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.