Article- Total Chaos: 2005 Scion tC
Source- Drag Source, PAS

Link: http://www.pasmag.com/dragsource/article.asp?ID=531

In 2003, the Scion company (division of Toyota) created a group of vehicles catering to the youthful and money-conscious buyer. Since then, the Scion brand has simply exploded into a sub-culture of sorts. The most appealing to sport compact performance enthusiasts in the line-up is the Scion tC, a coupe that is basic in design but full of classic sport compact ingredients: FWD, peppy motor, hatchback body layout, inexpensive and interesting – if controversial – styling.

All this made it the perfect car for professional drag racing, and thanks to years of involvement with Toyota and sport compact drag racing, Toyota gave its blessing to Chris Rado and the World Racing crew. From a few Supras to three 8-second, FWD, 1,000+hp Celicas and countless Toyota daily drivers, Rado and World Racing have plenty of experience in Pro drag racing and were thus the ideal choice. Early on, there was an Integra in there also, but with seven years in drag racing, that’s still a good ratio. With the Celica now out of production and Scion catering to the youth market, we tend to agree with Rado’s statement, that the Scion tC is “the new tuner car of the future.”

Although this drag demon’s shell is an exact replica (with the exception of that bulbous front end), its powerplant is unlike any other, making you wish street cars came in this form.

Fantasy aside, Rado’s new pavement buggy is still in the shake-down stages of testing and tuning meaning that no high hopes are set – as of now – although numbers do speak wonders. During its dyno testing at its secondary West Coast shop called Twins Turbo, the tC actually shut down the machine at 1,250 whp even though its potential is estimated at an unbelievable 1,400hp. Creating the power is a Toyota 3RZ-FE 2.7-liter, 4-cylinder, single turbo engine that has more custom spec parts than Optimus Prime and his crew of Transformers. Having been there and done that multiple times, Rado demanded only the best from his crew of technicians and go-fast partners in making this a sure-shot winner. So, what makes this car have the potential for endless winnings? How about countless hours of research and development consisting of endless nights of trial and error? The engine has been in development for two years, and is basically a revision of the same mill that was under the hood of the old car. Just trust us when we tell you there is nothing these speed gods won’t do to shave off a tenth of a second.

The insane four-cylinder, no-compromise motor that displaces 2.7 liters is from Toyota’s trucks (T100, 4Runner, Tacoma), hence the 3RZ-FE designation, but is far from its intended duties of towing construction equipment or hauling hay. The Reading, PA-based World Motorsports crew made sure of that. With help from LC Engineering, a specialist in building high-performance Toyota 4-cylinder motors, the monster was stuffed with JE Pistons slugs and LC Engineering connecting rods. Other internals are all addressed at LCE, and remain top secret. All that bulletproof motor needs is survive against the 55 peak psi of boost pressure generated by the Turbonetics Y2K turbocharger. This beast of a snail sports ceramic ball bearings and, in this case, a 92mm inducer, we don’t doubt the team’s power numbers, or not always running at full boost. There is no intercooler, and one isn’t required, thanks to methanol’s properties. Excess boost, meantime, is relieved thanks to a Turbonetics NewGen wastegate. World Electronics’ own touch-colour-screen TBC-1 Electronic Boost Controller handles boost levels.

A Weldon fuel pressure riser, Bosche plugs and injectors, and a Motec direct-fire timing and ignition system take care of feeding this beast the other ingredient in its high-energy diet.

Since power production is evidently not a problem, getting it to the ground is definitely the challenge. The torque flows through a custom five-speed Lenco transmission, just like the Pro RWD guys use, Rado points out, a World Racing-built adapter to transfer it back to the front wheels (space is tight) and a custom (read secret) clutch. Rado hopes this set-up will put an end to so many transmission problems that plagued him in the past. At the point the torque gets to the hubs, all hell breaks loose.

Just like his last Toyota, the 2004 NORAD Celica, the front end is a four-link custom drag suspension designed to quell the FWD platform’s tendency to hop the front wheels uncontrollably under full acceleration. The rubber in question is from Goodyear, sized at a generous 33 x 15 x 15 inches, mounted on 15- x 15-inch Bogart rims. The rear rubber comes in a 24- x 5- x 15-inch size, sitting on 15- x 5-inch wheel.

The four-link sports Penske springs and shocks, built to World Racing specs, as does the rear. The sway bars – at least what resemble sway bars – are custom World Motorsports pieces.

For stopping at the end of the quarter, Rado employed huge yet lightweight carbon-on-carbon, two-piece, 14-inch rotors squeezed by 4-piston Mark Williams callipers. The rear rotors are 10 inches in diameter, though these get the squeeze from four pistons set in custom World Motorsports callipers. Of course, to slow from the 200mph trap speeds Rado expects to hit, the brakes get help from the requisite chute.

And while this silver bullet is flying low down the track, the two parties involved making it look good for the spectators are After Hours Racing for the body work fabrication and CG’s Airworks for the airbrushed paint that covers it.

The interior of the racer resembles a jungle gym with a purpose, and Chris’ office equipment includes Tilton pedals, a MOMO steering wheels, AutoMeter Pro-Comp tach and more ***** and switches than a train operator faces.

As Rado got the car to a late start in a rocky season (they drove to Florida only to have the event cancelled due to weather) it is understandable the results are slow to come. Still, the recently-turned 30-year-old Rado keeps busy, partly as sponsor Pepsi’s spokesperson for the Car Culture & Street Motion Tour and the Scion tC drag program spokesperson.

We wish Rado the best of luck in getting the bugs worked out of his custom chariot, and hope to see him at the forefront of the field, which is where the outspoken Rado and his buoyant personality belong.

Apart from his sponsors, Rado would like to extend thanks to the entire Rado family for their ongoing support.

 

oi. it sounsd like tC's the next civic

-taek

 

Nah, people are already jumping on the Civic Si Bandwagon


GOOD !

 

the top ricers car is the civic, is and always will be....but the tC could join it, from wut ive seen in my area lately....
but none-the-less, the tC has made an impact on the import community and will continue to, as new parts arrive.
can't wait to see Rado push it harder next season!!

 

to Rado & Team
to Pepsi
Keep in mind, import race cars are composed of more than just Civics and what "scionbandit" calls "top ricers"...
Coke is the Real Deal

 

uh, wasn't commenting on the racecar....
said civic=top ricer vehicle, as in top choice for ricers
how did u relay that to racecars?

 

Not true.

 

cool....they put a lot of boost in to a tube frame sort of similar to a TC. Some guy is talking about how awesome his sponsors are.

who cares

 

Whatever results comes out of that vehicle, it really is not a TC. I prefer Kenny Tran's TC since it still uses heavily modified TC parts and not from a Tacoma or some other vehicle.

 

if you want to see some of the build you can go to www.afterhoursautomotive.com for more. Project World Racing Scion tC is updated!!! This was done at my friends shop in So. Cal.

 

Hmm I don't know.

 

World Racing is awesome!
meet these guys in atlanta, NOPI

great group of people!

 

i concur. even though World Racing is reknowned team, one, it's not a tC just has the shell of a tC and two, it's just a car for advertising. that's all.

 

IMO...I think the "tuner" cars right now are older cars and AWD's for "performance" like AE86's, early 90's Civics, 200sx/240sx's, 1g DSM's, etc.

 

awesome review

 

Ah! Never thought of that. The 2.7 liter might be a good choice for a modded tC. I think Toyota made a factory supercharged version of this motor too.

 

over here in Southern Cali.... the tC is infecting this area... evryturn i make... i see a tc.... most of them are mildly modded..." i'm like damn!!! in august 2004 i was the only one...now I just fall into mediocrity...."

 

World Racing is like 30 miles away, I wonder if they can build up my tc.... Chris Rado does throw some killer house/garage parties.

 

:D

 

actually, ppl tend to rice out any type of car.... Jap, AMerican, Korean, German, it's all there. Unfortunately, there are still a bunch of ppl with "Civic is the best" mentality.