Had a chance to take a joyride in the highly coveted latest Civic Type-R a.k.a FD2R, courtesy of a friend of mine; this is one fine breed of a street / race machine straight off the factory ~ powered by the potent tuned K20A1, race prepped chassis, fine-tuned handling, close-ratio 6-speed manual transmission, significant reduction in weight compared to the base model, aero-effect parts, a set of light weight forged rims & rubber slicks ~ all in stock trim. But as with any true tuning enthusiast, stock is never good enough, since there is always more performance potential to be realized, even from a legendary R-breed. This particular example is anything but stock; she has been graciously endowed with quite a bit of bolt-on go-fast bits from reknowned brand names that would make any motorheads drool over. Modification list includes a full intake & exhaust system upgrade (J’s racing titanium muffler rocks big time!), oversized pistons?, Ogura racing clutch, 18” Mugen GP forged rims + Toyo 888 slicks, Hondata K-Pro ECU, electronic throttle controller, a host of Defi gauges & an ultra cool (& expansive) Gtech-Pro EGS (Expandable Gauge System) ~ basically a multi-display meter with in-built self-contained data logger that can be easily configured to tap into existing engine sensors to capture multiple engine parameters in real-time driving condition and then be played back to facilitate DIY fine-tuning of the K-Pro plug-n-play programmable ECU. Oh yea, did i mention he’s got the Sabelt 4-point harness installed on the bucket seats as well. I’ve yet to see another brand new 200K FD2R done up to this extent, in Kuching... This baby really runs, handles & sounds like a focussed track car; it’s f*cking loud! Even with the reasonably well insulated cabin of newer cars of such stature, it’s still deafening inside the cabin with the windows all rolled up when this baby runs on all cylinders with the VTEC orchestra on full song all the way to the redline! The handling of the stock suspension & brakes are pretty impressive, *i likey* though may be a tad too stiff for some. According to the owner, it’s nothing to shout about, just yet; he’s commission another race-built K20A engine with K24 block in progress.... now that’s going to be a monster engine once it’s complete!
This is his other race-built engine; of the B-series which i could relate to better, coz afterall i’m running a similar B16A currently. It’s a B16 / B20 hybrid stroked to 2.2L with *if i can recall correctly* Skunk2 Pro Stage 3 cams + valves + valve train, Toda adjustable cam gears, S2 Pro series intake manifold, Super90 70mm throttle body, ported & polished head, forged JE pistons, balanced crankshaft with ACL race bearings, lightened flywheels, upgraded fuel line & injectors, manual transmission with LSD + 3,4,5 Kaaz gear ratios, running on Hondata S300 ECU & the long list goes on & on...
Not sure how much horsepower this monster engine makes, but the rough estimate in the region of 250 to 300 horses at the flywheel sounds reasonable conservative. On the quartermile run this engine had easily recorded a 12 second-ish mark on a 800 ++ kg stripped out 2nd generation Prelude engine on bald tires... That’s awesomely fast for an NA car. I wonder how it’ll perform if i were to plunk this monster engine into my car.... =D
And then there’s also my mate’s auto EG9 B16/B20 hybrid. Though on different league compared to the earlier purpose-built race machines, due to the nature of the modification levels, this light-tune hybrid powered ride of my friend is also a force to reckon... Still retaining the stock head mated with the stock auto slush box with only the block modification, this ride can also pull hard all the way to the redline; it’s got tons of torque at the low end coz of the increased engine capacity, good for a strong launch. Pitting it against my mildly modded 1.6l, i think i’m going to have problems outrunning his car despite my gear ratio advantage. When it comes to making horsepower, there is no replacement for displacement (cc); or you can cheat by turbocharging or supercharging the engine... For the tuning path for NA B-series, B16/B20 combos are the way to go; people keep telling me i’d be wasting $$ putting more modifications into the torqueless B16 engine. Somehow, i’m stubbornly insisting on realizing 200-horses from my tiny NA 1.6L 4-cylinder screamer. Will see how it’s going to turn out to be in the near future. =)
Here’s a testament to why the days of the puny B16 ain’t over yet. I’ve posted this video before; just can’t get enough of the noise of VTECs on steroids!
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