Building a '94 Supra for all the right reasons
 |
| 700hp Nextmod Toyota Supra - Pushing Limits |
Tom Nguyen had to build his 1994 Toyota Supra.
And that's pretty much what he tells himself whenever doubts of whether
or not the tens of thousands of dollars spent on it was a good idea.
Turns out, though, that a 697whp Japanese classic is exactly the sort of
image management that an auto customizing business like Nguyen had just
taken over so desperately needs.
 |
| 700hp Nextmod Toyota Supra - Pushing Limits |
Nguyen assumed the western arm of Toronto's
Nextmod shortly before picking up the Canadian-spec Toyota. "I couldn't
pass it up," he says—not about the Supra, but about the chance to run
his own retail shop and garage and to build what's become one of the
wildest, most controversial Supras ever. Nguyen is happy to tell you
about some of the cars Nextmod's been responsible for, like what he says
was the first Powerhouse Amuse GT1 widebody S2000 and Varis widebody
Evo X, for example. "Based upon that lineage," he rationalizes, "I had
to build something that was also a first."
 |
| 700hp Nextmod Toyota Supra - Pushing Limits |
Which is exactly what he did and which begins
with a peculiar alliance of the sort of horsepower you'd come to expect
from a 2JZ-GTE, air suspension fit for a luxury sedan and an exterior
eclectic enough to chafe even mild-mannered Supra purists. Underneath
the hood, the inline-six retains its factory internals, but its
twin-turbo layout and side-mount intercooler with its plastic end tanks
have been pushed aside for a single GReddy T88 and all-aluminum
front-mount heat exchanger. Titan Motorsports fuel injectors and an AEM
engine management system tuned by local partner Advance Power House
results in the 697whp and 652 lb-ft of torque.
 |
| 700hp Nextmod Toyota Supra - Pushing Limits |
How Nguyen ended up here with a Mark IV chassis
that gives the finger to any sort of Supra builders handbook isn't much
different than how you ended up with your aunt's four-door Accord on cut
springs and a nitrous bottle in the trunk. "It began when I was 16 and
watched The Fast and the Furious and started reading car
magazines," he says. Hollywood's featherbrained interpretation of
Southern California street racing ultimately led to a career in the auto
industry for Nguyen, who's done everything from tell people what to do
from behind a desk to paint the sort of cars F&F franchise followers aspire to.
 |
| 700hp Nextmod Toyota Supra - Pushing Limits |
Following all of the MoTeC system exhaust
nonsense and living lives quarter miles at a time, Nguyen went on to own
multiple modded Civics, an RSX track car and a 500hp S2000 before
testing Toyota's waters with a GS300. As it turns out, though, all along
he was hoping for a late-model Supra, but finding the right one was
about as easy as finding a Honda that hasn't succumbed to eBay parts
peddlers. "Finding a nice base to start [with] was damn near
impossible," Nguyen says of the Supra search, which later led to a 1994
Canadian model whose purpose was to show what Nextmod was capable of.
"Based on the company's lineage," he says, "I had to build something
that was a first."
 |
| 700hp Nextmod Toyota Supra - Pushing Limits |
If you don't think that air suspension on a car
designed to be the Japanese automaker's pinnacle of turbocharged
performance makes a whole lot of sense, then you probably won't
understand the coupe's outside that's made up of widebody pieces from
Varis and updated lighting at both ends from Toyota's slightly revised
1998-and-newer model. A dramatic look it is and, if nothing else, it
ticks Nguyen's box of being first to do it. Complementing the revised
body are Work Meister S1 rims—12 inches wide out back—of which six-
(front) and four-piston (rear) AP Racing brake calipers hide behind.
 |
| 700hp Nextmod Toyota Supra - Pushing Limits |
All of the challenges you'd expect found Nguyen,
which compounded once he decided to relegate the Supra to daily-driver
duties—something Nextmod's project fleet is often known for. "The whole
build was a challenge," he says, describing the wheels that wouldn't
clear the body and the brakes that wouldn't clear the wheels.
Modernizing the coupe's 20-year-old electronics was even harder, like
integrating its push-start ignition, proximity keyless entry, remote
ride-height control and Bluetooth command center, all of which can be
controlled through his smartphone.
 |
| 700hp Nextmod Toyota Supra - Pushing Limits |
"The goal was to be recognized and push the
limits. I'd say we did that. The Supra has always been an iconic car
with lots of potential," Nguyen says. Although the Supra's status of
legend remains obvious, molding one the way Nguyen has wasn't. "It's
definitely made an impact in the short period of time since its debut,"
he says. "I'm surprised of the amount of recognition." And assembling
the car for the purpose of promoting his business made it all
worthwhile, if you ask him: "As much time and effort that was put into
this build, it never felt like work."
 |
| 700hp Nextmod Toyota Supra - Pushing Limits |
No comments:
Post a Comment