Mad Mike’s RadBull is based of the Mazda Miata and is powered by a four rotor-twin turbocharged monster of a motor that gladly spits flames as he flies around the track. Kyle Mohan and the MazdaTrix MX-5 may be down one rotor, but equally rips around the banks of Evergreen Speedway in Monroe Washington outside of Seattle. Enjoy the sights and sounds from the grid at Formula Drift Seattle with this quick little walkaround video of the Red Bull sponsored machine, just make sure you turn your speakers way up.
We caught up with Formula Drift Pro Kyle Mohan who campaigns a 20B powered ND Miata. Check out the video for all the brap-brap zoom-zoom your heart can handle.
After spending a few minutes playing with Photoshop, realizing we had a new logo to work with. One thing led to another and this Steve McQueen Gulf liveried inspired Le Mans racing jacket went from classic to crazy. Special shout out to all The Craigslist Miata supporters including Mazdaspeed for providing racing discounts, Hiro’s Auto Repair for when it comes to serious work, Dunlop tires and of course Valvoline with their wonderful High Mileage power steering fluid which we buy by the case.
It was finally time, after a year of excuses the Craigslist Miata was as in a good a shape as any to hit the infield of Irwindale Speedway for the Formula Drift sponsored Thursday Night Drift. For $75 you are free to run what you brung until the lights go out. While this is more of a practice session for those honing their skills in fully-built machines, Thursday Night Drift is open to almost any car, so long as you meet some pretty basic safety standards, and you got a helmet.
The plan was to pump up the tire pressure and mount the snow tires to the rear. 45 PSI was as far as I dared tread on the street tires, and the lack of a fully functional handbrake and the need to drive home at the end of the night meant these were pretty much fun runs. I tried to enter at the top of second gear, stab the brakes and get the back end to step out and ride the slide as long the little Miata could. Transitions were OK until all power steering pressure was lost and then a grinding sandy noise ensued, not to mention the transitions became much mire “herky jerky”.
At the end of the day the footage affirmed that the sensations experienced behind the wheel were exponentially multiplied compared to the level of “drifting” that was achieved. A gigantic thank you to the Formula Drift staff that volunteer there time so that we can have a safe place to get sideways, at least until Irwindale Speedway stands no more.
Being chosen to participate in the Optima Ultimate Film Festival with SNOW DRIFT, we just had to go to the screening at Formula Drift New Jersey at Wall Speedway (only a short ways away from the Jersey Shore). Highlights included an RE Amemiya FD RX-7 complete with 993 front end and of course some smokey sideways drifting action. Special thanks to Kyle Mohan for the interview.
I was looking at Instagram and saw something about the Optima Ultimate Film Fest. They were looking for video of cars being pushed to the limit. Turns out there was an action cam category. 100% POV. 2:00 limit. Thanks to the ride along from the Mazda Ice Academy, we got that.
-Shot: GoPro Hero4 Black
-Edit: Final Cut Pro 7
-Song: Pomade by Silent Partner
UPDATE: SNOW DRIFT was chosen and screened at the Optima Ultimate Film Festival at FDNJ and is in the running for the finals at SEMA. Sorry but they told me I had to take the link down until then.
The Rocket Bunny kit looks so good on the NA, knowing one is running strong in D1 with 13B power just makes you feel a little better. Thank you Alexi, just when you thought the spirit of drifting was waning, Noriyaro brings back the FUN that comes from sliding cars sideways. Continue reading “D1 Miata”
Mazda asked if we would like to join them for lunch and some media access to the motor sport team. Unfortunately we couldn’t make lunch, but were more than happy to accept the tickets for the race weekend.
The Formula Drift season begins on the streets of Long Beach, this year was a wet one. Also the first time running the signature sponsor’s POV cameras.
