Once upon a time, several years ago now, I did a university paper or two concerning linguistics. Unsurprisingly, this was about as dry a subject as they came, but one thing in particular has stuck with me throughout – the pockets of information I gleaned concerning a phenomenon referred to as ‘regional dialects.’ Without launching into a very tiresome lecture, this basically refers to differences in speech patterns between given areas of population.
Even within a small country like New Zealand, you have these distinct differences in dialect. But of more concern to us, different areas of the country also possess a dialect of car modification – a method of madness varying from mild to wildly different from a town a mere 500 kilometres up the main highway.
It was in the midst of a particularly cold ‘winter blast’ (to quote the weather guy on the breakfast news), that I made a jaunt down to one of my favourite areas of the country in search of an unmistakably different ‘drift dialect’ compared to what I’m used to in the North. I’d heard much about the dubiously entitled ‘Streetmeat’ drift days and upon hearing of the June date, booked a flight to Christchurch, packed some thermal clothing, and embarked on a pilgrimage to experience what South Island grassroots drifting had to offer.
To say I’m completely new to the Christchurch way of things would be telling fibs. The university study I mentioned earlier happened to coincide with a reasonably lengthy stay in the city – enough to assimilate into the car culture of the area. This was somewhere around the early-2000s however, and at that time South Island style was synonymous with vibrant vinyl interior re-trims, chrome wheels and thumping audio. In an era dominated by the show car scene, this was what ruled the roost. Almost 10 years on, I’m ecstatic to report things have changed – and for the better.
Given these somewhat archaic impressions of what Christchurch had to offer, what’s all the fuss about? Why travel just over 1000km for a grassroots drift day? I mean, these guys aren’t even competing, so surely it’s not even going to be exciting from the sidelines… No drama, no controversy, no marginal judging calls to argue about on Facebook for the following week.
Arriving at the Ruapuna circuit early on the Saturday morning everything but the ambient temperature – as any frequent visitor to a racetrack knows, there is never a middle ground, it’s either hypothermic levels of cold, or burn-your-face-off hot– showed signs of a promising day. A full turnout of cars exhibiting that most crucial of drift car aspects, a serious consideration of style, not to mention a trademark Southern welcome as I strolled through the pits, pointing my lens at whatever looked interesting and making small talk along the way.
All of this is brainchild of Jonny Martin, owner of the impossibly-low R32 Skyline GTS-t featured a couple of months back, with support from a backbone of loyal, dedicated friends and acquaintances who assist to keep things running like a well-oiled machine. Starting from scratch, the first Streetmeat event hit the track in January 2014 – a result of Jonny identifying a niche in the local motorsport scene for those with a penchant for sliding. At that stage, the only available outlet for those with a thirst to slay a few tyres was the Drift South series – a competition-only affair – which although successful lacked appeal to guys just looking to get on track and get their cars perpendicular.
As Jonny explained, these are events that cater purely to the driver and to the crew. As a semi-exclusive event, drivers and cars are vetted to ensure a decent level of driving standard is upheld as well as a set of complementary personalities, meaning all attendees are on the same wavelength. I know this sounds horribly cliché, but there really is a sense of family and a unified enthusiasm for doing things simply for the gratification. No egos. No bravado. Just a collective pursuing a common passion.
Keeping things straightforward, the day’s proceedings were outlined over the course of a short drivers briefing. Recent noise restrictions meant a 95dB threshold absolutely had to be adhered to – or risk an early shutdown of the days sliding. In Streetmeat tradition, keeping numbers low and entrants familiar meant the mutual respect for the day ensured these limits were adhered to.
As rays of welcoming sun permeated the chill, the first group lined up for the first of an almost uncountable number of sessions for the day. By mid-morning Streetmeat #4 was underway in earnest.
Three Of The Coolest
Given the events standing as a grassroots affair, the vast majority of cars taking part exhibited setups perhaps a little less technically advanced as many top-level drift cars. But what they may have lacked in development was made up for in spades by the generous applications of personal style and engineering solutions born out of nights in the shed alongside mates. I picked out four cars that really stood out to me as epitomising the way things are done in the South, starting with this neat little KE70 Corolla.
Packing a late-spec Beams 3S-GE engine pulled from an Altezza RS200, Dan’s Corolla showcased a thorough reimagination of a popular platform here in Kiwi-land. Riding suitably low on a set of period-style 13-inch wheels packing chunky semi-slicks into classic bolt on flares, the car definitely had visual presence as well as announcing its intentions boldly courtesy of four gaping quad throttle bodies.
This was the first sideways outing for the fresh build, which looked somewhat trying as the chassis setup initially appeared snappy and slightly unpredictable. By the days end, a myriad of tweaks had the behaviour of the little Corolla slightly more settled, with some decent angle being thrown down, and perhaps most importantly, eliciting wide smiles from both driver and passengers alike.
Amidst the twangy SR20s, guttural Toyota ‘JZs and ever present screams of Nissan RBs packing externally vented wastegates, a different sound wafted through the icy Southern air. The offbeat thrum of a Subaru EJ207 boxer, albeit slightly smoother thanks to an equal-length manifold and a twin-scroll VF37 turbo.
Converted to rear-wheel drive courtesy of a distinct lack of front driveshafts and a spool-style locked center diff, owner James was laying down fast, aggressive slides all day until a slight mishap involving a tyre wall at the end of the straight offered some involuntary panel modifications.
Nonetheless, a desire to create a different take on a drift car manifested in a 1998 Subaru Impreza WRX wagon definitely commands attention. Prepared as a pure drift machine, the wagon encases a full cage with a unique rear-mount radiator setup contributing to both weight balance and keeping the important cooling items out of harm’s way.
Third and finally, a sublime take on one of Toyota’s big body sedans – a JZX100 Mark II. Heavily Japanese influenced, the jet-liner body lines of the big sedan hunkered down super-low on a set of evergreen Work VS-KF wheels finished in chrome – measuring 18×9-inch up front with an offset of -4, and 18×10-inch in the rear with the mounting face at -12. To me, the classic Works strike the ideal balance between VIP and drift styling.
Defying the wild yet strangely restrained appearance is a relatively simple mechanical package allowing maximum focus on a reliable, fun day amongst fellow drift fiends. Beneath the stately bonnet is a standard 1JZ-GTE, nothing outlandish here required to keep the treads spinning which the JZX does with ease.
Keeping the Works tucked snugly under the flared arches while ensuring the stretched tyres maintained adequate adhesion to the ground lay in the capable hands of D-Max coilovers, dropped all the way down. A complement of Cusco and D-Max adjustable arms keep things pointing in the right direction, while a predictable sideways characteristic is upheld by a TRD limited slip differential.
Throwing It In
Varied machinery and methods aside, there’s one common factor uniting the attendees of the Streetmeat day – they drive hard. The first initiation off a high speed straight loaned itself well to wild entries into the first sweeper; the driver of this A31 Cefiro becoming the Speedhunter-hunter with consistent dirt drops on entry late in the afternoon causing some concern for my lens’ well being.
There’s not much else in the drift world that pleases me more than an AE86 having its absolute daylights thrashed out. This example housed a highly-strung 16V 4A-GE fed by a set of Keihin CR flatslide carbs delivering a glorious soundtrack.
Clad in restrained aero additions and a stark white paint scheme, the Hachi was being flung around with maximum aggression all day – and by all day, I mean this guy was the last man standing as the evening sun sank beneath the horizon.
Not merely content with being the organiser of the day, Jonny managed to get in some track time himself at the helm of the R32. Chucking it in hard off the front straight, the R32 looked absolutely surreal being pitched into corners; the lack of ride height not permitting a huge amount of roll, giving an illusion of just hovering sideways across the circuit.
Whether or not drivers elected to run in tandem was entirely up to the individual. A few braver drivers ran in pairs, testing one another’s mettle in a mock battle situation.
And if you hadn’t seen enough evidence of the South Island’s unique style, how about this JZS147 Aristo? Although a large, heavy car to be throwing around, the ‘4-door Supra’ looked the part with a typically-slammed suspension setup and generous servings of negative offset.
As the day pressed on into the afternoon, the final few sessions saw drivers pushing harder and harder, resulting in more than the occasional off-track excursion.
When the sliding stops the passion continues for the Streetmeat collective. As a condition of track usage, things need to be left as they’re found on arrival, and the clean-up is tackled with equal enthusiasm by the entire team. Proving that grassroots events are about more than just cars, at no point during the day was the solidarity within this tight-knit drift family more evident than in the pitching in and tidying up so the sliding may continue.
The sun sank lower, cars trickled out the gate and as the winter chill re-approached I had time to gather my thoughts. The instant Jonny announces Streetmeat #5 I’ll be booking another couple of flights. I may not have particularly enjoyed the study of dialects while I was at university, but the immersion in the offbeat culture of Christchurch drift has endeavoured itself to me and I’m thirsting for more. See you next time lads and thanks sincerely for the hospitality!
Richard Opie
richy@speedhunters.com
Instagram: snoozinrichy
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