When Poppy’s mapping slot opened up last-minute, we went full send on her R32 GTST. One weekend, one all-nighter, and a shiny new top mount turbo later — the car was ready to rip. No sleep, all boost, and just enough time to make the dyno. Drift mode: activated.
You know how it goes — sometimes things line up, and you’ve just got to get stuck in. That was the case when Poppy landed a last-minute mapping slot with Greg at ProTuner. The catch? We had three days to get her R32 GTST ready — start to finish.
No time for messing around.
Now first lets have a look at what we started with
The Plan: More Boost, More Control
The car was already a decent setup, but with the power upgrades planned, it needed a serious refresh to handle what was coming. The job list was solid:
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Install a Link ECU
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Fit a Track Tuned Parts top-mount manifold
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Bolt on a Pulsar turbo
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Fit a Track Tuned Parts carbon intake
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Tidy and repaint the engine bay
On paper, simple enough. In reality? Flat out from the first spanner turn to the last bolt.
Day One: Strip Down and Start Fresh
We kicked things off by ripping out the old turbo setup and prepping for the new top-mount.
While half the team cracked on with the hardware, Lee got stuck into the engine bay — degreased, stripped back, and repainted it. No half-measures. Clean bay = easier to work on, easier to spot issues, and looks 10x better. We also provided some freshly painted rocker covers, in white to match in with the colour of the car
The new Track Tuned Parts manifold slotted in nicely — we’ve built these to be a clean fit with Pulsar turbos, so no drama there. Everything lined up as it should, even with the tight clearances in the R32 bay.
Day Two: Turbo On, Intake On, Wiring Begins
With the bay looking fresh and the manifold mounted, it was time to fit the Pulsar top-mount turbo. This setup gives better flow, more response, and crucially, headroom for tuning.
We also threw on the Track Tuned Parts carbon intake, which isn’t just for looks — it gives proper airflow and tucks in cleanly around the turbo pipes and power steering.
Meanwhile, wiring for the Link ECU started in the background. Not the most exciting job, but it’s where the power comes from, so it had to be right.
Day Three: Late Night, Last Bits, No Room for Error
With everything nearly together, we hit it hard for the final stretch. Late night turned into early morning, sorting boost lines, checking wiring, tightening everything, and making sure nothing was left half-done. You don’t want loose ends when you’re heading to a dyno session.
The car was then checked over — no leaks, no dramas. Just a freshly upgraded RB, ready to make some power.
Mapping Day: ProTuner Time
We rolled into ProTuner with about 3 hours of sleep between the lot of us, but the car was ready. Greg gave everything a look over and got to work on the rollers. Numbers will come later, but let’s just say the setup worked exactly how we wanted it to.
The Link ECU + Pulsar turbo combo gave proper power, solid response, and enough flexibility to go harder later if needed.
Job Done
From start to finish, this was a solid team effort. Three days, no shortcuts, and a proper result. The new setup gives Poppy the power and reliability to hit drift days without worry — and the car looks tidy doing it.
Greg did an amazing job and squeezing 408 wheel horse power out of the little unopened RB20, thats roughly 480hp at the flywheel.
Also big thank you to greg for completing wiring we were unable to do before the mapping session. This shows the track tuned parts set up is the way to go for these little RB20s.
Also a shout out to Poppy for using us with her car and having faith in the set up to produce the power it does. Hopeful have a lot more posts of Poppy's drifting journey and how her car holds up after these events.
