Nov 2013 Mad Medusa

001JAP154:jap

27/9/13

EXCLUSIVE!

13:57

Page 1

GOBSTOPPER 2 THE INSIDE STORY OF THE WORLD’S BEST IMPREZA

SEVERN VALLEY MOTORSPORT’S MAD MEDUSA NISSAN GT-R IS THE NEW REIGNING KING OF SPEED

+

TO: H O W TUNE BUY &AZDA A M -8 RX

NOVEMBER ’13 £4.50 No.154 www.chpltd.com

ALSO INSIDE...

YOU WON’T PASS THIS DUTCHY NETHERLANDS’ FASTEST NA CIVIC HOME-BUILT HERO GETS HOLLYWOOD ROLE VARIS-KITTED EVO VI HEAD-TURNER SUPRA POWERED AND WHEELIE FAST 1000BHP+ OLD SCHOOL CELICA

020JAP154.qxd:JP

26/9/13

17:20

Page 20

SNAKEBITE AND BLACK BUILT BY GT-R SPECIALISTS SEVERN VALLEY MOTORSPORT AND NAMED AFTER THE MYTHICAL VIPER-HAIRED MONSTER, JOHN HANTON’S 1400BHP MAD MEDUSA IS ONE EVIL NISSAN GT-R. OH, AND AFTER HITTING 239MPH, IT’S ALSO THE WORLD’S FASTEST TOO! WORDS: DAN SHERWOOD PICS: STEVE HALL

20

www.japaneseperformancemagazine.co.uk

020JAP154.qxd:JP

26/9/13

17:20

Page 21

www.japaneseperformancemagazine.co.uk

21

020JAP154.qxd:JP

‘E

26/9/13

17:21

Page 22

veryone was telling me that it couldn’t be done,’ laughs 56-yearold Scottish speed freak John Hanton of his world record breaking top speed run in Mad Medusa, the Severn Valley Motorsport built Nissan GT-R that currently stands head and shoulders above any other GT-R on the planet – when it comes to straight-line speed, anyway. ‘And looking at the basic figures and calculating the engine power, revs and gearing, it really

shouldn’t have been possible either.

However, due to the way that the engine has been built and bulletproofed with custom rods, cams and the Syvecs ECU map, we knew we could push it further and raise the rev limit over the standard car’s 7500rpm redline. This extra headroom in the rev range, plus the fact that we were running tall, soft drag tyres – which effectively ‘grow’ further still due to the centrifugal force of the wheels spinning –

meant that even though the gearing in the transmission was limited to around 225mph, with the extra revs and larger diameter wheels, it gave the car the ability to use all of its 1400bhp to stretch its legs that bit further and top 239mph. We we’re all proper chuffed, not to mention more than pleasantly surprised by the final figure.’

That stratospheric figure, which was recorded at this year’s Mitsubishi Lancer Register 30-130mph event in Norfolk,

‘MEDUSA USED ALL OF HER 1400BHP TO STRETCH HER LEGS TO 239MPH’

22

www.japaneseperformancemagazine.co.uk

020JAP154.qxd:JP

26/9/13

17:21

Page 23

trumped the previous record, which was set by another of SVM’s creations, known as project Gundam which hit 238.85mph – less than 1mph lower – at Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground in Leicestershire only a few months previously. However, what makes both of these runs so astonishing is that they weren’t attempted on the vast salt flats of Bonneville in the USA or a huge test bowl such as Nardo in Italy with miles of track to allow the speed to build up over time – and more importantly slow down again afterwards – they were completed on straight stretches of tarmac with a very definite end, so any run would have to make the speed and scrub it before reaching the end of the tarmac to avoid catastrophe. Just what you need to be thinking about when piloting 1400bhp of raging Nissan at near-on 240mph! But seemingly this isn’t an issue for either of the SVM-tuned monsters, or their drivers, as they both managed to make it within the space, John’s run in Medusa being clocked at the record speed after just 1.077 miles from a standing start!

And that isn’t the only amazing statistic that John’s car can claim, as the rest of the car’s stats are just as astonishing. How does 0-60mph in 2.28secs sound? How about 0-100mph in just 4.14secs? Or the 0-150mph time of just 7.39secs? Just think about that for a moment. By the time most hot hatches have reached 60mph, John’s GT-R is already knocking on the door of double that, maybe more!

But what leads a man to push his car to such extremes of performance? John, the man known as the Mad Scotsman, explains: ‘I bought the GT-R from new back in July 2009 from Nobles in Edinburgh. I’d always had fast cars ever since I was younger – cars such as supercharged Jaguars and Range Rovers and had always been a bit hooked on speed. However, like many guys before me, when I had kids I had to rein all the crazy cars in and be sensible for a while, but now they’re all grown up, I can relive my youth and buy myself some mental metal once again,’ says the oil and gas consultant.

Having two sons that have grown up well and truly as part of the PlayStation generation has had a profound effect on John as, when it came time for him to re-enter the performance car scene, rather than hanker over a slice of the brutish best of British as he’d owned before, his sights were set firmly on the car he’d grown so attached to through the pixel perfect graphics of his sons’ beloved Gran Turismo games – the Nissan Skyline.

‘After seeing the Skylines on Gran Turismo, I really fancied one. The huge performance and massive tuning potential really appealed to me, however, the timing just wasn’t ever right and I never ended up behind the wheel.’

But with the launch of the Skyline’s WEIGHT WATCHER

MEDUSA HAS HAD THE INTERIOR STRIPPED AND REPLACED WITH A SET OF LIGHTWEIGHT RACING SEATS, HOWEVER WITH THE ADDITION OF THE DRAG ROLLCAGE AND PARACHUTE THE CAR ACTUALLY WEIGHS MORE THAN STOCK

www.japaneseperformancemagazine.co.uk

23

020JAP154.qxd:JP

26/9/13

17:21

Page 24

‘THE INITIAL POWER INCREASE WAS GOOD, BUT IT WAS JUST A HINT OF WHAT WAS TO COME’ replacement, the Nissan GT-R, the timing couldn’t have been better for John as, without a young family to worry about he could fulfil his fantasy and re-indulge in some serious speed.

‘I’m not a fan of Porsches or Ferraris, so when the GT-R came out, with such amazing performance at such a comparatively low cost, I knew I had to have one,’ he recalls, ‘back then though, although I knew that the Nissan GT-R could be easily tuned for more power, I had no idea of the levels it would reach in such a small amount of time.’

So, no sooner had the ink dried on his new GT-R’s V5 document than John was out using the car in earnest, eager to put the required 1200 miles onto the fresh engine before the optimisation service could be carried out. After the run-in period and service, John tore up his warranty and took the car to Hypertech in Falkirk and had the car fitted with de-cat downpipes and Ypipe and a Cobb re-map by Ben Linney of GTC Racing Technology, which upped the power from the standard car’s 485bhp to a whopping 592bhp.

‘That hit of extra power was good,’ smiles John, ‘but it was just a taste of what was possible with the car and I had soon uprated the injectors to 1000cc Dyno Dynamics items, upped the spec of the fuel system by fitting high-flow 450lph Walbro pumps and a pair of GTC intakes. After another re-map of the Cobb Accessport, it pushed the car’s power to 649bhp.’

Like any drug, speed is an addiction that once tasted only leaves you craving more and John was well and truly on his way to becoming a bhp junkie. He ran the car in this spec for a while and tried his hand at several events throughout 2010, such as Ten of the Best, Run What Ya Brung days at Santa Pod and some trackdays at Silvertsone and Milbrook, however, it was the straight line stuff that really DIRTY QASH

TO KEEP WEIGHT DOWN, MAD MEDUSA USES A PAIR OF UPRATED DISCS AND PADS UP FRONT, WHILE AT THE REAR, SVM HAS DONE AWAY WITH THE GT-R’S MONSTER STOPPERS AND FITTED THE REAR DISCS AND CALIPERS FROM A NISSAN QASHQAI CROSSOVER. THEN AGAIN, IF JOHN REALLY NEEDS TO STOP MAD MEDUSA IN A HURRY HE CAN ALWAYS CALL ON HIS TRUSTY PARACHUTE TO DO THE JOB

24

www.japaneseperformancemagazine.co.uk

020JAP154.qxd:JP

26/9/13

17:22

Page 25

got his blood pumping.

‘The GT-R is a great car on track, but I’m 56 now and my reactions aren’t fast enough anymore to do the car justice when it comes to going around corners,’ John laughs. ‘The fact that I was constantly searching for more power didn’t help matters on track either – but when it came to going fast in a straight line, I’m happy to keep my foot in and I never back off.’

With his focus now squared firmly on straight lining, John could go all out to set the car up for drag racing and V-Max events.

‘I hooked up with Kevan and the guys at Severn Valley Motorsport after I’d had the car about a year and was once again keen to take the car to the next level. I’d heard about the work they were doing and the kind of cars they were building and knew it was the right place to take care of my car.’

John actually handed Kevan the keys to the car after the 2010 Japshow finale, which he had made the trip down from his hometown of Aberdeen to attend.

‘I’d been speaking with my friend Jeff

www.japaneseperformancemagazine.co.uk

Ludgate who runs a Skyline R33 in the Jap Drag Series and he convinced me to enter the GT-R,’ says John. ‘So to build a competitive car for the series was the brief that I gave SVM for the car.’

As John wanted to push the car well beyond the limits of the standard engine, SVM started the transformation by making sure the engine was bulletproofed before increasing the boost. Therefore a forged engine build ensued with forged pistons, custom length rods to allow a longer dwell without increasing stroke or capacity – to this day, Medusa is still running a standard capacity 3.8-litre engine – and a secret blend of cam profile and headwork that SVM have found to offer the best strength and power characteristics. It was then simply a case of fitting larger and larger turbos and upping the fuelling accordingly to generate the monstrous power levels that John demanded.

SVM also beefed up the GT-R’s transmission as, when power levels increase, the stock GR6 dual clutch

25

020JAP154.qxd:JP

26/9/13

17:22

Page 26

THANKS: John would like to say a massive thanks to all those that have helped and supported the build and running of Medusa over the years including Ryan Griffiths at Syvecs, Kevan, Amar, John and Gavin at SVM, Ben Linney at GTC, ‘Jeff Ludgate for starting me on this journey, my wife, the accountant for letting me spend the money, and lastly my two grandsons Leon and Jacob!’

gearbox is generally the first thing to fail. To allow it to keep up with the motor’s everincreasing power and torque, an SVM/Albins Motorsport 1st to 6th gear set, SVM billet clutch system and mechnical circlip upgrade were fitted, which, along with a motorsport rear differential have since proved faultless, even under the most extreme of conditions.

Like a bodybuilder who doesn’t know when to stop snacking on steroids, Mad Medusa went from boasting a muscular 650bhp figure to 800bhp, then 900bhp, then over 1000bhp in a matter of months, each stage being deemed too puny for John’s escalating need for speed and his desire to be the fastest.

‘The first time I drove the car with over 1000bhp was at SupraPod in 2011, when I broke the European record,’ says John.

26

SEE MAD MEDUSA IN ACTION AND THE WORLD RECORD RUN

SIMPLY DOWNLOAD A QR READER TO YOUR SMARTPHONE AND THEN OPEN THE APP AND HOLD YOUR PHONE OVER THE SQUARE. THE READER WILL DO THE REST AND TAKE YOU STRAIGHT TO THE YOUTUBE VIDEO – ENJOY!

‘But even then, straight after the run, I instantly wanted more.’

At the time of the first record-breaking run, Medusa was still a fully functioning road car with a full interior and no rollcage, but it didn’t stay that way for much longer...

‘The GT-R was sent to Andy Robinson Race Cars near Basingstoke to have a full 8.5-second drag spec rollcage fitted along with a pair of Cobra Imola GT bucket seats with ARR racing harnesses and an ARR parachute system,’ John explains. ‘It also had the ARR Magna E85 compatible fuel system with an independent fuel cell mounted in the boot, billet fuel rails, PTFE fuel lines feeding a set of I.D Motorsport 2000cc injectors.’

When the car returned to SVM after getting the full Andy Robinson treatment, John sat the car on a set of 15in Center

Line billet drag wheels with Mickey Thompson ET Street drag radial tyres at the rear and Speedline custom 18in forged wheels with M&H Drag Master tyres at the front, both sets painted a satanically sinister shade of satin black. A full custom set-up drag suspension system was also fitted.

‘The Center Line wheels are so wide they stick out from the bodywork,’ chuckles John. ‘They really help with grip off the line and even with raising the potential top speed, as it did in the world record run.’

But, although John cites the swap to drag specification as being a major turning point in the build, he says that the upgrade to running a full Syvecs S8 ECU has made an even bigger difference to the car’s development.

‘The Syvecs guys – Ryan Griffiths in particular as he is the genius who maps

www.japaneseperformancemagazine.co.uk

020JAP154.qxd:JP

27/9/13

12:06

Page 27

TECHSPEC

‘THE POWER GREW LIKE A BODYBUILDER WHO DOESN’T KNOW WHEN TO STOP SNACKING ON STEROIDS’ Medusa and comes to support me and the car at pretty much every event – have been amazing,’ John enthuses. ‘The S8 is such an amazing piece of kit that monitors every parameter of the car and has so many built in safety features that it is possible to push a car to the limit without experiencing a lot of expensive failures along the way. In fact, I’d say that the Syvecs has already saved two transmissions and at least one engine from destruction, so it’s already paid for itself 100 times over, and I’ve only been running it for around six months!’

The Syvecs also allows Medusa to run E85 ethanol fuel, it could even run methanol, but John isn’t sure the block would take the strain. At the last dyno run, with the Syvecs fitted, plus the huge SVMspec GT 3586FP turbochargers doing their thing, Medusa was making around

1500bhp at the flywheel with nitrous, however, even this monumental figue is not enough for the speed obsessed Scotsman.

‘I want to make around 1800 at the fly next year,’ he says with a smile. ‘Still keeping the 3.8-litre block. We don’t think we’re reached the limit of the VR38 yet and are keen to keep pushing as far as we can.’

John is hoping to take Medusa to the States to take on the Yanks on at their own game by competing in the Texas mile event next year, which will really be a test of the car’s mettle, but by then John hopes to be breaking into the low eights and maybe even the high sevens on the strip and who knows on the mile, but one thing is for sure, as long as John Hanton is at the helm, there will no stopping Mad Medusa, so the world had better watch out or prepare to get bitten. JP

ENGINE: 3.8-litre, 6-cyl, 24v VR38, SVM-spec custom length Carillo rods, SVM-spec custom Hulk pistons, SVM dynamic balancing, ATI crank damper, SVM bell house bearing upgrade, SVM-spec CNC custom heads, SVM ported centre valley, SVM 70mm throttle bodies, modified OEM inlet plenum, SVM breather system, SVM combi breather tank and braided lines, SVM central block breather, yellow/black painted engine covers, SVM custom inlet manifolds, SVM-spec GT 3586FP turbochargers, SVM custom induction kit, K&N high-flow air filters, GTC compressor sucky pipes, SVM BOVs, GTC 102mm titanium Y-pipe, GTC 102mm titanium exhaust system, SVM Aerospace Marston intercooler with 80mm hard-pipe kit, SVM silicon hose kit, Murray clamps, SVM high-efficiency radiator, ARR Magna E85 compatible fuel system, Independent fuel cell in boot, billet fuel rails, PTFE fuel lines, I.D Motorsport 2000cc injectors TRANSMISSION: SVM/Albins Motorsport 1st to 6th gear set, Willall diff brace, SVM billet clutch system Mk2, mechanical circlip upgrade, SVM-spec transmission fluid, Willall 4WD oil, Willall piston seals, motorsport rear differential SUSPENSION: SVM bespoke drag suspension setup, SVM drag geometry setup BRAKES: Uprated front discs and pads, Qashqai rear caliper conversion, Qashqai vented rear discs, custom rear brake mounts WHEELS & TYRES: 15in Center Line billet drag wheels with Center Line wheel nuts, Mickey Thompson ET Street drag radial tyres, SVM/Speedline custom 18in Forged front wheels, M&H Drag Master front tyres EXTERIOR: Mad Medusa print on bonnet, gold lining of engine bay, KR ducktail carbon rear spoiler, vented rear bumper, SVM bumper intake system, SVM modified front splitter and bracing, AAR parachute INTERIOR: ARR full rollcage, interior trim and sound deadening removed, Cobra Imola GT bucket seats, ARR racing harnesses, fire extinguisher, ARR parachute release system

www.japaneseperformancemagazine.co.uk

27