Turbo Taxi shoots for 10s – Carnage Episode 34

FOR anybody unfamiliar with Carnage’s OG project, an FG Falcon we’ve dubbed Turbo Taxi, the car spent most of its life as a Melbourne Yellow Cab before being rescued by the crew and transformed into a turbocharged drag-strip weapon.

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For some time now, Scotty has had a seemingly simple goal in mind for the Turbo Taxi: 10-second passes on the barbecue-gas set-up. However, this has proved more difficult than first thought, with two motors, several transmissions and various other parts losing their lives in the pursuit so far. Now, after some much needed TLC for the gas system, the fabled digits are closer than ever.

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Hopes were high at a chilly Calder Park recently, with Scotty launching a tantalising 11.16 on his first run for the evening. But rare dry conditions made for a packed strip, allowing precious few attempts down the quarter. To finish off the night, Scotty wound the car up for its hardest launch yet at 4500rpm, resulting in an 11.33 ET and a deeply unhappy transmission. Thankfully, after last episode’s driveline issues, the team had a spare unit ready to go.

After some clearance and fitting work down at Maxx Performance, the gang headed to Sydney for another shot. After a few mid-11-second efforts, transmission gremlins once more reared their ugly heads.

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With stock gearboxes proving to be the big car’s weakest link, Scotty enlisted Preston Automatics to eliminate these failures once and for all – leaving Turbo Taxi with a ’box capable of holding over 800hp.

The crew pulled out all the stops for the Taxi’s next tilt in Sydney, even towing the car up to protect the transmission. While the auto held firm, the engine suffered yet another failure, damaging a piston somewhere down the line.

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The car now sits at a crossroads, with gas-powered 10s sitting just out of reach and E85 becoming a tempting proposition.

Either way, you haven’t seen the last of Turbo Taxi, so stay tuned to see what the Carnage team does next!