AWD Celica feared on racetracks and dragstrips across the UK.
Question: What do you do when you've already built a 200mph/10-second quarter-mile Toyota Corolla AWD and want to better it with a new project car?
Answer: Convert a new Celica VVTi to AWD, add a 650 bhp engine and then take on the EVOs and Skylines and give them a run for their money.
That's exactly what Adrian Smith, the boss at Fensport, was doing during the 2006 season, both on Time Attack events and on the dragstrip. "I wanted to build a car for events such as TOTB when you do drag racing, top-speed runs and handling events all on the same day," Adrian revealed.
Impressed with his Corolla creation, Toyota UK helped Adrian get the ball rolling by donating a shell to the project, and not just any shell, a TRD-M-Sport shell, which comes complete with extra welding of the body seams. The fact that the car was originally AWD and only produced around 200 bhp didn't seem to put Adrian off at all; he likes a challenge. The plan was to construct a road-legal car, that would still look like a Celica (OK, he added a few carbon-fiber goodies, but can you blame him?) and one that was equally at home on the dragstrip as the racetrack - and of course more than capable of being competitive. Six months of hard work later and 50,000 pounds (nearly $100,000 U.S.) in parts alone and the new company car rolled out.
The first step was to strip the car and then work out what modifications were needed to house the engine and AWD running gear. Adrian remembers that getting the engine into the bay wasn't too much of a challenge, but that the transmission conversion required a lot more effort. Those changes included alterations to the floorpan to accept the driveshaft center mount, fabricating an exhaust tunnel and cutting out the spare wheelwell to provide space for the custom fuel system.
When it came to the all-important power Adrian decided to stick with what he knew best and got the experts at John Edwards Motorsport to build him another version of the faithful engine, which powered his Corolla to glory during the previous season but with some important amendments. A lot of the engine spec is custom built and remains shrouded in secrecy, but some parts Adrian revealed. For instance, the turbo is a Garrett GT35/42 ball-bearing unit, which is combined with a HKS Supra intercooler. This huge intake pipe took two days alone to fabricate and undergo polishing. The oil breather and cooling system are also unique.
Despite all the work involved on this car, the engine bay still looks like it was produced in a factory. Some of the nice touches like the wiring loom hidden under the carbon-fiber panels are examples of the attention to detail that's involved in this project. Adrian points out that the engine block is at the limit of its capacity and only has walls of 3.5mm. Although he'd love to be able to run a 2.4 or even 2.5L engine like some of his rivals since the extra displacement would allow him to push more boost and reach 800 bhp figures, he doesn't have the space. This year, he plans to investigate and experiment with alternative turbo options, which combined with some additional cylinder head flowing should produce a bit more power to play with.