Insanity Infinity Drifter

[Team AMG]

Insanity Infinity G35 Drifter.

The Infiniti G35 was my second choice when it came to a new XMOD, I actually liked the Mitsubishi Evolution VIII better, but the little red car made its way into my possession through a twist of fate. I wanted to build a drift car sooner or later, and the G35 works well into that plan.

I had become good friends with the manager of my local Radio Shack, and one day while shopping for parts he offered to sell me his “scratch and dent” cars, two of the Generation 1 cars and three of the new Evolution cars. As it turned out two of the cars were the new Infiniti’s and the other was another Evo VIII. I paid $5 each for the cars; I basically got $280 worth of cars for $25. Such a deal.

When I got the cars home there were a few things wrong. One of the new Evolution cars was missing a bushing out of the back axle, one had no transmitter crystal or receiver antenna, and one had absolutely nothing wrong with it. I set two of the cars, one Mitsubishi and one Infiniti, aside for my nephews, and started working on the G35 that had the most missing parts. I had recently installed metal bearings in my own Evo VIII and had saved the bushings, so a spare was found and installed. I took inventory of what it needed and on a return trip to RS, ordered the parts needed to complete a basic car. It took about a week but the parts arrived at my house and the car was completed.

I had in the mean time started working on appearance; the stock wheels received a black-out treatment on the spokes, leaving the outer rim chrome. Hard, slick tires that were perfect for drifting were mounted on those rims and placed on the axles. I had gotten a body kit and installed the “mild” body panels, with a smaller rear wing. The car looked really good so far. I applied a small amount of vendor decals, basically the GReddy, Sparco, Stillen, Super Stock and HKS sponsors, all in white. I had tried the black decals but found that the white looked better.

The chassis was the focus of most of the modifications. First to be installed was a full set of the metal ball bearings, reducing the wear and tear on moving parts was my prime concern, but also reducing the amount of inertia needed to move those parts was on my mind. I had already purchased a suspension and steering kit, so I used one of the left over tie rods to reduce the turning circle, and a set of the softer springs to allow the car to float over the drift track. I decided to keep the stock motor, the amount of RPM increase wasn’t significant enough to warrant the cost, and I already had the drift gears left over from the Stage 2 motor installed on the Evo VIII. The stock motor generates a lot more torque, and being able to break loose the rear tires was part of the plan.

What did this car cost to build? Let’s add it up, the car cost a total of $5 plus another $5.28 for parts I had to order. The ball bearing kit cost $19.95, and the body kit was $12.99, and those were the only things I had to buy, everything else I had left over from other car projects. The tires, gearing, steering tie rod, and springs were no charge. So, for a total of $43.22 I build a pretty decent class drifter. I find that pretty insane.

[RodsRUs]

AMG that looks really good man does look like a drifter
you have been puting out some good looking stuff keep it up homez

[Team AMG]

Thanks, I'm trying to get some better pictures of it in action. We race on a painted concrete basketball court at a local elementary school, when we drift we put down talcum power to produce a sort of "smoke" off the tires in the drift zone. The problem is the cars as so fast that all the pictures come out blurred, but we're working on it.

What I've tried to show is that if you buy a single upgrade, like the Stage 2 motors or suspension, you can use the left over parts on other car projects. I bought one motor upgrade, and I got two projects out of it, a racer and a drifter. Guys, don't sell the stock Evo motored cars short, they are torquey and fast.

Remember, when it comes to looks...simple and clean is better.

[torredo]

simple is better!
Agreed!

Ive seen peeps go over the edge with looks making it
look bad. I try to keep it simple aswell which makes
it look more appealing to the eye....aka: eyecandy.

[Team AMG]

Well, Drift Insanity made it's debut this afternoon, unfortunately it didn't place this time. We did find a model to pose by the car before the event, we promised her some plastic surgery....get it? Plastic....surgery....nevermind.

[pittbull988]

very nice i like the custom graphics

[Team AMG]

Lettering by Autographics, available at autographics.com.

[kigamkcalb17]

hahahahaha gotta love the plastic model lol
the g35 looks good

[Team AMG]

I think she's a Jimmy Flinstone charactor, I've had her forever, I had a redhead too but she got smashed.

[baby_blue_dawg69]

Originally Posted by Team AMG

I think she's a Jimmy Flinstone charactor, I've had her forever, I had a redhead too but she got smashed.

meh...they say blondes have more fun, though.

[Team AMG]

That's actually a mis-quote, it's Blonds ARE more fun.

[skyline-rsx392]

Originally Posted by Team AMG

That's actually a mis-quote, it's Blonds ARE more fun.

you would know! lol
i like the old rims better though

[Team AMG]

Yeah...more gray than blond anymore though.

Those wheels had the better drift tires on them at the time, this car is actually on it's way to becoming a parts car though. I had to steal the battery cover, the antenna and now a front wheel cup for the Evo VIII, a little too much Rallying this morning.

[skyline-rsx392]

Originally Posted by Team AMG

a little too much Rallying this morning.

WTF, theres no such thing as too much rallying, i do it all the time, at a cost of course when i brake something which is like everytime!

[Team AMG]

Have you ever seen those video's of the old Group B days, I think it was an Audi but I'm not sure, anyway, an African Rally, the car crests a hill just a little sideways, when it lands it digs in and flips a bunch of times? My neighborhood has these speedbumps, they're an easy climb on one side and steep on the other. I hit a speedbump with the Evo and it took off, looked really cool, but landed on the right front really hard, and the front hub goes sailing off in another direction. It rolled about 4 times, no real damage other than the hub, but it remined me of that Rally. All I needed was the skinny's running away from the tumbling car.

[skyline-rsx392]

Originally Posted by Team AMG

All I needed was the skinny's running away from the tumbling car.

and his camera,lol. i wonder how it feels to be in the drivers seat of a real rally car...........

anyway do u have metal lug nuts for ur rally car? if not get some cause my ex-rally car's (in pieces) rims kept on falling off when i was driving or when i landed after a jump, those were the days.......

[Team AMG]

The local hardware store had some really nice ones, I got like 100 metal wheel nuts for $2. They're aluminum so I won't strip out the axle shafts, and look better than the plastic ones.
I actually got to ride in an SCCA Rally Car in 1999, it was a rally held in Oregon and one of my relatives owned part of the land used in the rally, so we all got a ride, albeit a lot slower than during competetion, but still. The driver I rode with was Jennifer Carson, a nationally rated driver who is now driving SCCA sedans at paved road courses like Infineon. More than once my butt had a pretty good grip on the seat cushion, she drifted a few of the more open turns in a Mazda Protege at almost 70. I can almost do the same in Colin McRae Rally 2005....

[oddryu]

where did you get those rims on yur drifter g35?

[Team AMG]

The original rims with the chrome outer ring are the stock wheels with just the spoke part painted. You need to carefully sand off the chrome plating so the paint will stick. They looked really good, so good in fact that when I took them off and put my drift set up on someone at the event stole them out of my box. Another think you can do that's even cooler is get some semi-transparent paint, like the Tamiya Taillight Amber or Red, paint over the chrome, and you have a really killer annondized look to the wheel in color. This only works with semi-transparent acrylics, and only if you leave the chrome on the wheel. It does come off through contact but it can be reapplied.
By the way, people, if you're going to rip someone off for a unique part, please don't go to school the next day and show it off, particularly to the nephew of the guy you stole them from. It was a very rude wake up for this young man when his folks and I showed up at the school and got them back the next day. He's now banned from all FXRL events...for life.