designo
December 23rd, 2004, 06:58 PM
Import tuning has been an international phenomenon for more than a few years now. Thanks to Hollywood, the Internet, and too-thin Japanese umbrella girls, hyper-powered RX-7’s, Supras, and Civics aren’t just a Japanese or American past time anymore. There are SEMA-like tuning shows in France and Germany; HIN threw their first international party in England last year; and drift enthusiasts in Sweden have Sam Hubinette fan clubs. But the Middle East is still one of the most unlikely places to find a Civic owners club. Sure, we’ve all heard stories about Saudi sheiks with stashes of Italian exotics – including custom one-off Ferrari’s – and the Sheik in Cannonball Run raced a Rolls Royce. But last time we checked, there are no 10-second club members in Oman. That is until we found a Bahraini license plate bolted on a 1,075 WHP (yea, WHEEL horsepower) yellow pearl, Blitz-outfitted Supra sitting in New Jersey. Maybe we should look a little more closely
Bahraini? Yea, as in the Kingdom of Bahrain - a country made of a group of islands off the coast of Saudi Arabia. Apparently, this country about 5 times the size of Washington, D.C. and its 678,000 people are home to one of the most powerful street Supras in the world. Puzzled? We were too until we found out the whole deal of how an ordinary 1993 Supra from the Middle East was transformed into a Suprahero and gained a whole lot of frequent flyer miles in the process. We met the Middle East Beast while it was sat dormant at the race shop of Bullish Motor Racing (yes, that Bullish Racing) awaiting transport to the airport for a ride back halfway around the world. Waiting for it was its young wealthy Bahraini owner – an owner with a desire for speed that matched the thickness of his wallet. Since he wanted to remain anonymous for our feature, we’ll call him… um, Supra Sammy. How Sammy ended up shipping his Supra to New Jersey is a whole other 1,500-word feature. To summarize - while spending time in the States, Sammy came to know the reputation of the Bullish Racing Team and wanted to leverage their knowledge to build the ultimate streetcar so that he could surprise his friends at the Friday night street drags in Bahrain (really). Before you could say “road trip”, Sammy convinced Bullish Racing Team owner Ara Arslanian to send over a whole crew to upgrade his 1993 targa top turbo Supra - in Bahrain. Why Bullish? Well, unless you’ve been living under a crusty ledge or have been a fan of imports since the drifting article came out in the local paper, you would know that Bullish Motor Racing and its founder/owner, Ara Arslanian have been the kings of import drag racing and one of the most respected Toyota 2JZ-GTE (JZA80 Supra Inline-6 engine) engine-builder/tuners in the world. So after a few weeks of an all expense-paid trip out to Bahrain, the Bullish crew left the Middle East with an 800 whp Middle East Supra on their resume and wicked sunburn. 800? I thought you said 1075? Yeah, yeah, we’re getting there. So after a year or so of kicking arse out in the desert plains of Bahrain, including those of Sheiks in Ferrari F50’s (OK, we made this part up), Sammy got tired of having ONLY 800 whp and wanted more power. Luckily, he read that Bullish was making much more power form the 2JZ now, but in the race-trim Solara. He begged and pleaded Ara for the race-spec build-up and after months of sweet-talking and emptying several diamond-encrusted money clips (again, false), he convinced him to do the work for him. This time though, Ara agreed to do the project only if the car was shipped over and left for a long period of time. Bullish after all was busy with its full-time racing program and usually does not work on private owner cars (true). Sammy of course said yes and before Bullish could clear out one of its service bays, the Supra was sitting on their doorsteps.
Ara started road racing in his own Supra hardtop back in the mid-nineties, before he was inflicted with the drag racing bug and began a ¼ mile quest that continues today. Before the Supra was retired, it became the first factory six-speed Supra to break the 9-second quarter mile barrier. Its replacement is the now familiar purple-hued StreetGlow Solara that Arslanian drove to the NDRA Championship for the second straight year – the team’s third consecutive title. In fact, Ara was the first man to record a six-second pass in a sport compact/import-powered car and the team has captured four combined NHRA and NDRA drag racing titles in the last three years. During most of that time, the Solara was the world’s quickest and fastest sport compact titleholder. The one thing that has stayed constant in the years of record breaking has been the choice of the Supra-based powerplant. In race trim, Bullish Racing has tuned the turbocharged 3-liter engine to make over 1,600 horsepower – more power than if 11 Celicas were running the same dyno. Bullish Racing’s engine builder, Bert Gaertner, was in charge of upgrading the Bahraini Supra’s engine to the next stage. The building process began with the re-fortifying of the bottom end with a .20 over bore of the cylinders, fresh Wiseco pistons, Carillo rods, and a lightened and knife-edged crankshaft. The head was treated to a mild version of the Bullish race-spec port and polish and then bolted down with fat heavy-duty studs. A custom Bullish Racing titanium valve train and 272-degree cams were installed with Ferrea valves to complete the headwork. A 90-mm custom Accufab-made billet throttle body was spec’d, built, and installed to connect the custom Bullish Racing intercooler piping to a Bullish Racing sheet metal intake manifold. Trace the intercooler piping and you’ll find a Bullish Racing four-row intercooler that is being force fed air from a Turbonetics T76 turbo – a big blow dryer for sure, but not the biggest available. In fact, Bert says he could have tuned up to 1,200 hp on a T88 turbo (all tuned for C-16 race gas – the Bullish Solara runs on hardcore Methanol), but anything remotely near 1,000 hp is probably more than enough for Sammy’s uh, …non-competition purposes. An ATL fuel cell, Weldon fuel pump, and HKS fuel rail and injectors are in charge of fuel supply. Another piece on the long list of Bullish Racing custom equipment is the stainless steel 3.5-inch exhaust system – the last thing that exhaust gasses will see before being violently pushed out into the atmosphere. Getting the power down is an American LeMans series GT racer-spec Tilton double carbon clutch that connects with another race-spec piece of equipment – a Quaife sequential shift six-speed transmission with a set of close ratio, straight cut gears (Sammy wanted a road race setup). The whole system is kept under close watch by a MoTeC M800 engine management and ADL data logging system – which can monitor up to 170 ECU channels, including the car’s coolant temp, tire temp, oil pressure, and what color underpants Sammy is wearing. The finished result is a detuned version of the Solara race-engine and makes its 1,075-peak hp at 7,200 rpm (with 36 lbs. boost) and 800 lb-ft of torque at 6,800 rpm.
Inside the car, the changes are all about speed and safety. The full dash and its accessories were pulled out and replaced by a lightweight custom fiberglass one-piece replica that can be pulled out with the loosening of four fasteners. A pair of Sparco racing seats, a Quaife sequential shifter, and the MoTeC ADL dash display are the only things that Sammy interfaces with in the interior. If something goes wrong though, an 8 pt. roll cage built by C&F Racecars will step in to protect Sammy from harm. Outside, Sammy didn’t forget about dressing to impress and ordered up a custom yellow pearl paint job to cover the molded Blitz body kit and the rest of the Supra. Blitz Technospeed wheels, Brembo F40 big brakes, a HKS Hiper Coilover-lowered suspension, and a JGTC-style carbon/aluminum rear spoiler also contribute to the race-ready look of the Surpa. A GReddy-themed vinyl package finishes the homage to the OG yellow turbo Supra that was GReddy’s calling card in the mid-nineties. In all, the Supra spent 4 months on its American vacation. After coming out of the Bullish “spa” rejuventated, the Supra was airlifted back to Bahrain, where Sammy eagerly awaited (that’s why it was airlifted). In fact, Sammy was so excited during the whole project; the Bullish guys sent him almost daily updates at times on the progress of the car – including regular snapshots sent from the cell phone. When we called back to see how the reunion was going between Sammy and his Supra, we found out that Sammy was slowly getting used to its new personality. It’s probably a good idea – and it gives a chance for all those Ferrari owners to come up with an answer.
http://www.urbanracer.com/shostop/gallery/showstoppers/sammys_beast_from_the_middle_east/0001.jpg
http://www.urbanracer.com/shostop/gallery/showstoppers/sammys_beast_from_the_middle_east/0009.jpg
http://www.urbanracer.com/shostop/gallery/showstoppers/sammys_beast_from_the_middle_east/0004.jpg
http://www.urbanracer.com/shostop/gallery/showstoppers/sammys_beast_from_the_middle_east/0007.jpg
Bahraini? Yea, as in the Kingdom of Bahrain - a country made of a group of islands off the coast of Saudi Arabia. Apparently, this country about 5 times the size of Washington, D.C. and its 678,000 people are home to one of the most powerful street Supras in the world. Puzzled? We were too until we found out the whole deal of how an ordinary 1993 Supra from the Middle East was transformed into a Suprahero and gained a whole lot of frequent flyer miles in the process. We met the Middle East Beast while it was sat dormant at the race shop of Bullish Motor Racing (yes, that Bullish Racing) awaiting transport to the airport for a ride back halfway around the world. Waiting for it was its young wealthy Bahraini owner – an owner with a desire for speed that matched the thickness of his wallet. Since he wanted to remain anonymous for our feature, we’ll call him… um, Supra Sammy. How Sammy ended up shipping his Supra to New Jersey is a whole other 1,500-word feature. To summarize - while spending time in the States, Sammy came to know the reputation of the Bullish Racing Team and wanted to leverage their knowledge to build the ultimate streetcar so that he could surprise his friends at the Friday night street drags in Bahrain (really). Before you could say “road trip”, Sammy convinced Bullish Racing Team owner Ara Arslanian to send over a whole crew to upgrade his 1993 targa top turbo Supra - in Bahrain. Why Bullish? Well, unless you’ve been living under a crusty ledge or have been a fan of imports since the drifting article came out in the local paper, you would know that Bullish Motor Racing and its founder/owner, Ara Arslanian have been the kings of import drag racing and one of the most respected Toyota 2JZ-GTE (JZA80 Supra Inline-6 engine) engine-builder/tuners in the world. So after a few weeks of an all expense-paid trip out to Bahrain, the Bullish crew left the Middle East with an 800 whp Middle East Supra on their resume and wicked sunburn. 800? I thought you said 1075? Yeah, yeah, we’re getting there. So after a year or so of kicking arse out in the desert plains of Bahrain, including those of Sheiks in Ferrari F50’s (OK, we made this part up), Sammy got tired of having ONLY 800 whp and wanted more power. Luckily, he read that Bullish was making much more power form the 2JZ now, but in the race-trim Solara. He begged and pleaded Ara for the race-spec build-up and after months of sweet-talking and emptying several diamond-encrusted money clips (again, false), he convinced him to do the work for him. This time though, Ara agreed to do the project only if the car was shipped over and left for a long period of time. Bullish after all was busy with its full-time racing program and usually does not work on private owner cars (true). Sammy of course said yes and before Bullish could clear out one of its service bays, the Supra was sitting on their doorsteps.
Ara started road racing in his own Supra hardtop back in the mid-nineties, before he was inflicted with the drag racing bug and began a ¼ mile quest that continues today. Before the Supra was retired, it became the first factory six-speed Supra to break the 9-second quarter mile barrier. Its replacement is the now familiar purple-hued StreetGlow Solara that Arslanian drove to the NDRA Championship for the second straight year – the team’s third consecutive title. In fact, Ara was the first man to record a six-second pass in a sport compact/import-powered car and the team has captured four combined NHRA and NDRA drag racing titles in the last three years. During most of that time, the Solara was the world’s quickest and fastest sport compact titleholder. The one thing that has stayed constant in the years of record breaking has been the choice of the Supra-based powerplant. In race trim, Bullish Racing has tuned the turbocharged 3-liter engine to make over 1,600 horsepower – more power than if 11 Celicas were running the same dyno. Bullish Racing’s engine builder, Bert Gaertner, was in charge of upgrading the Bahraini Supra’s engine to the next stage. The building process began with the re-fortifying of the bottom end with a .20 over bore of the cylinders, fresh Wiseco pistons, Carillo rods, and a lightened and knife-edged crankshaft. The head was treated to a mild version of the Bullish race-spec port and polish and then bolted down with fat heavy-duty studs. A custom Bullish Racing titanium valve train and 272-degree cams were installed with Ferrea valves to complete the headwork. A 90-mm custom Accufab-made billet throttle body was spec’d, built, and installed to connect the custom Bullish Racing intercooler piping to a Bullish Racing sheet metal intake manifold. Trace the intercooler piping and you’ll find a Bullish Racing four-row intercooler that is being force fed air from a Turbonetics T76 turbo – a big blow dryer for sure, but not the biggest available. In fact, Bert says he could have tuned up to 1,200 hp on a T88 turbo (all tuned for C-16 race gas – the Bullish Solara runs on hardcore Methanol), but anything remotely near 1,000 hp is probably more than enough for Sammy’s uh, …non-competition purposes. An ATL fuel cell, Weldon fuel pump, and HKS fuel rail and injectors are in charge of fuel supply. Another piece on the long list of Bullish Racing custom equipment is the stainless steel 3.5-inch exhaust system – the last thing that exhaust gasses will see before being violently pushed out into the atmosphere. Getting the power down is an American LeMans series GT racer-spec Tilton double carbon clutch that connects with another race-spec piece of equipment – a Quaife sequential shift six-speed transmission with a set of close ratio, straight cut gears (Sammy wanted a road race setup). The whole system is kept under close watch by a MoTeC M800 engine management and ADL data logging system – which can monitor up to 170 ECU channels, including the car’s coolant temp, tire temp, oil pressure, and what color underpants Sammy is wearing. The finished result is a detuned version of the Solara race-engine and makes its 1,075-peak hp at 7,200 rpm (with 36 lbs. boost) and 800 lb-ft of torque at 6,800 rpm.
Inside the car, the changes are all about speed and safety. The full dash and its accessories were pulled out and replaced by a lightweight custom fiberglass one-piece replica that can be pulled out with the loosening of four fasteners. A pair of Sparco racing seats, a Quaife sequential shifter, and the MoTeC ADL dash display are the only things that Sammy interfaces with in the interior. If something goes wrong though, an 8 pt. roll cage built by C&F Racecars will step in to protect Sammy from harm. Outside, Sammy didn’t forget about dressing to impress and ordered up a custom yellow pearl paint job to cover the molded Blitz body kit and the rest of the Supra. Blitz Technospeed wheels, Brembo F40 big brakes, a HKS Hiper Coilover-lowered suspension, and a JGTC-style carbon/aluminum rear spoiler also contribute to the race-ready look of the Surpa. A GReddy-themed vinyl package finishes the homage to the OG yellow turbo Supra that was GReddy’s calling card in the mid-nineties. In all, the Supra spent 4 months on its American vacation. After coming out of the Bullish “spa” rejuventated, the Supra was airlifted back to Bahrain, where Sammy eagerly awaited (that’s why it was airlifted). In fact, Sammy was so excited during the whole project; the Bullish guys sent him almost daily updates at times on the progress of the car – including regular snapshots sent from the cell phone. When we called back to see how the reunion was going between Sammy and his Supra, we found out that Sammy was slowly getting used to its new personality. It’s probably a good idea – and it gives a chance for all those Ferrari owners to come up with an answer.
http://www.urbanracer.com/shostop/gallery/showstoppers/sammys_beast_from_the_middle_east/0001.jpg
http://www.urbanracer.com/shostop/gallery/showstoppers/sammys_beast_from_the_middle_east/0009.jpg
http://www.urbanracer.com/shostop/gallery/showstoppers/sammys_beast_from_the_middle_east/0004.jpg
http://www.urbanracer.com/shostop/gallery/showstoppers/sammys_beast_from_the_middle_east/0007.jpg