We're not sure if you got the memo, but drag racing is pretty much out. Drifting and Time Attack are in like low-carb diets. We sure hope that you see where this is leading-we have a 240SX, Spec Clutch and Time Attack. To those that were good at word problems: What would you get if you put those three elements together? A. The Spec Clutch Time Attack 240SX, B. The Spec Clutch Time Attack 240SX, C. The Spec Clutch Time Attack 240SX, or D. All of the above. It's D. of course, sillies. We would have also accepted, E. shut up and finish the story.
Spec Clutch is located in Alabama, and for a state that's mainly known for college football, cowboy hat-wearing rock bands and BBQ pork, we'd never have imagined to find a gem quite as striking as this 240SX. Draped in the custom "Spec" Blue DuPont paint, the Spec car looks rather stealth for a racecar. The Charge Speed wide fenders fatten the car's appearance and allow for some studly wheel sizes and offsets. You'll notice the essentials like a carbon fiber trunk, hood and wing (all tinted in Spec Blue) to lighten up the borderline heavy S14. Then comes the Bomex kit with the giant opening in the front bumper to direct air straight to the intercooler and radiator. But it's the graphics and Time Attack plaques that hint that this car belongs on the track.
But, you can't just bring a 240SX with some bodywork to the track. Well you can, but don't expect to place high in the rankings. The Spec 240SX uses a lethal combination of power and handling to make it a solid competitor. Starting with the power-adders, the KA was yanked out and replaced with a Sunbelt Racing Engines-built SR20DET. But before getting chained to the cherry picker, the SR bottom-end internals were swapped with forged CP pistons and Carillo connecting rods and sleeves. The head was given a racing valve job and a Tomei solid lifter conversion.
We'd love to tell you the specs on the billet cams, but then we'd have to kill you and our circulation would drop by one. Sandwiched between the top and bottom ends is a Cometic head gasket fastened in place with ARP head bolts. A custom GT35R mated to a Turbo Specialties manifold cools hot exhaust gases in the GReddy intercooler. To ensure that the boosted motor doesn't lean out, a set of Siemens injectors, twin Bosch fuel pumps and a JWT EMS were hired on to control the flow of the oh-so-pricey petrol. With that many ingredients, the end result was 599hp at the wheels, which isn't exactly an easy number to put to the ground. We know you're thinking, "too bad the Spec guys don't know of a good clutch place to hook them up." Oh, but they do. Themselves. Spec is a custom clutch manufacturer that specializes in high performance clutches known for maintaining in high horsepower racing conditions. In fact, this 240 is utilizing a Spec 184mm two-disc clutch and flywheel package.
And we're not even close to being done. As many drag racers have figured out, going fast and straight is hard enough. But going fast and throwing in a bunch of twisty turns from a Time Attack course is a flat out bitch, to say the least. Fortunately, the Spec 240 is equipped with JIC Magic FLTA2-RS coilovers on all four corners; an adjustable weld-in 48 spline torsion bar assembly; and Battle Version adjustable control arms, tension and traction rods. Even the custom rollcage helps stiffen the chassis while keeping the driver safe from any unfortunate mishaps.
When it's in attack mode, the Spec 240 sports a set of Enkei RPF-1 wheels with gummy Toyo RA1s to hug the asphalt. On its days off, the 240 rocks Volk Racing TE37s wrapped in Bridgestones Choosing between two sets of badass wheels-it's a rough life.
There's no doubt that the Spec 240 was built to race and the Spec crew left no stone unturned when assembling the car, but they still ran into a minor issue at our East Coast Time Attack finals in Atlanta. Though they diagnosed the problem as just a bit of wheel rubbing under hard cornering, it kept the car from running full force. Hey, it happens to the best of us. Fortunately, it's a much easier fix than having to tear the entire motor down and rebuild it or something of that nature (knock on wood). With Shrek coordinating our Time Attack schedule as I type, we know the Spec car will be ready for a huge impact this time around.