Formula Drift

This place was awesome. The rides were insane, and the things they did with the car on the track blew my mind away. Best Drifting I’ve seen. can’t wait for the next round

Thanks Ryan and Unilocal for the awesome event tickets. I am having withdrawals since going there. Thanks Niki for accompanying me for this wonderful event!
Located in long beach convention center by the Yardhouse, Queen Mary, beach and port, parking was a breeze. Many locations around the main attraction and all reasonable priced too. Pikes place parking (try that as a tongue twister) is wonderful with plenty of shaded spots only one and a half block away from convention for $ 15. The event does get sold out, get your tickets Ahead of time.
Cars! CARS! Cars! They have import to American muscle cars laid out in rows to be seen and admire. This is an enthusiasts dreams come true with plenty to enjoy. Some of my favorites are the custom paint, rims, body kits and clean engine. Seriously can’t get enough.
The best part of this event was the view, OMG beautiful and exciting. We were right next to the action, the last draft towards the finish line. Burn baby burn! Nothing like fresh rubber and gas for breakfast. Whats even greater was seeing one of my high school classmates perform live.
Much like gas running thru my veins and heart as my engine for this awesome adventure, Cant wait for the other event in October at Irwindale, Ca. There was even two cars with my bf and mines color, candy purple and teal.=)

This event is probably the most interesting race event that is promoted in the LA area that anyone who loves cars should check out. During the day of the event, you can already tell that its race day on the 710, with everyone driving their sports cars fast and speeding down the freeway. We even raced a celebrity 911 modifier Magnus Walker on the way down (he won). On the way into the parking structure, the entrance loops around right next to the racers warming up their cars, and we ran into Tanner Foust who gave us his two thumbs up! You get to meet all drivers up close and take photos with all the stars and models. The cars are loud so I recommend bringing earplugs and lots of suncreen if you are sitting in the sun. Enjoy the races and view of DTLB, after all this is the monaco of the west. Highly recommended!

Always a fun event.

The drift gets 5 stars! Awesome event. The one star goes to FORREST WANG AND THE GET NUTS LABORATORY. What a douche bag the guy is. My 11 year old had $ 18 dollars of his allowance left, so he asked Forrest how much a hat was. Forrest said it was $ 25 my boy said oh I didn’t know that they were that much. Forrest literally laughed at him and said what you thought they’d be $ 5 kid. I wanted to clock him in the jaw instead I said no violence.
So during the last 16 there was a break so my boy wanted to walk around some more. He ended up at the Get Nuts trailer again. Forrest was in the semi trailer talking to his crew. This blond girl asked if we needed any help. My boy asked how much the beanie was. I said we’re not buying anything from here. The girl asked why. I told her what Forrest did, she asked him he said I don’t remember that. He didn’t come out to talk to us either. I grab my boy and said screw them they don’t care about the race fans. Then the girl from Get Nuts yells and I quote «F@$# YOU!» To me and my kid. They were probably pissed off because Forrest got eliminated in his first race.

It’s definitely an event for the whole family! Particularly those that love cars, racing/​drifting, & a festival environment. Be prepared to inhale plenty of car smoke and smell like burnt rubber by the end of the day. Also, be sure to take a hat and sun glasses to protect you from the sun. Don’t forget to apply plenty of SUNSCREEN, especially if you plan to be there all day! Another thing, I would recommend you to carry cash with you for food, merchandise, and goodies because most do not accept car due to the lack of wifi in that area. Lastly, enjoy the pro drifters and take your time walking around all of the booths and scope the fly show cars!

It is entertaining and fun to watch.

My husband and I go every year. What an exciting show!!! very family friendly (my four year old niece loves «car day»), nice venue, drivers are approachable and friendly, hot (for the most part) models, just all around awesome event. They definitly need a new host next year to interview the drivers… who takes a job like that and then doesn’t know the names of the drivers you interview… how embarrassing! Lol If you love anything about drifting or racecars you NEED to give this event a shot!

There’s nothing like Formula D (at least legally on the streets) and the whole point of it is to get as close as you can to the lead car without actually touching it at a sideways angle and as fast as possible with the biggest engine you can find (at least here in the U.S.). There’s some style points and other rules and things the judges look for but you can read about that online or in the program.
If this is your first time to a drift event, bring sun glasses, ear plugs and a handkerchief or something to wear around your nose because you will inhale a lot of burnt rubber and possibly get some on you. My favoirte drivers are: Daigo Saito, Danny George, Fredrick Aasbo, Michael Essa, Odi (Aurimus Backhis) and Forrest Wang.
Long Beach is a great opener to gauge what’s going to happen during the season and it’s the place to be before Grand Prix. Each year the event gets bigger and bigger and the vendors always offer deals that weekend that you usually can’t find online or in-​store. The way it’s set-​up you don’t get a full view of the track and you only catch one or maybe two turns where you witness actual drift so I spend most of my time wondering through the Offset Kings car show or shopping for parts, clothes, freebies in the vendor section, or trying to score a photo with a famed driver (this year I met Daigo Saito who didn’t make top 16 and was just walking around). This is also during Coachella weekend so all the major douchebag bros are gone and you have a really nice crowd of just drift/​motorsport fans, enthusiasts and those that are just interested to see what drift is about etc.

Parking is generally $ 10, you can leave and come back as long as you get a handstamp (I suggest getting food and drinks outside during the 2 hour break between top 32 and top 16), and almost all vendors accept credit card and have a deal so it’s worth it just to shop around. I’d probably try V.I.P one of these years because it does get hot sitting in the stands. The best drift event in my opinon is at the house of Drift in Irwindale because you get a full view of the track and can get into the competition more since you see every move each car makes. I’m pretty sure this event will get even bigger next year so it’s worth it to get tickets early.

FREAKIN AMAZING! I MEAN THESE CARS PUT ON ONE OF THE BEST SHOWS I HAVE EVER SEEN!
Stood at the fence in two different places during the semi-​finals and finals and I think the standing room section is more fun than the seating section. The food prices were not too bad, for festival food, and the lemonades were okay.
Unlike other race car events, they are not racing for the entire time. And you get the smell of burned rubber and tires. And tons of smoke in your face! I had a great time and would love to come back. There also were these little remote control cars that were drifting on a mini track too. Oh so cute!
Drift reminds me how much I love cars. And, how much skill it takes to DRIFT.
I love Formula DRIFT 2015 in the street of LONG BEACH! LOVE IT!

this is our 4^th time coming out to Formula Drift… and its always sooo much fun, then we o it again at Irwindale for the finale! ONE MORE TIME!!!

This was my first time coming to Formula Drift or any sort of racing event. I was super excited to win a pair of tickets from Unilocal!The tickets were for Friday and Saturday, SCORE!
As we walked closer to the event from parking we could hear the screeching of the tires and the smell of the burning rubber. We couldn’t wait to enter to see what we were hearing.
Picking up our wristbands was easy and we were able to walk straight into the event with no problem. My son and I were pretty excited to see the cars rip through those turns. Your best bet is to head to the bleachers and sit towards the top so you could get the best view possible or just and watch on the big screens.
During the break we walked around and looked at the cars that were on display for their car show. (My son getting ideas on what he could do with his first car, sigh.) we also walked through the booths and were able to score some cool swag including earbuds, calendar and DVD from SCION.
This was a super cool way to spend the weekend.

I got the FORMULA now I want to DRIFT
This was my FIRST TIME at this event! I WON some tickets via Unilocal so I was SUPER DUPER excited! It was supposed to be for the Saturday Event ONLY but at the last minute Ryan C found out the tickets were for both Friday and Saturday Events! SOOOO COOL!
I was able to snag a couple friends to go with me for both Friday and Saturday… SCORE! I used to work over in one of the buildings by Catalina Landing where you take the boat over in LB so we would hear the cars going around for this event and the Grand Prix as we watch out the windows to try and see them, which made my being able to be here so much BETTER!
It was PERFECT WEATHER on both days and lucky for us we had the presence of mind to take the 710 to DTLB and NOT the streets down Ocean which were packed out with traffic because most of Shoreline was blocked off and ONLY certain streets were open! So we had NO traffic hassles at all and it made leaving from the parking structure UBER EASY and back to the freeway we went!
If you have seen Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift then you are well aware of what this EVENT is all about! If you haven’t then you might be a little confused. It is NOT cars racing but sets of car (in pairs of two) taking turns leading and following the other car in a DRIFT competition.
The drivers are judged on how much spin the tires can create to cause smoke. The more the better and sitting in the stands you can tell the difference in which team or driver is better cause you can smell the difference! They are also judged on how close they follow the leader (the closer the better), their drift, how close they get to the wall WITHOUT touching or slamming into it, how close they get to the cone WITHOUT touching or hitting it and doing all that while going at UBER SUPER DUPER speeds that would scare off your eyebrows off your face and come to a finish all WITHOUT hitting the other driver! SO MUCH FRICKIN FUN!
There were a TON and I do mean a HUGE CROWDS of on lookers but everyone was on there best behavior. Mostly guys of course but there were some chicks that LOVE cars there as well. Since I won tickets I was able to go to «Will Call’ and show ID and pick up my purple entrance bracelet which NOT only let me in but got me a seat to view the drifting!
What is it with cars and half necked women? I saw more T’s and AZZ than most guys see in two years! It was borderline obscene at a family event with children! Good Gracious! I felt like I was on some porn set at times! If your AZZ cheeks are hanging out that means your shorts are too small. If it looks as though you’re wearing a toddler’s shirt… yeah IT’S TOO FRICKIN SMALL so buy a bigger adult size! Buttons were hanging on for dear life on tops and bottoms. I’m surprised one didn’t come flying off and put someone’s eyes out! Goodness!
First we walked around and took picks of some of the cars in the race then because we were starving we went to find food! There was all sorts’ food like hot dogs, Cali Pizza Kitchen, some sort of burger place on the backside, George’s Greek Café from Pine which had gyros, and feta fries, and lots of beer and one place selling margaritas but they should have just been honest and said lemonade cause that is EXACTLY what it was! And they had the NERVE to put a wrist band on me so I would not be harassed by security! For what? Drinking lemonade? REALLY $ 12 for that! I should have just got a FRICKIN BEER which I would have enjoyed more and I don’t drink beer!
So after eating and looking at cars we went to find our seats. Sooo many people had their seats taken and some of the workers REFUSED to make people get up and move so they would go find other seats and an employee that did do their job would kick them out of those seats that didn’t belong to them. It was a bit insane but also funny! Everyone was totally trying to help the poor people that got kicked out there seats! Booo, boo! Hehe!
The DRIFTING was AHHHMAZING to see up close and personal! Michael Essa was of course the fav to win but he wasn’t my fav. I was going for Justin who was in one of the 2 FALKEN cars and almost made it to the end and some guy in a gold and silver car whose names escapes me at the moment! It was GREAT! I can’t BELIEVE I have NEVER seen this in person before! Several peeps who live in the neighboring apts were on their balconies watching for FREE! How COOL is that?
SUPER DUPER AAHHHMAZING EVENT and the weather was PERFECT! I will definitely try to go again next year!

Firstly, I would like to thank Unilocal for allowing me the opportunity to attend. I won a pair of 2 day passes, which was a surprise because I never even win in Bingo at family occasions or anything remotely as nice. Very grateful, excited and honored to write about my experience!
READY??? SET??? ??? GOOOO!!!
We high-​tailed it this morning down to the Long Beach Convention Center. My nephew and I approached the area a little lost but noticed all the tuned up cars passing by. That’s always a good thing.
GATES OPEN TO THE PUBLIC 10am. We got there 10:24am and the main parking garage was already at max capacity. Thank goodness we turned into the nearby garage that was the backup; $ 10 for parking cash.
[Tickets]
On foot we go and I remembered I won free tickets thanks to Unilocal!Right on! There happened to be a Jr cheer-​leading competition in that proximity so lines were confusing. I ended up just walking up to a FD tent and asked if it was the «will call tent», which it was.
The blue wristbands were cool and allowed us to breeze threw the general line. It was like a super fast pass at Disneyland but better.
***WARNING***
NOT A EXTREME CAR ENTHUSIAST. LOVE THE RACING AND MECHANICAL ASPECTS. OLD SCHOOL MARIO KART CHAMP. NOT HORRIBLE, BUT NEW. EVERYONE HAS TO START SOMEWHERE RIGHT? Unilocal just connects everyone to everything!
[Inside]
–Vendors
–giveaways (heck yeah I got some free stuff)
–FD models
–Sweet rides
–Open pits
–Further back was the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Street Course. Hella packed. Almost no seats in the stands left! By this time we were leaving and so I managed to watch from the fence right down in the action. Burnt rubber smell, radio announcer doing his thing, with fans going crazy. For a moment I witnessed two race cars making a turn then drifting. WOW. Both POWER and SOPHISTICATION could only describe. It was like a slo-​mo car ballad on ice. I did something similar once around my school (a skid) and ended up popping over the curb. This was before the FF3 movie if that helps at all.
**See photo– One team had an interesting orange vehicle. I saw crew members sticking photos onto the car. Families, self-​portraits, children, dogs etc. I asked if they were all of relation to the team. The guy was great and said mainly, they are the sponsors and it was a different way of them showing appreciation. Instead, of the usual, logos-​NASCAR in your face neon sticker. VERY COOL.**
[MODELS]
Shout-​out to all the models out there!
–Erica Nagashima– Always cool to say hello to and truly a kind individual. My favorite car model!
–Maureen Chen– She was busy promoting a booth and had time to squeeze in a photo. My cousin just got married down in TX and I was excited to get an autograph for him as a little bro-​to-​bro gift of a lifetime; she’s his favorite car model. She wasn’t signing today and I had no pens! ahh so unprepared and I was a honor student in school! In the end she took the time to give us a pose and congratulated him on his marriage.
[IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII FINISH LINE IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII]
FIRST PLACE FOR A FIVE STAR EXPERIENCE!!!
I had a great time and loved the stories of each team. One team came all the way from Houston, TX and his wife was part of the crew!
The diversity this event drew in (car people, non-​car people, families, kids, people around U. S and the world) was outstanding.
I would certainly go again if I had the $. This event would be a cool gift idea for someone. I sure hope more opportunities like what Unilocal promoted will allow more people to share this adventure!

First, the Formula Drift is awesome. If you are into drifting then you have to see it. But, my review is base on the fact they over sold the event.
Paid about $ 33 ($ 22 for event, rest is Ticketmaster fees) for a General Admission ticket. This makes you sit in the back on the last turn. It is hard to see the cars at this point. Not sure how much more where the tickets to sit closer? I wish there was a seating chart because I most likely would have not gone if I knew I was not going to be able to see the event. Second issue is there is no assigned seating but the ticket shows a seat number on them? Now, this is common just like the fair’s grand stand sitting but, the last event there was no sitting in the stands. I paid to sit in them but there is not sitting? Means one of two things. One they over sold the event or Staff Pro was just letting people in and not checking there tickets. They were selling at the window for $ 29 standing tickets. Means you can stand in the grass in front to watch event. This is were we had to stand on the last event and this also was packed.
They also have vendors there that hand out free stuff or you can purchase car parts. There was also cars on display and models.
Would I go again? Nope! Unless I paid/​got tickets to the better seats to see the event other wise just watch on livestream or Youtube.

AWESOME!!! Line was long, but it moved quick…

Awesommmeeee lol

The smell of churros and burnt rubber was actually exciting combined with the cheer of fans watching the drift racers. There was that edge of ur seat feeling of watching the cars whip around so close to each other and the walls and that fear of getting hit in the head by a shirt being cannonballed by a cute schwag girl. I was hoping for a cute hello kitty shirt to fly my way but no luck. I did feel super lucky to have the opportunity to see the race close up and see what drift racing is all about. Thanks AW and to KC from APR
*love the comment from travis to me about this review: «Drifting? soooo Asian!».*** ha!

Its like a swap meet mixed with a high power precision drift event. I wasn’t let down at all. My eyes were constantly being stimulated by the beautiful weather, High Rise City Scapes, cars, and interesting people. People watchers like me will definitely get a kick out of the people apparently pulled from a cool subculture spurred from hip hop music and import racing.
The actual Drift race is extremely exciting to watch. 2 powerful cars go side by side as they maneuver through a fast and furious, yes I said it, 3 turn run that is actually part of the Long Beach Grand Prix Race Track. Its Fast paced so you wont get bored and Lots of burning rubber that is ultra good for your skin, Notttt. Very Cool!
Big thanks to Rehv Clothing for getting me tickets to this High Power Event that I wont soon forget.