The Cyrious Report – Building for 2015

Pat Cyr here! Very excited to write my first blog post for the new FR-S chassis we are building for the 2015 season at my shop, Cyrious Garageworks!

At the end of last season, we knew that we wanted to make some major changes for the 2015 season to be more competitive and keep up with the high horsepower cars that dominate drifting these days, so we decided it was in our best interest to swap in a 2JZ engine, taken from the iconic sports car the Toyota Supra! The 2JZ is known around the world as one of the most reliable engines ever produced, and when modified, it can produce upwards of 1000hp! For next season, reliability is a key thing for me. We push the car and its engine to its limit, so having a set up where I can just focus on driving will be great for us!

The other major change is the Wisefab steering system we will be running this season. It is a purpose built drift steering system just for the FR-S and produces loads of steering angle so I should be able to achieve those crazy backward entries!

For the past 3 months we have been focusing on getting the chassis prepped. You have to start with a strong foundation, so we had the new chassis acid dipped to remove all of the factory paint and seam sealers, then we went to town with the welder, spot welding every seam on the chassis to stiffen it up and also adding longevity to it as well. After that, we built the all-important roll cage. Roll cages are one of our specialties here at Cyrious Garageworks, we like to build them tight but also try to add in a bit of style where we can! I also wanted a really clean engine bay to showcase the 2JZ engine, so we went ahead and filled every excess hole in the engine compartment to give it a clean, smooth look. After all that was done, we sent the car over to our good friends at Davis Autobody to get a fresh coat of epoxy primer laid down on the entire chassis to prevent rust and protect the chassis.

Back from the body shop, we mounted the 2JZ engine and transmission in the FR-S chassis and fabricated mounts to bolt that big engine in the car! When building cars, a key thing is mocking everything up. Sometimes things will get mocked up 2 or 3 times before final assembly. So after the engine was mounted, we mocked up the Wisefab suspension. From there our focus switched to the interior of the FR-S. First thing to do in there was to mount the dash which had to be modified to fit with the new roll cage. Then we installed the pedals and set up my new Sparco seat. Once I got it in a comfortable position, we built a custom steering column, made a custom shifter for our Tremec transmission, and mounted up our hydro e-brake handle. We spent a decent amount of time doing this, laying everything out, moving things around and making it as perfect as possible, as driver comfort is a very key factor.

Next on the to-do list is the paint. We will be heading back to Davis Autobody in the next few days to have the interior and engine bay painted up in gunmetal metallic; then they will lay the base coat down for our new livery design! The look of the car this year will be different than anything I have ever run before, so I can’t wait to show it to everyone at the Montreal International Auto Show in January! Next season will be an exciting one for us and I’m looking forward to sharing our journey with you.

That’s it for me today, now it’s time to get back to work!

Pat Cyr "Road to Formula Drift" Episode 3

See behind the scenes as Pat Cyr talks about his season and the challenges of balancing his racing career with running a shop. Among the highlights this year was a third place finish at DMCC which was the first time an FR-S has been on the podium in North America.

What’s the next chapter in Pat’s career look like? Well, let’s just say he is turning into the “Goliath”….find out what changes he has in store as he takes his ride to the next level.

Targa Newfoundland Scion FR-S Gets Headers and a Dyno Tune

Peter and Dave from Speed Academy make one last stop before shipping their Scion Racing FR-S to Newfoundland for the Targa rally. Visiting Total Motor Werkes, where Sasha from OnPoint Dyno set up his Dynapack dyno. Sasha fine-tuned the factory engine management system using Ecutek software, dialing in the tune for the intake and exhaust modifications made and for the 91-octane fuel the team would be running during the race. But before that, Peter and Dave needed to install one last set of modifications, a sexy long-tube equal length exhaust manifold from JDL Auto Design, along with a JDL over-pipe and catted front-pipe. As you’ll hear in Episode 9 of Speed Academy’s YouTube build series, the JDL goodies really bring the car’s exhaust note alive, making it sound like a proper racecar.

Sasha’s tuning worked wonders too, bringing the Targa FR-S’s output up to an impressive 181 horsepower at the rear hubs, which converts to about 225 horsepower at the crank, or about 25-hp more than stock. Not too shabby! That wraps up their build series on the FR-S, but there’s still a documentary-style video to come, covering their entire Targa Newfoundland adventure and the dramatic way the week of competition wrapped up for them.

Targa Newfoundland Scion FR-S Gets Drivetrain & Cooling Upgrades

Prior to shipping their Scion Racing FR-S to Newfoundland for an epic week-long race around the island, Peter and Dave from Speed Academy made a quick stop at Cyrious Garageworks, where Scion Racing pro drifter Pat Cyr and his crew helped with the installation of a new clutch-type limited slip differential from Tomei and a Stage 3 clutch kit and lightweight aluminum flywheel from SPEC Clutch.

Peter and Dave also made themselves useful in Episode 8 of their YouTube series by installing a Koyo direct-fit radiator and Perrin oil cooler setup, supplied by Motovicity, one of the biggest aftermarket performance parts wholesalers in the world. Plus you’ll notice Dave tackled the “difficult” job of installing Godspeed Project tow hooks in record time. That boy has skills! Oh, and although it’s not covered in the video, they also traced the traction control and ABS issues to a faulty steering angle sensor, likely damaged when they removed the steering wheel when prepping the car for roll cage fabrication. The sensor was replaced by team tech Andrew “Moose” DeLaCour and calibrated by team engineer Vinh Pham and both systems were back in perfect working order. Phew!