Nov 2013 Mad Medusa

GOBSTOPPER 2 THE INSIDE STORY OF THE WORLD’S BEST IMPREZAEXCLUSIVE!

SEVERN VALLEY MOTORSPORT’SMAD MEDUSA NISSAN GT-RIS THE NEW REIGNINGKING OF SPEED

No.154 www.chpltd.comNOVEMBER ’13 £4.50

YOU WON’T PASS THIS DUTCHYNETHERLANDS’ FASTEST NA CIVIC

HOME-BUILT HERO GETS HOLLYWOOD ROLEVARIS-KITTED EVO VI HEAD-TURNER

SUPRA POWERED AND WHEELIE FAST1000BHP+ OLD SCHOOL CELICA

ALSO INSIDE...

+HHOOWW TTOO::HHOOWW TTOO::

BUY & TUNE

A MAZDA

RX-8

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AND BLACKSNAKEBITE

WORDS: DAN SHERWOOD PICS: STEVE HALL

BUILT BY GT-R SPECIALISTSSEVERN VALLEY MOTORSPORTAND NAMED AFTER THEMYTHICAL VIPER-HAIREDMONSTER, JOHN HANTON’S1400BHP MAD MEDUSA ISONE EVIL NISSAN GT-R. OH,AND AFTER HITTING 239MPH,IT’S ALSO THE WORLD’SFASTEST TOO!

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‘Everyone was telling me that itcouldn’t be done,’ laughs 56-year-old Scottish speed freak John

Hanton of his world record breaking topspeed run in Mad Medusa, the SevernValley Motorsport built Nissan GT-R thatcurrently stands head and shoulders aboveany other GT-R on the planet – when itcomes to straight-line speed, anyway. ‘Andlooking at the basic figures and calculatingthe engine power, revs and gearing, it really

shouldn’t have been possible either.However, due to the way that the enginehas been built and bulletproofed withcustom rods, cams and the Syvecs ECUmap, we knew we could push it further andraise the rev limit over the standard car’s7500rpm redline. This extra headroom inthe rev range, plus the fact that we wererunning tall, soft drag tyres – whicheffectively ‘grow’ further still due to thecentrifugal force of the wheels spinning –

meant that even though the gearing in thetransmission was limited to around225mph, with the extra revs and largerdiameter wheels, it gave the car the abilityto use all of its 1400bhp to stretch its legsthat bit further and top 239mph. We we’reall proper chuffed, not to mention morethan pleasantly surprised by the final figure.’

That stratospheric figure, which wasrecorded at this year’s Mitsubishi LancerRegister 30-130mph event in Norfolk,


‘MEDUSA USED ALL OF HER 1400BHP TOSTRETCH HER LEGS TO 239MPH’

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trumped the previous record, which was setby another of SVM’s creations, known asproject Gundam which hit 238.85mph – lessthan 1mph lower – at BruntingthorpeProving Ground in Leicestershire only a fewmonths previously. However, what makesboth of these runs so astonishing is thatthey weren’t attempted on the vast salt flatsof Bonneville in the USA or a huge test bowlsuch as Nardo in Italy with miles of track toallow the speed to build up over time – andmore importantly slow down againafterwards – they were completed onstraight stretches of tarmac with a verydefinite end, so any run would have to makethe speed and scrub it before reaching theend of the tarmac to avoid catastrophe. Justwhat you need to be thinking about whenpiloting 1400bhp of raging Nissan at near-on240mph! But seemingly this isn’t an issuefor either of the SVM-tuned monsters, ortheir drivers, as they both managed to makeit within the space, John’s run in Medusabeing clocked at the record speed after just1.077 miles from a standing start!

And that isn’t the only amazing statisticthat John’s car can claim, as the rest of thecar’s stats are just as astonishing. How does0-60mph in 2.28secs sound? How about0-100mph in just 4.14secs? Or the0-150mph time of just 7.39secs? Just thinkabout that for a moment. By the time mosthot hatches have reached 60mph, John’sGT-R is already knocking on the door ofdouble that, maybe more!

But what leads a man to push his car tosuch extremes of performance? John, theman known as the Mad Scotsman, explains:

‘I bought the GT-R from new back in July2009 from Nobles in Edinburgh. I’d alwayshad fast cars ever since I was younger –cars such as supercharged Jaguars andRange Rovers and had always been a bithooked on speed. However, like many guysbefore me, when I had kids I had to rein allthe crazy cars in and be sensible for a while,but now they’re all grown up, I can relive myyouth and buy myself some mental metalonce again,’ says the oil and gas consultant.

Having two sons that have grown up welland truly as part of the PlayStationgeneration has had a profound effect onJohn as, when it came time for him tore-enter the performance car scene, ratherthan hanker over a slice of the brutish bestof British as he’d owned before, his sightswere set firmly on the car he’d grown soattached to through the pixel perfectgraphics of his sons’ beloved Gran Turismogames – the Nissan Skyline.

‘After seeing the Skylines on GranTurismo, I really fancied one. The hugeperformance and massive tuning potentialreally appealed to me, however, the timingjust wasn’t ever right and I never endedup behind the wheel.’

But with the launch of the Skyline’s

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WEIGHT WATCHERMEDUSA HAS HAD THE INTERIOR STRIPPED ANDREPLACED WITH A SET OF LIGHTWEIGHT RACINGSEATS, HOWEVER WITH THE ADDITION OF THEDRAG ROLLCAGE AND PARACHUTE THE CARACTUALLY WEIGHS MORE THAN STOCK

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replacement, the Nissan GT-R, the timingcouldn’t have been better for John as,without a young family to worry about hecould fulfil his fantasy and re-indulge insome serious speed.

‘I’m not a fan of Porsches or Ferraris, sowhen the GT-R came out, with suchamazing performance at such acomparatively low cost, I knew I had tohave one,’ he recalls, ‘back then though,although I knew that the Nissan GT-R couldbe easily tuned for more power, I had noidea of the levels it would reach in such asmall amount of time.’

So, no sooner had the ink dried on hisnew GT-R’s V5 document than John wasout using the car in earnest, eager to putthe required 1200 miles onto the freshengine before the optimisation servicecould be carried out. After the run-in periodand service, John tore up his warranty andtook the car to Hypertech in Falkirk and hadthe car fitted with de-cat downpipes and Y-pipe and a Cobb re-map by Ben Linney ofGTC Racing Technology, which upped thepower from the standard car’s 485bhp to awhopping 592bhp.

‘That hit of extra power was good,’smiles John, ‘but it was just a taste of whatwas possible with the car and I had soonuprated the injectors to 1000cc DynoDynamics items, upped the spec of the fuelsystem by fitting high-flow 450lph Walbropumps and a pair of GTC intakes. Afteranother re-map of the Cobb Accessport, itpushed the car’s power to 649bhp.’

Like any drug, speed is an addiction thatonce tasted only leaves you craving moreand John was well and truly on his way tobecoming a bhp junkie. He ran the car inthis spec for a while and tried his hand atseveral events throughout 2010, such asTen of the Best, Run What Ya Brungdays at Santa Pod and some trackdays atSilvertsone and Milbrook, however, itwas the straight line stuff that really


DIRTY QASHTO KEEP WEIGHT DOWN, MAD MEDUSA USES APAIR OF UPRATED DISCS AND PADS UP FRONT,WHILE AT THE REAR, SVM HAS DONE AWAYWITH THE GT-R’S MONSTER STOPPERS ANDFITTED THE REAR DISCS AND CALIPERS FROM ANISSAN QASHQAI CROSSOVER. THEN AGAIN, IFJOHN REALLY NEEDS TO STOP MAD MEDUSA INA HURRY HE CAN ALWAYS CALL ON HIS TRUSTYPARACHUTE TO DO THE JOB

‘THE INITIALPOWER

INCREASEWAS GOOD,BUT IT WASJUST A HINT

OF WHATWAS TOCOME’

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got his blood pumping.‘The GT-R is a great car on track, but I’m

56 now and my reactions aren’t fastenough anymore to do the car justice whenit comes to going around corners,’ Johnlaughs. ‘The fact that I was constantlysearching for more power didn’t helpmatters on track either – but when it cameto going fast in a straight line, I’m happy tokeep my foot in and I never back off.’

With his focus now squared firmly onstraight lining, John could go all out to setthe car up for drag racing and V-Max events.

‘I hooked up with Kevan and the guys atSevern Valley Motorsport after I’d had thecar about a year and was once again keento take the car to the next level. I’d heardabout the work they were doing and thekind of cars they were building and knew itwas the right place to take care of my car.’

John actually handed Kevan the keys tothe car after the 2010 Japshow finale,which he had made the trip down from hishometown of Aberdeen to attend.

‘I’d been speaking with my friend Jeff

Ludgate who runs a Skyline R33 in the JapDrag Series and he convinced me to enterthe GT-R,’ says John. ‘So to build acompetitive car for the series was the briefthat I gave SVM for the car.’

As John wanted to push the car wellbeyond the limits of the standard engine,SVM started the transformation by makingsure the engine was bulletproofed beforeincreasing the boost. Therefore a forgedengine build ensued with forged pistons,custom length rods to allow a longer dwellwithout increasing stroke or capacity – tothis day, Medusa is still running a standardcapacity 3.8-litre engine – and a secretblend of cam profile and headwork thatSVM have found to offer the best strengthand power characteristics. It was thensimply a case of fitting larger and largerturbos and upping the fuelling accordinglyto generate the monstrous power levelsthat John demanded.

SVM also beefed up the GT-R’stransmission as, when power levelsincrease, the stock GR6 dual clutch


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gearbox is generally the first thing to fail. Toallow it to keep up with the motor’s ever-increasing power and torque, anSVM/Albins Motorsport 1st to 6th gear set,SVM billet clutch system and mechnicalcirclip upgrade were fitted, which, alongwith a motorsport rear differential havesince proved faultless, even under the mostextreme of conditions.

Like a bodybuilder who doesn’t knowwhen to stop snacking on steroids, MadMedusa went from boasting a muscular650bhp figure to 800bhp, then 900bhp,then over 1000bhp in a matter of months,each stage being deemed too puny forJohn’s escalating need for speed and hisdesire to be the fastest.

‘The first time I drove the car with over1000bhp was at SupraPod in 2011, when Ibroke the European record,’ says John.

‘But even then, straight after the run, Iinstantly wanted more.’

At the time of the first record-breakingrun, Medusa was still a fully functioningroad car with a full interior and no rollcage,but it didn’t stay that way for much longer...

‘The GT-R was sent to Andy RobinsonRace Cars near Basingstoke to have a full8.5-second drag spec rollcage fitted alongwith a pair of Cobra Imola GT bucket seatswith ARR racing harnesses and an ARRparachute system,’ John explains. ‘It alsohad the ARR Magna E85 compatible fuelsystem with an independent fuel cellmounted in the boot, billet fuel rails, PTFEfuel lines feeding a set of I.D Motorsport2000cc injectors.’

When the car returned to SVM aftergetting the full Andy Robinson treatment,John sat the car on a set of 15in Center

Line billet drag wheels with MickeyThompson ET Street drag radial tyres at therear and Speedline custom 18in forgedwheels with M&H Drag Master tyres at thefront, both sets painted a satanically sinistershade of satin black. A full custom set-updrag suspension system was also fitted.

‘The Center Line wheels are so widethey stick out from the bodywork,’ chucklesJohn. ‘They really help with grip off the lineand even with raising the potential topspeed, as it did in the world record run.’

But, although John cites the swap todrag specification as being a major turningpoint in the build, he says that the upgradeto running a full Syvecs S8 ECU has madean even bigger difference to the car’sdevelopment.

‘The Syvecs guys – Ryan Griffiths inparticular as he is the genius who maps

THANKS:John would like to say a massive thanks to all those thathave helped and supported the build and running ofMedusa over the years including Ryan Griffiths at Syvecs,Kevan, Amar, John and Gavin at SVM, Ben Linney atGTC, ‘Jeff Ludgate for starting me on this journey, mywife, the accountant for letting me spend the money, andlastly my two grandsons Leon and Jacob!’

SEE MAD MEDUSA IN ACTIONAND THE WORLD RECORD RUN

SIMPLY DOWNLOAD A QR READER TOYOUR SMARTPHONE AND THEN OPEN THE

APP AND HOLD YOUR PHONE OVER THESQUARE. THE READER WILL DO THE REST

AND TAKE YOU STRAIGHT TO THEYOUTUBE VIDEO – ENJOY!

020JAP154.qxd:JP 26/9/13 17:22 Page 26


ENGINE:3.8-litre, 6-cyl, 24v VR38, SVM-speccustom length Carillo rods, SVM-speccustom Hulk pistons, SVM dynamicbalancing, ATI crank damper, SVM bellhouse bearing upgrade, SVM-specCNC custom heads, SVM ported centrevalley, SVM 70mm throttle bodies,modified OEM inlet plenum, SVMbreather system, SVM combi breathertank and braided lines, SVM centralblock breather, yellow/black paintedengine covers, SVM custom inletmanifolds, SVM-spec GT 3586FPturbochargers, SVM custom inductionkit, K&N high-flow air filters, GTCcompressor sucky pipes, SVM BOVs,GTC 102mm titanium Y-pipe, GTC102mm titanium exhaust system, SVMAerospace Marston intercooler with80mm hard-pipe kit, SVM silicon hosekit, Murray clamps, SVM high-efficiencyradiator, ARR Magna E85 compatiblefuel system, Independent fuel cell inboot, billet fuel rails, PTFE fuel lines, I.DMotorsport 2000cc injectors

TRANSMISSION:SVM/Albins Motorsport 1st to 6th gearset, Willall diff brace, SVM billet clutchsystem Mk2, mechanical circlipupgrade, SVM-spec transmission fluid,Willall 4WD oil, Willall piston seals,motorsport rear differential

SUSPENSION:SVM bespoke drag suspension setup,SVM drag geometry setup

BRAKES:Uprated front discs and pads, Qashqairear caliper conversion, Qashqaivented rear discs, custom rear brakemounts

WHEELS & TYRES:15in Center Line billet drag wheels withCenter Line wheel nuts, MickeyThompson ET Street drag radial tyres,SVM/Speedline custom 18in Forgedfront wheels, M&H Drag Master fronttyres

EXTERIOR:Mad Medusa print on bonnet, goldlining of engine bay, KR ducktailcarbon rear spoiler, vented rearbumper, SVM bumper intake system,SVM modified front splitter andbracing, AAR parachute

INTERIOR:ARR full rollcage, interior trim andsound deadening removed, CobraImola GT bucket seats, ARR racingharnesses, fire extinguisher, ARRparachute release system

TECHSPEC

‘THE POWER GREW LIKE ABODYBUILDER WHO DOESN’T

KNOW WHEN TO STOPSNACKING ON STEROIDS’

Medusa and comes to support me and thecar at pretty much every event – have beenamazing,’ John enthuses. ‘The S8 is suchan amazing piece of kit that monitors everyparameter of the car and has so many builtin safety features that it is possible to pusha car to the limit without experiencing a lotof expensive failures along the way. In fact,I’d say that the Syvecs has already savedtwo transmissions and at least one enginefrom destruction, so it’s already paid foritself 100 times over, and I’ve only beenrunning it for around six months!’The Syvecs also allows Medusa to run

E85 ethanol fuel, it could even runmethanol, but John isn’t sure the blockwould take the strain. At the last dyno run,with the Syvecs fitted, plus the huge SVM-spec GT 3586FP turbochargers doing theirthing, Medusa was making around

1500bhp at the flywheel with nitrous,however, even this monumental figue is notenough for the speed obsessed Scotsman.‘I want to make around 1800 at the fly

next year,’ he says with a smile. ‘Stillkeeping the 3.8-litre block. We don’t thinkwe’re reached the limit of the VR38 yet andare keen to keep pushing as far as we can.’John is hoping to take Medusa to the

States to take on the Yanks on at their owngame by competing in the Texas mile eventnext year, which will really be a test of thecar’s mettle, but by then John hopes to bebreaking into the low eights and maybeeven the high sevens on the strip and whoknows on the mile, but one thing is forsure, as long as John Hanton is at thehelm, there will no stopping Mad Medusa,so the world had better watch out orprepare to get bitten. JP

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Nov 2013 Mad Medusa