Upgrading is a common milestone in life. Sometimes it's for financial reasons; we stick it out in the taupe (yes, taupe) Camry for a couple years because it means money in the bank toward a clean WRX. Other times, it's simply because we want to tackle new and attractive challenges. Toshiki Yoshioka of Hiroshima, Japan is all too familiar with the concept of a new challenge--his is this 592whp Lexus SC430.
On the D1 Grand Prix drift scene, Yoshioka is infamous as one of the diehards in the AE86 camp. His red Levin coupe became one of the most highly developed examples in the world, winning in both the D1GP and the Formula D series. Using a 20-valve 4AGE engine, Yoshioka's Levin pushed more than 300 whp without aid from a turbo or supercharger. Still, Yoshioka regularly knocked out 500hp monsters during tsuiso twin-drift competition. And now, he's knocking on the 600 hp club's door with this Lexus drift machine.
Yoshioka began his build from the ground up and was all business about the racecar's drifting capabilities. He started out by stripping down the chassis and focused on making it stiffer and stronger. The frame received extra spot welds before Yoshioka's drifting crew, Team Droo-p, fabricated a custom roll cage. The bare metal was bathed in neutral light gray paint before the interior trimmings were installed.
A pair of fiery red Recaro buckets and requisite Takata safety harnesses hold Yoshioka in place, along with one very lucky occasional passenger. Keen attention was paid to reduce as much weight from the SC430's luxury-minded design, which shows through all aspects of the build. The dashboard, center console and pedals are all custom Droo-p items and the doors are made of lightweight carbon fiber. Longtime sponsor Works Bell provided the steering wheel, quick release, and paddle shifter assembly, which seem lifted right out of a Super GT racecar.
The steering wheel-mounted paddles aren't used to shift gears like they would on most other cars, rather to activate the nitrous oxide system on the Lexus. But Yoshioka does have a powertrain taking cues straight from Japan's famous GT racing series. An Xtrac six-speed sequential transmission, lifted from a '99 JGTC GT500-class Toyota Supra, uses an ORC clutch kit to interface with a fully built 3S-GT engine--the same power unit used by the GT500 Supras back in those days.
Built by Prime Garage, the 3S-GT was given a bump in displacement from 2.0 liters to 2.2 liters and a compression setting of 8.5:1 with a JUN Auto stroker kit. The cylinder head was also ported before being filled with 272-degree Toda Racing camshafts and HKS cam gears. From there, custom engine mounts were fabricated to hold the motor in place and other bits were manufactured to fit. A custom top-mount exhaust manifold holds a single HKS GT3240 turbocharger, which exits into a custom Droo-p exhaust system. No doubt, it's loud as hell.
The air intake, intercooler piping, intake plenum and fuel system are all fully custom. The ARC radiator and intercooler are custom V-mounted in the nose and fit with one-off aluminum ducting. The fuel injectors are monstrous 1,000cc/min units and the 3S-GT is precision controlled with a custom-tuned HKS F-Con V Pro stand-alone unit. Also on this Lexus rest no less than three other fluid coolers--one each for the transmission, fuel, and engine oil. As you can tell from the JGTC heritage, no expense has been spared on this car. All the parts were chosen with functionality, not Craigslist, in mind.