Celica E85: Cornfed: Closes in on 270km/h
Mason Ryan’s 1977 RA23 Toyota Celica is not a standard car.
Mason’s current 1JZ is actually the latest turbocharged engine that he has developed and built over the past eight years of owning the Celica.
It has been developed to the point that it is now a Racewars competitor.
Mason recalls that the car had a 1G GTE 2.0 litre twin turbo six when he first purchased it. When I was an apprentice, it was my daily driver. One afternoon, I crashed the car at a set lights and decided to upgrade to the 1JZ GTE.
Mason’s goal was to make the car fast. He still needed it to get to his job, but he also wanted to drive it quickly.
The 250hp that the 1JZ produced was not enough. The Celica was fitted with a large single turbo kit, 2JZ injectors, a Haltech ECU and some 2JZ injections. It produced 330hp at 15psi. Mason recalls with a grimace that the large GT35-style Turbo with a huge rear housing was too laggard and left a gap in the heart after the novelty of the strong pull wore off. It was a drag to drive, but funds would not allow an upgrade for a few more years.
Chapter Two
Responsible Power
The Garrett GTX3076R turbocharger was chosen for its power and response. The new turbo setup transformed the car into an entirely different beast.
Mason also installed a Teflon lined fuel system, with a Walbro pump running at 460lph, retrofitted into the factory tank, to run E85 fuel. He also added some 2,200cc injections to future proof the build. Tristan from WTFauto is the mad scientist who created the laptop that I used to unleash the power the 1JZ was capable of with minimal mods. It made 404whp, but the MAP sensor limits limited it to 20psi. Personal, I was glad that it happened because the car was savage.”
Mason had not forgotten the rest of the specification. The coilovers, based on the front struts of the car, were made from a sleeve set and mounted with adjustable top mounts.
Mason was able to build a large brake upgrade thanks to the expertise of another Celica driver in Perth, Western Australia. The package includes 336mm GM Holden HSV rotors that were machined to fit the hubs using custom brackets and Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX Brembo brake callipers inside staggered 17×7-inch RAYS Volk Racing GT-Ps.
Chapter Three
Racewars Calling
With great power, comes great responsibility. That responsibility is to participate in Racewars. Mason grins, “That was Tash’s (my partner) idea.” She knew that I had wanted to compete before, but was not in a position where I could. Racewars is the only place where I can really push my Celica. “Being invited to join the WTFauto team was the cherry on top for me.
Mason was forced to follow the Racewars motto and “step up his game.” I needed more power and improved tyres. Karel, my good friend, installed a pair of Kelford Cams and a 4-bar MAP Sensor to increase the power ceiling. Tristan got it back to the dyno right before Christmas. “It’s still putting out 520-530rwhp with 26psi and a 1JZ stock bottom end.”
We also installed a screamer-pipe so that I could hear my car better. This greatly improved my ability to change gears, and avoided any over-revving, or boost creep, issues. Being on the edge, the 44mm wastegate’s capabilities.
On the day itself, everything went according to plan. Mason says that all of his passes, except for one, were consistent. Due to the nature my build, it gives you an extremely raw driving experience. To me, that’s why it is so special. The car is a 10-second manual street license engineered vehicle. No power steering, no traction control, no traction chute, and no cages. “You and 530hp are all you need to have fun.”
It must be terrifying to drive a car 40 years old at speeds over 260km/h (164mph).
The first 400 metres were violent. Cornfed accelerates hard to 200km/h, then settles into fifth. “My first 800-metre pass was the most thrilling driving experience of all my life. It was the first time that I had the Celica doing full throttle at 255km/h, and out-running an R35 GT-R.”
“My best run was a 261km/h on the rolling 800 metres. The car was at its most stable, but I had to pedal a little in fifth. The vibration was the only problem we had. At some point, the shifter bolts rattled loose and I lost a little gearbox oil. After a little teamwork, the mess was cleaned and the shifter resecured. It was sealed with some Loctite. “We had no other problems, which is to me a testament to Tristan’s build and tune.”
Chapter Four
Exit Stage Left
“Cornfed performed very well, and I am proud of its performance. We headed back to the strip the Wednesday following Racewars and ran the car’s first 10-second run — 10.83 seconds at 217km/hr [135mph] and a 60-foot time of 1.61 seconds. This resulted in us being told to ‘exit left’, as the car was not equipped with the safety equipment needed to run 10-second times. We were invited to the Outlaw Radial 1-/8th-mile races where I set a new personal record of 6.83 seconds at 170km/h (106mph). There’s definitely potential for the car to do a pass in under 10 seconds.”
“I was surprised to see how Cornfed quickly became a favorite at Racewars. Not only among the crowd, but also with media crews. The whole weekend was electric and I am sure that all participants were on cloud 9 – I certainly was.”
“Racewars was to me a journey that began long before I started the road trip from Albany.” The whole experience was one I will never forget.