Nigel Petrie is “Engineered to Slide”

To many the sport of drift is a great weekend hobby to let of some steam in a safe controlled environment but there is no questioning that to Nigel Petrie it is much more than that. To the Geelong based fabricator, drift is an absolute way of life in every way shape and form.

You see by day Nigel works at Ford Australia as a “prototype vehicle machinist” honing his skills so that he can go home and tinker way late into the night turning out some of Australia’s best drift machines and a range of drift related products that he sells to other enthusiasts through his blogging website www.engineeredtoslide.com

This website that includes an insight into Nigel’s various interesting drift related projects that he has on the go at any given time has an almost cult like following throughout the Australian drift community.

The 180SX that Nigel campaigns would unquestionably be one of the best prepared drift cars around, and has been in a state of constant development over the years. Nigel’s involvement in every aspect of the build is apparent from the opening line on the entry form:

“I built everything; no one else has touched anything except the paint and tune.”

“The chassis was prepared by myself,” said Nigel “I made my own roll cage, raised the strut towers, raised the rear cradle, notched the rear chassis rails, removed as much weight as possible, and designed my own front knuckle, I then made my own front LCA, I moved the steering rack and designed offset spacers for the tie rods, I then made my own tie rods and I guess I should stop there because really the list could go on all day.”

The quality of the work performed is first class and would not look out of place on any professional level  big budget race car and is testament to the time and dedication that Nigel puts into every project and the skills that he has refined over the years.

The engine has also not escaped his touch.

“The engine features Greddy camshafts , Greddy TD06L2 Turbine, Precision 46mm Gate, Brae Tubular  manifold, Hypertune inlet, I have modified the coolant flow, built a 600x120x150 intercooler mounted high for extra air flow to the alloy radiator, made all alloy ducting to the radiator and Greddy Oil cooler, made an under guard 5 litre catch can with breather, again I will stop here because this list can go on forever too!” said Nigel . “Oh I also made the adaptor plate and linkage setup for the VG30 gearbox”

With a history of drifting that dates back to winning the Full Lock drift nationals in 2004, Nigel has continued to compete in local drift competitions around Victoria and has found himself on the podium at the Vic Drift/Drift Attack shows for the past three consecutive years along with the occasional trip across Bass Straight to compete in the Tasmanian state rounds where he has also taken podium finishes along with Top Gear and V8 Supercar demos.

Along with the 180SX that Nigel uses for competition he has also built a stunning silver S13 Silvia and more recently he has embarked on a much more ambitious project. He is building a Hilux ute with a complete lightweight tube frame chassis similar to the type used in drag or off road racing but the big difference is that this is purpose built as a drift car.

“Originally I had planned to debut the ute at World Time Attack in August” said Nigel “but due the huge amount of work still ahead, I decided to run the 180SX that is already well sorted, but I will be bringing the ute up to display it, so that fans that have followed the build on the website can actually get to see it in the flesh” and this insane drift ute will certainly be one of the many “not to be missed” attractions in the pits at WTAC.

Read more about the ute.
Read Nigel Petrie’s driver profile.