For those of you unfamiliar with Australia's Northern Territory, you might be interested to know that this part of the world is treated to something most of us can only dream of - no open road speed limit. Yep, that's right. Here, you can rest your right foot on the floor - and leave it there! Sounds like heaven? Well, it is in a way - but, in the 'Territory, it's a tough ask trying to build a stinkin' hot streeter to make the most of it...
Joe Evans - who lives about 250 kays east of Darwin - owns one of those long-legged beasties. Joe's a Holden man through-and-through and has owned such ferocious Lions as an HQ Monaro, HJ 253 ute, SLR 5000, VC SLE Commodore, VL Commodore, VP Calais - even a Sandman panel van! His only encounter with foreign metal has been with an EB Ford Falcon (which is, apparently, still a bit of a sore point!)
Joe and his wife Deb got in early on the VT V8 bandwagon, purchasing this Bermuda Blue VT SS 195i in September 1997 - the VT Commodore's "baby" years. Due to huge customer demand - the pair ended up taking delivery of the vehicle right on the other side of the continent, in Adelaide. It was worth the trip though. This immediate eye-catcher came stuffed with dual airbags, CD player, LSD, and - o'course - power glass. All the desirables you could possibly want... Though, as Joe readily admits, "after some time, I started to want more." It was the usual story. The problem was - being 250km out of Darwin - where do you get parts and who do you trust to work on your car?
One of the easiest mods Joe could perform was to first plug-in an aftermarket chip. However, with the new maps set into place, this apparently smoothed out the acceleration - but not much else. Blast! After a fair bit of phoning around for further advice, Joe then moved up to a straight-through rear muffler assembly, accompanied by yet another custom chip. And - finally - with these two mods in place, things were starting to get rolling.
With a bit more poke, it was time to tie the VT down onto those no-limit NT roads. So - again - after tireless research, a complete set of lowered springs were installed. Unfortunately, though, this was Strike Number 2. Despite numerous professional recommendations, those linear rate slammed coils absolutely destroyed the car's NVH levels. Not too keen on putting up with this for too long, he soon hauled these out and replaced them with a combination of King springs and adjustable Koni dampers. Luckily, Joe liked what he got this time round. "It's not too low and it's also an improvement over the original NVH," he says. Hot on the heels of this, the VT's odd rear camber angles were sorted out with an aftermarket camber kit (which Joe also modified to allow further adjustment). A front strut brace is the last item Joe's installed to make a difference to the handling department and - despite his initial scepticism - "the effect was quite noticeable".
What later turned out to be a fairly major affiliation with the Gold Coast's Parker Performance then kicked off with merely a few inquisitive emails. In one particular communication, Joe told them he was planning to come down for a visit and check out their exhaust systems in January 2000 - though, after learning where he lived, a few of the Parker guys had serious doubts he'd rock up. Turns out, he did - right on time! In this first visit, the Parker crew (recognising how far Joe had driven) instantly responded to his request for an exhaust, cold air intake with a King Dragon filter as well as plugs, leads and (another!) chip.
"Driving the car was now a totally new experience," enthuses Joe. It was simply unbelievable. And to make damn sure he wasn't just imagining it - he chucked the blue 5.0 onto a TAFE chassis dyno while he was down on the 'Coast. The result - 185kW at the back burners. And, jeez, it sounded fantastic while it was busy doing it...
Obviously, Joe came back from his Gold Coast trip mightily impressed. He's been called meticulous before, but - at last - he'd found another company that could stack up to the scrutiny. But back into the monotony of daily grind, Joe now couldn't help thinking it'd be nice to have some decent brakes - something a little "different", like the Parker Stealth 001. So after some discussion with Debbie (who wanted to keep Joe happy now that he was nearly 40!), he had the car transported down to Parker's to go whole-hog and have it converted into Stealth Number 002. It was another 4000km journey that the VT could actually sit back and relax for...
The Parker Progression
The answer to Joe's big brake ponderings materialised as a pair of Parker's 330mm slotted front rotors teamed with 4-pot Brembo calipers (complete with stainless steel braided lines). Meanwhile, the rears were upgraded to drilled and slotted discs of the standard diameter. Ferrari pads went in at both ends (exotic enough for ya?).
Now came what is the latest bunch of engine tweaks. Parker added their own modified airflow meter, a ported throttle body and 4>1 headers leading into a twin custom 62.5mm stainless system (with race cats, resonators and straight-through mufflers). Oh and - yep - the chip was again re-programmed! Then, from the flywheel to the pavement, the only other mod is an altered auto trans shift point. There are plans afoot to move from the present 3.07 to a 3.46:1 diff as well.
As you can see, the VT's vast interior acreage has been beautified with a full Stealth re-trim of the seats and door linings - giving the car a truly classy feel. In addition, there's a triple window 250 km/h cluster with a silver surround, leather steering wheel and shift lever. Detailing even extends to the custom Stealth floor mats and boot lid lining.
The sound system side of things is represented by a Kenwood double DIN DPX400 head unit, and Joe's currently in the throws of fitting a Sony amp and speakers. This will round things out nicely.
Next came the exterior visual package that identifies the Stealth model over the conventional HSV enhanced product. This Stealth 002 kit includes full set of skirts and front and rear spoilers. Each guard is fed plump with custom 17 x 8s (with Stealth centre caps) and meaty 235/45 Bridgestones. A pair of 100W driving lights also illuminates those long stretches of NT tarmac (which happen to pass very quickly!).
So how "special" is the car, you ask. After all, there are now heaps of modified VT V8s kicking about the place. Well, consider the fact that Joe himself drove his pride-and-joy as an official steward's car at the 2000 V8 SuperCars at Hidden Valley and you'll start to understand. It really is as Joe points out - it's an "integrated enhancement of a production vehicle that has a degree of uniqueness". Testament to this, even a couple of big names in Australian motorsport were having a very, very close look...
Contact:
Parker Performance
+61 7 5564 7066
