Growing up as a product of the '80s was both weird and interesting. Off the top of my head, I can name plenty of things that serve as sentimental reminders of that era. Do things like Storm Shadow with kung fu grip, flux capacitors, and HKS jog your memory?Say what? Yeah, while I was busy saving Lady Jay from Cobra Commander, my cousins were busy wrenching away on their Corollas or first-gen CRXs. The name HKS sticks so well because they plastered those graphics all over their cars. "Damn, check out the exhaust," one of my cousins said, and off they went, smoking one of those drop-top preppie-mobile Rabbits at the first street light.
My cousins swore by the products that they bought and always told me, "If you're gonna fix up your car, make sure you do it right the first time with the good stuff." Meanwhile, the times have changed, and I'm no longer concerned with situations that involve gathering energon cubes to prolong the life of the Decepticons. One thing does stick in my mind, however, and that is wondering how many other big bros or sisses told their younger siblings that when it came down to hopping up a ride of their own to use the best on the market.Probably not one of life's most enigmatic questions or a quest to find the Holy Grail, but just a cool thought that maybe somewhere out there in this great world, someone's advising the next generation on how to stay on top of things. And maybe, just maybe, Mike Wen received one of these pep talks. You see, Mike has been able to get his hands on a car that most of us won't be able to afford until the age of 30 or so (30? 30! Try 50.-MP). This car that I'm talking about is the JZA80 from Toyota (better known as the Supra), and with a car like this, why would you even settle for anything less than the best in high-performance tuning and styling?
Starting off with the bare-bones 3.0L, Mike researched and discovered that he wouldn't have to touch the internals of the motor and still have the ability to produce mega amounts of horsepower. HKS was called upon to free up airflow with its Super Mega Flow and a custom-fabricated Super Drager exhaust unit complete with 3-inch piping and a Rod Millen downpipe. The stock turbine housing was left alone but upgraded mildly with a modified compressor wheel. Further tuning mods include HKS F35i spark plugs, AEM adjustable cam gears, Unorthodox underdrive pulleys, and an XS Engineering ECU upgrade.For track purposes, Mike installed a 120hp-shot nitrous oxide system from NOS. An RPS Turbo Clutch matched with a 13-pound forged aluminum flywheel helps transfer the power to the wheels while a C's Short Shift kit makes shifting the gears a breeze. The dyno-test results are extremely impressive as Mike's Supra pushes out an astonishing 530 hp at 5,600 rpm at the flywheel, and 650 hp with the nitrous hooked up.
Mike obtained a set of 16-way adjustable coilovers from Tein. Imported directly from Japan, the Tein kits feature an adjustable camber plate and damping settings. GReddy front and rear strut braces also help keep the chassis stiff whenever the Supra feels fit to go canyon-carving. A set of 18-inch Racing Sparco NTs (front 18x8 1/2, rear 18x9 1/2) wrapped by Falken GR-Bs (front 235/40ZR18, rear 265/35ZR18) keep the car planted to the ground at all times.