More from the guys at Gruppe-S today. This time they’ve documented the completion of their custom transmission mount for the G-Force 4-Speed dog box. As you’d know the GT-R’s rear mounted trans-axle has absolutely nothing in common with the engine mounted G-Force tranny so you could have foresaw the problems they’d have bolting it up.

Out came the welder and with a lot of hard work and effort the guys have put the problem behind them by fabricating a heavy duty support structure that should hold up to the stresses of drifting. As a result, the transmission is officially mounted in the car in addition to the engine which was mounted up last week.

What the guys will do with the rear subframe now there’s no transmission in it is going to be the next chapter in this story I’m sure.

Link: Gruppe-S Engineering Blog

Drifting, Motor Racing, Tuner News drift, drifting, dynamic autosports, gruppe-s, gt-r, gtr, hankook, nissan, r35

Part three of our series where we stalk the Gruppe-S guys building their Hankook Dynamic Autosports drift GT-R. This time we’ve got our first official pics of the VQ35 motor and G-Force 4-Speed dog box manual transmission bolted into the R35 chassis. The VQ35 is smaller all round versus the VR38 so all that extra space will be filled with larger piping for a bigger turbo. Yes singular.

This VQ35 ain’t stock though in case you’re wondering. It’s stroked to 4.0 – 4.1 liters so should be able to put out some respectable numbers when all said and done. It’s bolted in by way of some custom solid engine mounts.

The guys promise the GT-R will be ready for round one of Formula D action at the Streets of Long Beach in California on the 9th – 10th of April! Sweet!

Link: Gruppe-S Blog

Drifting, Motor Racing drift, drifting, dynamic autosports, gruppe-s, gt-r, gtr, hankook, nissan, r35

When the Hankook Dynamic AutoSport Gruppe-S Nissan GT-R drift car debuted at SEMA in 2009 we were fortunate enough to get an advanced preview from Dynamic Autosport’s Eddie Kim on what we could look for in terms of GT-R development. He mentioned that on top of the drift car’s chassis development they’d also be putting some focus on the VR38 development itself.

While they aren’t set on using the VR38 in the drift car just yet, (they’ll most likely be opting for a worked VQ engine), they’re very much going to be developing parts for it including a 4.0 – 4.3 liter stroker kit.

First up in the development of such a kit is to build a crank. That’s what’s happening right now and is expected to be completed in around a week. Pistons and rods up next we suppose and it should all slide nicely into their sleeved block. Should be an interesting competitor to the existing JUN 4.0 liter stroker kit which is quite a pricey item…

Link: Gruppe-S Blog

Parts / Manufacturers, Tuner News dynamic, engine, gruppe-s, gt-r, gtr, hankook, internals, nissan, r35, stroker, vr38, vr38dett, vr40dett

Second update from the Steve at the Gruppe-S blog today. What you see here is the interior of the car also being stitch welded to enhance chassis rigidity. Not only are they stitch welding but they’re removing all of the factory glues and sound deadening to save weight. A quite time consuming process but the guys look like they might have done it a few times before…

Once the car is stripped and welded, next comes the roll cage fabrication. The main hoop section and cross bars are welded in the car already with the remainder in fabrication right now. Looking forward to more updates as the guys prep the car to be driftable!

Link: Gruppe-S Blog

Drifting, Motor Racing, Tuner News drift, drifting, dynamic autosports, gruppe-s, gt-r, gtr, hankook, nissan, r35

The guys are getting pretty serious now with the build up of their Hankook Drift GT-R, or should we say strip down because the GT-R right now is nothing but an empty shell. And since there’s no better time, it’s time to stitch weld all the underbody seams. This will enhance the body stiffness/reduce flex which will in turn enhance the predictability of the car’s handling on the circuit.

Once welded, they’ll paint the exposed metal with primer and continue to prep the car to drift! Stay tuned for more updates shortly.

Link: Gruppe-S Blog

Drifting, Motor Racing, Tuner News drift, drifting, dynamic autosports, gruppe-s, gt-r, gtr, hankook, nissan, r35

Hankook Tires held a press conference at SEMA today to announce their sponsorships for the upcoming 2010 motorsports season. During the conference Hankook renewed their comittment to maintaining their existing sponsorships while adding on a cash contingency program to support grassroots motorsport teams using their products.

The mic was then passed to Eddie Kim from Dynamic Autosports who detailed their own plans for the Formula Drift season 2010. They have decided to take the AWD Nissan GT-R supercar and make a drifter out of it.

Dynamic Autosports will convert the GT-R to rear wheel drive and will make heavy use of Seibon dry carbon body parts to lighten the car up.

Rumour is that the car will not initially run the VR38DETT engine however and a single turbocharged VQ35 may find it’s way under the hood of the R35 chassis while the team develops the VR38 package. The VQ will not be stock size though and fans can expect to see it displace around 4.0 – 4.1 litres.

The transmission will also be switched out and relocated up front. A G-Force transmission will replace the GR6.

As said, the plan to use the VQ is not set in stone and Dynamic Autosports may indeed use the VR38 engine. If this happens, it certainly wont be stock either and they are already developing a 4.1 – 4.4 litre stroker kit for it.

Engine swaps like these are not surprising, spare parts availability and the existing experience base with the VQ motor are going to give them a leg up in the first years of drifting.

Link: Dynamic Autosports Website
Link: Hankook Tires Website
Link: Hankook Tires Press Release
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GTR News, Motor Racing, Motor Shows, SEMA dynamic autosports, gt-r, gtr, hankook, nissan, r35, Seibon