SPR's next major event is the 6-day Dunlop Targa tarmac rally scheduled for 22 - 28 October 2007, so we decided to use the off-season for a few performance upgrades. These included...

• Front Brakes
  Our Almac Sabre was originally fitted standard 265mm x 25mm Jaguar XJ6 front discs. These have now being replaced with 334mm x 35mm Znoelli two-piece competition discs with matching aluminium centre hats. Two-piece disc rotors have several advantages over conventional single piece cast iron designs, including weight savings, more latitude for component expansion under hi-temperatures, and cost of replacement - only the actual discs, not the hats, need to be replaced when worn.
• Engine upgrade
  Our 1UZ Toyota V8 was overdue for a rebuild, so we used the opportunity to upgrade the engine specs to gain some extra horsepower. This included flowing the heads, increasing the compression, and fitting new 8 throttle body intake manifolds supplied by A1 Turbos in Auckland. Damian from A1 Turbos did all of the work, including start-up after the rebuild, plus setup and initial tuning. The car was then taken to Hi Velocity (Dyno Tuning / Performance) in Glenfield, where, after further fine-tuning, Gavin recorded a reading of 195.3kW at the wheels.
• Body Modifications
  The new 8 throttle bodies required a new air intake system, so RaceFX constructed an alloy cold air box with integrated air filter. A wide alloy lip was added to the sides of the airbox, and a rubber seal was glued to the underside of the bonnet. The rubber seal presses against the alloy lip, hence sealing the airbox off from the hot air in the engine compartment. The rear-facing power bulge / vent (from GT Race Panels in Henderson) supplies cold air from the base of the windscreen - a natural low-pressure zone.

The following images record the modifications described above. Click on each thumbnail below to view a larger image.