While we're always a sucker for high-horsepower Supras, we were drawn to Sin City after hearing of the Hayabusa-killing Supra of Garth Weaver. We had to hunt down for ourselves the legendary '94 Supra that, at least on film, blew away a fixed-up Hayabusa motorcycle piloted by a good racer.
Before we get to that race of lore, how Garth hunted down his own Supra is also interesting. Garth has previously owned several different vehicles, from a Porsche 911 and 928, to a blown and nitrous-fed Chevy Pro-Street Truck, a Lingenfelter 420 and C6 Corvettes. His first experience with a MKIV was in 1998. He was at the races with his unbeaten Lingenfelter. A white MKIV drives up and the owner asks if he wants to run for $500. Garth and a friend talk it over and say "Sure, it's just a six cylinder, we'll enjoy taking his money." Well, that didn't happen. He lost to the Supra and was out five bills.
Garth was amazed, but not convinced. He researched these six-cylinder turbo cars and found they not only could make a lot of power for such a small package but the stock bottom end was amazingly strong. He did what any sane man would do and sold his Lingenfelter Corvette and started the search for a clean six-speed MKIV. He checked out the Net, at Autotrader and other Web sites.
In 2002, he found a 59,000-mile, white 1994 six-speed in Arizona. Ryan Woon was the owner's name and he gave Garth the fastest ride he'd ever had. After that convincing ride, Garth became the proud owner of a Supra with a T-66 with the normal APU upgrades that made 696 whp. At that stage, the car had run a best e.t. of 10.56 at 134 mph.Garth soon felt it was time to step it up to the next level and enlisted the skills of Virtual Works Racing (VWR) in Las Vegas, Nev. VWR, as our readers know from last month's Lexus, is a proven high-performance shop.
Garth and Dana Westover, the shop owner, decided to go with a built short block and head. The boring and machining was done by friend and long-time VWR associate, Adam Dahl, of Allied Machine, also in Las Vegas. Adam specializes in high-horsepower boosted engines. The overall assembly is a partnership between Dana and Adam. They started with a .020-over fresh block, Arias pistons, Crower H-beam rods, Carr bolts, VWR ported-and-polished head with Ferrea 1mm oversize valves with titanium retainers and locks, Crower valve springs and HKS 272 cams. The head porting and polishing was done by Ben Waage of VWR.
VWR fabricated the turbo kit as well as the custom 4-inch intake piping and 5-inch custom fresh air intake with 10-inch air filter. A VWR intake manifold, 90mm throttle body, custom VWR stainless-steel 4-inch downpipe and exhaust were installed. Garth chose, along with the VWR intake, a 90mm Accufab throttle body to feed the 2JZ head. "I had done extensive research on the manifold and made the decision to purchase it. The manifold works. Period."
The VWR "End All" fuel system consists of three Walbro pumps, Aeromotive fuel filters with braided line, Weldon fuel pressure regulator and 160 lb/hr. injectors. The size of the injectors was determined by the power Garth wanted to achieve. As Garth adds, "They are actually quite streetable with the right combination and tune."
Garth's goals were for around 900-plus whp, but to keep the car streetable with A/C and smooth idle. As for a turbo setup, Dana suggested the Garrett GT42 (76mm compressor wheel) because he was using the same turbo on his race car. On Dana's car, this setup had made more power than the GT-76S. Garth needed the power for his main objective: hunting Hayabusas, GXSRs and other big-bore bikes.Says Garth, "I love highway rolls! I knew at the beginning of my build that this would shape my goals for the car. I wanted bulk power to beat the bikes I had been beaten by with my T-72 setup."
For the drivetrain, Garth recently upgraded the clutch to an RPS carbon-carbon setup with a chrome-moly flywheel. Garth swears it's "great for hardcore drag racing and roll-ons. I can't believe how streetable this clutch is."
The night Garth received the phone call that the car was ready to fire up, he could hardly get to the shop fast enough. The car started and ran with no problems. It sounded awesome. Garth told us "the power band is very linear. It starts building boost around 4500 rpm and continues 'till redline, around 8600 rpm. I like to get the car around 6200 rpm for a nasty launch or roll-on and nail it."
Because the engine modifications are attention-grabbing, we forgot to mention that Garth's first upgrade was actually the wheels and tires. He had an RMM carbon-fiber wing already and thought a black-centered wheel would look good. He decided to go with the K-58s from Kinesis Wheels. The wheels are 9x18 fronts with 245/40/18 G-force KDs and 10.5x18 rears with 295/35/18 drag radials.
How did it do? Garth had recently re-ran a modified Hayabusa (around 180 whp) with a pro rider from a first gear roll. The bike had beaten Garth before so Garth was eager to even the score.
"I arrived at the normal location and agreed to do a 20 mph roll with the `Busa. We were paired up even, I was at 6400 rpm with no brake boost and we left, a little tire spin, but not bad. I got out on him and never looked back. I ended up in 6th at around 200 mph about 10-plus car lengths in front. Awesome."The previous race with the bike Garth was running the stock motor with 264 cams and a GCC VPC setup on a GT-72 DBB making 706 whp. Garth says, "The bike would get out on me about 5 car lengths on the jump and I could never catch it after that. The difference between 700 whp and 1,000 whp is simply amazing.I found out that you need more than 800 whp to beat a Hayabusa in a roll on, especially a modded bike with a good rider. This car eats the stock `Busa's!!! Who would ever thought 3500-pound cars would be beating bikes?" Mmmmmm, `Busa's for a late-night snack.
Garth felt the combination was perfect for what he wanted, "a big power-making, roll-on machine. Good spool, big power and drivability. A professionally built engine with the right combination is lethal.I have never been in a car that pulls in every gear like this car! I love it." As you can tell, Garth is one satisfied customer and a happy camper.
When you have a car that has drawn this much attention, you need the numbers to back it up. Garth used NRP Racing's Dynojet, filled the car with C-16, and mounted up the BFG drag radials. The first pull was at 23 psi and delivered 814 whp. Dana continued to tune and make pulls, with the best run of the session being a 1,034.96 whp at 36 psi. Keep in mind that Garth is running the car at this same state of tune on the street!
After the dyno, one of the dyno shop's employees couldn't believe the power that this little 3.0-liter, 183ci engine made, so Garth offered him a ride up the I-15 freeway. The employee had never been in a 1,000-plus whp car.
Garth tells how the ride went. "I get on the freeway, middle lane, shift into second, ease into the throttle, boost comes on at about 4500 rpm and the VWR Racing 4-inch exhaust rasps and we go into the right lane then back to the left lane. Scary ride. I try it from third gear. The car hooks better in third and we go from third to fourth and the best way to describe it is crazy, hard-pulling, intense power. The employee tells me, `That is the fastest ride I've ever experienced! That thing is sick fast." One thousand-plus whp is not for the faint of heart. Garth feels the car still has more power left in it and plans to use the single fogger NX NOS system to pull it out. Until then, all Hayabusas stay on point for a white Supra lurking in your midst.