1994 Toyota Supra Twin-Turbo - Power Broker

Eight hundred seventy horsepower. Say it out loud and think about it for a moment. Eight hundred seventy horsepower. It's more muscle than you'll find in Paul Tracy's Champ Car, or two Corvette Z06s. It's the kind of might that tears skin from bone, heads from bodies and shoes from feet.

Why are we telling you this? Because Saad N. Saad's (yes, that's his name) 1994 twin-turbo Toyota Supra has been on the chassis dyno where it made an incredible 870 hp. Calculate for the usual 15 to 20 percent frictional losses through the drivetrain, and Saad's Supra makes more than 1000 hp at the crank. Just don't ask him about it. Saad is sick and tired of telling people the Supra's dyno numbers, only to have them call him a liar.

It's for real.

"I bought this car because of the engine," says Saad. "The 2JZ-GTE has a reputation for being bulletproof at high horsepower levels. I just had to try building one for myself.

Toyota's venerable straight-six does indeed have a well-deserved reputation for withstanding high horsepower levels, but that rep is usually stated in terms of 500- or 600-hp engines-not 1000-hp, twin-turbo, fire-breathing monsters.

When Saad and his good friends at MaxRev Motorsports set their sights on the magic one-kilohorse figure under the hood, they didn't fully realize what they were getting themselves into. Or, as Saad puts it, "we found the learning curve with a 1000-hp engine to be freakin' steep."

Learning curves or not, Saad and MaxRev were intent on wringing maximum power out of the 3.0-liter engine. They started by disassembling the engine to a bare block and fully prepping it. One of the tried-and-true secrets to engine longevity at sky-high levels of boost is careful and meticulous blueprinting of an engine's short block.

Saad started the process on his engine by over-sizing the cylinders by 1mm to accommodate JE forged pistons. Crower rods and ARP studs were then added, followed by a custom lightweight forged crankshaft. The entire reciprocating assembly was then balanced to the sub-gram level.

The cylinder head also received a thorough disassembly and rebuild. Along the way, it was street-ported, outfitted with oversized valves, and cinched to the short block with ARP studs. HKS 272 cams, double-valve springs and titanium retainers keep the intake and exhaust cycles timed correctly.

Which brings us to the turbo and fuel injection systems. Curtis Page at MaxRev Motorsports fabricated the beautiful stainless-steel exhaust manifold that cradles the two T04Es, which are plumbed in parallel. A GReddy Racing wastegate handles overpressure duties, while a custom MaxRev/KOSW fuel-injection system supplies the large volume of fuel. The 2JZ-GTE uses 75 lb/hr injectors, which are fed by dual, in-tank fuel pumps.

Saad owns a chain of Mobil gasoline stations and In-The-Zone convenience stores across the desert southwest, one of which sells Trick 101 racing fuel. This is good for Saad; the 2JZ-GTE consumes premium fuel at more than one gallon per minute at wide-open throttle. And you thought soccer mom SUVs were thirsty.

Saad also uses a 70-hp custom-built, home-brew fogger-type nitrous system that sprays directly into the throttle body. The nitrous helps spool up the twin turbos and increase low-end power. Once the turbos reach 14 psi, however, and before the engine makes peak power, the nitrous is shut down with a Hobbs switch.

Putting all this power to the ground has been the toughest problem to solve so far. "I've had the transmission out of the car as many as five times in a single week," says Saad. "We've experimented with a lot of different clutches, including sintered-iron, bronze discs, twin discs, you name it. I've got a six-puck unit in it right now that seems to work OK."

Out on the road, we were surprised at how docile the Supra's drivetrain felt. At off-idle speeds, the entire powerplant feeds back mild vibrations, like a typical warmed-over Supra-that is, until the pedal hits the metal and the turbos light off. At that point, driving the Toyota can best be described as "all hell breaking loose." In the blink of an eye, the rear-drive tires turn liquid, the occupants' heads and torsos are thrown rearward and triple-digit numbers appear on the speedometer. This car is awesome.

In addition to street dominance, Saad enjoys taking the stealthy black Supra out to the track for leisurely strolls down the quarter mile, where the car typically runs 10.2 at 148 mph and touched the nines on one occasion.

Maintaining traction off the line, however, is a perennial problem. "I spend a lot of time in the first 60-feet spinning tires and making smoke," says Saad matter-of-factly. "The competition almost always gets out ahead. But I win by chasing them down at the end of the track. Eight hundred seventy wheel hp lets you get away with things like that."

To keep the car comfortable and driveable on the street, Saad retained the factory power equipment, including seats, windows, air conditioning and stereo. In the name of safety, however, he had MaxRev sculpt a custom AISI-4130 chrome-moly roll bar for the cockpit. Because the car is a driver, however, Saad asked for a few creature comforts. For instance, the side braces are designed to swing out for easy entry and exit. The roll bar is also designed to allow the two front seats to fully recline and not interfere with any of the cross bracing or supports. "Curtis is a genius with steel. He can see things spatially I can't even understand until after it's built," says Saad. "This roll cage is a work of art."

Is he finished with the car? Almost. Saad wants to make some minor improvements to the interior, but will retain the factory fit and finish. "I like my comforts, and I like reliability. Many guys can build a 9-second car, but how many of them have air conditioning and power seats?"

As for the engine, Saad is satisfied. With more than 870 hp at the wheels, he sees little need for more. Honestly, we don't either.