News
Sumo open day a roaring success! (11/03/2010 @ 20:37:44)
The much anticipated Sumo Power Open Day has been declared a resounding success! Despite the freezing cold over 350 visitors descended on the 50,000 sq ft Rye facility The entire factory was completely accessible and the whole range of Sumo Power's activities on display, with helpful staff able to talk through everything from CNC machining to the chassis dyno and, of course, the new Nissan GT-R GT1 race cars racing in the 2010 FIA GT1 World Championship. These were by far the most popular exhibit for the enthusiastic visitors. Adding to the occasion, the team’s two lead drivers Michael Krumm and Peter Dumbreck were also on hand to answer questions, pose for photos and sign autographs.
Another highlight of the day was the unveiling of the new Sumo Power drift team S15, looking very pink in its, well, PINK livery! Main sponsor was latest Sumo Power supplier Vertex, the car wearing a full Vertex Ridge bodykit. We were very honoured to have Vertex president and top seeded International D1 drift driver, Mr Ueno, on hand to offer advice on his products.
Other Japanese suppliers who made the trip over specially to be at the open day were Mr Umemoto president of J’s racing, Mr Ito, president of Do-Luck, Mr Omodaka of Damd and also our Sumo Power Japan president, Mr Koga.
Sumo had good support from some of its other trade partners, with HKS, Cosworth and Santa Pod bringing some great displays along. In addition, Corbeau seats donated a pair of Sprint bucket seats for a free raffle, which made Evo IV owner Chris Smith a happy man as he won them!
Other cars on display included Sumo’s specially developed 650 bhp Nissan GT-R road car, its space-frame Mitsubishi Evolution Drag car, and the well-know former European record-holding Nissan R33 GT-R Drag car.
Lastly, another impressive sight for visitors was the range of Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution RS’: from international specification Group N rally cars to built-for-purpose 400RS track-day car. There was also a line-up of some of the Evo RS’ currently in stock, the base-cars that parent company JRM can use to convert into motorsport and performance versions of this iconic competition-bred saloon, many of which will be fitted with specially designed roll cages to enable them to be sold for both road and track.
This is just the start of many more events Sumo intending to organise at Rye...
Check out this link for some great pics on the day or see below...
http://speedhunters.com/archive/2010/03/08/event-sumo-power-open-day.aspx
Sumo Power official OPEN DAY! (22/02/2010 @ 17:34:52)
New Sumo Power Drift Team (10/02/2010 @ 14:19:11)
Sumo Power
set for professional Drifting return
After
a successful campaign in the D1GB National Championship back in 2006, Sumo
Power will return to the professional Drift stage with an all new line-up for
2010 in the invitation–only European Drift Championship under the team name ‘
Sumo Power Drift Team ‘
The
new team line-up includes the arrival of professional Drift driver and 2009
front runner Paul Conlan in a Sumo prepared 550bhp Nissan S15.
“Our
commitment to Drifting has always been keen and we support it on many levels
with our customers who enjoy the sport. Our involvement back in 2006 with the
350Z holds fond memories for us and the fans of our racing activities and we
feel that the time is right to make a return with a solid package which we
believe we have. We look forward to seeing Paul challenge for wins in 2010’’ Comments
Sumo Power MD James Rumsey
With
full backing and race support by Sumo Power’s own technicians and state of the
art facility, Paul is looking forward to the coming season: “I am delighted to
be driving for a professional team and looking forward to contending for the
title”
About the European Drift Championship:
The European Drift Championship, now in
its 4th year has 5 major events taking place in 2010 using some of
the most famous racing circuits in the UK in conjunction with its parent show –
Modified Live. The new format is based on invitation only with a select group
of teams and drivers to appear. Whilst the twin-drift Championship competition
continues, 2010 sees the introduction of an all new on-the-day format for EDC.
www.europeandriftchampionship.eu
NEW NEWS : Sumo Power Official Nismo GT1 Team (25/01/2010 @ 15:12:53)
L-R : Andy Barnes, Nissan R35 GTR GT1 Car, James Rumsey
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NEW NEWS : Join our Facebook Group (20/01/2010 @ 15:59:51)
You can now keep upto date with us on Facebook for all Sumo activities from latest parts, tuning news, demonstration car updates and of course the GT1 GTR racing programme.
Click the image to join........
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See us at Autosport this week! (12/01/2010 @ 14:02:34)
Merry Christmas to our customers (17/12/2009 @ 14:52:22)
10% off at Sumo this Christmas! (11/12/2009 @ 19:25:35)
FUUJIN gets new race decals (30/11/2009 @ 11:39:12)
FUUJIN, our drag racing Nissan Skyline GTR recently had a make over here at Sumo to celebrate our new range of Do-Luck brake lines '' Power Lines.
Here she is sat in our race shop :-
From the back :-
From the front :-
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Fuujin Drag Video : Swapping Lanes at Santa Pod! (24/11/2009 @ 18:08:54)
Back in October we had all kinds of exciting yet frustrating issues while running our drag GTR '' FUUJIN ''.
Here in this video Blackett Photography managed to capture one run which led the car to steer off line and into the opposite lane!
Enjoy!
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New R35 GTR and Evo X blog sections added (24/11/2009 @ 16:06:40)
Our website now has 2 new blog sections dedicated to our newest projects here at Sumo, the Evo X and the R35 GTR.
You can find the link to both sections by clicking the pictures below :-
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Sumo Power Sponsored DAMD 350Z Wins European Drift Championship (12/10/2009 @ 13:07:19)
Exciting news just in, our friends over at SVA Imports won the Need For Speed European Drift Championship 2009 title after a very close battle at the final event this weekend at Snetterton Circuit.
We and our suppliers DAMD Japan are sponsors of the car which uses the DAMD aero package ( front/rear bumpers + side Skirts ) and is driven by Mark Luney.
Pictures below, congratulations Mark, Raef and all at SVA IMPORTS!!!
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Sumo FUUJIN Drag GTR Event Report (05/10/2009 @ 17:10:05)
Last week we informed you that we intended to run our Drag Nissan Skyline GTR '' FUUJIN '' at Santa Pod this weekend, here is a quick run down of how it went yesterday.
We had prepared the car last week after a year out of action, once again Katsu from HKS was on hand to prepare the car and help us push the limits.
We arrived late at the track on Saturday but managed to get 3 runs in, the first 2 runs were aborted however the final run we recorded a time of 8.4 seconds. This was a set-up run, at just 2.1 bar, 9000rpm with a terrible 60ft time of 1.39 seconds due to the cold weather late in the day ( FUUJIN runs 1.2 60fts, uses 2.5bar and 9800rpms). This was the first run using the new T62R HKS Turbo which produces more power than the old T51R ( which gave us 8.27 previously ).
On Sunday we had fixed some little issues and started again. We made a few passes but failed to get a complete run, this was due to a combination of little issues that prevented us from showing the full potential of the car and engine. We found the fault to be the battery isolator, basically the car would shut off the isolator ( electrical power to the engine ) when it came under extreme G. We also had issues with the pressure to our gearbox from which is operated using C02 gas which we later fixed - both of which managed to give us a series of aborted runs.
On one run the car hooked up so hard off the line the car twisted up, went past the lights and changed lanes, darting from the right hand side of the track to the left, with Andy backing off to avoid the wall!
On the final run of the day, Andy went into stage after the burnout but noticed the engine sounded like it was not firing on all cylinders, maybe due to spark plugs. Andy made the run but shut off soon after the launch to record another and final aborted launch.
Taking the car back to the Sumo pits after inspection we found that a valve collett had broken, jamming the valve and therefore not operating correctly. The problem didnt cause any further damage but it was enough to spoil our fun!
Sadly this problem could not be fixed at the track and we had to retire the car for the day.
Now the good news :Even though the car was causing issues, we recorded back to back 1.26/ 1.28 60ft times each time the car launched in 1st gear which is quick enough to run a 7 second pass should we have a complete full-power run ( in theory ). Our setup is proving perfect, the quickest time we have seen is 1.23 60ft.
So, now, the engine is coming out, the valve assembly replaced and a new date is to be set to run the car and finally show its true potential some time soon.
We would like to thank everyone who came out to watch the car run and eagerly awaited news of our target, we are sorry that we will need to wait a little while yet to secure the next stage of FUUJIN's target to hit into the 7 second barrier. We tried very hard but this was not to be our weekend...
We have consolation that with this valve issue fixed, the car is showing extremely good potential to hit a 7 as a realistic target at this stage...we will be back...........
Thank you to all our crew at Sumo, particularly our mechanic Mark ''the'' Muscle and Katsu Hibio of HKS, both of whom worked extremely hard all week to get the car ready.
Thank you to Santa Pod Raceway for the picture and their help at the track yesterday, for more information about Santa Pod or the HKS Drag Series please visit :
www.santapod.com /
www.japshow.com
FUUJIN uses all parts from our catalog, if you see it on the car, we sell it, please contact us for further information.
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NEWS : FUUJIN Set to make a come-back to Drag Racing (25/09/2009 @ 17:52:51)
We're busy preparing FUUJIN for another outing at the drag strip next weekend for the Japshow event at Santa Pod Raceway. In previous events our best time was 8.27, now, we've cranked up the spec and power and we're using ALL THE BOOST from our HKS T62R turbine. Will we get a 7 second pass? We're gonna try!!
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WE HAVE MOVED !!! CLICK HERE FOR OUR NEW ADDRESS (01/08/2009 @ 15:29:50)
As of 1st August, Sumo Power has moved to its new home in Rye, East Sussex.
The new contact details here are :-
Sumo Power Ltd
Harbour Road
Rye
East Sussex
TN31 7TE
Your contacts still remain the same, same email addresses, same smiley faces.
The telephone and fax numbers are slightly different, they are:-
UK sales telephone : 0871 226 0185
Uk sales fax : 01797 225264
Overseas sales telephone : 01797 222281
Overseas sales fax : 01797 225264
Thank you for your continued support.
Mark, Dan & Caroline
R32 DRIFT CAR gets some BC Suspension in its life... (24/03/2009 @ 19:26:14)
Our 'on a budget' drift car build up continues, today...Suspension.
OK, here is some more of the work that's been carried out on the car last week, we set about removing all the original suspension and links and arms on the car for uprated and fully adustable items.
Uprating these does two things, firstly it replaces 17 year old items that have seen better days, secondly it gives us much more scope to set the car up as we want it, potentially outside the limits of the original adjustments that could have been made as a ''road car''.
First up was the suspension. As in the spirit of the car, we are looking to find and install parts which are budget in terms of price but functional in terms of performance that'd work OK. We decided on some adjustable dampers from BC Suspension. While BC is a newish name on the market the stuff has been around for a while and been used in some funky places, one of which is on Tim Marshall's Skyline which came 2nd in the European Drift Championship last year so we thought it fitting to give it a chance here.
Heres a picture of the front damper installed on the car, note it comes complete with a top mount ( the gold top section ) and road-rated springs which are a good road starter package. Potentially we may have to change the spring rates in future for Drift use but for now we'll run them out of the box and see how we go.
We expect to go harder on the rates but we'll see. The suspension is modestly priced at £650 for the full kit which is excellent value as a replacement kit, OK its no Ohlins or Penske but it'll do for this car, in the past we've always used HKS or Ohlins on Sumo's cars as quite frankly, they are amazing when setup correctly and used for the purpose they were designed for - the kit is not on our webshop just yet so if you want these best to call or email us for details. Also note it has adjustable platforms to raise and lower the ride height of the car, there is quite alot to play with but we've gone conservative for now.
Here is the rear damper installed:
Some worthwhile tips on installing these :
Dampers on GTR's have offset bushings, meaning that the lower bush mount needs to be installed on a specific way and you should note this when installing. If you have removed another set of aftermarket suspension, you need to check that any additional spacers have been removed, HKS are famous for having a seperate spacer on the lowr joint which you may not need with your new stuff.
Also, Lubrication - when the mounting bolts are out, lube them with some copper grease to avoid them seizing up in future, this is vital if you are going to keep on top of maintainance or are changing spring rates etc.
Suspension set up : You must ensure your damper lengths are the same from left to right, as they are adjustable units, you need to make sure the factoru has them set equally before installing them. Also you need to ensure everything is tight, especially the platform adjusters. Once installed, on road cars we always spray light chain-lube oil over the entire damper to avoid it rusting/corroding with time. They wont look nice and shiney and wil attract dirt but underneath they will remain well-lubed and tip-top. This process should be repeated as an when you do maintenance on the car/suspension.
Once installed you WILL need to get your car realigned to ensure all the wheels are pointing in the right direction. Changing the suspension will alter the geometry of the settings ( camber/toe/caster) and you need to get that reset at an alignment shop or your car will handle like a pig.
Damper settings : Start with setting all the damper adjusters midway in their range and soften or harden from there depending on whats required. Most people believe that the car feeling harder or softer is all down to the dampers when in fact the spring rates play a large part in that feeling and setup. if no matter what you do the car is way to hard, look at changing the spring rates, you should make a note of what springs you have on the dampers when you install them as well as noting the length and internal diameter of the spring so its easy to order some over the phone without removing your old ones for reference.
If you are really serious about handling, find yourself a garage that has a set of corner weight scales and hopefully one which knows how to use them correctly - a race team or race engineer is the best to look out for.
Thats it for the dampers - thanks to BC Suspension for hooking us up with a set to try out, more feedback on these to follow.
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Our R32 Grassroots DRIFT car's Water System upgrades (19/03/2009 @ 18:32:42)
Back in January we told you about our funky little R32 GTR project which we were starting, to be used as our grassroots car and more importantly for Dan in sales to start to learn to drift in at Santa Pod.
We'll, we are happy to report some major progress on the car between then and now, heres some of the highlights of the work so far.
Lets start with the engine dept. We're using a standard boosted RB26 engine which has been dyno's at 360bhp which is enough for now, certainly in terms of a starter package it will be fine for us. This is what the standard engine bay looked like before:
Our engine was showing signs of a dodgy water pump so as cooling is amajor part of any drift car, the first job was to ditch the old pump and install a nice new one. The picture below shows the front of the engine with the pump removed
Heres the new Nissan pump ready to go in, it doesnt use a gasket, just Nissan red engine sealant. We used a standard pump over an N1 pump as we dont expect too much from this engine and a nice new standard one is better than a knackered used one!
Job done:
You can see to change the pump you need to remove various parts, including the cambelt assembly which we have now changed for a nice new HKS Kevlar belt. Of all the things not to cheap-out on its the cambelt, HKS's belts are superb quality and we've used them many times before without failure.
Sticking with the water cooling system, we also installed one of our high capacity budget radiators to the car, we've removed the old engine fan too and we will be replacing it with a new thermostatically controlled electric fan which is more precise and effecient than the standard one. Like everything in life, experience is key. Here we are using a super budget radiator that works well but is no contender for something like an ARC rad but it'll do the job for this car. Part of this project is to use budget parts but to share some ideas and experience into using those parts better or stopping them from failing. Here you will notice we have tapped an additional water take off on the bottom tank of the radiator ( the brass one ). An extra hose will now run from the bottom of the radiator to the top hose as part of our modified and more efficient cooling system as a quicker way to remove unwanted air from the system.
Here is the radiator, not quite installed but you get the idea. We have used a radiator from an R33 which has a larger core but this causes fitment issues. Firstly it sits higher in the car when installed so we needed to modify the bottom mounting brackets and the bonnet to fit it in. Secondly the fittings on the top of the rad are in different positions to the R32 so we had to move them but drilling more holes in the front slam panel on the car to suit the R33 positioning on the new rad.
Now it gets interesting. Any good water system needs a header tank that is fed from key parts of the engine. The purpose of the water swirl pot is to eliminate the air from the system and to decrease the temp of any hot pockets of water from the cylinder head and get them recirculated as quick as possible. Here you can see the pot mounted on the inner turret with the various hoses from the engine attached. This pot eventually feeds back the original overflow tank on the car. This tank is a budget item thats inexpensive, is universal in terms of car fitment and can be used with standard radiators as well as uprated ones. This tank has a total of 4 hoses coming in/out of it. You cannot see the lower 4th take off in this picture.
One super easy modification on an RB26 cooling system is the bleed bolt location. Normally used when bleeding the system from cold, this little M6 bolt can be removed and now bew used as a take off to vent air and super hot water into the swirl tank nice and quickly. Our budget tank comes with the fitment required to carry out the job, seen here in the picture prior to the pipe being connected:
The radiator is now almost complete, of course we've used our Do-Luck hose kit on this car which you can find here in the shop and also you can now see that we have installed an HKS water pipe take off which now houses our temperature gauge that reads on the dash, also in this picture you can see the new electric fan too. Its controlled by a simple budget switch that automically turns on and off depending where you set the temperature switch ( we've set ours to come on at 80deg c. Installing such a system requires an accurate read out for your water temp so if you are planning the same kit, ensure you also buy a gauge too!
Moving over to the oil cooling, we've managed to get hold of 2 essential items for the car which are not budget but are the two things that you do not ever wish to buy as budget items. These are a remote oil filter kit and the actual oil cooler system. We've used a Greddy relocation kit and then mated it to an HKS R34GTR oil cooler kit. We havent used the complete HKS kit as the application is different however both Greddy and HKS offer superb oil sandwich plates and these are key to your engines survival - the one thing you never want to fail!
Here you can see how we have joined the two kits together ( the oil filter is not installed in this pic ) and also located our oil temp and pressure gauges into as well.
The oil lines run past the radiator, down under the chassis centre panel and then back up in the oil cooler itself. As we have been creative in using an R34 cooler kit and we dont want to mount the cooler near the front wheel due to potential damage in use, we've made a couple of simple brackets to house the cooler in front of the radiator and behind the main air inlet of the bumper, this is where the now removed air-con used to live. Its a safe location for the cooler to prevent minor damage.
Its not that pretty and later on we will add an air shroud onto it to direct air through it but its OK for now, its a nice big capacity cooler, made for an RB26's cooling needs so it'll be fine. Next to it you can see the old power steering pipes which we will be removing shortly as we upgrade the power steering system to cope with more heat and more reliable piping.
All parts used in the build up of this car are available to buy from Sumo Power, some are on line in our shop, some not but we stock them all so if you need to do the same jobs, contact us for the parts and pricing.
Next up will be the running gear upgrades....
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COSWORTH now available at Sumo Power (27/02/2009 @ 13:36:37)
We are please to announce that Sumo Power is now an official distributor of Cosworth parts in the UK. In recent times Cosworth has started the production of products suitable for Japanese applications including Evo, Impreza, Skyline GTR and 350Z's in the main.
Sumo is very pleased to add Cosworth to its product range, in particular Cosworth recently released a selection of dry technology replacement air filters, both panel and cone types for a handful of applications which are fantastic quality and value, the latest for the Evo X.
All Cosworth products are listed here on line and are available to buy today online and with confidence from Sumo Power.
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Greek Drift Subaru UNLEASHED! (10/02/2009 @ 16:58:44)
Our good freinds over at Autoergonomics have been building a Drift Impreza for a long time, in fact probably more than 2 years but finally its built and ready for action.
The car is a 2002 MY Impreza and features some of the best parts in the world making it an outstanding build.
Heres some pictures:
The Side:
The back end, note the Do-Luck carbon aero boot lid and rear wing :
Inside -of course the car is left hand drive :
The engine bay, note the super special Do-Luck/ARC V mount intercooler and radiator system, one of only a hand ful in existence in the world :
I like this picture :
I have a full spec list of the car and it is amazing, although all in Greek! Brief summary of the major parts, actually it has a huge list of parts, far more than those listed below but it would take forever to list so here are some I can translate! :
2.5 EJ Engine
Jun 272 Cams, valves and retainers
HKS GT 2835R turbo with a 1.12AR housing
Do-Luck V Mount intercooler system
NS Racing Exhaust system
Motec M800
PE 800cc injectors
Cusco 2 way Diff
CTG Carbon Propshaft
HKS Clutch
Brembo brakes
Tilton brake bias
Braided brake lines
DG5 Drift dampers
Various Cusco/whiteline and Do-Luck running gear parts
OMP Cage
M Sports aero
Varis bonnet
Do-Luck bootlid
Do-Luck rear wing
RAYS wheels
Lifeline fire system
Corbeau seats
Toyo R888 tyres
Beautiful car and we cannot wait to see it run for the first time at the track.
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SPOTLIGHT : AutoErgonomics GREECE (10/02/2009 @ 16:42:45)
Autoergonomics in Moshato, Greece is Sumo's local Greek dealer and has been for the past few years.
John, Leon and Mikee make up the team which is well known in the Greek market for thier quality parts, expertise and years of experience in tuning. They have even shipped thier Evo to the UK to take part in Time Attack since 2005!
Thier Shop in Moshato :-
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NEW NEWS : Blitz New R35 GTR Drift car takes shape - info (02/02/2009 @ 20:16:53)
Its no secret that our friends at Blitz have been building up an R35 GTR to enter the world of Drifting with to replace Ken Nomura's old ER34 Skyline and here are some of the latest pictures taken in Japan last month.
We have more detailed pictures of work in progress but we cannot publish those so for now, here are 'public' pictures of the car on show in Tokyo:
The engine bay, still retaining the GTR unit and somehow cleaning up a normally very complicated and messy engine room, although some cirtical parts are still missing from the build.
And another side picture, clearly visible next to the car on display are the triple plate ORC clutch and the special custom made gearbox bellhousing giving clues to the cars RWD setup.
The car will feature a Holinger 6speed sequential gearbox from the earlier Skyline using the modified bellhousing to match it all up. the new GTR normally has the gearbox under the back axle area however the Blitz car has been re-engineered to accomodate an R34 GTR rear diff, making the whle back end alot lighter and less complex although as the gearbox is now bolted to the back of the engine, work has been carried out to modify the original floor and buldhead to now accept a gearbox whereas it only used to have a bellhousing and propshaft joint to deal with.
Interesting stuff eh. Blitz expect to have the car up and running by March/April this year so they can start testing real time.
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NEW NEWS : Vertex Japan's new BMW D1 3 Series Drift car (28/01/2009 @ 17:44:35)
Vertex Japan ( T&E Co. ) released thier new BMW 3 Series at the recent Tokyo Auto Salon.
Here are some pictures sent to us by Mr Ueno ( aka Mr Vertex ):
I wish we had a 'team' like this one...
The new team sponsor : TP Checker
The rear.
The car's engine has been replaced with a Toyota 2JZ unit from a Supra, it will be running an HKS T51R turbo with engine tuning my Do-Luck Japan.
Other pictures from the T&E Vertex stand :
Nissan S14 Drift car, sharing the same team colours as the BMW
Street BMW
Yet another :
T & E Co. is more famously known for its 'Vertex' brand however they have many other brands under their umbrella such as Vertice etc.
More info can be found on our specific Vertex website :
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Drift 350Z at Autosport Show (12/01/2009 @ 18:26:52)
This week our Drift 350Z broke cover for the Autosport show where it was used in the live action arena for an European Drift Championship demonstration.
You saw it here first, she is no longer pink....
Here she is on the trailer on the way to NEC alongside the SVA Z
Note the new colour ( red ), and white Do-Luck Double Six wheels she now sports as part of her 09 make over.
Reunited....
Andy unloading at NEC indoor arena
The Front
Screenheader showing the 09' EDC decal and our own signature Sumo header above it just like all our cars.
The message! - USE YOUR MOUSE! - buy your tuning parts online now at sumopower.com
The car was used as a spare 'back-up' in the arena and was driven by
Tim Marshall when his Skyline suffered teething issues as part of the demonstration.
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Sumo back DRIFTING again in 09' - Grass Roots! (02/01/2009 @ 19:51:31)
Hi all,
News for the start of 09' is that we are pleased to tell you that we have planned a new car build for 09' for entry level Drifting.
Of course in previous years we have built some special full blown professional cars, the most prominent being the 350Z however Dan who works in sales at Sumo has an itch to scratch for Drifting so we decided to build up a budget level car for this year and get him out there in it.
He's never drifted before but knows he wants to get out there and do it so whilst he wants to learn we thought it would make great entertainment back at the office for endless jibes at his expense in the process which basically makes this project get off the ground for him :D
It also marks our intention to sell our new range of budget items, aimed at the grassroots car owner, whether for drift, track, street or drag, this car will be made using our new line-up.
Here's Dan at a recent Drifting meet getting a passenger ride out.
The car we will be using is a Nissan Skyline R32 GTR which we have owned for nearly 5 years and has sat in the shop doing nothing at that time.
Here is a picture of the car from 2005 when this was taken, the car still looks the same today however its about to get a makeover.
It currently has a standard RB26 engine which we dyno'd with a couple of stage one modifications ( exhaust etc ) at 360bhp running its standard boost level - which we will keep on this project.
Heres a view from the rear also pictured unmolested! Actually the car is lovely, its only done 75000 kms from new and its a great example of a nice 32.
As of the first week in January the car will undergo the surgeons knife and we will set about converting the car into a base/entry level drift car but keeping it street legal and retain its creature comforts ( will will keep a full interior for example )
First off will be to make the car RWD instead of 4WD, we will keep the standard gearbox and running gear in situ however we will modify the transfer case and remove the front drive shafts as well as a couple of other trick things to make a nice RWD package. Of course we could just ditch it altogether and make some thing much more adventurous however this is a budget build so we're making-do with modifications that are necessary, not overkill at this stage.
We'll keep you updated on here as the progess happens, the future of the car lays at Drift practise days where Dan and the car will become regular features. The car will be built we a new range of budget tuning items, designed for entry level tuners, in this case relevant to Drifters.
Stay tuned!
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Sumo's Andy Barnes drives Mitsubishi Evo X Works car in 24hr race (20/12/2008 @ 22:04:31)
24hr race - easy to get excited about but the reality of the challenge soon sets when you get to the track and grasp how much preparation is required to not only get the car to do its job but for the team to go the distance non-stop. Imagine starting your car up now and pounding around a track at full-tilt until the same time tomorrow and the million things that can break, wear out and fail during such a long period of 8000rpms in every gear - for 24hrs straight.
We'll, thats what happened at Silverstone last weekend as my dream of driving in a 24hr race was lived out to the minute. Ive raced in endurance events before, the longest being 6 hours and thats a challenge in itself with just 2 drivers so to get a call from Mitsubishi to pilot their brand new and yet to be finished Evo X race car for its first event and for 24hrs was an opportunity I welcomed.
At this point I should note that I was rushed into the car, having never sat in it, the steering wheel and pedals setup for James / small people :D and me being 6ft2 it wasn't the most comfortable experience! As well as that, to make things better I was in a car that had just been built, no track time under its belt and I had to venture to the pitch black track for the first time on a track layout ( the GP Circuit at Silverstone - they have 3 layouts there and I have driven the other 2 ) with no idea what corners were coming at me. Couple all that with the other 50 cars of varying specs running around at full speed and you get a glimpse into the nature of my thoughts at that point.
Having completed a lap I opened the throttle down the straight to see a flicker of blue smoke wailing from the back of the car, I crept it back around to the pits whereby the engine momentarily caught fire as the custom oil feed pipe to the turbo had failed and was leaking onto the exhaust. The car needed to pit and be worked on, giving us time to consult with the team about the car, the things to be ironed out before the race, the main one being how to fit 4 different sized drivers in the same seat and ergonomics.
As day fell the next morning, the turbo was fixed and the car was finished off in detail in preparation for the start of the race. James Kaye was to lead the car out onto the first stint behind the wheel as as the train of 51 cars came around to the start finish straight the leading car, a Mosler, nailed its throttle and immediately went into a spin with 50 other cars following it they had no choice but to dart to each side of the track to avoid hitting it. as the middle of the pack reached the spun Mosler which was now in the middle of the track, a TVR quickly avoided the Mosler but found itself on the grass and quickly into the concrete wall, the impact sent it back across the track and smashed itself into the wall on the inside of the track. In doing so the TVR was also T boned by a Ginetta. The driver, Andy Neate, was knocked out by the first impact and suffered life threatening injuries, breaking his neck in various places. The driver is still in hospital. The huge debris and nature of the crash meant the safety car was deployed and for over an hour the marshalls dealt with the accident and cleaned up the track giving James more seat time to drive the car and push out wrinkles without being at race-pace.
The race restarted and James quickly moved up the order from 51 place ( as we didn't get a full qualifying lap in the day before ) to the low 30's position. After 2 hours in the car James pitted and I jumped in the car. As I did James gave me the run down on the car and how it was running with a comment that there was a ghastly smell of fuel vapours inside the car. At this point the team couldn't find any obvious problems with the fuel system so they shut the door and off I went. I went out and slowly started to wind up my pace to get into a grove which was keeping reliability in mind. With endurance racing the key is to finish the race and to limit the time spent in the pits or refuelling therefore pit stop strategy and how long the tank of fuel lasts or how well the car uses tyres become paramount factors with lap times less important as they would be in a short race. After finishing my first stint in the car I pulled in to refuel it and hand it over to Jay Wheals for his stint. At that point I was glad to get out for fresh air as the petrol fumes had given me a huge headache to deal with, masked by the adrenaline of racing I started feeling unwell. Jay went out and started pushing the car hard, recording a record lap time for it in the process. Jay also radioed in complaining of the fumes at which point he handed it back to James to head out. Before James went back out the team discovered a faulty fuel valve was the culprit behind the vapours and quickly fixed it. As the day turned to night I once again got back into the car feeling a little light headed still.
Seeing Silverstone going from daylight into nighttime whilst on the track is an experience I will remember, it was the turning point for the race and what started to make it special with the prospect of racing through the night now becoming reality. About 30 minutes after it got dark I started to feel dreadful. My head was pounding and I was starting to have cold sweats with a feeling of sickness. I continued to battle on believing it would go away as I didn't want to pit the car and throw off our strategy but it started to become unbearable. I radioed in to say I needed to pit early as I didn't feel well and the team scrambled to get a driver ready for me. They asked me to stay out for another couple of laps and then refuel the car in the refuelling area before heading back for a driver change. Those 2 laps seemed to last a lifetime. By this time I was feeling sick and wanted to be but I was holding on just trying to pound-out the laps and get back as quick as I could.
Just before pulling in a DC2 Honda Integra which I was about to overtake managed to blow his engine up in spectacular fashion in front of me and with the Evo's air system on full blast I soon had a cabin full of DC2 engine oil vapours which proved too much for my stomach to handle. Pulling into the fuel lane 10 seconds later I couldn't believe I had been sick. The thought of this happening in a brand new works car on its first outing rushed through my mind, needing to radio the team and tell them they needed to clean the car up as I headed around to the pits wasn't the best position to be in. I pulled in and Jay was standing ready to jump in the car, seeing me crawl out he hesitated as he saw the state of me and the car.
A few minutes later all was well with the car and Jay headed out. The team said that Jay was also feeling unwell from the earlier fumes but he went out regardless. About 30 minutes into his stint he returned to the pits and jumped out to be sick. Things were not good. James jumped in the car and continued to pound around for a further 3 hours whilst me and jay tried to recover by having a lay down and tried to sleep it off. James then passed the car over to our forth driver, all round ex BTCC ace Mark Lemmer. Mark battled lap after lap keeping the Evo in contention but the increase in pit stops and extra refuelling meant we were losing time no matter how much we made up on track.
Around this time I woke up to find James getting ready to go back out as jay was still unwell but I found that I felt much better than earlier but still not my best. I donned my race suit and gear and rushed back to the pit to find the car pulling in and Mark Lemmer jumping out. I headed out and started to pound around the circuit at a steady pace. lap after lap the car continued to perform faultlessly but by 1 hour in, I started to feel uneasy again. I continued to lap the car at a steady pace until it was due a fuel stop at which point I once again asked the team to find another driver to take over. I as I headed in Jay was waiting to go out and I immediately headed back to the motorhome to get my head down to try to feel better. We were in bad shape, James had done most of the driving, me and Jay were ill and Mark was filling in where he could as he was also driving his own car a couple of pits down from us.
By this time we were around 20 place overall but still 5 in our class with not much hope of catching up due to our unscheduled pit stops and our fuel tank taking ages to fill up at each fuel stop - 5 minutes instead of 1.5 minutes due to a small fuel pipe arrangement in the system. I later awoke to find a shattered James who had been battling the car all night with Mark whilst we slept to find a glorious morning and a head that felt much better than when I went to bed. I got my gear on and jumped back into the car for my final stint. I was once again alive and alert, lapping the car in a quicker groove than the night before and feeling much more comfortable doing so. At this point the track was very dirty.
Over the course of racing the endless rubber deposits from tyres build up on unused parts of the track, known as marbles, which means that sticking to the racing line becomes extremely important as if you collect these marbles on the Tyre's you suddenly loose grip as well as encountering huge vibration through the car as the marbles stick to the tyres and wheels. So sticking to the line was easy enough, thats our job but add in 35 other cars, most of which of GT pace and constantly attempting to get around you, wanting to also stay on that racing line suddenly makes it a thinking mans game. Equally nearing the end of the race the last thing you want to do is make a stupid mistake or get into a tustle with a car on track when the goal now becomes a target to finish the 24hrs you started with. In places the marbles are unavoidable as there are literally hundreds of tyres worth of shavings all over the track being flicked around by the passing cars or those tired and losing concentration and running wide or early at the corners.
Thankfully I felt good, the car was running great and we were gaining on the 4th place car which had been in its pits with a broken exhaust for some time. After a long stint I returned to the pits to hand the car over to Jay for his final stint and the pace continued and exceeded my own with Jay coming into the pits an hour and half later to hand over to James to finish the final 2 hours and take the chequered flag. Apart from a minor crash and a safety car period James flew across the line 24hrs after he started and recorded the first finish for the Evo X in a 24hr race and the first finish of the brand new car for Mitsubishi UK. As he passed the line th entire team including myself clambered the pit lane wall to congratulate the achievement of bringing it home.
The moments after the race finished were quite emotional for everyone within the team, with lots of hand shaking and congratulating going on, reaping the massive achievement of building a brand new car that had not turned a wheel prior the race and to take it out for 24hr solid and bring it home in one piece was quite unique. It was a mammoth task and eventual achievement that I was very proud to be part of considering it was the first time in over 20 years Mitsubishi had set about racing on the circuit, likewise the entire team felt over joyed at the achievement along with the staff of Mitsubishi.
I enjoyed every moment of the race, although I would have liked to been in a position to drive even more than I did due to the initial fumes from the car, we still managed to bring home a virtual trophy for the team and for that I am very pleased and thank Mitsubishi for the opportunity of driving their new baby, the team all their efforts, the drivers for taking up the slack when we needed it most and for Autoglym for standing by me and supporting me to be there in the first place. Thanks All!
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OLD NEWS : Sumo Drag GTR ' FUUJIN ' gets 1200 bhp and 7.5 second spec (20/12/2008 @ 22:47:06)
Fuujin Gets 7.5 second spec cage in preparation for 2009. We've just finished the work to make our Drag GTR ( until recently the European 4WD record holder ) even more compliant and safe to meet the rules for 7.5 second doorslammer cars. The car was previously spec'd to 8.5 second rules however late last year we started to dip into the low 8's with a best of 8.27 @164mph which was the milestone for the next phase of our cars development. Since the inception, the cars purpose is to run quicker than 7.67 and with each stage we upgrade it further towards that.
You can see in the pictures the extra tubing installed around where I sit as well as the extensive tubing under the car.
Note that the car still retains its full floor and arches as any 'normal' GTR would, making it the first true doorslammer spec GTR in the world now that we've upgraded. We could cut a lot more out of the car including the floor now but that wouldn’t make it a real GTR to me so we've left it in place and the extra weight we've added for the spec upgrade will just result in us using more boost to compensate!
Right now the car has been retuned using the HKS T62R turbo at 2.5bar of boost, we previously used a T51R SPL which is rated to 1000bhp however HKS are finaled their new 35th anniversary turbine which is the T62R and will be capable of running 1200bhp and we'll be the first car to run it, in fact each T62R is numbered, ours is No.2 !. This turbine should give us the power required to run a a high 7 second pass!
Also recently upgraded is the ignition system as seen here, we are now using a combination of the Do-Luck Power Kit ( which moves the coils to the outside of the head instead of having them sat inside the rockers ) and the brand new and not yet available TM Works coil packs which are noticable by their red casings in the picture. Both things were upgraded to give us a better ignition system as we will run even more turbo boost in future, so far we've only used 2.2bar on the T51 SPL and we plan to use a lot more in future with the T62R so the upgrade was essential at this point.
I think we could have pushed an 8.1 on the T51R as we had a little more boost on the T51R but its a lot of effort to achieve it and more a minor gain so we've decided to wait and bolt on more power which we have now done with the T62R. Our previous 60'ft times indicate we are on course for 7 second passes if we had more power but we'll see, we expect that with more power we may have to rethink the 60fts as we may not get the same consistency from the outset, we'll have to wait and see how that will change, hopefully it wont but until we don’t it we don’t know.
For now, the car is ready to run again although we're not sure if we will run FUUJIN in 2009 due to our business schedules and spending alot of time on various other business projects which are taking priority over Drag racing, we'll see....
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OLD NEWS : Sumo FWD Yaris DRIFT car underway (20/12/2008 @ 23:00:27)
At Sumo we're now being selective about our future projects as we don't have as much time on our hands as we used to for special builds and whilst we patiently wait for the official release of the GTR in the UK, we've found ourselves tinkering with something quite unusual and out of the norm as far as Sumo projects go. For the first time ever we'll be producing a car that makes less that 150bhp overall ( I think the least powerful car we've made has been 270bhp! ) and should normally be driven by your mum to the shops. I present you with Sumo's latest project : The First Professional Front Wheel Drive Drift Car, or as we like to call it for short ' TFPFWDDC ' - A Toyota Yaris ( Vitz ).
Here in Europe our modifying scene is huge with many JDM cars being here officially or via our easy to import grey market, that means we have Drifting, Time Attack, Drag, Street racing, show cars and just about everything else in between however as drifting has become more popular, the void has grown between the guys that love it as a sport and the cars that they want to drive to be part of the scene. In the UK especially the largest modifying scene is undoubtedly reserved for the hot hatch FWD guys and its something we thought we'd have a go at to bridge the gap for the Drifting scene and at the same time stimulate these hot hatch guys into realising there's more to do in your hot hatch than just a point job and ICE.
Living in fear of selling out our balls-out power image at Sumo and making a boy racer car, we came up with a plan to make the TFPFWDDC whilst attempting to keep an air of our credibility. That's where our spec sheet comes in.....
This project is a joint venture between Sumo, Max Power Mag ( who have a good following of these guys ) and my tuning friends at Toyota tuning supremos Fensport Performance, aka Adrian Smith. Between us we've got hold of a Toyota Yaris ( called a Vitz in Japan ), it's a 1 litre NA, 1999 model. Our aim for the car is to build and present it to the public as a 'you can do this too ' project, from the ground up and sticking to a budget of sorts, we will install parts, remove parts and tune the car into a little head turner that will hopefully influence the masses and create the next big craze on the streets of the UK and Europe and go someway to bridge the gap, who knows you may even see it competing in a new FWD class next year ;)
This project will get updated as we progress as its work in progress right now but heres a taste of the spec list and the upgrades so far.
Stock Engine internals
HKS T2 Turbo Kit package
Custom Radiator and fans
Motec M400 ECU
TRD OneMake Race Dampers
Eibach Springs
TRD Sway Bars
Hydro Handbrake
RAYS Wheels
Front exiting Stainless Exhaust ''system''
Aero Package
Race seats and 5 points harnesses
Hauser Roll Cage
Race Steering Wheel and Boss
TRD 1.5way LSD
Heres pictures of the first upgrade, the HKS turbo charger conversion install, this kit uses a puny T2 turbo and the kit is designed to be run at only 0.4 bar of boost, however, we're going for more like 1bar of boost to make things a little more interesting. Although it doesn't appear in the pictures yet, we are also installing a custom made Intercooler to help things along
The custom made front side exit exhaust was made recently with the exit protruding from the front bumper with a small silencer inline. Right now the car is sat at Fensport having the ECU installed, new fuel injectors and a base map started whilst we wait for the intercooler core to be made. From there Adrian will tune the engine with as much boost as possible ( hoping to reach 1 bar ) and then work will start on removing the interior, fitting the cage and all the other parts which is necessary to fit to the car.
What power? We'll we think we can make a clean 150bhp but we'll need to wait and see if the 1000cc's of piston-pounding-fury can take it!
The car is scheduled to be finished by the end of October and should have its official debut at the Modified Live show ( www.modifiedlive.co.uk )
which takes place at Snetterton Circuit in the UK on October 12th - also the date of the Time Attack Series finals.
Cant wait to tell you more as it happens - what a funky little project, maybe not everyone's taste but funky none the less.
Andy over and out........
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OLD NEWS : Do-Luck Need For Speed GTR moves out.... (20/12/2008 @ 23:13:01)
The world famous Do-Luck Gullwing GTR was sold today and officially left the Sumo stables. The car was built way back in 1995 by Mr Ito of Do-Luck Japan and immediately won the Tokyo Auto Salon back in 1996 with its radical design and 500bhp engine ( which was significant in 1996! ).
The car was shipped to Sumo in 2007 to take part in the promotion of the EA game franchise ' Need For Speed '.
Since its successful promotional campaign the car has been sat around in the warm but with no future use planned. Mr Ito decided that he would like to sell the car and after putting it up for sale, within a month it was sold to its new owner who lives in Brighton, Sussex.
Famed GTR tuner GT-ART are looking after the car and preparing it for its new owner.
Whilst its sad to see it go, good news is that its staying in the UK and the new owner will be displaying it at major shows in future.
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OLD NEWS : J's Racing UK S2000 finished (15/12/2008 @ 19:55:11)
At the end of 2007 work finally began on a new build to showcase the range of exciting products from our ever popular and Japanese J's Racing brand. In Japan J's is very exclusive with various racing and Time Attack awards under its belt and is well known for its slogan ' Our Time Has Come'. One of J's most famous,if not the most famous cars is its S2000 Time Attack car, which also shares the same body panels as its similiar endurance super taiyku race cars and it is this design which appears on the UK version you see before you.
Below you can see the super imaculate engine bay sporting just about everything from our J's range of products including the infamous J's carbon intake chamber.
For the first time in our history we decided to help one of our good friends and customers build thier own car. Sumo has always built and maintained its own road and race cars, never having 'customer' cars however with a pedigree for building fabulous cars, Claire and Simon Miskelly changed all that!
The car you see is owned and built by Claire and Simon Miskelly, devoted fans and customers of Sumo whom also produced a Time Attack DC5 Integra, also using J's parts back in 2007.
The car also has our new HYPER ZERO-1 wheels installed as seen here in Bronze with Toyo T1R's installed on them.
This car is a show stopper, a daily driver that racks up 10000 miles a year although you would never believe it as it is in mint condition. Claire and Simon love to enter thier cars into show and shine competitions and the car has already won various awards since its release owing to its unique design, outstanding attention to detail and a beautiful interior.
You can find out more about our J's range of products right here on this website by seaching with your car model or under the J's manufacture brand. J's only produce parts for Honda's although some items are universal, such as oil caps and such like so its worth asking if you like an item that looks universal.
These pictures were taken at Donington Park, Round 1 of Time Attack in April 2008 during the Autoglym Best in Britain show and shine competition.
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OLD NEWS : Our 350Z gets shipped to Japan and tackles Time Attack at Tsukuba (12/12/2007 @ 18:58:59)
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Well what a fantastic end to 2007, the Sumo Power / Do-Luck 350Z landed in Japan to take part in the 18th annual Revspeed Super Battle event held at Tsukuba Circuit on December 6th.
Along with 3 other teams from the UK Time Attack series the 350Z was invited to take part along side the cream of the Japanese tuning scene at the home of Time Attack.
Do-Luck and Sumo Power Japan liaised with the event organisers Revspeed and a host of Japanese sponsors to make the whole thing happen.
After a 12 hour flight from Heathrow to Narita Airport in Tokyo on Sunday 2nd where we were met by the President of Do-Luck & Sumo Japan and taken by coach to the Do-Luck HQ in Yokohama to catch our first glimpse of the car since it left Sheerness back in October.
The car was sat in the workshop on the Dyno, Mr Itoh of Do-Luck had decided to do some last minute fine tuning to the 350 after ARC had provided us with a custom made intercooler and TM Works had supplied a set of their new Hyper Coils too, the dyno run was a success with the new parts working perfectly and giving us lower intake temperatures things were looking good.
Sunday evening we attended a meet and greet event, all of the Japanese sponsors were present as were all the UK teams, each representative made a short speech on who they were and what they did and the night fly past.
Monday was a tinkering day, getting tools ready, checking the car over, making sure everything was set for our first practice session on Tuesday morning.
Bright and early Tuesday morning, the coach picked us up and ferried us to Tsukuba, Andy settled into the car and the circuit but found himself struggling for traction in the first session, Tarzan Yamada offered to drive the car in the second session and provided feedback on how the car was performing on the circuit and offered advice on how to get more traction, a few adjustments were made to the suspension and Andy took it back out for the third session, slightly more grip was available but still a fair amount of sideways action from the pink beast.
Wednesday morning saw us up early again, this time we had been allocated 2 practice sessions of 20 minutes on a track day which was running at the circuit.
Toyo Tires Japan provided us with a set of the new R1R tyres for us to test on the Z to see if that would help our traction issues, Andy set off and put the car and the new rubber through their paces, still sideways, the beast was proving hard to tame. We decided to switch back to the R888 tyre but opted for a softer compound than the ones we had brought with us from the UK. We got held up with our wheel change and missed out of the second session much to Andy's dismay.
We checked into a local hotel in Tsukuba for the night as our schedule meant we had to be up and out by 05.00 hrs Thursday morning.
Arriving at the circuit just after 06.00 we set up our pit area next to the support truck & base which had been provided by Toyo Tires & Sunoco Fuels Japan, Andy attended the drivers briefing as the rest of the team wandered through the pits checking out cars which until now had only been pictures in magazines, this was heaven, M-Speed R34GTR & The Cyber Evo were among the line up, crazy lowered, full aero'd machines with millimetres between them and the tarmac, this was going to be tough.
In the practice sessions earlier in the week, Andy had been posting laps of between 1:06 and 1:04, Tarzan had given a time of 1:03 behind the wheel of the crazy horse and he knew the circuit like the back of his hand and is regularly called on to drive other tuners machines.
It was all or nothing for us now, we had gone with the hope of breaking the minute marker and so far it had eluded us.
The Z rolled out in the first session, Andy was looking comfortable but the car still wanted to push sideways, after 20 minutes and nearly as many laps it came back into the pits with a 1:04.877 under its belt.
Session 2 saw much of the same sideways action, we altered the suspension settings and tyres pressures which seemed to help and this time Andy managed a 1:03.560, the tight twist track and conditions were proving difficult for the Z.
Early afternoon and the final track session of the day, Andy had it in his mind to push the car to the limits and he did just that!
At one stage the whole circuit seemed to stop as he exited the final corner onto the start finish straight at an angle which defied belief, you could have heard a pin drop as it broadsided closer and closer to the barrier, still with his foot pressed in hard the Z seemed to be tamed for a split second allowing Andy to get back in charge and carry on over the line to post a 1:03.529 his fastest lap of the event.
We had lived our dream of running the car at the circuit where it all began, Tsukuba, and although we had not managed to crack the minute goal we had hoped for we came away buzzing, looking forward to the next event and already talking of a brand new build to take on the best machines Japan and the rest of the world have to offer.
The three other teams who came out with us had their fair share of ups and downs, to see what happened to them visit the time attack website www.timeattack.co.uk
Thank you to everyone who made this dream a reality, without you none of this could have happened.
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OLD NEWS : BTCC Days - 2003 Sumo Civic (21/12/2008 @ 01:01:43)
Back in 2002 and 2003 we were involved with the Synchro Motorsport BTCC team. With drivers James Kaye and Dave Allen in a Production class spec works EP3 Civic Type R ( Kaye went on to win the Championship ) and in 03' with an ex. Arena MS works Full BTCC EP3 Civic Type R ( the blue car sporting the Sumo screen header)
Not exactly ''news'' but a nice recap on our involvement back in the day...
Super-trick BTCC spec K20a engine, note the carbon intake plenum
The team in 2003, note the little Sumo man on the rear pillar ;)
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