"The helical gears of the Quaife give the car massive traction," says Al. "It feels like a cat with all four claws stuck to your back. It's good for drag racing and even better for road handling. It transforms the Evo from an understeering front-wheel drive type of handling into a more rear-wheel drive feeling, neutral handling car which can be oversteered into a four-wheel drift with the gas pedal."
"The best part of the Quaife for me is the unconditional lifetime warranty, which even covers race use. This warranty really gives me peace of mind when I am trying to break new records at the drag strip."
Alignment
One of the most important factors a lot of people overlook in trying to go fast (even in a straight line) is that all four wheels need to be pointed in the same direction. A proper wheel alignment is critical and should never be overlooked.
Tuning With Alcohol Injection
"One of the biggest discoveries I made this off-season was the advantages of alcohol injection on turbo cars. While my peak power remains unchanged, the addition of a simple one-jet progressive methanol injection kit (same unit I sell for street-driven Evos) really has yielded huge benefits at the track.
"First of all, adding alcohol injection acts as an additional intercooler; significantly lowering charge temps which is a real help when you are running super-high boost levels and running your turbo out of its peak efficiency range. As the super-fine alcohol mist evaporates inside the intercooler pipe the charge temps drop 25 to 35 degrees, which results in much denser air and more torque down low.
"Additionally, as an oxygenated hydrocarbon, Methanol adds additional oxygen to your charge, which is available to combust with the extra fuel you are supplying.
"On race gas, the octane-raising benefits of alcohol are not significant, however the intercooling effect is a significant benefit and results in significant power gains and added reliability."
The Historic Pass
"I ran a 9.98 at 138.9 which is the world's quickest and fastest in the quarter mile without nitrous. It's amazing to me that even a few months ago when my car was on the cover of Turbo magazine I was going in the low 11s and now I am in the single digits.
"Basically, I have been working on making my car faster almost every waking moment during the past six months. When I broke into the 10s I immediately started to work toward going even faster and faster into the 9s.
"Right after I picked up my first 9-second timeslip, a goal I have had for several years, I almost immediately imagined upgrading the turbo on the car and look for more power.
"I am starting to realize that the time slip and the record are not the real motivator to what I am doing. What I really enjoy is the process of speaking with people who work in the aftermarket car industry and sharing ideas and figuring out new approaches to making my car run better. My car is a test-bed and research project which helps me learn more about tuning and working with Evos and assists me in advising my customers on Evo modification and tuning.
"Next up for my Evo is a twin-scroll GT40R ball bearing turbo set up and a goal of 800 whp, without nitrous. Sure, I could be happy with the car the way it is; it's running great. But, once you start down the road of high performance sometimes the project becomes more than a hobby and starts to take on a life of its own. This one is living large."