Murray's 160Hp GTti

Well, where shall I start? I was cruising down the motorway heading for Pukekohe raceway, the sky was overcast, but I had the feeling it wouldnít rainÖ

As I turned off the motorway, what do you think should happen? F..king rain!! Well,

from then on it was pissing cats and dogs! When I got to the circuit I parked my pride and joy in the shallowest mud pool I could find and wandered down to the grandstand with my happy snapper. I sat in the grandstand for a while, while Murray
Hart, Managing Director of Daihatsu New Zealand, did his thing in his little Daihatsu Charade GTti. It was only the practice round so once finished and Murray had turned into the pits, I wandered down to the pit area past the Mag & Turbo Skyline with the big bastard intercooler, a couple of annoying rotaries, and past the biggest - waste - of - cubic - centimetre V8ís.Well, I got to the car, said HI to Murray and all the guys in its preparation etc and continued to yak about how great the

GTtiís are for the next few hours. Oh, I havenít introduced Murray Hart yet have I! Murray is the driver of one of the most powerful Gttisí in New ZealandÖ160HP to be exact!! Now thatís no way for a grown up to behave! Stop drooling, pick yourself up, pull yourself together, and I will explain how he has reached this awe-inspiring figure.

What an awesome company car! Before I let you in on the juicy details, let me give you a bit of background. Murray has raced the GTti for many years in the 0-2000cc Production Saloon class and has won the championship in this class 5 times. An impressive record eh? This particular GTti has been campaigned for 6 consecutive motorsport seasons ñ the first 2 as a combination rally/circuit racer and for the last 4 years as a circuit racer. As a tribute to
the reliability of the CB 70/80 engine, the GTti has not once had a rebuild in the 6 years of campaigning it. It still goes hard with standard internals that the Daihatsu factory installed when it was given life, which is testament to Daihatsuís high standard of quality engineering. Without further adieu, the carÖ

The engine starts with standard internals and a Daihatsu Racing Services CB70 twin board competition ECU, which keeps the engine fuelled and ready to go. Exhaust gases are directed out through a 2" fully mandrel bent straight-through exhaust with a stainless steel exhaust manifold. It is recommended that the wastegate pipe be plumbed into the main exhaust pipe at the top of the intercooler. The standard

wastegate diaphragm and housing, and boost control solenoid have been replaced in favour of a huge billet aluminium number. Boost is set at 25psi and is tuned via the adjustable wastegate actuator rod. Yes, a GTti can tolerate 25psi quite happily! Power is put to the wheels through a bronze sintered clutch, standard gearbox and yes, a factory GTti LSD. If you guessed that this clutch combo puts stress on the flywheel, youríre right! Go to the head of the class! The lil' beastie sits on nitrogen filled Daihatsu Racing Services KYB shockers and standard springs while the wheels include the standard Speedline wheels with Dunlop S-tread track rubber.