I love driving momentum cars. They force you to balance precision with aggression in a way that high-horsepower cars never will. Even the smallest mistakes are punished immediately with lost lap time. But spend enough time learning how to extract speed from a momentum car, and you’ll become an absolute terror in just about anything with four wheels.
But what happens when you take that concept to the extreme?
What does an 82 hp, 1993 Toyota Tercel with a 4-speed manual and open diff equal? It’s a momentum car for sure, and probably more so than anything I have ever driven. And, when the car is a former Lemons car that the owners of Dover Endurance Racing acquired and entered in the 15 hours of NCM, I can attest that you are in for a good time. And probably the most entertainment I’ve had behind the wheel this season.
Enter the ‘Turdcel’
The car in question, known as the ‘Turdcel’ in the Lemons world, has been a racecar for a very long time. Dover Endurance Racing purchased the car as a fill-in since the endurance 944 was wrecked last season. And although the 944 is under repair, I suspect the Toyota will become the team’s primary. Because what it lacked in speed, it more than made up for with personality.
It has a white, yellow, and red livery and is remarkably clean considering its history. At least it was before a punt from the #46 BMW E46 sent one of our drivers into the wall Sunday afternoon. But more on that in a bit.
The Racing
The 15-hour format would be split over 2 days: 8 hours on Saturday and 7 hours on Sunday. Saturday, we would instantly discover that the Tercel was the slowest car in the field by a significant margin. But that wouldn’t stop the two spec racers on the team, myself and Michael Morris, from trading fastest laps during our stints. We would end the day a couple of hundredths of a second apart.
Sunday would tell a different story, however. Our first driver and team owner, Bruce Hulsart, would find the wall an hour into their session. We would pit early for repairs. Pulling fenders and resecuring the radiator before sending the test driver guinea pig (me, Chris Simmons) out to give the car a shakedown. I would drive for 80 minutes, setting the fastest time of the day, at which point I handed the car over to Kim Coffey for a successful lunch stint.
Afterward, Cody Mitton would take over and face disaster. Not once, but twice. During incident one, Cody would get into a tank slapper on a high-speed section and lightly hit the tire wall. In an abundance of caution, he drove to the paddock. And after a quick inspection, resumed the race. Unfortunately, he would promptly get punted into the wall by another driver. This impact would be more significant and force the team to retire the car.
Below is Sunday’s footage. The description is indexed to easily find drivers and incidents.
Driving Impressions and Fast Laps
One thing I hadn’t quite thought about until this weekend was that I have driven and raced many vehicles, but never a FWD (Front Wheel Drive) one. This added another aspect to the weekend’s learning curve, and, to my credit, I adapted extremely well. I quickly found that smooth inputs coupled with aggressive throttle application, when balanced by left-foot braking, would point this car wherever you wanted. Lap after lap. Which, for me, was very confidence-inspiring. Allowing me to really wring everything out of the car. Laying down laps that I don’t think we initially thought possible.
Regardless, it put a huge smile on my face and has perhaps opened up a whole drivetrain layout I had previously overlooked. Below is my fastest lap from the weekend. Although a 2.51s lap isn’t considered fast at NCM, in the Tercel it definitely is. You can see that I am pushing this car to the absolute limit and having a blast.
The Future of the Toyota Tercel Racecar
The future is looking bright for the Tercel. In addition to repairs, a few upgrades are in the works. For starters, the drivetrain is getting replaced. The 82hp Tercel motor is getting replaced with a 100hp Toyota Paseo drivetrain. That may not sound like much, but this swap also replaces the 4-speed manual with a 5-speed. This new drivetrain will significantly wake this car up.
I also believe around 150 to 200 lbs. can be removed. But that will be part of a round 2 rebuild because the team is thrashing to make another endurance race at Nashville Superspeedway in less than 7 days.
