Jack Of All Trades - Tanner Foust

A Celebrity Among The Ranks

writer: Ryan McKay
photographer: Henry Z. DeKuyper

If Import Tuner had an award for being an all-around, kick-ass racecar driver, Tanner Foust would probably win it. Not only does this well-rounded driver and 32-year old from Steamboat, Colorado race rally cars, drift cars and compete in just about any other type of racing you can imagine, he does them all very well. So well, in fact, he has his hands in just about every pot in the automotive industry. He's so deep in the fold that he crashes at Rhys Millen's multi-million dollar pad while pursuing a career as a stunt car driver. Having driven for "Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift," and "The Dukes of Hazard" movies, Foust's latest endeavor into stunt driving is already blossoming.

Getting to where he's at wasn't an overnight affair, though. Being able to switch from racing off-road rally cars to road racing and drifting takes lot of skill. It's all about learning to master the art of car control. Do that, and you can drive just about anything well at the limit. Foust learned the ropes of car control teaching ice driving in Colorado-and in our opinion-there are few better ways to learn how to control your car than on the frozen slippery stuff.

While Foust fell in love with drifting cars across ice, it's no surprise he's made the shift to drifting on the paved stuff. His drifting foray has been a successful one, with Foust racking up wins in Formula D and D1 drift events in this wicked Nissan 350Z. Foust may drive the 350Z, but the keys to the wheels under Foust's drifting passions belong to AEM. A premiere aftermarket manufacturer in the import world, AEM has the manpower and resources to build some of the baddest cars out there. But this one wasn't built solely for Foust's pleasure-it was built to showcase AEM's products.

The folks over at AEM tell us the car was built over a 12-week period and cost an undisclosed amount of money to build (obviously a lot). They tell us the Nissan hits the track about twice a month, campaigning in Formula Drift and D1 events. As a testament to the ability of AEM, the 350Z and Foust, the team took the win at Formula D Atlanta-in the car's second race ever. Pretty impressive indeed.

Although it weighs in at a svelte (for a 350Z) 2900 lbs., it still takes some serious motivation to get this thing sideways down the track. With 450 hp at the rear wheels, this car has no problem lighting them up on demand. The VQ35 engine required some tweaking, however, and the twin Garrett GT25R turbochargers are the backbone of the engine mods. While the 3.5-liter Nissan mill retains its stock bore and stroke, the bottom end still received its fair share of work.

Benson Automotive Machining, in Costa Mesa, Calif., handled the machining, while the prepped and measured parts were carefully assembled in-house at AEM, with their man Stephan Papadakis doing the honors. The VQ now sports the stock forged crank, 10:1 compression JE pistons, JE rings, and off-the-shelf Eagle connecting rods. The oiling system is still stock, other than an APS oil pan. With the shortblock together, AEM shifted its attention to the VQ's cylinder heads, doing nothing more than adding a set of Jim Wolf valve springs.

A pair of turbos are responsible for getting enough air into the Nissan mill to make 450-wheel hp, but they aren't doing it alone. An APS cast-iron exhaust manifold was used to join the twin Garrett ball-bearing turbos to the VQ's aluminum heads, and the spent gasses exiting the turbos are routed into a custom, 3.5-inch stainless-steel exhaust. With the engine build in the bag, lining up some good engine management was next on the list.

Like we said, AEM built this car to showcase their products, and that's exactly what its done. This 350Z rocks AEM's best, including a universal AEM EMS, an AEM fuel-pressure regulator, and an AEM Gauge-type UEGO controller (wideband O2 sensor). The EMS works in conjunction with a set of six APS/Bosch 500cc/min fuel injectors, an AEM adjustable fuel-pressure regulator, and a tank full of 110 octane fuel to make sure the engine gets enough gas to match the massive quantities of air the Garrett huffers blow into the VQ's stock intake manifold. AEM's contributions to the Nissan's electronics didn't stop there, though. The car rocks an AIM dash that communicates with the AEM ECU, and an AEM Serial Datastream Gauge. Pretty sweet, huh? We think so.

The 350's stock transmission has held up to the torture of 450 hp and the rigors of drifting so far, with only mods to the drivetrain being the addition of an ACT 6-puck, single-plate clutch, a lightened OEM flywheel and a Nismo 1.5-way clutch-type LSD. The workhorse clutch and strong LSD have proven their ability to get those horses to the ground without any fanfare. Good news for boosted 350Z owners who like to abuse their toys.

A race car with gobs of horsepower and fitted with a good drivetrain is useless without a good suspension. This holds true even to racing in a straight line (check out the suspension on a full-blown drag car), and is even more important in drifting. The 350Z's OEM suspension setup is good enough for a daily driver, but this racecar needed a little more. In search of the perfectly balanced Z, AEM fitted theirs with what they dubbed the "AEM Racing/Tokico" suspension kit. Up front, the bastard suspension consists of Tokico dampers/springs and JIC tie-rod ends, while out back, the same spring/damper combo was used. Stillen adjustable anti-roll bars were added front and back to keep the car flat and stable while sliding across the racetrack.

Brakes are important, too. If you doubt that, try driving your car down a steep mountain road without using the brakes or downshifting. AEM didn't need us to tell them that, though. They must have gotten the memo, because they went ahead and made a few mods to the stock brakes to help keep the car out of the tire wall. The OEM braking system was good enough that with the addition of Axxis brake pads and Motul fluid, the braking system was deemed sufficient. And if you think you see a linelock on the brake lines, you are correct. Now pat yourself on the back. We guess Foust likes to do big, smokey burnouts.

Good brakes may be able to help Foust avoid any stationary objects, but collisions are inevitable, and Foust is no stranger to crashing. As a teenager, he rolled his Honda Civic end-over-end seven times. So it's no surprise he wears a ton of safety gear. In addition to the three-layer fire suit, fire-resistant nomex socks, shoes, gloves and helmet he wears, the 350Z has its own accessories to keep the driver in one piece. A rollcage, fire suppression and countless other pieces of safety equipment are requisite items on a racecar. The rollcage was custom-built by Steen Chassis, and Foust can now strap himself tightly into his Sparco seat and harness. Safety first!

With the interior and drivetrain finished, AEM got to work on the exterior. The bodywork was tackled by MOB Works in Orange, Calif. MOB installed the front Seibon fenders, Versus body kit, Seibon hatch, Rotora wing, custom MOB Works rear fenders and covered the whole shebang in Lambo yellow in less than 3 weeks. Not bad, considering we've waited longer at the DMV. Finally, AEM picked a set of Motegi Touge wheels to fill out the fenderwells of the Z, measuring 18x9 up front and 18x10 in the rear. Shod in 235/40/18 and 285/40/18 Toyo T1-R rubber, the 350 is sitting pretty.

Teaching people to drive on ice may be an uncommon way to learn to drive race cars, but as we can see by Foust's huge success in drifting, rally, and stunt-driving, it may be one of the best ways to learn. Expect to see Foust behind the wheel of this killer machine in the winner's circle at a drift event near you