Not every day you see specially designed and tuned drift cars have a go at drag racing, but here we are. Supercars going at it down the quarter-mile is a show worth watching, and not to say it's boring in any way, but everything tends to go as planned with no real thrill or danger behind it.
Luckily, we're staring danger in the face today, starting with the modded-out Toyota Chaser ZX100. Under the hood, it packs a legendary 2.5-liter inline-6 1JZ engine that produces 276 hp and 278 lb-ft or 377 Nm of torque in typical circumstances.
This Toyota's atypical engine develops 542 hp (550 ps) and 500 lb-ft (678 Nm) of torque. The power goes through its 5-speed manual gearbox and ends up at the rear wheels. The owner forfeited over $63,000 for the car and the upgrades. However, that amount seems like chump change compared to what the Skyline's owner paid for his ride.
The Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 had even more surgery done under the hammer and cost over 125,995 dollars, which is pretty extreme when you think about what you could have bought for that money, but to each their own, as they say. The Skyline also has a rear-wheel drive, and its 2.5-liter inline-6 engine produces the same horsepower as the Toyota Chaser, but it has more torque, rated at 550 lb-ft or 746 Nm.
The 1JZ engine emerged circa 1989 in the Japanese market. It's the forefather of the 3.0-liter 2JZ engine, one of the most iconic powerplants ever to grace and amaze not just the JDM scene, but the whole world, too.
Initially, the 2JZ was fitted in the 1991 Toyota Aristo, which was only marketed for Japan. In 1993, the marvelous Toyota A80 Supra proudly came with two engine versions: the 2JZ-GE, which outputted 220 hp (164 kW) and 210 lb-ft (285 Nm) of torque, and the twin-turbocharged version, the 2JZ-GTE, which delivered 276 hp (206 kW) and 318 lb-ft (431 Nm) of torque.
Photo: carwow
In the North American and European markets, the power was upgraded to 321 hp (US) and 326 (EU) via smaller, steel-wheeled turbochargers and bigger fuel injectors. While the 2.5-liter 1JZ can handle about 592-641 hp (600-650 ps), which isn't too shabby, the bigger, more powerful 3.0-liter 2JZ model can be tuned with aftermarket parts to a mind-blowing 2,500 hp.
Now, let's see how these two legends performed on the drag strip. Mat Watson from "carwow" was behind the wheel of the Toyota Chaser while his friend, Yanni, was driving the Skyline.
It took them four or five (lost count) drag races to get to a conclusion, and here are the numbers: the Toyota was the fastest, finishing the 1/4-mile in 14.3 seconds, while the Nissan did it in 14.4 seconds. However, Mat lost the first few races, so the Skyline was crowned winner of the day.
Then, they invited the owners to take the cars for a spin. The Toyota Chaser managed to shave off 0.1 seconds and finished in 14.2 seconds, but that's because the driver sort of stole the start. No matter, because the Nissan driver performed 0.3 seconds worse than Yanni and finished in 14.7 seconds.
While the JDM cars didn't reach speeds up to 300 mph, the race was still extremely entertaining. Maybe one day, Mat will also organise a makeshift drift track and offer a real show with these babies.
Codrin just loves American classics, from the 1940s and ‘50s, all the way to the muscle cars of the '60s and '70s. In his perfect world, we'll still see Hudsons and Road Runners roaming the streets for years to come (even in EV form, if that's what it takes to keep the aesthetic alive). Full profile
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