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1991 Toyota Soarer

OWNER AKIHIRO NAKAMURA LOCATION GUNMA, JAPAN OCCUPATION WEEKEND DRIFTER POWER 550whp ENGINE 2JZ-GTE block; 1JZ-GTE head assembly; Tomei pistons and rods; HKS camshaft pulleys, intake and F-CON V Pro; Nissan R32 GT-R fuel pump; Sard injectors; Trust T04R turbo, exhaust manifold, wastegate and intercooler; custom dual exhaust; HPI oil cooler; Koyo radiator DRIVETRAIN R154 transmission; Ogura Racing Clutch twin plate; TRD limited-slip differential FOOTWORK & CHASSIS Aragosta coilovers with 20kg front and 11kg rear Swift springs BRAKES Honda NA1 NSX front brake calipers; Osaka JDM lines; Endless CCX pads WHEELS & TIRES 17x9.5" +15 front, 18x11 +18 rear Volk Racing TE37SL wheels; 215/45R17 front, 255/35R18 rear Dunlop DZ101 tires; BLOX lug nuts EXTERIOR JDM factory body kit and JZA70 Supra front lip; Beige metallic paint; pulled and rolled fenders INTERIOR Recaro SR3 seats; Cusco Safety 21 rollcage; MOMO Drifting steering wheel; pinball shift knob; Blitz boost controller; Defi gauges; Carrozzeria head unit; Alpine speakers THANKS YOU Oni Style; R-Performance

san explained to us he chose these classic Volk Racing sixspokes for their light weight, strength and durability. In fact, these wheels were so emphasized for their weight-saving characteristic that Volk never included center caps. Yes, every ounce matters when it comes to lightweight tuning! The massively wide wheels were wrapped with Dunlop DZ101 tires—slightly stretched for fender clearance.

Twin red Recaros act like a partition to the gutted rear and carpeted front interior. The Cusco Safety 21 rollcage prohibits more than two occupants in this machine, with various gauges and a deep dish MOMO steering wheel indicative of this Toyota’s serious sliding potential.

So while we never saw the Z20 here stateside, Nakamura-san has shown us a good example of how the perfect one is built. The underground drift car has taught us what the hybrid 1.5JZ engine is capable of, plus we’ll never forget the Winged Lion emblem of the Toyota Soarer.

WORDS Aaron Bonk PHOTOS Cullen Cheung oney—or generating enough of it fast

Menough—was just about the only obstacle Yaqi Zhang ran into when putting together what he calls his “Banana Voltex Evo.” It’s the sort of predictable first-world problem that anybody who’s attempted to meld the worlds of showboats and track brats together is likely familiar with.

Right about now you’re expecting to hear about all sorts of other mishaps Zhang and his Evo VIII had worked themselves into, like a connecting rod that might’ve landed on the sidewalk or a crooked engine shop that could’ve done him wrong from valve cover to oil pan…But you won’t. That’s mostly because Zhang’s 530whp Evo buildup was thoroughly orchestrated from its onset and relegated to the sort of body shops and tuners that don’t hustle customers’ parts on Craigslist. Embarking on this project with Mitsubishi’s venerable 4G63 powerplant—an engine that survived through nine generations of Evos—also did its part in warding off any sort of trouble.

And that’s exactly where the story of Zhang’s Evo begins, underneath its Seibon hood. Here, the cast-iron block was fitted with forged pistons and connecting rods from Wiseco and R&R, along with ACL bearings throughout and AMS seals and gaskets. A longer-stroke K1 Technologies crankshaft was also

GO A SHOW-WORTHY SPECIMEN BUILT FOR THE CIRCUIT BANANAS!

>> Zhang’s Evo VIII has been appointed with Voltex’s extensive widebody that’s made up of the front bumper, fenders, and side skirts as well as its dry carbon canards, front spoiler and diffuser, plus rear diffuser and spoiler.

>> The banana yellow paint is actually an OE Lambo color. Ballin’!

4G63 TIMELINE

For nine consecutive generations of Lancer Evolutions, Mitsubishi’s venerable 4G63 powertrain has continued to fill the void beneath the hood of the company’s flagship four-cylinder model. Over the years it’s gone through several transformations, but the architecture of the company’s 2.0-liter cast-iron block and 16-valve aluminum head have wavered little. A number of 4G63 iterations have been presented, but it’s the DOHC turbocharged version that you care about. An 85mm bore and 88mm stroke are standard for every version, but even among the twin-cam turbo platform, cylinder heads, turbochargers and manifolds can vary between models. The original, late-1980s 4G63 that can be traced back to the Galant and the Diamond Star trio of Eclipses, Lasers, and Talons was the direct result of Mitsubishi’s rally racing efforts. FIA Group A rally rules meant that the company was forced to develop a production-ready 2.0-liter, turbocharged powerplant that could drive all four wheels. These early 4G63 engines produced 195hp—an impressive figure for a four-cylinder production engine built exactly a quarter of a century ago. By 1992, the engine had made its way into the overseas-only Evo, where it remained until the introduction of the tenth-generation model. By the end of the 4G63’s long run, it featured a larger turbo, variable valve timing on its intake side and an impressive 286hp and 289 lb-ft of torque.

dropped into place, resulting in 2.4-liters of displacement. It’s a concise list of upgrades for an engine that’s nearly doubled its power rating. But it’s exactly the sort of result Mitsubishi fans like Zhang have come to expect of the now-discontinued 2.0-liter 4G63. “The only constant of nine generations of the Evo is the 4G63,” Zhang reminds us. “It became a legend…until environmental concerns and enterprising business strategies resulted in [its replacement], which left many performance fans, like me, disappointed.”

But we’re not here to debate the merits of or any perceived shortcomings of Mitsubishi’s 4G63 replacement—the 4B11T. What makes Zhang’s Evo tick is a whole lot more intriguing. Assembled and tuned at the hands of the Pacific Northwest’s English Racing, a more capable Forced Performance ball bearing turbo is responsible for the dyno numbers. The largerframe compressor is accompanied by a higher-flowing Extreme Turbo Systems intercooler up front and an AEM Series 2 engine management system that makes sure everything, including the 1,000cc injectors, cooperate with one another. It’s all very much the sort of stuff you’d expect from a car like Zhang’s, whose sole purpose is to browbeat whatever he’s sharing the road course with. Appointed as a dedicated track car after serving as a daily driver for a short period, Zhang goes on to say that there’s more to life than power and speed: “I wanted to make one sexy Evo.”

For this he looked to renowned aero tuning firm Voltex and its Cyber Version widebody package, along with a bright-yellow color change. Despite the smattering of exterior modifications, Zhang failed to lose sight of the point of all of this, though,