Drifting Champ Dai Yoshihara Shows Off Falken Tire's Subaru BRZ

Normally, when you think of racing a Subaru, thoughts of flying sideways through a World Rally stage come to mind. But with Fuji Heavy Industries diverging from their exclsively All Wheel Drive vehicles with the introduction of the BRZ, enthusiasts have found a new way to enjoy these rally bred machines. Dai Yoshihara made his way to the US over a decade ago with his sights set on competing in the newly formed Formula Drift series.  Over the years, Dai has driven everything from big American muscle cars to Japanese luxury imports, but it was aways Nissan's once forgotten lightweight rear wheel drive sports car that he always came back to. After finally winning the championship in 2011 with the venerable S13 240SX, it was time for Dai to step into something new. Enter: the Subaru BRZ.

The Subaru BRZ is as close as any new car to the most-chosen chasis for upstart drifters, and therefore made the perfect platform for Dai to make his transition from racing a 15-year-old car to something that still possessed that new car smell. Being the open class series that it is, Formula Drift allowed Dai and the crew at SPD Metalworks to take full advantage of the BRZ's lightweight, nimble chassis and stuff in an oversized turbocharged Chevy V8 that is capable of breaking the back wheels loose with four digits worth of horsepower. So, while you may be more accustomed to seeing Subarus playing in the mud and kicking up rocks, get ready to see a few more sideways Subarus with large trails of tiresmoke coming from their rear arches.