Cyrious Report: Return to the Podium

It’s been over 2 years since I've stood on the top of the podium and feels great to be back!

We returned victorious from the first round of Formula Drift Canada at Autodrome St. Eustache, and I'm very proud of our team and my FR-S on a long awaited win.

The two weeks leading up to this event were hectic to say the least. I spent most of the break fixing the car from our crash in Florida. It came down to the wire, with parts showing up only days before the event, and then finding other parts that were damaged the day we were about to leave. Luckily, I was able to get it all sorted out with just enough time to make the six-hour trip to Montreal.

The event was held over the weekend. Saturday was just a practice day, which was great because I figured there would be some bugs to work out of the FR-S. However, everything felt right the moment we got on the track. I was feeling comfortable with the car very quickly and after 10 laps of consistently hitting the same line, we decided to shut it down and save the car/tires for the main event!

Sunday morning we had two-hours of practice before moving straight into qualifying due to the stormy weather approaching. I did about six laps in practice, all relativity the same – very smooth, smoky and consistent. We threw on a fresh set of AD08's and went into qualifying. My first lap out I did the same line I had been doing all weekend, which put us in second place. On my next lap, I pushed a bit harder and got a slightly better score but got edged out by two other drivers so we ended qualifying third.

The battles that followed were pretty tough. The competition pushed the FR-S and I to do some of the best driving we’ve ever done together. We had an edge on everyone! The FR-S just seemed to have more grip than the rest of the field. On all my lead laps I would gap the competition by at least one or two car lengths, and then on my follow laps I was able to stick on everyone. We fought our way through with no "one more time" battles, and the judges’ decisions were all definitive. Nobody was able to touch us that day, from the Top 16 to the win!

We will carry this momentum into Round 2 of Formula Drift Canada in July. I truly love drifting the FR-S. After two years and a lot of hard work, it’s the car that I’ve always dreamed it could be!

I hope you had a chance to check out the live stream on Periscope. You can now watch the team and I get ready on race day by following @ScionCanada on the app. I enjoyed answering your questions and I'm stoked you get to see the action live from the side of the track!

I'm very excited for the rest of the season and looking forward to the next battle. Thanks for the support!

Cyrious Report: Eat, Sleep, Test, Repeat.

Hey it’s Pat Cyr here, just giving you a little update before the drifting season begins!

This off-season has been the busiest one we’ve had to date! At the end of last season, we realized some major changes were needed if we wanted to keep up with the way drifting is going worldwide! So we decided it would be best to start from scratch. A fresh FR-S chassis was taken down to bare metal and built from the ground up at my shop, Cyrious Garageworks!

The two most significant changes to this car was a completely new steering/suspension setup from Wisefab and a swap to the all mighty 2JZ engine! With those major parts in place, we focused on making the chassis as light as possible, and moved some weight around by installing a Mishimoto radiator in the trunk.

Many hours of hard work and planning came together a few weeks ago with the help of Sasha from OnPoint Dyno, where he tuned the Motec M150 ECU controlling our 2JZ to make 630whp! This is by far the most powerful drift car I have ever had! Once that was done, we finished off a few loose ends to get the car ready for testing!

In the past few seasons, our off-season build would leave us with little time to test. However, this year we made sure to put in some crazy hours at the shop to ensure that the car would be done as early as possible. So we were able to test it at the track and make any changes necessary before the season starts. I’m hoping to get in as much seat time as possible in the new car, so you can bet that we’ll be coming out of the gate swinging!

Our first test session was nothing short of amazing. The new car is an absolute monster! The 2JZ engine has a very wide powerband, is very controllable, and even has power to spare! Along with the steering set up from Wisefab, the steering angle and return feel has never felt better.

Overall I'm extremely excited for the 2015 season to begin and I have a feeling this is going to be our best season ever! Be sure to follow our journey this summer and I look forward to meeting you at the tracks!

Targa Newfoundland Scion FR-S Gets Headers and a Dyno Tune

Peter and Dave from Speed Academy make one last stop before shipping their Scion Racing FR-S to Newfoundland for the Targa rally. Visiting Total Motor Werkes, where Sasha from OnPoint Dyno set up his Dynapack dyno. Sasha fine-tuned the factory engine management system using Ecutek software, dialing in the tune for the intake and exhaust modifications made and for the 91-octane fuel the team would be running during the race. But before that, Peter and Dave needed to install one last set of modifications, a sexy long-tube equal length exhaust manifold from JDL Auto Design, along with a JDL over-pipe and catted front-pipe. As you’ll hear in Episode 9 of Speed Academy’s YouTube build series, the JDL goodies really bring the car’s exhaust note alive, making it sound like a proper racecar.

Sasha’s tuning worked wonders too, bringing the Targa FR-S’s output up to an impressive 181 horsepower at the rear hubs, which converts to about 225 horsepower at the crank, or about 25-hp more than stock. Not too shabby! That wraps up their build series on the FR-S, but there’s still a documentary-style video to come, covering their entire Targa Newfoundland adventure and the dramatic way the week of competition wrapped up for them.

Targa Newfoundland Scion FR-S Gets Drivetrain & Cooling Upgrades

Prior to shipping their Scion Racing FR-S to Newfoundland for an epic week-long race around the island, Peter and Dave from Speed Academy made a quick stop at Cyrious Garageworks, where Scion Racing pro drifter Pat Cyr and his crew helped with the installation of a new clutch-type limited slip differential from Tomei and a Stage 3 clutch kit and lightweight aluminum flywheel from SPEC Clutch.

Peter and Dave also made themselves useful in Episode 8 of their YouTube series by installing a Koyo direct-fit radiator and Perrin oil cooler setup, supplied by Motovicity, one of the biggest aftermarket performance parts wholesalers in the world. Plus you’ll notice Dave tackled the “difficult” job of installing Godspeed Project tow hooks in record time. That boy has skills! Oh, and although it’s not covered in the video, they also traced the traction control and ABS issues to a faulty steering angle sensor, likely damaged when they removed the steering wheel when prepping the car for roll cage fabrication. The sensor was replaced by team tech Andrew “Moose” DeLaCour and calibrated by team engineer Vinh Pham and both systems were back in perfect working order. Phew!