Toyota Supra - New Kids On The Block

[JoeThaMan]

Toyota Supra - New Kids On The Block
Unless you can prove otherwise, Keith and Adam Carr have put together the most powerful and fastest Toyota Supra Mark III the UK's ever seen. It recorded 571 bhp at just 1 bar of boost on its first trip to Santa Pod dragstrip and notched up an impressive 13.1-second quarter-mile time at 113 mph. That's without the help of nitrous oxide and remaining within road-legal spec.
"We pulled up, let some air out of the tires, changed the induction pipe, removed the silencer and then started our runs," Adam says. Nine runs later, without any problems other than excessive wheelspin, they posted multiple low 13-second times. Adam described a typical run: "I dropped the clutch at 4,000 rpm and then tried to feed it in to keep the wheels from spinning. We've got all the power but we just can't use it. We were crossing the finish line at 7,000 rpm in third." Experienced drag racers advised them to switch to smaller wheels with proper drag slicks, which would ultimately lead to low 12s with little trouble. More suitable wheels and tires were ordered upon arriving home.
Prior to the Supra appearing in the Carr's garage, neither had ever owned a Japanese car, never mind a modified one, or even competed on a dragstrip. So why now? "It was the look mainly-that old-school thing," Keith explained. "We went to look at a few but they were only in average condition. We just wanted a Mark III Turbo-I've always loved big engines and this came from a local garage for 3,000."
Then Adam and Keith paid their first trip to Santa Pod. The rest is history. Immediately, they were hooked on the quarter-mile drug and realized the potential their Supra just might have. The Supra was soon taken off the road for performance modifications.
"We thought, 'great, now we can do a bit of tuning' but it went a bit too far," he remembers with a grin. That's an understatement. Originally the plan was to simply convert the Toyota into a fast road car, suitable for weekends at the dragstrip, but it has since become nothing short of a dedicated drag car, albeit road legal, although not the sort of road legal a commuter would want to take for more than a few roundabouts. "First, we planned to just work on the head but when we removed it, it wasn't that worn so we decided to take the whole engine out and go the whole hog," Keith says. "We bought some mild tuning parts and then thought, 'let's go all the way,' so they were never even fitted."
Adam hung out on Internet forums, discussing specs with fellow Mark III owners and experts and then ordered parts, often from the US. Adam remembers receiving packages almost daily at one point. The bills were quickly mounting up, and that was despite Adam and Keith supplying the labor. The brothers reckon to build a car of similar specifications would cost in the neighborhood of 25,000, and that's just for parts. "The GT45 turbo cost 450 and came from a Supra, which was making 930 bhp-it's a hybrid one," Adam says. Getting the head ported and polished is the only part of the project the Carrs didn't do themselves-apart from the tuning. The labor alone for the head was 1,000. "They did an incredible job," Adam says.
With a turbo the size of a small country, lag can be a problem. Adding two bottles of nitrous oxide-one for feeding the engine and the other for cooling-solved this problem. "I'm not really bothered with the gas at the moment," Keith says. Although they splashed the cash for a huge range of products, they were also happy to provide their own parts, should the need arise. The pair fabricated their own cooling rail for the intercooler. Buying one would have cost 120, so they made their own for 10, which feeds gas under pressure from both ends of the rail and proved more effective than the one they had in mind. The other tank feeds the 75bhp engine jets. They also fabricated their own stainless steel exhaust system, as they just couldn't find one they liked. "Some people run a 3-inch downpipe from the GT45 turbo to the 4-inch exhaust, but we designed our own 90mm downpipe to connect to the exhaust. In our opinion, you can't get better than that," Adam says.
The Supra was also subjected to a crash diet. "It was me, really, who wanted the interior stripped out. I took it down to a bare shell," Adam says. "I spent ages chipping away at the soundproofing-that's helped in terms of weight reduction. The standard fuel tank was huge and heavy and has since been replaced with a lightweight custom-built one; we designed the entire fuel system that goes along with it." They admit the car is well over spec'd-the fuel system in particular-to be sure, the engine has no chance of ever running lean. All these changes, together with the AEM engine management, also meant the standard wiring had to be replaced with a custom loom.
The final setup and tuning was carried out by Dan at Turbofit, one of the UK's top Supra tuners. "He was shocked and amazed that we had built the car ourselves," Keith says. "He thought we were a tuning company." The car recorded 571 bhp at just 1 bar of boost. "We were expecting about 500 bhp at 1.3 bar. We just couldn't believe it," he says. They have since been advised that the car could cope with up to 1.8 bar, which should provide in excess of 800 bhp-and that's before the nitrous oxide has even been engaged. The original auto box was replaced with a manual before they got to this stage in the project though.
During practice launches Keith says that he was dropping the clutch at 5,500 rpm and the car hit 55 mph in first gear, 90 in second and 125 in third. "It doesn't really want to drive below 2,000 rpm and from then on it gets a bit hairy," he continued. "It hits full boost at about 4,000 rpm, but when you change at 7,000, it only drops back to 4,000 again so it's nearly on full boost all the time once you get going." So far there is no real lag so the gas has not been required.
The future for this Mark III? People have commented that with these specifications and the boost turned up, we're looking at a potential 10-second car. Keith knows that the drivetrain is a weak link, so that's on the schedule for improvements. They will also be replacing the glass with plastic and fitting a carbon-fiber bonnet to lose even more weight. The target, a 10-second run, is surely within grasp.
Mark III Toyota Supra
Power Output: 571 bhp
Engine:
7m-Gte
Lightweight, Balanced Crankshaft
Forged H-Beam Rods
Arp Rod Bolts
Je 8.4:1 Compression 0.040" Over Pistons
Je Plasma Moly Rings
Acl Duraglide Bearings
Arp Main Bolts
2mm Headgasket
Arp Head Studs
Ported, Polished Head
Trd 272 Camshafts, 11mm Lift
Valve Springs And Retainers
Piper Cams Under Bucket Shim Kit
Recut Valves
Aem Adjustable Camshaft Pullies
Greddy Timing Belt
Hks Iridium Spark Plugs
Hks Oil Cap
Trd High-Flow Oil Filter
Solid Engine Mounts
Mocal 19-Row Oil Cooler
Goodyear High-Performance Oil Lines
Catch Tank And Breather System
Mocal 10-Row Power Steering Cooler
Samco Hoses
Hybrid Gt45 Twin Scroll Ball
Bearing Turbo
Xs Power Stainless Steel
Exhaust Manifold
Xs Power External Wastegate
Hks Super Power Flow Air Filter
Hks Suction Funnel
Xs Power 600x300x100mm Intercooler
Nos Intercooler Spray Bar Kit
75mm Stainless Steel Intercooler Piping
100mm Throttle Body
Koyo Radiator And Cap
Nitrous Oxide Wet Fogger System
Nos 10-Pound Bottles, Heater And Gauges
12-Gallon Fuel Tank
Twin Bosch Fuel Pumps
Twin Syntec Fuel Filters
-10 Braided Fuel Lines
Grs Fuel Pressure Regulator
850cc Fuel Injectors
Polished Fuel Rail
Aem Ems With Custom Harness
Hks Twin Power Ignition
Custom Ignition Coil Conversion Kit
Mark Iv Coil Packs
Varley Red Top 60 Battery
A'pexi Voltage Charging Stabilizer
100mm Custom Stainless Steel Exhaust, Hks Muffler
90mm Stainless Steel Downpipe
Drivetrain:
Automatic To Manual Conversion
R154 Five-Speed Trans
Solid Billet Mounts
Xtd Six-Puck Copper Disc And Pressure Plate
Xtd 11-Pound Chromoly Flywheel
Brakes & Suspension:
Grooved Front And Rear Discs
Ebc Red Stuff Pads (Front)
Ebc Black Stuff Pads (Rear)
Goodridge Brake Lines
Racing 5.1 Fluid
Koni Adjustable Suspension
A'pexi Springs
Front And Rear Strut Braces
Polyurethane Bushings
Wheels & Tires:
Luxor Ld1 18x8 Front, 9.5x18 Rear
R888 225/40-18 Toyo Proxes Zr Front, 285/30-18 Rear
Interior:
Omp Record 1 Seats
Luke Five-Point Harnesses
Italy Sport Steering Wheel
Sparco Twin Button Kit
Sparco Aluminum Pedals
Carbon-Fiber Shift Knob
Aem Wideband & A/F Gauge
A'pexi Avcr Boost Controller
Hks Turbo Timer
Autogauge Vacuum; Boost, Oil, Fuel Pressure, Tach, Water, Oil, Air Temp, Voltage, Egt
Exterior:
Repainted Engine Bay
Custom Front Bumper
Aerocatch Flush Bonnet Pins
Tinted Lights
Painted Undercarriage

Photo Gallery: Toyota Supra - Turbo Magazine



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