When thinking of the 'GT' badge, some think of 5.8 litres, sucking carbs, muscle cars, big horsepower and throaty V8 rumblings. But this is a new age, an age of bulging body kits and a plethora of plastic performance. So it's refreshing to see a car where performance isn't measured in decibels but horsepower. And Sydney's Nick Vass defiantly falls into the latter! His Starlet GT is capable of humbling fancier opponents with a 13.3-second quarter mile - performance that any Ford GT would respect.
Nick imported his stock 1992 Toyota Starlet GT from Japan via Autostyle Imports, with the nimble 1.3-litre turbocharged 4E-FTE pumping out 96hp at the wheels. The car was complied in Queensland and shipped to Sydney. Not being shy of the drag strip, two days after the car rolled off the boat, Nick was out at Eastern Creek and ran a 15.1-quarter mile.
The Starlet was feeling quite light on the road, so handling was attacked. K-Mac Springs all round, with the front lowered 2 inches and the rear 1.5 inches, and the front hardened 30 per cent and the rear by 50 per cent. A Whiteline front camber kit and rear sway bar were then added, with Nick saying, "I highly recommend the rear sway bar - an amazing difference." A few months later he was back at Eastern Creek, this time with a relocated K&N air filter and a lowering job for traction. Nick was then able to pull a 14.7 at Eastern Creek on street tyres and standard boost.
Not satisfied with the performance of the Starlet, Nick started looking for a larger turbo, as his standard turbo, a CT9 "was shit", and dropping boost under full load at the top end. This is not surprising, as the Starlet GT has the unfortunate design of having the cat converter placed right after the turbo.... sensational if you like heaps of backpressure and standard boost! So, looking for a cheap replacement, Nick was initially after a GT25, but due to cash restraints, a T25 was sourced from a 180SX and fitted by Tony Rigoli. A new exhaust manifold was made and then powder coated. Upgrading the exhaust was essential. A 2.5-inch dump pipe was fabricated and then connected into the standard system. At this point the car was put on the dyno with 129hp at the wheels and with the clutch slipping as well.
Nick wanted to be one of the quickest front wheel drive street cars around, and being a street car meant it had to be reliable and legal. A cat needed to be inserted somewhere in the exhaust system, so the remaining system was replaced with a complete 2.5-inch system from the dump pipe to the rear muffler, with a 3-inch cat tucked away in between. The 2.5-inch exhaust system was used to decrease backpressure, while improving airflow through the turbo high into the rev range, as this was a problem with the old turbo. To help the reliability, the standard intercooler was replaced with a custom front mount intercooler, 600mm x 200mm x 64mm, "Surprisingly there was actually no detonation with the old intercooler. It's just that it was getting too hot with the increased boost," says Nick.
An HKS Super Sequential blow off valve was installed, "to keep the turbo spinning, as it's only a 1.3-litre and it's a big turbo". Struggling under the demand of the new set-up was the standard computer, so it was replaced with a MT8 Microtech. The free-flowing exhaust system then enabled the boost to be wound up. How much I asked, "Hmmmm depends, 5psi for a 180SX (hehehehe), 20psi for GTRs. On the street it runs 12 and 15psi. On the track it runs 18-20 psi." With that sort of boost the slipping clutch was also replaced with a standard item.
With the car complete, Nick decided to drive the car from Sydney up to Queensland for the Jamboree - it's a street car after all! And what would you do if the car blew up in Queensland? I asked. "I would probably have snapped it and done a full engine rebuild," came the reply.
After over a thousand kilometres of scenic Australia, it was down to business for the Jamboree. The car was placed on Rigoli's dyno for final tuning and pumped out a massive 191hp at the front wheels at 20psi. It didn't take long to find the Starlet's Achilles heel though - most 180SX drivers know the limitations with the T25 and high boost. After ten dyno runs, the turbo started to develop a small noise, an indication of its imminent demise. So a GT25 was sourced and was fitted the night before the Jamboree. "My mate George and I finished putting it together; it took us about 8 hours. Not bad for first-timers, he-he! Tony Rigoli rebuilt his 10.2-second Rex engine and Dominic fitted it in the car in the same time period. I am not sure if we were slow or they were fast. We were all in the work shop in Queensland until 5am putting the cars together and chasing a few guys for some runs."
The work paid off, the Starlet pulling a wheel-spinning 13.3-quarter mile at 108.8 mph. A 60-foot time of 2.3 seconds shows there is plenty of room for improvement.
Back in Sydney, Nick was hungry for a 12 second quarter mile pass. Slicks were located and the Starlet was back on Rigoli's dyno for tuning with C16 race fuel. After the first run, it was quite obvious that the standard injectors were leaning out high in the rev range. They were then replaced with Supra injectors, and a second run started. With boost set to 20psi, and the larger Supra injectors in place, the Starlet rolled out a whopping 210hp at the front wheels!
A 210hp Starlet, not bad for a little hairdresser car! We can't wait to see it at the drag strip!
Contacts:
Autostyle Imports
0414 444 930
Rigoli boys
+61 2 9726 6662
Micks Metalcraft
+61 2 9755 7137
