drifter x - fumiaki komatsu still driving for signal?

[kaneda]

rumor has it that he's left signal, and atsushi kiroi will now be driving the drifter x indefinently.

i know that komatsu was involved in an accident last year before the 2003 u.s. d1gp, which is why kuroi was drifting with bai, i'm wondering if he's still recovering and all of this has just been speculation. it seems that signal would be somewhat mistaken to just part ways with such a talented driver, especially with so many fans in hawaii and the rest of the u.s.

so does anyone know what happend to him? and if he did leave, for what reasons?

[WildSe7en]

http://www.drifting.com/forums/showt...&threadid=2916

this should help

[simplyxlost]

sorry buddy.... komatsu got in an accident a while back. he quit signal after that.

[kaneda]

alright, thanks.

it really sucks to see him go, he was one of the greatest drifters i've ever seen, i hope he continues drifting and someone else picks him up, i'd rather not see him leave the u.s. for good.

does anyone have any in-depth information on the whole thing? i noticed in the other thread someone claiming to know chris confirmed he quit, but then someone else claims he didn't, i'm wondering if it's the same for komatsu. i keep hearing he quit, but there's no real information to support it other than his absense.

and is it true that chris's z had an sr swap?

[Hachi Kid]

I'm pretty sure he still has the SR. it would throw off the weight balance too much to put in an SR. and it would also be pure blasphemey to put and SR in the VQ35DE's place. that was jsut a rumor made up by some HaRdCOre DorIFTorER fanboy who thinks you need an SR to drift.

[kaneda]

i read that in modified or something, it wasn't on a message board, it must have just been a typo

[DriftNation8]

That's no typo, there is an SR in his 350Z. Apparently the car is as light as Signal's other S13 drift cars.

[Brian]

i don't have reasons or in-depth info, but i did get the info straight from Signal that Mr. Komatsu no longer works for Signal, which means he no longer drives for them.

[kaneda]

ok thanks. it's sad to see him go, i hope someone picks him up so we can watch him stateside again, or someone at least sponsors him so we can watch him in the d1gp

[Feint]

Look at things from a business stand-point as far as Komatsu no longer driving for Signal.He get's in an accident before the first US D1 Grand Prix,and before the first drift show in Canada.To any business,those would be important events that would/did change drifting in North America.With Komatsu out,Signal would have to find another worthy driver,which would cost them more money and time.Obviously these events were important to Signal.Nobody has pullled off as many shows in North America as Signal.They've paved the road in a lot of categories when it comes to automotive racing and drifting,and would proceed to try and do the same with those two events.There could be a lot more factors that played a roll in his leave,but as far as business goes,it's not suprising that he eventually would no longer drive for Signal.

[kaneda]

that's drifting, everyone gets in accidents, nobuteru taniguchi destroyed the hks hyper silvia twice last year, ken nomura is constantly breaking things, ueo blows motors all the time, destruction is one of the basic natures of the beast. komatsu's now wrecked about 11 cars, signal knows this, that's why they started him with the ae86 and afterwards he was always driving a 180sx. his personal car was a 180sx, the orignal drifter x was a 180sx and the second driter x was a 180sx, all of which are expendable. you don't have to spend a lot of time building another one, they're cheap, you go out with $2000 and get another one, you don't even have to buy one that runs. if he wrecks one, pull the motor, strip another 180, drop the motor and weld in a cage, you've got another car.

you can say it's business if you want, but that doesn't really apply here, people want to see great drifters, not just someone who can drift, they took the most charismatic drifter they had, and let him go because they didn't want to pay for his expenses. if you want to hire a balls-out osaka drifter, then you're going to have to pay the price of having a balls-out osaka drifter.

well, if that's what really happened. he could've just decided he was tired of working for signal, doesn't want to drift anymore, h*ll, for all we know, he ran off and got married and never came back.

[IwantanFC]

Originally posted by Hachi Kid
I'm pretty sure he still has the SR. it would throw off the weight balance too much to put in an SR. and it would also be pure blasphemey to put and SR in the VQ35DE's place. that was jsut a rumor made up by some HaRdCOre DorIFTorER fanboy who thinks you need an SR to drift.

Here are some pics of chris' Z after the SR swap:





Hope they work.

[Hachi Kid]

awww man, that makes me cry. something like that shouldn't happen. crap. oh well, there money.

[IwantanFC]

Hah, i love when i hear the so called "Z purists" complain about chris swapping in a lighter, more powerful nissan motor with more available parts. You people make me laugh. The reason why he swapped in that motor is because the Z motor blew the hell up. But i guess you are right, you probably know more then the dudes at signal and more then chris does about what makes a good drift car....

The fact is, the sr is lighter, factory turbo, faster (and he is using the standard signal twins' setup with the worked head and upgraded turbo components on the stock bottom end because it is such a strong motor) and easier to get replacement parts for, which is very important when you are using the car for comepetition and constantly driving it hard and having parts break. Chris tried the Z motor, it was a headache and ended up blowing up, and I fail to understand the so called "blasphomy" of putting a non-Z nissan motor in a damn nissan. I guess I just will never understand the people who think that chris' swap is so wrong, but all i know is that he has the nastiest drift Z i have ever seen, SR or not.

[Rooney]

Originally posted by IwantanFC
Here are some pics of chris' Z after the SR swap:



Hope they work.

So fresh and clean clean.