Spaze Racing

After an amazing first run and win at the 2007 Redline Time Attack at Summit Point PTuning committed to the unthinkable. The owners decided to take their award winning Scion tC show car and turn it into a monster!!! The list of modifications that needed to be made for the car to be the fastest Modified Front Wheel Drive Car in the country were numerous. With the dedication and the winter PTuning was able to make just that! In only a few months a rather “modest” time attack car was transformed into a bionic monster, they rebuilt it, making it stronger, faster, and more nimble.

The original plan was to attend all 4 east coast Redline Events, but the schedule was to tight for the car to be finished for Gateway (St. Louis). The next event was at Nashville Speedway, and with the moons and stars aligning right, final touches were made and the team hit the road late friday night. The grueling 10 hour drive was split up and even with the lack of air condition, and torrential ran in spots we made it to Nashville. Driving though the night allowed the team to be one of the first in line when the gates opened. Little time was wasted, the car was unloaded from the trailer, the tent was setup and all the tools were moved into the garage. In no time what once was an empty garage spot became the official PTuning Garage.

The weekends Time Attack also had the addition of a car show but on by Import Alliance. This attracted a HUGE crowd of people, and in the midst the usual suspects attended the Time Attack. The morning started off with a drivers meeting with the who’s who of drivers. People like Scott Bush from BS racing, Robert Fuller from RobiSpec, Chris Rado for World Racing, James Elterman with his newly developed Takata Sti and Others. With the Time Attack cars shuttered from the heat in the garage, and the car show raging outside, there was certainly a lot to do. With the first practice session approaching the car was checked over and off to the grid I went. I checked over the gauges and headed out onto track for V2.0’s first outing. The lap was going well until I passed a slower car and hit about 80. When I did, the hood decided that it was not going to stay shut and opened right into my view. Thankfully I was close to the pits, so I came in and surveyed the damage. Initially I though the brand new Seibon Hood was ruined, but when I closed the hood, the only thing i saw was a little clear coat missing. By this time the team was there and helped me get the hood closed. Once we did I jumped back in the car and finished the session.

I jumped out of the car after the first session grinning ear to ear! The car was AMAZING! The Progress Technology coilovers were insane, the Hawk Performance pads took your face off during braking, the cage added a lot of stiffness, the feather light Seibon carbon fiber hood and the 335hp from the turbo was intoxicating! Now it was up to me, I had only a handful of practice session to get used to the car, and the track. After a few sessions we opted to mess with the tire pressures to try and get car to rotate better. The option of adding some rear toe out was there, but my banzi style of braking into turn 1 made that a no go.

While practice raged on the track the car show was in full force outside. The crowd circulated though the garages and many people stopped at the PTuning tC to sing its praise. “Blazingly fast!” “Insane!” “Quickest front wheel drive I’ve seen!” Were all comments made by spectators about the cars performance. Everyone wanted to know what we had done to the car, especially what we’d done to the motor. Every time we said “only 335hp”, and “stock motor” a shocked look ensued. Its amazing but true, that the stock 2.4L tC motor with the custom PTuning Turbo kit was still 100% reliable. The power was very linear and down right scary! Once the boost crested 10psi, you better be holding on as the car was accelerating like a bullet from a gun.

A few members from Scion Evolution, Scion Life, and other scion clubs came by, and one lucky individual received the ride of his life. Even though I was lacking on that run, i think he is now set on getting his car tuned for 14psi as well. Numerous other people asked for rides as well but we were not able to accommodate anyone else. By the afternoon the first problems started to rear their ugly heads. The nylon press fittings for the vacuum lines started to melt. They were quick repairs, but we ended up melting both fittings off the wastegate. With some extra hose, and a little ingenuity the team was able to replace the fitting with another fitting and rig up some hose that would not melt.

After a good day of practice it was clear that the car was fast. Many of the teams were commenting on the car and on some of my “interesting” maneuvers on track. With day one behind us we packed up and headed to the hotel for showers, and to dinner. With a good nights sleep Sunday still came to soon. We were at the track early in the morning checking over the car and gearing up for the Time Attack that afternoon. Another drivers meeting, and a tech inspection later the team and car were ready to go.

We decided to run modified as well as unlimited just to see what the car could do. The morning practice went well and the car was getting faster. There was still a lot of push and it was clear that messing with the tire pressures was not working as much as we’d hoped. Just before the first time attack session it was suggested that we remove the front sway to add some compliance and front end grip. We decided that we would do this between the time attack sessions just to make sure we post a fast time with the current setup. With the registration in process a second transponder was never issued to us for the modified class. Not knowing this we ran the first modified session for no time. Heat broken we grabbed another transponder and removed the sway bar.

What a difference that made! The car felt so much better in the in field, but the down side was the car became even more swirly under braking for turn one. I decided that the car could stop and turn enough that I would come off the banking wide open throttle and brake on the pavement after the transition. I was doing 135-140mph and the maneuver was risky, but the rewards were close to a second of time. Even with the sway disconnected it was time to grow a pair and wrestle the car down to a suitable speed to turn in for turn one.

With only minor problems the entire weekend the car was fast out of the box and will only get faster! Inspecting the car after the last session it was discovered that 3 of the 4 bolts holding the turbo to the manifold were missing! Again, a small problem, but something that may have held the car back in the end. After both Time Attack sessions were over I felt that the car performed very well. The power, setup, reliability etc, were all perfect! The car goes back under development, and inspection before the next event. All the problems from Nashville will be addressed and the team will be back in force for the next Time Attack at Summit Point!

I would like to thank all the guys from PTuning for building the car, and allowing me to drive it like I stole it! I’d also like to thank our Sponsors Progress Technology, Hawk Performance, and Seibon!

-Ross