“The biggest problem for these cars is slow acceleration,” said Formula Drift Crew Chief Josh Stroud of RTR Mustang #213 as he drove me around Ben Hobson’s Pennzoil Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD. There’s more to a true drift car setup than negative camber and hydraulic handbrake.
Drifting used to be just a grassroots motorsport, but Formula Drift (FD for short) has spent the last 20 years pushing the boundaries of drifting, showing the world a motorsport based not just on speed but on style and technique. The RTR (aka “Ready to Rock”) team has been an integral part of the rise of drifting in the United States, bringing V8s to a scene once dominated by imports.
During a weekend at the Formula Drift “Battle at the Springs”, I caught up with the RTR team to learn what it takes to build a state-of-the-art professional drift car, from the perspective of someone who has spent the last three years building and sliding his own grassroots drift car.
A professional drift car has some important differences from ordinary racing cars, which are divided into three main areas:
- Suspension and steering
- Engine and Drivetrain
- Body and Styling
Suspension and steering
It is clear that any drift car is meant to go sideways, but it is a professional sport that is judged on the basis of How can you go sideways While still maintaining the breakneck pace of forward motion. This is done through steering, suspension forgiveness and rear grip. The RTR Spec-5 FD Mustang is set up with a bottom ball joint farther away from the body than stock and extended tie rod ends to match. This removes the entire front knuckle and provides the famous “bulldog stance” to any drift car.
Pushing the bottom of the steering knuckle out allows the wheel to turn forward before hitting the body, which is great for getting maximum angle. It is important to understand that although the front wheel may turn a greater angle to lock, this does not actually change the number of turns made by the steering wheel. This means that each degree of steering wheel adjustment translates into a greater degree of turn from the front wheel. This can have the adverse effect of making the drift car incredibly fast, because small inputs = big speed. This can be fun when you know how to handle the steering wheel which likes to move back and forth in the drift, but irritating for the untrained person. There is a laundry list of custom alignment adjustments to go along with this custom steering setup.
“I can’t tell you what I changed, but I’m trying to add more information,” said Shelby Crackston, crew chief for RTR driver James Dean. it means she was potential Dialing the toe of the back foot inward toward the car. This forces the rear tires to rotate towards each other. When you hit the gas this has the effect of causing more traction (bite) in the tires. It’s terrible for street driving, but when these drift machines blow up 315-width Nitto tires every couple of turns, who cares? That’s all I could get because she wasn’t telling me about her secret sauce, and for good reason.
Suspension setup and tire pressure are the main ways any driver can gain an edge. It is common to begin drifting without any of these steering modifications and limited to suspension adjustments only. Adding angle kit too early can cause problems for the uninitiated.
Engine and Drivetrain
One goal of Formula Drift is to keep driving accessible, so cars are required to be based on their road-legal counterparts and are generally equipped with parts that any shed-tree mechanic can purchase off the Internet. So yes, if you want, you can buy one of these Mustangs. but i recommend one of them more road-friendly.
RTR began as a speedshop created by Von Gitten Jr., who focused on building 11-year-old Mustangs. It quickly turned into a Ford-backed performance parts supplier and organization that became so ingrained in the company that the RTR Drift Team actually serviced their ProCar Mustangs at Ford dealers when they couldn’t get back to headquarters in time for the next event. Can you imagine your Ford Escape on a lift next to a 1,249-horsepower Mustang?
Ben Hobson’s car has a 455 cubic-inch V8 and it burns at least Every nuisance is topped off with a 300-shot of nitrous. After the weekend at the track, I had the chance to sit down with Shawn Nguyen, Pennzoil technical scientist and automotive lubricants expert, to understand how these engines can withstand such high stresses over time.
“They go from 0 to 9,000 rpm in (one) shot. And of course, all that oil puts huge demands on the transmission…so the product has to be shear stable to handle it”, said Shawn when I was surprised to learn that these RTR Mustangs use off-the-shelf Pennzoil Ultra Platinum 10W-60. It follows the theme of accessible components and ease of maintenance. Everything the RTR team can do on these cars to ensure simplicity and reliability helps ensure a good performance on competition day.
Even a run in amateur drifting involves full-throttle moments followed immediately by off-throttle slides. This sudden adjustment of velocity and throttle can be difficult to manage without a dry sump or baffled oil pan. Like Drifting Transitions, much of Pennzoil’s oil engineering is built to react and adjust to any motor. These hopped-up RTR Spec-5 FD engines are built “loose” and require thicker oil to fill the gaps than a normal car. “You lose a seal, you lose compression, you lose power,” Sean explained. As a partner with RTR, they can’t let their product cause concern, so Pennzoil worked closely with each RTR driver to understand their car and driving style before selecting the oil that will work best.
physical design
When getting into the sport of drifting, you have to accept one truth: you will crash. Once a driver accepts that truth, their mindset changes, and their driving immediately improves (don’t ask me how I know). As with Ben Hobson’s RTR Mustang and several other drift cars in the paddock, everything “stock” behind the shock towers front and rear windshield has been cut out and replaced with broken metal called a “tube frame”, which is designed to withstand being pulled against the guardrail or hit by another car in a tandem drift without causing permanent damage.
These types of design techniques are used to give drivers the confidence to push it, knowing that there are easy-to-install parts sitting in the back of the trailer if needed.
inspiring the next generation
As someone who goes to 10+ drift days per year, I spent my first weekend in Formula Drift hoping to have something similar to my running times at other race series around the country. What replaced it was a professional league that doesn’t sit behind velvet ropes and VIP entry cards, but welcomes everyone, giving them the chance to get up close and personal with the cars and drivers that many of us idolize. I saw a friend drive his drift car to the event, approach the driver and begin discussing the suspension setup. About an hour later, they saw the same car circling the track. This kind of accessibility is why I love the wandering community.
Full disclosure: Pennzoil, a sponsor of both Formula Drift and RTR, invited me to this weekend’s event and paid for my ticket.
