This is exactly how the short list of improvements was indicated when filling out the application for participation in the “OMNI DRIFT Battle 2011. Autumn”. And it’s difficult to add anything to this. If we go into details, the list of tuning manipulations performed on this favorite of Krasnoyarsk drift fans will stretch for a good 2 sheets of neat 12th Times New Roman.
And it’s unlikely that a simple visitor to the Red Ring, who came to watch one of the stages of the exciting Drift Battle, will be interested in all this engineering “gibberish” from the endless list of improvements. You just need to look at the “symbiosis” of all products from the most famous tuning brands in action: in a beautiful skid on top speeds, with thick clouds of white, slightly bitter-tasting smoke from under the wheels, which trails the juicy yellow “lighter” Silvia s15 for a good half of the drift track.
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Silvia went to Georgiy in the performance Spec R– with 250-horsepower SR20DET, manual transmission and rear wheel drive. They did not change the engine, putting all their efforts into the unit that was installed in the “Drift Queen” from the factory and in which now there is little resemblance to the stock version. The path of tuning “Sylvia” was winding, quite long and rich, and in general it did not begin at all with drifting as such... However, all the improvements that preceded the start of her drifting career were useful in one way or another and now - something unchanged form, and some with the necessary adjustments. The latter include, for example, turbine, which has already been changed several times. Now the engine is equipped with GARRETT’s GTX3076R unit, which, together with all other upgrades, “blows” a total of half a thousand horsepower. Careful attention was paid cylinder head: the stock shafts gave way to the “evil” HKS 256/254, the valve guides were replaced with “brothers” made of beryllium bronze, new springs and valve plates were installed (the first from the same HKS, the second from Brian Crower).
The “bottom” of the engine also did not remain stock: here we have pistons from JE and connecting rods Manley Rods. Of course, the engine is now “fed” more abundantly and better due to modernization fuel system: for example, a new fuel pump with a capacity of 260 l/h or a tuning fuel pressure regulator. Oh yes, also NISMO injectors with a capacity of 740cc... Deep and effective motor breathing Provided by intake and exhaust manifolds - the first from GReddy, the second from FullRace, an Autobahn88 downpipe and a lightweight T&E titanium exhaust. Well, of course, we couldn’t do without replacing the original intercooler (in this case, a front-end from Autobahn88 was installed) and a radiator (an aluminum 3-layer product from Koyo was chosen for this “Sylvia”).
As a rule, when preparing a car for drifting, from which good results are expected, the main emphasis is not on the engine. In this case, the transmission and suspension become the “heart” of the car. In Georgy’s car, these components also could not have done without a thorough study.
Regular box on the Silvia it gave way to a 6-speed Cross Transmission from NISMO, paired with an ATS 2-disc carbon clutch. The picture is complemented by a mandatory element of the tuning program - blocking, in this case it is Cusco RS 1Way. The special oil used is WAKOS 80W-140 circuit spec oil. In light of all of the above, what can we say about suspension– its spec sheet is literally stuffed with special parts: Greddy Type-R struts, adjustable steering rods from Ikeya, the same brand was also chosen for spacers in the rear subframe, Cusco suspension arms, GP Sport steering knuckles, front and rear stabilizers... About polyurethane , probably not worth mentioning. All this, by the way, was not without certain consequences for appearance cars. However, very good consequences: the Sylvia’s body, widened by 11 cm, is dressed in a stylish Vertex Ridge body kit, complemented by a MISSION circuit spec spoiler and beautiful RAYS GT-C wheels (front 9j off+5, rear 10j off+5).
Add to this the properly rebuilt braking and electronic system, working on the “brain” of AEM – and you will see in front of you exactly that 15th “Sylvia”, which in Krasnoyarsk drift fans from the spectator stands call nothing more than a “yellow bullet”.
For those who have not yet been to the stages of the Siberian Drift Battle or the Super Drift Battle on the Krasnoyarsk Red Ring, where this “Sylvia”, piloted by its owner Georgy Chivchyan, can most often be seen in action, that is, in a high-speed sharp skid with smoke escaping from the under wheels, there will be a good opportunity to do this in Irkutsk - at the upcoming OMNI FRIFT Battle, where Georgy will defend the honor of Krasnoyarsk as part of the Krasnoyarsk drift team, which includes almost a dozen equally trained (experienced and technically) drift pilots. Welcome and good luck in the Battle!
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All drifters of our vast homeland know this man. And thanks to the documentary “Gocha/Japan”, he significantly expanded his fan base. Nowadays, at many club meetings of car enthusiasts, they often discuss a film about a guy who drifted in Japan. And this is not surprising, because Georgy Chivchyan (Gocha) became the first Russian to take part in D1GP. There he 100% surprised the founders and professionals of drifting. This article will present short biography racer.
Passion for drifting
Gocha Chivchyan (photos posted in the article) was born in Krasnoyarsk in 1986. He himself does not remember the moment when he became interested in drifting. But my first racing car Nissan Silvia (S15) was purchased in 2004 at a USS auction. The car came with HKS struts and locking. Of course, Gocha immediately began to practice skidding on it. Over time, the racer decided to increase the engine power. Then it was the turn of the turbine, injectors and... off we go. Chivchyan invested his entire salary into S15. In general, by the time when in his hometown built the “Red Ring” (stationary racing track), Gocha and his friends were already keen on sports cars and tuning. The young man also independently modernized cars, opening a small service for this purpose.
Race and your own store
In 2008, Gocha Chivchyan took part in real circuit competitions for the first time. The rider overheated and burned the brake pads on them. It was a good experience, as the young man found out the difference between the loads on the car while driving on race track and city roads. Unfortunately, there were no new pads for his “iron horse” in Krasnoyarsk. It was then that Gocha came up with the idea to expand the range of his small store of spare parts for cars called “Forward Auto”. A month later, on his shelves lay brake pads with various characteristics that were suitable for any sports car he saw at the races.
Two weeks later, Chivchyan needed a radiator. Then Gocha Chivchyan purchased silicone pipes. Reviews (a young and good-natured guy is looking at us from the photo) about his store began to quickly spread among motorists, because many of the necessary parts could be found there. Then Gocha ordered large intercooler kits, fittings and hoses for the fuel system and levers for the ShS. Gradually his “Sylvia” turned into a cramp. Well, Georgy expanded the Forward Auto assortment to 25,000 items. When ordering any components, Chivchyan was guided solely by experience (his own and that of his friends).
Continuing to participate in circuit racing, Chivchyan was looking forward to the moment when drifting would appear in the competitive program. Over time, the young man decided to take the initiative into his own hands. Having teamed up with Arkady Tsaregradtsev, he began to hold his own drift races.
Pumping the car
It is worth noting that the S15 tuning program did not have a final form. With each new season, Gocha Chivchyan changed the settings and components of various elements to ensure that the car was fully ready for competition. After all, the requirements for technology were constantly growing, and in order to maintain high level competitiveness, it was necessary to resort to tuning. In the drift good results You can only show it if you work hard on your “iron horse.” For example, Chivchyan changes suspension settings 3-4 times per season. Each car has its own character, and it either suits a particular motorsport discipline or it doesn’t.
According to Gocha, his “Sylvia” was created for drifting. Therefore, it is quite difficult to improve the S15's suspension without losing overall balance. Although it is she who plays a key role in drift racing. By changing the characteristics of the suspension, you can make the car drive the way you want. For example, if there is a lack of power, it adjusts to the car sliding. If the speed and pace are insufficient, you need to achieve greater fixation in the rear. And if the controllability is poor, there are many variations with its adjustment.
The S15's suspension features a number of know-hows. Drifter Gocha Chivchyan, whose photo can be seen on the pages of various thematic publications, tested them under racing conditions and launched them into mass production. Now they are sold in his store. For example, on any car with S-chassis you can install a full set of adjustable suspension on the rear and front axles. It will function correctly and reliably even with large torsion and understatement.
The importance of the motor
Gocha Chivchyan is constantly improving the design of the engine of his Sylvia. For example, he can replace the head gasket and adjust the compression ratio higher. Using fuel that is more resistant to detonation, the drifter will thereby increase efficiency and improve response. The unit currently under the hood of the S15 is called SR20VE+T. After the rocker arms began to break on the DET, the racer started thinking about using a VET head. They have always been a sore spot for the native Nissan Sylvia engine. When the power exceeds 350-370 hp. With. the load on the rocker increases significantly. In drifting, the engine reaches the maximum speed zone much more often than in other disciplines and remains there for quite a long time. Due to its design features, the classic DET valve mechanism cannot operate reliably in such conditions. There are no pushers on VET heads, so there are no problems with them.
Increase in speed
Nissan engineers radically changed the design of the rocker: the camshaft cams transmit force directly to the valve stems through adjusting washers. Well, the timing belt design acquired a VVL system, similar to Honda’s VTEC. This helped increase torque at low speeds and increase power at high speeds. And, of course, the most pleasant thing for the pilot of a car with the SR20VE+T is the wider speed range (from 9000 to 9500 rpm).
Difficulties
When creating a new engine, difficulties arose. Since the “head” was taken from the engine with transverse arrangement in the car, I had to take into account many points with attachments(in S15 the unit is located longitudinally). And no manipulations with the cylinder head replaced the need for careful work with the connecting rod-piston group, on the compression ratio of which many factors depend. Well, no one has canceled the moment of meticulous assembly, which affects the final reliability of the unit.
Cooling system
In one of his interviews, Gocha Chivchyan (reviews of his drifting skills in thematic media are extremely laudatory) stated that the construction of this “Sylvia” mechanism was quite intense. Modernization of the S15 cooling system continues to this day. Professional racers know that the linear speed of a car in a skid is significantly lower than that of circuit cars. But even at such speeds, the “iron horse” does not drive straight, but at a certain angle to the motion vector, thereby imposing restrictions on the radiator airflow. And the greater the skidding angle, the less their cooling. As a result, a vicious circle closes: a larger skid angle increases the load on the engine and reduces airflow to the radiator if it is located under the hood. Motors of the SR series with an aluminum block give off their heat to the coolant quite intensively. Consequently, it is necessary to ensure its productive dissipation in the radiator, which is a complex engineering and technical task.
D1GP
While improving the S15, drifter Gocha Chivchyan did not forget to improve his driving skills. Years of practice were not in vain. In 2013, the young man won the Super Battle. This day became a turning point not only in the life of Georgy, but also in the entire history of Russian drifting. The chief judge of the race, Alexander Smolyar, told Chivchyan about the agreement between D1GP and RDS, according to which Russian pilots can go to the stage in Odaiba (Japan). At first, Gocha perceived this proposal as something impracticable. The young man did not even imagine that it could be brought to life. The main difficulty was to rent a competitive car in Japan. In addition, at almost all stages of the D1GP, minimal time is allocated for training. Sometimes it was not enough to master the trajectory. And only high-class professionals can do this without using their own car. After thinking about all this, the hero of this article decided to shelve the idea of traveling to an Asian country.
Gocha Chivchyan in Japan
About a month before the start of D1GP, the Krasnoyarsk drifter received a call from Dmitry Semenyuk on behalf of Primring and RDS-Vostok. He offered to help transport the car. Having finished the telephone conversation, Chivchyan was already folding sports equipment in the bag. The decision was made. And only when he was behind the wheel of his S15 in Odaiba, Georgy realized what a difficult job Dmitry Semenyuk, Vitaly Verkienko and the Forward Auto team had done to achieve his goal. Although performing at D1GP can be called their common dream. By uniting, they were able to bring it to life.
Results
Overall the races went very well. Gocha managed to get into the TOP 16, where his first opponent was Hibino Tetsuya. In the second race, the Japanese made a mistake, touching the concrete. This resulted in damage to the suspension and the inability of his car to skid. The Russian also performed not without mistakes and even managed to spin in the final turn, but still earned more points than Tetsuya. Emmanuel Amandio, a young and talented pilot from Malaysia, made it into the TOP 8. Gocha Chivchyan started the first race well, but before the finish he was unable to fit into the arc and collided with an opponent’s car. As a result, the S15 was severely bent and prevented the wheel from moving. Such a breakdown cannot be repaired in five minutes, so Chivchyan left the race. Georgy himself considers his performance successful. After all, getting into the TOP 16 at races of this level is excellent result.
Return
In 2014, Gocha Chivchyan (the athlete’s biography is presented above) again decided to try his luck at D1GP. Many Japanese greeted him in a friendly manner and came up to talk. These competitions were not so successful for the Krasnoyarsk racer. It all ended with a technical meeting. The probable cause was a breakdown of some connection due to strong vibration, because the engine was operating at maximum speed. The technical meeting did not upset Gocha very much, since he gained new experience and set ambitious goals. On at the moment Chivchyan is the most promising Russian drifter, and his main victories are still ahead.
This man is known to all residents of our vast country who are passionate about drifting, from Kaliningrad to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. And thanks documentary film Anatoly Zarubin “Gocha/Japan”, now not only passionate about drifting. Once, when I accidentally got to a club meeting of ordinary city cars, I heard those gathered discussing “a film about that guy who drifted in Japan.” Georgy Chivchyan (Gocha) is the first Russian to take part in D1GP and surprise 100% of the founders and gurus of drifting. We followed his races in Tokyo with you on Drom.ru. Now let's tell the story simple guy from Krasnoyarsk, who dared to do what 99% only dream of. And, of course, about his combat Nissan Silvia S15.
Trains, planes, friends, telephones and the Internet help overcome distances. Since it was not possible to use the first two options and go to another city to meet with Gocha, I turned to my friends and found out his phone number. Gocha answered immediately. He turned out to be open, responsive and... a very busy person. Of course! If we talk about the passion for drifting, you need to have time to build a car, train, participate in competitions and still earn money for it all! But life is not only about drifting. And I also chose the “most suitable” time for the conversation - on the eve of Gocha’s trip to Tokyo. So, of course, the interview dragged on. But I managed to learn so much!
Gocha says that he doesn’t even remember how and when he became interested in drifting. Apparently, I was born with this hobby. One way or another, in 2004 he bought his Sylvia from a USS auction. The car came with blocking and HKS struts, and a body kit. The new owner, of course, immediately began to practice his first drifts on it. At first he was interested in increasing the engine power. I started by buying “brains”. Then came the turn of the injectors, the turbine and... off we go. Gocha spent his entire salary on S15! So by the time the stationary race track “Red Ring” was built in Krasnoyarsk, he and his friends were already passionate about tuning, racing and sports cars and were engaged in their own modernization, organizing a small service for this. When in 2008 Gocha first went to real circuit competitions, all in the same Silvia, he overheated and burned the brake pads, which was quite natural, because driving in the city and on the race track are very different in terms of the load on the car. But here's the problem. He was unable to buy the necessary pads in Krasnoyarsk, and a month later, in his Forward Auto store, then still very small, a wide range of brake pads with different characteristics appeared, for every sports car that he saw that day on the road. Of course, back then these were mostly Japanese cars. Two weeks later he needed a new radiator, after another two weeks he needed silicone pipes, and then he ordered installation kits for oversized intercoolers, levers on the steering wheel for suspension tuning, hoses and fittings for the fuel system and oil cooling. Sylvia gradually turned into a cramp, and the store’s assortment expanded to 25,000 items. The most important thing when ordering any components was experience - yours and your friends. While participating in the circuit, Gocha was waiting for drifting to take place in Krasnoyarsk. And over time I realized that it was time to force things. I teamed up with Arkady Tsaregradtsev, and they themselves began to hold drift competitions.
Meanwhile, the tuning program for Silvia was never completed. Every season (and even during the season), the components and settings of various elements change - so that the car is always not only ready for competitions, the requirements for equipment are constantly growing, but also competitive. If you want to show excellent results, you have to work hard. For example, Gocha changes his suspension settings three to four times a season. It even happens that it returns to what it already was, with a slight change in tire pressure. Each car has its own character and may or may not be suitable for a particular motorsport discipline. Gocha believes that the Silvia seemed to be created specifically for drifting, so improving its suspension while keeping the car truly balanced is quite difficult. That being said, suspension is very important in drifting. By changing it, you can make the car drive differently. If there is a lack of power, you can adjust the suspension so that the car glides better. If there is a lack of speed and tempo, achieve greater grip on the butt. If the controllability of the front suspension is insufficient, there are generally a lot of variations with its adjustment. Today, his Silvia’s suspension has several know-hows, which he tested in racing conditions and put into mass production. And drifters across the country can purchase these custom parts through Forward Auto. For example, it is possible to equip any car with S-chassis with a full set of adjustable suspension on the front and rear axles, which will work correctly at lowering and high inversion, while remaining reliable.
The design of the engine of Gochin's car is also constantly being improved. For example, in the middle of the season, he can change the head gasket and reconfigure the engine with a higher compression ratio and fuel that is more resistant to detonation for improved performance and better response. The unit currently under Sylvia’s hood is most correctly called SR20VE+T. Gocha began to think about using a VET head immediately after the rockers on the DET (valve pusher rocker arms) began to break. The SR20DET, Silvia's own engines, have this weak point: as soon as the power exceeds 350-370 hp, the load on them increases. The engine in drifting, more often than in other disciplines, is cranked to the maximum speed zone and remains there for a long time. The standard DET valve mechanism is simply not capable of operating reliably under these conditions due to its design features. On VET heads there are no problems with rockers, due to their absence. Nissan engineers have globally changed the design of the pushers: the camshaft cams transmit force through adjusting washers directly to the valve stems, and the timing design has become partially similar to Honda and acquired the VVL system (Variable Valve Lift, changing the time and amount of valve movement), which is also similar to Honda’s VTEC and helps produce higher torque levels at low revs along with increased maximum power at high revs. Well, the most pleasant thing for a pilot racing a car with an SR20VE+T is that he can afford to use the engine in a more wide range revolutions - up to 9000–9500 rpm, while the SR20DET is limited to 8500 rpm.
Of course, there were difficulties when building a new engine. Since the “head” was taken from a transversely mounted engine in a car, and Silvia has a longitudinally mounted unit, it was necessary to take into account many nuances with attachments. And no manipulations with the cylinder head free you from the need to carefully think through and carry out work with the connecting rod and piston group, from selecting spare parts and choosing the compression ratio, which depends on many factors, and also on more influences down to the most meticulous assembly, because the final reliability depends on it power unit generally.
The design of the cooling system was also very intensive, and its modernization is still ongoing. It is no secret that the linear speed of a car in a skid is much lower than that of race cars, and even at this speed the car does not drive straight, but at an angle to the motion vector, limiting the airflow of the radiators. And the stronger the higher the skid angle the pilot reaches. The vicious circle closes: the greater the skid angle, the greater the load on the engine and the less airflow to the radiator with its classic location under the hood. SR series engines, having an aluminum block, transfer heat very intensively to the coolant, and therefore it is necessary to ensure the same effective heat dissipation in the radiator, which is a very difficult technical and engineering task. Gochina's Silvia reached 500 horsepower a long time ago, and as you can imagine, this power can heat up and overheat the coolant quite quickly. In the 2014 season, the solution to this problem was realized using a unique 70 mm three-row Autobahn88 radiator, which was developed specifically for this car, and a truly racing EVANS waterless coolant. Information about the creation of such a radiator, by the way, was received with great enthusiasm by pilots of other Silvias. And now some leading athletes use Gocha’s technical developments and components specially created for drifting - he is always happy to help his friends.
Know-how is everywhere here. So, for Sylvia, special door glasses were needed - and today the Forward Auto assortment includes molded “anti-scratch”, non-scratch glass for S13, S14 and S15. The mechanic has figured out how to reduce the heat load on the cylinder head - and the shop offers a coolant drain kit for every SR. In 2014, Gocha finally got tired of the windshield fogging up in inclement weather - and for the 2015 season he is preparing another pleasant surprise for Silvia owners.
While improving his car, Gocha also worked on himself. The years of drifting were not in vain, and in 2013 he became the champion of the Super Drift Battle. This day can be called a turning point not only in the life of Gocha, but also in the history of the entire Russian drift. Alexander Smolyar (chief judge of RDS-West) spoke about the agreement between RDS and D1GP, according to which Russian pilots will be able to take part in the stage in Odaiba. At first, Gocha perceived this proposal as something incredible and impracticable, and did not even attach any importance to it, because he had no idea how to put all this into practice. Okay, go to Tokyo yourself. But finding a competitive car to rent in Japan is not a trivial task. Still, participation in the D1GP stage is not a ride on Ebisu. In addition, according to the timing of almost all stages of D1GP, very little time is allocated for training, which is hardly enough even to roll into the trajectory. It is very difficult to combine driving into a new car with this. Only a few are capable of this, the pilots with whom Gocha dreamed of going to Japan. It was obvious that we had to perform in our own car. In general, all the difficulties that he would encounter if he decided to take such a trip rushed through his head like a whirlwind, and he put the idea aside for later.
Literally a month before the appointed date, Dmitry Semenyuk called Gocha and offered assistance on behalf of RDS-Vostok and Primring in resolving issues with transporting the car. Finishing the telephone conversation, Gocha caught himself already putting sports equipment into his bag. I've made up my mind! It was time for intensive training, but only when he was behind the wheel of his car during training in Odaiba did he realize what hard work Vitaly Verkienko, Dima Semenyuk and, of course, the Forward Auto team had done to realize his dream. Although, naturally, performing at D1GP was a common dream, a dream of the entire team and friends who, united, were able to make it come true.
Were the Japanese surprised to see a Russian pilot in his car in a closed park in Tokyo? Mechanics from almost all teams were very interested technical training cars - in the 2013 D1GP Gochina Silvia was the only car with the SR20VET engine. The search gearbox from the S14 also aroused great interest. They examined the suspension very carefully, highly appreciating the correctness of its configuration and giving some advice on settings and the choice of shock absorbers (then there were HKS Hipermax D). What’s interesting is that in order to prepare the car for passing the technical commission, we had to change very little - we changed the fastening of the seat belts, welded a nozzle onto the exhaust pipe, which will direct fragments that could be caused by the destruction of the turbine into the ground, protecting spectators, installed additional trunk locks and moved the power switch closer to the driver, added additional spoiler fasteners.
The races went, overall, very well. First, in the TOP16, he got to Hibino Tetsuya. In the second race, Hibino made a mistake, caught the concrete, damaged the suspension and was unable to continue the race in a skid. Gocha also performed not without flaws and even spun in the final turn, but still earned more points from the DOSS system. The TOP8 came from Emmanuel Amandio, a young and talented driver from Malaysia, who drove the full D1GP season in 2013. Gocha got off to a great start in the first race and rode well, but in the arc before the finish he made a mistake with his speed, slightly miscalculated the deceleration of his partner’s car and hit him in the side. The impact bent the steering knuckle on Sylvia so much that the wheel hit the stand. It was impossible to fix such a breakdown in five minutes, and Gocha was unable to continue the race.
Recalling those days, he said: “In general, I completed the task of that trip - when I qualified and got a place in the doubles race grid, I understood that this was already a victory. Getting into the TOP16 of the D1GP stage is an excellent result. And, of course, it warms my soul that I was able to conduct at least one race that people remembered. In the race of champions, in the first round I got into Masato Kawabata, I really liked the race with him, but I didn’t yet have the experience to make DOSS even doubt it.”
A year later, in 2014, the Japanese again met Gocha in a friendly manner, and it was already felt that they knew who they were coming to talk to. We followed the competition together in our news, so we will not repeat it in detail. As for the technical breakdown, Gocha connects the problem in the car’s electrics with the fact that it was in that race that he kept the engine at maximum speed like never before, and the engine literally hit the cut-off point. Most likely some connection could not withstand the vibration. The trip, unfortunately, did not turn out as successfully as we would have liked - technical failure. But new experience was gained, and with it new goals were set. And we wish Gocha good luck and continue to follow his story and Sylvia in the new year.
Georgy Chivchyan
“In Japan, I tried not to think about anything unnecessary. My task was to think about the configuration of the track, visually imagining the races. Now, after a while, it’s generally difficult to remember those feelings exactly; they were dazzlingly bright. But my friend Tolya Zarubin shows us everything in all its glory in his video reports. Sometimes I even get shocked when I see it and think: we were there and had such a great time!
In drifting you have to do a lot for yourself. And you can get a reliable result only through your own experience. Tuning work mainly takes place in my Forward Auto workshop. We accept all sports cars for repair and preparation and, whenever possible, use the settings developed by our experience and use suspension parts and spare parts developed by us. We are glad that they trust us with the selection of components and the creation of cars from scratch, their maintenance during the racing season, because trust is the only proof that we are on the right path. Many of our clients have long become our friends. On competition days, and especially the All-Russian Drift Battle, the RDS super final, the doors of the store and service do not close until dawn. Drifting for me is... I can’t say that it’s a hobby, since my hobbies are snowboarding and kiteboarding. But not work either. In general, now drifting is an integral part of me, something between work and hobby.”
