[BillyM]

Well, since school has started back up in Cookeville at TnTech (although I am not attending this year, as I was last year) the car (autocross) club has also started up again. Today was the first autocross of the season and I made the quick trip out to see them.

Evidently the knowledge I have gained from my summer-bout with the ETRSCCA region has made me a faster driver and a better course designer. I helped build a killer mid-30 second course (had parked cars that cut our lot 2/3 our usual room) with what space we had, then commenced to kick butt. All the guys who would usually trounce me were falling seconds behind within my first three runs, as I have learned, make the most of every lap.

Fourth run, launch perfect slipping clutch at 4500rpm and cut to the right out of the start gate, go to turn back to the left for the first sweeper and WHAT!!! Power steering is completely locked up, will not turn left! Brought the car to a halt (without hitting any cones thankfully, only about 20mph when I realized) and found only at idle could I overpower whatever was buggered in my steering system. I limped back to staging and it atleast freed up enough that I could get it to turn left, although extremely difficult... Supra is out of comission for the rest of the race.

Cars tried, but none got to me, closest was a stripped, built motor (~200hp) probeGT on some killer wide rims and unknown but very tight suspension. Other cars that previously worried me,

Jason Aderholdts 200sx turbo, 12psi, drop springs, koni sports all round, es100's on 300z stock rims, 500# advantage.

Moe Mondals early 300z turbo, stock for now, good driver.

And there was a camaro z24...


Wrote a freaking story, sorry about that.

--BillyM
Excited about FTD today, not much love for gstock under-dog on 420tw street tires usually.

 

[DriftMe]

Tell me about the Probe, I know a bit about them and 220hp is pretty damn difficult N/A unless you're a good builder.

 

[quick]

You graduated? Switched schools?

Nice job racing.

 

[BillyM]

Yea, moved back to a local school, but still enjoy racing with those guys.

The probe, I'm not sure of all his modifications but I'll start.
First thing you notice, it idles kinda funny, and not that "needs tuneup" funny. I dont know what he is running compression-wise or internally, but its got some power uphigh I would only equate to higher compression or cams or something. He has some funky intake mani that never came on any probe. I have no idea what its from, as all it says is EFI. Everything is ported/polished. He has alot of money into getting everything flowing nice. A big 4" CAI to a non-stock throttlebody. SS 6-2-1 headers and straight back to flow-through exhaust. Brakes/wheels/tires are all larger than stock. The car is faster in a line than the early 300z turbo by a good deal. Next time I'm out there, I'll try and get some more info from him.

--BillyM
I even got a little "FTD" plaque that I have to go defend at the next event.

 

[BillyM]

Sorry about that, 220 was a typo. Someone there who had evidently spoken with him previously said he was running 200hp.

--BillyM

 

[DriftMe]

I'll go through them one by one. Firstly, if the intake manifold says EFI only, and it looks different then it may be a KLZE manifold. The KL-ZE is the japanese 2.5L motor. It has 10:1 compression ratio pistons versus the 9.2:1 american, slightly longer lift and higher duration camshafts, and the intake manifold and heads are ported only slightly differently. KL heads are so damn good from the factory that a professional head porting may only yield around 5whp, a knowledgeable person can probably get the same gains for a mere fraction of the cost. The intake manifold uses a Variable Resonance Induction System which is altered slightly from the american specifications because of the slightly wider runners due to the ports being rectangular as apposed to the American oval ports. The whole motor begs for high rev play, but even the japanese intake manifold is so convoluted that there is a massive loss of power. No one has made a replacement intake manifold for the 2.5L motor yet, there is someone attempting to finish his prototype right now and estimates are between 10 and 20whp can be had from his flow balanced manifolds.

For the rest of it, I'd guess hotshot headers, an overbored throttle body (which would cause a funky idle even with hours of adjustment). The japanese 2.5L is rated for 200whp from the factory, but it is slightly overrated. One Probe owner with a brand new KLZE (J-spec with 0 miles) was able to attain 199whp with a set of hotshot headers, exhaust, and a flywheel.