Ned Kuko gets attached to cars. He doesn’t turn & burn ‘em. And to me, I’ve always respected that trait in car culture – loyalty. It shows there’s more to all this metal than just materialism. And a value that’s more than monetary. Something still alive in car culture and in us – that beats the odds of commerce & consumption. Hell, perhaps I’m just an old, poetic soul… looking for deeper meanings. But I respect a man who doesn’t bandwagon. This is Ned Kuko’s 1990 Toyota Soarer.
This Toyota Soarer currently has the 8HP transmission…
The 8HP is an automatic 8-speed setup that electronically simulates a true manual transmission. It’s making its way through the aftermarket on higher horsepower builds. But for Ned – it took the soul away from the car. It’s a great transmission if you’re building a daily driver, a drag car, or a drift car. But if you’re a spirited driver & want to feel that raw, mechanical soul of a car, then 8HP isn’t it. Ned’s currently going back to a true manual.
We live in a cookie-cutter, cheat-code era…
Where everyone follows each other. Trends go viral now, and spread globally like wildfire. They’re not as regional & underground as they used to be. And that’s a huge contributing factor to why everything comes out looking the same. Same cars… same tunes… same style (or lack of)… same everything. But then again – what do you expect when everyone builds cars for content? Right?
Today’s world revolves around instant gratification, and the dopamine hit that comes with a like or a share. You don’t have time to take your time… when the algorithm demands content everyday. Ahh but here’s the catch though: It was that time… that built true authenticity. That built genuine style, character, and grit. And put the culture in car culture.
This era of relentless overexposure…
Is more chaotic & superficial than most of us realize. For example, magazines were chill. You willingly picked up a magazine & gave it your attention. And mags took that fire/passion that was inside you… and they stoked it. They left you with an energy inside that kept you hungry for more. And that more translated into motivation, curiosity, creativity, and excitement. Today however – media doesn’t come in the mailbox once a month. It’s not discovered on the newsstand. Rather, it beats you over the head every time you unconsciously pick up your phone because God forbid you sit with your own thoughts for a minute. Result: We’re not hungry anymore; we’re overstimulated.
Today’s media (social media) over-shouts itself – screaming & clawing for your attention. It’s filtered through an algorithm. That’s a crucial sentence, because it means the machine decides what you see – you don’t. And creators implement whatever cheap tricks it takes – to trick you into watching. They’re either trying to sell you something, or you’ve become the product, and your attention is their revenue stream. There’s absolutely some great content out there, but the platform has become chaotic & overstimulating. And it causes premature disinterest, numbness, shallowness, and burnout.
Ned is ultra-grateful he came up in a golden era…
As kids, we didn’t know how good we had it, or that we’d ever lose it. But we did feel the energy in the moment! It was real. The early-2000s was a time where cars were affordable, exciting, engaging, and invited the aftermarket in. Ned built this 1990 Toyota Soarer from the ground up. There’s no loaded tune, and there’s nothing else quite like it. The world’s largely taken that away from us today… at least with respect to newer cars. And honestly I’m not sure if we’ll ever see it again… unless we (especially the youth) get loud & start demanding it. And as F’ed as it sounds, those demands have to come on a political level as well as a consumer level. Because they are taking (not giving) your freedoms. And with each passing year, the memory gets more fairytale as the new subscription & monitored reality sets in.
If we back it up about a decade & a half…
Ned was looking for a Lexus SC300 for a 1JZ swap project. He wasn’t too familiar with the Toyota Soarer, but he stumbled on one for sale that was already here in the US. It was an ’88 model, and that became Ned’s first Toyota Soarer. He went down all the rabbit holes & fell in love.
Ned was pretty deep in the North American Toyota Soarer community…
And there was a dude (named Mike) who was LS-swapping his 1990 Soarer. Ned went out of his way to help however he could, sharing whatever knowledge/info he had. Well, one day Mike messaged him & said “Hey I know you’re looking for a bumper; I’m selling some parts & wanted to give you first dibs.” It turns out Mike was abandoning the whole project & parting out the car. Ned was like, “Wait wait… 1) Don’t do that. And 2) If you DO, how much would you want for the whole car?” $1,200 was the magic number. So Ned grabbed his trailer & headed up to Ohio… or somewhere around there.
Today – this Toyota Soarer makes 1,116whp with a 1.5JZ…
1.5 means it’s a 2JZ block with a 1JZ head. Non-VVTi; just pure rawness. This particular 2JZ block was built by Titan Motorsports. Downside of a 1.5JZ: The 1JZ head doesn’t flow quite as well as a 2JZ. But at 1,116hp, it seems like it flows just fine to me lol. Upside of a 1.5JZ: The 1JZ head revs a little higher, and it’s got raw/raspy/nasty revs. Ned just fell in love with it, and now, everything he does has the 1JZ head.
And numbers never tell the whole story, but damn let’s just mention that horsepower number one more time. This gen-2 Toyota Soarer revs to 8600rpm, and makes 1,116whp and 798wtq! It’s tuned by the GOAT, Freddy at Spec Tuned. When Ned told me the power this thing makes, I was downright flabbergasted! That’s A LOT for a car that looks like a clean JDM Florida street car lol. But Ned tends to throw curveballs like that. For example…
Titanium…
Ned’s obsessed with it. Virtually every universal-type bolt on this Toyota Soarer – from the engine, to the interior, to the wheels – is titanium. There’s $1,000 in titanium bolts in just the wheels alone! And probably $7,500 worth of titanium bolts in the whole car! That’s kind of nucking futs! It’s got custom Titanium intercooler & intake piping, which is obviously awesome. But even the stuff you’ll never see, like the bolts inside the doors that mount the door handles – yep – titanium!
One of the coolest parts of car culture…
Is when it starts to teach you things about yourself. See in your youth, you tend to like kickass cars because they kick ass. There’s not much philosophy behind it. Turbos & Taco Bell baby! Ain’t doggin’ that!
But as you get more life & perspective under your belt, you also really start to vibe with ‘the why’ behind car culture. Cars become a connection the character, soul, grit, nuance, & style we see fading from the world. A world that seems more-&-more funneled into cookie-cutter, padded, comfortable, convenient detachment & distraction. The cars we build – become a metaphorical way of grounding ourselves to our values & holding the line. And the fact that they totally kick ass, is bonus.
Photos by @refinedphocus & @foxz.photography
1990 Z20 Toyota Soarer
Engine
1.5JZ-GTE
Titan Motorsports – 10.6:1 compression
Billet main caps, stock bored block
BC 272 cams & supporting mods
Hand-ported cylinder head
Precision 7275 Next Gen dual ball-bearing turbo
Future Fab turbo manifold
Single Turbosmsart wastegate 50mm, custom-mounted to turbo housing directly, dual mac valve for boost control
Custom 4” oval exhaust to a round tip
Custom 4.5” intercooler core with titanium piping
Dual Injector Dynamics 1050X injectors on a custom single rail manifold
Bosch 82mm drive-by-wire setup
Controlled by a Haltech Nexus R3 for the engine
TurboLamik TCU for the transmission
Haltech UC-10 10” screen w/ custom original-style Z20 Soarer layout by Claudio
Stock 8HP70 transmission from a 2025 BMW diesel X5 using a Domiworks adapter kit
22-gallon Radium fuel cell
4 Walbro 525 hellcat pumps
Custom rear MK3 Supra subframe w/ Ford 8.8 IRS diff
Suspension pieces, subframes (& diff) all powdercoated
Driveshaft Shop 2000hp axles
3.5in carbon driveshaft
Rear-mounted electric power steering
Custom wiring harness done in-house by Ned
Wheels / Brakes / Suspension
Work Meister S1 wheels in 18×9 front & 18×10.5 rear
Feals coilovers
Agile Performance front upper control arms
Full Battle Version rear suspension pieces
MK3 Supra Whiteline swaybars
MK3 Supra rear brakes
6-piston Seika front big brake kit
Exterior
Factory aero kit
Aftermarket cheap/disposable flares
Retrofitted projector headlights (by Ned in-house)
Interior
Bride Gias II carbon back seats
Early heat-sensing touchscreen for AC/heat, replaced with TurboLamik transmission TCU
