Cyrious Report: Formula Drift Round 2 Recap

Round 2 of Formula Drift Canada brought the competition closer to home in Toronto and to say it was a tough round for the team would be pretty accurate. All weekend long we were suffering from mechanical issues, which was unusual since our car is very reliable.

During the Friday practice, we had fuel delivery issues and suspected it was the fuel pump, so we rushed back to the shop and changed out the pumps. We only got about 2 laps of practice that night.

Saturday morning, I was feeling good and ready to tackle the competition head on feeling confident we had fixed the FR-S. However first lap out during the first corner, all of the sudden the car lost all boost. The intercooler split wide open causing a major boost leak, resulting in the car not making any power. We couldn't find an aluminum tig welding at the track so I had to send one of my guys back to my shop over an hour away to weld it up. We had roughly 2 hours of practice, a 1-hour break, then moved on to qualifying. It was going to take my guys about 2.5-3 hours to get the intercooler back to the track, so the timing was definitely tight!

In the end, we got the car back together just before my first qualifying run! My first lap of qualifying wasn't bad considering it was technically my first lap of the day. I think the score was a 69. On my second qualifying lap I scored a 73, which put us in 9th position.

Entering Top 16, we were to go up against Jonathan Guitard. He's always been a contender and one to not take lightly, and with our very few laps around the track that weekend (I had done about 5 up to that point) it was tough for us to make a good car set choice. I decided to run as much grip as possible, more than we had run all weekend. I was to follow first. I struggled to stay sideways behind him, I figured Jonathan's car would of been much faster than it was and my FR-S was making a ton of grip, so it wasn’t my greatest lap. On my lead lap I rocketed away from him, and had gaped him about 5 car lengths into the final turn, but then my transmission broke... We lose.

Now back at the shop, we have installed a new transmission, a new clutch, an entirely new fuel system, and a new differential. I’m really hoping this is the end of the mechanical failures for us this season!

Next up for the team, we are off to Montreal for FD Canada Round 3 this weekend. And while we’re getting ready for the race, I'm also moving my shop Cyrious Garageworks to our new 5000-square foot facility (hence the delayed report) so it’s been a busy summer!

Hopefully we’ll have better news to report next time. Thanks for the support!

Photography: Formula Drift Canada

Cyrious Report: Formula Drift Round 1 Recap

Drifting season for the Cyrious Garageworks and Scion Canada drift team has returned! I've been looking forward to the beginning of this season all year long, so it was nice to get back behind the wheel of FR-S again!

Over the off season we have made a few improvements to the car to make it faster and more responsive. I was excited to see how we would stack up against the competition at Round 1 of Formula Drift Canada.

Practice was a bit rough for us. We were fighting a random mis-fire problem in the engine, which took the team a while to figure out, so by the time we had that sorted out, there was only enough time for about 3 laps of practice, which didn’t really give us much time to play with the car set up and they weren't my best laps by any means. But on to qualifying we went!

First lap out I messed up and missed my downshift from 4th to 3rd gear in the braking zone, resulting in my car straightening out, zero score. Do or die lap. This time going into this lap I decided I wasn't going to downshift, just keep it in 4th and see what happens. Well, it worked great and we qualified 2nd!

Top 16 was in front of a huge crowd and the weather couldn't have been better! My first battle was against Stephen Van Sleuwen. We had a decent battle and I was able to edge him out and take the win!

On to the top 8. We were to go against Youri Levesque. He's been around for a few years now and has been one of those drivers with potential. I led first, he followed me closely but made a few corrections and drifted at less angle to stay close. When I followed him, I wasn't as close but my line and angle was better. And while I didn’t have any corrections, he was given the win.

Like all race events, we walk away with lessons learned and know where we need to improve for the next one. I will be driving much more aggressive from here on in, I can promise you that. Next round is finally just outside Toronto, so I look forward to seeing all of you local fans at Sunset Speedway on June 25th!

Thanks for the support!

Photography: Jeremy Alan Glover, Formula Drift Canada.

#iMProject16 update with Kenji Sumino, President of GReddy Performance Products

We interview Kenji Sumino, President of GReddy in California and the man behind our bespoke exhaust made for #iMProject16.

The name Kenji Sumino should sound familiar. Not only is he the crew leader of Ken Gushi’s drift team, he’s also a two-time winner of the prestigious Gran Turismo award for Best Asian Import at the SEMA Show for Ken’s FR-S Prototype and most recently, for collaborating with Fast & the Furious star Sung Kang and his “Fugu Z”. When it came down to finding a partner to help build us an exhaust for #iMProject16, we knew Kenji would be our guy. While we had his attention, we decided to ask him about the process at GReddy and his involvement with Scion Racing.

Let’s cover the basics. For some of our readers who may not have heard of you, please introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today.

My Name is Kenji Sumino, President here at GReddy Performance Products, Inc. (GPP). I started working for GPP in 1995 in the Research and Development department. Until 2005, I was in charge of the R&D department, responsible for new product development and building project cars to promote GReddy performance products as the R&D manager. From 2006, I started handling more administrative duties while managing R&D, and in 2008, I became president of GPP. I am still very much involved with product development and also our motorsport program with Scion Racing with Ken Gushi in the Formula D series.

Also, I change tires for Ken at the racetrack… Seriously, I really do…. Hahaha…

So how did GReddy get involved with Scion Racing?

Ever since Toyota introduced the Scion brand back in 2003, we have been involved with Scion building their SEMA display vehicles starting with the Super Street x GReddy turbocharged xB. Our partnership with Scion grew from there and we continued to build SEMA display vehicles for all of the new models (tC and 2nd gen xB) that followed. These projects were all “street car” concepts to promote the lifestyle image targeting the Gen Y consumer.

When the 2nd gen tC was introduced, we got the opportunity to build a “track-inspired street car” for Scion’s 2010 SEMA display car. Originally, there were no plans to race this car, but we recognized the potential of the tC platform and proposed to campaign this car in the Redline Time Attack series. This was the beginning of our involvement with Scion Racing but our eyes were already set on the FR-S. At the same time the 2011 Scion tC was released, Scion introduced the FR-S Concept to the world. We felt that the Time Attack project was the stepping-stone for us to be considered for campaigning the FR-S for the Formula D Series in 2012. We needed to show our capability of preparing a racecar and running a motorsport program. And with a successful season with the tC, and a little bit of luck being at the right place at the right time, we were commissioned to prepare the not yet released FR-S street car that was displayed at the North American FR-S unveiling event in LA and a race prepped FR-S that was debuted at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in 2012. And the rest, as they say is history.

Well it looks like we caught you at the right time again! We really appreciate you helping us with #iMProject16. Can you share a little bit about how you and your team get started designing an exhaust system?

It's a great pleasure for us to work with #iMProject16! Because we have such close relationship with Scion since its launch, we get excited every time a new Scion vehicle is released, so thank you for the opportunity!

When designing an exhaust system on any car, we look at the factory system spec and layout first and figure out where we can improve for more performance and enhance the sound for a “Sport” exhaust system. Then we figure out the piping and muffler size based on the engine displacement and clearance. The last step is finding a way to make it look as cool as possible from the back.

So what did you decide on for #iMProject16?

We routed the new piping to make it more smooth, and made sure to keep good clearance with the chassis/underbody and other components under the car by using stainless mandrel bent tubing and used less sharper turns for a good flowing system.

Thanks we appreciate the effort! But what we all really want to know, will this add power to the car?

While we were not able to put this car on the dyno to measure the power gains, based on our experience with the normally aspirated system, you’re looking at 3-5% power increase.

Excellent! So tell us, now that you’ve prototyped an exhaust for the iM, can we see a production model to come in the future?

Definitely, we’ve already sent the prototype back to our factory. The first sample is due anytime now and we expect to have the production systems available for sale by late spring.

That’s awesome! Thanks so much for the chat Kenji. We can’t wait to see you, Ken Gushi and the rest of the GReddy team at Formula Drift Canada’s World Round in July. Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Thank you and YES!! We can’t wait to go out to Canada’s in July and have Ken Gushi spray you guys down with champagne from the top of the podium! We’ll see you guys soon!

Catch up on the #iMProject16 build on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, by following @ScionCanada.

Photography: Josh Chow, Justin Pagtalunan, Takuya TK Akiyama.

Scion Brand to Transition to Toyota

February 3, 2016

Dear Scion customer,

We have always focused on two things: our customers and our cars.

We recognize and embrace our customers’ diverse needs, interests and lifestyles and develop great products to meet those needs. We always worked to keep Scion passionate and ready for your next adventure, while always remembering Scion is “What Moves You,” your friends and your way of life.

In Canada since 2010, Scion’s role was to be a laboratory to develop new products and new ideas to better reach our customers. We thank you for joining the Scion family and allowing us the opportunity to serve you. Now we will put those lessons to good use as Scion transitions to become part of the Toyota brand. We understand that you’re looking for fun-to-drive cars with distinctive styling that also embody Toyota’s renowned quality, durability and reliability. We hope you’ll join us as Toyota continues to develop cars that meet your needs.

Whether you bought a boxy xB when Scion was brought to Canada in 2010, raced to your dealer to get an FR-S sports car in 2012, or just drove off the lot in our new iM 5-door hatchback, we value your Scion purchase and look forward to expanding our relationship with you through Toyota dealers. Beginning in August, the FR-S and iM will be available as Toyotas through your local dealer.

For current Scion owners, all customer services, including service and repair parts, will continue to be available for you at your local Toyota dealer.

If you have any questions, please feel free to speak to your local Toyota Scion dealer or contact us directly at 1-866-9-SCION-1 or scion_feedback@scion.ca.

Best Regards,

Cyril Dimitri

Vice President, Sales and Marketing

TOYOTA CANADA INC.

Introducing: #iMProject16

With the start of a new year, comes brand new projects, and there’s nothing more exciting than a project car.

Our newest member of the family, the Scion iM, is the perfect canvas to create an auto show masterpiece. With your help and assistance from Formula Drift Canada’s “Drifter of the Year” Pat Cyr, we’ll work together to get this 2016 Scion iM ready for the Canadian International Auto Show. Introducing: #iMProject16.

If you’ve visited us at the auto show, or attended one of our events, then you know we love a customized Scion. From Pat Cyr’s winning FR-S to the rare Rocket Bunny tC, we hope our cars inspire you to put your own personal touch to your Scion, whether it’s a simple accessory or turning it into a full blown race car.

For #iMProject16, we’re going to start with a few simple modifications. The Scion iM is a great platform for us to work with. It’s versatile, well-priced, and comes loaded with features like an aggressive lip kit and LED running lights.

We’ve partnered with some of the world’s leading after-market manufacturers such as GReddy, Rays Racing and RS*R to source parts for #iMProject16. Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to let us know what you would do with your Scion iM, and cast your vote to help us make decisions on things like wheels, suspension and livery. We hope you’re as excited as we are and we can’t wait to hear from you. Stay tuned!

#iMProject16