Finally got the call that my FD got released from US Customs! My car was shipped over for a Drift Demo on September 19 for the Brahma Light Drift Track Opening in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It was shipped back to California shortly after, but due to some miss communication with the US Customs with it’s entry back to the US, the FD was held for inspections at the Long Beach Ports. US Customs required my car to be declared as a race car to be able to get let back into the country. So I had to request for a Race Car Exclusion Letter from both the DOT and EPA separately before US Customs would even begin it’s inspection processes. After a while the requests went though and they proceeded with the inspection process.

My FD was moved from the docks, to a US Customs Bonded Warehouse and then the G.O. Warehouse where they allowed me to pick the car up at. It was a huge warehouse with huge stock piles of boxes everywhere. My car was in this back section of the building amongst other imported cars awaiting pickup. I was happy to see the car was still intact with everything in it. Finally, free at last! Felt like it just got out of jail or something. LOL. Time to refresh the car back up.

I just got my S14 Silvia ready for this year’s SF Auto Show at the Moscone Center. It is currently on displayed there from Nov. 26 – Dec. 2nd.

Special Thanks for my Sponsors:

• Vertex USA
• Garage Inc.
• Graphtech Graphics
• Fatlace
• iPhilms
• Seibon Carbon
• Apexi
• Asus Eee PC
• BC
• Exedy Racing Clutch
• Griffin Radiators
• Impact Engineering
• Kaaz LSD
• KW Suspension
• Mach III
• Nissan USA
• OS Giken
• Peak Performance
• Project Mu
• Sparco

I got a chance to test drift some different cars during the last Thunderdrift full track event over at Thunderhill raceway. A SR20DET powered RPS13, a LS1 Turbo Powered S14, and a stock G37. Out of all of the cars, I was actually most surprised about how well the stock G37 drifted. The factory setup the stock settings with mild understeer, but it can be called upon to smoothly rotate into stable and predictable drifts. Mid-drift the car feels serene, even when being aggressive with the throttle, it still held it’s composure. The chassis did not do anything scary, the car drives very predictably at the limits. This car was reminiscent of my Falken G35 where it was able to hold long, smooth drifts, but it seems that the new G37 has some suspension improvements that allows the car to perform at a more refined level.

Where the G37 felt like a refined, luxury drifter, Luke Lonberger’s LS1 V8 Turbo powered S14 felt like a crude import hot rod on the other end of the spectrum. This S14 chassis felt very light and nimble compared to the heavy G37. It rotated quick, but it lacked the refinement mid-drift to hold a steady line, especially during off camber, decelerating corners. The chassis felt less forgiving then the G37′s, but the extra power from the turbo LS1 motor more than made up for it. The motor was able rev out the powerband quickly even at part throttle, so frequent upshifts was necessary to keep the engine off its limiter. This car has a lot potential still, with proper gearing, some additional tire and suspension tuning, this car would be a competitive drift car.

The RPS13 is the pinnacle of drift cars, as it is the most commonly used drift chassis in the world. Jay Lapid of Graphtech Graphics hooked up this Camo S13 for about half a decade now and even competed this car in Formula D back in 2005-06. It’s been through many stages and has been recently resurrected and is going through refinement. This S13 chassis rotated very quick and was capable of big drift angles, but his lack of a solid engine tune held the car back from it’s full potential. It did run solid the whole event with Jay getting in a full day in with his car. Can’t wait till he get’s his car fully setup so we can get some good tandem drifting going on in the future.

I brought out my newly Garage Inc painted M3 out to the HellaFlush 3 meet, held at Blacktrax in Milpitas.

Since this is my daily, I wanted to keep the car all OEM style. I had the Garage Inc guys paint up the wheels and grills, and had the lights tinted as well. The stock wheels were spaced out for that flush fitment.

The meet brought out some pretty fresh cars. These FD’s are my friends’ from the MD-R Sac crew.

NorCal got some FF guys rockin’ good fitment wheels. It’s about time the Honda guys start catching on to what us rear-drive drift guys started up over 6 years ago.

Some guys now are getting pretty ridiculous with their fitments. This fitment is some gangster show car style. Only made possible from airbag suspension. I wouldn’t roll it like that unless you want your fenders all jacked up.

There are some old school cars getting down with the flush movement as well. The infamous Shakoten S30 Z from Motormavens.com came out to represent here too.

The Fatlace Porsche sittin’ hella flush on some bronze TE37′s. Those wheels look dope on anything.

There were vendors out at this event including the Fatlace booth where you can buy some gear, grab some Motormavens flyers and check out models showcasing their photos.

The Fatlace crew has built up a big following with these Hellaflush meets. I heard people traveling from all over the place including Hawaii & Seattle, just to come to check this event out. Can’t wait to see what’s up with the next one.

7 years is a long time for anything. Amazingly, that’s how long I’ve been with the Falken Tire Drift Team. Through that time, Falken and I have shared many ups and downs.

We started as a makeshift first entry into establishing drifting as a legitimate, viable, and, most of all, exciting N. American motorsport.

We weren’t sure what we had at the time – how could anyone know – but we knew we were pursuing our passion and felt strongly that we were right at the doorstep of something special. I’m a firm believer that you really can’t go wrong chasing after what you love. Make that a priority and everything else falls into place.

What followed the dedication and teamwork was indeed success. Falken Tire was right there with me, from pioneering the sport at new venues to podium finishes, the formula worked well and has been just as enthralling as drifting through corners at full throttle.

The low points make the highlights even more remarkable and forces you to truly appreciate having that dialed-in car, professional crew and being surrounded with all the little complementary pieces that come together at the right time.

So now as I reflect back on all the great highs and even the lows over the course of seven years, I’d like to thank all the incredible people that have been a part of the collection of snapshots permanently imprinted in my head.

I’m excited to announce that I’ll be shifting to the next challenge in my drifting career, pursuing my own program. Thank you to the fine folks at Falken Tire. I wish them continued success. Most importantly, I’d like to thank all my supporters – past, present and future. I’m looking forward to the next phase of my career and to the road ahead. I hope you’ll join me.

Sincerely,

Calvin Wan

My S15 Parked in the Falken Motorsports pits rockin’ some reminiscence of Sonoma battle scars on the car still.

One of my wall rides during a solo run on the inner banking.

Running through the main inner clipping point.

The cool thing about Irwindale is that we get to run the track at night. The course portrays an entirely different ambiance when the lights come on. It makes drifting there much more dramatic and exciting. A feeling unique to Irwindale.

Here is Frank Siharath of Garage Boso. He was my crew chief and head tuner for the past 2 years with Falken and was responsible for keeping the S15 together all year long. He did an awesome job with the motor setup. It made great power and ran reliability all year with no engine problems. This guy is SR master.

Here is me with chassis engineer extraordinaire, Mike Kojima, and KW Suspension’s Chris Marion. I wish I had more time to work with Mike and Chris together during more test sessions this season. I am sure we could have gotten the car to handle a bit better. It was a pleasure working with them nevertheless. I really appreciate their efforts this year.

During my last battle with the Falken S15. 2009 has been a memorable year for me with this infamous car. I am grateful I got a chance to compete in it.

The Dominican Drift Club called CDCD (Club Dominicano de Corredores de Drift) put together a huge drift event and concert together with track title sponsor Brahma Light. Casper Canul and I got invited to perform a drift demo with our US Formula D cars during their drift series-opening event on September 19^th, 2009.

Brahma Light setup a pre party at a high end bar located in the center of Santo Domingo, D.R. They brought some drift cars over from the track for display. There was media there present taking photos and conducting interviews at the venue.

Another pre event party was held the following day after a high end night club. The club had both Casper and I sign their celebrity sign board before going in.

Amongst celebrities in Dominican Republic! We had to add some drift comments on there to represent.

We went out there a couple of days early to prep our cars, test and setup their new drift track, marking all of the clipping points and track outline of the course. We spoke with the drivers and setup a driver’s meeting during the competition day and went over all of the judging criteria and track rules with their local judges.

There was a huge turnout, with all 7,500 of the presale tickets being sold out. The crowd was ecstatic the whole event, we were able to hear the crowd roar from all the way down the runway to our pit area.

The announcer introduced both Capser and I, and had us give the excited crowd a warm welcome.

The track was actually and old airport runway that is now solely used for drifting within borders of the capital city of Santo Domingo. The straightaway was huge, capable of 100+mph 4^th gear entries. We moved the start line up so that the DR competitors would enter in 3^rd and initiate with a big feint entry into the left land sweeper and finished off with some esses.

Casper and I choreographed some drift demo routines in between the competition tandem rounds throughout the event.

During our demo sessions, we showed them some different style tandem runs: competition style, passing, synchronized manji’s and routines. We even did some Team Orange Style Head-On passes which the crowd went nuts about.

They were all excited to see our fully built-high power competition drift cars. We are hoping by them seeing our cars, it will inspire the competitors to build up their cars more so they can put on a better show for the spectators.

I had my FD sitting hella flush that event. So much that I was rubbing my sidewalls off every time I drove. I wanted to show the Dominicans what’s up with good wheel fitment.

Representing Vitamin Water out in the Dominican Republic!

I brought out a few cases of Vitamin Water to the event for the locals to try out. They loved it out there. It was actually quite refreshing to have over there since the humidity levels there were constantly at 100% with temps in the 90′s.

The crowd really enjoyed the drifting out there. They have a strong motorsport culture there and love Japanese & Euro style tuning.

At the end of the drift event, they setup a podium ceremony and awarded Casper and I some appreciation plaques for participating in the opening of the series.

After the podium ceremony, they switched gears and went into full concert mode. They had Calle13, a popular Puerto Rican hip-hop band perform in front of this sellout crowd. Calle 13 is a five-time Latin Grammy Award and Grammy Award-winning Puerto Rican hiphop and alternative-reggaeton duo.

This whole event was a huge production with separate VIP areas and catered food and vendors. We even got to hang out with Calle13 in their private trailer for a bit after the concert. Brahma Light and CDCD are currently planning on putting on more events like this in the near future. I am very excited to see what they have in store. I can’t wait to get back out there for more.

- www.cdcd.com.do

- www.boostiao.com

- www.dominicandrift.com

- www.brahma.com

Here is Ross and I tandeming during practice Boso style!

The hit that started all the drama.

One of 2 passes during the 2 day long tandem battle.

Battle scars.

Infineon Raceway. A place of many dramatic memories for me throughout the years.

My FD on display at the Need For Speed Booth during the Formula Drift / IRL weekend at Infineon Raceway from August 21-22.

I brought my Falken RX-7 out to Thunderhill Raceway with the Fatlace / 360 Video / Graphtech crew this past Tues. Thunderdrift set up a full track drift day with does not happen too often on this track because the tracks get so busy throughout the year. So I also like taking advantage of these relax drift events to enjoy my cars and to get in extra seat time with some friends. This track has some of the most amazing rhythm sections and variety of corners that makes it so fun to drift on. You can connect turns 2 through 7 as well as many other sections of the track. 360 Video brought out some pretty fancy gear to get some of these unique camera angles. Check it out.

Calvin @ Thunder Drift Vid by iPhilms

Special Thanks to:

360 Video

ThunderDrift.com

Fatlace.com

GTstickers.com