Legend's Supra: Big Brain Move

Legend Brandenburg’s ND Miata served him well during his track day foray, but he quickly got serious about the business of turning quick laps and decided he wanted to build his skills with a platform with more tuning potential. Mainly, he wanted more motor.

Not that the ND’s engine is anemic, but it’s not what you’d call a rocketship. He considered the E92 M3, but its ~350 horsepower at the wheels couldn’t compare to what some of the modern turbo cars could offer. After running the numbers, he concluded a 2021 GR Supra’s value, especially when considering the potential for power gains with minor bolt-ons, was unbeatable.

Fast enough to fly.

The chassis felt fun enough for the time being, too. Wisely, rather than opt for a whole catalog of suspension parts before he’d really spent much time driving it, Legend left the Supra semi-stock for the first year. Aside from adding CSG brake pads, Motul RBF fluid, and a set of SPL front control arms for more camber, he didn’t alter the car in his first twelve months of ownership. Instead, he spent his money on learning to drive it. Wise man.

First, he enrolled in a FastSideways course to hone his car control skills. Then he picked a competitive time trials category to put some fire under his ass. Without a hare to chase after, it’s very hard to push beyond what’s comfortable.

You’ve gotta get the bit between your teeth before you worry about setup-related tenths.

His approach proved effective; after just one year of fighting in the S3 class of Speed SF Challenge, he finished fourth; just barely missing out on third. Considering he’d been fighting better-prepped cars on his stock rubber, his first-year effort deserved praise. He’d learned his Supra fairly well, and now was time for the next set of performance modifications.

His goals for 2022 changed with a change in the SF Challenge ruleset that allowed him to remain is S3 with a set of RC-1s a no-brainer. Wrapped around a set of Titan 7 T-S5 Wheels, and a set of HKS lowering springs to help fit the larger wheels and tires, he continued learning his occasionally-tricky Toyota.

“I recognize that there’s still a lot I can learn about the intricacies of this car, and maybe even more that I extract from myself as a driver.”

That year’s fraught S3 battle for second place with neck-and-neck with Joe McGuigan, who just edged Legend in the last event of the year.

So, after driving his Supra essentially stock trim for two years of S3 competition, what did he learn? “It requires a very delicate right foot—and quick hands!” he said. Provided you can keep up with the corrections, the middleweight rotates far better than its weight would suggest it could.

Only this season did he make a real step into track-only territory. “I’d always designated this car as a track-oriented build, but it’s been a strong street car up until I made this year’s modifications. I’ve driven it to and from the track every event without any issues whatsoever. Again, I don’t know if there’s another new platform on the market with the same sort of versatility, tuning potential, and performance.”

To get the heavyweight Supra to handle a little more to Legend’s liking, he installed a set of MCS 2-ways, the entire range of SPL arms—all fitted with spherical bearings. It’s crisper and more compliant now. “I don’t think any other change made as big a difference. The OEM suspension felt overdamped and undersprung, but now the car rides smoother, transitions faster and more confidently, and no longer feels like it’s reluctant to cooperate.”

Keeping all four in contact with the road surface has helped build trust between car and driver.

The car’s famously nervous rear was brought under control with the help of Elite Performance. The dynamic toe change was reined in with a set of SPL rear toe links that help keep settings within a narrower window. With additional static toe-in at the rear, power-down characteristics are improved and so is driver confidence.

Even though he’s felt the temptation to indulge in some easy power modifications, Legend’s keeping the powertrain factory for the moment. “I still have a lot to learn. Plus, it will run laps in 116F heat. Maybe it pulls a little timing, but it doesn’t overheat.”

The studious approach has paid off; in a short span he’s gone from noobie to front-runner. With the fundamentals understood, now he can take his analytical aptitude to the data-side of things, and begin making the myriad minor adjustments that will put him first in class. It’s only a matter of time.

Speed SF Challenge Laguna Seca: New Surface, New Records

Ideal weather and a massive turnout of thirty competitors at the last round of the Speed SF Challenge guaranteed some action. Sure enough, we saw new records in several categories. Though some of the newfound speed was due to the recent repave, our Challenge drivers were in stellar form that weekend, and their onboards prove that.

In S1, Steve Melson and his Audi R8 broke the S1 record that had been standing for five years, set back in 2018 by Andrie Hartanto in a C6 Z06. Steve took advantage of the stellar weather and logged a 1:34.081 — a new record that any driver should be proud of—in a car that looks nearly stock. Such is the performance of the second-generation R8.

In S2, Kai Anderson reset Peter Hsu’s Chevy Corvette record by seven tenths. Anderson ran a 1:34.8 to Hsu’s 1:35.7, but not before suffering through a few frustrating sessions. By the end of the day, he cooled his jets long enough to find a gap and avoid slower cars. “My main challenge was recovering from a poor qualifying. There was a good turnout for this event which was great, but it meant the morning sessions were a little crowded, so I ended up only qualifying 7th fastest overall. I recovered to 4th fastest overall in the Challenge session, so mission accomplished, but my fastest lap didn't come until lap 5 because I kept having to abort laps due to catching traffic.

I didn't really have any specific goals for the weekend; mostly just evaluating what is still a relatively new car to me on a newly resurfaced racetrack. Overall, I was impressed with both. I think the changes to Laguna really inspire confidence to push for that optimal lap without creating a different line that requires total abuse of track limits.

The Camaro is perfect for Laguna, with prodigious power, cooling, and brakes to match. There is definitely still some laptime to come from this pair. Crossing my fingers December is dry!”

In S3, Spencer Kimball put in a serious effort to try and beat Kevin Schweigert’s S3 record of 1:36.0.

“I went into this event with some reservations knowing that my M3, with limited torque, was not at its best on Laguna’s straights. Laguna is also the one local track that I drive the least, but I made sure to try and get some practice in before the Challenge weekend. I lucked out and a friend lent me his pass for an event the weekend before, where I ran a low 1:37 after a year-long Laguna hiatus. I looked over my data and saw that a mid-35.xx would be possible, but I went into the Challenge event with the goal of breaking into the 36s. 

I knew that I had my work cut out for me as my main competition, Legend Brandenburg in his A90 Supra, benefits from ~200 more ft/lbs more than my E92 has. Luckily I was able to run a mid 1:36 during sessions 1 and 2, which put giving me a good spot for the challenge session. I studied my data to figure out where I needed to commit, and it was clear that the faster corners were where I could push harder to find somet time. I ended up running a 1:36.5 in the Challenge by carrying more speed through T5, T6, and T8, which was enough to make me the fastest in S3.”

In the end, Kimball was just 1/2s off of Schweigert’s lap, which Schweigert set in a car weighing 500 pounds less with comparable power levels. Not too shabby.

Gary Wong still has a little bit of work to do in the Supra to find the second between him and Dave Colbert’s 1:31.5 Group X record. The infamous purple Supra had its engine tweaked slightly to reduce power cuts, but heat is still an issue which Wong has to deal with. Thankfully, the team has a solution—though they won’t be able to use it until the next weekend.

“It was a fun weekend. I mainly wanted to sample the new track surface and see where I could push more than before. Because of how bad the stupid bump at T1 is, I wasn’t able to hit our sub-30 target times, although that had something to do with to traffic and some electrical gremlins. Because of some overheating issues, we had to lower the power level to complete the full lap. Thankfully, we know the issues and the solutions and we’ll come back stronger.”

Gunning for the S4 record, Nate Hackman’s put in an incredible 1:39.7, less than one-tenth off of Sean Yepez’s record, in what appears to be a very mildly modified car without any aerodynamic goodies. The primo parts are under the skin, though: his Ohlins TTX coilovers help his S2000 handle better than most. A last-minute setup change reduced some of the oversteer in the car, so Hackman could commit to the faster corners easily.

“Up until that weekend, I had only mustered high 41s at Laguna. With the repave running faster and a few changes to the car I figured I'd run a second or two faster, but tried not to overthink it with goals and just go have fun. Luckily, I was able to cook off a number of 39s with some definite room for improvement. I was still a tenth off Sean's pre-repave lap record which was a little disappointing, but I knew he'd come back and crush any record I set, and was still very happy to crack into the 39s with no aero and take home a win with an underbuilt car.”

In S5, Tony Rodriguez’s 1:45.2 record seems untouchable. Maybe we need another all-out MR2 to chase Rodriguez’s old S2000 down. In the meantime, we’ll have to tip our hats to our talented drivers taking advantage of the new pavement and pushing themselves hard enough to keep all the Speed SF Challenge competitors on their toes. When times continue to tumble like they have been, none of the Challenge competitors can coast, boast, or rest on their laurels.

Kevin Schweigert's GR86: Back to Basics

Kevin Schweigert’s fondness for the little Toyobaru products has waxed and waned over the last decade. His first, a first-generation BRZ, gave him that feeling of involvement that had him hooked. The lack of power led him to supercharging its engine and pushing power near the 400-mark, which proved to be a backloaded decision; axles and gearboxes needed replacing soon afterwards.

Tired of dealing with the temperamental blown BRZ, he traded it for a stouter A90 Supra that could happily handle 500 pound-feet. However, the Supra’s heft, increased running costs, and softer edges didn’t excite him quite like the little BRZ once did. In fact, he even considered hanging up his helmet.

Despite big power and impressive lap times, the softer Supra didn’t excite him like his BRZ did.

Thankfully, he didn’t have to do that. After getting a shot at testing his friend’s GR86 last winter, he sold his Supra and sprung for another normally-aspirated, lightweight, visceral, and raw machine. This time, another .4 liters will have to do; Kevin’s done with boosting an FA motor.

Without the former cars’ power, the new GR cannot hope to compete on longer tracks, but its combination of a larger motor and low weight is keeping Kevin quite busy. Significant torque increases and similar gains at the top end mean it’s happy to dance around in third gear in a way that the previous BRZ pre-blower never could.

Though power adders aren’t a priority right now, he’s planned out a few bolt-ons to get the FA24 making something closer to 250 horsepower at the rear wheels. A few duels with a lightly tuned AP2 S2000 has proven that it’s not lacking any straightline speed—and that’s with just a Counterspace Garage Spec Touring exhaust bolted on. This was done mainly for the fact that he couldn’t live with the digitized noise piped into the cabin. “It just wasn’t right,” he said.

He’s made good use of his connections at Counterspace Garage to get his latest acquisition into fighting shape—not that it needed much help. His list of modifications is fairly short, but the effect is obvious. “I wanted more stability and sharpness via the coilovers,” he stated. Thankfully, the ones used didn’t cost him much—they were once the coilovers he ran on his GR. “I had them revalved for 2kg less spring rate since this car is driven to the track,” he added. These CSG Spec Tein SRC V3 (7kg F 8kg R) aren’t the only hand-me-downs—he’s also got an OEM 2013 rear sway bar. Two hand-me-downs and he had all the pointiness he was after.

Stopping also needed some work. For Kevin, the CSG Spec C1/C11 pads don’t fade, last forever, and offer great modulation. Of course, a wider set of shoes helps there, too. His car wears a set of tasteful 17x9.5” Volk TE37 TA +44, including a 10mm front spacer, shod in 255/40/17 Maxxis RC-1 R2.

At this early stage in its development, he’s been able to go sub-two at Buttonwillow CW13 without wings or slicks, and from the onboard footage, it’s not hard to see why. Assuming the angles are kept reasonably shallow, the car can be shimmied in on the brakes and wiggled through the middle of the corner—several times if necessary—to get through the corner quickly and stylishly. The straightline speed isn’t anywhere near as great as his Supra’s, which also likes to dance around in this fashion, but the GR’s low weight, moderate power, and greater communication makes it a more involving drive.

“It’s pretty much telepathic,” Kevin adds.

It’s got the right sort of rack as well as all the sensory inputs needed to keep an aggressive driver completely engaged and satisfied—straightline speeds be damned. An audible beep every time he nears redline, plus a rife bolt-like throw of the gear lever help the 2.4-liter motor stay in its ideal range. Again, this engine’s not a top-end screamer, but the added displacement means the ratios don’t need to be shuffled through so frequently, and that rear end will move around just a little more with some third-gear stabs of the throttle.

That willingness to rotate, plus some mild engine tuning and a few aerodynamic additions might make this GR a contender for the S4 title. Will Kevin take the crown? It’s hard to say, but it’s definitely in the realm of possibility. What’s certain is that he’s rediscovered his love for tracking—and that’s what matters.

Showdown at Sonoma: Battle Between the Fastest Stateside A90 Supras

They’d known each other from the forums and hours on the phone, but they hadn’t met in person. For the last few years, both Jackie Ding and Will Kwok have developing some of the fastest A90 Supras in the country, and only recently were about to partake in some friendly competition.

Jackie’s PhD Racing Supra, now famous online thanks to his growing YouTube channel, caught the attention of Will in 2019. “Will quickly became a huge supporter of PhD Racing Lab and is now our biggest customer. He’s always a great guy to talk to, so he was one of the first people I told I was coming out to the West Coast. Naturally, we started talking about a little battle when I was there,” Jackie told us.

It was Gary Wong, Will’s hired hotshoe, who supplied Jackie with Speed SF’s schedule. Jackie picked the dates that interested him, and the two decided to have themselves a duel. If Jackie couldn’t finish more than a half second ahead of Gary at Gary’s home track, he’d have to buy dinner.

Footwork

Since Will got most of his pointers from Jackie, perhaps first real time attack driver to develop the A90 Supra in the U.S., the parts used on the two cars aren’t that different. Both share most of the SPL catalog available for the A90, including the SPL front lower control arms, SPL adjustable front caster rods, SPL rear toe links and eccentric lockouts, SPL bumpsteer correction kit, SPL rear traction links, SPL rear upper lateral links, and SPL front swaybar endlinks. There are a few notable differences, though; Jackie’s car sports the Reinharte two-ways coilovers while Will’s is on MCS three-ways.

Powerplants

Supras have a certain reputation to live up to, and both these cars do that with over 1,200 combined horsepower. Jackie’s B58 is improved with VP MS109 direct injection and a Garrett GTX3076R Gen 2 as part of the AMS Alpha 6 turbo kit. The total output: somewhere in the 650-horsepower range.

Will has explored a little more of his motor’s potential. His sports the Pure800 turbo, flex fuel, and port injection,—enough for 700 horsepower at the real wheels, depending on power map. The power outputs are similar, but Jackie has to leave a little on the table as his gearbox hasn’t been built, unlike Will’s.

Though slightly heavier, Will’s car is a little faster on the straights due to a stronger gearbox and another fifty horsepower.

For both Sonoma and Laguna, both cars sported the same tires: 275/40/18 CSR. However, the grip levels provided varied due to weight and aerodynamics. Jackie’s car-driver combination is somewhere around 150-200 pounds lighter than Gary and the purple car, and the configuration of wings and splitters are different enough to provide very different characters. While Will’s car has the Spage V1 front splitter, Jackie’s has the V2. Both running the Spage SP012 68” swan neck GT wing, but Jackie’s wing is mounted slightly lower for a less understeery setup.

Similar setups, similar parts—that would be the case since Will has relied on Jackie for tuning advice. However, their design ethos differ somewhat. Jackie’s car is much more suited to the high-speed stuff, while the purple car is more compliant, more squishy, and better suited to the slower tracks on the West Coast.

Subtle Differences OVER one Lap

For the first half of Sonoma, Gary held the edge. The bumps in Turn 1 were tough, but when it came to hard braking and high-speed direction changes, as in Turns 7 and the 8/8A esses, Jackie and his slightly pointer car pushed ahead. Turn 10 obviously favored the aero grip of the red car, but it wouldn’t be fair to say it was as simple as turning the wheel and matting it. As we can see in the footage below at 8:53, a little braking too late and adding a little too much throttle after the speed change prior to Turn 10 caused a moment which might’ve given Jackie a little heart palpitation. Without a doubt, Sonoma is a driver’s track that Jackie had to learn in a hurry.

“Their car handled the bumps better, so in sector 1 at Sonoma, Gary definitely had an edge on us. Our car, being more stiffly sprung and heavy on compression, is a really high-speed focused aero car. While we lost a little in Sector 1, we gained that back in Sector 3’s high-speed esses,” Jackie elaborated.

“I was surprised with the braking performances. We were both running the same CSG pads, but I think I had more confidence in my brakes, even though I’ve only got a Stoptech Trophys on the front axle. Will’s car has APs 9660s front and rear. I think the big reason for that was our more advanced front splitter; having that extra downforce gives us extra front grip under braking,” he added.

At the end of the day, the main difference was in downforce. Both cars produce comparable grunt and share the same footprint, but subtle changes in aero balance and perhaps a slightly svelter shape gave Jackie a slight edge around Sonoma, though it’s only fair to mention he’s been developing this car longer and driving it a lot more. Still, nobody felt shortchanged at the end of that glorious day. Sonoma’s not the easiest of tracks, and it definitely doesn’t suffer fools, and to put that much power to the road through moderately sized tires and not crash is an accomplishment in itself. Dinner looks cheap after the cost of a smashed carbon clamshell.