I have an irrational desire to build a mid-engine square body like that. But I lack the fabrication skills or the money to pay someone else to do it.
The competition might be called the Tire Rack Ultimate Track Car Challenge, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t open to seeing the ultimate track truck, especially if it’ as slick as Jimmy Bullard’s 550-horsepower 1975 Chevrolet C10. Despite being an “aerodynamic brick,” Bullard says the C10’s greatest strength is its handling.
What is the Tire Rack Ultimate Track Car Challenge? It’s our annual no-holds-barred track competition where the only rules are that car and driver must pass a NASA safety inspection.
Here’s a closer look at this week’s selections:
Besides the fully built LS engine, Jimmy Bullard’s C10–which was built in only 12 weeks–also features a tube chassis and custom-fabricated suspension. Total weight comes in at a hair over 3000 lbs.
For Stuart Burgh, tracking a 1997 Porsche Boxster wasn’t enough. Naturally, he replaced the factory flat-six with an Audi V8. Two sizable Borg Warner turbochargers followed plus a healthy diet of E85, resulting in a powerplant good for 800 horsepower and 760 lb.-ft. of torque. And did we mention Burgh did all this without any sponsors?
Sure, many of our entries often hail from the world of time attack, but Michael Phillips’s 2012 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 can normally be found in Trans Am’s SuperGT class. Under the hood of of this Z06 is an “untouched” LS3 crate motor from GM Performance.
View these cars, along with the rest of the field, on the UTCC website.
The Tire Rack Ultimate Track Car Challenge is presented by Tire Rack in association with Wilwood Engineering, HP Tuners, SPA Technique, KW Suspensions, XClutch and FCP Euro, with trophies from BimmerWorld, Mantic Clutch, Falken Tire, Hoosier Tire and Mach V Motorsports.
I have an irrational desire to build a mid-engine square body like that. But I lack the fabrication skills or the money to pay someone else to do it.
Holy hell. Five minutes ago I had zero interest in Boxsters. I'm gonna need to see a lot more of that one.
Hold up, whats the word on Boxsters and Audi v8 swaps? Which Audi v8?
In reply to yupididit :
Apparently any Audi V8 will bolt to the Boxster transmission.
YouTube Homebuilt by Jeff is building one and goes into some details (His is an AUS market car but US have S8s and Q7s with V8s)
nocones said:In reply to yupididit :
Apparently any Audi V8 will bolt to the Boxster transmission.
YouTube Homebuilt by Jeff is building one and goes into some details (His is an AUS market car but US have S8s and Q7s with V8s)
I think it has to be one of the 4.2s, I read somewhere that the newer turbo 4.0s have a different bellhousing pattern. (those motors are not really GRM-level pricing yet anyway)
The last time I checked (a year or two ago) there was not a lot of information out there about how to make the V8-into-boxster swap work. A couple people had done it, but they did not seem to want to share the knowledge.
In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :
I can tell you whatever you want to know. The short story is the trans does bolt right up but the engine on the Boxster is supported from the front unlike the Audi which has conventional side engine mounts so a cradle has to be made. It's not a ton of fab and there's lots kits out there. The Boxster is a fantastic platform and a real bargain. I cut most of the steel off of the rear of the car with this build but an Audi V8 will sit in the engine bay of a stock Boxster.
Box4VIR said:In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :
I can tell you whatever you want to know. The short story is the trans does bolt right up but the engine on the Boxster is supported from the front unlike the Audi which has conventional side engine mounts so a cradle has to be made. It's not a ton of fab and there's lots kits out there. The Boxster is a fantastic platform and a real bargain. I cut most of the steel off of the rear of the car with this build but an Audi V8 will sit in the engine bay of a stock Boxster.
I had read that the fitting the intake required some cutting (or at least pounding with a hammer) to make clearance, but maybe that's for a stock intake?
Rather than the mechanical bits, the info that seemed the most lacking was how to get the various electronics to work and be happy with each other. Are you using a stock ECU or an aftermarket one? A race car is probably an easier problem to solve in this regard than a street car.
Your car looks like a lot of fun to drive though! :)
In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :
The electronics portion is similar to other 90s engine swaps, there's quite a few wires to cross reference from Audi to Porsche and connect together but all the hard has been done for you it's really just following directions. This car though has a VEMs standalone ECU with a wiring harness from EFI Express so I did very little wiring. I had to go stand-alone to run electronic boost control, flex fuel and have full control over the fuel maps.
I was sold as soon as I saw the top dump exhaust. I can see it crackling on the over runs spitting fire out them pipes. Just so cool!!!
dean1484 said:I was sold as soon as I saw the top dump exhaust. I can see it crackling on the over runs spitting fire out them pipes. Just so cool!!!
Thanks! The top dump exhaust is aimed just below the wing blade go to "charge" the wing (or create a blown wing). Whatever lingo you go by. It's a fiberglass wing so hopefully it's not shooting enough fire to catch the wing on fire.
Displaying 1-10 of 12 commentsView all comments on the GRM forums
You'll need to log in to post.
