FPV DRIF6 to race!

WHEN Ford Performance Vehicles revealed its wild DRIF6 turbo concept back in February, Australia's Blue Oval performance house said it had no plans to go racing.

Now it seems Ford has had a change of heart, the company announcing on Wednesday that DRIF6 will, in fact, do what it was designed to: drift.

FPV has confirmed it will support the competition debut of the 380kW/700Nm-plus Typhoon sedan-based one-off in the opening round of the 2006 Drift Australia national championship at South Australia’s Mallala circuit on May 27-28.

The blisteringly powerful FPV skunkworks car will be piloted in its first "race" by leading Aussie "drifter", 23-year-old Victorian Adam Newton.

"Ford Performance Vehicles stirred up a hornet’s nest when it revealed the DRIF6 concept car at the FPV Open Day earlier this year," said Mr Newton.

"It has generated a lot of interest and lifted the profile of the sport to unprecedented levels – and that was before it even hit the track.

"The car has all the right ingredients for success, and I am excited to have been given the opportunity to debut the FPV DRIF6 in the Drift Australia series.

"I will be giving it everything I have to put on a great show for the crowds, and we will see where we end up at the end of the weekend."Mr Newton has for the past four years organised and competed in local drifting events, which pit two cars against each other in rally-style knockout tarmac events, in which points are awarded for speed, style, slide angle and tyre smoke.

DRIF6 is the product of after-hours work by engineers and technicians at FPV’s Campbellfield HQ, with help from suppliers including Castrol, Bilstein, Autotek, HIS Hoses, Robinson Racing Developments, Revolution Racegear and Dunlop.

DRIF6 is powered by an upgraded version of the F6 Typhoon sedan/Tornado ute's 4.0-litre turbocharged inline six-cylinder engine, which features a significantly larger intercooler, ram-airbox, handmade plenum inlet manifold, unique engine management system calibration and three-inch exhaust system with side outlet.

There's also an upgraded Tremec T-56 close-ratio six-speed gearbox, a locked differential, Bilstein adjustable coil-over dampers and anti-roll bars, and (six-piston front) Brembo brakes comprising braided lines, a brake proportioning valve and a WRC-style hydraulic handbrake.

Within the rollcaged interior are Momo race seats, harnesses and steering wheel, and VDO and Autron gauges.