Toyota Supra mkiv




Performance Car
Silver Surfer

Yes, we love these Veilside guys and you can see why ...

In the very first issue of Performance Car, we had a Veilside Supra on the cover and it has spawned an imitator.

The red car belonging to Fair was a non-turbo, but this one is the full boggie, three litre, six cylinder, twin-turbo, 24 valve, 210 bhp per tonne version. Oh yes, and it does have the mandatory six-speed box as well. The fiberglass Veilside body kit set the owner back NZ $10,000 and on top of that the Veilside 18" rims were another $10k and on top of that you have the bill for the 235/40x18 rubber. Serious coin. This Supra also has added muscle to match its looks.

A cold-air induction system lets more air into the turbos with twin K&N filters removing the dust, bugs and old ladies that might otherwise get sucked in. Two HKS blow-off valves have been plumbed in to keep boost up and the trumpets add a little whoosh to the progress of the car as you swop cogs down the street.



An HKS EBC11 controls the extra boost as and when needed up to 18 psi. It features an over-boost system, that allows the turbos to pump up boost to 25lbs for short periods, when the throttle pedal hits the carpet. Very handy for overtaking.

Exhaust gasses are expelled through extractors and out a 3" HKS stainless steel exhaust with a muffler on the back big enough to house a box of Lion Red. Inside the Silver Surfer, the Supra has a nifty little ¼ mile timer. It's attached to the cars speedo setup and gives a benchmark 60ft time and ¼ mile time and trap speed. We're not too sure how accurate it is, but it might be a good comparative tool.

The owner has not used the device since fitting it - but we were keen to try it. For hard driving an Autometer intelligent tach garners most of your attention when in the pilot's chair. It is set to a 7000 rpm limit and we saw the shift light ignite in all of the four bottom gears while we were in the car.



Driving the Surfer is like pedalling a 928 Porsche. Because of its weight, it feels like it is pummelling the road beneath it into submission rather than rolling over it. It's not a small car and it has a presence to it, especially to motorists being passed. It screams "Get the hell out of the way!" For all its supposed 320 hp, it still has to lug a fair bit of weight around, tipping the scales at over 1600 kgs. But it still feels fast.



With monster ten inch wide feet and all that mass, it handles more like a well set-up Commodore than an FX-GT. Six gears seems almost a waste on a car with this much torque. You can pull out and nail it as soon as the little red boost needle flickers and the two blowers come into play at around 3800 rpm the car takes off. Third gear is good for speeds from 50 km/h to "go to jail forever". Granted acceleration is quicker when using the box to its fullest, but it doesn't seem to suit the nature of the car.

The Surfer is more at home on wide open sweepers than tight B roads, because of its bulk and length of the bonnet. It's a bloody long way forward from the drivers armchair. Love 'em or hate 'em, these Veilside Supras are stunning even standing still.






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Last modified on Monday, April 24, 2000

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