It's not easy being a winner. Trust us, we know. We put out a winning compact performance car magazine every month and still get paid less than the janitors who clean up after Otis in the bathroom when he has a spicy curry beef colon attack. Every race or competition we enter against other magazines, we lose. We can't even get through to a radio station to win concert tickets. We'll probably never know what it feels like to win at anything. No need, though, because we can live in the glory of Sun Auto's Cyber Evo, which dominates almost every Time Attack race from here to Japan.
Thanks to, well, us, the seed of the Time Attack has been officially planted in the States. However, we can't fully take credit for such an extraordinary event and still be able to sleep at night. Road racing has been around in the US even before old man Yamz was conceived. And in Japan, the Super Lap invitationals at Tsukuba circuit are some of the most prestigious events in the country's history of motorsports. Being the biters we are, we took little bits and pieces from all around and came up with our own event that you can read about on page 80 in this issue.
Straying to Japan for a moment, the HKS carbon-fiber Mitsubishi on the cover of our Aug. '04 issue is the current reigning champ at the Tsukuba Circuit, with an extraordinary lap time of 54.739. But that car was designed for one purpose only: to break the record at Tsukuba, and it did. Park the Cyber Evo next to that race car and you'd never be able to tell that it runs just a hair off of the record holder's time. From the outside, the Cyber Evo looks like nothing more than a highly modified Evo VII with a full C-West body kit, a Sun Auto carbon-fiber GT wing, a slue of sponsor decals, and other various aerodynamic knickknacks. Not to go on unnoticed are the lightweight bronze 17-inch Volk Racing CE28 wheels engulfed in Advan A048R tires to keep the Cyber Evo stuck to the track. The stock Brembo brake calipers maintain sufficient clamping force, but the rotors were swapped out for a set from Garage HRS and paired up with Power Craft OX brake pads.
Cars such as the Skyline GT-R, WRX, and Evolution have an obvious advantage over the rest of the pack because of their all-wheel-drive platforms, but it never hurts to improve on something, no matter how good it is already. Each of the four Cyber Evo corners is perfectly calibrated with Tein coilovers. Further assisting to keep the chassis stiff and the Cyber Evo in full control around each bend are an AP rollcage and a Cusco stabilizer bracket. At this point, you probably haven't had a chance to skim through our Fast Facts section for this car. Before you do, we should let you know that there isn't a typo. Part owner, Mr. Masamichi Takizawa really is a dentist. And from all the Japanese girls that we've seen, he's been slacking off a lot. That's probably because he's also an engineer who focused much of his attention on the powerplant that can be found under the hood of the Cyber Evo. The 4G63 internals are beefed up with a JUN 2.2L stroker kit, 272 cams, and a crankshaft.
Force-feeding the Cyber Evo's motor is a giant RX6 turbo matched with a wastegate and a custom intercooler, all from A'PEXi. The additional compressed air is compensated with a Bosch fuel pump, and 1,000cc injectors are managed by an HKS F-Con Pro. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Of course, how could we forget the Hyper Ground and Hyper Voltage systems from Sun Auto. We could go on for two more pages just getting into the detailed craftsmanship that went into building the motor and driveline for this car, but we'll let you off the hook this time. Just rest assured knowing that three Cusco MZ Type RS limited-slip differentials are somewhere tucked away neatly.
Back at the Tsukuba Circuit, the Cyber Evo posted a best lap time of 55.801. That's a measly one second off of the HKS car. That might seem like nothing to you or us, but, driver Eiji "Tarzan" Yamada, assures us that on a high-speed technical course like Tsukuba, shaving even one second off your time is damn near impossible. Our time attack track at Button Willow Raceway here in the States is much different than Tsukuba. Our track is much larger, that's why you'll notice that everyone's lap times are almost double what a Tsukuba one would be. Cars that were built to run Tsukuba might face problems with the motor or transmission overheating because of the extended distance the cars need to be pushed. Last year, Tarzan drove Signal Auto's R34 Skyline to a 1:54.2 lap, almost four seconds faster than any competitor that day. This year, with the Cyber Evo, Tarzan blazed through the track and set the record with 1:48.906. That's purely insane if you ask us. Not to dismiss the fact that Tarzan was driving three different cars in the same class and had to literally jump out of one and into another just to make sure each one qualified.
Clearly the Cyber Evo has raised the bar in our Time Attack, and the Sun Auto staff never had a doubt. A week before the event we asked Daiji Takashima if he thought they were going to win. "Definitely," he answered before running off so that no one would see him conversing in public with a bunch of losers like us. Within one week of setting the record, the car was shipped back to Japan for another Time Attack. If it's that difficult to gain one second, think how hard it's going to be for everyone else to try to kill five seconds of their time. Seriously, think about it.
It's our understanding that the Cyber Evo won't make another appearance in the States until its record is in jeopardy of being broken. From the looks of it, that won't be anytime soon.