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