Mean Mister!
From the workshop of Ray Hall Turbocharging comes this mouth-wateringly advanced AW11 Toyota MR2. Delivered to Australia in 1987, this Mister 2 has been hit up the backside with a sophisticated 20 valve turbocharged induction system. Yep, you could say this motor likes to breath! The bottom end is a large 1.8 litre 7AF-E unit, which has specially been prepared with 4A-GZE oil cooled pistons, Argo custom rods and 3/8 inch ARP bolts. The engine's static compression ratio is a generous 8.9:1, which ensures excellent off-boost performance. Atop of this relatively unconventional block is the DOHC, five valve per cylinder 4A-E cylinder head, which went on relatively easily - except for some significant coolant system changes.
The 20 valver's flow is bolstered by the latest generation Garrett GT25 twin ball-bearing turbo, and a water-to-air intercooler is used - since it's a bit awkward fitting a big air-to-air core into a rear engine'd car. Fuelling is left to an Autronic SMC computer, which fires four Celica turbo injectors. And what's the power output you ask? Well, 18 psi will see it deliver a solid 300 horses at 7000 rpm - which makes this one truly spectacular street package. Boost pressure is generated from as little as 1000 revs and it peaks out at only 2700 - but from 3200 to 7400 revs, you'd better HANG ON. She really likes to do the burn up the countryside!
Get a glimpse of this terrific machine and various other turbo related good-stuff at http://www.turbofast.com.au
Supercar Scare!
Sydney's Supercar Experience has a couple of vehicles that'd any hoon would love to have. And - while that's obviously great for them - you get the opportunity to get in on some of the excitement. At last, you've got the chance to go for some hot laps in those V8 racers that have always seemed like such a fantasy.
The first vehicle is car 44 - a race-proven VS Commodore Supercar. This car was actually the 1995 Bathurst privateer winner and has won numerous other accolades - it's no show pony, that's for sure! Its injected 5.0 litre Chev puts out 600 horsepower and all of its torque (a full 569Nm!) passes through a Hollinger 6-speed 'box to a Ford 9 inch differential (with ratios ranging from 2.9 to 4.5:1, depending on the track). The car eats up the bends with ease, thanks to its combination of MacPherson front struts (with adjustable Proflex shocks) and trailing arm/Watts link rear end with Proflex coil-overs. The 17 x 11 Speedline rims hide massive 356mm front discs with Harrop calipers, and 330mm discs at the rear (also with Harrop squeezers). But then, they're the kind of brakes you need when you can accelerate to a top speed of 295 km/h...
There's been a new addition to the Supercar Experience family, in the form of this Bathurst V8 Tourer. Also a VS model, this car packs a 5.0 litre Holden mill with alloy heads, a modified Edelbrock manifold, MoTeC management and it's good for an output of around 400 horses. Heading back, a Super T10 4-speed is fitted in conjunction with a full spool centre Borg Warner diff. Race standard handling is provided by adjustable Bilstein shocks and Quadrant Racing springs. The brakes on this car measure "only" 349mm at the front of this car - but it uses all of their stopping power!
"The noise, the acceleration, the braking, the grip on cornering is something that can only be fully appreciated from within the car," states the Supercar Experience website. So if you're in or around Sydney, check 'em out - or you can simply hop here - http://www.thesupercarexperience.com.au/index.html
A Hot Hoover?!
Meet Hoover. Hoover is a heavily breathed on '93 model LT1 Corvette - not a vacuum cleaner, as you might have thought! Owned by Philip Tobin of the US, this is a "full weight daily driver with no boost and no juice" - nevertheless, it runs a 10.6 second quarter! Not that that level of grunt was the original plan, though. In the early days, Philip was simply after a 12 second daily driver - he didn't realise it was possible to have such a reliable, tractable 10 second streeter!
He does now.
So how's it done? Easy...You will need the following ingredients: a 3 7/8 inch stroker crank (giving 401ci), 6-inch Trick Flow rods, JE custom racing pistons, JE DuraMoly rings, Cam Motion solid roller cam, K-Motion springs and AFR heads (with additional porting) containing 2.055 and 1.625 inch valves.
Add to that an Auto Specialties underdrive pulley, 1300 cfm throttle body, ported intake manifolding, 36lb SVO injectors, an adjustable regulator, extensive computer re-mapping, Accel 300+ leads, Opti-Spark Eliminator, a Meziere electric water pump and a K&N filter (complete with forced air induction). The exhaust will need a pair of full length Hooker headers, Tri-Flow piping and DynoMax mufflers.
Behind this, Hoover uses a Vigilante 3400 stall convertor, 4L60 auto trans and a shorter 3.75:1 final drive - and all is working well. And, of course, to get that sort of power to the bitumen, you'll need to fit drag radials.
But while Philip does have himself a 10 second streeter to go collect the groceries in, it hasn't all been plain sailing... One weekend, Philip installed a new camshaft, but had to skip the degreeing-in part of the process (after not bringing the necessary gear when it was needed). And, sure enough, later that day - while hammering alongside his brother on the highway! - there was a very loud, unpleasant noise. "At about 6300 rpm, BOOM and a trail of smoke!" A piston had exploded in a big way. Bits of the piston were even pushed up through the intake and swallowed by the other cylinders. "What a mess," recalls Philip. And - just as he had feared - he soon discovered that the cause was that the valves were touching on the pistons. It was a very painful lesson!
However, this major engine expiry was just the thing that was needed to prompt Philip into stroking Hoover. And, as you might have guessed, Philip was very thorough when it came time to assemble all of those aforementioned components. And yes, the cam was thoroughly dialled-in and clay tested...
See Philip's build-up notes and more of Hoover at http://members.xoom.com/p_tobin/Hoover/ or http://phil.tobin.net/Hoover
Big Brag Session
Check out the Australian Nissan SVD's website at http://www.svd.asn.au to link up to some of the owners of the best Nissans in the country. Formed in '92, the club caters for any hi-po late-model Nissan - such as...
Andrew Livermore's R3 burnout machine. Here's how Andrew killed one Sunday arvo last year (seven days before having his license suspended). He "pulled the wheels off the old man's trailer, got a few mates together, and headed out on a back road." The rest should be obvious... "Geez it stokes up good," 'fesses Andrew! But perhaps it's a little too good - Andrew lost his licence for speeding and (of course!) doing burnouts. One was even in front of an unmarked cop car... D'oh!
David Sandell says the look on the face of one HSV Cubsport driver was priceless: one of sheer disappointment and disbelief. You see, David's R31 Skyline Ti has more than just a little extra power under the bonnet - it's hit up the rear end by a hard-boostin' T03! "From the outside it looks just like another Skyline with a different set of wheels, but under the bonnet sits the original RB30 with a few slight modifications..."
For a start there's a big air-to-air intercooler (the largest that would fit), the afore-mentioned turbocharger and - just for something different - twin throttle bodies, each with an extra injector up-stream. Teamed with a full 3-inch system, David claims 0-100 is done in around 5.5 seconds and that the Skyline should be good for 13s. Not bad, eh? Braking has also been improved with R31 coupe fronts (which are the same as fitted to the Aussie GTS).
That's comforting to know, coz 12s are soon to come!
For Shane Scicluna, it all started when a mate gave him a boot spoiler from an old Silhouette. After discovering it was a little bent, he replaced it with another spoiler from a Nissan importer. The only glitch was this one was the wrong colour, and it was gonna be difficult to match the factory paint, since it had faded. But rather than spray the spoiler in a custom mix-to-match, Shane sprayed the car and the spoiler! Prior to this, though, he picked up a few more goodies from the importer - like GT-spec bonnet, grille, headlights, taillights, autospoiler, bumper and guards. Then the whole pack - including the rear spoiler! - got doused in Nissan Pacific Glow, over Ford Gunmetal Grey. Next came a set of 17-inch Viper wheels, wearing 45 series Pirelli P-Zeros and a good suspension knee-capping! The look was really together.
Inside are Impreza seats, racing pedals, carbon fibre gear knob, GTS-X steering wheel and a Pioneer stereo. Even more sound is made by a Rush Unifilter (with a cold air feed) and a sports exhaust finished with a 4-inch tip!
Lorenzo Zanini wanted a R33 Skyline GT-R, but - like most of us - that little voice inside his head kept saying, "you're a dreamer." The price was simply too steep. Then while passing a car yard one morning he spied - by luck - an immaculate red R33 GTS-T. And, after ringing later that day, the well-priced R33 arrived at Renz's work ready for a test drive. With only 27,000 kilometres showing, it turned out to be a real pearl. It even came packed with adjustable Tein racing suspension, race pads and (possibly) a hi-po clutch and quick shift. Needless to say, it was snapped up pretty quick...
Today, Renz seems rapt in his new acquisition. It's a monster. Even the big 255 rear rubber can't stop the awesome car from pulling second gear power oversteer manoeuvres, and the 180 km/h limiter is said to appear in a blink of an eye. But it'll be even more accelerative once Renz installs some of the parts he's already got - like a 3inch exhaust and blow-off valve. Plus, with the planned bigger intercooler and 10 psi boost, it should be punching out somewhere over 200kW.
And that's knock, knock, knockin' on GT-R's door!
|