Now, all these horses would be useless if you have to push the car down the 1,320, right? HKS made sure that the power the motor puts out gets laid to the track by using a Ram 8-inch clutch connected to a Liberty five-speed air shifter. All of this spins the 15x15-inch Weld Racing rims shod with 17-inch-wide Goodyear slicks to make the smoke while a pair of 4.5-inch-wide skinnies mounted on 15x5-inch Weld wheels steer the car down the track. The interior is as neat as the engine bay, free of any clutter such as labels, wires, and burger wrappers. Almost every interior panel is made of sheetmetal and impeccably finished. There is a carbon-fiber race seat surrounded by rollcage tubing, a steering wheel, and three gauges. That's all. The computers handle any other functions the driver might have to worry about, like where to find Market Street, while the pit crew reads the telemetry after each pass. There are no distractions for driver Tetsuya Kawasaki to worry about except for going fast and getting to the end of the track in one piece.
HKS likes to show off. They build single-purpose cars, even if they are never run more than once. This philosophy certainly proves that on a whim, they can put a vehicle together, decimate the competition, and then sneak off into the night like a Ninja, never to be heard from again. It also shows that someone over in the Japan home office has some deep pockets, and I need to get to know them very well.
Fast FactsOwner HKS RacingDriver Tetsuya KawasakiRide '01 Toyota SupraHometown Japan, baby!
Daily Grind Building some of the world's greatest cars, just for kicks
Under the Hood 4.3L 8-cylinder (Toyota 3UZ-FE); Bore x stroke: 88x82.5; Compression: 9.8:1; HKS GT3540R ball-bearing turbo (x2) with HKS wastegates, pistons, SPL camshaft, SPL intercooler and piping, H-shaped connecting rods, billet-type crankshaft intake manifolds, exhaust manifold, titanium exhaust piping, and Super Fire Racing Pro spark plugs; Toyota OE 2JZ-GTE valves; ATI crank damper pulley; RAM 8-inch clutch; Liberty five-speed air shifter, HKS F-Con V Pro main computer, and EVC Pro boost controller
Stiff Stuff Lamb springs, Koni electronic control-type shocks
Rollers 15x5 (front), 15x15 (rear) Weld Racing wheels with 15x4.5 (front), 15x17 (rear) Goodyear Racing slicks
Stoppers Mark Williams brakes < /br>< /br>Outside Custom Composite bodywork
Inside Carbon-fiber racing seat, a trio of really important gauges, and some mysterious gold and black boxes