VIDEO: This is why there’s a drift tax

RIP to the fallen.

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14 Responses to VIDEO: This is why there’s a drift tax

  1. Howard D says:

    I feel for that guy crying. But what do they all expect? You dont take a car you love, spend a ton of money and drift it…Sooner, or later that cool body kit, those million dollar wheels & tires, and motor work are going to be literally ‘wasted’! Ive been to Japan many times, and watched drifting competition once, that’s all I needed. I’ll take the origin where drifting first started in my eyes…RALLYING!

    • Ian N says:

      Agree wholeheartedly – these “drift” folk think it’s something entirely new. Not so, we were “drifting” (although it was never really given a name as such) many, many moons ago – in rallying. Certainly, they have taken something fairly matter-of-fact and made an entertaining sport out of it – more power to them, it keeps them off the streets… Muhahahaha. But we too, damaged our vehicles now and again, took it all on the chin, winced a bit maybe, swore a little perhaps, but never, NEVER cried about it! LOL. Mayhaps they should go find a car they absolutely hate and beef that up…

      or take up knitting!

  2. Banpei says:

    As much as I would like to agree with you on the point of “drift tax”, I simply can’t on basis of this video. The video contains mainly pro and semi-pro drifters crashing their cars, which means there is a very high chance of those cars being repaired, used as drift missile (eco friendly way of reusing a trashed car) or used as a donor car for making a new (drift) car out of a not so great car. The cars these guys and girls use require a major overhaul, body panels replaced so it’s no use using an insanely expensive pristine car for that.

    I would actually state the opposite: it’s not the drifting that caused these cars to become scarce, but it has been drifting that caused them to receive a second life within Japan. If it weren’t for the drifters to appreciate them, these cars would have been exported to other countries at least 15 years ago like any other unappreciated Japanese econobox. Those cars leave Japan after 10 years of (light) usage and get a second life in a developing country or Russia. This means any bread and butter car simply doesn’t exist in Japan anymore after maybe 15 years. So thanks to the drifters making them still valued in Japan means you can still encounter an AE86 or S13 every now and then in Japan or still buy a well kept example.

    Besides that, Juicebox recently worked out a whopping grand total of 365000 AE86s have been built by Toyota (excluding the AE85) and Japan got 90% of those. That means there are still many cars left in Japan. The same applies to the S13: there were so many of those produced and they are still plentiful available. It’s just that they are a bit more expensive nowadays due to being an old car and people from outside Japan wanting one (I’m one of those ?). It’s just like the Nissan Skyline C10 and C110 were suddenly getting more expensive 10 years ago because they had become old and other countries wanted a piece of the pie as well.

  3. Lee L says:

    Some pretty hard hits there

  4. BlitzPig says:

    Drift car just pawn in game of life.

  5. Steve says:

    Sorry, but I had to LOL about the guy crying over his crunched, (apparently) beloved car (unless he was crying because someone got hurt). What? Did he think he was invincible and would NEVER crash?? That’s why I never go crazy in any of my cars.

    Also, it seems to me there may be a market for external cages and tube front and rear bumpers like the ones you see on stunter bikes and 4WD off-road trucks. Or, would that just be seen as weak? OTOH, those cages are considered cool on bikes and trucks…

    • anonymous says:

      It’s not as if he never thought he would crash, in the spur of a moment anyone would cry if they loved their car just as much as he did, imagine it as losing a loved one, one does not they will come to pass but simply cannot take the bearing of the passing, if you think that you can’t cry for something as simple as that then you hold no value to it.

  6. Sam says:

    I don’t think I’ve ever cried watching a video but this is the closest I’ve been to it so far

  7. retro_mike says:

    So much S-chassis car-nage! That’s worth crying over, not just the one car.

  8. Roger Aba says:

    When I stopped by Blitz (2017), a couple of guys from the Boston drift scene also popped up.

    They were asking about R and S chassis and this is what Ogino-san said:

    “Americans are drifting cars we have been drifting since they came out. Most shops have stopped focusing on building those older cars because many are disappearing.

    17yrs ago – many cars were cut in half to get the engine and RHD conversion. How many cars do you think were cut in half for that? (If I am correct, the compilation has a lot of older footage from past events).

    Shaken taxes makes it hard for people to keep older cars and so they sell.
    Then many of those cars go to auction. Before the US were able to get them, Russia, New Zealand, Australia, Canada and Europe got these cars.”
    ————————————-

    then think how many were used to drift and destroyed throughout the years.
    ————————————–

    Finally, if you went to Japan 14yrs ago, you could see many of these cars on the streets at any given moment. I’ve noticed that I would only see them mostly at tuning shops, at events or out in rural areas or cruising, such as Hakone.

    When I compare my trips from 2001-2006 and 2016-2020.. there are definitely not around as much.

    A31 cefiros were plentiful before… now you rarely seem them in Japan. (most went to Thailand)

    TCR10 Estimas/Lucidas/Eminas – I was hoping to see at an Estima meeting, but it was 95% MCR and ACR estimas.

    Honda Vigors, Accord Inspires, Ascots and Rafagas… almost non existent and I search for them.

    When I got my Craiglist Specials, 89 240sx fastback ($400), FC RX7 ($300), MX83 Cressida ($300) and countless cars I passed at the time were all similar with blow engines/head gaskets or non op. status.

    I highly doubt you can find those prices nowadays. While we can throw out the production numbers… there is still a finite amount of those specific cars.

    • potato says:

      do not forget, Drift scene is a thing of the past in Japan now, including street racing. And you know many would have kept those old cars even if it cost them more to keep them because look at the current market right now and tell us how many new car models are suitable for drifting?

      80% of the new FR cars come in automatic, there’s only a handful of Manual FR offered to average people like BRZ/GT86 & Miata ND which require additional power. The new Supra doesn’t come with Manual and cost as much as a Z4, and i don’t know if BMW are still selling Manual cars in Japan. For higher end models most have adapted semi-automatic like GT-R, LC-F, Ferrari’s & Lambo. I think only Porsche is still insisting on releasing manual cars but average person aren’t going to drift their Porsches.

      So we can conclude drift scene in Japan is dead outside race tracks. What the last drifters in Japan are using are the same beat up worn out getting rare JDMs rest of the world are driving. At least for Americans they still have lots of FR Manual options for their American cars.

      • F31Roger says:

        I can see that.

        While I visit Japan, I’m not there for drifting events.. but I do agree that outside of tracks, these cars aren’t drifting in the streets like they were in 1990 Hakone.

        I do know just by following a few youtube channels, they still do drifting and hold events.

        As for drag racing, when they shut down some of the tracks, those drag built cars became inactive.
        ————————————

        It’s all good for me. I’m not a drifter and if I get an A31 Cefiro or a platform that is highly wanted for the sport, I plan on keeping it off track. I’m at the level in my life where I just want to enjoy cars while not destroying them.

  9. I spent so much on tires autocrossing and road-racing that I never once considered getting into drifting. Been to a few events at Tsukuba though. It’s fun to watch.

  10. RKaji says:

    While the GT86 isn’t the most powerful car on sale, the engine begs to be revved and offers plenty of performance for keen drivers. The lightweight body and rear-wheel-drive layout make it one of the best handling sports cars for sale, especially at the affordable end of the segment where the GT86 competes. And that’s it perfect gift for a thrillseeker in perth that can be buyed from https://driftschoolwa.com/about-us/. And I started doing driving school to be able to participate in car races and it takes me a long time to progress in that.

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