Oh wait, it isn't...
850 hp.Mark McNabb wrote:This is the coolest Camry you will ever see, hands down. From the outside, the inconspicuous four-door sedan looks just as normal as the next Camry in the parking lot. However, this one has a hidden secret. It rocks a supercharged 5.7-liter V-8 shot with wet nitrous, a six-speed automatic transmission, and the rear axle borrowed from a Toyota Tundra, all nestled within a tube frame chassis.
The only real identifier of this Camry’s high-horsepower potential is the massive 335-series Hoosier drag slicks perched under the rear end. Otherwise, the car somehow looks completely stock. Even the wheels are the standard fair. While the car hasn’t made a run yet, the Toyota engineers expect to see the quarter-mile pass by in 9.80 seconds.
“This Camry is the ultimate sleeper,” says Chuck Wade, Motorsports Technical Center Director. “It definitely has the element of surprise on its side and more than enough muscle to drop the hammer on any unsuspecting car that pulls up,” The Motorsports Technical Center is where all the magic took place over some 11 weeks under the watchful eye of Steve Appelbaum. “This is the most extreme build we’ve ever unveiled at SEMA,” he says.
The Toyota team has done a fantastic job making the Camry dragster look stock. Every detail down to the car’s original 18-inch wheels is present. Of course, those rear wheels had to be widened quite a bit to fit the 335/30/18 Hoosier drag slicks.
While the outside of this Camry looks stock, the same definitely can’t be said for the interior. Gone are the updated dashboard for 2015, the comfortable seats front and rear, and all signs of normal amenities. In place of all that is a bare tube-frame chassis that runs under the car’s exterior skin. A single racing seat remains for the driver, with an Autometer digital dash gauge cluster providing stats on the engine.
Entering into the Sleeper Camry is not accomplished the normal way. The entire body shell opens up like a clam, giving the driver access to the seat and mechanics easy access to every component of the car. Toyota does boast the doors do open, but it seems the placement of the roll cage would make entering that way a bit of a contortionist move.
Of course this is where the fun originates. The Toyota team borrowed a 5.7-liter V-8 from a Tundra pickup and swapped in some forged pistons and connecting rods for greater strength. Then a TRD supercharger was bolted inside the engine’s vee, along with the injectors for the wet nitrous system. A massive air intake pipe provides all the cool air the V-8 needs, and is capped by a high-flow cone-style air filter. A set of gnarly headers dumps that used air right behind the front tire, completely free of mufflers. All told the engine puts out an amazing 850 horsepower. (I’m sure Tundra owners are already contemplating the possibilities.)
The power is sent through a six-speed automatic transmission also sourced from a Tundra. It sends torque through a beefy driveshaft to another Tundra-supplied part: the rear axle. The unit is held in place by a four-link system with coil-over shocks.
Toyota is expecting the Sleeper Camry to run 9.80 seconds in the quarter-mile when it finally hits the strip.
http://www.topspeed.com/cars/toyota/201 ... 66135.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;