Traditionally we find ourselves scrambling to finish our cars for some kind of event throughout the summer; last minute track prep, new additions for car shows, or just trying to finish whatever changes we’ve decided to do so that we can at least go to sleep feeling somewhat better about the next day. This year of course has been fairly different with lots of events getting both postponed as well as cancelled, so there hasn’t been much of a rush for anything car related really. Of course, that didn’t stop everyone from working on their cars in the meantime.

I’ve teased it on my Instagram a couple times, but over the winter (and until very recently actually) my good friend Matthew has slowly working away at his AE86 Corolla in search of lower lap times. At the core of the new modifications came individual throttle bodies, an electric water pump, shorter gearing, an ORC clutch and flywheel, and some sticky Nankang AR-1’s. In a nutshell this meant more power, less weight, and more grip; all the right ingredients for improving those lap times. After a bit of dyno tuning as well as a street shakedown, we were feeling rather optimistic. I myself have ridden as well as driven this car on numerous occasions and can confidently say that the potentially of this car has drastically risen after the recent changes. All that was left to do was to drive!

We ran the car in the Time Attack run group at the most recent Track Junkies event and I am happy to report that the lap times did in fact improve! Marginally. Unfortunately the weather was somewhat less than ideal throughout majority of the day so that played a major factor in chasing a new personal best. Not only that, but this is a very different setup than what Matt was running last year so there was definitely a bit of a learning curve involved as well. While I’m already listing the excuses, I’ll also go ahead and add that we also ran into a minor electrical issue with further added to the days challenge. With more seat time and better conditions however, I’m sure that Matt will be one step closer towards his goal of a 1:30.XX around Castrol Raceway.

Enjoy the photos and stay safe everyone.

-brandon.