www.bushwah.net

Here is a shoot I did back during the summer of 2010. I always like cars in white the best and wanted to set up an all white fleet.

The cars consist of my ’93 Mazda RX-7 drift comp/race car, ’98 Nissan Silvia show car, and my ’01 BMW M3 daily driver.

I have owned this FD since 2003 and has been through many iterations. With the body still on it’s original coat of paint, it has been through many graphic schemes, wrap in full Falken Team colors, gone through various sets of aero, and is now back to its original white. This FD has been in Formula D, D1 Grand Prix, Champ Car Team Drift Demos, Redline & Super Street Time Attacks, Sport Compact Car Shootout, Best Motoring American Touge, All Star Bash, Gymkhana Grid, SEMA, SF & SJ Auto Shows, tons of other local events and has been shipped to Panama and Dominican Republic for international drift demos. This FD has been around.

This rhd S14 was a show car that I built. It showed at the San Francisco International Auto Show, WekFest SF, and SpoCom San Mateo.

The inaugural Gymkhana Grid event turned out to be a great event. This new style of competition format was both entertaining to watch as well as to compete in. It combines aspects of drifting, autocrossing, drag racing, and time attack all into one. I believe this new style of competition could be the next big thing in motorsports.

The event started off with an interview with J-Rod which can be seen at gymkhanagrid.com.

My FD3S at the Falken Motorsport pits with event winner Dai Yoshihara. Mike Kojima of Moto IQ and the SPD Crew did an incredible job setting up the suspension on his LS2 powered S13. Congrats to the team! They were running some huge 315/30/18 Azenis RT-615K on the rear which really helped provide the grip needed. I was actually running on the older Azenis RT-615 compounds: 265 front / 275 rear sizes this event. I heard that new RT-615K’s provides a lot more grip than the older RT-615 compound. I can’t wait to try the new K’s in bigger sizes at the next Gymkhana Grid event.

The Gymkhana Grid competition format consist of 2 mirrored tracks, both individually timed from the start / finish gate. They even had a christmas tree lighting setup which made it feel like a drag race from the start. There were designated drift zones, figure 8′s and multiple 360′s around barrels throughout the course that needed to be navigated through in order to properly complete the course. Timed penalties were given for hitting a barrel or not drifting in a drift zone. This format took some practicing and memorization to get used to, but was challenging and really fun to drive in. Qualifying was held on Friday to see where you will placed in the elimination brackets for Saturday. I was able to pull off a time of 57.137 (+0.5 with a cone) on Friday which qualified me in 3rd place.

Coming out the gates. It was a drag race to the first corner.

First corner was a sweeper that was a required “drift zone.”

Which led into a figure 8 section.

The “box” section was pretty fun to get around.

It actually was not as tight as it looked, but there were a few cars that slammed into the barriers or got stuck in it during the event.

After the box there was an another drift sweeper and slalom section that you had to get through. The final section was a long straightway into the 360 spins. You would have to brake hard coming into the spins or else you would over shoot it. Surprisingly one of the most difficult sections of the course.

After completing the double 360′s, you then race through the finish gates. It was pretty fun to watch the AWD’s do the donut and drift sections. I’m sure it’s much harder to do in those cars compared to RWD’s as a lot of them were having trouble with that throughout the event.

The main event eliminations began at night time. I was able to make it to Top 8 in the eliminations and ran consistent on both sides. I ended up racing against a WRC rally driver, Kevin Abbrings, in a rally prepped 350z. He was able to gain an extra 3 seconds somehow on my race and had the top RWD time of that round. His team came from Holand and shipped their Z over here just for this one Gymkhana Grid event. Pretty crazy.

I want to thank Ben Meeker of Rotary Extreme for coming down and crewing for me. He’s been my RX-7 guru setting up my V-Mount and turbo setups. Check out his products at RotaryExtreme.com. We will be doing a new Exedy Carbon Twin clutch install soon as well. So keep an eye out that that blog posting.

I want to also thank Mint Design for helping out my race program. They just released some clean Vandal on their site www.getmints.com. Mint Design Footwear is inspired by colorful classic designs and are made of 100% recyclable EVA. Super comfortable and lightweight.

The Drift Sumi-e team was out in full effect at the Gymkhana Grid event. Check out driftsumi-e.com for current updates and promotions.

I got invited along with Casper Canul and Ross Petty to demo and judge the drift portion of the biggest car show in Latin America: Furious Wheels in San Juan Puerto Rico from October 14-17, 2010.

The Puerto Ricans were not new to drifting. They have been drifting there for a few years now and got some pretty decent drivers and cars over there. Jose in the red shirt was the organizer of the drift event and had one of the few FD3S’s in Puerto Rico that he actually drifts with. The winner of the event, Luis, in blue, competed with a turbo’ed E36 M3 and drove aggressive the whole event. Props to the drift scene in PR!

The US crew hard at work setting up the competition and judging the drift event.

Jose kindly let me demo in his FD right before tandem competition.

I had a blast driving and hanging out in PR. Can’t wait to get back over there.

]]> http://www.calvinwan.com/puerto-rico-furious-wheels-demo-2010/feed/ 0 http://www.calvinwan.com/m3-drift-x-fatlace-classic/ http://www.calvinwan.com/m3-drift-x-fatlace-classic/#comments Thu, 28 Oct 2010 06:01:56 +0000 admin http://www.calvinwan.com/?p=923

Demo drifting my E46 M3 at the Fatlace Classic show in Vallejo earlier this summer.

I brought the Drift Sumi-e S14 out to the Wekfest SF show earlier in the year. It was actually the day after the Norcal Racing Expo so I ended up doing a back to back show weekend. Much different feel than a track event weekend, but just as tiring. lol

The Auto Fashion guys saved me a really pimp parking spot next to their booth, right up front. Thanks Freddy!

You can really see the Garage Inc. white pearl paint glow under the garage lights.

Rocking that business card fitment.

Hellaflush.

Big thanks for all the friends that helped out with this S14 project!

I was invited out to represent the drift car portion of the 2010 NorCal Racing Expo. I brought out my Drift Sumi-e RX-7 amongst the vast array of race vehicles ranging from midget lites to hydroplane racing boats.

Some of the most prominent race cars that were on hand where the BCRA Midgets. These midgets run 4 cylinder push rod race engines producing nearly 400hp with a direct drive gearbox on chassis weighing around 900 lbs. That is a pretty crazy power to weight ratio. Must be pretty nutty to drive. There is also a midget lite version that uses 1,200cc motorcycle engine and tranny. They race these cars sideways in the dirt with and without wings. Next best thing to drift cars . Check them out at Bay Cities Racing Association.

I left my Seibon carbon panels exposed for the show so that the attendees can notice the weight reduction setups that some drift cars run. Dan Pina’s Drift Patrol Mustang was also on hand with my RX-7. Our cars were rocking reverse style paint schemes for the show. haha.

The folks at the MYX Channel set up a booth for the SpoCom San Mateo show and invited me to bring out my S14 Silvia for display. They were there filming new episodes for their 360vm television show on their network.

The MYX guys were kind enough to let us throw up our Drift Sumi-e Banner at the booth. The Drift Sumi-e Team actually stopped by their studios earlier and filmed an interview so be on a lookout for that on a future episode of 360vm. Thanks for the support!

Here’s my S14 rocking the Vertex Lang aero with the Garage Inc. custom pearl white paint job, holding it down at the booth.

The MYX guys had a lot going on the their booth all day.

Their 360vm booth looked like a full studio set with all of the TV screens, lighting, backdrops, props, etc. on hand. They came out with a full production crew ready to shoot.

Og import super model, Christine Mendoza, was hanging out at the booth all day. She had a bunch of her paraphernalia out on display for folks to come check out.

I want to give some shout outs to my sponsors that helped out on this Silvia project.  Thanks for the support!

Stay tuned on the MYX channel for the upcoming 360vm shows featuring this interview and the SpoCom show coverage.

Come check out the 360vm / MYX Channel Booth as they will be featuring one of my Drift Cars at the SpoCom: San Mateo Show on may 1, 2010.

Official Drift Sumi-e Launch Party @ Azul Bar and Lounge in San Francisco

Together with Get Live’s Word Up: Back In Business “All Things Hip Hop” Party.

Playing them beats for your feets are Dj’s:

KINGMOST- Pluglabel
PRINCE ARIES- Distortion2static
RAICHOUS – RRS FEED

along side WORD UP resident Boogie Brown

==============================================================

*Early Arrival is Highly suggested

Azul Bar & Lounge
1 Tilman Place
SF, Ca.
21+ with Valid i.d

For bottle service or more info contact: getlivesf@gmail.com

==============================================================

** RSVP till 11pm @ going.com/wordupmarch2010 **

** Show us Drift Sumi-e on your iPhones or iPod Touch and get in all night for Half Off! **

Brought my FD out for the first time after it’s Dominican Republic Demo return. I was a bit worried about it at first because the car would not start for the longest time since that demo. The car sat in a shipping container at the Long Beach Docks for like 3 months and I guess all that salty sea water air caused the apex seals to lock up. But thanks to Ben Meeker of Rotary Extreme, we finally got the car to start back up after several days of work. The car ended up running beautifully during the Fatlace Team Drifting Championship event at Buttonwillow over the weekend. Such a big relief, as this rotary setup has been awesome.

I ended giving ride alongs during each session, this particular one was with Allister Capati, my fellow co-creator of our iPhone game Drift Sumi-e. Trying to teach this guy a thing or two about drifting, so I hope he was paying attention during the ride.

I grabbed this pic from the Motor Mavens site. Antonio was hard core enough to come out on his own along with some associates to cover the event. Good to see him still knocking out dope pics after all these years.

I finally got a chance to remove of all the vinyl wrap from gtstickers.com and see the FD back in white. This car has not been all clean of decals since it’s debut during the 2004 SEMA show. Even at that event, I had to throw on some stickers on the car. So I was really happy to see the car all clean in white with the full Vertex kit. I now have a full collection of white cars. Stay tuned for a group photo shoot soon.

I was going for that street style look. So I took off my APR wing and installed my Seibon Carbon hatch with lexan window. That hatch was so much lighter than the stock piece. It actually made the car swing around a bit more nimbler around the track. I actually liked this setup for lower speed courses. Good to know the car still works well without the wing.

My CW FD is now known as the Drift Sumi-e FD3S. We will be doing more events with this car in the near future with promotions for the game. Be on the lookout for a new DS video trailer with this car drifting with the in-game footage of the Proto One DS car. This video will be produced by Phillip Velasco of 360 video who always knocks out super clean vids.

My FD is still rocking a race ported 13B-REW rotary with an Apexi AX75F92 tubine setup. A new Rotary Extreme V-Mount setup cools the intake charge and coolant keeping this motor reliable and running at proper temps. Garage Boso put this whole engine setup together which is pushing around 415 hp at the wheels and still holding up after a year and half of beating.

It was good to be out at the track drifting in a proper drift car again.

Big thanks to Xander and the Fatlace crew for putting on this West Coast Team Drift Championship. I hope there will be more events to come soon. Until next time.

:: Calvin

During the off-season I have been working on a Drifting iPhone App called Drift Sumi-e under a company called Objectify. We wanted to create an all-new game concept that incorporates authentic Drifting dynamics with the beautiful artform of Sumi-e brush painting. The game features a unique but simple gameplay dynamic especially designed for the iPhone touch controls.

The gameplay is technical yet elegant. Drift Sumi-e requires you to draw a precise drifting line connecting all of the clipping points smoothly in a timely manner. If not drawn correctly, you may either spin or crash off course. The game carries a calming, Zen-like nature as you watch your art come to life.

Here is our App Store Description:

| Limited Time Sale Price: $0.99 |

Welcome to the art of driving.

Experience Drift Sumi-e (su-me-eh): art and driving uncommonly fused into one.

A modern approach on a classic brushstroke art form focusing on capturing the essence of the subject, create a brush line and watch as it comes to life, car gracefully sliding through course.

Featuring:

- A groundbreaking gameplay dynamic.
- A sophisticated game engine with true-to-life driving physics.
- 8 challenging tracks created by professional motorsports driver and US drift pioneer, Calvin Wan.
- Picture perfect environments. Visually stunning courses depict rich and serene anywhere-in-the-world locales.
- Deep and rewarding unlock system. Keep coming back for more – see what your first place rank unlocks.
- Snapshot and share. Sit back and watch through playback mode, then take snapshots of your run in action. Easily connect with Facebook, Twitter and E-mail to share your art.

Drift Sumi-e (su-me-eh). Start with a raw canvas, finish with a real-world masterpiece.

http://bit.ly/a9T9zW

www.DriftSumi-e.com

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 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

]]> http://www.calvinwan.com/a-nod-to-the-past-and-the-road-that-lies-ahead/feed/ 0 http://www.calvinwan.com/irwindale-finals/ http://www.calvinwan.com/irwindale-finals/#comments Sat, 31 Oct 2009 08:48:06 +0000 Calvin http://www.calvinwan.com/?p=655

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.