Building A D1 Equivalent Car; Costs Involved?

[DV19]

***If this has been covered in a previous thread, please refer me to it and I’ll delete this one***

Calling all 240 experts. (Special thanks to nissanguy_24 for the “S-Class” thread. Would love to see more chapters )

So like many people on this board, I’m new to Drifting and I’d like to come and join in. So first things first, I’ve got to get a car. I’m torn between the lighter weight of the S13 and the more modern looks of the S14 **(side note: does anybody know the curb weight & the wheel base on these vehicles?)**.

So once I have the car ($3K-$7K), I can modify at will. Now here’s my question:
I’m sitting here looking at pics from Irwindale & Laguna and I’d like to know (with reasonable assurity), to build a comparable car to those competing in the D1 events, what will I end up spending?

I know I can compete in drift events in “stock” form and I will (at first). BUT, I also know that down the road as I get better, I’m going to want what Gushi and Kazama have. Can you please give me and the others that are looking at this sport for the 1st/50th time an idea of what you’d have to spend to get:
“Built” Turbo Motor (presumably an SR20DET) with all the goodies (intercooler, harness, etc.)
Tranny and Drivetrain to handle the 400+HP
Purpose built Suspension w/mods for massive steering angle
Carbon Body panels and Aero kit
Interior (cage, seat, etc.)
Anything else I’ve not listed
Wheels and tires

Please guys, understand I'm thinking “long-term” here. I know the steps needed for the driver to get to the D1 level. Assuming as a driver you get to that level, I’m talking just the car. What do those D1 guys have in them $$. Also note that except for the Motor assembly and exterior paint, we’ll handle all the labor ourselves.

Thanks you for your time……..

[s14driftingTX]

The very first thing that you need to focus on is driving. A basically stock s13 or s14 is a very good platform to start with. Your first mod needs to be is LSD and suspension. A good way to get these is to pick them up used. These mods are more important that starting with a 400+ horsepower purpose built drift machine. As for the costs of D1 cars, my guess is in the 50,000 range though I'm not completely sure. Much of your buget will be spent on wheels and tires so, a tire sponsor would definately help if you could pick one up. Just start small, drift pretty much stock and get good then, add the power. It'll be much easier to learn that way.

[DV19]

Thanks for your thoughts:

Originally posted by s14driftingTX
The very first thing that you need to focus on is driving. Your first mod needs to be is LSD and suspension. A good way to get these is to pick them up used. These mods are more important that starting with a 400+ horsepower purpose built drift machine. Just start small, drift pretty much stock and get good then, add the power. It'll be much easier to learn that way.

I know, that's why I cover those subject in my post.........

Please understand, I'm familar with ALL aspects of driving AND the order of modifications done to a car. What I'm not familiar with is the cost involved in building a 240 to D1 specs........ Sorry if I didn't make that clear in my original post

[Oddball 7]

well im gonna make a few estiamtes that might be to low or to high but might balance self in end...

Motor w/ harness and ECU=2000-2500
coilvers=1000-2000
full spec cage=900-1500
seats and harness=1000-2000 (depends if ur getting just driver or matching set)
rims w/ 1 set of tires=1000
multiple sets of tires=400-600 per set
manifolds and exhaust/ CAT=800-1200
control arms/ braces/ bushings=1000-2000
turbo upgrades/ power upgrades=1500-2000
ECU tunning=500-1000
modified steering rack=??? 2000
steering wheel w/ hub=500-800
2-Way LSD=800-1500
built tranny (ex: OS Giken gear set.. maybe a lil over kill)=800-1500
areo/ carbon parts=maybe 500-1000 per piece (depending on size and how much of the car u want carbon plus painted or just dry carbon)

like i sadi this is just an estimate from what i could think of... some prices are prolly really high or extremely low. so your looking at around 24,000 i might have left some stuff out and some prices might be very low so if someone can put more accurate prices on here or add stuff i might have missed.

hope this helps

[Poweredby007]

this is a very vauge question.. as to what a D1 quality car is..

some have FULLY adjustable arms yadda yadda yadda.. and others run the stock arms minus a few mods on the arms.

D1 suspension
2 gs coils
2 gs all other arms
1 g ish dif
2 gs wheels


nice tomei engine 10gs


then you have people here with maybe 5 gs total in their cars running for D1

[Ernie]

Pretty much what he said....even the 50k part. You are going to need to find a sponsor backing to maintain it. A good engine requires maintenance. Oil changes, valvetrain checking, oil pressure monitoring, and a lot of money in developing and designing a car/engine that runs cool. Engine temp. is the most important part of keeping these engines alive. Any of these higher horsepower machines get hotter with the higher power. Brass radiator would be a good investment. You also want to focus on keeping things simple and easy to work on. A transmission is another part that is really hard and expensive to keep in tact. More on this stuff later...gotta go to work, laterz, Ernie

[DV19]

Originally posted by Poweredby007
this is a very vauge question.. as to what a D1 quality car is..
some have FULLY adjustable arms yadda yadda yadda.. and others run the stock arms minus a few mods on the arms.

OK, I'm talking about duplicating what Kazam & Gushi have. I know about what Millen has spent on the GTO and everybody know's how much that "Competition" Vipor Coupe that Samuel is driving costs......

I hope that's a little clearer.....

Thanks again.........

[s14driftingTX]

I think that these guesses are pretty low. I don't know exactly but, I think more than 24,000 goes into some of these cars. I know there are competitive cars thet are prepared for much less but, if you look at some of the cars it's obvious that lots of money goes into them. Just an example, Rhys Millen's GTO has a lot of money in it, the preparation of the chassis and suspension, rollcage, engine, fuel system.... I agree that we can't really say what constitutes a D1 car. I think that factory or tuning brand based cars have tens of thousands put into them.

[Ernie]

basically 50k got us where we are at with one of the cars..., but we are still solving transmission problems and have been working with some cooling problems, it may cost us another 10k to get these problems resolved.

good luck,
Ernie

If you need some help email me at silly32gtr@yahoo.com
I could give you some advice and possibly save you some money in the long run.

[Ernie]

Also the car I am talking about is not Gushi's car...his car did not cost as much. At Laguna Seca he was running a stock engine with head gasket and S15 turbo. Tuned with power FC. Basic frontmount intercooler, KAAZ LSD, Exedy single plate clutch, TEIN HE coilovers, Bomex body kit, Rotora brakes, 5zigen wheels and exhaust, with Yokohama tires. Might cost you around 20k to get what Gushi has and then some. Also some TEIN suspension, and steering, parts. Also some Battle Version rear arms.

Maybe this will help.

Ernie

[nissanguy_24]

Originally posted by Ernie
Also the car I am talking about is not Gushi's car...his car did not cost as much. At Laguna Seca he was running a stock engine with head gasket and S15 turbo. Tuned with power FC. Basic frontmount intercooler, KAAZ LSD, Exedy single plate clutch, TEIN HE coilovers, Bomex body kit, Rotora brakes, 5zigen wheels and exhaust, with Yokohama tires. Might cost you around 20k to get what Gushi has and then some. Also some TEIN suspension, and steering, parts. Also some Battle Version rear arms.

Maybe this will help.

Ernie

Stock sr20 with a s15 turbo.. thats exactly what i want to run.. I supose its not a bad set up afterall?


Basicly all the D1 cars look like this.. Interior stripped to a degree... Good Limited slip differential... Big brakes running some kind of high quality brake pad. racing seat of course.. Turbo motor (not all but most) alot of the pros are pushing the 400 hp range. but it really varies from driver to driver. And upgraded cooling and fuel systems of course. Most d1 cars have mean body mods and crazy paint jobs. not really nessisary though.. there just getting money from the guys who make those things.

I heard someone once say you could build a D1 car for between 10 and 20 grand. And its probably pretty true. Now the top guys are running alot more hardware. The japanese guys are even running nitrous.

as for the S13 vs the S14. the S13 is lighter but not by too much. Consider overall about 100 lbs lighter on average. However the S14 is also more expensive.. though its suspension and body may be in better shape. The S14 handles alittle better stock.. probably just due to the age of the S13s though.. Neither car is really very superior to the other though.

[DV19]

You guys are awesome!
Thanks for all the good info.
Ernie, I may be calling you before long.
nissanguy_24: thanks for the weight answer... and on that note do you know what the curb weight on a 240 is AND what do you think the D1 guys have got their cars weight's down to (considering cages, carbon body kits, etc.)?

Could anyone out there take a tape measure to their car and tell me what the:
Wheelbase is (front axle center to rear axle center)
Tread width (center of right tire to center of left tire)
Overall body length/width/height

Also, best guestimate, what (besides core charge) would you have to pay to get a 400Hp-ish motor built?

Thanks Again!!

[Feint]

Any idea on how much a bolt in rollcage for an S13 will run? Just curious,I'm trying to figure some thngs out.

[DV19]

Originally posted by Feint
Any idea on how much a bolt in rollcage for an S13 will run? Just curious,I'm trying to figure some thngs out.

No knowledge of "factory built" ones, but you could find your local "stock car/circle-track" chassis builder and they would probably custom bend you one for about $3-400 plus materials. If the interior was out of their way, that is.........

HTH...

[dae]

ueo i think has 12k into his car including the car. correct me if im wrong. makes me think that someday my car can be as nice