Those of you keeping an eye on the sideways world have probably noticed one pro drifter that is currently working his way up through the coolness ranks. Regardless of what happens on the track, the drifting realm provides plenty of entertainment with the help of various attention-worthy stunts, and New Zealander Mad Mike Whiddett certainly knows how to put on a show.
The latest example of this comes in the form of the video below, which sees the Kiwi slider thanking his two million Facebook followers by doing his tire-burning thing. While yours truly has to admit what is shown here is definitely nicer than my handwriting, as there's much more to this stunt than can be seen in this clip.
For one thing, the car used to pull this stunt is one of the most eccentric contraptions of the 2016 Formula Drift season. You see, Mad Mike has tons of fabrication skill and he's also the kind of guy who will spend his weekends drawing and putting together his next project. Factor in the collaboration with various big names in the industry and we end up with the man's insane Miata.
The sheer idea of going drifting at a pro level in a Miata (read: a machine with a "square" wheelbase) is enough to make the effort special, but things don't stop here. For instance, this is an NC-generation Miata, but many people let the ND body panels fitted to the car trick them.
The four-rotor Wankel bomb under the hood makes north of 1,000 horses and is doubled by various tricks such as the centerlock wheels - that's right, any form of additional bonding between the wheel and the tire is prohibited in Formula D, which is why Mad Mike has joined forces with wheel specialist Rotiform to come up with... fake beadlocks.
Fortunately, the drifter is going for a full Formula D season approach in 2016, so we'll get to see more of his stunts throughout the year.
In his quest to bring you the most impressive automotive creations, Andrei relies on learning as a superpower. There's quite a bit of room in the garage that is this aficionado's heart, so factory-condition classics and widebody contraptions with turbos poking through the hood can peacefully coexist. Full profile
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