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."