As Turbo Taxi is still out of action with a dead engine, Scotty turned to our 700hp, 1UZ V8-swapped Lexcen as our back-up weapon to take on the Optima Ultimate Street Car Challenge at Calder Park.

If you’re unfamiliar, the Optima USCC was born in America. It’s a test of street cars in all disciplines, with the event here at Calder entailing a stop-go challenge, autocross, a full hot lap of the national circuit and drag racing.

The Lexcen may have 700hp, but the rest of the car is still pretty well standard. In the last episode, Scotty did fix the boosterless Wilwood brakes with an external electronic assistance motor, but there was still work to do to get this thing ready to throw at some corners. 

The first item on the agenda was some new wheels and tyres. The old 15s aren’t much chop, so Scotty sourced some VX SS 17-inch rims for cheap, wrapping them in brand-new Nankang NS-2R tyres. 

At Optima USCC, entrants must use the same rubber for all driving events, and they must be street-legal with a treadwear no lower than 180.

The next big hurdle was the suspension. Shockworks has helped us out with suspension in Turbo Taxi before, so Scotty hit the team up to help sort the Lexcen.

The lads gave the front end a brand-new set of fully adjustable strut coil-overs, with a matching divorced spring and damper set-up in the rear. It gave the Lexcen a mean stance, and even in the wet, the big wagon now corners on rails!

Next episode, you’ll get to see Scotty and the Lexcen in action at Optima, but for now, enjoy the new episode.