One of the sweetest sounds you’ll ever hear is a screaming twin-turbo V12, and when that engine comes from a stable with the name Hartley attached to it, you know it’s going to be good.
World Time Attack Challenge is pleased to welcome back Jaron Olivecrona and the Olivecrona Drift Motorsport (ODM) team to the Garrett International Drifting Cup with their beautifully constructed Parts Trader Lexus RC-F weapon. Where possible, this entire build has been constructed by the ODM team, led by father and crew chief Kester, who himself is an accomplished GT racer back in NZ. Kester remarked at the Team NZ loading that the car “feels like a member of the family,” reflecting the amount of blood, sweat, and skinned knuckles that have gone into creating something unlike any other car competing.
The team is based out of Fielding in the Manawatu, which is quite handy when one of the country's best race tracks (Manfeild) is right on the doorstep. Make no mistake: the RC-F is a handful. It’s physically quite large to the point where many think it has been wide-bodied, but it is actually stock. Compared to others in the field, it competes as a relatively heavy car near 1200kg. The team is constantly learning, developing, and tweaking a platform for which you simply can’t ask someone else for a bunch of proven settings.
The V12 twin-turbo engine is the centerpiece and is the result of ongoing R&D between Hartley Engines and ODM. Featuring a 3D-printed intake, billet throttle body, 3D-printed runners, and twin custom Aeroflow turbochargers, this is a fully custom engine with only three factory parts remaining. All of this work has been done in-house by Hartley Engines engine builder Nelson Hartley (yes, brother of Brendon of F1 fame). Some may wonder about the engine’s original lineage; the answer is that it is a 1GZ, which can be found in the Toyota Century, a car initially built for the emperor of Japan.
Operationally, this is about as Kiwi as you can get: a Link G5 ECU, three Link PDMs (yes, three), and a 7” Link display dash oversee the operations, while Jaron is confident of always pulling the right gear thanks to a Kiwi-built TTI 5-speed gearbox. Local fabricator and drifter Matt Lauder has worked his magic with a thorough and rigid cage design.
With 7psi of boost coursing through its veins, a comfortable 1000HP will turn the Tri-Ace racing tires, but there’s more on tap if Jaron wants it, with multiple available settings that can push numbers up near 1500HP. Rumour has it that Jaron has been studying years of battle footage and wants this to be his breakout international showing. The ODM team is proud to represent Kiwi-built and Kiwi know-how and thanks all their sponsors who have helped with the Parts Trader Lexus journey.
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