The Holden Barina that Street Machine is building up as a dirt-cheap track-day bomber keeps on moving up in the world! If this is your first introduction to the psychotic little gumdrop, here’s the background: this is a dirt-cheap bomber of a car, a tiny little econobox that somebody decided to beef up. The 1.4L engine kicked the bucket in some way, shape or form and a 2.oL four-banger from a Holden Calibra was stuffed in it’s place. 122 horsepower in a car the size of my right show makes for some stupid fun on track days. No, really…the fear limit of speed is so high because the power is so low that you’ll be willing to stand on the throttle with all your might, and the most likely thing you’ll do to upset things will be to botch a corner and spin out.
The Barina has been a potent little thing for a while, but eventually, either you have to upgrade things to get the most out of it or admit that it’s time to re-home the engine and ditch the car. Honestly, we’re loving this setup and it appears that Scotty is too, because it’s upgrade time. New suspension bits, disc brakes for the rear, and harnesses will help the car feel more at home on a road course than before. And it looks and sounds like a freaking riot the whole time it’s going!
