Josh's Daily Drifter : BMW 318ti
318ti
Welded Diff
Lots of tires.
A simple drift pig doesn't get much easier than that.
Josh used to use this car as his daily driver, but has since turned into a full time smoke machine. And if you live in the pacific northwest you may just catch him slinging some tire chunks over at Pat's Acres racing complex in Canby, Or. You just might bump into some of the Hoonigan squad or some big names in Formula Drift while you are at it.
As with many areas in the internet car community, a lot of things can be made extraordinarily more complicated than they need to be. Even with a easily accessed auto sport like drifting. While some of the purpose built drift cars may look rough on the eyes, a lot of money can be dumped into them. To the point where "run what you brung" is more of a catch phrase than a properly executed philosophy.
Josh has taken this philosophy, and has done a damn good job a sticking to it so far. With the only dedicated "drift mod" he's currently working on being a proper hydrobrake to help kick that back end out for some smokey skids. Borrow a welder from a friend and ask to dig through the stack of used tires at your local tire center and you are there.
I guess it does help to have an affordable platform to start with, and despite what you might hear from the stereotypical 20+ year old BMW owner. (YOU'RE JUST JEALOUS CAUSE YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT!) Used BMW's are very affordable. Just like most German cars they depreciate faster than the morals of a preachers daughter. Lucky for you, than means an affordable RWD "sports" coupe can be had for a years worth of beer and coffee money. You might even get lucky to find one thats in relatively good shape. Just cause they loose value doesn't mean they aren't good quality. Josh's 318 for example in nearing 300k on the odometer but the interior looks like it's seen half that.
Josh's future plans for the car include, finishing the hydrobrake install, some bucket seats to keep your rear in gear, and he's got a good straight six waiting to replace the tired old 4 banger thats currently scooting the old bavarian around. You can follow Josh's build on instagram by following him @joshuah.e
