106: Intercoolers and Methanol — Pointless or the Key to BIG Power Gains?
About this episode
Exploring the world of intercoolers and methanol in drag racing, Varun from 101 Motorsport shares insights on maximizing performance and reliability. He discusses his journey from a passionate car enthusiast to running a successful performance workshop, emphasizing the importance of understanding engine mechanics. The episode dives into tuning strategies, the challenges of drag racing, and the evolution of Varun's projects, including a high-powered Supra. Listeners will gain valuable knowledge on the intricacies of tuning and the impact of intercoolers on performance.
Six-second Supras, monster GT-Rs, dyno tuning discussions, and much more — this episode with Varun Sharma of 101 Motorsport has it all.
Use “101MOTORSPORT200” to get $200 OFF our HPA VIP package: https://hpcdmy.co/vipb
Varun Sharma and his business, 101 Motorsport, first came to our attention eight years ago when we first laid eyes on the impressive “Mighty Mouse” Honda CRX build at World Time Attack Challenge. Since those days, we’ve been keeping tabs on Varun and his various builds and now we’ve finally managed to pry him away from the workshop for a couple of hours to jump on the podcast.
Varun started young, gaining a fascination with anything mechanical through tagging along with his father to strip cars at scrap yards in search of replacement parts. Then, a few years later, when Nissan dropped its dominant R32 Skyline GT-R right on top of the Fords and Holdens at Bathurst, Varun was sold on all things JDM.
This pushed him towards the automotive trades, starting as an apprentice mechanic at 101 Motorsport and absorbing as much information as he possibly could. A few years later, Varun had the opportunity to buy the business and he’s been pushing the boundaries of what’s possible on the strip, the street, and the race circuit ever since.
101 Motorsport offers a huge range of services, so this conversation is a wide-ranging one that discusses topics like dyno tuning, engine building, methanol tuning considerations, drag racing strategies, tuning for driveability, the business side of the equation, and a whole lot more.
This episode is a great listen that has a little bit of something for everyone.
As discussed, you can watch our interview with Varun discussing the Oceania Supra here: https://youtu.be/WqVo2KsT7os?si=UpSHJzM6HWvwTgt6
Follow 101 Motorsport here:
IG: @101.motorsport
FB: 101 Motorsport
WWW: 101motorsport.com.au
Don’t forget, you can use “101MOTORSPORT200” to get $200 OFF our HPA VIP package: https://hpcdmy.co/vipb
4:12 How did you get into cars?
6:22 What was it about Japanese cars?
11:22 Once you decided cars were your thing, where did you go from there?
18:14 How did you get an apprenticeship in a performance workshop?
25:51 How did you buy 101 Motorsport?
30:46 Does having other dyno tuners around hurt business?
37:22 Overview of 101 Motorsport
41:36 What services do 101 Motorsport offer?
54:18 Dyno discussions
1:04:14 Confirming tunes out on the road
1:10:14 What is your ECU of choice?
1:13:41 What drew you to drag racing?
1:17:44 Overview X275 radial drag class
1:20:19 MPH and ET of the Oceania Supra?
1:28:18 Finalising a tune at the drag strip?
1:36:42 The importance of air temps out of the intercooler
Nissan Skyline
"...ife. And then around that period also is when the Skylines started racing in the supercars at Mount Panorama..."
Nissan Pulsar
"..., early 90s and at that time my dad had an Nissan Pulsar and me and my brother thought it was the coolest ..."
Nissan Gtrs
"... before you're sort of watching Bathurst with the GTRs, sort of taking down everyone, you already had th..."
Holden Monaro
"And where I grew up in Australia, ipswich that was, like you know, just your typical Aussie people. So, like you know, my street was full of these guys with you know, with GTS, monaro's, with, you know, big 308s, you know stroke to 355 and all that stuff. And there was a guy up the road he had a like a VH Commodore same thing V8."
Peugeot 308
"...you know, with GTS, monaro's, with, you know, big 308s, you know stroke to 355 and all that stuff. And t..."
Ford Cortina
"...it, I don't know. And in saying that my dad had a Cortina once upon a time so and he's always only had litt..."
Toyota Supra
"...t a lot bigger, like as as years passed. Then the Supras came and you know. Then Mazda's came and then the..."
Chevrolet C8
"...came and you know. Then Mazda's came and then the C8, you know, at that time the Sierra Cosworths were..."
Subaru Brz
"...hted when there was a recall on the Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZ. I think there was a couple of years where they h..."
Chevrolet Spark
"...e is that there's no ground electrode left on the spark plug, or you've got a coil pack that's faulty, or..."
Lancia Lambda
"...u know, afr reading, hardly any ECUs had on board Lambda at that time. Like this is on, we're talking 20 y..."
Cadillac DTS
"... workshop I would probably tune four or five SR20 DTs for every 4G63, they were just cheaper and more p..."
Toyota Celica
"... let go, not on the Supra itself but like on that CELICA. It has wheelie control."
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