Most racers have fancy cars and invest a lot of money in modifying their rides. Drag racer Zain Mosheen Khan, however, drives a simple car with a stock engine with no modification done at all.
It might be an ordinary car but surprisingly his 2005 model 1.5L Toyota Prius has won him 12 trophies in the Pacific Energy quarter mile drag race.
Of the 12 trophies he won six trophies in the 17 seconds category, and three awards for the fastest in the Under 21 hybrid vehicle category. Mr Khan also scooped the 2017 series award while his wife Michelle was the runner up for the U2l women’s category in 2017.
Mr Khan, now 27, is still in the mix of racers and harbours plans to modify his car at the end of the year — but for the time being he is satisfied with what he has.
“It is not always about modifying your car, but also about what the stock engine gives you that you want to achieve in terms of power and speed,” he said.
Mr Khan said his passion for fast cars began as a child, rubbing off from his older relatives.
From that day until now he said he never let go of that dream. Married with two children to support, Khan a professional mechanic owns the Suva Car Rentals Limited at Valelevu in Nasinu.
He said his Toyota Prius has a 110 hp engine and it was a gift from his wife and mother-in-law.
The Prius is a street legal race with a speed of 180kmh.
“I have gone up to 175kmh on this vehicle and the tyres were bought from Auto Care (Fiji) Limited,” Mr Khan said.
Mr Khan said he then bought a twin-cab engine for his car and used it for the drags and from there onwards he got more involved in the motor sports.
He says modifying a car is not an easy job because it takes a lot of time and patience.
“For us drivers especially car lovers, our vehicles mean everything, we dress it, nurture it and feed it with the best oils possible.”
He named the A31 Nissan Cefiro as his dream car. Khan advises the public not to give up no matter how challenging things may go.
He says he hopes to see more hybrid cars join the drag race.
Khan also acknowledged the Fiji Hybrid team for their continuous support especially his team mates Iqraan, Rehaan, Nafiz and Abdul Nawaz for making sure that his car was ready for the race.
“Shafeel Alfaz Mohammed is the man behind the scene. Without his hard work and motivation I would not be able to take part in the race.”
He also acknowledged the support of his mum, wife and children who always pushed him to take part and made him realise that there was always room for improvement and that nothing would bring him down.
