Re-enginered for ’07, Adam Richards’ championship winning A31 Cefiro is back and ready to battle the only way it knows how — hard, fast and very sideways

In truth, I used to believe that the sport of drifting was a passing fad, a flash in the pan trend that would die a quick death once people grew bored, like Pogs, or those odd Snakeboard death traps that were so prominent in the mid-1990s. Fast forward to 2007 and it appears I may have been wrong. Very wrong. Drifting has done nothing but grow and grow since my first pessimistic grumblings back in 2003. All this growth and popularity makes me wonder just how big this burgeoning sport will become. In 30 years, will there be memorials to the original greats of the sport like Keiichi Tsuchiya? Will car museums be filled with 180SXs, AE86s and FD RX-7s the world over? On more local terms, I wonder if places like Southwards Car Museum might one day display vehicles like this one, Adam Richards’s 1989 A31 Nissan Cefiro, the very machine that took him to glory in the 2005 D1NZ championship.

At the end of that season the car was looking a little worse for wear, to say the least. In fact it was shelved in the garage to gather dust while Adam hooked up a fully sponsored ride in the form of the HKS/Redline Performance/Dodson Motorsport S15 Nissan Silvia. Although the new S15 packed the best of the best gear, not to mention infinite potential, like an ex-girlfriend he never quite got over, Adam still pined for his solid, lazy, simple A31 a car that could be trusted, pulled big punches and, of course, was able to fry a whole tonne of tyres in the process. Plans for resurrection were afoot. Not resurrection to its former glory, though.

This build would go beyond that, and the car’s latest incarnation must surely make it one of the best slidespec Cefiros in the country, if not the best.

So what makes this slice of Kiwi drift history tick? Under a lightweight Destroy Composites carbon fibre bonnet sits the mother of all Nissan motors an RB26DETT sourced from a R33 GT-R. Although an absolute powerhouse in standard form, Adam’s machine makes a healthy 317kW at the rear wheels, thanks to a host of sensible mods and a whole lot of pilfering from an N1-spec RB26 engine. For those not in the know, Nissan, in conjunction with its motorsport arm Nismo, created the N1 spec GT-Rs after having reliability issues in the Group A racing class of the mid-’90s. Of course, in keeping with the rules of the class, Nissan had to build and sell a certain number of these special cars to the public in order to achieve homologation. Sporting a fully blueprinted block, the beefier motor runs higherflowing water and oil pumps, improved cooling channels and a pair of larger Group A Nismo-spec Garrett turbochargers. The idea was that although power in the standard road cars would remain the same, a team could purchase an N1 GT-R off the yard, strip it, cage it and then do very little to the motor to net massive power gains, as seen by Adam’s healthy 300-plus kW. The term 'room to move’ comes to mind. Internally, the motor still retains the standard rods, which are now held in place with ARP rod bolts. The pistons, however, have been replaced with ACL forged numbers, while up top above an HKS metal head gasket the head has received a mild clean up and a new set of meaty 264-degree cams, again from HKS. In terms of induction, Adam runs a pair of Pipercross filters, an R33 GT-R-sourced intercooler and a whole lot of custom piping. Fuel is provided by a large Bosch 044 fuel pump, drinking from a custom alloy surge tank in the boot. Kept cool by a Cooling Pro radiator, the RB26 spews out waste gasses via a Trust front pipe, dumping into a full 3-inch exhaust system, while the tune is handled by a Wolf 3D engine management system expertly massaged by Glenn at Dodson Motorsport.

As per most other serious Nissan sliders, this Cefiro runs a meaty driveline nicked from a Skyline GTS- 25T. These cars run a very serious rear-wheel-drive transmission, and this particular one was made all the stronger by the addition of an Exedy twin-plate clutch and contrary to most 'just weld it up’ drifters a genuine Nismo two-way limited slip differential in the rear. Although many sliders retain the stock braking system, Adam’s A31 again uses gear courtesy of a Skyline GT-R in both the front and rear ends. In saying that, Adam has also gone to the extra effort of installing DBA 4000 slotted and crossdrilled rotors and all braided lines, making sure that brake fade will never be and issue.

Keeping the lumbering beast flat as Adam hits the limiter at the top of fourth gear dead sideways is some very nice handling gear provided by BC Suspension. A set of its finest adjustable coilovers keeps the car tracking right, while a host of aftermarket braces and arms underneath the car from the likes of Nismo and Kazama allow Adam to maintain those crazy angles and tyre-punishing drifts for which he is so well known. The car’s looks are where you will find the biggest changes since the glory days of 2005.

Gone is the slightly home-built aesthetic of the original 'Desert Storm’ camouflage, to be replaced by a scheme that, on paper, sounds like it just wouldn’t work. And yet it does work very well, in fact. Layered over the car by fellow drifter and all-round expert painter Steve Sole, the new scheme retains the camo theme, but this time displays it in glorious shades of metallic browns and blacks. Combine this striking new look with a body kit provided by the good sorts at Initial Kits, Ganadorstyle mirrors, custom reflective vinyl from CRE8GRAFX (aka Mad Mike Whiddett) and a whole lot of carbon fibre from Destroy Composites, and you’ve got yourself one hell of a hot taxi. Of course, 19×9-inch 5Zigen Typhoon rims tucked high up into the guards don’t hurt either. As you can probably guess, a frustrated show car does not lurk inside the Cef. No leather, neons or sounds here, just seats and harnesses from Racetech, an OG R32 Skyline steering wheel, and the necessary gauges from HKS and AutoGauge.

All in all, Adam Richards’s A31 Cefiro is still a competitive machine, and far more than a mere slice of nostalgia for those in the know. While I couldn’t count how many times I have seen this old battler sitting full lock at ridiculous speeds, what I can tell you is that, yes, she’s been around a while. But Adam sure isn’t over her, so expect to see that big ol’ ghetto booty strutting its stuff on our drift circuits for a good few seasons yet. And after that, who knows? Maybe it’ll be off to a museum for safekeeping, to be pulled out and shined up once the noise, smoke and power of drift takes over from rugby as New Zealand’s number one sport.

Specs

1989 Nissan Cefiro (A31)

Engine: Nissan RB26DETT 2.6-litre DOHC 24V, ACL forged pistons, factory rods, ARP rod bolts, N1 oil pump, R33 block, modified crank oil pump collar, mild head port, HKS 264-degree cams, HKS metal head gasket, 2x Pipercross filters, custom intake piping, 2x Nismo/Garrett Group A turbochargers, Tial blow-off valve, GT-R intercooler, ported internal wastegate, custom surge tank, Bosch 044 external fuel pump, stock in-tank pump, Turbosmart adjustable FPR, HKS spark plugs, 3-inch exhaust system, Trust front pipe, Cooling Pro radiator, Wolf 3D engine management system

Driveline: Nissan GTS-25T (R33) 5-speed gearbox, Exedy twin-plate clutch, GTS-t driveshafts, Nismo 2-way LSD Suspension: BC adjustable coil-over struts, Eibach front springs, BC rear springs, GT-R sway bar, Nismo front strut brace, Kazama rear suspension arms, adjustable rose-jointed castor arms, solid mount subframe

Brakes: Nissan Skyline GT-R callipers front/rear, DBA 4000 front rotors, GT-R rear rotors, braided lines

Wheels/Tyres: 19×9-inch 5Zigen Typhoon rims, 235/45R17 Firenza ST-08 tyres

Exterior: Initial Kits full body kit, carbon fibre bonnet, GT wing, Ganador-style aero mirrors, Abstract Dazzle camouflage paint, custom graphics

Interior: Racetech seat, Racetech harness belts, R32 GTS-t steering wheel, HKS boost meter, AutoGauge oil pressure, oil temp & water temp meters

Performance: Dyno Power — 317kW at the wheels, 0-400 — 12.7 @ 180kph

Driver Profile

Adam Richards

Age: Classified

Occupation: Man of extreme mystery

Previously owned cars: JC Mazda Cosmo, Nissan 280Z, Subaru Legacy RS, Mazda 626 turbo, Mazda RX-2, Mazda RX-4, A31 Nissan Cefiro, R33 Nissan Skyline

Dream Car: Maybach

Build time: Four months

Length of ownership: Three years

Thanks to: Glenn and the boys at Dodson Motorsport, Darryl and the boys @ Redline Performance, Steve Sole Customs, Mike & the guys @ Peter Thomas Panel & Paint, Dave @ A1 Exhaust, PPG Paints — North Shore, Johnny & Ian @ Initial Kits, Racetech, Race Brakes, Republic Apparel, Troy @ Destroy Composites, Spy Eyewear, Eden @ Grange Motor Co, Mad Mike @ CRE8GRAFX, JFK Motorcycles, Zee and all my WSR crew