The Dodge Demon seems to be one car that has motor enthusiasts completely divided. Any of us that have access to the Internet and a love for cars have probably seen the debates, the memes, and the sarcasm. We have people on one side who pass off the Demons track times as a marketing ploy, comparing it to their own vehicles. On the other we have people who are awe-struck by the performance of this vehicle. However, the specifics and the science behind this beautiful machine speak volumes in and of themselves.

The Dodge Demon is the first stock, street legal drag car. The price tag and the sleek exterior gives the Demon the luxurious look and feel that high end vehicle collectors jump at. The first thing that most would notice is the wide body, the demon is 3.5 inches wider than a standard challenger, and with a back end like that, its bound to catch the eye of many. Beyond that, the wheels are a sight in themselves, an impressive 8 by 11-inch wheel with Nitto NT05R tires measuring an astounding 315/40R18. These drag radials are Demon branded and designed specifically to work with the car. The Demon is also equipped with a trans brake, which has never been done in a factory street car before now. Dodge claims that the Demon has a 9.6 second quarter mile time, and can get from 0-30kmp/h in one second flat. This can be attributed to the 6.2-liter HEMI Demon V8 engine, 770 pound-feet of torque, 840 horsepower and 1.8G (which sits pretty at the highest level of G-force for a production car). Somehow, even with all of this power behind it, this beast is still street legal.

Another thing that continues on with the luxurious feel of the vehicle is the option of purchasing the crate. The crate includes an array of tools and parts. Dodge has gone all out with this additional feature, providing consumers with high quality tools from Snap-On. These include, a hydraulic floor jack with carrying bag, a cordless impact wrench with charger, a torque wrench, a tire-pressure gauge, a fender cover, a tool bag and a foam case that fits into the trunk and securely holds the front runners. The parts that are included in the crate are intended so that owners are able to interchange their standard daily parts with their performace parts to secure the best possible track times, these include: a performance powertrain control module with high-octane engine calibration, replacement switch module with high-octane button, conical performance air filter, passenger mirror block-off plate and front-runner drag wheels. This one small box is truly a game changer in both quality and performance enhancing.

In a day and age where motor companies are striving to release cars that are; fuel economic, safe and with enough power to get from a to b efficiently- the Demon is Dodge’s all out attempt to release the fastest production drag car to date. This isn’t a car that is being marketed to families, or to people who are comfortable with driving a Swift. This car is marketed for those of us who have a craving for pure power and speed. Sure, it’s absolutely stunning to look at, but the power behind it is what is being called into question.

Many are claiming that their modified supras and skylines could outrun the Demon. However, there are flaws in that argument. Firstly, the Demon isn’t a modified vehicle; it is pulling 9.6 seconds to the quarter mile fresh off the production line. If the diff and transmission were upgraded in the demon, and worked on the intake, heads and cam it could probably pull low 8-/high 7-second quarter mile times, but that’s neither here nor there. Plus, these cars are likely pulling 13-second quarter mile times; maybe knock off a second or two in perfect conditions. Secondly, the tens of thousands that are being poured into these cars that could potentially be a couple of years younger than the driver and more than likely no longer street legal as a result, almost nullifies the argument completely. You’d be hard off to find a heavily modified supra or skyline that not only fits the criteria of an entirely street legal vehicle (whether that be too low, too loud, illegal tires and the like), but can also drive straight from the suburbs to the track and perform as well as the Demon, exactly as it is.

Now, there’s no doubt that these modified cars have the power behind them. Pair that with an experienced driver and great conditions, and the track times will be awesome. However, the vehicles themselves are worlds apart and that’s just the fact of it. Its like comparing apples to oranges; sure they’re both sweet, they’re both good for you, they both satisfy your hunger, but they’re entirely different things. The Demon is a luxury vehicle, and every part of it is curated to perfection, from stock, to perform at the speed that it does. There’s no arguing that car fanatics around the globe are proud of their builds, and they have every right to be, they have every right to strive for success and improve their performance with every new additional feature, but that’s exactly what Dodge has done as a brand. They strived to create the fastest production street legal drag car, and they succeeded.

So instead of one car tearing our community in two, embrace it, and embrace your builds because while the Dodge Demon is sitting at the top right now, there will always be faster cars in the future, there will always be new engines, and revolutionary engineering. And who knows, it could be any one of us that discovers it.

So a bit of works been going on in the background since she arrived. It was surprisingly light work to roll her into her temporary cave.

First things first, we needed to check her as she stands.

A quick test patch of cutting, wet sanding and buffing showed that the ”matte” black paint work was as cheap as I feared. The paint is actually black underneath, but Stripping the top layer off and trying to restore the original base pearl black is going to be firefighting to say the least. Step one was a wash followed up with wet 1200grit sand.

It’s safe to say that the paint is somewhat unrecoverable or at least what the insurance companies would call an ”uneconomical repair”.

This process was repeated over a period of 9 hours. Sanding, polishing and repeating. I didn’t want to go to the extent of measuring the paint depth, naturally it would be difficult to ascertain where good stopped and bad ended. But if cutting the bad paint down to produce wrap-ready was possible, it could offer a lot of options further down the track.

This process was repeated. For 8. Long. Hours. Wet Sand with 800 grit, delicately to avoid destroying the original paint, Dry, Cut (actually used the cheapest Turtle Wax cutting compound I could find for this)Although, you can see the difference between the old and new paint in the panel where the shine dulls off. The ‘new’ paint is extremely thin, and didn’t stand up at all to any polishing or wet sanding and virtually washed away with mild efforts. All in all, a good excuse for a complete colour change, which is no bad thing, but more on that soon.

The first job to get it back to it’s iconic Supra-esque looks, the massive wing, borrowed from a 747 parked up at the nearest airport. Whether it will stay, I’m unsure, but for now it feels good to have this beaten supra looking somewhat more iconic.

Note the boot full of intercooler piping and plastic hosing.
It’s starting to look more at home already, but that 90’s TV style areal that you can see in the bottom of the photo has to go! But that’s the least of our worries yet…

Time to get messy.

The head had already been partially stripped. rocker covers removed. This is the point where I’d usually be keen to highlight the the importance of noting, taping, containing each bolt and pipe; but the more I look the more it becomes apparent that this will be a full ground-up rebuild.

The unidentified tapping that the seller spoke of is almost without doubt, a bottom end bearing. That’s New bolts, new Gaskets, new components new everything! The head and block will stay, perhaps. But not much else.

You can see the manifold/turbo and associated piping setup above, the key to the Supra’s Power. On pulling the turbos, they were in surprisingly good condition. It’s anyone’s guess just how many kms the heart has, against the measly 97,000kms on the clock. Nothing strikes me as particularly aged at this point. In the air she goes, and an hour of unbolting brackets, piping and mountings.

The turbos were particularly ground in, which suggests a bit of use. All that heat cycling tightens things up nicely and the angle around the turbo and manifolds is far from generous. Time to try out the crane for size. I should have waited until the car was in the workshop but that was two weeks away and I’m not known for patience! The crane hits my ceiling, lifting up the tiles – it’s going to be tight, but as you do, we’ll take a deep breath, go slow and hopefully not make a mess!

Some double angle spanner work and use of a few long reach sockets and breaker bar and the Turbo assembly lifts out. Shaft play (hehe) is minimal so these can be sold on. The more that can be salvaged from the car as it stands, effectively, the more the budget! If we can get the outlay of the car down to $2k, I will be chuffed.

Radiator, Air con radiator and compressor are out. Call me insane – but I’m not planning to refit the air conditioning and will fit a shorter serpentine belt. Less weight, less engine draw, every little counts.

Next to the front section of the exhaust, a vision of the weight savings is starting to come together.

I won’t guide you through step by step of the engine removal, but after a day of unbolting the prop, gearbox mounting, engine mounts, air conditioning piping, front silencer, exhaust at the down section, manifolds/turbos as above, radiators, disconnecting the heater matrix at the bulkhead, the wiring loom, coolant piping and any other engine accessory that was connected to the vehicle, the engine was ready to lift. As a one man job, with a lift it wasn’t bad until the crane could lift no higher due to the subby garage.

When you can’t go up, you go down! Car jacked up, axle stands shortened, and the car just met the front crash bar. A bit of brute deadlifting and the engine was over the bar, and my ego as big as Arnie’s.

 I finally wheel the crane back and marvel at the 2jz suspended in front of me!

A weighty thing it is, the car stretching an extra inch into the air in a similar way that I do after a day at the desk. Time to line up the engine to a stand, and get ready for heart surgery. A Biopsy, to find out just what killed this beauty which would usually be renowned for it’s durability.

A few bolts later and she’s secure. The 5 speed N/A box clunks convincingly and she appears to be in good mechanical condition which means another $1000 in the kitty potentially. These gearboxes are a common addition to older Holden Toranas, Toyota Soarer V8’s and in the case of people not chasing big power – N/A and mild TT Supras. That would potentially drag the cost of the car down to around the $2500 mark. Not bad.

The end to a couple of long, long days, but the sense of achievement is always great when you hit a milestone!

The next few days will involve a strip down, inspection and assessment as to what the damage is, what will be replaced, what will be rebuilt and how things will turn out!

The hard work is just beginning. Those words fill me with as much fear as they do excitement! Bring it on.

Thumbing through the local free-ads and after calling in some favours, a flat-bed was on the way out to a gent offloading a ’94 Supra which had been treated to a 2JZ-GTE, or for the un-initiated, Turbo Conversion. Featuring the N/A’s 5 speed manual box, but transplanted with a 2JZ TT, the car was an interesting miss-mash of mechanical patchwork, with some interesting additions. Most notable of which was the rattle can job of a matte black paintjob, ‘TRD’ badged 17″ Rims, unbranded FMIC, typical standard issue aftermarket cannon exhaust that you’d find on a supra and more treasures that would be discovered later.

It had obviously been someone’s pride and joy once upon a time, having been pampered albeit on an evident budget. The same budgets coupled with what seems to have been a dose of experimentation has meant that it’s wound up looking worse for wear, and with a spun bottom-end bearing. It won’t be going anywhere soon. The owner shows me a video where I must admit, the 52″ muffler had the typical Turbo Growl which was enough to get me excited.

On the inside, a Toyota Celica steering wheel sits proud and lonely behind the supras wrap around cowl, in this otherwise standard looking interior; there is a nice gear knob that said. The leather seats are in good condition, as is the rest of the upholstery.

Still, $4,000 down and it was being piggy backed to its temporary home. I feel a more keen deal could have been done, but she had potential.

A friends puts me in touch with a reliable tow truck and before I know it, our journey has begun;
I hope you enjoy the ride as much as I’m sure I will!

The gold shines through

Enroute:

Nested in her temporary home..

What better era to pick a selection for an affordable performance machine than the nineties. The nineties is renowned these days for producing a variety of increasingly potent vehicles where performance came on in leaps and bounds, some of which have faded to the dark; and others rising to a somewhat iconic status with a cult following. As an era, it was very much the bridge between technologies of yesteryear and the machines we see today, but there remain some vehicles that still contend with today’s crop of ultra-hatches and cruisey coupes.

Fade back to 1992 and you’ll find Jap muscle which in their day were akin to early versions of what the GTR is to motoring today. Namely; lower cost Japanese cars which with some engineering and a couple of turbos thrown into the mix, can give supercars costing 5 fold the price a run for their money. This example was collected for around 5,000 pounds, or, close to $10,000 AUD which was representative of the average condition

I know, I know, the fist thing that has sprung into your mind is THAT scene from the fast and the furious, roaring after an F355 but there’s valid reason to that. At a time where the crown of performance was the haloed McLaren F1, with the F1 LM claiming an official 0-100kph time of 3.9 seconds, for the most minuscule fraction of the cost, the Supra Twin turbo (manual) did the sprint in .5 seconds slower. I’m not for a second comparing the two, don’t worry I haven’t been sipping the silly juice, but 90’s Jap turbo’s do start to make a case for themselves.

When you click the fob and open the door of the supra, it’s remarkably, well.. Toyota. That isn’t a bad thing, but it means that you don’t get the satisfying clunks synonymous with german build quality. What you do get, in the GZ we have before us, is a surprising blend of rigidity, comfort and outright performance. The chairs, fully electric on the driver’s side suffer the usual bolster wear and feel more vinyl than leather, but do grab and hug you in the right places and take on a simplistic, cocoon-like form. The UK spec Supras featured faster spooling, stronger  steel turbo internals and larger brakes, all of which are common hotspot components for mods. Heated backs are another nice touch that you’d be more familiar with in the 7 series’ of the era. And although the interior and switchgear is very 90’s in feel, the wrap around dash makes you feel that you’re in a car way above its pay grade. Everything cowls towards the driver, perhaps suggestive of the intent behind the supra. Everything is in reach and truth be told, quite ergonomic to interact with. The dash fascia is known to wear on the surface with usage, particularly around the switchgear which isn’t easily repainted due to the plastic-rubber like coating that first needs to be stripped back.

The UK and higher end J-spec models come with a self lowering front splitter which over 60mph lowers, noticeably hunkering the front end down, and across the board there were options from Limited Slip Differentials, auto-folding mirrors, headed electrics, CD changers, the list goes on. Finding an un-molested example is a task in this day and age, with genuine import docs being long misplaced on the most part, but on the good side, they are a modifier’s dream with a Basic Performance Upgrade, or BPU resulting in around 400bhp for very little outlay (extending to a free-flowing, cat-less exhaust, colder spark plugs, boost controller and front mount intercooler). The 6 speed manual, although agricultural, is the pick to go for, but expect to pay for it. That’s not to take anything away from the Autobox which features a ‘manu’ mode allowing for surprisingly responsive manual control of the 4-speed auto box – and kickdown is a hell of a thing!)

On the move, aided by the huge rear wing and deployable front splitter; the supra has oodles of grip for a car of its size and weight. Push too hard and you can make the rear rubber squirm, and knocking the traction control off inevitably amplifies this effect. The first turbo brings a low rev clout that few cars match in day to day life, and the second kicks you in the kidneys to propel you towards the limited 155mph top end. The Supra is every bit a supercar in the same resepct that the GTR is today.

There’s a reason why the 2JZ is loved, with the first turbo kicking in as low as 1800 rpm producing 410nm of torque, and the second kicking in sequentially at around 4,000 rpm, the usable range is spectacularly versatile. My fondest memory of an 18 year old in a Supra, is perhaps the very thing about them that gets you into trouble. A Ferrari 360 tearing down the freeway scooping other commuters out of its path. On overtaking me, a split second of teenage testosterone mixed with a bootfull of kickdown meant that a few seconds later the overtaking Ferrari was pulled back in check, and slowly pulled away from by my mildly fettled Toyota. Childish? Probably. Enjoyable? Absolutely!

For sheer bang for buck pleasures, the Supra seems the perfect place to kick off the Performance Bargain Chronicles. With well used examples here in Australia $12,000, that puts them below the cost of a modern Golf GTI. Whilst a couple of turbos, rwd, and 90’s charm may not be for all, I feel that every petrolhead should have some sort of seat time behind a 2JZ! In fact, so infectious is this effect, that the Full-Chat project build will be based on one. But more about that another time!

Pros:

• Prices can be low
• Some models very well specced
• Solid, Non-interference engine
• Power easy to free up for little outlay
• Futuristic looks turn heads and have aged gracefully

Cons:

• Interiors can be tired
• Hard to find an example with solid history
• Age means turbo components could be coming up for replacement
• ‘Boy Racer’ styling isn’t for all