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...

[ChezzaV8]

I thought Dan Collins in the Lotus 88 was quickest?

[Fetchez la vache]

I thought the general comments were that it didn't look that fast? Obviously was...

[tonym911]

Didn't this one crash, or am I getting mixed up? I fell over last week, so I might be.

[OdramaSwimLaden]

ChezzaV8 said:

I thought Dan Collins in the Lotus 88 was quickest?

It was.

[jaketurner]

This had the fastest time of the weekend, but not in the Sunday shootout...

To my knowledge it only runs in the Sprint Series, Adrian Smith runs his Celica GT4X with 700-odd bhp too (which incidentally was 4th in the shootout).

Jake

[TonyHetherington]

A "teensy" bit Halfords?!

[AlexMRA]

OdramaSwimLaden said:

It was.

It wasn't.

Johnny had the fastest time of the weekend, but Dan Collins won the shootout.

http://tsl-timing.com/barc/2011/112622.pdf
http://www.goodwood.co.uk/festival-of-speed/2011-t...

The colour is ‘Lexus Nürburgring Orange’ in celebration of the Celica’s 40th anniversary (certainly not my personal choice ).

[Dagnut]

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

[Tracked_Out]

Also doubles as a lawnmower from the look of it!

[Cyder]

I was there in '99 when Nick Heidfeld took a Mclaren up the hill in 41 seconds. Now that was impressive!

Such a shame they don't let the F1 boys do timed runs anymore, but I can understand the reason.

[TonyHetherington]

Cyder - that's still the fastest run, isn't it?

[snowy slopes]

TonyHetherington said:

Cyder - that's still the fastest run, isn't it?

Yep

[EcosseBMW]

In the King of the Hill it was only second due to Johnny running wide on grass and the car in front was a historic Lotus 88B F1 car...Epic driving

[Cyder]

snowy slopes said:

TonyHetherington said:

Cyder - that's still the fastest run, isn't it?

Yep

Unnofficially I think Kimi Raikkonen beat the record and went under 40 seconds in 2006(?)

[Wadeski]

how fast was the lotus?

[big_rob_sydney]

I would love to see this in Time Attack.

[chevronb37]

There was talk at the time that Allan McNish set a faster time in his Toyota GP car a few years ago, but it was untimed. Certainly looked heroic from where I was sitting. Heidfeld's run was astounding though, gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. The entire crowd offered a standing ovation.

Those first couple of years with Brundle/Watson/Palmer/Surer et al going for timed runs were magic. The excitement of hearing Palmer take off in the FW08B and waiting for him to appear out of Crossroads on the lockstops...amazing.

Must say, though, that Justin Law's recent efforts in the XJR9LM have been no less remarkable. 44secs in a Group C car is super-impressive and his commitment at the top of the hill scraping the bales with dust flying from the venturis was other-worldly.

[steve_n]

If my calculations are correct that's just shy of 120mph average!

[Alfie Noakes]

[quote]Compression ratio 9.7:1
Max. power (DIN hp @ rpm) 700 @ 5,700 at 2bar boost
>800 with nitrous oxide boost

[/quote]

700BHP is very high bearing in mind the other figures. It would be nice to know if the boost figure is gauge or absolute.