What's happened to the swarm of little hot hatches that used be oh so popular here in Australia? Where are all the sub-2-litre turbocars that used to rip around blowing wind up the skirts of fat V8s? Take a look around, my friends, they've all dried up - all we've got now are big wheel'd, exhaust tip'd pretenders...
One Sydney resident, however - who shall remain anonymous - is a self-confessed "fan of the underdog." He's opted to get his adrenaline rush behind the wheel of - of all things - Toyota's little Echo; the cute 3-door hatch model, not ultra-ugly mutant mini sedan. Now the Echo 3-door isn't a bad machine even in standard trim. With its 2NZ-FE VVT-i DOHC, 16-valve 1.3-litre four capable of producing 63kW, it won't set the world on fire but it's certainly a good, strong base for future mods. Toyota's VVT-i variable valve system also comes in handy for masking the relative lack of bottom-end torque that usually comes with the aftermarket's hunt for peak power.
Having bought this Echo 1.3 automatic new in February 2001, our man - let's just call him Scalper - got pretty much straight into mods. The first items that copped a seeing to were the factory 14-inch steelie rims an' hub caps. Scalper went all-out with a 'plus-3 fitment' set of 17 x 7 Alstars (Aldstat copies) together with Firestone 215/35 boots - try fitting anything more impressive than that under the guards of an Echo!
Complimenting those standout rims is a highly effective combination of Toyota OE side skirts and rear spoiler, a Sportivo front bumper (complete with driving lights) and aftermarket 'ice' taillights. De-badge the rear, tint the windows and drop the body down a couple of inches (using Pedders springs) and you've got one incredibly desirable looking Echo.
Anybody that finds displeasure in the sight of this Echo needs to take their head out of their pants.
Local tuning company - BD4s - was then entrusted to raise the power level to something that would cause local XR Falcon and hot Commodore drivers to drop their burgers while attempting to gain ground on this little ripper. After a bit of research, Paul of BD4s decided that the best way to go was to fit a Japanese HKS turbo kit - a kit designed for their local market 2NZ-powered Toyota BB light commercial! Two weeks after Paul made the order, the airfreighted packaging arrived with a GT25 turbocharger, all necessary feed and return lines, a cast exhaust manifold, compressor-to-engine cross-over pipe and a Mini F-CON fuel-only piggyback computer. Installation was reasonably straightforward.
After the fitment of the basic turbo kit, a Hypertune-fabricated air-to-air intercooler (around 2½ inches thick) was mounted in the front bumper cavity and 2-inch mandrel pipes were ran to and fro. In addition to chilling charge-air, the polished 'cooler looks a treat - and it's the last thing you'd expect to see in the nose of an Echo! Exhaust piping also needed to be up-rated to suit, so BD4s sent the car off for a full turbo-back 2¼-inch mandrel system with a high-flow cat and straight-through rear muffler. The exhaust tip was kept reasonably tame - just a 2¼-inch curved chromie. An aftermarket pod-type air filter is on the cards for the near future, but - at present - the compressor sucks filtered air out of the oddly shaped factory airbox.
The turbo kit, being designed to fit a small commercial van, is engineered to run fairly low boost - only 0.4 Bar. However, that's not such a bad thing because nobody's 100 percent sure how strong the Echo's auto trans is. Plus, with the engine still running its factory 10.5:1 compression ratio, a low boost setting also ensures a minimal chance of detonation. The intercooler also helps in this department.
So, with the low-boost turbo kit fitted in addition to an aftermarket intercooler and exhaust, the 4-speed auto Echo has responded with a creditable 97.5PS (72kW) recorded at the wheels of BD4's DynoJet Model 248C chassis dyno. This graph compares the standard power curve (green plot), the bare HKS turbo kit (blue plot) and the kit with the exhaust and intercooler (red plot). Lean mixtures are said to be causing the irregularity that you can see at the top of the current curve - Paul tells us a re-map or the fitment of a programmable injection system would iron it out and give the flexibility for increased boost.
Even as it is, with around 61 percent more power at the wheels than stock, the 850kg Echo drives like a new machine.
And the last area of focus is the interior. As much for colour-coding as anything else, Scalper has fitted a big pair of Sparco Carlos Sainz rally buckets - supremely comfortable, they're just the thing for everyday driving. Scalper also informs us that he plans to get the door linings colour-coded and trimmed red. Instrumentation is left stock - it would look a bit weird to have an Autometer monster tacho bolted alongside the Echo's central digital display, wouldn't it...
Music is pumped around inside the Toyota's airy cabin using a combination of a Panasonic CD/tuner, two Kenwood amps, Kenwood 4-inch fronts and rear 6 x 9s and front and a Kicker sub in a sealed enclosure. It's a punchy, quality system that doesn't completely ruin the car's power-to-weight strength.
As an everyday streetcar, we've gotta say we love what's been done to this little beastie. It rides well, it's got plenty of ground clearance, it's reliable, economical, looks tops (without going overboard) and it's got a fair swag of surprise power. Justifiably, Scalper's very happy with the result so far. "They're quite a nippy car in standard trim, but this one just flies now. And it'll be great when we sort out the mixtures in the top-end."
Ahh, it's so refreshing to see a build-up car that's so successful, daring and innovative. That's what it's all about.
Contact:
BD4s
+61 2 9879 3322
HyperTune
0402972674
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