Form, Function & A 2JZ Swap With Attitude

What would happen if you built a car that theoretically ticked all the boxes, or at least attempted to address every possible angle of the proverbial ‘tuner car dilemma’?

What dilemma is that I hear you ask? I’m talking about not being able to please everyone all of the time, something that’s always causing controversy between various scenes. Track cars often aren’t pretty, just like show cars often aren’t functional…

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Well, the guys at Likewise have certainly given building a car that satisfies both camps a good shot. It’s probably the reason why their 2JZ-swapped Toyota 86 had a constant crowd around it as it sat displayed in ‘Trader Alley’ during last week’s World Time Attack Challenge in Sydney, Australia.

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The engine bay drew people in from afar; chimney-style exhaust outlets and wastegate screamer pipes have that effect, though.

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It’s instantly obvious that this isn’t your average 2JZ swap, either. The setup sports two large top-mount Garrett turbos, and everything in the bay is meticulously detailed.

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It’s as if you are seeing a drag set up with show car attention to detail, so there is an initial crossover right there. It’s cool in theory and even cooler in the real world.

We have to applaud the unusual approach here; this is one direction I’d personally like to see the whole show car movement taking.

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I’ve always thought that dumping time and money into a project only to then let it sit static is a bit counterproductive. But after talking to the guys at Likewise, it became clear that the whole point of this car is to not only show it off and promote their brand, but also to thoroughly enjoy it.

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So while it sits with enough onikyan to get a nod of approval from the guys at 326 Power, it’s also packing enough power to smoke tires and have some fun around a drift track.

On subject of 326 Power, their Yabaking Spoke wheels feature on this build, as do their 6-pot front brake upgrade.

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It’s a pretty colorful affair at the rear end starting with a 326 Power solid-mounted subframe and a host of adjustable links. The car also uses 326 Power Chakuriki coilovers at each corner.

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One peek inside and the most dominating upgrade to the cabin stares right back at you – a pair of bright red Bride seats backed up against a half roll cage.

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The engine is controlled by a Haltech ECU which also connects up the Haltech/Racepak IQ3 dash, itself replacing the stock instrumentation with something more worthy of the engine swap up front.

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In the trunk lives one of the most dedicated fuel systems I’ve seen. Luggage space may have been sacrificed, but the presentation of the massive surge tank is awesome. It’s also nice to see there is absolutely no audio in there; yes it’s a show car, but more importance has been placed on performance.

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I’d be keen to hear what you think of these sort of builds. Like I said, I’m more than happy to see show cars being turned into something that also packs some go and isn’t just a static build. I’d definitely like to see more of this going forward, so top marks to the Likewise crew.

Dino Dalle Carbonare
Instagram: speedhunters_dino
dino@speedhunters.com

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1

Luckily it has a rear tire setup optimized for driving backwards on rainy days.

2

A lot of drifters do that depending on the tire itself. Some tires when run in their "proper" direction tend to chunk and delaminate but somehow hold together pretty well when run in reverse direction. Hydroplaning generally isn't a concern for drifters as it just adds to the excitement.

3

Haha exactly. "Function" is best left in quotations for this car.

4

Hahahaha, awesome observation!
That happened to me WAY back when directional low profile tires just hit the market. The tire shop didn't even notice that the tires say "rotation" with an arrow. One of them was installed backwards. That was back when Nitto was one of the first low profile tires in Super Street mags.

5

Definitely more show than go, as attested by the front camber, black flag exhaust and the lack of a firewall between that surge tank and the passenger compartment.

6

liking it except the played out "pipe out the hood" thing, trying a little too hard there

7

Cool car. Not to my taste but a cool 86 nonetheless.
I do have one major gripe though
http://speedhunters-wp-production.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/12202705/wtac17_dino_dalle_carbonare_35-1200x800.jp
Who thought profiling their spikey company logo into the lower control was a good idea?

8

Pretty sure the company that made it thought it was a good idea...considering there's nothing that would come of it that could legitimately be considered a bad idea

9

Please go look up stress concentration factors and crack propagation.

10

I only have a vague idea of what that means, but it should be pretty obvious that you shouldn't cut out none uniform holes in a hollow part of the suspension that will take a beating on the regular. But what do I know

11

Needs a fountain in the trunk.

12

Agree that we need more "show" cars to cover more areas of the tuner scene but I don't think this really achieves it, it comes close though. I like the Go side of this build. The engine is especially pretty to look at and that's no bad thing but I'd prefer to see a little less Show. A more functional exhaust system, a little less camber and stretch is all it would take for me for this to be a proper all go and show car.

However, this is also a demonstration of what a company can do and it does showcase the expertise of the team that built it very well.

13

From my side I was waiting for this exact platform to go cheaper (a 2012 model costs more than 25k$ here) so i can get 1 of these and directly make a JZ swap. sure it will not have the same amount of "show" details but this will be a good reference for my project, maybe 5 years later :(.
At time being, I feel happy and soooo envy.

14

Man that engine bay looks the absolute business but more people need to think about their design choices. That wheel colour is absolutely atrocious and sadly this kind of shit is the norm everywhere. Sure 326 does it but they also actually present a coherent, distinctive overall style. This is like some kid trying to express himself and buying a bunch of cringey graphic tees while forgetting the rest of the outfit.

15

That camber ruined it for me. Excuse me while I move on with my life.

16

I like the car but the wheel choice/colour doesn’t make sense to me

17

I'm loving most of this build. It's obvious that a lot of money and time has gone into it. Always interesting to see an 86 done differently. Love the wheels. Like others have mentioned, could do without the purple engine bay and hood exit exhaust though.

Would love to see this thing actually hit the track and make some smoke!

18

made me think of this car as soon as i seen it
http://www.imgrum.org/media/1050863955085560576_2069632241
i do think it would look good dirty with smoke pouring off the rears

19

Is the front axle or upright broken?

20

I really struggle to understand the type of person that will dump all this money into a car and then ignore fundamental principles that make a car work (like alignment). The whole "onikyan" thing is pretty stupid to me. It's a bit like saying Let me build a great looking house that has no insulation with a crap foundation.

If this was built just as a "look what our shop can do" type thing then I guess it's ok, but what's the point? The difference between a good shop and a great shop isn't the labor or install, it's the stuff in between the lines that make things work better than the next guy. Just my .02.

21

Nothing new, look at the Max Power/Auto Salon "builds" from the past.

22

I hope you took some snaps of the Nismo 400R :D

23

Love it. Exactly my intentions with my fc.
Embracing everything you like and polarizing peope. No reason you cant have it set up static showing it off then a wheel allignment to hit the track. Not every car has to perform perfectly so if they want to hit the track and it doesnt handle as good as some fd car then fuck it aslong as they are having fun and looking good while doing it after all that is the idea behind drifting isnt it?

24

Camber ruins an otherwise fantastic build

25

This is the most ricest thing I have seen, it only lacks a rainbow bubble gear dildo

26

Cool car. Camber drives me nuts but looks cool sitting still. At least it's rear diff isn't welded. Lol.

27

Didn't Trial done something like this with a celica?

28

Just make sure you don't take a wrong turn onto the William Jolly BWAIVE.

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