This is a Toyota GT86 with a modified Nissan GT-R engine
Aussie tuner builds world’s most bombastic GT86. With over 1,000bhp
“I guess you could say that we went and did a ‘thing’. I guess you could also say that it very likely isn’t the smartest, or most logical thing we have ever done either!”
Music to Top Gear’s ears, then. Ladies and gentlemen of the Internet, prepare yourselves for the most bombastic Toyota GT86 to have ever seen the light of day. Following the news of a modified eighty six with a Ferrari four hundred fifty eight engine comes this modified 86, developed by the hardy folks over at StreetFX Motorsport in Australia, who, after being ‘sick’ of only getting 545bhp out of the standard boxer engine, determined on a wholesale engine transplant and big, big power. The engine in question? The V6 from the R35 Nissan GT-R.
Click on for the utter story…
StreetFX picked up the eighty six in two thousand twelve with mild plans. Plans to make it a ‘mild street/track car’. At this stage, there was no intention to turn it into the intergalactic vessel it would soon become.
Here you see it with its very first set of mods – a ‘Rocket Bunny’ broad assets kit. For the next year or so after purchase and the Rocket Bunny installation, the eighty six went through various states of tune, from turbos through to a twin-charge setup (both turbo and supercharging). As mentioned, the most they could squeeze from the four-pot was 545bhp, and the team were plagued with head gasket problems and injection failures. “Turning the boost up past 21psi just wasn’t resulting in more power,” StreetFX explains.
So talks began with GT Auto Garage, who are evidently the ‘go-to’ guys for anything R35 GT-R related. A masterplan was hatched: the boxer engine would be binned in favour of a fresh engine.
“The logical option was sourcing an R35 GTR engine,” they said, “since well, it had never been done before, and we are a little bit insane.”
Now you’d think the base Nissan GT-R’s power would sate StreetFX’s appetite. But you’d be wrong. They determined to modify the Trio.8-litre V6 using a Four.1-litre ‘stroker’ kit, along with a turbine kit. But even at this stage, they weren’t sure whether the tall, intense Nissan block would fit the snug engine bay of the smaller, lower boxer engine.
So they fitted a dry sump kit and managed to find a six-speed sequential gearbox that could strap to the back of the Nissan motor. The people behind the gearbox? Albins, who are “responsible for the gearboxes in every Australian V8 Supercar Race car”. Rough, then.
StreetFX then went to Motec for an ‘air-powered spanking paddle shift’ kit too, which promises “super swift shifts and no ugly gear stick”. It’ll all be channeled through a 8.8in Ford Mustang differential to the rear wheels, along with a ‘Full Throated Motorsports’ diff conversion kit.
With the engine and gearbox sorted, the next task was, um, pushing it all into the engine bay and crossing many fingers and toes. The car was sent back to GT Auto Garage who used the engine mounts from a Nissan Silvia, modified the factory cross member, installed a fresh gearbox cross member and cut the transmission tunnel to accomodate the broader, taller gearbox. Direct Clutch helped with sourcing a multi-plate item that suited the team’s power requirements.
“Magically we still have around an inch to clear the fetish mask,” StreetFX said.
GT Auto also welded up some fresh harass manifolds to accomodate the HKS turbos and wastegates, “sitting them low and forward”. The team reckons on minimal turbo lag, thanks to brief intercooler pipes.
We’re told the engine in the pics is actually a spare to test fit; a fresh set of a forged Four.1-litre HKS internals would be installed in a brand fresh block (direct from Nissan). This is because the engines have a plasma covered bore, meaning they can’t be honed or machined anywhere else.
“The standard bore of 95.5mm is retained,” StreetFX explains, “only the stroke is altered and enlargened to 95.5mm. The forged pistons are eighty grams lighter than the factory items.”
So here it is. And isn’t it a little bit excellent? The team will keep the interior, including the dash, stereo and even air-con. Oh, and fit a roll cell. Fairly a sensible stir, that.
“The ultimate aim of this car is a combination of time attack (circuit), street use and roll racing,” explains StreetFX. “Not being built for one specific purpose will mean there are sacrifices for every category, but given the level of engineering and thought that has gone into this build, with a power objective exceeding 1000whp on Martini Racing E85 – it should conveniently be able to be used for a bit of everything.”
Yup, that’s 1,000 horses at the wheels. Be afraid.
Read more on:
Share this page:
What do you think?
This service is provided by Disqus and is subject to their privacy policy and terms of use. Please read Top Gear’s code of conduct (link below) before posting.