Unless you’re a millionaire, unfortunately you need to sell your current project to move on to the next. I’ll never be happy with any car, and I’ll never be finished with any car-that is just the way I am-but I had a great time building the Starlet. Q: With this car, is it a fling, or are you in it for the long haul?Ī: I feel like I’m at a point with this car that I might be ready to let it go. It is a great road that doesn’t have much traffic and is close by. I just like a good combination of switchbacks and sweepers, which East Canyon has a lot of. Q: Describe your favorite drive in the Starlet:Ī: I would say Big Cottonwood Canyon (in Salt Lake City, Utah) since it is closer to me, but East Canyon is my favorite. The wheels are Work Excels and are 13×6.5 which makes finding a performance 13″ tire tough, it is darn near impossible. Everything else is focused on the suspension with Tokico HTS shocks with Techno Toy tuning coilovers and camber plates. It was converting from 62hp carbureted engine to a 4age fuel injected engine which was a little bit of a challenge. The biggest modification I did was the drivetrain. I made the whole shifter setup and the shifter itself, which I bent and welded together so it is closer to the steering wheel. I did the whole oil cooler setup myself, and I shaved the side markers and door mirrors. I did the little bumperettes, the filler panels, the whole exhaust, the dash and is made from aluminum pieces that I cut out. Not that there are a whole lot of parts you can get for them, but I was going for things that I hadn’t seen on a Starlet yet. Q: What is unique to the Starlet, and what modifications have you done to the car?Ī: What makes mine different from a lot of Starlets out there is that I went with a lot more handmade parts instead of something you can pick up off the shelf. It gets 36mpg, so it gets great gas mileage. Although it is one of those cars when it is 110º outside, it isn’t the best to drive, but I drive it whenever there is no salt or snow on the roads. Also, I wanted something that I could take to the track that was reliable and cheaper on tires, gas, and brakes than my AWD turbocharged Subaru.Ī: I drive it as much as I can really. It really is all about it being lightweight and rear-wheel drive with little power that makes it a ton of fun to drive. The Japanese cars sort of fit better in my mind because they focus on a more well-rounded, well-handling car versus the American high-horsepower cars that were focused more on straight line speed.Ī: I love the uniqueness of the Starlet, because no one has any idea what kind of car it is. For me, it’s all about small-displacement, high-revving motors. I’ve always been a Formula 1 fan and was always surrounded by motorsports. Q: Why do you love Japanese cars so much?Ī: I don’t know what turned me on to Japanese cars. I have always been a Volkwagen Golf Mk1 fan and love that body style-the Starlet has always reminded me of a rear-wheel drive version of that. This Starlet was never meant to be performance oriented or fast, and it was a challenge to make this car fast and fun to drive. You don’t see many around-they’re kind of rare. I have always been a fan of Corollas, and the Starlet is sort of the smaller, lighter hatchback version of it. A: It’s a bit more challenging to make something that’s unique and cool, and I wanted a car I could do that with.
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