Car Of The Month: May '08 - Philly Single
 

TST: Jason thank you for taking the time today to answer a few questions for us. First off, how did you hear about TristateTuners?
Jason: I am actually not sure who it was, but I got an email asking me about the car and they referred me to the site.

TST: Your username could have a few different meanings depending on who reads it, what does it actually mean?
Jason: I first joined Supra Forums in 2001 and when I joined I lived by Philly and had a single turbo and it was only 1999. Back then people were still learning about the cars and I already had a t88, hence the name Philly Single.

TST: What got you into cars and mainly into drag racing?
Jason: My parents are the ones who got me into cars, however they were more of classic/muscle car people who were more into cruising than racing. I always liked the idea of going fast and the idea of making a car go as fast as it could. When I had my first Supra I lived up in Lancaster and went to maple grove one night and ever since I have been trying to go faster.

TST: What is your history with cars?
Jason: The town where I grew up was really a domestic town and didn't look at imports too well so when I was ready to buy my first real performance car back in 1998 I put a deposit down to have a brand new Ram Air Firebird built. I was then driving down the road one day and saw a bone stock 1994 Black Supra with tan interior and a 6-speed with 40k miles on it. I didn't even know what it was when I first saw it. Well, I stopped into the dealership and left a deposit, went back to get my deposit back from the Firebird, and that was it… I owned my first Supra. My second Supra was a Royal Sapphire Pearl; it was an auto and was fully built by Bullish Racing… it was cursed from the start and ended up getting stolen. Before my current Supra I had a white pearl SC300 with a twin turbo 2JZ-GTE and a 6-speed but I sold that to focus on the V8 swap. In addition to the Supra, I also have a SC300 now… its stock currently but I have a turbo setup and full fuel system waiting to go in.

TST: Before the turbo V8 you had a normal 2JZ in there, what was done to it?
The old setup was a stock bottom end with HKS 264 cams, a GT47 80mm turbo, full fuel system, and a turbo 400 transmission all on stock ECU. I ran that setup for over three years with a best of 10.1 at 142 mph.

TST: What made you rip all that out for the turbo V8?
Jason: Well it wasn't really by choice at the time; I ended up blowing the old engine at Atco one night when I leaned out the car too much and put a rod through the side of the block.

TST: After you blew the engine what made you do such a radical switch instead of just building a 2JZ?
Jason: I was going to build the 2JZ even before I blew the engine. After I did I contacted and visited JE Performance about building the engine, and while I was there they asked me why wouldn't I just do a turbo V8. Luckily for me they were swapping out the motor in one of their race cars and I cut a deal on it and that brings the car to where it is today.

TST: How long have you owned this Supra for and do you think you could ever sell it?
Jason: I have owned this car for over 5 years now and everything is for sale if the price is right. It would however take a very motivated buyer to pry it out of my hands though. It would also be hard for any buyer to make it into a street car again which would probably turn away a lot of people.

TST: With the power the Supra has, I doubt it would be very good at a road course or auto-x but do you see yourself ever getting into either of them?
Jason: I have always had an interest in road courses but I don't think I would ever dive as heavily into them as I did into drag racing. I do want to road race at some point and that is the point of the new SC really. The turbo I got for it is a 57 mm so it is very reasonably sized turbo and it will spool pretty quickly so that will be a much better car to get on the track. It is a shame though that there aren't as many road courses around as there are drag strips.

TST: Are there any future plans for the car or are you pretty much done?
Jason: I don't really have anything mechanical or engine related projects planned. My main focus is to clean up the interior and exterior, and maybe when the car has some down time I will also get it repainted. I want to make it look nice because it gets so much attention at the track and I hate that the exterior looks beat up. The only other thing I may do is change the transmission cooler so it works off the same ice box as the air to water intercooler.

TST: If you don't mind, what has the car run to date and what do you think it is good for?
Jason: I am still tuning the car right now so it is nowhere near its potential yet but it has run high 10's and low 11's at about 95mph with a 1.3 60' The reason being is it hooks great off the line, but shortly after it hazes the tires over and I have to get out of it. The setup should be good for a mid to high 7 second pass. The same motor in the old race car ran a best of 7.17 at 201 but that was in an outlaw car with 33 x 10 tires.

TST: Do you think Supra guys dislike the car because you abandoned the 2JZ?
Jason: I have heard that a lot of the purists think I ripped the soul out of the car, but these are the same guys that have everything domestic in the car except for the engines like their GM transmissions and 9.5 rears.

TST: What is the most off-the-wall thing someone has said to you about the car after the engine swap?
Jason: I think the funniest comments I have seen are on YouTube and people saying that I should have kept the twin turbos and that I could have easily made as much power on the 2JZ motor.

TST: Do you miss being able to drive it on the street or have you ever taken it out with the new motor in it?
Jason: I miss it a little bit, but I never really drove the car for fun I just drove it back and forth to the track. I never bought this car to be an everyday car or even a weekend car I bought it to be a drag car. But the Lexus should serve the purpose as the cruising weekend car when it is done since it will be a lot more refined and streetable.

TST: Any people you would like to thank?
Jason: Joe and Ed from JE Performance, Alex, Brendan, Mick and the rest of the drag radial guys from Don Drag Racing, everyone else who has been supportive of the car at the track including TST members and Supra Forums members.

TST: Jason thanks again for taking the time to speak with us today and for taking the time to let us photograph your car at the track.


User Information:
Full Name: Jason Lord
User Name: Philly Single
Age: 32
Location: Marlton NJ
Occupation: Consultant Project Managert

Wheels/Tires:
Front: Weld Racing aluma-star 2.0 with Goodyear front runners
Rear: American Racing Trakstar with 325/50/15 MT drag radials

Engine Mods:
377" (6.2L) cnc'd Brodix aluminum block / small block chevy
Brodix BD2000 heads
J&E Performance spec'd cams
Aluminum Rods
Hogan's intake and throttle body
Moser 8.8 rear
PT-106mm turbo
MSD HVC II ignitioncoil
MSD Digital 7 plus ignition controller
FAST ecu
HKS 60mm wastegate
5" downpipe

Suspension and Brakes:
Stock Toyota front suspension
Moser coil-over rear suspension
"stock type" rear suspension based on an adjustable Mustang setup with adjustable pre-load.
Aerospace front and rear brakes (rotors and calipers)
Custom brake master cylinder

Fuel & Cooling:
1600cc injectors
Weldon 2345 fuel pump
10 gallon fuel cell
PT-2400 water/air intercooler
5 gallon water/ice box (for intercooler)
Meziere water pump for intercooler

Interior:
Sparco seats
10pt roll cage

Click Here For More Pictures

nice ride

nice supra

Where has this guy been?

What an insane supra!

dream car!!!!so sexy

The car is actually for sale...he's mostly on SF from what i've seen.

thats clean so nice

clean car

this supra is dirtyy