TurboAWD Cars

December 15, 2003

Finally! CRD has started work on the GTR. I have updated the GTR Gallery page with some pictures showing Yoshi of CRD working on the car.

November 28, 2003

The bodykit is already installed in the Supra. Now it's off to the paintshop for the car. We have also assembled the engine, including the Veilside manifold and the HKS twin turbos. I have posted pictures of the installed bodykit as well as the assembled engine in the Supra Gallery.

November 26, 2003

I have added one of my friend's cars. It's a 2002 Honda Civic ES. It only has a 1.6 liter SOHC engine, but the added turbocharger has brought about more than 100% increase in power. See the car in the Civic page.

I have also posted the stage 1 and stage 2 dyno sheets of my Evo. Also posted are the dyno sheets for the Civic, CRV, WRX, and Land Cruiser. Check it out in their respective pages.

November 17, 2003

Supra - Just received the TRD body kit a couple of days ago. We have started installing it and should be ready for the new paint job in a couple of more days. I have also bought a Veilside Teardrop titanium exhaust system for the Supra. Also, delivered last week were the tires I plan to run on the street. It's the new Bridgestone Potenza RE55S SR. Go over the Supra Gallery to see what else is going on.

Evo - Since my EVO has been cooperative and breaking her own personal record without breaking down, I bought her a gift :) It's a Veilside Teardrop titanium exhaust system. I have pictures of the exhaust on the Evo Gallery I also have a video showing how it sounds in the Evo Specs page of the site.

GTR - I am expecting an update from Croydon Racing Development in a couple of days. In the meantime, I have also bought Bridgestone Potenza RE55S SRs for the GTR's street duty. I have a picture of it mounted on the Nismo LM GT4 limited wheel on the GTR Gallery page.

November 10, 2003

I am back in the Philippine capital of Manila after spending the weekend in Cebu for the "Adrenaline Rush" drag race. The Evo did quite well, breaking it's previous personal best in qualifying. It ran a 10.766 @ 143MPH and backed it up with a 10.86 @ 142.57MPH. My previous best was 10.89. I was very confident that given more passes, we would have easily broken the Philippine quickest car record of 10.67 which is also held by my team Autoplus Sportzentrium.

We arrived in Cebu the morning of Friday November 7th. We immediately went to the port to pick up the car. As the Evo was already tuned before leaving Manila, we just parked it in a garage and had the sponsor stickers placed.

Saturday morning came and the Evo was given a routine check to ensure that everything was ready for the race. We made our first pass during the afternoon qualifying. It was a miserable 12+ sec run. We later found out that the engine was running on 3 cylinders because one of the spark plugs wasn't tightened properly. Our second qualifying run was almost picture perfect. With a bit of bogging down at the start (we were still getting used to the new clutch), the car made an amazing 10.766 pass. Our third and final qualifying run was a 10.86, with quite a bit of wheelspin at the start. The Evo had made the quickest time in the entire event. Nobody even came close to running our times. Not even a 6 cylinder full-race Skyline GTR was able to break the 10 second barrier.

The first round of the Quick 8 Finals didn't go as we planned. The car bogged down extremely at the start, up to the point of the engine stalling. Our night was over; or so it seemed. We had asked the organizers for a by-run for us to attempt to break the record. They gladly gave us two opportunities. The first run was an 11+ pass, as the driver had mis-shifted one of the gears. We had another opportunity but had to wait as the organizers decided to proceed with some of the bracket races first. After around an hour or so of waiting, it was now finally our turn. Upon hearing the announcer mention the record breaking attempt, one of Cebu's big guns in drag racing (driving a full race Skyline GTR) volunteered to go side by side with us. We didn't have a problem with it as we were confident about beating the Skyline.

It turned that we didn't need to try so hard to beat it. The driver of the Skyline red-lighted by around .2+ seconds, getting the jump on us. But it was useless because by the end of first gear the Evo already had a considerable lead. By third gear the Evo was already quite far ahead. The driver misshifted 3rd to fourth, so the Skyline was able to catch up a bit, but as soon as fourth gear went in, it was bye-bye for the Skyline. The final result was an 11.0 on our part, versus the Skyline's 11.5. Even though we didn't win the Quick 8 category, that final Evo versus Skyline match really made my day.

I have posted some pictures of the Evo in action, as well as some newspaper articles the local press wrote about us in the Gallery.

I have also posted a video clip of the 10.76 run in the Evo Specs page.

November 8, 2003

I have received pictures of the tubos, intercooler, and Jun crate engine for the GTR from Croydon Racing Development. Pics are at the Gallery. I am already in Cebu for the drag race. The event is today, so I hope the Evo does well. I will post a race report as soon as the event is over.

October 30, 2003

The Evo has just gone through 3 days of extensive dyno tuning. The result is an amazing 618HP and 487lb-ft. of torque at all 4 wheels. I will post the dyno sheet in the coming days. For now I have updated the Evo specs page to reflect the new power figures. The Evo will also see it's first share of action with the new set up as we will be joining the upcoming "Adrenaline Rush" drag race in the beautiful city of Cebu.

October 10, 2003

GTR - The GTR is estimated to arrive at Sydney port today. After a few days of clearing customs and posting a Temporary Importation bond, it should be on it's way to Croydon Racing Development. Likewise the JUN engine and the HKS twin turbo kit and other parts have arrived and are at the Croydon facilities. I will be posting pictures next week as soon as I get them from Croydon.

EVO - The stage 2 engine has been completed and installed. Minor tuning was done for us to break in the engine. Final tuning is scheduled at the last week of October.

New Project - I have started a new project. Someone was selling a 1995 Toyota Supra TT which was given to him as payment for debts. Since he has no interest in cars, he wants to sell it. The car comes with a brand new race engine from Powerhouse Racing in Texas. After looking at the invoice for the engine, I made my decision right away. The seller was selling the car for the price of the engine. So basically, I am buying a brand new engine and the car came with it, free! I have started a new gallery page for the Supra and have posted preliminary pictures of it on site.

August 23, 2003

Finally! The conversion is finished. Aside from the windshield and final fitting of the airbag cover, everything is installed and working. I have a couple of pictures up on the Gallery. Some engine and interior shots. I have shots on the heat shields, heat blanket on the firewall. The car is scheduled to be picked up by the forwarder on Monday the 25th. Unfortunately, there are no ships scheduled next week. The earliest date to ship out is on the 5th of Spetember.

July 25, 2003

Got word that my Hollinger 6 speed sequential transmission has arrived at Croydon Racing Development (CRD). Things seem to be moving at a fast pace now. I am getting excited. Pictures of the transmission is at the GTR Gallery.

July 24, 2003

The dash has been reupholstered again. This time it is perfect. The pictures don't do justice to the actual pieces. Skyline Motors is now making the tricky part of making the downpipe for the turbos snake thru the steering racks. Also, wirings are all wrapped up. The thermal blanket that goes on the firewall is likewise finished. Only a couple of days now and we can ship out the car. I hope. Posted a couple of pictures of the dashboard on the GTR Gallery.

July 16, 2003

The dash has been upholstered. I have a picture on it on the GTR Gallery. Problem is, the stitching is not the color that we wanted. We want the stitch to be almost the same color as the stitching on the steering wheel. The thread they used was lighter in color. That means they have to redo it.

July 11, 2003

The bumper I ordered from TomoQ has arrived. It is the one used by Top Secret on all of their demo cars. I really like this one as the intake for the intercooler is really big. And I really need it for the intercooler we plan to use. I have a shot of it up on the GTR Gallery.

July 02, 2003

The dashboard is out of the car and is ready for leather wrapping. A few adjustments were made to the dash particularly the area around the vents by the windshield and the surrounding area of the airbag cover to make them fit perfectly. Also, adjustments were made to each individual holes to make allowances for the thickness of the leather. I have just one picture up at the GTR Gallery which shows the adjustments.

June 25, 2003

Finally! The dashboard is finished. All that is needed it to have it upholstered leather. I have posted numerous pictures at the GTR Gallery. If you will notice, the dashboard is almost exactly the same as the RHD version. I said almost because if you will take a good look at the MFD cover, there is a bulge where the cover meets the dash. Reason for that is the A/C duct underneath the MFD makes it impossible to sink the MFD further. On the RHD version, the MFD sits lower. But overall, I think they did a great job and I am very happy with the result. I especially like the center console and how they tilt towards the driver, as well as the tilting of the MFD screen towards the driver’s view.

April 4, 2003

Sold the engine of the Evo 6 TME in preparation for Stage 2. Stage 2 will include better fuel system, a new cylinder head and JUN 2.2L stroker kit. I have posted some pictures of the kit on the Evo 6 Gallery.

March 26, 2003

Finally. A major development in the conversion. The prototype dash is put into the GTR for test fitting to check if corrections are needed. Visit the GTR Gallery for the pictures.

March 23, 2003

Decided to sell my Evo 7. I prefer the looks and power of my Evo 6 TME over the 7 and also I want to make room in the garage for the GTR. I have removed some of the aftermarket parts from the Evo 7 and have posted them up for sale in the For Sale page just in case anyone is interested.

March 12, 2003

Conversion still ongoing. The slow part is the custom dashboard being done by an outside contractor. Plus the Nissan steering rack just arrived a few days ago from Japan. The brake master cylinder and ABS has been relocated. Pictures up at the GTR Gallery page.

February 17, 2003

The wheels that I ordered from TomoQ for the GTR have arrived. They are the limited edition NISMO LM-GT4. This limited edition version has the JGTC center lock style. Took a shot of this beautiful wheel and posted it up on the GTR Gallery.

February 15, 2003

Posted a picture of the mold for the dashboard at the GTR Gallery page.

February 02, 2003

Here is a shot of the custom wiring harness being made. No splicing of existing wires here. Check out the More pictures at the GTR Gallery page.

September 14, 2002

GTR arrived at Skyline Motors facility. Got some pictures up at the GTR Gallery.

July 22, 2002

In you go. GTR is being loaded into container and on it’s way to Long Beach California. Then, to Skyline Motors L.L.C. for the left hand drive conversion. More pictures at the GTR Gallery.

July 19, 2002

Finally, the GTR has been de-registered and license plate returned to the agency. It is now delivered to port and ready to be loaded in the container. Nezu-san took some picture for me to feel like I’m there. Posted it at the GTR Gallery.

July 04, 2002

Got my GTR!! My friend Nezu-san went to FREED, a dealer that only sells brand new and used GTRs. Got the pictures up at the GTR Gallery for you to see my baby.

June 19, 2002

No GTR again. The owner decided to hold on to the ruined R34 until he gets a settlement from the shop for a new one. Seems he is suing them for mental anguish. Don’t blame him.

June 14, 2002

Finally found a very fresh Vspec 2 with less than 3000 km and very very cheap. The catch? No, it’s not been into any collision. And no, it’s not stolen. But you’re right, there is a catch. Seems that the owner bought the car to a well known Japanese chain auto accessories store to have an alarm installed. When he came to pick up the car, I would imagine he freaked out. The installer placed the siren of the alarm by the chassis number. Needless to say, he drilled a couple of holes into the numbers. The car is basically ruined. A new chassis number has to be engraved somewhere else by the government agencies concerned and it won’t start with BNR34-000000. No one in Japan wants the car. Personally, I don’t mind that the number is different. Posted some pictures of the ill fated GTR on the GTR Gallery

May 21, 2002

Bought myself some English manuals for the GTR. Got it from JPNZ International in New Zealand.

April 25, 2002

Decided to buy myself a Skyline GTR R34. Got more interested when I heard that it will be discontinued. Placed an order with TomoQ Corporation based near Osaka, Japan; owned by a very good friend of mine named Takashi Nezu. Speaks good English and understands cars. Hope I get a fresh one.