Ken Henderson's 1994 Supra Turbo, representing Turbo magazine was one of the most prepared cars at the G-Games. With 690 hp at the wheels, Tein coil-overs at all four corners, chassis braces from TRD and Cusco as well as huge Brembo brakes, this car is an obvious choice for quick lap times.

It wasn't Henderson's day, however. We tested for skidpad numbers on the monster-power Supra, but a random power steering pump failure on the road course put it out of the competition before the car's driver, Chris James, could finish all his laps.

The power steering overflow tank valve stuck closed, causing the rest of the system to self-destruct. Henderson and the crew from SP Engineering, who were on hand to service both Supras in the contest made last-minute efforts to repair the failure by bypassing the pump. The resulting high steering effort made the car practically undriveable on the road course. Still, the Supra turned a 1:07.1 laptime - the second quickest of the day.

On the skidpad, however, Henderson's supercar couldn't match the top three, which pulled more than one g laterally. In this contest, it placed mid-pack in sixth place with a still-impressive .948g performance.

Unfortunately, because of the broken power steering, we were unable to test the car's slalom speed, which put the black beast out of the running.

This was disappointing. With its massive power and useable torque curve, the Supra may have challenged the RX-7 for the overall win if it wasn't bitten by a freak mechanical gremlin. We'll never know for sure. What we do know is that Henderson's Supra is one of the most thoroughly modified well-executed examples we've seen in some time.

Representing Turbo magazine, Nils Leufven's 1994 Toyota Supra showed up at the G-Games ready for battle. With a claimed 636 wheel hp from its HKS single-turbo conversion, it represents a formula known to be successful for huge power number on many late-model Supras.

What we didn't expect from Leufven's car were the amazing skidpad and slalom numbers the machine produced riding on Tein coil-overs.

On the skidpad, Leufven's car generated a brain-punishing 1.009g. That's an amazing number for any car, but considering the weight (3,445 lb. Stock), and size of the Supra, we never expected such an awesome display. Consider that the g-Force is a street tire and the data is even more striking. This performance was good for third place behind the RX-7 and Beetle racecar.

Through the slalom, the Supra was impressive. It blasted through at 71.7 mph in a dead heat with the 914 Porsche, and only .7 mph behind the RX-7 - good enough for a third-place tie. But the best bit about the Supra's slalom performance was its high-speed, power-on exit. Every quick run through the cones ended with a tire-blazing powerslide through the last gate. Interesting driving, to say the least.

The car's character from behind the wheel is also worth noting. We expect most cars capable of these numbers in instrumented testing to be compromised in normal driving. However, even with limited time behind the wheel of Leufven's Supra, it's clear this isn't the case. Uneven roadway and bumps that could've been kidney-splitting disasters were absorbed with supple damping and adequate wheel travel.

On the road course, with Chris James at the wheel, the silver Supra didn't fare as well, lapping the Streets of Willow in 1:08.30 - more than a second slower than the black Supra. The car's sever turbo lag made exiting corners cleanly more than difficult.

Even with its mid-pack lap time, the Supra managed an overall finish of third place - and our over. Beating the Supra's overall score were the national championship autocross-winning Mazda RX-7 and what amounted to a tube-frame racecar. When all is said and done, this silver bullet is a well-rounded combination.

Text and photos courtesy of Sport Compact Car