Despite the money spent on engine bolt-on's, not all the trials Kunihiro endured building the truck were financial. All the custom fabbed parts, including the rear-mount radiator, took hundreds of hours to painstakingly piece together. That's ambitious. But what many people don't understand is just how hard it can be mentally.
Kunihiro probed the depths of his brain to find a way to fit the SR into the tight confines of the Sunny's engine bay. In a desperate move, he ripped out the firewall and grafted in a Nissan 180SX engine tunnel in its place. He tells us he learned a lot about engineering and engine swapping throughout the two-year build. Kunihiro does all his own tuning too.
After installing the engine, a Jerico clutch-assisted transmission and NISMO limited-slip differential, Kunihiro made a few passes at the strip. He quickly realized the Sunny needed some help putting down the newfound power and started making mods to the suspension.
Drag cars need to transfer as much weight to the drive tires as possible at launch and as such, serious drag racers use specially designed dampers to achieve this. That's what this Sunny rocks. The Nismo dampers, stock springs and a custom-fabricated rear ladder-bar suspension setup dramatically reduced his 0-60 foot times. While the suspension mods helped him get a better launch, those low ETs are possible thanks to the sticky 225/45/15 BFG drag radials out back, mounted on 7-inch wide Hayashi Racing wheels. The front 14x6 fronts wear narrower rubber; Advan NEOVA 165/55/14 tires.
The body mods on the Sunny are all functional and intended to make the car faster at the dragstrip. Pickup trucks are notoriously un-aerodynamic, so Kunihiro concentrated on making its exterior a little more slippery. He built a custom tonneua cover for the bed and attached it with Dzus fasteners. To further reduce drag, he ditched the front mirrors and installed side skirts and a rear wing, both of which he designed and built.
With trap speeds over 115mph, having brakes adequate to stop at the end of the strip is a must. The stockers were replaced with calipers and rotors from a Toyota AE86. Good ol' Japanese ingenuity. With the safety on his mind, Kunihiro installed a Kirkey racing seat, Autometer gauges, a custom roll cage and topped it off with a Grant steering wheel. A nice touch of Americana.
There are some things that transcend all cultural barriers and an appeal to the raw unadulterated ego is obviously one. Our ambitions and desires can drive us to do irrational and seemingly crazy things. The need to squash the person next to you at the stoplight or dragstrip is a perfect example.
Kunihiro's ambitions led him on a quest to build a killer drag car, and he's depleted himself physically, mentally and financially. It's clear to see his obsession has turned into an addiction. And we say bravo. We're glad to see there're people on the other side of the Pacific that are just as crazy as us speed-addicted racers out here who will do anything to be number one... even if all that ambition turns into addiction.