Another crucial ingredient is fuel, and lots of it. With 10 160lb/hr RC Engineering injectors working at a 100 percent duty cycle, we don't see fuel problems arising anytime soon. If you've been doing the math in your head, then you're probably wondering why a V6 motor is using 10 injectors. We'll get to that right after you locate the intercooler. Can't find one, eh? That's because the four mystery injectors are set up to fire post compression in order take over the tasks of an intercooler. Using such a technique with methanol gas drops intake temperatures from 130-degrees C to a chilling 40-degrees C. For future races, six more injectors will be jammed into the custom fuel rail (one additional per cylinder) to work alongside the AEM fuel pressure regulator and Waterman fuel pump. Taking charge of burning all the fuel is an MSD DIS4 waste-spark ignition setup. Needless to say, most of the parts used on this motor are not off-the-shelf items. Well, that is except for the Civic Si AEM Engine Management System box, which is the same unit you can buy for your Honda. Except you won't be putting 1,300 hp with only 24 pounds of boost like this engine.
The ChassisWith the amount of power this car puts out, lack of a good, solid chassis would prevent it from ever making it down the track. Don Ness was called on to take care of the task at hand. "We told him what we wanted and he designed it perfectly," John tells us. What many people don't know is that under the Viper red carbon-fiber Honda Civic shell is actually a Chevy Cavalier pro stock tube chassis-one of Don's premiere specialties. Bring on the NHRA rulebook because from the front skinnies to the titanium wheelie bars, this car will pass any tech inspection you throw at it. Producing quadruple-digit power numbers make it difficult to propel down the track. It's for this reason that the custom titanium springs are used with Lamb front and Koni rear electronic shocks. The electronic controls allow the team to dial in damper settings for the launch, which will automatically change to different ones for higher speeds down the track. By higher speeds, we're talking about the ridiculously high mph that they're aiming at. Trap speeds like that require extreme safety precautions such as the Lamb carbon-fiber brakes and C02 parachute. Inside the race car, Steph safely sits in a custom-molded racing seat surrounded by Auto Meter gauges.
The GoalWith over $200,000 invested in this car, you can bet these guys mean serious business. They're out to win and the NHRA is their game of choice. Ideally, a 6.60 @ 220 mph would make them more than happy. Who in the sport wouldn't be? We get happier with stupid things like making it home from work in less than two hours. Wondering where you can see this awesome machine? "We plan to make it to all 15 of the NHRA events, a few shows, and hopefully the two [NHRA] invitationals," John humbly states. "There's a lot of fast cars in the RWD class so we have good competition in store for us." When asked what he thought about the new Mopar race car, John replies, "I'd be worried if they got into RWD cars. Let's just leave it at that." Once the AEM team gets a few more races under their belts, they plan on hacking up the body and changing up some things. We'd leave well enough alone, but then again, we're just lazy and don't have enough money anyway.
Fast FactsCAR '02 Honda Civic
Owner Aem Racing
Hometown Hawthorne, California