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ORC with Top Secret Fairlady Z Z33 From Drift Tengoku
The high potential naturally aspirated model endeavors to gather points ORC with Top Secret FAIRLADY Z [Z33]
The fans may already be aware of this but last year's D1 series champion is expected to be piloting his rival's Z33 this year. Izumida, the driver assigned for the previous season, failed to achieve any points in this machine because of the persisting problems; only qualifying twice. This year, the car placed 9th at the season opener match and 6th place in the following round. Whether the car was a perfect match with Miki, or if it was the flawless tuning is still a mystery. After the engine blow in the 3rd round, the reworked Z33 is expected to show its true potential to the world.
The premiere of the Z33
2 months prior to the start of the 2004 D1 season, team ORC decided to participate in the series with a Z33. Although they could have used the nimble S15, but instead, ORC's team manager Mr. Toriumi claimed "we wanted to challenge D1 with a brand new machine". An SR20 engine was planned to be swapped out, but due to the idea from Top Secret's Mr. Nagata, an RB26 would be far easier and safe to achieve 500 hp on a lesser price. The chassis was fully spot welded, lightened to 1370 kg (3000lbs) and the suspension was designed by Yasuyuki Kazama of Kei Office just for Izumida's specs. The Z33 was finally completed but Izumida had a lot to say. He claimed that the power was there but no way in harnessing it. And a deep angle drift was almost impossible with this setup. Despite these comments, Izumida qualified in the 3rd and 4th rounds. Soon after, a massive list of problems started to take part, from differential blows to broken drive shafts to name a few. The 2004 season ended quietly for team ORC, sadly with Izumida taking in all the team's stress.
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It really began after Miki
Along with their goal of "constructing a machine that can win from a lot of aspects" ,Team ORC changed the driver for the 2005 series. There are several significant reasons why they chose Miki amongst all the seeded drivers which were; his driving techniques, popularity, and his ability to set up the machine correctly as a Top Secret mechanic. He drove the Z33 for the first time on a practice run, the day before the season opener round. Here, he gave his opinion "I have the confidence in my skills to win D1 because of my involvement in this sport for years but that isn't enough. I may be able to take this machine to the best 10, but never the best 8 group". At the round in Irwindale, Miki increased the rear spring rate to 16kg for a high speed drift setting to place in 9th. At the next round, the spring rates were further increased, as well as the tire pressure. The turbo exhaust housing was changed from a K5-700R to a K5-660R unit and he managed to place 6th. Miki's modifications had turned around everyone's impression of the Z33. The 3rd round was a disaster with a blown differential, and a blown engine soon followed. This resulted in Miki dropping out of the seeded list, having once again to attempt to qualify in the Autopolis round.
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Keeping within the best 4 and aiming for the championship
The Z33 gained a huge opportunity to change after the engine blew up since there was a long time interval between the 3rd and the 4th round. The engine was changed to 2.8 liters and the final gear was altered from 3.5 to 4.1. The transmission gears were cross cut to keep the powerband at full boost until 5000 rpms. These modifications to the transmission force the driver work harder but Miki was capable of adapting his skills to any given condition. He claimed "the transmission and the gearing can somewhat be adjusted with the driver's skill, but the engine setup cannot". The drivetrain was upgraded on the Z with GT-R LSD and driveshaft. The vehicle still had problems. Even though the body had been strengthened, Miki believed that the front and rear stiffness were still bad. Since the front end stiffness cannot be changed any more than this, the only thing left to do was to make that up by controlling the rear. The goal was to further lighten the 1370 kg (3000 lbs) car to a 1200 kg (2600 lbs) feather weight. "With these modifications, we gained the potential to place in the top 3. The goal is to constantly stay above 4th place to take 1st in the points race this season.
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ENGINE
A RB26DETT motor from a BNR32 with a HKS 2.8L stroker kit was installed after the engine blow. There isn't a difference in the peak power, but a huge difference in the powerband. The key was to shorten the time to reach its peak power output of 600 horses. A custom strut tower bar was constructed to help the front become stiffer. Spot welding was done as much as possible throughout the body.
ENGINE
A Blitz K5-600R turbine was installed. The exhaust housing is smaller compared to the 700R which was used up until the Odaiba Round. This change was made to quicken the boost build up. Full boost kicks in at around 5000 rpms. The rev limiter is set at a big margin at 8000rpm.
ENGINE
All the cooling parts are from ARC. The RB26 tends to run very hot, but with the V mounted setup, the temperature stays under 100c. The oil is kept cold with a high capacity oil cooler and the black core next to the radiator is the power steering cooler. A differential cooler and the fuel cooler are installed on the floor. 		   
DRIVETRAIN
After using the Trust 6 speed last year, they switched it up this year with a cross geared Holinger transmission. The final gear was changed from 3.5 to 4.1 with a strong request from Miki.
DRIVETRAIN
There was a continuous problem of the LSD falling off at 2nd and 3rd round. This was because the Z33s only have a single bolt supporting the LSD so they had to install a GTR LSD member which has two. The driveshaft was donated from a GTR as well, and the problem had been solved for the time being.
INTERIOR
The cockpit hasn't been changed much from last year. The driver's position is not much of a concern to Miki. The additional gauges from Defi are water temp, oil temp, and an oil pressure gage. Miki claims that he looks at the three analog gauges the most. Since the A pillar often gets in the way of his view, he often looks through the hole of the Ganador side mirrors for help. The fuel gauge sits on the center console along with the A/F gauge from Neko Corporation. The Blitz boost controller and the red button starter are located in the same area.
INTERIOR
The e brake was relocated closer within the driver's reach and elongated. The e brake is a very important control in D1 racing these days. The brake balance controller resides next to it. The front Project Mu brake kit was too strong for the front so the setting was set towards the rear.
INTERIOR
10 point roll bar is made of chromoly steel. As for now, the front and rear seems to move differently because the rear is more rigid. The strut tower bar may be removed to balance the stability of the chassis. The fuel cell is an ATL unit. 		   
SUSPENSION
This year, the DG-5 suspension will be used. The springs were changed out from F 16kg and R 12kg to F 20kg and R 18kg. According to Miki, this setup is still too soft, so they plan to either change the ratio again, or swap in a whole new setup. The damper is always set at maximum but is planned to increase the stiffness to the 6th level. The steering angle was increased with washers. The entire front assembly had been lightened and stronger motor mounts have been added. 		   
EXTERIOR
The front and rear bumpers, sideskirts, front and rear fender, hood, and the GT Wing are all from Top Secret's G Force Aero kit. The front bumper is the Type 2 version. The tire tread has been widened by 50 mm front and rear on both sides, transporting the 600 horsepower directly to the road surface. Everything but the front window had been changed to plexiglass. The pineapple vinyl graphic on the body is designed by MSR, owned by Manabu Suzuki. 		   
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