GReddy Racing FR-S Formula Drift Build & updates
 

Hello All,

On January 9th 2012 during the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, it was revealed to the world that GReddy Performance Product has partnered with Scion Racing to introduce a competition built FR-S. The GReddy Racing FR-S will be campaigned in the 2012 Formula Drift Championship piloted by young veteran Ken Gushi. The all new platform has been a top secret project based out of our Irvine, CA headquarters and will be under going further development till it seeks its maiden voyage on the “Streets of Long Beach” April 6-7th.

Since the announcement, there has been many questions and interest in regards to the build so we’ve decided to dedicate this thread to document the whole project leading up to our first competition. I’ll also update you guys on the development throughout the 2012 Formula Drift season so you fans can keep track of our progress. Now that the secrets out, expect to see lots of behind the scene action so stay tuned!

-Brian


Part 1:

Over the years we have been very fortunate to have a good working relationship with Scion and the Scion Racing family. Initial talks started when Scion approached us about taking on a big project for 2012. We had a good idea what they had in mind so we sat down and listened. After months of negotiating, a deal had been agreed and in the summer of 2011 we took delivery of the vehicle.
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Here you can see (L to R) our President Kenji, Crew Chief Shuji, and Spotter/Lead Mechanic Takeshi consolidating on the build. I’ll be assisting with this program throughout the year along with doing my best to keep you guys updated on this build. Starting from scratch, we knew it was going to be a long and challenging build with no time to waste.
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First on the agenda was to reinforce the vehicle. For this procedure, our guys started to spot weld the entire chassis. Any other weak spots were diagnosed and reinforced accordingly. A week later, the car was ready for the next step: the roll cage.
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While Takeshi was reinforcing the chassis, Shuji had been busy taking measurements for the cage. He’d been cutting, notching, bending and test fitting for the side hoop design to conform to 2012 Formula Drift spec. This was a very meticulous process as every notch and bend had to be precise. One wrong notch or bend will throw off the whole schematics of the design and will have to be re-done. The design of the cage would be based off the main hoop so it was important to ensure it was in the right spot.
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After few weeks of designing the cage, it was finally time to permanently weld them via mounting plates.
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In the end, it turned out to be a clean and simple cage with minimal tubing to help reduce the weight of the vehicle.
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In a few weeks, I’ll share with you the next segment which will be in regards to subframe and suspension.

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy it!

watching!! and wishing i had $$$ to do the same hehe

all pics welcomed =) any of the motor. i dont want to get you in a bad spot with scion, so anything you can. thanks

watching

The current set up will be changed as we're working on final preparation for RD. 1 Long Beach so I'll be able to give more details and hopefully pictures of the engine bay as we approach April. All I can say for now is that it's a Cosworth CS600 series long block (EJ25) with a custom GReddy turbo set up. We'll be developing a FA20 on the side as well so we hope to have some parts for future FR-S owners soon.

It'll be a developmental year for us but like all competitors, we hope to be a threat. Can't wait to go up against the V8's and put this flat 4 on the podium!

maybe ill sell my house to do a project like this lol..jk.....cant wait to see the progress on this fr-s....are there any turbo kits for this yet,or are they in development

make sure to use the ultimate, so i have a new home for it after the tc.

Make sure you "Like" GReddy Racing Facebook if you haven't already. This page will contain more motorsport related content compared to GReddy Performance Product Facebook which is more product related. Thanks for the support!

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:bow: at the pic.

GReddy Racing FR-S Build Part 2
 

Upon completion of the cage, we sent it out for paint. We decided to go with white since our past project car, the Time Attack 2011 Scion TC, is also white and is a good base color. Also at the time, this project was very confidential so final livery design with sponsors had not been determined. You can see what the car looked like when it returned from paint
http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...s/7paint1a.jpg

The next step was to work on suspension and related components but Ken was gonna stop by to see the progress on his new ride so we figured to test fit for his seat position.
http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p..._test_fita.jpg

Throughout this whole process, we were busy researching for parts. You can image how difficult this may by especially working with a vehicle that hasn’t been released yet. At the same time, we’re already thinking about which spare parts we need as well. We looked into just about every vehicle from older Toyota’s to Subaru’s to see if parts would be compatible. In the end, we were finally able to get FR-S specific parts which was a big relief. After weeks of researching, we ordered the parts and they arrived. It was now time for assembly.

Here you can see the OEM rear sub-frame installed awaiting some suspension and wheels. We're also going to tube to front and rear so the trunk space you see now will eventually be gone. More on that later.
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Wheel test fitment so we can determine which spec to run. Tire size is now limited by vehicle weight which should level out the competition and give teams that don’t have crazy horsepower a chance.
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We reviewed the rule book carefully and determine what components need to remain OEM and what can be modified. Any modifications that was necessary were done according to rules.

Making good progress on the interior.
http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...os/12dasha.jpg

Ken makes another visit as he gives his feedback and requests. Talk about having a custom car!
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At this point the car is about 75% done till it leaves for NAIAS in 6 weeks. We still need the entire drivetrain package and finalize vehicle settings. Still a lot to do with limited time. At least it finally looks like a car!
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I'll keep updating with random pictures here and there as the car develops. Thanks for looking.

Here's a little more on what's been going on the past couple weeks....fire suppression install, wire harness trimming and preparing to cage the rear

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beautiful.

Car is already done, so waiting on the rest of the build catch-up

Vardy Nice!

Technically speaking, not quite :wink:

I'll fill you guys in more with the original build later however the last few pictures were taken last week and is the current state. It's receiving slight adjustments and a rear tube which should almost be completed. I'll check later today or tomorrow and see if I can snap some pics.

Rear cage is near complete! Only thing left to do is fabricate the container for fuel cell and battery. Ken also stopped by this afternoon to check the progress and give a little more feedback. Less than 58 days to go till Long Beach!
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How much modification, if any, was done to the steering angle to get more angle?

It's a lot of work that's still in the process and will probably be throughout the season. I can't get too much into details but lots of measuring and calculating for the new arms, knuckles, tie rods, etc.

Check out the rear end which is just about complete. Now time to work on the front.
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diff, gearbox, suspension details?
whats your ecu choice?
or we have to wait for details till FD in april? :rolleyes:

Ask and you shall receive...

So its coming down to the wire as Rd 1 of FD is approaching quickly but more importantly are the test days we have scheduled prior to our debut. There's still a lot on the "to due" list but everything is right on schedule and we'll be ready for Long Beach.

Many of you have been anticipating details on the drivetrain and I'll be happy to shed some light on it. Some things will be finalized soon but here's what I can say. As mentioned in prior posts, transmission is G-Force GSR 4 speed. Diff is from OS Giken, sorry but I can't remember the exact spec right now. The suspension is KW prototypes based off their competition 3A model. ECU we'll be using is the Cosworth ECPro to compliment the Cosworth CS600 series long block along with ECPro Dash. As for cooling set up, we went with approximately 2.5 inch thick radiator and of course a GReddy Spec R type 24 intercooler. We'll also be installing a GReddy 13 row oil cooler as well. Did I mention the Cosworth dry sump system? :)

I'll have more photos later but hopefully these calm the nerves for now.

Cosworth CS600 Series EJ25 long block still in the original box
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G-Force GSR 4 Speed transmission with a modified bellhousing
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Preparing to mate the two before we install onto the vehicle
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Here's how the car looked like last week
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This is what the car looks like right now. Plumbing will be a different set up from when the car ran with in early testing so it will be re-done and completed this week. Notice the set up is now a V-Mount!
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Thanks for updates, engine and box looks stunning!
I guess every 86 based drift car will use dry sump, especially those who will swap inline or v-type engines.
Do you modify OEM hubs or swap some other subaru stuff with new arms? front/rear? or its a secret for now? :)
On another note - are you working on any 86 specific upgrades apart from the FD car? Or there is no time for such projects until Long Beach is completed?
Thank you again, this is very entertaining! :)

In regards to dry sump, every race car in general should have one whether its an 86, drift car or not. It will assure the engine will not experience oil starvation during g-force such as acceleration, braking and cornering or for our purposes, getting sideways. You also eliminate the stock oil pan with a flush cover so it allows you to mount the motor lower in the vehicle thus lowering the center of gravity. Not that it needs to be lowered any more in the FRS since it is already low from the factory.

Its no secret that every competition drift car has some sort of modification done to the hub/knuckle area. The hubs are still stock and will be till spare parts can be sourced. We already know how we want to modify the knuckle but we don't want to run the risk of machine shop making a mistake, lost during shipping, etc and not being able to complete the build. Maybe spare parts aren't available yet cause they're all being used for production vehicles right now? Who knows. We just have to work with what we have for now.

We haven't had much time to dedicate on aftermarket parts for production vehicle but we managed to squeeze in a lil something something. We prototyped 3 different exhaust and a few other goods which should be timed with the release of the vehicle if all goes well. We'll leave this discussion for another place. :wink:

Ken stopped by today to check progress on his car again. I can't tell you how excited he is to start drifting this car! He was actually wrenching a few bolts earlier helping out one of our technicians, lol.

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Turbo FR-S
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Guess what's going down today at GReddy? A little fine tuning before we go testing. Preparations for Long Beach are looking good.

If only you guys can hear her scream!

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Someone does have a video, right? :)

defly watching this thread :D

so sad to see this. I was REALLY hoping for a build on the current motor and or at least have subaru/ trd or beams or perrin or something build the motor. but hrmmm....


also interesting to use a 4 speed.

neat. can't wait to see this on the track though.

We aren't trying to disappoint by neglecting the FA20 motor. We've been in a crunch for time since day one and with 2 guys dedicated to building this car, the chassis has been the main focus. Properly building the car to FD spec and making one-off custom parts is time consuming labor. Simply put we don't have enough time to test and develop the FA20 to be competitive by the season opener, especially while the chassis is still being assembled. If we we're to build the FA20 motor, which we will once FD gets under way, all internal components will be removed, assessed, re-engineered, tested and repeated till the product meets the qualification we set to achieve. I'm sure you know this doesn't happen over night and is a process that takes months and is years in the making. That's why we're using the Cosworth EJ motor which has been developed and tested through WRC programs to get us going for the season. From here, we can collect data to be incorporated into the FA20 once the development gets started. Plus there's a lot of weight on our shoulders so we needed a reliable power plant to meet those expectations. There's a lot of other reasons too but I'll keep this explanation short.

So the car is back from body and wrap and is nearly complete. Many are curious for hi-res detailed photos of the car, especially the engine bay. Unfortunately we aren't allowed to release any shots as Scion Racing will be debuting them in 2 weeks. We'll be putting on the finishing touches and then it's off for some pre-season testing.

-Brian

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Gram Lights...yum

more close up shots of various features :icon_biggrin:

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Scion GReddy FR-S testing at Laguna Seca
 

Here's a quick update for you all....

So we're 15 days out till our debut and we're both excited and anxious as we complete our initial build. So yesterday we scheduled a private tech inspection and the vehicle passed with flying colors! The GReddy Drift FR-S is Formula D legal! Preparations are coming along great as we have test dates scheduled to shakedown the car and dial it in. We should be pretty good for Long Beach but in this sport, anything can happen.

So remember the spy shots of the FR-S at Laguna Seca from December '11?
Check out the video below from that day.

Very Nice...

Can't wait till season starts and I see this baby in Atlanta.

agreed very nice

HOW did the Greddy FRS run today at testing.

ANY PICTURE'S!!!!!

This thread is full of win!

+1 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

So we were out doing more testing yesterday and overall it was a good day. We learned more about the car and Ken is settling into his new office nicely. We tried out different car set up as Ken was doing practice runs and we collected good data we can use for the future.

I was busy but the guys over at DTA were able to get some nice shots. Check it out!

http://www.dtaposse.com/images/blog/...0_IMG_4469.jpg
New Car, new suit

http://www.dtaposse.com/images/blog/...e_IMG_4282.jpg
Ken lighting up the Hankook RS-3's in the morning session.

http://www.dtaposse.com/images/blog/...6_IMG_4222.jpg
A view of Ken's cubicle

http://www.dtaposse.com/images/blog/...2_IMG_4220.jpg
Yo from DTA checking out the build.

http://www.dtaposse.com/images/blog/...8_IMG_4344.jpg

Check out DTA's blog for more pics!

Here's a video of NAIAS and the drift FRS reveal from Ken's perspective. It happened a few months ago but the video is fresh from the editing room.