Honda motors end up in the darnedest places. Some time ago we stumbled across the phenomenon of B-series powered Minis (the old ones, not the BMW versions), which makes tons of sense given the ideal power-to-weight ratio of the combo. Owners of late-model Lotuses saw they could set up something similar by swapping in a K mill, and another cross-platform hybrid was born. We've witnessed NSX- and S2000-powered sand rails, but if it's drifting that gets your adrenaline pumping, there really is only one mash up that matters: the F20/22C in a Toyota AE86 Corolla chassis.
As you can guess, we don't speak the "T" word too often 'round these parts, except when maligning the OE and its motorsports efforts. Truth told, we've been resisting the urge to run any stories about the bastard pairing, mostly because Toyota is part of the equation. From a pure performance perspective, however, there is no denying the lethality of the crossbreed. Like the previous examples, it's all about matching a high-revving, powerful Honda mill to a lightweight, and largely fling-able, chassis.
The story we ran, though, had to be unique, and that's where Eric O'Sullivan enters the picture. We met the 26-year-old mechanic from Dublin, Ireland, at the '06 Formula D final, but it wasn't his F20-powered AE86 that initially sparked our interest. It was his history with the H badge, and its contrast against his current car aims, that made us notice; O'Sullivan has owned a '97 JDM CTR and a '99 Civic VTi, upon which he spent a small fortune, and currently rolls his girl's DC5 ITR on the daily. He comes from a growing JDM Honda scene in Dublin, to boot.
So how did this Honda head end up in a Corolla? Oddly enough, it involved keeping his VTEC by means of an S2000 engine swap. In the following interview, O'Sullivan details his drifting ambitions and explains what it took to get his F20'ed AE86 up and running.
Honda Tuning: How Did You Get Into Drifting?Eric O'Sullivan: It was 2004 when I first saw what drifting was. I was hangin' with a mate and he had this DVD he had ordered online. It was the Hashirya DVD with Drifter X and his street [Nissan] 180SX in it. I'd never seen anything like it; the car looked amazing, and he was pulling third gear flat before throwing the car into a huge slide down a main road and into a 90 degrees right. I was hooked, and shortly after that I heard about the first drifting tournaments in Ireland. I went along and was a spectator for around 6 months before getting my first AE86. I spent the whole winter practicing in the industrial areas of south Dublin, and then began competing in 2005.
My brother was working for Modified Motors magazine at the time and they were keen to get involved in the drift scene. They decided to take me on as part of their projects section and follow my progress with car and the championship. It was because of their enthusiasm and contacts that I got most of the sponsors you see on the car today. They really helped me out right from day one.
My first few events went terribly. I had just changed from my first 16-valve '86 coupe to a 20-valve hatch I got last minute. It had been a track car in Japan and, although it looked very rough compared to my first car, it had all the right bits already in place, most importantly the blacktop 20-valve engine. I couldn't figure out why it was so hard to drift compared to my first car and it took me a while to figure it out. Although it had seen some track time before, it was obviously used for grip driving as it had very little steering angle and not enough front-end grip for me. It was a good lesson to learn early on about setting up the car, and the changes I made really transformed the handling.
On my third attempt, I qualified for the Sunday main event. I was having so much fun with car I just kept pushing it harder and harder. Next thing I know, I'm in the final with the UK and Irish championship leader Damien Mulvey. I got second place in the end-I couldn't believe it! I did the same thing at Round 4. I was just having so much fun in the car. I wasn't paying attention to who or what I was drifting against; I just drove as quick as I could. Two seconds and an unlucky draw against Mulvey again in round 5 meant I placed nowhere. I was more determined than ever to get back up there, and the next event was the D1 exhibition match in Silverstone.
I had made it through the drivers search with Darren and Julian Smith, 2 lads from the UK, and Paul Vlasbom from Belgium. The event itself didn't go too well for me. I was very late arriving at the track, and with only a couple of practice runs done I had electrical trouble. I got it sorted for Sunday and then my gearbox started acting up-it didn't want to downshift from 4th to 3rd, so I had to come into the first bend in 3rd with not nearly enough speed. I was gutted. It was the one event I really wanted to do well at and I blew it. That's when I decided to build the car into its current state. It was all that mattered to me then.