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We’re brought up with the notion that the white knight fights for good, and the black knight fights for evil. Those medieval tales were right, because nothing sounds more evil than Andy Yu’s 1995 twin-turbo Toyota Supra JZA80’s (third generation Supra) rumbling exhaust notes. And no black knight’s armor can look as evil as the Wise Sports body kit matched to the Supra’s deep black paint. The only difference is that a medieval knights rides on a horse, and this Supra rides on 545 horses.
Andy Yu of Kyosho Racing is definitely not taking stabs in the dark when it comes to building bad-ass cars. Andy has owned a turbo MR-2, a twin-turbo 300ZX, a BMW 850, and the first 12-second S14 chassis 240SX in the States. Andy has had so many cars that we can’t even find room to list them. Why? Because he’s crazy; he also happens to be the owner of V-spec Performance in Baldwin Park, California (yes, it’s the same V-spec with the Silvias and the Top Fuel Hondas). That’s exactly why Andy took his JZA80 and went through a nuclear fusion with HKS and its performance parts.
The factory 2JZ motor is rated at 320 hp (256 hp at the rear wheels) and can take up to 750 hp before any reinforcement is needed, although that much power seems a bit impractical in a street car. With the HKS EVC’s low setting at 1.3BAR (19 psi), Andy’s car laid the smack down on the HKS dyno’s candy ass with 545 hp at the wheels, or 682 hp at the crank.
How would we build a 500-plus horsepower daily-driven JZA80? We’d contact HKS USA to order every part that they have in stock for the car. The HKS twin GT2835 turbo kit is a damn good start; two ball-bearing turbos sitting on two gleaming stainless-steel manifolds. These turbos were in need of more breathing room, so the restrictive factory airflow meter was switched out for an HKS VPC mated to twin Super Mega Flow air cleaners. Howard, chief engineer at HKS, tuned the VPC chip to handle the larger turbos and higher boost levels. The huge HKS front mount intercooler was installed, chilling the hot turbo charges, and the HKS Twin Power Type-DLI provided the amplified spark to ignite the crazy air/fuel mixture. It’s no wonder that Andy’s JZA80 makes grown men whimper.
An HKS titanium racing exhaust is bolted to the HKS off-road downpipe to give the exhaust gases uninterrupted flow. Sounds good enough, right? Wrong. Maybe that would have been fine for you or us, but not for Andy. We knew that being the owner of V-spec Performance, and drinking all that Arizona green tea would drive him over the edge. He made several five-dollar-a-minute cell phone calls to contact his Japanese friends at Top Fuel to airfreight some special order parts. A pair of HKS cams and cam gears were sent over, along with six 720cc injectors and an HKS high-flow fuel rail.
Another few sessions will max out the fuel controlling capabilities of the VPC. But Andy’s JZA80 should push over 600 hp at the rear wheels with the rom tuning expertise of SP Engineering. That’s daily driven, mind you. Although the 2JZ motor can handle the power with no problems, the factory clutch couldn’t hang with the abuse of street and track driving. Andy contacted Japan, yet again, to airship a triple plate OS Giken clutch and had it installed at SP.
An aggressive motor deserves an equally aggressive appearance. A Wise Sports body kit was painted, fitted, and mounted by 20/20 Autobody in the City of Industry, California. A unique kit, the Wise Sports front bumper has a large lower lip to direct air through the enormous mouth and into the intercooler. 20/20 wrapped the bare edges with Wise Sports side and rear skirts to drop the Supra’s body line even more. A Bomex rear wing tops things off with a hint of Japanese drifting style. A true JZA80 connoisseur would notice that the taillight arrangements are not in sequence on Andy’s car. That’s because those wacky folks at Toyota Europe decided to switch up the order of the OEM taillights.
On the street, Toyo rubbers are wrapped around a set of 18-inch gunmetal Advan Model 5 rims to help Andy keep traction on his long commutes to work. Using Blitz Type 01CX three-piece rims and Nitto NT555R drag radials, 12-second passes are made without breaking a sweat. With more traction, the results will be sickening. The Supra sits on fully adjustable HKS Hiper Damper coilovers, allowing Andy to raise or lower its stance and stiffen or soften its ride.
Andy figured that if he’s going to have to sit in horrible Los Angeles traffic everyday, he might as well make the best of it. So, he replaced the bulky factory leather seats with a pair of carbon Kevlar weave Recaro Tomcat racing seats, fully equipped with an air pump lumbar support. Now that’s what we call luxury. It would take a pretty bomb system to overtake the hypnotizing sounds of twin ball-bearing turbos spooling through 4-inch stainless-steel piping so, John Tanaka of Transonic made sure that Andy’s JZA80 would be a rolling entertainment system. A Japan-only Alpine monitor with built in TV tuner is mated with an Alpine head unit. Two Crystal subs and an ADS amplifier were mounted in a custom trunk box with minimal cutting and no neon.
With a buildup that costs as much as our yearly salaries all together, and disgustingly surpasses our financial reaches, Andy has built his JZA80 beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. The sick part about it is that it only took him three months to build. What’s even more sick is that Andy still isn’t finished. With the help and support of HKS USA, Top Fuel Japan, SP Engineering, and his teammates in Kyosho Racing, he promises that the JZA80 will turn more heads and tear up even more tracks when it’s complete. We only have one thing to say to you, Andy. Don’t make promises unless you intend to keep them. And when you do, let us know so we can fantasize even more.
How much money do you need to spend at HKS to get 545 rear-wheel hp and razor handling?
HKS Products (MSRP)
•Twin GT 2835 kit (including racing wastegates) $10,230
•Front mount intercooler kit (with piping) $2,465
•Mid pipe $205
•Titanium racing exhaust $1,440
•EVC EZ $395
•Hiper Damper coilovers $2,490
•Cams 272 intake and 272 exhaust $1,310 ($655 each)
•Cam gears $330 ($165 each)
•720cc injectors $1,440 ($240 each)
•Fuel rail $410
•Twin Power Type-DLI $625
•Iridium plugs $180 ($30 each)
•OS Giken triple-plate clutch $2,100
•Super Sequential blow-off valve $300
•VPC (tuned for turbos and injectors) $1,590 •VPC harness $695
•Turbo Timer III $95
•SP Engineering rom tune $600
Which leaves us with a total of $26,900 plus sales tax and labor. And that doesn’t even include the $3,400-a-pair Recaro Tomcat seats, stereo system, body kit, or paint. But if we were to calculate those also, we’d get:
•Recaro Tomcat seats $3,400 ($1,700 each)
•Alpine monitor $1,300
•Alpine head unit $375
•ADS amplifier $500
•Crystal subs $450 ($225 each)
•Custom enclosure $900
•Tanabe front strut bar $200
•Body kit N/A
•Paint $1,200
•18-inch Advan rims $2,400
•18-inch Toyo tires $800
That equals $11,525 of non-HKS products on the car as well. Did we forget to mention that a 1995 twin-turbo Toyota Supra, retails for $26,000? So, how deep are your pockets? If you want your Supra to look an perform like Andy’s, they better be $38,425 deep.
Fast Facts
OWNER: Andy Yu
HOMETOWN: Baldwin Park, California
RIDE: 1995 twin-turbo Toyota Supra
DAILY GRIND: Owner of V-spec Performance
UNDER THE HOOD: HKS GT2385 twin turbo kit, SP Engineering rom tune, Cosmos fuel pump, HKS cams 272 intake and 272 exhaust, HKS cam gears, HKS 720cc injectors, HKS fuel rail, HKS Super Mega Flow, HKS titanium racing exhaust, HKS Twin Power Type-DLI, HKS iridium plugs, HKS front mount intercooler, HKS EVC EZ, HKS Racing wastegate, Top Fuel silicone hoses, OS Giken triple plate clutch, HKS Super Sequential blow-off valve
STOPPERS: Brembo Big Brake kit
STIFF STUFF: HKS Hiper Damper fully threaded coilovers, Tanabe front strut bar
INSIDE: Recaro Tomcat racing seats, HKS 60mm boost gauge with peak hold, Alpine head unit, ADS amplifier, Crystal subs, Alpine monitor with TV tuner
OUTSIDE: Wise Sports body kit, Bomex rear wing, TG Race Design graphics, European OEM taillights
ROLLERS: 18x8 and 18x9 gunmetal Advan Model 5 rims, Toyo Proxes 235/40R18 and 265/35R18 tires, Blitz 01CX 17x9 rims, Nitto NT555R drag radials
PROPS: V-spec Performance, William “Viper” Law, Alex at SP Engineering for tuning, Kyosho Racing for their support, Howard and Gabe at HKS for making all this happen, John and Lance at TG Race Designs for the graphics, John Tanaka at Transonic for the system
