History of VUDU Performance

Making Motorsport History Since 1974

VUDU Performance Car

When winning means everything, you need the people who know everything about winning. After four decades of motorsport, we understand that success is built on experience more than just equipment and money.

You need an extra something – that secret formula that’s going to help you squeeze out every last drop of power and performance. That touch of black magic that comes from the correct balance of experience, expertise, passion and talent, and gives you the edge you need to succeed.

This history charts our many years of working in motorsport, with plenty of great pictures, stories and quotes from company founder Tony Taylor, and his son, current VUDU MD, Andy Taylor.

From Tony’s early experience at Holset and meetings with Enzo Ferrari, to VUDU helping Project Zed to become the fastest Japanese car in Europe, it’s been an incredible journey.

And we’re only just getting started…

Pioneering Beginnings 1958-1974

At VUDU, motorsport isn’t just our business – it’s our passion, and deeply ingrained into our DNA. Whilst we’ve been directly involved in motorsport since the company was established, our racing heritage goes back even further.

Our founder, Tony Taylor, was one of the key names involved in the promotion, development and early testing of turbocharging for racing.

Tony’s early experiences start from his engineering apprenticeship and club rallying days, to working with the big F1 teams at Holset Engineering, and his meeting with Enzo Ferrari…

The seeds are sown...

Tony began his career in 1958 as an apprentice at industrial engineering company Mirrlees – learning his trade by working on big commercial diesel engines for industrial and power generation applications.

It was at Mirrlees that he got his first taste for racing, after joining the company’s motor club:

“In those days, every big engineering company had their own motoring club – it was a really popular social thing, as all the engineers were into their racing.”

“I joined the motor club as soon as I started at the firm, and was hooked on racing from the very beginning. Soon, I was taking part in club rallying events all over Cheshire and Derbyshire, first as a driver, and later as a navigator. We were pretty successful, and won a fair few rallies, but I was just happy to be involved.”

Moving on to Holset

After completing his apprenticeship at Mirrlees, Tony moved on to the Holset Engineering Co. – a British engineering company that’s now part of Cummins Turbo Technologies.

At the time, Holset developed and manufactured turbochargers – mainly for commercial vehicles and industrial applications:

“I joined Holset in 1966 as their first Sales Engineer. I was in charge of all their turbocharging, going out to visit customers all across the UK and Europe to provide them with parts, information and advice on the technical side of things.”

Turbocharging was still pretty much reserved for commercial diesel engines at this point, so most of Tony’s time was spent working with the major truck manufacturers of the day.

However, by the late 60s, Holset had started to move into turbochargers for petrol engines, and Tony began to concentrate on that, becoming Special Projects Manager and getting involved in racing once again…

Early race projects

As Special Projects Manager, it was Tony’s responsibility to help customers who needed support in the development of their turbocharged vehicles. These included innovative test projects for the major manufacturers, and providing turbochargers for a few racing pioneers of the late 60s:

“When I was at Holset, petrol turbocharging was really new and only a handful of people were starting to experiment with performance turbocharging for racing. Some of the exciting projects we were involved in at Holset helped to pave the way for turbocharging to become mainstream across motorsport.”

“In 1968, I started working on a few test projects for the Ford Motor Company – including turbocharging a 1.6 Capri, in an effort to get the same performance as the 3 litre model. This project started in late 1968 at Boreham under Henry Taylor. The 1.6 litre engine was turbocharged and brake tested by development engineer Peter Ashcroft and his assistant Terry Hoyle. 160BHP at 4500 RPM was achieved with the project before it was transferred to Alan Mann Racing for installation in a vehicle. Len Bailey did all the installation work but the project was suddenly stopped. However, at Holset Ford Advance Vehicle Operations (AVO) Rod Mansfield lent us a 1.6 litre Capri which we turbocharged and developed (using MIRA test facilities) culminating in an unauthorised race at MIRA on the twin parallel strips against a 3.0 litre Capri driven by Ford’s Bill Meade and Richard Hudson Evans. The car was neck and neck for the first ¼ mile then the 3.0 litre came into its own – which certainly raised a few eyebrows at Ford! Roger Clark then drove the car in development tests at Ford Boreham.”

“In 1969, Syd Enever at BMC Abingdon asked for assistance in turbocharging a 1293cc Mini Cooper S, using Lucas petrol injection. The engine was developed and eventually, in 1970, installed in Irish racing legend Alec Poole’s Mini Cooper S – It was really successful, and he raced it all over the UK and Ireland, including a memorable victory at Silverstone. Alec would go on to win the British Touring Car championship the next year.“

“In 1970, I visited Ginetta Cars at Witham and met the Walklett Brothers. I remember asking them how much BHP they had made when turbocharging and their reply was very interesting; ‘Don’t know but a lot more power than naturally aspirated engine as we keep breaking crankshafts (used three bearing cranks at the time)’.”

Joining the big boys - getting involved in F1

It wasn’t long before the big Formula 1 teams of the day got in touch with Holset, wanting to experiment with turbocharging for the first time:

“When Holset began developing turbochargers for petrol engines, they started to turn a few heads, and we were soon invited to work on one off projects for big names like Cosworth Ferrari and MATRA.”

“At the time, there was a lot of discussion amongst the Formula 1 teams about holding a ‘Libra Race’ – an event with few rules and no limits on engine capacity – all the big F1 teams were going to enter.”

“As part of the development and preparation for this event, some of the teams were considering using turbochargers, and I supplied turbos to Cosworth (where a number of meetings were had with Keith Duckworth), MATRA and Ferrari, then visited them to help with the set up and testing.”

“I was invited over by Matra and visited their engine test bed which was in an old WW2 bunker just south of Paris – a relic from the old Maginot Line, and I clearly remember the noise of the turbocharged V12 engine being tested for the first time – it was absolutely deafening, but fantastic, and a prelude for things to come.”

“Bear in mind that this was 10 years before the first turbocharged F1 car was launched – we were breaking new ground, and right at the forefront of global turbo technology.”

Meeting the man himself

Unfortunately, the Libra race never happened, but Ferrari invited Tony down to the Silverstone Formula 1 Grand Prix as part of the preparations:

“I went down to the pits, and met celebrated Ferrari designer Mauro Forghieri, who was chief engineer at the time. He wanted me to send over some turbos for testing, and invited me over to Modena to help with the set up.”

“Visiting Ferrari in Modena was a great experience – I toured the factory, and had a meeting with Mauro and the engineering team where I gave them some advice about setting up the Schwitzer turbo on their big V12. After that, I was told that Enzo Ferrari himself wanted to speak with me!”

“He didn’t speak much English, and I don’t speak Italian, so we had a conversation through his PA. I think he wanted to keep a handle on what was happening with the turbocharging project – we went through what I’d discussed with the engineers, and he asked me if I’d toured the factory.”

“I told him I had, and how marvellous it was, before saying that I’d write him a cheque for a new Dino 206 GT there and then – but it would probably bounce! He laughed, and I went away with several souvenirs, including a full range of model cars. I gave them to my son Andy, who loved them – he still has them to this day.”

Onwards and upwards - leaving Holset and Mandeen Engineering

By 1972, things were starting to change at Holset, and the company was looking to outsource the turbocharger spare part side of the business, which Tony didn’t agree with:

“I fought hard against the decision, as I thought Holset should keep the work in house. It got me so annoyed that I started doing some turbo repair work on the side and formed my own company, Mandeen Engineering, with an ex-Holset friend of mine.”

“I was a bit naïve, as the local paper printed the news – the Holset MD called me in on the Monday morning and told me to decide whether to work for them or myself. I said I would work for myself so I handed over my company car keys and he sacked me on the spot!”

“We ran Mandeen for just over a year, but it wasn’t a huge success. The other lad couldn’t stand the uncertainty of income that comes when you’re starting a new business, and we ended up jacking it in at the end of 1973.”

The 1974 World Cup Rally Adventure – part 1

After the closure of Mandeen, Tony was approached by Eric Jackson, the MD of a Ford dealership in Barnsley, who wanted Tony to look after his service crew on the 1974 London-Sahara-Munich World Cup Rally.

“I’d maintained a keen interest in rallying throughout my time at Holset, and still had loads of contacts, so when I got the chance to be involved in the World Cup Rally, I jumped at the chance.”

“Our team was running a Ford Escort driven by local rally drivers Bob Bean and Eric Jackson, and we were up against some really big names from the world of racing, including F1 legends Stirling Moss and Innes Ireland.”

“I was looking after the service car, and the route took us through Algiers and into the Sahara Desert. Like the majority of teams, we got lost in the desert because they’d changed the road layout without telling the race organisers, and the navigator notes were misleading!”

“In the end, we had to use a compass to get to the checkpoint at Tamanrasset in the middle of the Sahara, and were the only independent service team to make the trip successfully.”

The 1974 World Cup Rally Adventure – part 2

“The heat on the rally was almost unbearable at times – we had to do all the service work at night, and the terrain was incredibly challenging. As you might expect, the route was badly marked out and even more poorly maintained, and at one point, we had to hire a Land Rover and rescue Eric from the middle of the desert in nearby Niger.”

“By Tamanrasset, our team was in the lead, but unfortunately, wear and tear was starting to take its toll on the poor Ford Escort. The team started the leg to Niger, but unfortunately, the car was going through struts like nobody’s business and we ran out of replacements.”

“We also had other problems – Bob wasn’t keen on the local food, so he started cooking his own meals in his hotel room. One day, his stove stopped working, so he threw the canister into an ash can, put a new Primus on and struck a match…which wasn’t a very good idea! He burned his face, hair and clothes, and caused quite a bit of fire damage, but no one was seriously injured and everything was ok in the end!”

“Of course, we weren’t the only team to have problems by any means, and in the end, only 5 cars completed the full 18,000 mile distance to Germany. Our team finished in a creditable 7th, and it was an unforgettable experience.”

“As soon as the rally was over, I went back to the UK to set up a new company – and VUDU was born…”

VUDU The Early Years 1974-1990

When Tony founded VUDU in 1974, turbocharging in motorsport was still in its infancy – with only a few pioneering racers choosing to fit their cars with turbochargers.

However, turbos were in widespread use across the commercial vehicle industry, and VUDU began life repairing and remanufacturing turbochargers for the major commercial vehicle manufacturers of the time.

Despite the immaturity of the passenger vehicle and racing market, motorsport was never far from our thoughts. As turbocharging became more and more popular throughout the late 70s and into the 80s, we were there to help provide turbos, parts, support and repairs on some really exciting projects – and even got involved in the racing ourselves.

Turbocharged foundations - getting the KKK agency

Perhaps the biggest early milestone in our racing heritage was gaining the KKK agency in 1976, as Tony explains:

“KKK were a major turbo manufacturer, and the main competitor to my former employer, Holset. They’d actually offered me a job back at the start of 1974 to look after their business in the UK, which I’d turned down to set up VUDU.”

“They got back in touch with VUDU in 1976 and offered us the agency for all their UK turbocharger exchange and remanufacturing work, which we readily accepted.”

“Whilst I took them on so that we could do all the work on the commercial vehicles, it also opened up a whole new world of opportunity to get involved with more exciting projects on the motorsport and racing side.”

“KKK turbos were the absolute number one motorsport turbos from the late 70s and right through the 80s, trusted by a series of successful teams at Le Mans, and the Special Saloon teams. They were also the turbochargers that were fitted to all Porsches that were dominating the Group 5 racing throughout the 1980s.”

“Getting the KKK agency meant that the big race teams and major manufacturers started to come to us for advice, parts, and repairs for their turbochargers.”

Lending a helping hand - the early projects

VUDU got involved in racing early on, by providing support to the few racers who were starting to experiment with turbocharging.

“In the 1970s, petrol turbocharging was still a novel idea to most people, and the very few people experimenting with turbochargers didn’t have enough experience or knowledge to get the most out of them.”

“One of our early projects in the late 70s was for Jim Evans, who had fitted a Holset 3LD turbocharger to the 2.0 Litre Pinto engine in his Ford Escort for the Special Saloon racing – it was the first turbocharged saloon car on the circuit.”

“He wasn’t getting the most out of it, so asked us for a bit more information and assistance, so we helped him. It was exactly the kind of project I loved getting involved in, and before long, we started sponsoring the car.”

“We knew what we were doing, and what needed to be done to improve the performance, so we invested in some Holbay modified Formula 3 engines, before turbocharging them with KKK’s 3LEP model turbo. It was hugely successful, to the point that we ended up winning more than our fair share of races that season.”

“The team was competing against some great racers, and our number one rival was Nick Whiting, who was supported by his mechanic brother Charlie, who is now the Formula One Race Director!”

Turbocharging with Mitsubishi

By the early 80s, turbocharging had become much more mainstream in both motorsport and in the passenger vehicle market. VUDU were often invited to help the major vehicle manufacturers with one off projects and cars for racing and promotional events:

“Around 1980, Mitsubishi UK got in touch and asked whether we could help them to turbocharge one of their newly launched Mitsubishi Colts. We fitted a KKK turbocharger and they loved it – they took it to all their dealer days and liked to show it off when they went to Silverstone.”

“In fact, they liked it so much that they ordered another 5, so we got the parts in and did the installation work.”

Into truck racing

With a long-standing relationship with the major commercial vehicle manufacturers, and the KKK agency, VUDU were in prime position to offer their assistance and expertise when truck racing started to take off in the early to mid 1980s:

“It all started with DAF, who were looking for us to supply some turbos for their newly formed truck racing team. They had put together a strong line-up, and convinced former World Champion motorcyclist Barry Sheene to drive for them.”

“All the major commercial vehicle manufacturers were having a go, and for a while, truck racing looked like it was going to be big business. We ended up supplying turbochargers, support and advice to both the DAF and Mercedes teams, amongst others.”

Although truck racing was a great spectacle, it was never hugely successful in the UK – although it continues to be fairly popular in Europe to this day.

From sponsorship to ownership

Up to this point, VUDU had been helping other people with their turbocharging, but after working with Jim Evans and sponsoring his Ford Escort for a couple of years, we decided we wanted to take a more hands-on approach:

“I wanted to promote what VUDU could do by putting together a car for the Group 5 racing. Although there was a commercial side to it, the project was as much of a personal thing, driven by my love of racing.”

“The chassis was built by John Leek, Jim’s longstanding mechanic, along with Tony Tait who looked after the technical side. We then had a fibreglass body of a Lotus Esprit made by Richard Jenvey, and fitted an FVA Cosworth 1.6 litre engine to it.”

“Of course, we then fitted a turbocharger to the engine in house, and it became the first VUDU car, competing in races all over the UK during the late 70s and throughout the 80s. At that time, they were only just starting to develop rules about turbocharged vehicles, and we were competing against naturally aspirated cars – racing against the big V8s and 3 litres.”

“It was really successful, and definitely helped to push the motorsport side of the business, as well as promoting the use of turbocharging to loads of enthusiasts. At the track days, more and more customers started coming to us to turbocharge their engines, after seeing their big capacity V8s soundly thrashed by our turbocharged 1.6!”

The adventures of the Esprit

The VUDU Lotus Esprit competed in races throughout the early 80s in the Group 5 category – it was the 1980s equivalent of DTM racing today, as Tony explains:

“We took the Lotus to events all over the UK, and were even invited to race in the International Series at Donnington. At the time, the car was seen as something of an oddity, and the race organisers invited us to compete even though it didn’t comply with the regulations, as it wasn’t a production based car.”

“They thought they were doing us a bit of a favour by letting us take part, and never saw the Lotus as a threat with its 1.6 engine – I think they expected us to finish dead last! We had other ideas, and were 2nd quickest after the first qualifying, with a time that was good enough to put us 4th on the grid. We might have qualified in 1st, but technical difficulties prevented us from taking part in the second qualifying section.”

“We didn’t win the race, but some representatives from the Essen Motorshow were so impressed with the car’s performance that they wanted it to be on show at their event, and even paid for the car to be taken over to Germany, where it was a huge hit with visitors.”

The Turbocharged Revolution 1985-2000

By the mid 1980s, things had changed completely – turbochargers were everywhere, from commercial and passenger vehicles, to all forms of motorsport.

The changing climate heralded a period of development and growth at VUDU, as we gradually shifted our focus towards the growing passenger vehicle market to meet increasing demand for our services.

It was also a really exciting time on the racing side – motorsport was in its heyday, and teams in every kind of racing were coming to us for parts, repairs, advice and support. At the same time, we were also competing at events all over the UK in the company team Lotus.

Nurturing the next generation

VUDU is a family company and today, Tony’s children Andy and Emma are both involved in the day to day running of the business. Their introduction to motorsport started early, as Tony explains:

“Both Andy and Emma grew up around the business, and spent a good proportion of their school holidays here – and they were exposed to lots of racing, as I used to take them with me to all the races we did. I guess you could say it’s in their blood.”

Now the MD of VUDU, Andy remembers these early trips fondly:

“I’ve loved motorsport for as long as I can remember, which probably stems from Dad’s influence, going to see the VUDU car racing at all the events and hanging around the business so much as a child.”

“I always wanted to be involved in the racing side, and as soon as I was old enough, I started karting. I competed for a few years, and ended up winning the 2002 British Superkart Championship, the Isle of Man Kart Grand Prix, and even competed in the European Superkart championship – all with lots of encouragement from my father.”

Turbo domination

In the mid 1980s, motorsport was at the height of its popularity, and turbochargers were everywhere. In 1983, Nelson Piquet became the first driver to win a F1 Drivers’ championship in a turbocharged car, and a similar pattern was emerging across motorsport, as Tony explains:

“Everywhere you looked, turbochargers were starting to take over, from the Porsches that were dominating the Group 5 racing scene, to the successful Group B Rally cars and all the winning teams at Le Mans.”

“This was great for business, as the KKK turbos that we had the exclusive UK agency for were quickly becoming the number one motorsport turbocharger.”

“We provided parts, support and repairs for UK based racing teams, as well as enthusiasts and racers at every level of motorsport. By the 90s, big names like Paul Edwards, Richard Cleare and Dudley Wood were all relying on us for their turbocharger repairs.”

Research and development with Shell

By the end of the 1980s, the rising popularity of turbochargers in the passenger vehicle market brought about a series of new challenges for manufacturers. One of the problems they were facing was that engine oils simply weren’t designed to work with turbocharged engines.

At VUDU, we played an integral part in helping to innovate and develop new oils designed specifically for turbocharged engines:

“The problem was that the old engine oils couldn’t stand up to the heat of a turbocharged engine – they used to carbonise and clog up the turbocharger, which was causing serious reliability issues and artificially shortening their lifespans. There was a real demand for new, more robust oils that would work with the turbos.”

“We ended up working with Shell Research at Thornton on their development project, supplying them with turbochargers for the testing of their new specially designed oils, and helping them to pioneer some of the products that are still in use today.”

Evolution of the Lotus – Part 1: tinkering

Whilst the VUDU Lotus Esprit had enjoyed a series of successes in the early 1980s, the Group 5 regulations were changing, and the car needed to be tweaked:

“We developed the car so we could continue to compete in the Group 5 races, and bought a new 2.2 Lotus engine from a Sunbeam-Talbot rally car. We made some modifications to the engine, fitting it with a turbocharger, altering the compression ratio and fitting some bespoke pistons from Cosworth.”

“Tony Sugden won some races in it, but we were never completely happy with that configuration. There were a few reliability issues, and several technical problems. We contacted Lotus, but they didn’t want to get involved, so in the end, we decided to make some much bigger changes…”

Evolution of the Lotus - Part 2: The Icon

In 1990, we decided it was time to completely revolutionise the VUDU race car, both inside and out:

“We completely overhauled the car – putting a new Skoda body on the chassis, and replacing the old Lotus engine with a turbocharged Ford Cosworth RS500. It was a massive improvement, and became an instant success.”

“With Tony Sugden behind the wheel, the ‘Lotus’, as we still affectionately called it, went on to become one of the most successful and iconic club racing cars of the 1990s.”

“Marcus Pye road-tested it for Autosport magazine, and said it was one of the best cars he had ever driven, but it was the performance on the track where it really stood out and made its legacy.”

“Between 1990 and 2003, the VUDU Engineering Skoda recorded 242 overall wins in the Special Saloons races – and in 1999, it was the 3rd most successful car in the UK! We ended up selling the car to Tony in 2003, who raced it up until a couple of years ago.”

Audi & Pikes Peak

Pikes Peak is the highest mountain in Colorado, and has been synonymous with turbocharging since the early part of the 20th century, when early pioneers used to test their aviation turbochargers up there.

It’s also the host of The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, also known as “The Race to The Clouds”, an annual automobile and motorcycle event. During the 80s and 90s, we used to provide turbocharger repairs for some of the entrants:

“The Audi Quattro was a really popular car with entrants, and they were all fitted with KKK turbochargers. We got involved via one of my old friends, Terry Hoyle, who was repairing the engines on the Audi Quattro Group 5 Rally cars for Audi UK via David Sutton Motorsport, and he used to send all the turbos back to us. These cars were being driven by the likes of Hannu Mikkola, Michèle Mouton and Stig Blomqvist.”

“The Pikes Peak race is an amazing event, and a real showcase for the power of turbocharging – all the cars use them to bump up the horsepower and counteract the power loss caused by the altitude.”

The rise of the family business

Tony’s son Andy joined VUDU in 1993, just as the business was starting to change, as Andy explains:

“It all happened by accident really. I studied computer aided engineering at University, and was working for myself as a consultant, when my father asked me whether I could give him a hand with a few computer bits at work…”

“We only had one computer at the time, which was used for stock control – I came in and computerised the whole company. It just grew from there really, I was spending more and more time in the business, and before I knew it I was completely sucked in!”

In 1997, the business became even more of a family affair, when Tony’s daughter Emma joined the business; she is now Company Secretary.

The changing business landscape

In the 90s, it wasn’t just the company that was developing – the business landscape was also changing, as Andy explains:

“The business had always been focused on repairing and replacing turbos for the big commercial vehicle market, but by the time I joined, things were changing. The big continental manufacturers were taking their business back in house, rather than outsourcing it to companies like VUDU, so we had to diversify.”

“We shifted our focus to the rapidly developing passenger car market, working with everyone from drivers to garages – much as we do today. As the number of turbocharged passenger vehicles on the road started to rise, a new market was also developing….that of the performance enthusiasts.”

Innovation, Performance & Power, The Modern Era 2000 Onwards

Whilst the sale of the VUDU car at the turn of the millennium marked the end of our active involvement with racing, we’ve maintained a strong presence in the motorsport market.

In fact, the motorsport and performance side of the business has become even more integral to VUDU and over the past 15 years, we’ve completed many of our most ambitious and exciting projects – pushing boundaries and setting records in the process.

The heritage and years of experience have only heightened our passion for motorsport, and we’re more committed than ever to helping our customers to stand out from the competition and achieve their performance goals.

Investing in innovation – Turbosmart

When Andy took over VUDU as MD in 2001, he was determined to build on the proud motorsport heritage his father had created. One of the first decisions was to expand the performance side of the business, as he explains:

“By the year 2000, the performance enthusiast market was booming, and VUDU’s association with motorsport turbos meant that our customers were always asking us for associated performance products.”

“Soon after I became MD, an Australian company called Turbosmart got in touch and asked us to be the UK distributor for a range of performance products, like wastegates, boost controllers and blow off valves.”

“Whilst we could have gone for a range of lesser brands, that simply isn’t the VUDU way – we are not a company that compromises! It was a perfect fit – Turbosmart share our values and commitment to quality and innovation, their products are absolutely fantastic, and we’ve worked closely with them ever since.”

Investing in innovation – the Dyno

The performance side of the business was growing quickly, and by 2004, VUDU was expanding its premises to meet demand. Soon, we were supplying performance turbos and accessories to a new generation of tuners and end users across the UK – but something was missing:

“VUDU were selling lots of turbochargers and performance products, but we weren’t getting enough high quality feedback – so we decided to invest in our own Dyno.”

“We had a separate building created, and invested in state of the art equipment that’s designed to provide us with first hand diagnostic information about the performance of our turbochargers.”

“It’s a really advanced, super-accurate measuring suite that delivers fantastic results – so that we can help our customers to squeeze every last drop of performance and power from their engines. It also enabled us to start getting involved with some really high-end motorsport project work.”

Project GTsT and Project Zed

We’re always looking at ways to push the boundaries of what people believe is possible, and in 2009, we were invited to work on a Nissan Skyline GTsT for Abby Motorsport.

It was the start of something really special, as Andy explains:

“Working alongside Brams Racing, our talented team started out by producing a one off GT45/47R hybrid turbo for the car. It was a huge success, and helped the vehicle became the fastest Skyline on the planet in 2010!”

“On the back of the Skyline’s success, we were then asked to help out on a Nissan 350Z drag car, codenamed Project Zed.”

“As part of the project, we developed and produced a pair of specially tailored hybrid S400 turbos, and fitted some bespoke V-Band turbine housings. We then teamed up with our partners over at Turbosmart to develop a bespoke wastegate just for the car.”

“Today, Project Zed is Europe’s fastest Japanese car, holding the record for the highest top speed and fastest quarter-mile. It’s a real showcase of what VUDU could do, but the work isn’t finished, Project Zed is an on-going project.”

“We’re always looking at ways to improve the car, and have set ourselves the ambitious goal to go one further and make it the fastest Japanese car in the world!”

The Saker RapX

In 2012, VUDU Performances invested in a Saker, with the ambition of making it even better. We launched the Saker Voodoo RapX project at the 2012 Autosport Show, and it was hugely popular with both visitors and journalists alike.

Our aim is to showcase what it is that makes VUDU special. The Saker is already an amazing, lightweight and beautiful car and with a 2.0litre 270bhp Subaru engine, it has plenty of power under the bonnet…but we want to take it to the next level.

In true VUDU fashion, we’re taking things to the limit, pushing the boundaries and seeing how much additional power and performance we can squeeze out of it.

Over the coming year, we’re going to be maximising the Saker’s bhp with an innovative, customised hybrid Borg Warner Turbo, fitting bespoke internals to the engine, upgrading the ECU and refining the dynamics – and that’s just for starters…

Eventually, we want to test it at the Nürburgring and find out just how fast it can go.

Other racing successes

In addition to VUDU Performances’ on-going special project work, we’ve maintained our involvement with top racing teams from across the UK and beyond.

Over the past decade, we’ve continued to supply turbocharger parts, consultancy and repair services to big players in UK motorsport, including Ricardo Motorsport’s R&D department, Abbey Motorsport/Brams Racing, Roger Clark Motorsport and United Autosport.

Notable projects have included the repair of the turbos on Ayrton Senna’s F1 winning Lotus, and providing parts and development work for the turbocharger on Petter Solberg’s WRC rally car.