Feature Blitz/Scorch Racing Drag Supra
Toyota Supra
1,101 LB-FT Of Torque
It's been all quiet on the eastern front, at least when it comes to the drag scene in Japan. What was once the most popular pastime for Japanese aftermarket-tuning aficionados has quietly been shoved into the corner, making way for newer motorsports like drifting and time attack. But drag racing seems to be on its way back, gaining more and more interest from privateers, who modify their rides to tackle the odd quarter-mile street race, and most importantly from well-known companies. Blitz got the attention of power-crazy drag racers at the Tokyo Auto Salon earlier this year with this Supra. A collaboration between Blitz and drag specialty shop Scorch Racing, this JZA80 is set to be one of the fastest cars in Japan when it is eventually raced later this year.
Arriving at Blitz headquarters in Tokyo, we found ourselves in the midst of some pretty special company. With the end of the Tokyo Auto Salon a few days prior, the workshop was swarming with Blitz demo cars. From the soon-to-be transformed D1-GP R35 GT-R to the Lexus LS were all contained in storage. Buried deep somewhere in the darker corners of the garage was this Supra. With true Japanese efficiency, the cars were repositioned in a few minutes to give us enough space to position the Supra for our shoot. Shibuya-san of Scorch Racing decided earlier on last year that it was time to go all the way by creating a purposely built drag car to see what he could achieve. He contacted the guys at Blitz and struck up a sponsorship deal, which would see the Supra raced under both Blitz and Scorch names.
So the work began, and the chassis was addressed first. The donor Supra was stripped down to its bare shell, which was then cleaned up from paint, corrosion, and heavy sound-deadening material. A good deal of effort went into stiffening up the chassis with plating, spot welding, and boxing off strategic areas-a much-needed process to get the best performance out of the car. A custom rollcage was then constructed and welded in place, again aiding in both rigidity as well as safety for the driver. The transmission tunnel was then modified to accept the five-speed Jerico air-shift gearbox, an item that instantly tells you this car is meant for some fast times. It was then a case of fabricating the dash and center console panels to house the few, but necessary, bits of instrumentation.
With this complete, the interior was sprayed in black to keep things looking nice and clean, ready for the accessories to be bolted in place. The seating position was measured up and the Blitz GT1 carbon-Kevlar seat fitted on custom mounts. Next, the Key's Racing steering wheel was fitted to an extended steering rack and bolted onto a super GT-style flick-up boss. The red buttons on the steering wheel, in case you're wondering, are the shift triggers for the transmission. A big Auto Meter tachometer and shift light are mounted on the door side of the rollcage, while the Blitz instruments are neatly arranged in the skeletal center console. Here the boost and oil temperature are displayed, while the SBC i-Color Spec-R boost controller keeps boost pinned at the preset level. Below, a Power Meter i-Color allows various engine parameters to be displayed-not that the driver has any time to play with this on the strip! These will be used mainly during engine setups and shakedown tests. The release for the Simpson parachute is positioned right above the driver's head, while the battery has been relocated to the passenger side of the interior to help weight distribution. The last bits of interest are the nitrous canister and the racing fuel tank, both situated in the trunk area.
With the chassis and interior done, it was onto the exterior, where Blitz helped quite a bit. Thanks to the full Aero Speed body kit, the Supra was transformed into the mean machine you see here. The factory bumper was replaced with the Blitz unit featuring a very aggressive design. Hard to miss is the huge air dam and side intakes as well as the angular corner splitters, which arch up to create very chiseled contours. The headlights joined the bumper in the bin. In their place some covers were made up, providing a simple and lightweight solution. Even the front fenders were replaced with light FRP items, helping give a more defined stance to the front end thanks to their slightly wider dimensions. The hood is extremely thin and light, allowing for maximum weight reduction. It's bolted in place with pop-up aluminium clips normally seen on F1 cars. The Blitz conversion continues with the side skirts, which create a large intake as they meet the rear fenders. Joining these are lightweight FRP doors and acrylic windows, all helping shave off precious weight.
At the rear is where things go a little crazy, and you'd expect them to, being a full-on drag machine. The Blitz rear bumper features a very evident diffuser line on the lower section of the bumper, helping with airflow as the car gets closer to the quarter-mile mark. The whole JZA80 hatch was rebuilt in FRP while the rear window was eliminated in favor of a dry-carbon cover. A massive low-set spoiler helps keep the car planted at the rear for maximum traction, while a Simpson parachute was fitted to help bring the car to a halt. In its current show appearance a set of 18-inch Blitz BRW Profile 08 wheels have been fitted and wrapped with Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 tires. Once the Supra hits the strip it will run smaller wheels and drag radials.
With all this taken care of, the engine was next. The actual 2JZ-GTE, which will be run in competition, is far from complete as Scorch Racing is still considering various setups. Everything else is in place, it's just the engine itself that needs to be swapped out for the final unit. Initial target times are in the low 9-second bracket and with such a high goal the stroked engine (they're experimenting with 3.8L stroker kits) is in a need for serious power. That's why you'll find two Blitz Triple K K5-700R turbochargers sitting on the custom manifold. They're bigger than the unit used on the '07 D1-GP Blitz Skyline of Ken Nomura, which produces over 600 ps by itself. To get these monsters to spool up the engine will need to take some serious rpm, as well as take the high boost levels a setup like this requires. Boost will be controlled with a pair of external wastegates and the Blitz boost controller.
To help cool things down, custom piping connects the turbine outlets to the charge cooler built around a Blitz Type-C intercooler core. From there, the intake charge is taken to the intake manifold, dosed by a large diameter mechanical throttle. Before the throttle the nitrous oxide fogger has been positioned, which will help the engine get up to speed and spool up at lower rpm. Once the K5s start spinning up the nitrous will be cut. JUN Auto will supply a lot of the headgear like the cam pulleys, camshafts, and various valvetrain components.
Fuelling will consist of twin external pumps sending the fuel to the 1,000cc/min injectors. Once the engine has passed the first set of tests a secondary fuel rail will be added to provide the much needed fuel to get to the 1,500ps mark. The Ogura Racing quad-plate clutch will have the job of channeling all that power to the Jerico air-shift transmission and then on to the rear wheels. Sachs has been called in to provide the best possible suspension setup so SP-7 adjustable dampers were fitted. Helping drop speed after the run are the Wilwood four-pot front calipers, which bite down on curiously shaped rotors. The rear brakes will remain standard while the Simpson parachute will help things along after the finish line is crossed.
The first outing for the car is planned to be held before the end of the year, which should give Scorch Racing enough time to get the engine finished up and a few shakedown tests done. This Supra is closely followed by Japanese tuning magazines and is in enough limelight to further help promote the newfound popularity of drag racing. All eyes will definitely be on it when it hits the strip.
Specs
Engine
2JZ-GTE
Custom stainless steel manifold
Blitz K5-700R turbine
Sard external wastegate
Wastegate dump pipes
Custom exhaust system
Custom piping
Custom charge cooler with BlitzType-C core
Custom intake manifold
Large single throttle
JUN Auto cam pulleys
JUN Auto camshafts
Custom radiator with air separator tank
Blitz radiator cap
Oil cooler system
Blitz oil filler cap
NOS system
NOS tank
Trunk-mounted fuel tank
Custom fuel lines
1,000cc/min injectors
Transmission
Ogura Racing Clutch quad-plate clutch and lightweight flywheel Jerico air shifter
Suspension & Brakes
Sachs SP-7 fully adjustablesuspension kit
Wilwood four-piston front calipers
Ventilated patter-cut front discs (two-piece)
Wheels & Tires
Blitz BRW Profile 08 (metal silver) - front 9x18 +35, rear10x18 +33 (rear) (show setup)
Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 245/40/18 (front), 275/35/18 (rear)
Exterior
Blitz Aero Speed front bumper
Wide front fenders
Headlight covers
Custom lightweight hood
Blitz Aero Speed side skirts
Blitz Aero Speed lower rear bumper skirts
Blitz Aero Speed rear bumper
GT rear hatch
Lightweight doors
One-off drag speed rear wing
Dry-carbon cover for rear window
Acrylic side windows
Simpson parachute system
Interior
Fully prepped and spot-welded chassis
Custom reinforcing plates
Custom welded-in rollcage
Custom dash and center console
Blitz GT1 carbon-Kevlar racingbucket seat
Racing harness
Key's Racing Alcantara racing steering wheel
Blitz Racing Meter ELV boost gauge
Blitz Racing Meter EVL temp gauge
Auto Meter tachometer
Power Meter i-Color Flash
SBC i-Color Spec-R
Relocated Odyssey battery
1,497 WHP
1,101 LB-FT Of Torque
Estimated numbers
Horsepower
1,497 HP
320 HP
1,450 HP
1,000 HP
Torque
1,101 LB-FT
315 LB-FT
2,200 LB-FT
1,100 LB-FT
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