> DRAG CHATTER

HATEFUL EIGHT

DRAG Challenge veteran Phil Edmondson drove his 4000lb behemoth of a Falcon coupe into the eights at a recent Fast Friday at AIR, reeling off an 8.97@154mph. “At first I didn’t think the car would be fast enough to run an eight, but we just kept upgrading things over time, and as we did, the potential to go faster just grew,” Phil said. The current engine is based on an SVO Windsor block with alloy Cleveland heads, force-fed by an 88mm Borgwarner snail. It was built by Rino at RC Performance and made an impressive 1423hp on the engine dyno on 25psi in the lead-up to Drag Challenge 2017. With Frank and Nathaniel from Dandy Engines remote-tuning the Fueltech FT600, incremental adjustments eventually yielded the eight-second timecard. “The car has a triangulated four-link that’s never really been set up properly,” Phil explained. “If we play with the suspension we can probably add more boost off the line and it’ll go faster as-is. But I’ve ordered a billet 88mm turbo from the States that’s rated for a whole lot more horsepower, and that will go on – along with a new converter and exhaust – before this year’s Drag Challenge.”

OH, WHAT A FEELING!

WE HAVE seen a handful of Toyota six-powered cars at previous Drag Challenge events, and the numbers are growing for Drag Challenge Weekend. Amongst a rash of Toyota-powered rides entered for the April event is the 1985 Cressida of Newcastle’s Joseph Freire. Dubbed 321CYA, the Cressida runs 2JZ power and has a 10.5-second PB to its name. Jon Fulton from Queensland has a 1UZ V8 in his Datsun Bluebird, assisted by a S366 BW turbo for a best of 10.71 seconds with more to come. And – for the first time – we have a JZA80 Supra! Owned by Tara Johnston, the Next Level Motorsport-built machine runs a big singleturbo 2JZ combo, backed by a built A340 auto, for a best of 10.10 seconds down the Willowbank quarter-mile. Keep ’em coming!

FLOURISHING ON RACE DAY

AND while we’ve seen plenty of GM products amongst the early entrants for Drag Challenge Weekend, we reckon there are currently more Fords on the entry list that anything else. Pat O’shea’s Toca-powered XR is backing up again after last year’s successful Drag Challenge debut, and Mark Clifford of 600ci Boss-powered Mustang fame is no doubt pleased to have an event a little closer to his FNQ home than previous Drag Challenges. Nsw-based racers Alon Vella and Nathan Ghosn are two more DC vets who’ll be attending, both in head-kicking aspo Capris. And there are plenty more besides these – keep your eyes on streetmachine.com.au as we check out heaps of the contenders in the lead-up to the event.