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To The Max
A'PEX V-Max Pro-Skyline GT-R
By the staff of Turbo
Photography by Shaun Carlson

The Concept
The name V-Max stands for Velocity Maximum. APEX's Skyline truly deserves this name as it blows through the traps at 165.75 mph. Originally engineered for top-speed trials around Japan's Sendai Circuit for Japanese magazine trials (with a best of 327.68 km/h or 196.61 mph), it was as recently as December of 1998 that the V-Max was converted for drag duty. In November, 1998, chief of the APEX Race Team Hiroto Mr. Kaneso decided to re-engineer the V-Max for drag racing after attending the 1998 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, Nevada. As soon as he returned to Japan, the APEX Race Team worked around the clock to prepare the car for the unveiling at the 1999 Tokyo Auto Salon in January. Prior to the Tokyo Auto Salon, the V-Max still had not been tested. Hiroto rushed once again to test the V-Max with only two weeks before the car began its long journey to America. Despite poor weather conditions (try drag racing a car in Japan's harsh winters), the V-Max still managed an 8.87-second rear-wheel-drive-only blast down the quarter mile. Hiroto figured that more tuning state-side would allow the V-Max to succeed on its mission to break records.

The Pilgrimage
More problems followed as the car was held in U.S. customs for a week longer than expected. When the Nissan was finally released, the race team had only 24 hours to prepare the V-Max for its first shakedown run. As the team labored in the early morning of February 24 at Palmdale's Los Angeles County Raceway, Tarzan brought the V-Max to the burnout box and heated up the tires for the first time on American soil. As the Skyline launched at 10,000 rpm and 23 psi of boost, the car blasted through the traps in 9.52 seconds topping out at 138 mph. This was not bad for a "test" run. Members of the team loosened up a little when they discovered that the run was trouble free. A little more boost (26 psi) and Tarzan more familiar with the car and Palmdale's challenging environment, the V-Max blasted through the traps at 9.02 seconds at 155.43 mph. Members of the team were really getting into the groove at this point.

Tuning
With more than 40 sensors all over the V-Max being datalogged through three different systems and read through three separate PC interfaces, the APEX Race Team had a plethora of information to analyze. In studying the datalogged information, Hiroto determined that the rear suspension required changes to acquire the desired 60-foot time of 1.2 seconds. Up until then, the car was getting to the 60-foot mark in 1.4 seconds. All modifications to the V-Max during its stay here in America were made by Tatsuya Izumi and Eric Hsu. Fuel and ignition settings were controlled by electronics engineer Teruo Nagai for Palmdale Raceway's high-altitude conditions. After these changes, two back-to-back runs in the 8.80s strikingly illustrated that the team's efforts were effective. Still, they were not satisfied and Hiroto Kaneso continued making plans for Saturday's passes in front of the crowds. These plans included raising the boost to 29.4 psi.

Running The Number
Finally on Sunday afternoon in front of a crowd of more than 10,000 spectators, Tarzan Yamada piloted the V-Max to a record setting 8.47 at 165.75 mph. This easily makes the V-Max the fastest unibody import car in America to date. This is fast enough to compete with back-halved Grand Nationals on 14 inch wrinkle wall slicks in the NHRA Super Stock class! As the time posted on the board, a second of disbelief went through the grandstands, then the entire crowd was yelling and cheering. The entire APEX crew was jumping, cheering, and crying. All of their hard work had paid off beyond their expectations. As a sort of victory lap, Tarzan waved to the crowds sitting on the roof as the V-Max was towed pass the grandstands.

The Specs
The R33 Skyline's RB26DETT engine was built by APEX's Engine Development Center in Fuji, Japan with off-the-shelf parts. The V-Max was built to showcase Apex's engineering ability and to prove how well off the shelf APEX parts work in the most demanding situations. Almost every part used on the V-Max is available through APEX in America. Even if you don't have a Skyline GT-R, the IHI RX-6 ball-bearing turbochargers, N1 Suspension, AVC-D boost controller, EL Meters, DRAG series intercooler and Racing Wastegate are applicable to many peformance machines in the U.S.

Pressurized Motivation
The RB26DETT engine was massaged by the APEX Engine Development Center to 2.7 liters, up from the factory 2.6 liters. APEX pistons, connecting rods, crankshaft, camshafts, and valve springs were used as part of the formula. Compression is set at 9.3:1 and the head is sandwiched to the block with an Apex 1.0 mm head gasket. For boost, the V-Max relies on two huge RX-6 ball-bearing turbochargers controlled by an APEX Racing wastegate and an AVC-D boost controller. The two RX-6 turbos breathe through two Infiniti Q45 air flow meters. Boost travels through the giant Apex Drag series intercooler and is drastically cooled before it enters the single 83mm Infiniti Q45 throttle body. The intake plenum is fully polished internally and modified for single throttle body usage (The factory Skyline GT-R's intake system includes six individual throttle bodies). Fuel is supplied by three Bosch fuel pumps sucking out of a five-gallon Harwood fuel cell. Sunoco GT+ 104 octane unleaded fuel is then injected into the combustion chamber by 12-550cc injectors. However, none of these parts would work in harmony without the APEX Power FC fuel computer. The Power FC is designed to work with a specific car rather than being a universal stand-alone computer. It plugs directly into the factory fuel injection harness of whichever car the units is designed for and allows a professional tuner full control of fuel and injection operating parameters. The Power FC 32-bit architecture allows perfect driveability and all the processing speed required for huge power applications. Toshi Hayama of APEX said the first Power FC application for U.S.-spec 1996 and newer Hondas will be released in August. We can't wait to get our hands on one of these units to test.

Power Application
The drivetrain starts with a triple-plate APEX drag series clutch and flywheel coupled to a Hollinger six-speed sequential shifting transmission which outputs power to a factory Nissan transfer case modified for manual front and rear power bias via a lever in the driver's cockpit. This lever allows front/rear power bias adjustment from 50/50 to 0/100. With the bias set at 0/100 Tarzan Yamada was able to perform a rear-wheel-only burnout in the water box while on initial launch the power bias can be transfered back to the front wheels for added traction. Although the V-Max's power bias was kept secret, Hiroto Kaneso did mention that a 50/50 power bias allows maximum stability at the expense of e.t. and trap speed, and that a more rear bias allows a quicker e.t. and higher trap speed. All of this power is transferred through factory driveshafts and axles. After each run, the axles are closely inspected for twisting, as the front axles are the weak points on any R33 Skyline GT-R, especially when launching at 10 grand on 26x9x15 inch Goodyear wrinkle walls.

The Future
According to Hiroto Kaneso, the V-Max is not quite finished. The car will run faster with improved aerodynamics and less weight. Currently with prototype wooden undertrays and a fiberglass rear diffuser, the V-Max will see time in a wind tunnel to finalize undertray and diffuser designs. When these designs are finalized, the pieces will be produced in carbon fiber. Weighing in at a hefty 2888 pounds, the V-Max will also be lightened for future races. Further experimentation with tire sizes, tire compounds, and suspension settings should yield quicker e.t.s and faster trap speeds. Not to mention that racing the V-Max at a sea level track alone will yield a faster time and trap speed. Furthermore, the Hollinger six-speed is currently geared for road racing not straight-line acceleration. With so many items still to address on the V-Max Skyline the future definitely looks bright for the crew from "The Land of the Rising Sun."

The APEX team would like to thank Ballistic Motorsports for transporting the V-Max throughout Southern California and Frank Choi for making special preparations at the Battle of the Imports.

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