Ain't No Show Ho

From the April, 2008 issue of Honda Tuning
By Joey Lee
Photography by Rodrez

If any thoughts come immediately to mind at the mention of the seventh-generation Civic it's highly unlikely that you're imagining anything special. In fact, we're willing to bet the most common response you'd hear upon first glance at the EP hatchback is: "I liked the older one better." Ejay Cruz didn't argue with popular opinion, but limited choices can do that to an individual. At the time of his purchase, the Corona, Calif., native was rolling around town in a '01 Prelude with basic bolt-ons accompanied by unintentional modifications-incorrect timing, bent valves, broken motor mounts and a desperate cry for help. "We believed that the car was boosted before I had it," Ejay says, "but I didn't know anything and I mean anything about Hondas."

A quick trip with dad to the dealership resulted in a '04 Civic Si hatchback. Faced with the opportunity to finally work on something that ran properly, Ejay wasted no time jumping into modding his EP3. "I immediately dropped it with Neuspeed springs and put a Type R wing on it to try and stay away from the hideous 'egg/minivan' look that everyone called the EP when it first came out."

When Ejay was 18 he decided to concentrate his energy on teaching himself any and everything there was to know about Hondas so that "the ghost of broken Prelude's past" wouldn't return to haunt him. With his newfound knowledge, Ejay determined his first step would be to make the vehicle more aesthetically pleasing. "I hated how the '04-'05 EP3s came with the bubble headlights, so I decided to fully convert the front end to a '02 Type R spec front," Ejay says.

Chuck and Rocky at Showstoppers USA were summoned for the entire JDM front conversion along with an ber-rare Walker Japan front lip. He topped off the rest of the exterior by installing paint-matched VIS Racing side skirts, a rear lip and wing.

Though the build was off to a great start, things continued to get better thanks to a new sales job at local shop, Tunerz Image. Not only was the job itself good news but Ejay was also able to conserve gas since he no longer had to drive back and forth to order parts. Although he also had no one to blame but himself when parts arrived late. Knowing that future paychecks would ultimately end up in the hands of his employer, Ejay continued his project by upgrading the suspension with Buddy Club N+ Spec dampers. Diamond Black 17x8 Volk Racing CE28N wheels wrapped with Falken Ziex rubber came soon after.

No show car is complete without the essential interior goodies so Ejay directed his attention toward the vehicle's control center. Giving the pilot of this Taffeta White EP perfect driving posture is a Recaro Pole Position seat and a four-point Takata racing harness. All creature comforts for the rear passengers are long gone because the rears have been gutted-sound dampening tar and all-and color-matched to the car's exterior. Guiding this EP about Southern California's highways is a classically stylish Nardi Deep Corn steering wheel mounted on a combination of a Mugen boss hub and NRG V2.0 quick release. The quick release, of course, is used to show off the Nardi wheel and to take up dining table space when Ejay is out with his girlfriend at the Cheesecake Factory.

Once the exterior and interior were complete, Ejay felt it was finally ready to see the showroom floor. Finally getting a chance to show off his ride in all its glory, Ejay soon found out his friends had come up with a new moniker for him. "I wanted to prove to everyone that this 'minivan' isn't just a 'show ho', (a name) which my friends always called me," he says.

While we have no idea what the relevancy of brilliantly crafted gardening tools is here, the namesake motivated Ejay to give his friend Vi at JVT Performance a call regarding a certain K-series turbo kit that had recently been completed. Just out of the prototyping stages and into his hands he, along with his crew (Jerkwrench) and the MAHU-built family, went straight to work on mating the kit to its new home. "To make the build a lot easier, we stripped down the engine bay and took out the motor, dropping it from the bottom of the car along with the subframe," he says.

A Clutchnet six-puck clutch and Evolution Industries flywheel were also installed. As soon as the turbo kit and assorted upgrades were installed the newly boosted Civic made its way to Bisimoto Race Engineering where infamous drag racer Bisi Ezerioha was called upon to tune the K engine. "We ended up with 242 hp and 219 lb-ft of torque at 10 psi of boost," Ejay says. "However, we were losing power due to restrictions with some of the piping, which was all banged up from the car being too low to the ground."

What's next for the Jerkwrench EP? "The car is done, I'm going to test it out and see how it does at the track," Ejay says.

His friends refer to him as a "show ho" who drives a "minivan". Gardening tools? Vans? We have no idea. We see an individual who possessed the wherewithal to take something completely ordinary and transform it into something special. Ejay will simply tell you, "It's been a long journey but this is not the last for me, I will be back, guaranteed!"

Joey Lee, . (2008). 2004 EP3 Honda Civic Si Hatchback - Ain't No Show Ho. Honda Tuning. Retrieved from http://www.hondatuningmagazine.com/features/htup_0804_2004_ep3_honda_civic_si_hatchback/index.html

2004 Honda Accord EX V6 - Anti-Estabolishment

By Aaron Bonk
Photography by Henry Z. De Kuyper
Producer: Corsport Aluminum shifter cable, Tuners Depot HID taillights


Sunny Suravarapu's '04 Accord EX V6
Nobody can ever accuse Sunny Suravarapu of succumbing to the status quo. When the Honda masses established Civics and Integras as standard issue, Sunny bought an Accord. When subtle, JDM paraphernalia became de-facto bolt-on fare, Sunny opted for more flamboyant add-ons from whereabouts non-JDM. And when Honda tuners worldwide all but shied away from multiple-turbo forced induction, Sunny bolted not one but two turbochargers onto his Accord's bright and shiny V6.

It's entirely possible that it all began with Sunny's father, a man who owned a first-generation Prelude-not a Civic. Sunny later found himself among the ranks of the fraternity that is the 1980s Japanese sport coupe aficionado, now the owner of a second-generation Prelude, and later a third-generation Prelude-both, also not Civics. It only made sense then that he purchase his friend Steve's fourth-generation Prelude (which incidentally isn't a Civic either) once it was up for sale. Problem was, Sunny's dad didn't exactly approve of his son paying for a modified car like Steve's. Turns out that Sunny wasn't interested in owning all five iterations of Honda's Prelude, though, and instead gave up on Honda's crown jewel coupe altogether and purchased an '04 Accord EX V6, which, for all intents and purposes, is also no Civic.



With one of the most under-appreciated chassis of the Honda family, Sunny is breaking the mold with his turbo V6-powered Accord.Like most fathers, Sunny's clearly forewarned against any alterations to his son's Accord. Sunny didn't listen, and the shenanigans commenced. First, he lowered the almost-new coupe with the help of Eibach springs tucked behind Blitz Technospeed rims. An AEM cold-air intake along with some in-car entertainment also caboodled their way onto Sunny's Accord, despite dad's clear instructions. And then one day Sunny's friend told him of the SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) show-the biggest automotive aftermarket gathering on Earth. This is the day that everything went terribly wrong as far as Sunny's dad is concerned.

Not long after learning of SEMA, Sunny determined that he'd have his car there in time for its 2006 engagement. Trouble was, his Accord wasn't exactly SEMA-worthy. To be sure, Sunny's Accord wasn't even ready for the Tuesday night meet-up in the nearby taco shop parking lot. Although the wheels and intake made for well-intended beginnings, the V6 two-door still fell short in terms of being anything special. External modifications like the AIT Racing body kit were Sunny's first attempts at changing all of that. Of course, an Accord of SEMA proportions almost always requires an exterior color change; Sunny's is no different. Its sheet metal is buried underneath House of Kolors Kandy Red, an appropriate juxtaposition against the bare, carbon-fiber hood, roof, roof spoiler, and trunk-also from AIT Racing. Finally, Sunny updated his Accord's wheel package with 19-inch PIAA Super Rozzas.

Satisfied with the exterior, Sunny moved on to cajoling more power out of his Accord's J-series. Yes, the seventh-generation Accord's 240hp 3.0-liter engine isn't for wussies, but when given the task of tugging around more than 3,200 pounds of metal, fabric, rubber, and glass, it can stand for improvement. Sunny called upon renowned turbocharger manufacturer Garrett for the solution. He walked away with not one but two GT25 turbochargers. Bespoke metal work plumbs the turbines into each cylinder head's exhaust manifold while each compressor is directed into custom Evolution Racewerks intercooler piping that feeds into a Yonaka Motorsports front-mount intercooler. Despite the fact that Sunny's V6 makes due with two more turbochargers than Honda thinks it should have and one more than you might expect, the layout is relatively simple and involves little more than the aforementioned bits along with a Turbo XS blow-off valve. Simplicity wins thanks to twin internal wastegates and fuel management that consists of little more than an AEM FIC piggyback unit complemented with a Walbro in-tank fuel pump and Precision Turbo fuel injectors. But simplicity aside, the configuration is good for 350 whp and 340 lb-ft torque at only 9 psi as measured on SoCal-based Church Automotive Testing's Dynapack dynamometer.

Confident that his Accord was capable of breaking off the majority of Civics and Integras that roam throughout his Upland, CA, neighborhood, Sunny moved on to the interior, where he personalized it with Yonaka Motorsports seats, custom upholstery bits, and a sizable collection of audio upgrades. All of this was good enough to earn his Accord a spot at SEMA some five years ago, however, none of this came as effortlessly as you might imagine. To be sure, the first turbo system "installer," who was compensated with little more than a case of Red Bulls, was soon superseded by one more competent. Unfortunately, it was a similar scenario in regards to Sunny's audio components. And then there was the paint shop that couldn't meet Sunny's SEMA deadline. Fortunately, Evolution Racewerks ultimately sorted out the turbo system while Xtreme Image made sure that Sunny's in-car entertainment was in working order and, somewhere along the line, the folks at M1 were able to spray the car in time.

Close your eyes and imagine the ultimate Honda build. Chances are an '04 Accord draped in slabs of carbon fiber and massive 19-inch wheels isn't what first comes to mind. And that's precisely what Sunny would hope for. In an effort to reap attention among the seemingly endless pecking order of "minty," "clean," and JDM-themed Civics and Integras, Sunny elected for something a bit more...outlandish. But it wasn't all about looks for Sunny; he'll be the first to tell you that he followed the Accord path simply because he wanted a V6. The results speak for themselves and are, at the very least, anything but status quo. Like it or not, please don't ever accuse Sunny of following the rules. Not even his dad's

By Aaron Bonk Photography by Henry Z. De Kuyper, . (2010). 2004 Honda Accord EX V6 - Anti-Estabolishment. Honda Tuning Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.hondatuningmagazine.com/features/htup_1010_2004_honda_accord_ex_v6/index.html

By David Pratte
Photography by Peter Tarach


If you've ever visited the land Down Under, where Japanese dream machines like the Nissan Skyline GT-R and Mitsubishi EVO are as commonplace as kangaroos and didgeridoos, you may have noticed that modified Hondas aren't nearly as prevalent as they are here in North America. But Sydney natives Benny and Jimmy Tran have turned their EG Civic hatchback into one of the most recognizable Hondas in the world of time attack, thanks to their surprising blend of American go-fast goodies and an impressive performance at the World Time Attack Challenge at Eastern Creek Raceway, just a stone's thrown from their backyard workshop.

The Tran brothers have always been car guys, having owned an impressive array of high-performance iron, including an R34 Skyline GT-R and an EVO VII as well as a more-Australian-than-Crocodile-Dundee Holden Commodore V-8. But they've also owned some FWD pocket rockets like a Suzuki Swift and several Honda Integras, so they had a very solid foundation to build upon. In 2005, they acquired this '92 Civic hatchback and started building it as a show car and occasional track day mule.


According to Benny, "We started by putting in a B18c Type-R engine, which was the start of things to come. That was our first engine swap, learned purely off Internet resources. Once the transplant was completed, we slowly began modding the car, starting with simple bolt-ons to the suspension. That's when I attended a club track day and fell in love with the car even more."

Now officially and completely hooked on the go-fast crack pipe, Benny and the Backyard Performance crew began looking for ways to improve their EG's performance enough so they could stake their claim to the title of Australia's fastest time attack Honda. This led to the inevitable K-series engine swap, which combined with continued development of the suspension, aero and chassis gave them a potent time attack machine that was already putting a scare into the local AWD turbo crowd.


But for the kind of violent forward thrust required to achieve their lofty goal, Benny turned to Oscar Jackson and Oscar Jr. at Kraftwerks USA for one of their Rotrex supercharger K-Race kits. According to Benny, "One of the main reasons we built this car was to have fun. Me and Jimmy discussed a built NA motor for the car initially, but when it comes down to the fun factor - the thrill of going fast - a forced induction motor was much more appealing. We spent some time reading reviews of forced induction options for a FWD time attack car and came to the conclusion that a supercharger would best suit our application. After a few consultation calls to Oscar Jr. at Kraftwerks, the kit was purchased and installed within a three-week period."

Asking the front wheels to put 350 or so ponies to the pavement while also handling turning duties meant the BYP team had to think long and hard about gearing and final drive ratios. "We had to do something to better match the gearing of the K20 6-speed to the supercharged K24/K20, and thanks to Jeff at Special Project Motorsports we were the first Australian car to use a Gear-X close ratio K-series gearset," Benny says. "We then lowered the final drive to 4.3 to achieve the gearing and top speed we required for our local circuit."


With a fully sorted chassis and suspension package that includes Öhlins coilovers, spherical bearings in place of rubber OE bushings, a custom welded-in 6-point rollcage, as well as their own BYP front splitter and rear wing mounts, Benny threw down some seriously quick laps during the World Time Attack Challenge at Eastern Creek in May. In fact, the BYP Civic recorded a 1:41.236 lap, good for tenth quickest in the Open class and second fastest among the FWD competitors, not to mention quicker than a whole flock of GT-Rs, EVOs and STIs. For video evidence of Benny's skills behind the wheel, search YouTube for "BYP Honda Civic 1:41.2 Lap WTAC" and enjoy the HD goodness

Having now made a name for themselves in Australia and abroad, the BYP crew is enjoying a new level of notoriety within the Honda scene. "We've been able to show our fellow Aussies that a Honda can be a very capable track car. Our build thread on ozhonda.com has over 75,000 views, which is a substantial amount considering the size of the forum," Benny says. "I hope we'll see more Hondas hitting the circuits [in Australia] like we do. It would be awesome to see a fleet of Hondas out here with us and we're definitely keeping those AWD Turbo cars honest in the meantime!"

Given that Benny and Jimmy have recently been hard at work in their backyard making their EG even more powerful, thanks to a K20 Type-R head swap and a set of cams from BluePrint Racing, there's little question the BYP boys from Down Under will continue to pursue their dream of being the fastest time attack Honda in Oz. As to their preference for American go-fast goods, here's what Benny had to say:


"The typical modified Honda here in Australia has been built using JDM parts. Over the last couple of years, cars like mine that use American products have demonstrated the capabilities of aftermarket Honda products from the States that cost a fraction of JDM parts. More and more vendors here are stocking aftermarket U.S. products, which is great for the Honda scene in both the U.S. and Australia. I personally like U.S. products because it's easy to call the manufacturer directly since we speak the same language, prices are fair, there's great tech support and their products have been proven to work. I've just been very fortunate that U.S. companies like Kraftwerks, Special Projects, Hybrid Racing and BluePrint have all helped me achieve my goals and ambition. Without them, I wouldn't have had gotten this far."


From the humble beginnings of doing a B18c swap in their backyard workshop to running with the big dogs at the World Time Attack Challenge, Benny and Jimmy Tran have come a long way over the last five years. With future plans that include a few suspension tweaks, more power (fine-tuning the ECU and perhaps a built motor), a rear diffuser, redesigned canards, extended side skirts and racing slicks, expect to hear more from these backyard wizards as they continue to take the Australian time attack scene by storm. As they say in Oz, "You little ripper!"



By David Pratte. Photography by Peter Tarach, . (2010). 1992 Honda Civic Si - Wizards Of OZ. Modified. Retrieved from http://www.modified.com/features/modp-1010-1992-honda-civic-si/index.html

Deuce Is Wild

By Brian McGurk
Photography by Henry Z. De Kuyper

Joel Arceo's '04 S2000
"I won't mod it." "It's just a daily." If either of these sounds remotely familiar, you're not alone. Most all of us have been, or will be, in that very same predicament at some point. The pressure that mounts as you envision turning a simple "A to B" vehicle into a new tinker toy is mind boggling. Joel Arceo of Las Vegas, NV, is no different. "I had a turbo hatchback making 440whp on pump gas, and I was rebuilding it when I decided an S2000 would be a good daily driver." Las Vegas has a lot of sun and pretty ladies, so a drop top sports car seemed like the perfect stock daily for anyone. Apparently, Joel isn't just anyone.

"If you don't know me, I will basically mod anything that can be modded." Joel kept it simple...at first. His first mod was a Seibon carbon fiber hard top and an OEM front lip. After tripping over a local set of super rare staggered Work Equips (16x7 front, 17x9 rear) with some seriously aggressive offsets, Joel took them home asap. Following the acquisition of his new rollers, he got the deuce properly "stanced" with a set of D2 coil-overs. Not all that far from stock, but like so many others, Joel was just scratching the surface.

Now we know Joel's type, the guy with the only modified desk chair in the office, so don't hold this statement against him. "No offense to all the S2000 owners who think the car is fast, because this car in stock form is slow in my opinion. I wanted more power, so I ended up piecing my own turbo kit together." Joel didn't want to overshadow the 400+whp beast in his garage, so after collecting parts for a few weeks, his turbo setup gave the roadster the 340hp kick in the ass it needed. We all know where a mild 340hp build leads....straight up to 400hp, and far from half finished hatchback projects. "I wanted the S2000 to have 400whp, and needed parts, so I flipped little stuff off of the hatch like the cams, and it was all downhill until I just parted the whole hatch out for the S2000 build." Joel knew the deuce was good for 400+, but a person's butt dyno is only half accurate, so when he heard that a local dyno tuning day was fast approaching, he went into overdrive to ensure the convertible was ready to be strapped down and belt out some serious power. He upgraded the exhaust manifold, fuel management, and supporting mods to meet his power goal. As we all know, in Vegas, the house always wins, and Joel's turn to pay up came when the deuce was on the rollers. "I admit it, we rushed when we shouldn't have, and the result was bad. The car was sitting on the trailer in the parking lot getting the injectors installed along with all the engine fluids and I forgot to check the coolant, which caused the car to run dry." Needless to say, spinning the F22 to 8,500RPM with zero coolant in Vegas heat means broken parts, not to mention broken hearts, namely Joel's. "It was my fault. I towed the thing home and pulled everything off, got it running, and put the whole thing back to stock." He was done with the deuce as far as our purposes, and bought an S14 kouki, intent on leaving well enough alone.

Joel being Joel though, his stock and slow S deuce didn't stay that way for long. "I didn't want to give up on finishing the car since I never finished the hatch and didn't want to just give up half way through. So, I sold the Kouki and started with the S2000 once again. I had a goal of having the car finished by SEMA." With a goal in site, the cobwebs were dusted off and he and the UPS guy were on a first name basis within the week. His first delivery from the big brown truck was an Inline Pro T4 turbo manifold and custom wastegate to match the BorgWarner T4 S366 turbocharger. Spitting the spent gasses out of the turbo is a custom three-inch down pipe mated to a one-off un-muffled dump tube. Keeping the 2.2L from getting too thirsty, Joel opted for a Full Blown dual Walbro fuel pump hanger setup pushing the high octane stuff through a quartet of 1,000cc saturated injectors. It's hot in the desert, so a Precision 750hp intercooler and custom intercooler piping keep the charge temps low, and a Mishimoto radiator does the same duty for keeping the coolant frosty. A brand new Clutchmaster Stage 5 six-puck clutch was installed to transfer the power to the newly refinished Work Equips. "The wheels were rough and I had to take them apart completely to refinish everything and get them powdercoated. It was like the roof; I got them when I bought the car, but never finished them."

NRG supplied a steering wheel, hub, and quick release, along with their shift knob. A freshened up interior and fire breathing power plant don't deserve a body treated to months of desert sand exposure. A Shine automotive front bumper replaced the weathered OEM piece, and to freshen up the look, a full wrap from top to bottom in a stain blue was chosen. Weeks before SEMA, Joel returned to the scene of the crime; the dyno. The finally completed F22 produced a blistering 595whp. No longer in the "slow" category, it's safe to say that this deuce is wild.

McGurk, B. (2010). 2004 Honda S2000 - Deuce Is Wild. Honda Tuning. Retrieved from http://www.hondatuningmagazine.com/features/htup_1009_2004_honda_s2000/index.html

Crazy Train

By Brian McGurk
Photography by Rodrez

Chad Barber's 2001 Integra GS-R
Admit it, you wish you had a drag car. The high horsepower numbers, the smell of race fuel, the palpable tension when two cars rumble up to the Christmas tree. Any enthusiast worth their salt can at least appreciate a well put together track rat; although most probably salivate over single digit quarter mile monsters. Chad Barber out of Modesto, CA, is one of the lucky ones who figured out a way to turn his appreciation into not only a career, but a winning one at that. Chad started his legal racing career over ten years ago after falling for a fully built Comptech Integra. He recalls, "I used to do stereos for show cars, and at one show in particular, I saw a Comptech sponsored Integra and it was over. The very next day I went out and started piling up parts. That was just the beginning."

Chad's first Integra took him from one race to the next and from one coast to the other stacking wins along the way. The single car open trailer turned into a four car enclosed mobile garage, and the two man/one car team eventually grew into a fully stabled and amply staffed racing powerhouse. In short; Chad had made it. "It was nuts, I knew we were doing something right when ESPN came into the pits to talk to us. It was great!" Unfortunately Chad's racing dreams had the brakes put on when the economy took a definitive nose dive. "Some things happened and everything went away; the trailer, the 8,500-square-foot warehouse, everything. I found myself in Modesto with my three girls, no crew, garage, trailer, or anything. I had to start over. It really didn't bother me, and I felt like as long as I could race, I'd be fine," Chad reflects. Not long after Chad and his family settled into their new digs, he decided to start fresh with a new car. "I got a call from a buddy of mine and he'd come into an '01 Integra theft recovery. It was a rolling shell, and for $200 bucks it couldn't be beat-especially since we were going to tear it apart anyway and everyone likes seeing a newer chassis on the track." With the car secured, a crew was once again needed. Chad starting putting feelers out for a few good men...or women in this case. "I've got my kids now and can't spend all my time in the garage. I needed someone capable who I could count on; that's when I called Lisa Kubo. We'd met a few years back in the racing scene, and I knew she'd been thinking of throwing her hat into the FWD racing ring again, so I asked her if she wanted in on our team and she said 'Hell yeah!' Chad had never been a forced induction guy, but wanting to get Lisa into a car that could live up to her legacy meant he had to leave his all motor roots at the door and start learning all over again. "It was like starting all over from scratch. Thankfully, I've been blessed to have some of the most intelligent and capable people in the business assisting us to build the best car we can, from the engine builder, to some trusted consultants, only the best hands have touched this car."

With the Integra in his possession and a driver secured, Chad got to wrenching on his new track attacker's power plant. Under the hood is a fire breathing B18C1 taken to 1.9 liters and stuffed with the best go fast parts around; from the lightweight crank pushing a set of Arias pistons inside a Golden Eagle sleeved block, to the monstrous Bullseye power 372 turbocharger straddling a Portflow head packed with Supertech components. Essentially, no corners were cut. "The car hasn't been tuned yet, but we know similar setups have made upwards of 840hp. We'll be tweaking and tuning before this season and should make anywhere between there and 1,000hp. We need 8.60s to stay competitive so that's what we're shooting for." Helping get all 850-plus screaming ponies to the pavement are a set of Bogart racing Pro 4s; 13x8 up front, and 15x3.5 out back. Skunk2 Pro C coilovers up front and Penske running gear on the tail light end will help keep the car on the straight and narrow. Keepings Lisa safe and sound at 100-plus mph is accomplished with an NHRA-spec safety cage, and a MOMO bucket seat. Chad wanted this car to exceed everyone's expectations, so a simple "drag-ready" setup simply wouldn't do. "I never expected to get to this level of success, especially with such a small crew. But with Lisa on board I wanted this car to be really special, so instead of just shaving the rain gutters, Corey Shaw and I spent almost four weeks shaving the bay and everything in it; it came out awesome! I love the look, but I don't think I'll ever do it again." Chad finished off the body with a JCR three-piece fiberglass front end, a fresh silver paint job, and some advertising for all his sponsors. As you're reading this, the car should be at 100 percent, especially after the Rywire.com guys get their hands on it. In the meantime, Chad's working on setting up his and Lisa's debut for the car. The event is a grassroots, old school, cash prize shootout in the Sacramento area. "I've been working really hard on getting this event going. There won't be any huge corporate sponsors or million dollar cars. This is done by people like me and Lisa for the average enthusiast. They're the future of this sport and we need something like this."

Chad's got no overblown dreams of grandeur when it comes to his racing career, he's just happy to be here. "Lisa and I are kind of a two man/woman crew; we do most of everything. We have people who consistently help us out and we're super thankful for that, but it feels like more of an accomplishment when we do well since it's just us and no huge pressure from sponsors or anything. In my eyes, this is how it's supposed to be." Chad's been to the top of the pile and finds his new role as more of a team leader/planner a welcome change of pace. "I wish I could spend more time in the driver's seat, and when I get a chance, I do, but with my girls and my other responsibilities, I had to take a step back. That's why I'm trying to get these shootouts going, and keep my shop open. There's a whole group of guys who want to race and couldn't for years with the saturation of the field with the huge corporate sponsors; now it's going back to what it used to be, with guys wrenching in their garage." As far as the future goes, Chad's hoping for the best. "It's up to the racers where this sport goes. It went from huge money sponsors slugging it out, back to individuals doing "for racers-by racers" type events. The local small time guy buys parts from his local shop which eventually sponsors a racer, or an event; the racers keep this going and the more involved they are the better our industry gets. That's why I do what I do, because I love it."

McGurk, B. (2010). 2001 Acura Integra GS-R - Crazy Train. Honda Tuning Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.hondatuningmagazine.com/features/htup_1008_2001_acura_integra_gsr/index.html

Rock Out

Written by Dave Pankew // Photos by Adam Nelson

If the enthusiast culture demands it, it will come to market. Since the 1950’s, automotive designers have been following the trends put forth by the aftermarket and car customizers. Trends like quad headlights, louvers and hood scoops are all trends the American car companies lifted from the innovators at street level. Dodge, was no stranger to this approach and took one of their lowly commuters and turned it into an import slayer.

After a six year build-up, what we have here is possibly the craziest example of an SRT-4 we’ve ever featured!
There were already tuners out there who had swapped the Mitsubishi 4G63 turbo mill from DSMs into a few Dodge Neons. The ultimate sleeper already ran a Mitsu engine, the 420A, which was the non-turbo equivalent. Dodge decided they would trump the efforts of aftermerket enthusiasts and come out with a seriously underrated 2.4L turbo and back it with all kinds of big power Mopar upgrades!

Although, it was clear Dodge arrived late to the Sport Compact party, the Dodge SRT-4 is alive and well. After a six year build-up, what we have here is possibly the craziest example of an SRT-4 we’ve ever featured!

Owner Kenny Lee of Buena Park, CA knew long ago this would be a keeper for him. “When I was first looking at cars to buy, I ended up narrowing my choices down to the Acura RSX Type-S and the Dodge SRT-4,” says Lee. “The moment I took a test drive in the SRT-4 at a dealership I was hooked and consequently picked up the car the very same day.”

With aspirations of building a Time Attack car, Lee started with the 2.4L world engine. The turbo was upgraded with an ATP Garrett GT3076R regulated
by a TiAL 38mm wastegate. Air is pulled through a custom short ram intake into JMB intercooler piping and an MPx 62mm throttle body attached to a Form & Function manifold. The fueling got a boost with an walbro 255lph pump along with a Aeromotive a1000 fuel pressure regulator, overcome billet rail and a quartet of Deatsch Werks 750cc injectors.
With a Mopar Stage I PCM and A’PEXi S-AFC to trim the fuel, the boost is regulated by an A’PEXi AVC-R. When this SRT-4 was at the dyno, it was just shy of 400 ponies, laying down 392whp with 380lb-ft. The new jam meant the experts at ACT had to step in to beef up the driveline. With an ACT Sprung 6-Puck Clutch, HD pressure plate and ACT Streetlite X-ACT flywheel, Lee isn’t going to have
to worry about the driveline anymore.

Lee knew that with the new found power, the suspension and brakes needed to be addressed. He turned to KW Suspension for a custom set of coilovers along with helper springs for a smooth ride. Hotchkis sway bars were added front and rear as were DC Sports strut tower bars. Some GLH custom front control arms and Manny Z rear lateral links were also added. The upgraded brake kit was put together by TCE Performance using Wilwood products. The outside of the car got a boost thanks to trusted team at AIT Racing in SoCal. The AIT Racing widebody kit was fitted up by Auto Explosion. The AIT kit consists of a front bumper, rear bumper, wider fenders and sideskirts. The carbon fiber onboard is from Carbon by Design (B-pillar and trunk) while the hood is by Kaminari and APR Performance GTC-300 wing. Finally the car was shot in Lambo Monterey Blue by Auto Explosion with a matching cage painted by Martini Motorsports.

It was then time to fit up some rollers to the project. Since the car was dramatically wider, some serious wheels were selected in 18x10-inch on all four corners. The Advan T7s are wrapped in matching Yokohama Advan Neova AD07s in 285/35R18. Inside, Lee did not let up on his pursuit of the most outrageous SRT-4 on the planet. The entire interior is surrounded by a custom, color-matched 8-point cage by L-CON

The seats are straight out of a Viper ACR, running the Racetech RT2009 and Schroth Racing harnesses. The wheel is a Prodrive Sport model and the shifting is done via a Perrin short shift kit and matching knob. The engine vitals are monitored with a battery of Defi BF gauges including: boost, EGT, oil pressure, oil / water temperature and a 52mm AEM UEGO gauge. Although Lee says the car is destined for Time Attack, it has a full audio system onboard. The speakers and amps are all from Memphis Car Audio with the exception of a single JL Audio 12-inch subwoofer.


For now, Lee loves his street driven SRT-4 and the wealth of awards he’s claimed so far. We’ll see if this car makes it into Time Attack competition. It definitely has all of the right parts

Pankew, D. (2010). Rock Out. PASMAG. Retrieved from http://pasmag.com/features/top-rides/1310-m2-neon

The Unexpected

By Luke Munnell
Photography by Luke Munnell


There's a saying I've grown quite fond of: Life isn't what happens with the plans we make; it's what happens while we're making the plans. As much as we like to think we're in control of our own lives, it's how we react to the unforeseen that determines them. Destiny, fate, mother nature-call it what you want, "it" doesn't really care what you think. It's going to do what it's going to do, and for you to have a shot at a successful life, you've got to learn to roll with it.

Anyone who's been knee-deep in a project car build can see the segue here. No matter how carefully you plan modification, budget, and build schedule, something always happens to throw those plans off, and your project never turns out exactly the way you envisioned. Jon Sunga's been there. But unlike most of the cars we feature, built by experienced wrenchmen who had a good idea of what they were getting into ahead of time, we don't think there ever was a time when the build of Jon's EG Civic went according to plan



This is Jon's first car, and he's had it for seven years. Truth be told, he didn't really want it in the first place. Jon's introduction to cars was through his brother, who rocked a tough first-gen RX-7 back in the day: Turbo II 13B swap, bolt-ons, suspension, etc. "I actually borrowed my brother's car to drive out to look at an RX-7 I wanted to buy," Jon tells, "and I saw this Civic at a Nissan dealership on the way, which one of the salesmen was selling privately." It was a bone-stock DX, had high miles but was relatively clean aside from faded red paint and ripped front seating. "The guy was asking $3K for it," he say. "I showed him the $2K cash I had on me and he let me take it."

Like any broke-ass kid who's first car was a Civic, Jon's a little hesitant to reflect back on his initial mods. "I did a lot of little stuff at first; I added a clock and passenger-side mirror, got new stock seats," he laughs, "but then I cut the springs, put on some painted HX wheels-typical ricer stuff!" Hitting up the local meets, he developed a taste for modification. "I remember seeing the AM7 guys and their crazy-clean cars at all the local spots," he recalls. "That's what made me see realize there was another way to do this."



He eventually swapped out those cut springs and blown shocks for Ground Control coilovers and Tokicos for $500, came up on a set of authentic Mugen RNRs, and rounded up some bolt-on performance mods and more interior bits. He was even pulling extra shifts to save up for an H22A swap. And just when Jon's plans started working out, life threw him a curveball. The Civic was stolen. "I got caught slippin'," he says. "I had a set of Teins in there that I just bought, along with those RNRs and some little stuff that I was going to put on at my friend's place the next day, and someone jacked it out of my driveway that night." Jon found the car a few days later, abandoned, just down the street from his place. "Baldwin Park was a gang neighborhood back then. I knew who did it, but there was really nothing I could do about it." The car was stripped down to nothing but a running shell, and all Jon's schwag was gone. "It was my only car," he says. "I had no choice but to re-build it."

Jon spent about $500 of his H-swap money piecing the Civic back together, and later added some stereo equipment and found a good deal on replacement bolt-ons. Content with the brand-new Teins, the thieves left Jon's ground Control/Tokico suspension untouched, and in turn, so did he. He picked up a set of Work RZRs from a friend, and just as he started saving up for that H-swap he'd been planning, his car went missing. Again. "This time the cops found it the same day," he says. "The thieves only had time to get the wheels off and rip out the stereo. I guess I lucked out."

Munnell, L. (2010). 1992 Honda Civic DX - The Unexpected. Import Tuner. Retrieved from http://www.importtuner.com/features/impp_1009_1992_honda_civic_dx/index.html

Ragin' K'jun







By: Brian McGurk
Photos By: Henry Z. DeKuyper

LA’s got a lot of Sol, and I’m not talking about the city of angels. This ’97 Del Sol Si is coming straight out of Creole country, draped in good ol’ southern flavor. Baton rouge, LA- based Hybrid Racing Been producing quality parts for over 10 years. “I really wanted an EG or EK, but when I saw this Del Sol I knew it was a done deal,” said owner William Davidson. For those who aren’t familiar with Hybrid Racing, they are a “function over from” group of guys who feel more comfortable in the pits than in the car show. “We don’t build show cars, so this car is as close as we’ll get to one. We wanted to make something a little more fun; something we can cruise around with and take to local spots.”

The Del Sol arrived in a flat bed, within a day it had been striped to bare metal. A ’95-spec JDM front bumper was ordered to replace the damaged front end. It was either going to be white or gray, since we wanted to do a little different with the bay.” Hybrids resident mad scientist David Cordell got to work with the engine, tearing down the circuit car sourced K20A2 Wiseco pistons, Blueprint connecting rods, and polished OEM crankshaft. The head was treated with Skunk2 stage II camshafts with matching Skunk II Titanium retainers/ valve springs. Also includes Skunk II K-swap exhaust manifold and fully customized Kinsler 57mm Individual throttle body setup. The car was meant to show case Hybrids skills, a lot of time was put in to hiding all the plumbing.

McGurk, B., & DeKuyper, H. Z. (2010, June 20). Ragin' K'jun. Honda Tuning, pp. 26-30.