Tuesday 5th July 2011

800bhp Celica Is Fastest Car At Goodwood

Brit rally champ proves he drives a very fast Toyota indeed

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This rather orange Toyota was the fastest car up the hill at Goodwood last weekend, cracking the 1.6-mile driveway in just 48.07secs.

It might be lacking the reams of history and glorious racing past of many of the cars with which it shared Lord March's front drive (and it does look a teensy bit Halfords), but this ST205-gen Celica is one seriously fast car.

It's been built by former British Rally champion Jonny Milner, who campaigns it in the Toyota Sprint Series.

Although it started life as a regular Toyota Celica GT4, and although the basic steel monocoque remains (this is no spaceframe silhouette job), this is a pretty specialised machine.

Fitted with an engine from a Corolla WRC car, but with a Rotrex belt-driven supercharger in addition to the turbocharger, Jonny's orange dream machine makes 700bhp at 5700rpm, while nitrous oxide brings that figure beyond 800bhp.

Stripped to the bare bones, the car weighs in at 1095kg, while Milner has moved the driving position back by a full foot and helped to lower the centre of gravity by raising the wheel arches and upper suspension mounts.

Meanwhile rallycross-spec slick tyres, a flat floor and rear diffuser, and Corolla WRC-spec suspension help to keep the car stuck to the road, with Corolla WRC brakes helping to slow things down when necessary.

All in all rather a tasty proposition, we think... can we have a go, Jonny?

 

SPRINT SERIES TOYOTA CELICA GT4 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION

Engine type	Corolla WRC four-cylinder, 16-valve
Displacement (cc)	1,998
Turbocharger	Garrett GT35/42
Supercharger	Rotrex, belt-driven
Engine management	Motec
Compression ratio	9.7:1
Max. power (DIN hp @ rpm)	700 @ 5,700 at 2bar boost >800 with nitrous oxide boost
Fuel tank capacity (l)	15
Weight (kg)	1,050
Transmission	Mactrack 5-speed manual with Fensport triple-plate clutch
Suspension (front & rear)	Reiger Corolla WRC 3-way adjustable dampers,
Brakes	Front 343mm and rear 295mm Corolla WRC ventilated discs with Alcon callipers
Wheels	18in

[S18DMW]

That is a beast! Wonder what else it's being used for though, seems a bit extreme for just the Toyota sprint series...

[S18DMW]

Dagnut said:

I reckon RCM's Gobstopper could top that...

Be close, don't think the RCM car is as light as that, but it is a bit more powerful, I believe around the 800bhp mark + 50bhp Nitrous shot that's activated via the motec ecu to come on at certain points of the circuit! (Not sure how that works)