their tail-out slides, mastered the art of vehicle control and in the process created an underground culture.
This difficult sport is full of tradition, with many pioneers fielding period-correct cars (imports from the late '80s/early '90s) as the only tools of the trade. But thanks to sanctions like Formula D, this underground hobby has ignited into a worldwide sport. Along with a national racing series, sponsored drivers and factory-backed teams are now the norm. In fact, the suggestion of a non-Japanese drift car would have been blasphemy a few years ago. But now, thanks to its high profile, cars like Mustangs and Vipers are considered successful drift cars.
Until recently, the diversity didn't reach across the pond. But last year saw a 911 enter the fray stateside. In et 6/10 we looked at Dave Blunt's E30 325is drifter, and now GSR Autosport in Anaheim, CA has teamed with pro-racer Michael Essa to create this BMW 350R.
Fortunately, this isn't a riced-out heap. Instead, it's an engineering marvel thanks to the E60 M5's S85B50 5.0L V10 under the hood. In addition, it has a custom Quaife sequential gearbox, one-off quick-change rear-end and a sophisticated brake system that uses no less than three master cylinders - now we're talking!
In some circles, what GSR did to the E92 Coupe would have them sent to the gallows. "We found an '08 335i with just 35000 miles on the clock, it was in perfect condition and ready to be turned into a racer," GSR Autosport Managing Director, Nick Richards said. "It went from intact to a bare shell in under a week," he added.
Richards went on to explain that in three short months, the car went from a stocker to a rocker. But the burning question is why an E92 with S85B50 V10?
"The E92 chassis and suspension are great. It's a solid platform to build on and the V10 was a logical choice since we wanted over 500hp. I also prefer normally aspirated engines," racer and builder, Michael Essa said.
The next logical question was why not upgrade the 335i's twin-turbo N54 3.0 engine? "The limits of the direct injection system on the N54 aren't clear yet, and we needed more power than most tuners were getting from the engine," Richards said. "Instead of investing in taking the fueling beyond 500hp, we went with a known commodity," he added.
But dropping the ten-cylinder under the bonnet proved to be far trickier than anticipated. Several similar conversions have been undertaken in Europe but there were no shops to consult or manuals to reference, so they had to forge their own path.
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Widebody front fenders and bumper were custom-built by GSR. If you like it, they might mak
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Once the stock engine was out, the GSR crew found the long inline-six engine had a relatively roomy engine bay. In fact, the compact V10 wasn't far from sliding into place. Or so they thought...
"In the end we had to massage the firewall, modify the steering rack and column as well as fabricate new engine mounts and modify the factory subframe to fit the V10," Essa said.
The V10's electronics are incredibly complex, so GSR found it easier to buy an entire M5 donor car rather than just the engine. This also provided the M5's steering components, complex lubrication system and cooling system.
"We kept the stock oil pan and oiling system since it's super-efficient thanks to multiple electric pumps that eliminate oil starvation under high-g loads," Richards said. "We also swapped the cooling system, which happens to be a double-banked setup, one for each side of the engine."