- It's Andre from the High Performance Academy.
We're here with Beau Yates, probably one of the most
recognisable names in Australian drifting.
Last time we interviewed Beau
at World Time Attack a couple of years back,
unfortunately, while he had just debuted
his brand new Toyota 86,
he'd also just had a nasty accident
in his really well-known AE86.
Just wanted to talk to Beau, you've just got this car back
from a full rebuild, it's a really iconic car obviously,
one of the originals of drifting out of Japan.
Let's talk about the damage that happened
a couple of years back, what actually went wrong?
- Yeah, so obviously this my championship-winning car
from 2006, so it's very well known here
in the Australian drift community.
Obviously, World Time Attack three years ago,
I was involved in a pretty heavy shunt
up there on the South Circuit,
but it's been an extensive job
to get it back to where it is.
It's had a full driver's side chassis rail,
strut tower and front tyre bar,
so it was definitely a lot of work
to get it back to the condition it's in right now.
- It's an immaculate rebuild, and these cars are
only getting more and more hard to find in good condition.
Definitely great to see that
you put the effort into rebuilding it.
Let's talk about the engine package for a little bit.
Obviously the AE86 is best known
for the 4AGE 1.6 litre engine.
You've gone a slightly different route,
can you talk about the engine that's in it,
the 3S Beams and why you went that way.
- Yeah, well, just with the progression of the sport,
when I first started drifting, it had the 4A platform in it,
from a 16 valve, then I went 20 valve,
20 valve to then turbo 20 valve,
and then in 2007, when I first got my deal
with Toyota Motor Corporation here in Australia,
we went to the 3S Beams and it was just,
the way the sport was going,
you needed more reliable horsepower, more horsepower,
and just the 3S Beams engine seemed like
a strong package to put in at the time.
- Now, it's obviously turbocharged,
what's the turbocharger you're running on it?
- So we're on a Garrett 35/76, non-GTX.
It's got a Turbosmart 50mm wastegate,
we're only running about 20 pound a boost,
so it makes around 317 kilowatts on 20 pound,
and it's still on pump fuel, so 98.
- We're seeing over the last few years
a real drive with drifting, particularly out of the US,
and it's kind of followed onto Australia and New Zealand,
more and more power every year and, particularly in the US,
the turbocharged V8 is really key.
How much of a deficit is it
running a small capacity 4-cylinder?
- Yeah, well, that's the thing these days.
You gotta demand so much from these 4-cylinders
to make the power of a V8 or a 6-cylinder,
and that's why I've crossed over
to the 2JZ in my current 86, just with the steering knuckles
and the way the direction the sport's going,
you just need good, reliable horsepower,
and unfortunately, with a 4-cylinder engine,
you gotta run high boost and really stress the motors,
then you're not getting the reliability.
- One of the advantages that the AE86
has always had though, it is a very light chassis,
so that balance between power and weight,
how vital do you see the weight being?
- Well, that's the thing, this 3S Beams engine,
it's a fully built engine, it's a dry sump,
it's got TRD pistons, it's head gasket studs,
it's pretty much everything you can do to a Beams engine.
It's been very reliable over the five years
that I've had it in the car prior to the accident,
and I don't see the point in the chassis to...
People ask, "That motor can make a lot more power, Beau.
"Why don't you put it on ethanol or wind the boost up."
But, you know, for the chassis, it's a thousand kilo car
and it's already making 317 kilowatts,
and to have Keiichi in the car this weekend,
and the positive feedback he's given me on the suspension
and the level of grip that the car's got is fantastic,
so there's no real need to overpower the car.
- So right now, what you're really saying is
you've got a package that's well-balanced between
the power, the weight and the amount of grip the car's got?
- Exactly, and ultra reliable,
so every time I turn the key,
I know the car's gonna come back in one piece.
- That's definitely important.
Just touching on that motor again a little bit,
I noticed obviously the factory 3S Beams engine
has variable cam control, both intake and exhaust.
I notice you've still retained
the variable cam control on the intake,
you've got fixed cam on the exhaust,
tell us why you've gone down that route?
- Well, listen, this car I built originally
in late 2006, early 2007,
so engine management's come a long way since 2007
and the E11 version 2 that currently runs this car
from 2006, 2007, at the time they couldn't control
both inlet and exhaust so we locked up the exhaust,
but it's still full variable on the intake.
- Yeah, I guess the technology has moved along
on both engines and ECUs.
The dry sump system, again that's relatively uncommon,
I guess, on a lot of drift cars.
Was that done out of necessity
or more out of a drive for reliability long-term?
- Anything that gets built out of the shop at Hypertune,
they obviously build cars at a very high level,
so as soon as I brought the 3S to the table,
and even mounting it in the AE86,
I wanted to get it as low as possible
so I didn't upset the handling too much,
so obviously with the dry sump,
I could drop the motor by about 75mm from memory,
so it just allowed a low centre of gravity,
and obviously longevity and reliability
of the engine as well.
- Moving back through the car,
can you tell us what the gearbox and diff combination is?
- So, the gearbox is just an R154,
it's still a synchro five speed.
It's just a good, strong, reliable gearbox.
I was breaking W boxes in it so I went to the R154.
I don't think the car's too far away
from having a sequential or something put in it.
It wasn't until I jumped back in it the other week
after three years and I thought, "Oh, god."
I nearly forgot how to drive a synchro car,
after having the sequential behind the 2J,
but the diff is an F series diff
out of a locally delivered Tarago,
like a van that we've got here in Oz.
It's been a super reliable diff
and cops the punishment we give it.
- Look, thanks for giving us some insight into the car.
It's one that I've always looked at
on the Internet and loved, so it's nice
checking it out in person, really glad again
that you've gone through the effort of rebuilding it.
We wish you all the best for the competition
at the end of today and thanks for the chat.
- Thanks, mate, no problems.
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