Never looking rushed or hurried behind the wheel, Nobuteru Taniguchi exuded cool in a way most racing drivers simply couldn’t. From the outside, his graceful, balletic driving style was aesthetically pleasing, and watching him meter out the perfect amount of steering lock and throttle was like watching an old master paint. Seen here in a Nissan S15 modified by HKS – “Nob” has always been a big Silvia fan – he shows, in full detail, how one can drift precisely and beautifully without excessive aggression in the cockpit.

Charging down the straights, the HKS Silvia shows it’s no slouch in the propulsion department. As its SR20 has been fitted with a much larger GT28 turbo, the estimated output is somewhere around 450 horsepower. Obviously, this car has been extensively lightened, which makes for a power-to-weight ratio not far from a Ferrari Enzo. With a larger turbocharger in use, Nob occasionally clutch-kicks to bring the revs up and spin the tires, but once they’re spinning and the car is given room to accelerate, the potent Nissan powerplant does not disappoint.

Die-hard drifting fans will remember this car from the early days of D1.

However, the focus of this video is not on the powerplant, but on Taniguchi’s driving ability. With progressive inputs, he applies the throttle and keeps his foot pinned longer than other drifters might, instead using subtle flicks of the wheel to upset the rear end. As he meters the spinning steering wheel in his hands, his fluid technique allows him to determine the correct amount of lock for every bend. Almost as if he’s dancing with the car, he predicts every action and reaction, carefully timing his movements to rotate the Nissan around each corner with a flowing, gradual line. Though people often describe drifting as an expression of raw aggression behind the wheel, Taniguchi’s calm and free-flowing style shows that there’s more to the perfect drift than that.