RAGE IN BEIGE

A 700RWHP 1JZ MEANS THIS NINE-SECOND TOYOTA CORONA WILL NEVER BE LATE FOR A ROUND OF LAWN BOWLS

This Toyota Corona packs 700rwhp and runs bottomnines. Not that you’d ever pick it

DESPITE being fairly light, reardrive, cheap and packing generous engine bays, Toyota Coronas were ignored for yonks by street machiners looking to build a fast streeter. However, people like Queensland’s Luke Redman recognised the Corona’s solid underpinnings and killer potential and he has built himself an awesome, 700rwhp example that is gunning for the eight-second zone.

“I don’t own a car trailer, so I drive my cars to and from the track. I want to run an eightsecond pass and keep it street registered,” Luke says. “I actually bought the shell from Kristian Goleby as a freshly painted roller. It was destined to get a 1JZ, but he had too many projects, so I grabbed it and then he and I redid most of it because the engine went way further than what it was originally going to be.”

Anyone who knows what a 1JZ is should recognise the name Kristian Goleby, the man behind Goleby’s Parts in Toowoomba. He’s a guru when it comes to jamming the turbocharged, twin-cam, 2.5-litre inline six into all manner of 70s and 80s Toyotas. His own Corolla wagon has run eights with 1JZ power, but even with Kristian’s expertise, Luke’s Corona build wasn’t a walk in the park.

“Everything had to be custom made, so the project was a bit of a nightmare,” Luke says. “I’ve had the car for three years, but we didn’t really do much in the first year. When we started the build I got rid of a bunch of other projects; I had to funnel money into the Corona, because it just got out of hand.”

Kristian built Luke a ripper combo, using a stock crank, Spool rods and Icon slugs, with Kelford 282-degree cams and a Precision 6766 snail sat high on a 6boost manifold. The charge-air is cooled by a Plazmaman air-toair core, while a Haltech Elite 2500 controls the electronics, and boost management is all Turbosmart.

“The car was tuned by Scott Hoffman down at Cleveland Exhaust, and it made around 702rwhp on 37psi,” Luke says. “When we took it to the track, we started playing with it and decided to push it up to around 41-42psi, so I guess it has around 750rwhp now.”

Jamie from ET Chassis & Race Cars set up the rollcage, mini-tubbed the rear, made the

The 1J’s ignition runs coil packs from a Nissan R35 GT-R, while an alloy radiator to fit an S15 Nissan 200SX was ordered off ebay and handles all the cooling requirements. The fuel system uses a bootmounted cell and Aeroflow lift pump that pushes E85 into a surge tank, then through twin 044 pumps and into a set of 1650cc Bosch Motorsport injectors The 15x6 and 15x9 Performance Formula alloy wheels give a fat stance, with the rears wrapped in M/T 255/60 radials. Brakes are Hilux four-pots up front with Wilwood four-pots out back Got a car that looks mild, but goes wild? Send pics, car details and contact details to: Sleepers, Street Machine, Locked Bag 12, Oakleigh, Vic 3166. Or email: streetmachine@ aremedia.com.au.