The Toyota Supra TT is a car we've never really thought of as seductive. It's big, aggressive, scary, mean, fast, sick, twisted, and downright diabolical, but nowhere in our traditional list of descriptive Supra words would you find the word "seductive," much less the word "sexy." If you have to sum it up in one word, well, in a word the turbo Supra is just bad--that is, until Veilside penned a new aerodynamics design for this most brutal of Toyota sports cars. That new aero design is called Fortune 03, and it gives the Supra a new sensual dimension it didn't really have before. Try not to drip on the magazine as you gaze on its splendor.
The car began life as an SPI customer car--that's Sharp Precision Instruments of Cliffwood Beach, New Jersey. Its owner wanted to do something crazy, and it just happened that Veilside Japan had recently introduced the Fortune 03 at Tokyo Auto Salon and was looking for a Stateside vehicle on which to test fit the new body kit. SPI's Hubie Fuh mad the call and secured a Fortune 03 for shipment to the United States--the first such package on the North American continent.
Unlike the popular stick-on body kits and ubiquitous bumper lip treatments of today, fitting Veilside's Fortune 03 aero kit to a Toyota Supra is not as easy as sticking a "Powered by Deez Nutz" decal across the top of your windshield. The kit incorporates no less than 17 pieces or so--I probably counted wrong--many of which replace entire panel sections on the car. Basically, the only parts that stay are the roof and rear quarter panels. Fortune 03 includes new bumpers, new front fenders, a reverse-induction hood, rearview mirrors, door flares, rear fender flares, a new hatch, and a rear wing. In addition to the actual body pieces, the Fortune 03 includes new projector lighting assemblies that separate the various portions of the Supra's multi-lens headlamps, giving the front end a distinct Integra flare.
Fuh told us the bolt-on pieces basically bolt in place using factory mounting locations, but to really set the kit off certain portions need to be molded in with the factory sheet metal--not your basic overnight job. On this car the rear flares and rear bumper have been handled in exactly that fashion, grafted in with the factory rear end for a smooth, sinuous look. The headlamp assemblies have been integrated into the front bumper, but the bumper itself and side skirt portions remain modular in case they need to be removed for whatever reason. A liberal coat of metallic blue pearl multi-stage paint shrouds the porn-worthy panels in tasteful color shifting magnificence.
Beneath the aerodynamic madness, HKS Hyper Damper coilovers drop the fender wells over a quartet of custom-wrought Veilside wheels, something SPI collaborated with Veilside over to make sure the proper offset was effected and the wheels themselves were flush with the widebody flares. Cusco strut tower braces bolster the rigid Supra chassis, while Suspension Techniques anti-sway bars have replaced the factory stabilizers down low. At the front wheels the Supra now wears Stoptech big brake assemblies, which include 355mm two-piece floating slotted rotors, red powdercoated four-piston calipers and braided stainless steel lines. In the rear, SPI retained the stock brake configuration but replaced the lines with stainless braided runners and the rotors with O.E.-sized slotted Stoptech rotors.
Beneath the reverse-induction Veilside hood, SPI also opened up the head and dropped a pair of hot HKS cams and adjustable gears inside. The factory twin-turbo setup has been pulled in favor of a more popular and much more insane method of manufacturing horsepower--a single-turbo GReddy upgrade kit. You probably all know the specs by now: GReddy intake, SUS exhaust manifold, T88 spool, Type R wastegate and massive front-mount intercooler. Fuel enrichment properties are provided by a Walbro fuel pump, SX fuel pressure regulator and a detail of GReddy and A'PEXi electronics. GReddy's PRofec e-01 manages the boost curve, while A'PEX's S-AFC piggyback computer coordinates the air/fuel ratio and oversees the fuel enrichment system. Both modules have been integrated seamlessly into the glove compartment hatch.
Within the interior, SPI also integrated an array of system meters to enable the driver to monitor every aspect of the high-boost, high-stress engine. Greddy boost and oil pressure gauges have been sunk into the center dash vent locations, while a quartet of DEFI meters now resides in the passenger's dash and relay information on oil, water and exhaust gas temperature, as well as fuel pressure. Other additions to the cockpit include comfortable, reclineable Sparco Milano 2 buckets seats, Sparco four-point harnesses to keep the seats' occupants strapped down under intense load, and a Sparco Lap 3 steering wheel and aluminum sport pedals to make the driver look like a superstar--even if he or she doesn't drive like one.
Simply put, the Veilside-SPI Supra is a study in contrasts. On one hand, you've got the Supra and all the brutal, uncompromising performance latent therein. On the other, you've got the clean, sensual styling imparted by the Veilside Fortune 03 kit. Despite the bold styling statement it makes, the finished car is quite reserved in its splendor--everything in its place, nothing over the top. It's an import tuner car that is as holistically appealing as certain expensive Italian sports cars we've lusted over, with one important difference. The influence here is entirely Eastern.