GOOD mate of Street Machine, Brenden ‘Bubba’ Medlyn, has taken a break from racing his twin-turbo VH Commodore after attempting Drag Challenge last year and then smashing the dyno at Summernats 32 Horsepower Heroes. The motor is out for a freshen-up at Glenn Wells Engines, which has left Bubba itching to get back into some racing.

Fortunately our new Street Machine Drag Challenge Six-Cylinder class sponsor, XR6 Turbo Developments, came to the party and gave Bubba a steer of its R&D FG ute last Friday night at Calder Park. The car runs a bone-stock engine, save for some new valve springs, along with all of XR6 Turbo Developments’ bolt-on parts, including a new Garrett Gen II turbo, Turbosmart boost control, a bigger intercooler and E85 fuel system. The mill is backed by an uprated ZF six-speed auto, also supplied by XR6 Turbo Developments.

The FG runs low 10s down the quarter and has gone as fast as 140mph, which tells us it’s got the snot to run nines – and that’s exactly what the boys want to achieve.

Last Friday they strapped the XR6 Turbo ute to the dyno at Maxx Performance for a tickle-up by Zane Heath. With 26psi stuffed into the standard engine, it made around 520rwkW (about 700hp), but at that point it maxed out the injectors. So to keep things safe they backed it off to just under 500 (670hp), which should be plenty to run a nine; it had run 10.10 with around 20kW less. With Bubba’s Stig-like driving ability, they should have been on the money on Friday night.

On their last run for the night, we all thought the ute was on for its first nine-second pass in full street trim. It launched clean, Bubba nailed all of his shifts and according to him it felt strong all the way down the track – apart from it pulling slightly to the left. The timing board read 10.19@136mph.

 Once back in the pits, it was pretty clear that the front driver’s-side strut had given way and the wheelarch had been resting on the front tyre most of the way down the track. If that hadn’t happened, the ute would have come pretty damn close to that single-digit time.

Thanks to the guys from XR6 Turbo Developments for supporting the new Six-Cylinder class at Street Machine Drag Challenge. Click here to enter!