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| MANI JAYASINGHE |
| 1994 TOYOTA SUPRA TURBO |
| 6 SPEED |
| RED/BLACK |
| , . |
 EMAIL MANI |
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| 16 photos |
| 2562 words |
| May 5th '03 |
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INTRODUCTION:
Mani Jayasinge and his red Supra may possibly be the most recognizable name and car in the Supra community. As a result of his participation in the Sport Compact Car (SCC) magazine inaugural, three-event (drag, autocross and car show) Ultimate Street Car Challenge (USCC) in 2000, winning the drag and autocross events outright and finishing second overall, Mani has also competed in the subsequent Challenges as the event has evolved. In 2001 and 2002, Mani finished second overall and third overall, respectively, and the car was featured in SCC promoting the event in February 2002 and February 2003. More importantly, the car was featured on the cover of SCC in March of 2002 and March of 2003 as the lead-in to the cover story article in both instances.
In addition to SCC, the car was featured in the Nov/Dec 2002 edition of Access magazine and Volumes 1 and 2 and the upcoming Volume 5 of the Grip Video series. The car is also to be featured in Redline magazine which should be available as this is written. | GENERAL:
Coming from a MKIII Turbo, it was a natural move to the MKIV. However, the purchase of this car came all by accident. A request from a friend got me to test drive the MKIV and the rest is history. This car, in my opinion, is leaps and bounds ahead of the MKIII, which is a great car as well.
I’ve had the car for a while before I started to modify it. I was not sure of what to mod, so I went with a set of “First Super Weapon” 17” wheels that were wrapped in 315s in the back and 275s in the front. Next, came the exhaust. At the time I was a fan of keeping things quiet. I found a Greddy exhaust that was almost as quiet as the stock one but with some attitude and better flow. I followed this with a Greddy blow-off valve, which was routed, back into the intake to keep the sound to a minimum. This was the set-up for a long time. No other modifications were done to the car until I went to my very first Supra gathering.
With 320 hp on tap, this car was not a slouch. But, that quickly changed as I followed a few of the Supras that were somewhat modified. My ass was thoroughly kicked that day and I came out of this meet with a mission. I had some definite plans for the car before the next gathering. Having more power was way up there on the list.
As soon as I got home, I sat in front of the computer and started my research. I needed to get some go fast goodies and quick. BPU was the first route, so a boost controller (APEX-I AVC-R which, by the way, was the hot ticket back then as it just hit the market) and a down pipe were in order, as well as a Greddy BCC to keep the fuel cut in check. With the added boost, the car had a totally different attitude. The only part that I didn’t like was the dip in boost as the second turbo came on-line. Being a road race guy, it’s not ideal to have a dip in the boost and then all hell breaking loose as the second turbo comes on-line and pumps all that air into the motor. I found myself facing the wrong direction at more than one road race event because of this little issue.
To solve this issue, I had to get rid of the boost dip, which came by way of TTC. TTC basically eliminated the sequential function of the turbos and ran them parallel. With this little mod, the car was a joy to drive at the limit. No more “ass hanging” on turns. As much fun as it is, it’s not the fastest way to get around the track.
Since drag racing was not something that I was particularly fond of, having an obscene amount of power was not needed for me to have a good time with the car. However, I set a goal to myself as far as power levels go. I wanted to be the first to get 500 HP to the rear wheels without using NOS and on stock turbos. This became a challenge, especially since no one had done it and it was deemed impossible by many in the Supra community. At the time, having 400+ to the wheels in a BPU car was considered a pretty good number.
My first dyno run came at Vegas ‘99 where my car was straight BPU with a boost controller, down pipe, exhaust and a BCC was all there was to it as far as the modifications were concerned. With these simple mods and on 100% pump gas, the car pulled 406 to the rear wheels. I was fairly happy with the results and now I had a baseline to go by. I was still 94 RWHP away from my ultimate goal.
On my quest to be the first to get to 500 RWHP on a stock turbo car without using NOS, the parts had to be chosen very carefully. The first mod was to get rid of the side mount intercooler and replace it with a big HKS Front mount unit. Along with the hard pipes from HKS, the car felt much stronger. Next, came a set of under-drive pulleys from AEM. This mod came about by chance as AEM needed a Supra to prototype their new under-drive pulleys. Along with the pulleys, I installed a set of AEM adjustable cam gears. Once these modifications were completed, it was time to fine-tune the engine.
Toyota’s factory tuning has the ECU run the car very rich at the top end and there was more HP to be gained by tuning the fuel curve. In went an Apex-I SAFC to match the AVC-R boost controller.
Mass air flow (MAF) sensors are a wonderful thing if you want to have a smooth car and not be too worried about the restriction. In my case, I needed all the help I could get. An HKS VPC was in order to convert the car to speed density and get rid of the MAF. With all the goodies in, and a few tweaks here and there, the car managed to put down 487 to the rear wheels. Although this was still 13 RWHP from my target goal, at the time, it was the highest RWHP BPU car that was not on NOS. The missing 13 RWHP would’ve been gained with my next mod, but I decided to be happy with the 487 RWHP dyno sheet. I knew that I would’ve reach the 500 mark with the ported and polished head along with the big valves, which I planned as my next modification.
Since I had gone as far as possible up the BPU ladder, I knew something new and different was in order. By this time, more and more Supras were showing up with big single turbos and spinning the rollers to some insane HP numbers.
As I mentioned before, I’m not a drag racer. Drivability and quick spool-up was the key factor, which the stock twins were more than capable of delivering. But, I still had this urge to go the single turbo route for the same reason that I went BPU in the first place. It meant that I wouldn’t be in the back of the pack when I hung out with the other Supras (obviously with single/twin aftermarket turbos). Going single was crystallized when I got a ride in a single turbo Supra during one of our many meets and got a chance to drive this same car. The beautiful black ‘97 belonged to Sam Brown in San Diego.
At this point, I went back into the research mode, but this time it was for a single turbo, a fuel system and everything else needed for the proper installation and operation of the car.
| ENGINE:
The first choice was to decide on which turbo to go with. With all the feedback and talking to people and my own research, I decided on a T66 with a P trim and a .70 AR. This is a good off-the-shelf turbo and parts for it were readily available. Many questioned my choice of the AR. As I mentioned before, quick spool and smooth power delivery was very important for my style of driving.
With the turbo out of the way, I had to decide on the manifold and other goodies needed for the single conversion. The choice was simple when it came to the exhaust manifold. RPS was first on my list, mainly because of the sound that RPS headers make. It is something that you have to hear to appreciate. The best way to describe the sound of an RPS manifold on a single turbo Supra is similar to a Super bike on steroids. This fact, coupled with RPS offering a full single turbo kit for the Supra, made the choice obvious.
| FUEL:
When it came to fuel, however, the choice was not that easy. I looked around and did more research, yet couldn’t find a fuel system that I was totally happy with. Fuel is an area in which I didn’t want to play around. I wanted to use the best components possible. After countless hours of research, I decided to build my own fuel system. Starting with a set of Bosch 720cc injectors, I had RC Engineering check and balance them to be certain that each is flowing as they should and all are matched in flow as closely as possible. I matched the injectors to a HKS fuel rail, which had to be modified so the return line is at the middle of the rail rather than at the end. This was not necessary, but I wanted the peace of mind that the fuel pressure will not fluctuate between injectors during high boost runs. I also wanted to avoid running big fuel lines. I opted to run two –6 lines from the tank all the way to each side of the fuel rail, essentially, a parallel fuel system. With the two OEM pumps in the tank feeding each end of the fuel rail, and using the center return, ensured that the fuel at the injectors would be the same through all 6 injectors at even the highest boost levels. With a second relay controlling the second fuel pump, and both pumps triggered by the factory trigger, this system was also very reliable. After the Paxton fuel pressure regulator does its job, the excess fuel is returned back to the tank via the stock return line. Using as much of the factory fuel lines as possible also meant that the installation was very clean. To make sure that the fuel reaching the injectors is free of any residue, each fuel line was fitted with a factory fuel filter.
With all the parts now in my hand it was time to begin the long awaited installation of the single turbo and the fuel system.
Since I like to do as much of the installation and maintenance on the car as possible, this was something that I decided to tackle on my own. This also gave me a better understanding of the whole system.
With the help of a couple of friends, we began the installation on a Friday night. Once the stock turbos were out which, by the way, is the most difficult part of this whole process, the single turbo went in with not much of an issue. By Sunday, I had the single turbo installed and the car running, albeit with 4 PSI of boost to make sure that the engine would survive until I got the chance to install the fuel system, which I undertook the following weekend.
Installing the fuel system took just as much time as doing the single turbo, mainly because of the fact that I was working with engine in the car and the car itself was no more than 2’ off the ground. Having a lift and some power tools would’ve cut the time at least by half. No matter, the installation proceeded and, once again, I had the car running by the end of the weekend.
Now it was time to tune her and see what she was capable of. Before getting the car to a dyno, I wanted to “clean up” the engine bay, which required a few items to be fabricated. Since I have no talent in this area, and know my limitations when it comes to welding things, I employed the help of JC’s School. JC, as he’s known, is also one of the best fabricators in the area. The fact that he is one of the few people, in the country, that knows the MKIV Supra inside out was a big plus as well.
| EXTERIOR:
With engine bay now done to my liking, it was time to concentrate on the outside of the car. A few months back, I came across a good deal on a TopSecret front bumper and a carbon fiber RMM wing, both of which were installed on the car, but I wanted to get her looking somewhat unique. About the same time, I found out that C-West was now producing a kit for the JZA and it was available through my good friends at Motorex. Being that this is a new kit, not many, if any, had the kit installed on their cars. So, I decided to go with the full C-west kit, including the GT wing. Though the wing took a bit of convincing for me to get, the body kit was a no brainer. I later found out that the wing is extremely helpful in keeping the car stable at high speeds, and easily tunable at the track to get the car to handle neutrally. Being close to $2k for the wing also meant that not many people would have one.
In between these modifications, I had a 6-point custom cage installed and some direct port NOS with duel custom mounted bottles installed and some MOMO seats & 5 point harnesses to keep me in place during hard cornering.
I’ve done many events and driven this car very hard for several years. In 2003, I will be concentrating on showing the car. For this, I’ve redone the entire car almost from the ground up, replacing everything that needed to be replaced. Anything that looked worn/old was replaced (bolts, brackets etc…) and I topped it all off with a full Do-Luck kit and C-West side mirrors. The MOMO seats were replaced with Sparco “REV” custom upholstered seats and the gauges were relocated to provide better visibility to the driver and clean up the dashboard. And, finally, a carbon fiber dash kit was installed to keep things clean.
If you’ve read this far, you’re obviously interested in the story of my car. Hope you like what I’ve done to it and feel free to contact me with any comments. |
PARTS LIST:
| ENGINE:
New Toyota short block
New Toyota head ported and polished, with 3-angle valve job
Ferrea dual valve springs
Ferrea stainless steel valves, 2mm oversize
Titanium retainers
Custom oil cooler
Relocated oil filter
HKS 264 cams, intake and exhaust
HKS adjustable cam gears, intake and exhaust
Innovative single turbo T66 .70 AR
RPS equal-length stainless steel manifold
RPS mid-pipe
RPS down pipe with flex joint
Innovative racing external wastegate
Custom built aluminum 4" intake pipe, polished
K&N cone air filter, 6"x14"
Custom built intake air box, polished
Custom built mid-pipe heat shield, polished
Custom built turbo compressor housing heat shield, polished
Custom built firewall heat shield, polished
Polished valve covers
Polished charge pipes
Dual HKS Super sequential blow of valves, polished
Polished intake manifold
Modified throttle body, polished and traction control butterfly deleted
HKS Type R front-mount intercooler
Hyperground wires
Hyperground booster
Power Enterprise radiator | FUEL:
Bosch/RC Engineering 720cc injectors
Dual oem pumps
HKS rail fed by 2x -6 lines, center return
Paxton regulator
NOS direct port (120 shot)
Dual 10 lb bottles (powder coated to match exterior) | ELECTRONICS:
AEM EMS fully programmable stand alone ECU.
HKS turbo timer
Greddy manual boost controller
| DRIVETRAIN:
RPS 6 puck carbon metallic clutch disc
Drift Motorsports high pressure racing pressure plate | BRAKES/CHASSIS:
Custom built Coilover suspension system
(ride height adjustable)
1.06 G cornering force
(as tested by Sports Compact Car magazine 03/02)
Eibach racing springs
4-way adjustable shocks
TRD strut front tower brace, powder coated red
Cusco rear tower brace
Combination NOS brackets and polished
Stoptech 4-piston calipers with 14" rotors, front/rear
S/Steel braided brake lines
| WHEELS/TIRES:
Wheels: Forgeline 3 piece WC3 18x9.5 (F) & 18x10.5 (R)
Tires: Pirelli P Zero Rosso Assimetrico 255/35 (F) 315/30 (R)
| INTERIOR:
Greddy boost gauge
Greddy fuel pressure gauge, peak/hold & memory
Greddy oil pressure gauge
Greddy Air Fuel Ratio meter with near wide band O2 sender
Greddy Exhaust Temperature gauge
Greddy Oil Temperature gauge
Clarion single-din head unit CD, MP3 and aux out for TV, DVD
Kicker amp 6-Channel 600W
Kicker 10" subs 2
Custom Sub box where the rear seat used to be
Polk front and back speakers
Carbon fiber dash
B&M Short shifter
VeilSide shift knob
Sparco pedals
Sparco Steering with NOS control
Sparco REV racing seats (custom upholstered)
| EXTERIOR:
Do-Luck body kit (molded) with wide front fenders
C-West full carbon fiber GT-Wing
C-West carbon fiber side mirrors
Sparco lockable fuel door
Do-Luck vented hood
Do-Luck rear diffuser
97 headlights with custom painted eyelids |
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turbo: T66
pistons: oem
rods: oem
head: oem
cams: HKS 264
boost:
injectors: 720cc
pumps: oem x2
fmic: HKS Type-R
clutch: RPS single met
nitrous: 70
rwhp: 782 (dynojet)
circa 920hp at the flywheel
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