The votes (even the ones from FL) are in, and Valvoline SynPower is pleased to announce the winner: Signal Auto. The Signal Si-Turbo edged the Skunk2 Si by the slimmest of margins to capture the crown of Hottest Si by the readers of Super Street Online (37% and 34%, respectively.
Here's the full feature:
It's interesting that you can take one set of rules, hand them out to four different contenders, and end up with four completely different interpretations. Those of you who played the ever-so-popular telephone game in elementary school know exactly what we're talking about. For those of you having problems following along, we'll use Kouske Kida and his Signal Auto crew as an example.
In Japan, everyone is very meticulous and people work extremely hard to earn the respect they deserve. That means no sleeping at work, eating at your desk, or straying from the guidelines. When there's a set of rules, you follow them to the very word without even having thoughts of twisting or breaking them. Our rules for the Challenge were purposely left vague. The way the Signal Auto crew interpreted them was to build an extreme streetcar. That's with quadruple emphases on extreme and street car.
From the chameleon orange paint and ings widebody kit right down to the signature graphics, the exterior of this car shows all signs that it was built by Signal Auto. The now swollen chassis is stiffened up by a host of suspension goods from Tanabe. Any Honda lover who complains about not being able to run wide rims needs to check out the fat-lipped 18x8 Volk Racing wheels on the rear of this car. The fronts get an additional inch of width for maximum traction--all four of the BFG KD tires are sized the same. Speaking of traction, the JDM Type R six-speed tranny matted with a Cusco LSD further aide in getting the power to the ground.
When we said extreme, we meant it, and we weren't talking about Johnny's long overdue makeover. With the help from a host of GReddy components such as a TD06-L2 turbo, front-mount intercooler, Airinx intake, and Profec e-01 boost controller, Signal Auto managed to put out a brag worthy 374.6 hp to the wheels. Of course, a one-off exhaust manifold, a Tanabe exhaust, and an HKS F-Con V Pro did their share of making this car go fast as well. Slap all that power into a car that weighs in the mid 2,000-pound range and you have a trip way more intense than any ride you'll find at Wally World.
Now let's get to the street car part, because that's really what's important. Take a look on the inside and you'll see that nothing has been stripped or cut. The headliner, dash, and carpet are all in place, the radio and air conditioner both work, which is more than we can say for most of our project cars, and the only things you'll find out of place are two Bride racing seats and a row of GReddy gauges. And without the burden of a bulky rollcage, this car is definitely LA traffic friendly.
If we gave you a full copy of the rules, we guarantee that you'd interpret it differently than any four of the tuners involved in the Challenge. That's the whole beauty of it all and our intentions from the very beginning...or so we say. Either way, Signal Auto did exactly what we wanted it to do and came through with a full-blown Japanese style streetcar that's sinister enough to beat the living hell out of The Big Show. That's really impressive considering that we gave Signal the least amount of time. Not to mention the fact that it lost another two months just shipping the car to Japan and back. Leave it up to us to screw things up. At least we can count on Mad K and his crew to make up for our stupid mistakes.
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