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8/30/2003 GETTING THERE IS HALF THE BATTLE I must say that the charge is on for a local Starlet Club. While I think this is a good idea I would like to see just more overall unity in the Jamaican Toyota camp, after all, we are all being persecuted by the same gang. Again, not much this week, but enough to let you know if you drive a Toyota I've got your back. I know it was more that two weeks, but worth it none the less. Next time. NEW: The final stretch of the suspension stuff with wheel and tyre choice. I've also loaded in some video, which can be accessed from the starlet tapes section. These clips aren't permanent so save them on your hard drive. A review of Best Motoring 5 also awaits. 9/24/2003 UNITY? My apologies for the longer wait between the updates. I've been really busy and trying to compile all the engine stuff and keep my job at the same time. As I write this I'm at work right now at some ungodly hour. Not an issue as its for the best. I remember the day I saw that photo from Barbados of all those EPs lined off. It looked like all those Japanese EP club photos I've seen in Option2 magazine. Here at home I came pretty close. In a effort a local circle of Toyota enthusiasts got together a a local sports bar for a Toyota Movie night. we came together as people of a common goal. The group consisted of like minded Toyota lovers and the EP and AE community was well represented. Despite criticism from the other guys I think it met our needs as Toyota people, and that's what matters. Next time, I hope there'll be more numbers. I must also comment on the migration of two of our local tuners. I knew both, they offered their expertise to the Starlet masses. I however must offer my condolences to the owners of cars that these gentlemen built as they pretty much have nowhere to turn. Its kind of hard to fix a problem when the guy that actually knows anything about your ride is in another country. Another reason bolt-on parts exist. The final installment of the suspension guide is next update. NEW: A review of Best Motoring 6 awaits. I've taken down the video and will put up new clips next time. 10/25/2003 THE START OF SOMETHING GOOD? I've been too busy helping out my Levin friends to update the site, but it has to be done. We are about to embark on what most people have been waiting for, the engine stuff. Pure horsepower will dominate as my project comes to its end. God has been very good to me this year and I thank him, so by the end of the year the car should be where I want it. I've been solicited by buyers for my EP and my work with the Levins has brought me a sense of respect for them, but everytime I step into that Glanza, something overcomes me and the worries and troubles of the day disappear with one quick stap of the throttle. I don't care if my car isn't the fastest, just the best that it can be, and thats a lot more than many of the other cars I've seen. When I started this site I was coming from another rare car, the Suzuki Swift GTi. Plentiful here in Jamaica, but hard to find in the United States when I was in University in Florida. When I started Suzuki Central I expected that many of my fellow Jamaicans would participate. Didn't happen, and I didn't know why until I retuned home and owned my present ride. I've pretty much ranted enough, but I must thank the few that do take the time out view my site. As I said, the information is out there. Since my inception of HardcoreEP, I've received more, much, much more international email than local ones. I guess on one hand I'm disappointed, but in truth it really doesn't matter. I spent several days helping out another EP owner halfway around the world. What did we have in common, the pleasure of owning an EP91. Nothing more, nothing less. I also must apologize for a few errors in the text. No not technical errors, but those using a PC might notice that punctuation marks come up funny. This is because I do this site on a Macintosh. I've been using Microsoft Word instead of a raw text editor in the recent times, to make sure there are no spelling mistakes, but the characters sets are slightly different between the machines and MSWord generates special tags. They are really only present on PCs, but as I go through I'll correct this annoying trait. I guess its back to simpletext. NEW: We review Best Motoring International 7: The Evo strikes back. A most unsual EP from Europe in the gallery. We finish off the tyre information and its one homegrown EP82 as our feature ride. 11/26/2003 THE BEST OF THE SEASON TO ALL Its been at least a month since the last update. It isn't that I don't have the stuff, its just to find the time to put it up. Don't worry I haven't abandoned it yet. So far the project has been on track, with just minor derailments. I've pretty much reached my first goal post making this a time for reflection as I share with the rest of you. The great news is that we will be moving to bigger grounds. That means more high quality pics, better shockwave stuff, and video for the masses. When, I'm not sure, but hand on its going to be a great 2004 for HardcoreEP. Trust me on that. The engine stuff is now just an update away. Since I was late I'll be updating next week Wednesday to avoid the Xmas rush. Season's best to all. NEW: I've kept it simple with great brake upgrade and a review of Best MOTORing's Special Edition DVD: Tuning into Tokyo - the 2003 Tokyo Auto Salon. 12/3/2003 CLOSING OFF AN INTERESTING YEAR It might be too early for this, but due to the Xmas rush I probably don't know when I'll get the time for another update for the rest of the year. I'd just like to thank the people that have taken the time out to view my little piece of the web here. I hope that we may share ideas, if not, the same vision of the betterment of EP kind. I know I told you about the engine stuff, and next year it will be in full force. If you've been reading the Sunday Herald here in Jamaica then, you'll be aware that I've already started in my EP Street Gang Tune feature. My aims were simple and I'm pretty much on my way there, if not already, by the time you all read this. Sorry, if I pissed off anyone, but I never said anything that I didn't experience so obviously it was true. I'm not sure how I'm going to top this year, but trust me, i will. Hang on and keep reading. See you next year. Watch this space for maximum EP coverage. That little pic is to tide you over. YOU KNOW WE ON OUR WAY EPer's. NEW: I forgot to put up the Best MOTORing 7 review, so its there now. The big Super Strut brake upgrade, my final handling addition for now. One sick Toyota Corolla in the feature section. 1/24/2004 LET THE GAMES BEGIN ANEW A best of year greeting to all that take the time out to visit my site. One would think that HardcoreEP is a one man show and for the most part it is, but I'm only 1/3 of the crew that makes it possible for you to view all this tech info and cool stuff. As I move into the new year I must thank the other 2/3 of HardcoreEP, first Wendly. His tireless efforts allow me and all of you to see in detail all the modifications. A regular mechanic wouldn't allow the access I enjoy at his place. From the late night clutch changes, to the early morning engine swaps he's put up with everything I've thrown at him, including my insane requests for pictures while he trying to fit some part. He's pretty much responsible for my EP's health and strength and for that I thank him. He's a great friend and a damn good mechanic to boot. Oh yeah, he teaches high school physics. The other third is my main man in Japan, Hiro. Thanks guy for the hook ups and the information. I'd also like to thank a few of my partners in crime, Jason, Euhon, and Don. Your insanity makes the Toyota world interesting. So where do we go from here. The engine stuff is what everyone wants and it offcially begins now. I have no other suspension things to do. For me personally it has been a full circle. The EP will be brought back to its shine when I first purchsed it and I will enjoy the rest of my ownership like I know most of you do. HardcoreEP will expand into a more Toyota club situation with a larger site to host better, bigger pixs and video. Later in the year I will then make the accessment whether to move to stage four tuning. Until then it will be the usual features, cars, DVD's, books, etc. We have it all. Once again, thank you... NEW: The history of the 4E engine. 2/18/2004 PROGRESS What is progress? I have no idea, but I'm going to make the assumption that it has something to do with being better than a previous state. With that definition I must profess that HardcoreEP hasn't been progressive. Time has ravaged my attention towards this site, thus the slow updates and the occassional layout mistake for you PC guys. So, As for the new year I must refocus to make us the HARDEST Toyota Starlet site on the internet. Progess is the name of the game. It is going to be a very interesting year for HardcoreEP as we attempt to push the envelope of the starlet world. We are taking a very different path from everyone so try to hold on every Wednesday. I would be the amiss if I said I'm the only one doing this. Here at HardcoreEP we strive on being the alternative EP site, and our content proves that. No big turbo bragging here, just we'll set up cars that push the norms expected by even ourselves. Which brings me to my man Serge. For whatever reason like me he's keen on exploring the limits of his EP91. His aim is to get the most out of the stock turbo set-up as he can. I most say one thing and that the EP91 seems to respond better when dealing with the stock turbine than the EP82. I'm not sure if Serge has all the connections like I do, but I've noticed that big turbine upgrades are a rareity in Japan for the EP91. So for whatever reasons we are pushing towards the same goal and I wish him the best. I personally am seven hp shy from my goal for the CT9x and like Serge I am running totally in uncharted ground. In Jamaica the modified EPs running with their stock turbines can be counted on one hand. Its not to say that I don't want big power, but not just yet. My only downfall is that I've let the car's appearance slip. Despite its performance it does look like crap and everytime I look at the pixs of Serge's ride I realize that I must focus. The big parts are fine, but the car needs a make over. Which will be soon. As I said its going to be an interesting year for HardcoreEP. I'll be putting up more video soon so stay with us folks. NEW: The history of the 4E engine continues. Serge's car in the gallery. 3/03/2004 OFF TO AN INTERESTING START Opportunity is a hell of a thing. One came along and I took it despite all the forces against it. One of my friends made it clear to me recently, "its tough being a Toyota owner in Jamaica," he said. "You're on your own." How true this is when I looked at my own situation. I was plumbing the depths alone in uncharted ground, well locally that is. Many of my upgrades were carried out by myself, and of course Wendly. Together we pushed the envelope of our collective knowledge, at great cost, sacrifice of nuff nights of sleep and personal convenience, but in the end we're much better off for it. We have learned through various methods the boundaries for each path we take, but we've never stopped learning. The Glanza is a rare car, even in Japan. As the last of its kind it respected and desired, so to 'bitch it up' to me is a disservice to the many people at the Toyota Motor Company. So it was a tough decision to embark down a path that even the Japanese have not frequented. It was tough two weeks and nerves were frayed. We weren't at each other throats, but our minds were at the ends, until it clicked. The end result isn't perfect, teething problems still exists and professional help will be sought, but in the end we again put ourselves in the small group of Glanza techs. That's what owning an EP about. I look forward to sharing all this with our small community. I aplogize for vagueness in terms of that project and my sticking to the format. We'll get through this all and trust me you'll all be happy with every update. NEW: Fueling basics for the 4E part one. A 200+ hp daily driven EP82 feature. 4/14/2004 LEARNING THE FUTURE FROM THE PAST I was browsing through a message board a while back and came across several issues relating to the Starlets and their replacement the Vitz. I was going to answer it there, but I was stuck for stuff this week so I'll just do it here. The starlet has a long and wonderful past with Toyota. It was their small car until the Corolla was defined as their global challenger. With the Glanza they announced that they would be retiring the Starlet name. This was simply an issue of rebranding. Every car company does it at some point. This allows them to change the image, or take advanatge of a new trend in the automotive scene. This wasn't to say that the EP was a bad car or a poor seller. Actually if you look at the Japanese market the performance car scene is shrinking. Gone are the RX7, Supra, R34 Shyline GTR, the Silvia and a host of performance hits. Its not because of lack of demand, as many are noting that these cars are disappearing. The market and aftermarket has been responding. The turbo Vitz exists because they killed the EP82/91 Turbos. Customer demand for a small turbo Toyota never died, Toyota tried to anticipate the 'new gen Kei Car craze', but the need for a turbo on small Toyota was obviously there, so much so that they had TRD re-engineer a turbo kit for the car. Now some comments were made about the cost of the EP in terms of production. The Starlet has never been a 'loss leader'. In fact the Starlet has been, like most small Toyotas, a cash cow of sorts due to its production and parts cycle. A critical look at the modern EP will show that other than the body styles, mechanically, parts sharing is evidently rampant . The other issue is that Toyota traditionally hasn't supported non- money making cars. The Celica GT4, dead. The Supra, dead. Several versions of the Corolla/Paseo platform dead. The next is price, the fully loaded Glanza has a list price cheaper than many of its rivals. However, due to the popularity of the EP91 V current prices have made used ones a serious commodity. Whereas cast off EP82 would go for under $1,000. A recent look pulled up a 1997 mid-model revision EP91 V with 27,000km going for USD$8,000. Thats a lot for a seven year old Japanese car. Now in terms of performance i'll be straight up front. I like the Vitz RS, and I've seen several reviews of it and it seems to be a viable tuning platform, but from a technical standpoint it really isn't that better than the EP. First off I was shocked to learn that the Vitz chassis reverted to the rear suspension used by the old Corolla AE86. Gone is the trailing rear arm/panhard rod set up of the EP. Instead its shocks and spring are separate items. The Vitz has the advanatge of displacement, but here's the funny part. the reason I wanted a Vitz was because I saw one turbocharged, but not in the normal aftermarket tuner sense. This tuner found out that the engine in the Vitz was related to the old-E series engines and simply added the EP91 turbo gear to it. Oh yeah, and the Vitz is heaver than even the Glanza V. Pretty much reducing the power advantage. So what have we learned, the same thing I've known since I bought my first Toyota. Toyota spends a lot of money to be cheap. I'm sure the Vitz will be good tuner car, but the trend from Japanese seems to be that the performance generation are snapping up these older cars. Cars as raw as the Starlet no-longer exist in this market segment. I'd just like to welcome Mystik to the Toyota family and hope we'll be able to feature his car here soon. Also the 'big man' Spi for his amazing 11-second pass in a stock internal 5E powered EP82. He continues to light the way for many. NEW: Your fuel pump and you. A review of High Octane USA in the media gallery 5/7/2004 TRUE STORY Sometimes life is funnier than fiction. I've had my EP91 for over four years now, never had a major accident. Other than a few scratches and simple dents the car was fine, until my mother got her SUV. The 2003 Suzuki Vitara, a few weeks into its ownership, meet ny EP91. It wasn't a pleasant meeting. The damn thing reversed straight into the Glanza V trashing the car throughly. The left headlight and corner lamp were gone. The left fender had been crushed and pushed back onto the door, itself moved back a few mm into the rear quarter panel. The bonnet looked like a bad tent. Fortunately I was having my bumper repaired at the time. Had it been part of the impact I would have been even more annoyed. The car was bodyworked the next day and two days later I had the car. The EP's bumper attaches to the fenders only, and before I could even put on the front bumper again another incident happened damaging the same left fender. Stuck on a rock, I attempted to push it off, unfortunately it rolled into the road and dinged someone's door. Frustrated I tried to look at the bright side of things and decided that it was time to just budget for a front mounted intercooler kit, since the bumper was off anyway. For my birthday I received a pleasant surprise, a Blitz FMIC kit. I quickly repaired the offending fender, only to have the SUV damage it again a few days later. I laughed about it this time, that was all I could do. Anyway, I fixed the left fender for the umpteen time and installed the Blitz kit. I also took the time to address a few other little issues. Right now the car drives great and I feel a bit better, but the moral of the story is to keep your Starlets away from SUVs. Hopefully the rest of the time will be incident free and I can concentrate on getting the ride in prestine shape. I do believe that it needs to look the part of the trendsetter its gonna be. I must also apologize for the erratic updates. This is due to how busy I am, and maintaining this site is kind of hard due to the high standards I must keep for you all. Trust me, if you think the suspension stuff is detailed, as you can see we're just getting started on the engine, and yes I own most of the stuff featured, so chances are I've tried what you might be interested in. I'll be moving to a larger server during the summer to facilitate my expansion, until then continue to enjoy HardcoreEP. I've also been slacking off in the media gallery, but I'll have more reviews next update. Oh yeah, thanks to Darryl Keery for sending in some pics of his ride. NEW: Your electronic fueling options for the Starlet, HKS PFC-FCON vs A'pexi SAFC. 5/19/2004 WHEN VANITY PREVAILED When I chose the wheels for my EP it was a rather calculated decision. I endured years on my little 14-inch tyre package. It served me well, but it was obvious that it was time to upgrade. After months of research I came up with the perfect replacement package. I found the wheel I wanted, but before I could come back with the money they were gone. Some Taximan bought it for his Corolla. I was not happy, but by accident I came across a different brand with the same specifications. I even liked the style. I got up the money and bought them. Many laughed. Knowing my history, they said it wouldn't last. Unlike a lot of my friends I was running a lower profile tyre than them. "The potholes soon tek dem rims deh" or a look of disbelief when I told them the tyre size was the usual response. Still it worked, worked great. Potholes weren't a problem, the rims survived everything I threw at them. Never had a crack, dent, or flat. They were right on every front, performance, longevity, and appearance. Even my mother complimented me on them. Then I changed my lowering springs. The first wheel package had been calculated with the drop from my Whiteline springs, but the Teins brought the car back up despite having a lower ride height rating. The gap was ugly was my first thought. At this point the vanity of it all came forth. Now I know how these Honda guys feel. Despite the car riding even better than before I opted to swap my perfect wheel package for a set of 17s that looked better as they filled up that unsightly gap. Pure vanity in retrospect. The first indication of things to come happened within a week of ownership. After driving in from home I parked and found the car kinda lopsided. An inspection revealed a flat left front tyre. I pumped it up and returned to work only to find the tyre flat again. I hobbled to the tyre guy who them promptly told me nothing was wrong with the tyre. The rim had cracked. This was something I was about to hear umpteen times till present. These pretty lightweight motorsports rims couldn't stand up to the level of punishment my lesser name normal 16s could, and I was wearing the same profile tyre. Recently I woke up to three flat tyres and the prospect of high repair cost. I had already started to miss my old rims. They're gonna go. I'll endure a few months of ugliness for proper performance. I've done it before, I don't know why I didn't do it then. Vantity, a hard pill to swallow. NEW: Injectors and your EP. Two media reviews, Hashiriya and Best MOTORing International 4. 6/22/2004 SUMMERTIME DREAMS I'll probably be on leave from work when I you all read this. I'll be taking some much needed rest from the day to day stress of living in Jamaica. No I'm not leaving the country. I might not even leave my room. One thing I won't be taking a break from is HardcoreEP. I'll be taking the time to organize the information as I have so much its been hard to go any any direction. I started with the engine mods, but the majority of it is left to come. As this is my site, I'd like to make it more YOUR site. I visited our bigger brothers up in Supraland at www.mkiv.com. I don't normally like to copy, but if there is one thing I must duplicate fron their site is the level of interaction, especially in terms of the parts. That's what I'd like to do here to. People with all the different parts they use. Not I'm not refering to made up parts, or scraps. Many EPs are using brand name parts. I can't be the only one. I mean, doesn't anybody else have JAM Racing downpipe. What about the different exhaust systems, HKS superdragger, etc. I liked that about the Supra site. As a end user I could click on a item and see what it looks like on my car, instead of the generic pics in catalogs. If you have a certain brand FMIC send on the pics. Using a turbocharger from another manufacturer, bring them on. I'll put them up. I'm gonna be starting this off with the present update. I know the tuning information already has an abundace of huge pics, but I'm gonna put some of them up seperately. The New Parts Menu will be revised to include a list of exhaust systems. If you have anything to add, please forward them to me. I know I'm not big like the others, but I'm sure the content here is bar none, your participation can make it better. Thanks to Darryl Keery for sending his pics NEW: ECUs. Best MOTORing International 8 review. Starlet vids in the media room(eptapes). 7/07/2004 THE BULLSHIT Yeah, I'm gonna cuss. I guess really I have no-one to blame, but myself. Everything was going so well, I saw the signs and I just was trying to get five days from two. The story starts a few months back. My gearbox was making a noise, so I bought my replacement and carried it in to get it changed. When I got back the car the inside of the bellhousing was covered in engine oil. I suspected that the rear crankshaft seal was slowly going. I commented on it to the mechanic that it was time to replace it. No sweat he said. Due to some stupidity the replacement gearbox then went, at which point access to the rear seal was again available. I found myself having to purchase another gearbox, for a total of three now. Again the seal wasn't changed and this time it was even more obvious that it was going. Due to the long distances I have to drive I'm a pretty paranoid driver. Despite having a radiator leak for several months now (I was waiting for my new radiator to arrive from Japan) I never suffered any critical engine problems. I ensured that the radiator was full before every journey and watched the guages like a hawk. Every performance car driver knows that the road is secondary to the health of the vehicle. The oil leak was watched too. A few spots here and there, but a little topping up made sure everything was alright. Then several nights ago the seal failed and there was no oil in the car. I was not the driver at the time as I had lent out the car as a favor, but that's how these things go. Bearing damage was the result and scratch another engine. Now I found myself back into the clutches of the system that I hate so much, the Jamaican shop mechanic system. As far as I'm concered every fuckin' one of them is the same, well except for one garage, but only the very rich can afford their services. The unfortunate thing is that its not that they're really that good, its just that everybody else is so bad they can charge a premium for the basic level of service and professionalism one should expect from a garage. As long as I've been on this island I've had the unfortunate pleasure to come across the majority of 'performance mechanics'. I once had the pleasure of meeting Lance Ho-lung from Miami's Toyomoto and he said to me there is a difference between a mechanic and a race mechanic, and there are no race mechanics in Jamaica. I agree wholeheartedly, but that's not the major issue. The issue is why I fear the establishment, basic quality of service, and actually this is a bigger issue in Jamaica. Ever wonder why companies are killing themselves to get into every other Caribbean country except ours, we have no idea what service is. We make everything so difficult, sit on our asses bragging about whatever little we've accomplished as if the world owed us shit. Then again, its my fault for expecting a basic level of competemce and service regardless of the price. What ever happened to work ethic, we charge extra for that. Then again, its a foreign concept. Back to the story. I depend on my car for a living, and not having it costs me money. I've tried to drill this in to the fuckin head of everybody that comes in contact with my car. The quicker you deal with my car the quicker you'll get paid. Here's the funny shit. The guys bitch and moan about the non-paying customers, and people that stiff them. Maybe they need to take some advice. Don't fuck over the people that actually pay, a class of which I belong to. I work. If someone brings me a job to do I do it. I don't put priority on the dicks that don't pay or the work that I do for free. Its work, fuckin' do it. the last major overhaul of my car several years ago cost me $8,800 a week in transportaion costs alone. I was without the car for four weeks, add it up. I found myself being accused of impatience and foreignmindessness. If I cost you 8gs a week why the fuck wouldn't you be pissed to. People wanna know why I buy my stuff from Japan, Australia, the US, because I don't have to deal with the dumb shit. I emailed Bob Tait from Whiteline for months before buying anything from him. He responded to every email. It was such a pleasure to do business with them. My buddy Hiro, anything I want I get. I pay, he ships, thats it. No ego, no bullshit, just the understanding that a good friend and customer is there. Then everybody's freaked that I spent $USD900 on a manifold, when I asked around to get it done everybody was sitting on their ass giving me excuses. Its a competitive world, no-one owes anybody shit. I've found out in life that if you just do your job, shit will be alright. Its the fuckin lazy moaners, bitchers, and ego maniacs that fuck up this world. With that said I'll admit that this isn't localized. One gentleman just emailed me about his own gearbox troubles. After taking my advice he headed to a 'reputable mechanic' for what was a simple job. Apparently this guys works on Rally Cars. He then proceeded to destroy the gentleman's gearbox. I got an email days later asking for the part number for the a new gearbox. I can't even imagine the cost of that, plus the cost in faith in the abilities of the mechanic profession. Another associate is stuck on the verge of murder because someone he was recommended to is fuckin' around with his ride. Bottomline, it is my fault for expecting people to do their jobs with pride, respect, competence, and a level of basic understand of the customer. They have all lost my respect, for whatever that's worth. I use them with the distaste you see in these words, but I will never fall to their level of courseness. No-one is perfect, but fuckin' try people. This rant isn't directed to anybody specific, its just that recently I've found myself listening to the nightmares of my fellow Toyota owners, not to mention being stuck in my own. To forever quote my friend, 'if you're a Toyota owner in Jamaica, you're on your own.' I know one thing though, my next car will remain stock for a very long time. Nuff people won't read this or care, but for those that do, I feel your pain too. Maybe that why you all come here, my suffering makes for good reading, (laugh). Don't worry, next week I'll have more positive shit and life goes on. NEW: Best MOTORing International 9 review. A four door EP82 turbo is featured. Yes, 4 doors. 21/07/2004 A MAN OF STATURE At lot of times we highlight the bad. I try not on HardcoreEP, just doesn't fit into my personality, but events of the past weeks have been testing to say the least. Which brings me to my friend Dwayne. He's otherwise known as Big Juice in various Starlet forums, and he's had every right to be called so. In the past few weeks Dwayne has proved several things about Starlets that I've been trying to get into everyone's head. The story starts when I met him at the usual speed hang out, ACE Essomart, Kingston Jamaica. At that time his car was an automatic GT Starlet running his 4E turbo set up. He met me at the time of my second 5E build up. At that point 5Es were rather rare and to have met someone that had done it twice, and was willing to talk about it was even more rare. We talked for hours about the direction to be taken. I don't like giving advice, what I simply do is relate my experience, which I did. If I remember correctly he had gone the big turbo route and front mount intercooler like the others, but I could tell Juice wasn't the normal EP owner, he was looking for more. Our association continues to this day, however unlike other EP owners rushing into a power build up Juice always weighted his options and seemed to making the correct choices. First went the autobox, then he revealed he'd be taking the 5E plunge. I offered what little I had learned on the subject, again from my own experience. He took it in stride and for several months I heard nothing from him. He waited patiently for months enduring most of the bullshit I had avoided at all cost. He didn't get everything he wanted, but finally the 5E went in, but again unlike others Juice had the base ready for his big jump into 5E land. It was then no real surprise when I saw him at Vernamfield, with his usual modesty he told me the numbers 280hp with 270lb/ft of torque. I could be no happier for him. If it was anyone that deserved this level of success it was Dwayne. His patience, paid off big time, now he's the owner of one of the most powerful Starlets on the island. BIG UP JUICE Now, what did he prove. Well the first thing is that the caveman crap doesn't work. Juice's car isn't some experiement. He took the time to get the correct parts togther and quite possibly spent less money than many other EP owners I know screwing around. His car is a credit to a properly tuned EP. One of the big jokes between me and one of my friends is the level of parts being used on many local cars. Quite frankly in the scheme of things while the numbers are impressive, for what they have the performance isn't that great. Its like having a McLaren and doing 0-60 in 5seconds. Sure that's fast, but the potential for more is there its just up to someone good enough to unlock it. I hope Juice will start a new 'smart, efficient' EP owner trend. The next thing he proved was that that's way too much horsepower for a Starlet. You see, Juice's car is a street car, not some stripped out drag racer. At 15psi, he shredded a set of slicks right before my eyes. His car doesn't hook up until about fourth gear no matter how low he launches the car. The sad truth is Juice will never fully be able to harness all that power with the car in its present trim. This is something I've come across times driving a few big turbo jobs. How much is too much. To each their own. Still, I think he's committed to the drag race thing, so I forsee nothing but success for him. Maybe soon, we'll have him on the site as a feature ride. We also were recently able to get together a bunch of Toyota owners for a meeting. It was for the most part a good experience, and has led to the formation of a new Toyota Owner's Club website. I'll be migrating the site soon to bigger pastures to allow more videos and such. As for me, I continue my controversial and lonely route. I've been forced into a corner. This last experience has left a very bad taste in my mouth thus my final modification will be done soon. Don't worry, there is way more material to come on HardcoreEP before I come to a closure. Hope you'll all stick around too. NEW: The journey to a 5E begins. Best MOTORing review. |
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