Ford's KF-model Laser 4WD turbo might have a well-earned reputation as a being hot hatch, but this one makes all others look just mildly warm! It's undoubtedly the ultimate Laser in Australia - and probably the world.
Like many a modified car, the project car of Chris Higgs (alias Junior) started out being just a simple engine rebuild. But as you can see, it went kinda further than that! Set up mainly for tarmac competition events, the car is aimed at events like Targa Tasmania, one of the country's premier road races. However, Chris told us that unfortunately the car is classed by Targa Tassie organisers as a hatchback and not a sports car, so it's unable to compete. That's a big loss to the event, especially when you look at the car's specs and how fantastically well it goes. Chris says he's had the car to well over 240km/h (~150mph), and he makes the comment that the car actually feels more stable at that dizzy speed than at a 'mere' 160....
So what gives the car its extreme urge? The Ford's Mazda-based BP1800 twin-cam multi-valve EFI turbo engine has been filled with all the good bits to let it reliably make that 300hp (224kW) at the flywheel. And we do mean 'reliably'. Racecar engine builder John Keen of DAT Racing - who expertly assembled the mill - reckons the BP four is quite a solid design for an 1800. Plus, up to 5000rpm it also made one hp for every cfm of induction air, an efficiency up with the Nissan SR20DET and other stove-hot fours.
Starting at the bottom, the engine was tunnel-bored to fit the crank nice and snug, ACL copper-lead bearings were fitted and the bores were sleeved. Durable Argo steel rods with ARP bolts went in and connect to a set of Special Piston Services 20-thou-over forged pistons, giving a street-friendly compression ratio of 8.0:1. The block has also been decked and topped off with a steel-shim type turbo gasket.
Much of the power gain achieved was through massaging the top end. The standard 16-valve head received a mild port and polish to get some more flow, yielding the flow figures shown in the table (measured in cfm at 28 inches of water).
|
Valve Lift |
0.100 |
0.200 |
0.300 |
0.400 |
0.500 |
0.545 |
|
Inlet |
80 |
149 |
199 |
211 |
218 |
218 |
|
Exhaust |
67 |
121 |
160 |
174 |
180 |
182 |
A custom inlet cam designed to suit the flow of the head was also fitted - its specs are secret but we know that it runs a valve lift of 380 thou. To get enough lobe clearance, some material had to be removed from the head using a die grinder. Interestingly, the standard exhaust cam still performs very well, although its timing has been changed. Expecting to have to rev the engine a bit harder to make the grunt, a set of heavy-duty valve springs fight off valve bounce, which might otherwise have proven an expensive oversight.
Exhaust Technology (Chris is manager at ET) fabricated the elaborate stainless steel tubular exhaust manifold that uses 1¾ inch diameter pipes and runner lengths of approximately 12 inches (~30cm). This manifold was needed to get the most from the new hybrid turbocharger, which has no problems in running up the little BP engine's hp numbers. It's a combination Garret turbocharger using a large T4 inlet housing and a VL Commodore T3 housing on the exhaust side to enable the gas to flow freely.
After spiralling through the turbine, spent PULP gases travel through a 3-inch elbow off the turbo down to the base of the motor where the exhaust divides into dual 2-inch pipes. Chris said there was no specific reason for this arrangement, but being the manager of ET he just wanted something different. Towards the back of the car, the system again merges into a single 3-inch pipe, with a single custom muffler to keep the neighbours happy. A pair of Japanese Tanabe tips hang out the back and sure give an impression of the car's mumbo - that and the 'JUSTRY' number plates!
The intake journey kicks off with a large K&N filter leading to the turbo and then onto an efficient Garrett air-to-air intercooler mounted right in the airstream. ET modified this unit to take larger 2¼ inch entry and 2½ inch exit pipes, which aided both throttle response and power output. A mandrel 2½ inch pipe channels the compressed and cooled intake air to the throttle body.
With so much more airflow through the engine, a fully programmable Autronic SMC fuel and ignition computer was required to take charge. Allan Engineering's eddy current engine dyno was used to program all of the mapping points at light, medium and high loads. The system operates in open loop (ie no oxygen sensor feedback), triggers an MSD ignition, controls boost pressure, and squirts four Bosch 803 injectors. Fuel is pushed to the injectors by the standard pump feeding a VL Commodore Turbo Bosch pump, while a Malpassi rising rate device regulates pressure. With these mods, the engine pumped out an impressive 300hp (exactly!) running on normal PULP fuel and a relatively mild 13psi (0.9 Bar) boost. What was really surprising was how lazily the engine did it - peak power was achieved at around 6800rpm.
On the road, Junior is willing to use the car's abilities to their full, but says he's reluctant to thrash it too much as the gearbox is the major weak-link in the car's armory. No less than four gearboxes have been chewed up over just one year, and one of Chris's friends makes the joke that the gearbox is just a box to hold the broken bits! Frequently-broken second and third gear are the culprits that have pushed Chris towards a custom gearbox. Albin Engineering is currently making up a mega-strong helical 'box with dog rings and a straight-cut angle drive. The clutch currently backing the engine is the first one that's been tried that hasn't slipped under duress. It's a 4-puck Kevlar/carbon clutch plate mated with a 990kg clamping-force pressure plate, which isn't too heavy under the left foot.
The brake pedal brings into action a well-sorted braking system in tune with the acceleration performance of the Laser. At the front end, 13-inch fully-floating vented discs are clamped by a pair of Wilwood Superlite 4-pot calipers which are just the thing to prevent a speeding Laser becoming part of the roadside scenery. The rear brakes remain the standard discs, but high quality pads are used at each corner. Junior makes the point that the only standard parts of the whole car are the rear brakes - fair enough! The suspension system was kindly donated by Lovells and comprises Lovells lowered springs all 'round, an adjustable platform kit and a set of adjustable Konis. All these 'adjustables' let the corner weights be set quite precisely. Overall the car sits around 2-2½ inches lower than factory. Seventeen-inch TSW rims look sensational under the car wearing their low profile 205/40 Falken GRBs. These certainly sharpen up steering response and the car is incredibly agile for an AWD car. Chris can punt it into corners and induce a noticeable oversteer whenever the urge hits. This is probably quite frequently...
Ford's mild-mannered Laser styling has been completely hidden by the many attention-grabbing body mods. The front bumper bar is a custom fabrication that shows WRX influences, and it is perfectly sculpted to allow air to pass through a thin wire grille to the Garret intercooler. A Mitsubishi Pajero 4WD bonnet scoop was integrated into the hood to give it a little more attitude. The single wiper arm racing car look has been adopted by simply pulling off the driver's side arm. For some reason, the single wiper now sweeps the entire width of the windscreen without any further mods - Chris isn't sure why, but he isn't complaining! Adelaide Special Vehicles came to the Laser party with their rear deck spoiler which Chris says bends down at both ends the faster he drives - a sort of active aero! Dust in the air can also be seen swirling about behind the spoiler at high speeds.
Glaze Image is responsible for the layered-up Mint Green paint job, which really sets the car apart. All this combined with the big Exhaust Technology, Chris Milton, Autronic and assorted racing stickers make this one high impact visual piece of machinery. Originally Chris was going to have the car sprayed bright orange, but the choice of colours during the interior re-trim turfed that idea. AMT (Affordable Motor Trimming) re-stitched the cabin using a spectacular but tasteful mix of black and grey fabric with blue inserts throughout. The front pair of Recaro seats were treated to the same blue inserts to achieve a fully integrated look. It's certainly the most comfortable tarmac race car I've ever been in! Plus there is even a 10-stack Alpine CD system with 6-inch front splits, 8-inch rear speakers and twin 12-inch subs in the hatch area.
The hard-edged racing character of the car shows up in a Terratrip 202 tripmeter, Momo Corse steering wheel, Autometer boost, oil pressure and water temperature gauges, and of course, the full alloy roll cage you have to squeeze past to get a seat.
Chris is still very keen to tackle the Targa, so he's contemplating building a peripheral port Mazda RX-3 in the next few weeks. At only 21 years of age, he will also be the youngest-ever driver to compete in the unforgiving event. But to pull it off he'll need some more sponsorship dollars, which is why he'd like you to dig into your business account! Part of the sponsorship money will also be donated to Cancer for Kids, which is a great idea. So after that it's no surprise to learn opportunity is a-knockin' - the Laser is now for sale and offers over A$35,000 will be seriously considered. This includes the custom gearbox, which should be the solution needed to make a bulletproof performance package! You can contact Chris at justry_racing@tascml.tafe.tas.edu.au
Contacts:
Albin Engineering
+61 3 5339 5134
Exhaust Technology
+61 8 8272 7500
DAT Racing
turbokeen@aol.com.au
Allan Engineering
+61 8 85 272266
Chris Milton Engine Developments
+61 8 8344 8070
Affordable Motor Trimming (AMT)
+61 8 8374 1828
Glaze Image Detailers
+61 8 8262 8599
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