Pro drifting gets its first EV

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I know pro drifting is oft a touchy subject, but still, a pretty interesting announcement. Napoleon Motorsports is fielding an electric-converted 6th-gen Camaro, known as the EL-1, in Formula Drift Pro this year. It's going to be piloted by last year's Formula Drift Pro2 winner Travis Reeder, who is making a jump from an LSX-powered Nissan S13 240SX.

Honestly, I'm calling this not a wise decision on Reeder's part. Often times, when the Pro2 drivers make the jump up to Pro, they frequently struggle with the faster cars and the level of competition against the more experienced drivers, fail to draw a big sponsor and then drop out after a season or two of middling performances. Now factor in trying to get used to a new chassis that hasn't seen any drift usage (The 6th-gen Camaro. There is an ATS-V that has seen a season,  but its not very successful) and the possible teething pains with the powertrain system. 

This driver is going to have a really hard time with this, the solid wall from 0rpm of zero-lag torque from an electric motor is harder to control, so this might be the most difficult powertrain to control in any FD car.

Does this car have any factory support? I bet the E-COPO Camaro is making adequate power and could be a pretty robust pwertrain setup for other short distance motorsports with chassis/suspension tweaks.

In reply to GameboyRMH :

Fortunately he will only be at zero RPM once per race

GameboyRMH said:

This driver is going to have a really hard time with this, the solid wall from 0rpm of zero-lag torque from an electric motor is harder to control, so this might be the most difficult powertrain to control in any FD car.

I do think it will hinge very much on the programming.

It will be interesting to watch.  I don't follow drifting at all, but I may have to start just to see how this goes.

STM317 said:

Does this car have any factory support? I bet the E-COPO Camaro is making adequate power and could be a pretty robust powertrain setup for other short distance motorsports with chassis/suspension tweaks.

 

Details are pretty scant. No clue if GM is working with them on this thing, or if it's all being done by this shop. 

Crashes are something I'm kind of concerned about. Formula D has had some pretty nasty crashes over the years: Tyler McQuarrie's Camaro getting flung over the guard-railing at Wall, NJ, Vaughn Gittin Jr.'s Mustang getting literally ripped in half at Texas, Fredric Aasbo's Scion having a Mustang monster-truck over the hood at Atlanta, numerous barrel rolls at Irwindale over the years. How are those battery packs going to take that? Also, Orlando and Wall, for example, are E36 M3hole circle tracks, is the track staff going to be trained to handle EV crashes/fires/leaks?

This is awesome. Love that there is still a pro-level motorsport where the rules aren't so ridiculously clamped down that it is essentially a one-make race. 

Robbie said:

This is awesome. Love that there is still a pro-level motorsport where the rules aren't so ridiculously clamped down that it is essentially a one-make race. 

Yeah, Formula D is still pretty much the wild west of motorsports. You have a RWD-converted Corolla hatchback with 1000hp from the 2AR 4-cylinder, 370Zs with nitroused Nissan VK56 short-course engines, textbook 2JZ-swapped S-chassis, a carbon-kevlar bodied BMW with 9000rpm LS engine, Mustangs with unrestricted NASCAR engines and now an electric Camaro. 

All of that is really cool.  But if it were a race, the rules would get clamped down in no time.

ProDarwin said:

All of that is really cool.  But if it were a race, the rules would get clamped down in no time.

Then I guess it's a good thing that it isn't a race

Sponsored by Tyco?

Sorry, not sold on the electric race car thing. I know they can be fast but it's just not the same.

Gearheadotaku said:

Sponsored by Tyco?

Sorry, not sold on the electric race car thing. I know they can be fast but it's just not the same.

Yeah, I don't think this one will be a crowd-pleaser. No crazy NASCAR V8 screams or insane anti-lag gunshots or turbo flutter noises. Also, a segment of fans are openly hostile to any car that isn't Japanese manufacture

Gearheadotaku said:

Sponsored by Tyco?

 

This Tyco?

Gearheadotaku said:

Sponsored by Tyco?

Sorry, not sold on the electric race car thing. I know they can be fast but it's just not the same.

Ever since they took the horse away from the buggy it's been down hill.

;-)

Gearheadotaku said:

Sponsored by Tyco?

Sorry, not sold on the electric race car thing. I know they can be fast but it's just not the same.

As more and more tracks close, or have to deal with noise restrictions, I think the appeal of a much quieter drivetrain increases.

Race tracks being good neighbors keeps their gates open longer, and not making tons of noise is an increasingly large part of being a good neighbor.

You could also argue that it might also increase participation or access to the sport in areas where they can't run now. Densely populated area with noise limits? Not a problem anymore. Minnesota in January with a foot of snow? No big deal, we'll just run indoors without choking people with fuel/exhaust fumes. Etc

I'm excited to see what sort of throttle control programming comes out of this.

bluej said:

I'm excited to see what sort of throttle control programming comes out of this.

I want the driver to have a very large knife switch instead of a throttle pedal. All or nothing baby. 

Robbie said:

bluej said:

I'm excited to see what sort of throttle control programming comes out of this.

I want the driver to have a very large knife switch instead of a throttle pedal. All or nothing baby. 

All or nothing steering too!

April Fools?

STM317 said:

run indoors without choking people with fuel/exhaust fumes. Etc

Great for most competitions... but drifting might still choke people.

T.J. said:

April Fools?

No, this is legit. They've been hinting at it for months now, and Formula D made the official announcement on Friday

In reply to ProDarwin :

that would actually be awesome. and I bet some people would be VERY good at driving it too. 

ProDarwin said:

Robbie said:

bluej said:

I'm excited to see what sort of throttle control programming comes out of this.

I want the driver to have a very large knife switch instead of a throttle pedal. All or nothing baby. 

All or nothing steering too!

Isn't that just driving an R35 GT-R?

ProDarwin said:

STM317 said:

run indoors without choking people with fuel/exhaust fumes. Etc

Great for most competitions... but drifting might still choke people.

Yeah, but it would take longer. With no exhaust/fuel vapors, all you'd have to tolerate would be tire smoke.

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Well, apparently it does run (wait, is that the correct term?) and it does donuts.