The Garrett unit shoves air through a Magnus manifold and into a custom head with extensive porting done by Serge himself. Inside, a set of Comp cams ground by Magnus control the 1mm oversized Supertech valves. A set of Kiggly Racing Beehive high-pressure racing springs with titanium retainers were installed to ensure a quick response out of the valvetrain. The guys topped off the headwork by welding all of the water journals with aluminum in preparation for the car's next big change.
Frank and Serge trashed the car's stock fuel system, switching to methanol in order to squeeze as much power as possible out of the Mitsu four-banger. An Aeromotive mechanical pump pushes the go juice into dual Magnus fuel rails and through four primary and six secondary 160 lb/hr injectors. An Aeromotive regulator makes sure all of those hungry mouths are properly fed. The trick fuel runs exponentially cooler than it's petroleum counterpart, meaning Frank and Serge have no need for silly things like an intercooler, even as they approach the 800hp mark.
With the intake side of the motor squared away and the beast properly fed, Serge turned his fabricating wizardry on the engine's exhaust. A custom tubular manifold was constructed just for the 4202, and a 3.5-inch pipe exits out front to facilitate disposal of spent gasses.
The car runs 15x9.25 Weld Racing wheels up front, wrapped in 15x28x10.4 Mickey Thompsons. With that much power on one end and almost 2 feet of super-sticky rubber on the other, Frank and Serge knew they were going to need a seriously stout transmission.
Christian Landry out of Montreal was more than happy to provide a slush box out of a 2G for the job. Using a custom torque converter with a 4,500rpm stall limit, stock gear ratios and an ultra high torque aluminum front clutch, the push-button box can handle whatever Serge can throw at it-so long as it's not a guardrail.
In order to keep the Red Line racing AT fluid slick, a Moroso transmission cooler was installed. The same Quaife gear limited-slip differential was chosen to turn a pair of Stage 5 custom-length axles by Drive Shaft Shop.
With all of the go-fast bits squared away, the duo turned their attention to rolling and stopping. The car still utilizes most of the stock Mirage geometry up front, but in the rear Frank and Serge went with a straight axle originally designed for a Honda. The guys at Ken's Kustom Chassis tweaked the trick piece just for the DSM dragster.
Tearing up to 170 mph in less than 9 seconds is a blast, but being able to come back down from that speed in a reasonable amount of space is just as important. The Mirage handles re-entry thanks to four-piston Brake Man calipers clamping on 11-inch rotors in the front and four-piston Aerospace pieces squeezing 10-inch discs in the rear. A pair of Wilwood master cylinders push the car's fluid through stainless braided lines, keeping the pedal firm under Serge's foot.
The car keeps its dragster mindset with skinny Weld Racing 14s in the rear. Mickey Thompson 15x24x4's make sure the car's super stoppers have the traction the car needs to come down from warp speed.
In order to shave a few more pounds off of the car's featherweight physique, all of the stock glass was swapped with Lexan. Versa Style in Leval, Canada, handled the custom front clip, and Camo Customs rounded out the exterior work with a Mazda Red and Lamborghini Gray paint scheme.
The whole package is good for a best trap speed of 171 mph at 8.74 seconds. "I'd really like to touch the 7s," Serge says, "but it's a challenge." With a couple of local victories under their belt from the 2007 season, the guys plan to hit as many events as possible this year, including Nopi in New Jersey, a DSM shootout in Ohio, and the Canadian Sport Compact Series. "It's not the fastest car out there," Frank says, "but it's doing OK."