When drifting was booming about ten years ago, I took pride in the fact that I knew 90% or more of all the professional drifters around. The fun fact about the sport, everyone was always trying to both improve their skills and also build the craziest cars at the same time. But there was one area where few people could venture. Only those that had good financing could afford to explore new chassis, and thus increase the level of the whole drift scene.
I still remember the day that Hirokazu Suzuki of Arios, in Japan, first posted a photo of his Ferrari 360 going sideways. Then, a video followed. The year was 2013, and not many people had yet explored the possibility of turning supercars into drift machines or at least using them to go sideways at this level.
It would take Daigo Saito and the Liberty Walk crew an extra two more years to build and showcase their mind-numbing, RWD-converted Lamborghini Aventador.
At this point, there are quite a few drift-spec supercars out there. Just think of the Aston Martin and the Ferrari that are competing in Formula Drift. We won't even mention the dozens of GT-Rs and brand new Toyota GR Supras that are running close to or over 1,000-hp in various championships across the world.
And now it seems like Suzuki-san has done it again. A few months ago, everyone went crazy when Japanese drift-legend Daigo Saito posted a video of a McLaren MP4-12C.
Photo: Arios/Hirokazu Suzuki
It looked like a shakedown test for a newly finished project. Even though it was performed in a small parking lot, it still felt shocking to see a McLaren going sideways like that. The photos that followed immediately revealed a change in terms of alignment for the front wheels, as you would normally see on a pro-spec drift car.
With no livery on the car, the presence of the Arios sticker revealed that Suzuki-san was involved in the project. Just recently, a media outlet in Japan released a video of the car in action at a local racetrack.
Back in 2013, this MP4-12C was used to race in the GT300 class of the Japanese Super GT series. But it has since been acquired by its new owner. And he's the kind of man that loves to drive the wheels off his cars. Of course, a car that used to compete in the GT300 class isn't going to take fondly to going sideways.
So that explains why Daigo Saito had it in his shop in the first place. Now, I've seen a race car being converted for drifting before. The Italian driver that opted to slide around in a factory-built M3 GT4 had a good run in it for sure.
Photo: Arios/Hirokazu Suzuki
The fact that this MP4-12C used to be a competitive race car means a lot. But we should remember that this was its first official shakedown, so we shouldn't be too harsh on it, at least not just yet.
As of now, it's not likely that it will be used for competitive drifting, but instead, it will serve as a demo car for the Japanese company. If Suzuki-san keeps this up, he'll have an entire fleet of drift-ready supercars in no time!
The things Dragos enjoys the most in life are, in no particular order: cars, motorcycles, diecast cars, and drifting. He's seen (and driven) many vehicles since he started his writing career back in 2009, but his garage currently houses a 1991 Mazda RX-7 FC3S Turbo II and a 1999 Suzuki SV650-S. Full profile
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