THE introduction of a six-cylinder class at Drag Challenge Weekend last year saw a whole new variety of entrants enter the DC staging lanes, many of them with a Japanese flavour.

Naomi Van Der Togt’s 2JZ-swapped S15 Silvia was one of those, the ‘IMOAN’ Nissan being a familiar sight in the Queensland car scene having been a nine-second street monster for many years.

“I first got the car from Graeme Harrison as a rolling shell in 2014, and shortly after that I put a standard 2JZ in it with a different turbo and ECU,” says Naomi. In that form the car ran a best of 9.3 over the quarter with a mammoth 764rwhp, before copping a second built 2JZ that it ran Drag Challenge Weekend with last year.

Sadly, Naomi’s first DCW outing at wasn’t a roaring success. “We left Willowbank at the end of Day One and the engine sounded a bit tinny,” she says. “We decided to push on to the checkpoint, and we pulled the bash plate off there because we thought that might be the issue. In the end we called it to not the risk the engine, which was a good decision because it turned out we spun a bearing.”

That 2JZ was shown the door, and in its place is a new unit built in-house at Goleby’s Parts, where Naomi works. The recipe for the current mill is fairly simple: a standard 2JZ block and crank with CP pistons and Spool rods. The head is still standard with untouched ports, sporting 282 Camtech cams, Supertech valve springs and ARP studs. The hot side consists of a 6boost manifold and Garrett G42-1200 turbo, force-feeding a Plazmaman intercooler and intake manifold.

Using a Haltech Elite 2000 ECU and straight E85, the car has made 888rwhp on the hub dyno at 34psi – but there’s an asterisk attached to that number. “I had been trying to run an eight for ages, but it just didn’t happen,” says Naomi. “But then we found the old torque converter had 27 per cent slip, and as soon as we fixed that, the car ran its PB, and it’s probably making 1000rwhp now.”

The two-speed Powerglide now houses a nine-inch 5000rpm converter, and with the slip issue fixed, Naomi ran an 8.60@164mph straight out of the gate. “I felt it as soon as I took off; I actually had to steer the car!” she says. “I was so stoked to get the eight-second pass. Once I ran it I just went and sat down for a bit; I didn’t even go back on track.”

The rear end is still IRS, using an R32 GT-R diff with 4.11:1 gears, while 275/60R15 drag radials squeeze in underneath the factory tubs on 15×10 wheels. “It’s a super-tight fit, but they just clear,” says Naomi. “I normally run Street Rs, but for DCW I’ll have to run Street S/S tyres – I won’t have room to take spare tyres, so I’ll be driving and racing on the same set.”

Naomi will be back for Drag Challenge Weekend 2020, 27-29 November, alongside her partner Kristian Goleby in a brand new Toyota Supra and her father Mark Van Der Togt, who won the first DCW outright in his XW Falcon. “There’s a fair bit of banter between us, but it’s not like we’re taking it super-seriously,” she says.

“I never really go racing with any expectations; I just do it to have fun, which is all we’ll be aiming to do this year as well. But if I could run another PB, that’d be awesome.”

NAOMI VAN DER TOGT
NISSAN SILVIA S15

Class: Speed Pro Six-Cylinder

Engine: 2JZ
Head: Standard
Turbo: Garrett G42-1200
ECU: Haltech Elite 2000
Camshafts: Camtech 282
Crank: Standard
Pistons: CP
Conrods: Spool
Transmission: Two-speed Powerglide
Converter: 9in, 5000rpm
Diff: R32 GT-R, 4.11:1 gears
Current PB: 8.60@164mph
Best DCW 2019 pass: 9.55@146mph