In rare cosmic instances, uncontrollable forces in the form of gravitational instability cause dense clouds of gas to collapse, emitting intense energy and heat and forming the beginnings of a star-not unlike your inner bowels after one too many bean burritos. In both instances the, ahem, explosive events cause wonderfully astounding effects that deserve witnessing.
Similar pressure, heat and plumes of (completely non-stinky) gas gave birth to a new star at the D1 Grand Prix final round in Irwindale, CA in the form of a never-before-seen blue AE86 Corolla Levin tearing up the track while flying orange, white and green flag colors, which three-quarters of the audience (including myself), thought were of our southernly, speedy-in-the-Gonzalez-sort-of-way neighbor, Mexico. Only when a fair-skinned, brown-haired driver emerged after qualifying did I realize that this was either the palest Mexican ever, or Bush's No Child Left Behind scheme wasn't working.
Making my way to the car to investigate, two polarizing passions of mine collided singularly in a celestial-like manner: drifting and breakfast. Within earshot of the driver talking to his crew, their unique accents piqued a particular Pavlovian hunger for cereal. Not just any cereal either, but Lucky Charms-the magically delicious one. Confused, and now hungry, it dawned on me-this Ese ain't Mexican, he's Irish. Like Bono, the pre-Hollywood, before-he-had-sunglasses-surgically-grafted-to-his-face, Irish to the bone, Joshua Tree Bono. But how did the luck of the Irish manage to find its way to Los Angeles? Where'd he get those drifting abilities? And, more importantly, is he after me Lucky Charms?
Interest piqued, we set up a photoshoot with the Irish O'neders er, wonder car. And in case you didn't get that obscure '90s cinematic reference, readers might say to us, funky allusions and introducing the hottest new drivers is "that thing you do." Moving on, thanks to coordinated efforts from Falken Tire and Blitz, we were able to lock everything down with the fighting Irish himself, Darren McNamara.
First things first, I know what you're wondering, cause it was the first thing I was curious about-besides Jonny's sexual orientation, that is-what's under Darren's hood? A turbocharged twenty-valve, maybe? Nope. The motivating motor comes with the designation of Sr. No, the overtly omnipresent SR20DET motor out of a Kouki 180SX. Gasp, but why a Nissan motor?
"The original plan was to build up a 4AG like Ueo's car, a personal idol of mine, but it was going to cost $15k for the motor alone to get to the hp I would need, so I decided to go with a turbocharged Nissan motor instead," says Darren. Makes cents, er, sense, right? And with Darren operating his own shop, MCN Sport, he was able to perform any sort of rarefied swap himself. Initially, Mr. McNamara had a complete CA18DET fitted into the bay, but after noticing the 1.8's propensity to burst and the dearth of parts, he decided to squeeze in a SR using custom MCN Sport mounts, wiring and a V-mount intercooler. The only hiccup he ran into shoehorning the motor was modifying the sump to clear the steering rack. Keeping the block near-stock, Darren decided for a conservative (read: dependable) route with a HKS GT-SS turbo and manifold, GReddy pulleys and turbo outlet, Samco hoses, Twin Pacet fans, Blitz exhaust and Denso Iridium plugs.