fj cruiser

Off-road race vehicles have to deal with lots of dirt and hot air. So optimizing filtration and grabbing cold air to make more power are essential for a team like Off Track Motorsports, that’s run by John Mathews at Auburn Car Repair and Off Road. Mathews wanted a performance intake system for the FJ cruiser he drives in the Sportsman 1800 class, and Volant suggested he try the company’s air intake, equipped with the PowerCore filter. “We won two Bonneville Off-road Racing Association events last year, (Wendover 300 and Jackpot 250),” says Mathews. We then DNF’d at Vegas to Reno after a failed throwout bearing/clutch took us out around race mile 350.”

Mathews, teamed up with Volant after meeting them a vendor show and found out how the air intake and PowerCore filter works. The team was offered a system to try out and Mathews liked how it worked out. “We have had very good luck running the filters, and have had no engine issues or even really plugged a filter up,” says Mathews. “We ran V2R last year and changed the filter halfway through. I believe we ran one filter each for the prior 300 and 250 mile races. They would probably have lasted longer, but in all honesty, in this type of racing, we don’t leave that type of stuff to chance. We like to start each race with a fresh filter.

Along with team partner, David Zartman at 4WD Toyota Owner Magazine, Mathews uses their sponsorship and promotion of Volant to sell his customers on the products. “We do lots of diesel performance stuff in my shop, and the Volant is normally my first recommendation, strictly based on my personal experience with the filters,” He says. “I’m not a fan of the K&N filters, and simply explaining the differences between the styles of filters to my customers and my recommendation, is normally enough to sell my customers on the product.”

You can follow Mathews and his FJ Cruiser racing team on their Facebook page, www.facebook.com/offtrackmotorsports, as they prepare for the next Best In The Desert (BITD) race from Vegas to Reno. For more information on Volant Cool Air Intakes, visit www.volant.com.

By DS Media Relations