So I'm driving this yellow Supra you see here. You know, just cruisin'. I've just picked up my date, Heidi Klum, who is sitting shotgun. We pull into the 7-Eleven parking lot. Heidi buys me a Big Gulp. A couple guys in a beater Civic are eyeing us. I lazily drop the Supra's hammer and execute a 300-foot burnout as we exit the parking lot.
And in case you're wondering, the color of the sky in my world is yellow. Yep, only a dream, I'm afraid. There are a few problems with the above paragraph. One: The Supra doesn't have a passenger seat. Two: The Supra doesn't have a cupholder. Three: The Supra is nowhere near street-legal.
This '97 Toyota Supra Turbo is a dedicated race car. It's owned by Hikari Works Racing, which is a joint venture between Passen Motorsports and Wheel Source. Hikari Works Racing built the car to compete in SCCA's World Challenge series. World Challenge is a road racing series that features popular cars such as Mustangs, Integras, Preludes, Corvettes, and BMWs.
Hikari Works Racing is located in Westerville, Ohio. This Supra's first year of competition was in 1998, with driver David Schardt competing in seven of the nine World Challenge races. The first season was a bit of a disappointment, as the team spent a great deal of time sorting out fuel management and overheating problems. The Supra finished in ninth place. Hikari will be racing again in 1999, however, and the team expects to be much more competitive.
Like most race cars of this type, major modifications are done to improve safety and reduce weight. The interior is completely stripped. The air conditioning, stock gas tank, and other non-essentials are gone. Devoid of fluids and driver, the Supra weighs approximately 2,700 pounds, though in competition, weight must be at least 3,150 pounds. The main safety items are an ATL 22-gallon safety fuel cell and a custom FIA-approved rollcage. The cage connects to both the front and rear strut towers to add considerable stiffness to the chassis.
The extra stiffness from the rollcage allows the suspension components to be utilized more effectively. At each corner, the stock springs and shocks have been replaced with JRZ remote-reservoir coilover shocks and Eibach Race springs. The JRZ shocks allow adjustment in both ride height and damping. While the amount of ride height adjustment depends on track conditions, the Supra generally sits about 2 inches lower than stock. Modified front and rear subframes further lower the car's center of gravity. Larger-diameter TRD antiroll bars are also used in the front and rear. Further structural rigidity comes from Hikari Works strut tower bars and solid-metal bushings. Stiff enough to impress even Traci Lords.
Bolted to each corner are Forgeline RS wheels (17x9 inches in the front and 17x11 inches in the rear) with BFGoodrich g-Force racing tires. But as sticky as the BFG tires are, we have to wonder how effective they are at containing the power of the Supra's 3.0L turbocharged straight-six engine. A stock Supra engine generates 320 hp. Hikari Works Racing tells us that the engine has dyno-tested at 7,840 hp-ha, only kidding. Just checking to see if you are still reading. No, Hikari reports approximately 500 hp at the rear wheels, though we've learned from past experience that "approximately" in racer-speak translates to "a lot more than."