1,000 HP Nissan GT-R Mountain Drifting in Heavy Rain Is How Formula D Drivers Train

Yes, torrential rain wasn't going to stop Formula D driver Masato Kawabata from demonstrating the meaning of the Japanese togue culture.

The man took his R35, which comes with the mandatory rear-wheel-drive conversion, to one of the most famous mountain roads in the country, the Mazda Turnpike of the Takone Mountain.

With almost 5 miles (8 kilometers) of hillclimbing ahead of him, the man pulls all sorts of sideways stunts, appearing to ignore the ultra-heavy rain. In fact, the reflections on the road, albeit seen in the edited piece of footage below, could easily trick you into believing this is a video coming straight from the Need For Speed series.

We have to admit that Masato, whose razor-sharp driving makes everything seem NFS-easy, also helps with this effect. Still, the final part of the clip shows that climbing that mountain wasn't exactly a walk drift in the park.

Then again, the driver knows the Turnpike Takone like the back of his hand. For one thing, he pulled a similar stunt, albeit in the wet, one year ago. Seeing the man turning this into a tradition together with his team, Toyo Tires, only makes us applaud the slip angle effort. We've added the video of the 2014 run at the bottom of the page.

As for his GT-R, this might have kept its VR38DETT engine, but other pieces of the technical puzzle stray far from what the standard car has to offer. Whether it's the Hollinger-supplied sequential transmission or the R34-borrowed subframe and rear end, this is one sweet GT-R mashup.

And yes, you JDM junkies, that is a Rocket Bunny bodykit.