HEART
ENGINE: Toyota 1.5JZ-GTE, 2998cc, straight-six
BLOCK: Toyota 2JZ-GE block, 1JZ-GTE pistons, 1JZ-GTE oil squirters, 2JZ-GTE rods, 2JZ-GE crank
HEAD: Ported-and-polished 1JZ-GTE, tickled valves
INTAKE: Custom intake plenum, 90mm throttle body
EXHAUST: Three-inch system, straight-through muffler
TURBO: BorgWarner S300, custom manifold
WASTEGATE: Turbosmar t Pro-Gate4 8
BOV: 50mm
FUEL: Bosch 044 primary pump, Carter lift pump, surge tank, 1000cc injectors, Malpassi rising-rate fuel-
pressure regulator (FPR)
IGNITION: 1JZ-GTE coil packs, NGK race plugs
ECU: Link G3
COOLING: Copper radiator, twin 12-inch fans, three-inch intercooler piping, 500x300mm intercooler,
water-cooled oil cooler
EXTRA: Turbosmart e-Boost boost controller, nitrous oxideFresh 98 octane is cranked through 1000cc injectors
supplied by a Bosch 044 primary and Carter lift pump
package that includes a surge tank
After the previous 1JZ-GTE went bang, Ben chucked in a 2JZ-GE block crammed with a mishmash of pistons and rods,
bolted a home-ported head atop, and hung the BorgWarner S300 huffer off the side for a cool 380kW at the rears
To reduce the loss of grip off the line, Ben switched to a set of
Hoosiers, which, he tells us, made a massive difference but meant
that the rear end wanted to tear itself out of the chassis and needed
a rejig to handle all the new-found grip. In went a two-link to tie the
shortened Hilux limited-slip diff (LSD) together, and an extra leaf was
added to each corner with stiffer shocks. For the same reason, a six-
point cage would eventuate, as, over time, the entire chassis began to
twist under the hardships of repeated launches.
While Ben could have gone a lot more hundie on the suspension
set-up, he makes the point that, for him, it was always going to be
a trade-off between drag racing and staying street legal, especially
as he didn’t want it to drive like rubbish as soon as he approached a
corner: “Drag cars handle terrible on the road; you make them soft in
the front for the weight transfer. I wanted the best of both worlds and
couldn’t commit to either/or.”
It was probably for the best, as Ben would soon discover; while
more goodies such as a BorgWarner huffer and a Link G3 would find
their way into the car, a particularly enthusiastic burnout at a local
event saw the 1JZ give up the ghost. That meant an extended stint
in the garage while Ben hopped the ditch, came back, and started a
family. With a few more years under his belt and a shift in spending
priorities, drag racing wasn’t quite as important as it used to be,
although streetability was still critical, and Ben found more fun in
going hammer and tongs around the circuit.