didnt it have a 2j before?

 

Yes, and yes. Rumor is though that they really don't like the V8, and are considering going back to the 2JZ. I really wish they had a better driver than Yoshihara - the only thing he seems to win in Formula D is "Best Style."

Javier

 

Hiro Sumida has the 2jz



Dai Yoshihara has the LS7

 

It's the same car. Hiro Sumida stopped driving this car back in 2008 when they swapped engines.

Javier

 

I read in a drift article, and also saw in a video Dai introducing his car as a 2009 IS350. Also, read in an article that Hiro Sumida drove a 2006 IS350. But you may be right. I dont know this for a fact or not. That is just what I read.

 

this guy sucks *****!!! get a new driver!!

 

this happened this past friday at formula d held in monroe, wa. i went there the final day which was saturday was excited to see the car drift, but no to avail he crashed it friday and the damage is similar to what was shown...if it was a different time then man...not any luck drifting the is350........couple crashes within weeks :thumbsdown:

 

UPDATE!
Drift IS350 officially gone
Link to Dai's comments
http://www.gtchannel.com/content.php?cid=86141

"After the very disappointed round in Vegas, I was fired up to going into this Seattle round.

In the practice session, I was doing well. Because there was under steer, my initiation wasn't stable. But overall I did pretty good and I qualified 5th. 5th place is good but I always do well until in qualifying. The actual competition is from there and I wanted to go farther so bad. However the nightmare became a reality...

I hit the wall hard during the practice session before the top 32 competition. I realized how bad the accident was when I got out of the car. The left front part of the car was gone and the front subframe was pushed to right in front of the firewall. The IS was totaled...I was in despair. I really wished that it was just a bad dream or something. I was so paranoid, so I actually thought it was a dream for a second.

I think I hit the wall going about 85mph and very unfortunately I hit the edge of the wall. It was the worst accident I ever had. However, I wasn't hurt. My neck is sore pretty bad but that's it. I was protected by the SPARCO 5 point harness and the very solid roll cage that Scott at SPD made. If those weren’t made well, I could be have been injured seriously.

I made a huge mistake. Thinking about how much money and time team Falken Tire spent for the IS, I really don't know what to say other than an apology. It was the worst day ever. It's been the worst season for me. I was so bummed out the past couple days. But it didn't help anything, so I must move on.

Right after the accident, I really didn't know what to say to my chief mechanic Scott. I just killed his baby... But he didn't say much about the accident, he already started to talk about the next car for me. Same as other crew members. Everyone's looking forward to next round. I really really appreciate how they support me.

I confront this difficult situation and try to figure out what I should do seriously to rise out of this situation. And I will be back to be the one of the top ranking drivers in the near future.

I'm so sorry everyone.

Bye Bye IS I've never been able to know how to handle you. It's really really regrettable... "

 

Very glad he wasn't hurt, but just another in a line of failures from Dai Yoshihara.

Javier

 

hahaha that one cut deep

 

ouch... i hope future runs will turn out better

 

this car has been a nightmare since its inception. It has had ill handling problems that the team cannot put their finger on.

The car is very difficult to keep in a drift, it either goes from massive understeer to grossly oversteer.

They were making progress on the set up, kinda sad.

 

Just a FYI, Dai's IS350 is a NEW car they had to pick up. The old one driven by Hiro was a "total loss"

It's unfortunate really.

 

maybe the handling problems has something to do with the fact that the balance ratios for the car was already off before they threw in a v8

 

yea that could be true.... in general though. I dont know if the IS350 is driftable.