Gruppe-S New Drift Car

[Gruppe-S]

Yup thats right we just picked up the APR STi for the upcoming season of Formula Drift. Yup thats right Gruppe-S is going drifting in an STi!
The entire vehicle will be undergoing a complete transformation.
Car will be ready for the 1st round in Long Beach April 10th

[JuJube]

Sweet!

Nice looking ride.

I imagine the work needed is pretty in depth.

Are you keeping AWD or converting to RWD?

[Gruppe-S]

For Formula D the car needs to be RWD so we are converting it.

Keep checking back for updates.

[Gruppe-S]

Just a little update on the car guys


Cage is almost completed.


Seibon Dry Carbon Fiber showed up yesterday. The look and feel is top notch.

Dry Carbon CW Hood with Reverse Scoop
This stuff is just super impresive, Super Lighweght and Strong! This stuff is just awesome.


Seibon Dry Carbon Trunk Lid


Seibon Carbon Doors


For those of you that have always wonderd how much wider the APR Widebody is compared to the OEM body check out the gap when the door is installed minus the flare.

[Gruppe-S]

Well looks like someone leaked some info a bit early.
Instead of the same old boring rendering that everyone else uses, we decided to go a different route. We had HPI build us a version using one of their new RC Chassis. This gives everyone and the sponsors a better look at what we will be running.
Enjoy

[eltness350]

Wow thats hott!!!

[r_seng]

Very nice!

[JDSMotoring]

very nice so far...cant wait to see the car when its ready for battle

[Gruppe-S]

Just got car back from paint shop. Must say it looks pretty awesome in person. Car looks 10x better than the old red color.

[Gruppe-S]

Come check us out at Long Beach this weekend guys.
Here are a few pics from qualifying today.

[PV350Z]

how was it fellas?

[Gruppe-S]

Thanks for all of you guys that came out to Long Beach. Also much thanks to all you guys that stopped by and said hi!
After a few weeks of long nights and little sleep. Formula Drift kicked off its 2009 season in Long Beach. After seeing some of the competition during practice and qualifying we knew we were in for a fight.
In the first round
Right from the start we showed no mercy.
After a great 2008 season Robbie Nishida and was determined to show no mercy.
In the 1st round Robbie Nishida in our Gruppe-S/ Hankook 350Z made quick work of Takatori in S13

Round 2 pitted Robbie against Quoc Ly in his S14. Robbie schooled Quoc for the win.

Round 3 pitted Robbie against Stephan Verdier in his 2006 STi. Stephan was on fire all weekend taking out Rhys Millen and Chris Forseberg. However he was no match for Robbie and our Z33.

Heading into the Semi-Finals we were matched against Samuel Hubinette and his old Viper. Looks like his Challenger was not ready for the 1st event.
Unfortunately in the final turn Robbie pushed just a bit too hard spinning out giving the win to Sam

Oh well off to the 3rd place match...

3rd place match was between Robbie and "Golden Child" Tanner Foust in his NASCAR Powered V8 Scion TC (does that even sound right to anyone?)
Robbie spun out in the 1st run after Tanner had to "Check his Brakes"
Tanner faulted in the 2nd run hitting our car setting up a "One More Time"
One More Time run was close call but in the end the Judges awarded 3rd place to Tanner and his NASCAR Powerd V8 Scion TC!

Congratulations to Tanner.

Out of all the drivers in Formula D for Eric to do his first battle, it turns out to be his old Prodrift nemesis Darren Mc Namara in his Sears Auto/Falken Tire Saturn Sky. Eric had qualified 31st in his first ever outing driving his LHD Gruppe-S Hankook Tires/Rockstar Energy Drinks Subrau STI while Darren had an amazing run to put him 2nd on the qualifying list. Due to last minute changes, Eric wasn’t able to fit any testing into the hectic pre-FD schedule, so his first seat time was the few runs he had prior to qualifying.
After an impressive match by both drivers Darren was awarded the win. Given the fact that Eric qualified 31st overall on the merit of his first qualifying run. He had a steep learning curve, switching not only from the lightweight, short Corolla to the heavier, longer Gruppe-S/ Hankook Rockstar Subaru STI, but also having to switch from RHD to LHD.

Here are a few images courtesy of www.wreckedmagazine.com
Once again we want to thank all of you guys for comming out and supporting us.
See you guys May 9th for Round 2 in Atlanta!
Gruppe-S

[Gruppe-S]

[Gruppe-S]

[ZRuggernDC]

Wow.. you guys over at Gruppe-S are serious!! Hope the improvments to the STI keep getting well and congrats to a podium finish at the start of the season in the Z. Look forward to seeing you guys in Atlanta!!

[Jeremy@Altered]

Very cool guys, i had soo much fun running two cars last season. i will miss it this year but hopefully will be able to work some plans into a car for next year.



Good luck!!

[buzzardmountain]

It was great seeing the Z in person in Long Beach.......you guys put on a great show. Hope all goes well this drift season......

[Gruppe-S]

Thanks for all the support guys. Unfortunately we got 4th, but almost podium. We are shooting for the championship this year with the Z.

Originally Posted by Jeremy@Altered

Very cool guys, i had soo much fun running two cars last season. i will miss it this year but hopefully will be able to work some plans into a car for next year.

Good luck!!

We hope to you see you out there again. Thanks!

[kof0127]

The pictures are not able to load, I think you need to upload them again, but just by reading people's response, this is a great drift machine. I really want to see pictures for your Formula D Z, thanks.

For myself, i am working a 300hp flat drift 350z in my own garage, I just have to finish put my suspension and tie rods, swaybars, or may be new steering wheel.

[Gruppe-S]

Here are some courtesy of tracksyde.com

http://www.tracksyde.com/?p=201


Also a link to our dsport article
http://www.dragsport.com/issue/2008/...er_story.shtml