Turbocharger
Since electronics play such a vital role in the tuning portion of any build-up, Hubie was uniquely qualified to challenge the dyno and as we have showcased for the last couple of years the 2JZ-GTE is a primetime power player. Before unleashing transistor signals and binary codes on the engine, SPI fortified the hard parts. The 3.0-liter inline six was bored .020 over by RC Engine Building out of Brooklyn, New York, and fitted with JE pistons. The 8.5:1 compression slugs swing on Crower connecting rods and a stock crankshaft. It is a fact that power tends to hide in the cylinder head, but any competent Supra tuner will tell you the key is not so much hogging out the runners as it is matching cams to turbos (or turbo). The SPI Supra runs Blitz bumpsticks with 264 degrees duration and 9.3mm of lift. A pair of HKS cam gears are on call to fine tune the curve. All the moving components in the head are factory stock, a testament to the flow properties and overall design of the head.

Fuel and oxygen make power. SPI addressed these important issues with a Denso Mazda 20B fuel pump, SX regulator and 720cc injectors on the fuel side and HKS GT2835 ball-bearing turbos mounted to a trick HKS manifold on the induction side. The turbos run a 52T compressor wheel and a 10cm2 turbine wheel to provide a hard-hitting combination of spool up and high-end flow. With 35 psi of boost as a ceiling, a HKS Racing wastegate was employed to allow the turbos to spool properly by not opening pre-maturely under the crunch of nearly three dozen pounds of pressure. On the top end the wastegate ensures the speedy ball-bearing turbos will not overboost, which can result in a blown head gasket or worse. Anyone who has suffered the effects of slow-motion spooling or boost creep can appreciate the job a good wastegate does. Once the exhaust gas has done its duty, an APEXi GT-series exhaust system escorts the spent fumes out of the picture.

Electronic wizardry is again on display when it comes to the tuning of the 2JZ-GTE. Hubie says it's alphabet soup--VPC, ITC, AFC, AVC-R. An APEXi AVC-R Digital boost controller works in tandem with the aforementioned HKS Racing wastegate to limit the boost. The Supra retains its stock ECU but relies on hardcore off-the-shelf tuning instruments. First on the list is the Supra mainstay, HKS Vein Pressure Converter (VPC), which eliminates the restrictive factory air meter (see May 2001 Turbo). Next is an APEXi Super ITC ignition timing controller that allows tuning of the crank angle signal 15 percent plus or minus stock via five rpm knobs on the unit. The ITC works hand in hand with an APEXi Super AFC Digital fuel tuning computer that flexes eight rpm points of tune and a plus or minus 50 percent tuning window.