Japanese Pro Drifter Tamed the Hoonigan Burnyard With Her JDM S13 Nissan Silvia Coupe

There's something so satisfying about going through corners with that extra slide. And while the Bimmers reign in the drifting world in the West, the drift car of choice in Japan is almost always a Nissan.

Drifting might be a motoring discipline, but it's, first, an art. It involves braking while making a turn (brake pedal or emergency brake), forcing the rear end to lose grip and swing forward and outward before downshifting and sending it to full throttle while keeping the car in balance.

It might sound simple in theory, but behind the wheel, the moves need to run in quick succession to avoid spinning out of control. That said, it takes a lot of practice and skill to pull off a drift stunt to perfection.

Some of the best drifting cars in the world include the Nissan S-Chassis series, BMW 3 Series (E30), BMW 540i (E39), the Toyota Chaser, Toyota AE86 (Initial D), Toyota Soarer, the Mazda RX-8, among other legends.

Well, Hoonigan recently featured Arisa Mizuhara, a visiting Japanese Pro drifter racer with her JDM-Spec S13 Nissan Silvia Coupe.

Arisa is both a rally and pro drift racer in Japan. In her most recent drifting competition, she drove a 2JZ-swapped Toyota Yaris.

"Actually, if you compare the Yaris to the Silvia, the Yaris has a longer wheelbase," she pointed out.

Arisa shipped her Nissan Silvia S13 to the U.S. as part of a tour of the American drift scene.

Under the hood, Arisa's Nissan Silvia Coupe packs the legendary 2-liter four-cylinder Notchtop SR20DET engine (S14), modded for 300 hp (304 ps). It's a stock engine running an HKS turbo, Tomei exhaust manifold, and Apexi intake.

Stock, the Notchtop SR20DET on the S14 Nissan Silvia produced 217 hp (220 ps) and 205 lb-ft (278 Nm) of torque at 4,800 rpm.

On the exterior, it dons an 'Instant Gentleman' S13 body kit and a G-Corporation Rear Spoiler Type 2.

Arisa is the girl who rides her Nissan S13 Silvia like a rodeo cowboy. Her 300 hp (304 ps) S13 ripped some insane drifts on the Hoonigan Burnyard. She, unfortunately, blew the power steering system on her Silvia in the end, due to her wild drifts.

"I think it sounds really cool. But you have to set up an SR right to make it sound that good," Hert of Hoonigan said. "So this car, the way it's set up, from what I am assuming, 300 horsepower, small turbo, it's peaky, so it's got like a good torque band," he added.

She also got to sample some V8 power from an LS-swapped BMW at the Hoonigan studios. It was a walk in the park, but she admitted it needed some getting used to.

In case you are itching to see how raw this Japanese pro drifting racer's skills are, we recommend watching the video below.