Purpose Built Power-Weight Ratio AE86 Coupe

AE86 with 4AG 20V – Japanese Classic Car

Don’t you hate it when the first thing someone asks you about your car is “How much power does it have?” I really wish that someday, someone would come up and ask me instead, “How much does your car weigh?” Without getting too in-depth about technical power-weight ratio and its applications to various motorsports, it simply means that the lighter the car, the better. Said another way, it basically doesn’t matter if you have 1000HP if the car weighs 10,000lbs.

It’s all about power to weight ratio in this game! Of course, many other factors come into play, depending on the type of racing you’re doing too, but to a certain extent- higher horsepower combined with a lightweight chassis is usually the way to go.

The AE86 is a code name for a 1985~87 Toyota Corolla GTS, which came in a front engine, rear wheel drive configuration. Because of this layout, the car became immensely popular for racing, typically in road racing, rally, and drifting. These cars are on their way to becoming classics (if they’re not already) and sure enough, they are listed significantly above their bluebook value in the blackmarket. Matt Perkins acquired his white zenki Corolla GTS coupe built from veteran AE86 Gurus, Taka Aono and Hiro Sumida. These guys were some of the founding forefathers of AE86 racing in the US.

All you need in life is an engine, a seat, and steering wheel. A real man doesn’t need A/C, P/S, or Cruise… nor any pansy electronically assisted steering mechanisms of some sort. Wouldn’t you rather be fully in control than some annoying Knightrider shmuck assisting your driving? You have to really learn how to drive analog before going digital. Ever wonder why most of the top racers in the world come from karting backgrounds?

The above engine is the very last model of the Toyota 4ag, called the Blacktop 20v or simply the 4ag 20V. The combination of VVT (variable valve timing) and ITB (individual throttle body), with 11:1 compression ratio from the factory made it a strong candidate against many of the popular twincam variable valve timing equipped 4-cylinder engines of the era. Unfortunately this fifth generation 4AG never made it to the US, and had to be imported. One reason why the Blacktop is the most powerful amongst the 4ag variation is the amazing head flow. Yamaha had had their hand at the head design including this one, as well as other powerplants for Toyota such as the BEAMS 3S-GTE, 1JZ-GTE, and 2UR-GSE (Lexus IS-F).

The suspension received a combination of TRD, Battleversion, and Project Mu goodies, successfully dialed in for both grip and drift racing. As you can see, there is no lighting assembly under the flip-up style headlamps for weight saving purposes, instead, two powerful PIAA halogen lamps were mounted in the bumper.

I would rather stare and take pictures of real race cars that are actually thrashed because of racing than look at cars with million dollar paint jobs (like I did recently at the 2011 Grand National Roadster Show). The driver’s personality is greatly evident in the cockpit and in this case, Matt doesn’t give a rat’s ass about aesthetics. He just wants to go fast. The entire frame of the car has been reinforced with welds and a SCCA compliant 6-point roll cage with various safety side beams. There’s nothing under the dash except for the engine control unit, all the sound deadening material has been pulled off. The wood Nardi steering wheel, is well… the final touch made to his Pimpmobile.

See, its a 100% track car only. Since the AE86 Corolla weighs in from the factory at 2300lbs, we figured that with all the carbon/fiberglass body parts + gutted interior, Matt’s car is just a tad over 2000 lbs. This, combined with a 165HP Twincam VVT engine, the power weight ratio comes in at 12.12 lbs per horsepower, equivalent to about a stock Mazda Rx-8. Not too shabby for a 25 year old rust bucket! Remember, these power/weight ratio figures will change if any engine mods are added or weight is decreased.

Matt currently owns and operates a dyno tuning shop called SR Motorcars in Gardena, CA. They are a one stop tuning shop for all your motorsport needs!

So kids, the lesson today was that if you want to make your car faster and don’t have any money, start ripping parts off your car to shed some weight! More power often costs alot more money… stripping parts is FREE!

Calling All Hot Rodders With A Stop Watch: Part 1

Hot Rodders and a stop watch you ask?  Ya, I’ll get to that in a minute.  But first, let me introduce you to one of my favorite automotive competitions:  Time Attack or Superlap Battle.   These pictures were taken by the MotorMavens.com crew at Eastern Creek Raceway in Australia, as part of the World Time Attack Challenge, the first of its kind, pitting the best the world has to offer in Time Attack.

What exactly is Time Attack?  It’s simply taking your car around a road course as fast as you can and recording the fastest single lap time, hence the name Superlap.  There are various classes that your car might fit in.  Currently most of the vehicles that compete today are of the Japanese or European make.  Here’s where the hot rodders with the stopwatches comes in.  Time Attack has almost zero muscle cars.  Wat up wit dat? 

Here’s the R-Magic prepared Mazda RX-7, one of the fastest Unlimited Time Attack cars in Japan.  Time Attack began in Japan in the late 1980′s.  It was a chance for top Speed Shops (they’re referred to as Tuning Shops, not Speed Shops, but I have to talk the hot rodder talk haha) in Japan to build the fastest street cars and compete against each other for the fastest lap times at the various Japanese circuits.

I want to discuss the potential for muscle cars to compete in Time Attack in Part 2.  Part 1 is to introduce you to Time Attack and give you a glimpse of how the big boys go fast.  There are different classes that cover cars from mild to wild states of tune.  The wild is what gets me pysched!  The Unlimited or Pro class (depending on what organization you talk to) is where the fun is at, well, fun and $$$. 

As any car nut will admit, it’s not cheap to go fast.  I’m all about the “Do-It-Yourself” mods, but when you wanna go faster than anyone IN THE WORLD in any kind of racing, its gonna cost you some money.  The faster you wanna go, the more its gonna cost ya.  The Unlimited Superlap cars are some of the most advanced builds around.  I showed you a wind tunnel test months back of THE fastest Unlimited class vehicle, the Cyber-EVO Mitsubishi Evolution. The name of the game in Time Attack is Grip, Aerodynamics, and putting the power down (AKA grip, see a theme here?).

This pic above by MotorMavens shows the blue Cusco-Tomei Subaru WRX STi Unlimited class car compared to the Club Class Mitsubishi Evolution.  Notice the Subaru’s lower ride height, huge rear GT wing, front carbon splitter vs the mostly stock bodied, higher riding (notice the daylight under the car) Evo.  The Subaru’s track width and body have been widened as well.

Are there any Reno Air Racing fans out there?  These Time Attack machines remind me a lot of the Reno Unlimited Gold racers, such as the P-51 Mustang, Bearcat and Sea Fury.  The idea is the same, take a factory hopped up sedan (or Warbird) and have almost free reign on modifications.  The Reno Racers double and triple the horsepower with boost (or displacement), clip wings, cut down canopies and smooth surfaces to improve aerodynamics and remove lots of uneccessary weight.  Sounds a lot like what the Time Attack cars, right?

Here’s a quick summary of the Unlimited Time Attack class rules to give you an idea:

All Vehicles must be available for purchase from a major manufacturer currently/previously as a factory OEM vehicle.  No Open Wheel vehicles, Clubman or Kit cars allowed, as determined by the Promoter.

Body kits are allowed.  The use of Carbon and FRP is allowed.  Headlights may be replaced with air intakes.

Engine modifications are open except no nitrous.  Transmission, Driveline, Suspension, Brake, Wheels, Interior modifications are open.

All vehicles must use tires off the approved list (street tires).  All vehicles must run Unleaded Fuel, E85 is allowed.

All Vehicles must be equipped with an Approved Roll Cage and Approved 5 Point Harness as a minimum.

 

You can see in these pictures that aerodynamic development with big downforce is the goal.  Here is the Japanese Superlap “King”, the Cyber-Evo Mitsubishi Evolution.  I hear this car is owned by a Dentist.  Just the front end alone is a work of engineering geek art.  3 layers of carbon canards, carbon front splitter, carbon air intake “headlight”, wide forged aluminum wheels with sticky 265/35/18 street tires under widened fenders (made out of…you guessed it, Carbon Fiber).

 This is the Hi-Octane R34 Skyline GT-R Time Attack machine.  Dig this HUGE under body panel/front splitter.  The Skyline is Japan’s Supercar with its all wheel drive, turbo inline 6.  This car is rockin’ about 600-700 horsepower. 

That should give you all a look at Time Attack and some of the top cars from around the world.  Next time I wanna explore the potential your Muscle Cars and Hot Rods have for time attack competitions.  Here’s one example I found just to give you some inspiration.  This is literally the only American car built for Time Attack I could find in a quick Google search.  A Fox body Mustang is the perfect choice….anyway, more on that in Part 2.

Anybody out there interested in this type of competition against the clock?  Let us know in a comment below.

Photos by Mark Pakula at MotorMavens.com.  Click the link to see more photos of the World Time Attack competitors.

Mustang photo from Speedhunters.com

Hechtspeed

Budget Time Attack Civic

So, its no secret that I dig Japanese cars.  I certainly have a special place in my automotive heart for the Honda Civic.  I’ve owned 2 and am looking for #3.  Why?  It’s a Civic?  They’re boring, cheap, small, chick cars with no power and are front wheel drive (FF = front engine, front wheel drive).  Well, lemme “splain”…Being a father of 4 with a mortgage, a retirement plan, food storage, swim lessons, youth baseball, basketball and soccer, 2.5 kids still in diapers…shall I go on?…then you now see the Civic’s big advantage.  Cheap, reliable transportation.  For a car guy, the Honda Civic also offers a lightweight chassis (1992-00 Civics weigh 2200-2500lbs), amazing mpg (I’ve average 39mpg), double wishbone suspension at all 4 corners, ease of transplanting other more powerful Honda/Acura engines and likely THE biggest aftermarket, making the Civic is a great choice.

For this post, I bring you one such Civic, a budget Time Attack machine owned by Tag Evanson of Arizona.  These pictures are from 2008 at GT Live at the Miller Motorsports Park. 

Tag Evanson is from Arizona and made the trip up to Utah for the GT Live Redline Time Attack with his young family. I snapped some pics right after arriving at the track. Then, after watching some West Track action, I headed back to the paddock/pits area. I cruised back around and saw Tag working on his Civic’s left front region.

Apparently he had a leaky axle seal at the transmission side. His wife and 2 daughters had gone into town to pick up a new seal at Willey Honda in Bountiful. Gotta thank those family members who support all you racers out there.  So, while he was working on it, I was just watching. We started to chat a little. Yes, I did offer to help, but the man seemed to have things under control. We chatted for about 30 minutes almost. From what I remember, he worked in Software and raced at the various road courses in the Redline Time Attack series, with minimal sponsorship at the time.  He trailered his hatchback on his own. 

Sorry for the butt shot man.  ha ha  Tag is a very down to earth and super nice dude. He seemed like a totally normal guy, which he is. It’s just that when a Time Attack newby/nut like me is talking to someone who has been on Speed TV, in the mags, and on the internet, its just weird. A little star struck I guess, I totally geek out way too much. 

Check out that ginourmous front splitter.  Dang!  That must generate tons of downforce compared to the light chassis.  Killer sparkly clear coat on the carbon hood too. 

Tag has been known for having a very quick Civic hatchback the last 3 years or so, which is attributed to the car setup (now running a K series engine (from an Acura RSX (2.0L) or even a TSX (2.4L) instead of the B series engine (1.6L Civic Si, 1.8L from an Integra GSR or Type R), which he said needed more upkeep and constant attention compared to the K) and obviously his driving. You can’t have a fast car and it only be because of power. You have to be able to drive the thing and Tag is the man behind the wheel.

 The Civic hatch’ interior is about as gutted as you can get.  Seat, check…roll cage, check…fire extinguisher, check, shifter, check…steering wheel, check.  This car probably weighs right at 2000 lbs is my guess with the interior stripped out.  Stock, depending on the model, they weigh around 2250lbs.  With the K series engine running somewhere around 250hp (stock is 210hp), that’s a killer power to weigh ratio eh? 8lbs per HP.  Compare that with the new Camaro SS (3900lbs / 425hp = 9.2lbs/hp) or a new Nissan GTR (3800lbs / 480hp = 7.9lbs/hp).  That’s gotta be a fun ride!

Tag is a do-it-yourselfer type and is on a budget. I know his car has the typical Sponsor decals, but if you saw pics of his car taken 1 or 2 years ago, it was plain Jane white. He has likely picked up those Sponsorships after he won his first event at Buttonwillow. His wife was way cool too. She thought I looked like someone they knew, but apparently he didn’t think so. :) Oh well, LOL. Good times and thanks Tag for talking to the “little guy”. Keep up the good work and remember, have fun. That’s what its all about.

 

Here’s a picture of what the car look like this last race season in 2009.  Looks like he’s got more sponsors now.  Nice work!  The aero work is much more serious now.  Check out that rear diffuser.  That means business.  The Hasport decal is much more pronounced and I see KSport is on board now, a quality suspension bits manufacturer.  The drive wheels are wider, you can see wider fenders have been installed.  Photo credit goes to OctaneReport.com for this picture of Tag racing at Buttonwillow in 2009.

Hechtspeed

Internet Barn Find #8: Japanese Cyber Evo in the Wind Tunnel

Ok, one of my dream cars would have to be the Mitsubishi Evolution.  The example in this video, The SunCyber Evo, is going after the 1 lap record at Tsukuba, home of Time Attack!  Why do I share this video with you?  A few reasons, but one is a look at how the Japanese car builders and tuners do it up right.  They are serious techies!

This is a purpose built car, but it does not compete in a race series.  It competes in Time Attack competitions, also called Lap Battles.  Most of these aero, suspension and engine parts can be bought off the shelf.  The Tsukuba track is for Japanese car nuts the top track in the world, right next to the Nurburgring in Germany.  Time Attack has started to catch on in the US and Europe in the last 2-3 years.  But, the Japanese are tops when taking a street car and making it go fast for 1 lap.

Enjoy this video.  A second video can be seen, a part #2, where the car hits the track!  You can get a glimpse into the Japanese tuning world.  You have the serious engineer types and the crazy yellow spiky hairdo of Tarzan Yamada, probably THE top Japanese Time Attack driver.  I love the Japanese car culture.  Remind me to bring you some Japanese vintage car stuff and hot rods.  Yes, they do hot rods too!

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