Nine-Second HKS Front-Drive Celica Coming To America?
While we Americans are busy tinkering with Honda Civics, making a seemingly futile attempt to reach the 9-second quarter-mile barrier, HKS Japan has gone out and blasted everybody out of water with its sixth-generation Celica. Its best time so far has been an astounding 9.727 seconds (though this was in the Japanese version of the quarter-mile). HKS reports that the car has yet to reach its fullest potential.
So do your attempts at achieving 14-second e.t.'s in your piddling second-hand Civic seem somewhat pointless now? Don't worry too much; HKS' achievement was fueled by something most of us don't have: money. Yep, this Celica is a magnum-grade race car. The chassis is still unibody, but has been heavily modified. The body panels are lightweight. Horsepower comes from a 2.0L 3S-GE. Internal modifications to the stock block include 9.3:1 compression, HKS forged pistons, connecting rods, and camshafts. It's turbocharged, of course, and the turbo is an HKS GT3240 controlled by an EVC Pro, Prototype F-Con, and a special Racing wastegate. The triple-disc clutch spins an X-Track sequential transmission. The engine and transaxle have been relocated for better weight distribution. For suspension, HKS fitted a drag-racing version of its Hiper Damper system. Output is listed as 560 hp at 8,000 rpm.
The big question is "Will it come to America?" It has yet to be determined, but you can help convince HKS to bring the car here. Draft an e-mail to HKS North America saying you want to see the Celica here. Send your e-mail to jdhks@aol.com. We've already sent more than our fair share. How about you?
Show-Hopping: L.A., Detroit, Chicago
The winter months generally don't hold too much compact/import action. There are no races and only a few indoor shows to attend. But those same months are host to the three biggest auto shows in America: the L.A. Auto Show, the Detroit Auto Show, and the Chicago Auto Show. Normally, we find these shows about as exciting as belly button lint. All they consist of is a bunch of cars from your local dealership along with a few scattered ultra-attractive female models. We'll take Import Showoff any day.
The one thing good about the auto shows is the debut of concept cars and upcoming production cars. We understand you drool puddles for this kind of stuff. That's why we spared no expense covering the three American shows to bring you the latest info on the concept cars.
For the Detroit Auto Show, we chartered Petersen Publishing's Gulfstream G4 corporate jet (Sorry, blokes. What he meant to say was the "EMAP" corporate jet! Cheers!-MP). Whew, talk about cush! Not even Air Force One can compare. In flight, Jonathan and Brent played Gran Turismo on the big screen TV while Howard practiced his swing steps on the full-size dance floor. Matt just kept yelling at anybody who would listen about the time he saw Nikki Sixx at McDonald's back in '86.
Once we were in Detroit, it began to snow. Rich had never seen snow before and was amazed to learn that human males are able write their name in it. He tried this in front of the Detroit Convention Center and was arrested. We haven't seen him since.
We intended to go to the Chicago Show, too, but forgot. Oh well. There wasn't much there anyway. Here's what we thought was the coolest from the three (two) shows.