Sneak Peek: Tray Mount Turbo!

Photos by Ralf Shubert

With issue #1 of Performance Garage magazine hitting shelves for the first time, we thought we’d give you a sneak peek at one of the magazines you can grab and get Performance Garage bundled with it!

Issue #198 of Street Commodores magazine will be hitting shelves tomorrow (11/07) with this absolutely mental VZ ute on the cover and we’ve managed to sneak a snippet of the article onto the blog while editor Liam Quirk was off having a chat to Damian 'CHU88Y' Lowe about Performance Garage (which he loved by the way). Check it out!

Warrick Pike is an everyman. By day he works at his own IT Consultancy firm and after hours he dotes on his wife and family. He mows his lawns, he pays his taxes and we’d imagine he’d enjoy a beer while he watches whatever code of football he subscribes to.

To unwind, however, this 40-year-old IT wiz has 1,300hp worth of VZ Maloo to toy around with, and as you could imagine trying to transmit said copious amounts of horsepower to planet earth is a task that’s as labour intensive as it is exhilarating.

“It’s a wild ride down the quarter,” says Warrick of the ute, which has developed a massive following and become an internet sensation, famous across the country, even if it did raise a few eye brows to begin with.

“I bought it as an unfinished project. The car was painted, the engine was installed and the turbo was mounted but there was no plumbing, so basically I finished it off,” begins the softly-spoken owner, who’s obviously happy for the bright orange ute to be loud enough for the both of them!

Warrick goes on to explain that the process wasn’t as cut and dry as that, and that many parts had to be redone or changed as he and his capable crew tested and evaluated, and sorted out the teething issues associated with a car this engineered.

“I bought the car because I knew the history,” he continues; “the guy who did all the work is my best mate;” a fact that would come in handy as the boys tweaked and contorted the largely finished product in their hunt to shake up the WA Pro Street Blown tables.

Warrick explains that the original owner had intentions of driving the car on the street, but such plans were met with fierce opposition by many of the parts chosen for the build (such as the water-to-air heat exchanger), as well as the cars unapologetically poor street manners.

“The guy was originally going to drive it on the street but it’s not a very streetable car!” laughs Warrick. “It doesn’t matter what size tyre you have on it, when it comes on boost it just fries them,” he explains – a problem the boys have stopped trying to overcome and just accepted as part of the car’s charm.

“We’d stick more rubber under it but we didn’t want to cut it up any more,” explains Warrick. “On the street you don’t get much out of first gear but on the track it’s a different experience. You shortshift first gear to stop it spinning and second gear just pegs you back!”

That’s all that we were able to get out before Liam got back to his desk so for more of this 408ci L98-powered tyre frying machine, you’ll have to wait until tomorrow. Street Commodores is the next magazine to hit shelves bundled with the all-new Performance Garage magazine and we can tell you right now that it’s a doozy! For a double dose of fresh content, head to your local newsagent!