Our Race Taxi. Based on a VW Vanagon (or transporter like they're called in Finland).

More pictures and build diary at our homepage: www.ratataksi.com

We've done some basic modifications to prepare it for race track use: Roll cage, Subaru WRX engine, limited slip gear box, upgraded brake and suspension, race seats with six-point harness. The car has also been lightened a bit and lexan side windows have been installed.

Where we started from.

Some pictures of when we made the roll cage. The tubes are quite much longer than usually.

The Subaru engine. The shortest for the exhaust required drilling a hole to the side of the body.

The brakes. The bigger disc is what is currently going to the rear. The stock brakes only last one lap at a race track, it's not difficult to see why. :-)

Exterior and interior shots.

Some night time shots. We had to take the car out a bit to see how the black bumpers and skirts look like on the car.

The wheel adapter parts for center mount wheels. Also a shot of the interior. We also have a 11" screen mounted to the roof so the passengers in the rear can see whats going on behind.

The car washed and ready for the show. We had to add a sticker to give people a hint of what's the driving force for the car.

A picture of the front and girls. The only real input we got was that it's a bit uncomfortable to climb into the car if you are wearing a short skirt. I guess race cars aren't supposed to be comfortable daily drivers.

As soon as the car show was over, we modified the wheel arches so that the front wheels wouldn't hit them when they are steered to full lock while in full bump.

Picture of the service van and race taxi side by side and the car on the track

A couple more shots to show it from every side.

The first track day didn't go as planned. The car worked great the first half lap, then it was only trouble. The engine would sputter when on boost and we kept searching for the culprit all day. The day ended for us when the engine started to make a noise. We suspect the connecting rod bearings.

The day wasn't a complete waste, we got valuable info of the car and had a few passengers onboard. All passengers were impressed with the ride even though the engine wasn't working properly. The suspension was also pretty good considering that we didn't get the stiff front springs in time for this event.

One week until next track event. Should be ready by then.

Dyno run. 284hp and 391Nm corrected crank horsepower.

Drag run, resulted in another broken engine...

A video from late this summer. A Mitsubishi Evo 9 on the left lane.

A video from the same event from the outside. The track was still wet when we were running.

Car seems to be running well at the moment. We've been driving it several days on the street and been to different car events. We've had small issues like always with a new car, but after each weekend the car has been in driving condition and haven't broken the engine after the beginning of this summer.