Name: Meet The Minowas, Japan’s Drift Family | Heyman Robbie's Review | GTChannel
Uploaded: 2021-01-04T21:55:20.933405+00:00
Duration: 865 s
Channel: GTChannel

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Robbie Nishida

A family that drifts together stays together. In the Minowa family, father, mother and son all get sideways. Father Shinji is a top-ranked drift competitor, mother Masayo also drives and competes in Formula Drift Japan, and 11-year-old son Hiroya is the next in line for the circuit. 

Having graduated from doing donuts on the skidpad in an automatic transmission JZX100 Chaser, to now piloting a manual-trans Chaser with hydro e-brake, young Hiro demonstrates superb car control and solid drift mechanics. He may even soon start sharing the field with father Shinji, who’s plans to compete in U.S. Formula Drift were scuttled this year by Covid.

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A family that drifts together stays together. In the Minowa family, father, mother and son all get sideways. Father Shinji is a top-ranked drift competitor, mother Masayo also drives and competes in Formula Drift Japan, and 11-year-old son Hiroya is the next in line for the circuit. Having graduated from doing donuts on the skidpad in an automatic transmission JZX100 Chaser, to now piloting a manual-trans Chaser with hydro e-brake, young Hiro demonstrates superb car control and solid drift mechanics. He may even soon start sharing the field with father Shinji, who’s plans to compete in U.S. Formula Drift were scuttled this year by Covid.Subscribe to GTChannel: <a href="https://goo.gl/g5wlmE" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://goo.gl/g5wlmE</a> -------------- Visit us at <a href="http://www.gtchannel.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.gtchannel.com</a>Like us on FB: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/gtchannel" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/gtchannel</a> Instagram: <a href="http://instagram.com/gtchannel/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">http://instagram.com/gtchannel/</a> Send us video ideas on Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/GTChannel" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/GTChannel</a>

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When the Minowa family has downtime, they don't go to the zoo or take a sedate country drive. Instead, they head to Ebisu circuit where all three — Mom, Dad and 11-year-old son, Hiroya — practice breaking traction and getting sideways.

Sliding Sideways Together: Japan's Drift Family

In the Minowa family, both mother and father compete in Formula Drift Japan events. Son Hiroya is next in line, learning how to drive years before any of his peers will ever get behind the wheel. 

Hiro has graduated from a Toyota Chaser with automatic transmission to a second Chaser equipped with a manual. Hiro’s current JZX100 is only lightly modified with coilovers, steering knuckles, limited-slip differential, upgraded radiator, hydraulic e-brake and a smaller Bride seat with specially-sized seat rails that allow the young driver to reach the pedals.

Eleven-Year-Old Drift Prodigy's Lightly-Modded Toyota Chaser

Young Hiro takes Robbie for some hot laps around the drift course. When your father is a top-level competition drifter and your mom also competes, it’s no surprise the young gun has preternatural skills. After riding shotgun and experiencing the kid’s excellent car control, Robbie says Hiro is the real deal.

Young Japanese Drifter's Skills Are Real Deal

It might seem odd that an 11-year-old boy can handle a drift car better than many adult drivers, but Shinji Minowa, the boy’s father, says his son’s path is not unlike youngsters that start in competitive karting. It helps that Shinji himself knows how to setup a drift car for learning drivers.

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