Rally Rockets
It seems people can't resist the temptation to get involved in some of the most unlikely and cheap fast cars. Take the hotly contested Pioneer Daihatsu Rally Challenge 2000 in the UK for example.
Now in its third year, this one-make series is open only to the three cylinder Daihatsu Cuore (Mira) Avanzato monster. These 760kg hatches are propelled by a 660cc, 16 valve, fuel injected intercooled turbo engine that's good for a whole 75 horses.
With maximum traction delivered through their constant four wheel drive system, 0-60 mph can be dispatched in 8.5 seconds and they'll wind all the way out to 9500 rpm! At each corner are Bilstein adjustable suspension and competition bushes, and being a rough 'n tough rally car, there's a Dural alloy sump guard to make sure the hi-po three doesn't lose its life-blood. Big 13 inch Competition alloy wheels and Yokohama gravel/tarmac tyres are chosen for rolling duties.
Ian O'Connor has been in contact with us recently and he's heavily involved in the series. He and co-driver John Cotton compete against 10 other teams in the Degarth Daihatsu sponsored vehicle. His first year behind the wheel of a Daihatsu was in the 1999 season, but he's certainly no beginner thanks to the experience gained through being part of the winning crew in the 1985 Lada Championship and third in Skoda in 1986. Although he's also driven in many club events since 1985, he claims he's just in the Daihatsu Challenge for fun. (Of course, winning never hurts though!).
To get all the info on the Challenge and to check out some crazy 660cc micros, go to http://www.protrakcms.co.uk/
Viper Teeth
Dave from Seattle owns one of the biggest, baddest American grunters around. It's red, it's loud, it's low and, yes, pretty darn fast. So fast, in fact, his insurance company even hand-wrote him a letter asking him to drive defensively! Dave bought this '92 Dodge Viper RT/10 beast in August 1997 with 25,000km behind it. It came complete with a 90 degree V10 engine with cast aluminium block and heads, magnesium intake manifold, forged steel crank, forged aluminium pistons and four bolt mains.
Its capacity? A massive 488ci (7.99 litres)! And although this sequentially injected ten breathes through 2 valves per cylinder, it's still plenty strong with 470hp (at 5150 rpm) and a fuel cut set at 6200. Dave's also put in a set of K&N air filters and replaced the throttle body inlet tube/resonator chamber assembly with two straight sections of 2.75" ID hose. In addition, the car has a Borla cat-back exhaust system (which was installed by the original owner) and a short, aftermarket carbon-fibre shifter. A big six speed box takes the heavy brunt of this 8 litre bruiser (first gear can even take you to 89 km/h!).
That muscular body is constructed in fibre-reinforced thermoset composite, which is draped over a tubular spaceframe with centre spine structure. It's tight too, with a static torsional rating of 5000 pound-feet per degree. Suspending this 1485kg vehicle is a fully independent system with unequal length control arms and Koni coil-overs.
Thirteen inch Brembos (with no ABS) and four pot front calipers slow the charging train. Under the back, the R/T is equipped with what's said to be the widest tyre in production - 335/35s! The fronts are only (?!) 275/40s and they're all mounted on aggressive 17 inch alloys. On the road, the Viper can haul from 0 to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds and it can blast over the quarter in an estimated 12.6 seconds. However, under those conditions it also returns around 8.8 mpg... But what Dave really loves is that he can drive a racecar to work every day. Something most of us dream about.
And when situated in a parking lot, he finds picking up his toddler son from the passenger's side baby seat often arches a few eyebrows. No surprise!
Go to http://home.att.net/~pingvinas/viper.html but don't get bitten.
We Love Suzi
Okay, we don't have many pics of it but nonetheless we're sure you'll get something big outa this little critter. "4 Sum Fun" is a 1981 Suzuki Hatch owned by Scott Sach, which he's converted to into a full chassis drag racing beast. Its powered into the record books by nothing other than a Mitsubishi Magna 2.6 litre four cylinder - "turbocharged, of course".
It's backed by a 2-speed Powerglide trans (with a 6500 rpm convertor) and a Hilux rear end. As Scott puts it, "this combination has pushed the tiny car to the front of four-cylinder drag racing in Australia and has recorded the fastest 4-cylinder Super-Sedan passes yet seen in this country."
Weighing only 800 kilograms (including driver), the car has an 80 inch wheelbase and has kept straight long enough to record a best time so far of 9.01 seconds at 148 mph! That's a whole 0.4 of a second and 10 mph better than the current Australian SS/CC record!
What's the number for the nut house?!
Kickin' VR6
Dave Moak's 1997 VW Golf GTI VR6 Drivers Edition is a truly terrific all-round streeter and auto-crosser. Draped in electrifying Jazz Blue, the six cylinder Volksie really hauls ass with a Garrett v.10 EPROM and a custom modified airbox with a K&N drop-in air filter.
Under the bonnet, the only visual changes are a custom painted engine cover and gas-charged supports. There's no real indication of the potency of a 2.8 litre injected six in a humble hatch.
Driven mainly on the street, this car gets everyone's attention with Borbet Type T 16 inch rims (with VW logo tyre valve caps) and an Autobahn sunroof air deflector. Not much needed to be done, coz the hot Golf already looks like the aftermarket guys have gotten hold of it. Spoilers, skirts, bee-sting aerial - it's already there ex-factory. Auto-crossing is another of this car's common roles, where the four 205/45 Dunlop SP Sport W-10s have proven to grip tenaciously - and those bitey Mintex Redback pads perform equally well.
To keep Dave in position when the inside rear wheel is being hiked high 'round corners, a Schroth Rallye 4 harness is installed. Also inside, you can hear a Blaupunkt Las Vegas head unit working with top quality JBL GT6.0c front speakers. Mmm sweet.
See Dave's car and the other OKI VW Guys storm Kil-Kare Speedway in their Golfs at http://www.globalsite.net/dmoak/
Zed With Zing
In terms of power the Z32 model's awesome twin turbo quad-cam 3 litre V6 easily leads the famous Zed series. It delivers a throbbing 206kW of pure excitement - along with higher peak torque than the R32 and R33 Skyline GT-R! In Australia though, Nissan never gave us the TT'd vee-six - only got the atmo version. But thanks to today's Japanese imports, we can now see supercars such as David and Jacqueline's modified Zed challenging our traditional local performance heroes. Mr WRX and HSV, you betta watch out!
Country town Victoria is blessed with this 1993 300ZX, which arrived on the wharf with a lowly 42,000km behind it. Another big plus was that the car came ready to rock having been tuned by NODA Engineering in Japan. The result? Around 450 horses and the ability to blast from zero to 100 in 4.1 seconds. Yeah!!!
This stampede of horses came from a single K&N air filter, HKS additional injectors and a HKS AIC additional injector controller, HKS EVCIII electronic valve controller and HKS blow off valves. The twin turbos are modified for more flow, there's an A'PEXi stainless steel exhaust system, upgraded intercoolers plus a twin-plate ceramic clutch to put power to the rear without slip. Since arriving, the car has also received a Z Spares EPROM upgrade. Also upgraded is the suspension, with KYB competition springs and adjustable shocks - just the thing to provide "racecar" handling. Interior gadgetry runs to an HKS turbo timer, A'PEXi multi-checker, GReddy boost and EGT gauges, carbon fibre dash and gear knob, 10-stack Sony CD and even sheepskin seat inserts to keep one's buttocks warm and comfortable.
So next time you're out cruising country Victoria, we'd advise that you watch out for a low flying Zed decked out with an F40 rear wing and a slick set of 17s. Please, for your sake, simply pull over to the side of the road - or risk being blown off it!
See David and Jacqueline's 450hp 300ZX fill the pages at http://home.netc.net.au/~dbmatt/
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