Badass Corolla: World’s Fastest Street Legal Drag Car in Hawaii

Finish a Quarter Mile in Under 9 Seconds

Whilst dragsters generally prefer LS-exchanged or V8-powered automobiles, there is one individual in Hawaii who has challenging this status quo by racing down drag strips in their 1981 Toyota Corolla. Despite the car’s innocuous title, do not be quick to underestimate it, as it reportedly holds the record for the fastest street-legal drag vehicle throughout the entire peninsula of Hawaii.

Renowned LA-based photographer Larry Chen, recognized for his collaborations with the late Ken Block, had the privilege of inspecting the E70-generation Toyota Corolla drag automobile developed by Alex Sylva. His most recent posting on YouTube featured an interview where Sylva expounded on the stories related to this build and his aspirations for achieving a sub-nine-second quarter-mile drag time with the vehicle.

1.5JZ Toyota Corolla Drag Car From The Aloha State

Hidden beneath the stunning surface of this unique design is a 1.5JZ engine, established by merging the head of a 1JZ and the block of a 2JZ. According to Sylva, the Corolla registered a sensational 740 horsepower when tested on the dyno – a number which may not seem significant for a drag racer but merely wait until you witness its quarter-mile performance.

Sylva maintains that amid street-legal statuses, her Corolla dragster can achieve a quarter-mile in 9.5 seconds at 149 mph. If you’re keeping track, it’s near the record of the 9.24 second acceleration achieved by Jay Leno in a Tesla Model S Plaid–an electric vehicle with the potential to exert maximum torque without delay.

The dragway serves as the ideal setting for the E70 Corolla, which features a rear-wheel-drive configuration direct from the manufacturer. With the exception of the shocks, nearly all suspension components geared towards transmitting the output of the 1.5JZ come from Techno Toy Tuning.

Yet, the heft of the drag car is asserted to be a quandary. It still beholds stock steel facial panels, an acoustic equipment, and noise-quelling elements.

For Sylva’s following excursion to the drag track, they are setting their sights on an audacious 8.90-second 1/4-mile race time, which is swifter than a number of supercars, which includes the Ferrari SF90 Stradale and Bugatti Chiron Sport.