The art of Time Attack is on an astronomical rise, on an unstoppable track to hit the mainstream masses like the sport of drifting. Already a popular Japanese pastime, Time Attack, because of its objective to beat the clock, has produced the fastest cars ever built and the American tuning community is taking notice. Tuners recognize that this type of racing requires the ultimate in driver skill, car tuning, and concentration. Whereas wheel-to-wheel racing provides the thrill of crashing into other racecars, Time Attack offers a profound competion against time.
Companies like HKS and Sun Automobile build project cars specifically to run at Time Attack events. They tune cars exclusively to run faster at tracks like the Tsukuba Circuit, where there are a variety of sweeping turns, tight chicanes, and long straightaways. While issues of proper suspension setup, aerodynamics, and power-to-weight ratio are important, the concentration of the driver to achieve perfect apex runs and skillful braking techniques to transfer power on every lap is essential.C-West, popular for its quality body kits and aero parts, recently entered the Time Attack scene with its all-carbon fiber Honda S2000, built to not only break Time Attack records at Tsukuba and other circuits around the globe, but to also prove the importance of aerodynamics and the aspect of power-to-weight ratio in racing. The man, Keiichi Tsuchiya himself, clocked a 1:00.778 lap at Tsukuba in this S2. The car made its stateside debut at Tuner Bash After Dark in Seattle, where enthusiasts of the Northwest were awed at the carbon fiber layers encasing the entire vehicle. It was the unanimous favorite of the show that C-West hopes to transfer to the track.
The S2000's engine is naturally aspirated, unlike the majority of the Time Attack cars, which favor forced induction. "We chose to use a naturally aspirated platform to showcase the performance of our aerodynamic products," explains Takuya Omoto, head of C-West USA, "It is easy for most people to use a high horsepower turbo motor when trying to break Time Attack records, and we wanted to show that our aero parts were a big factor in helping us break these Time Attack records." Under the hood sits a stroked 2.2-liter F22 motor, powering the S2000 to a 280 ps (276 hp) at 8,800 rpm run. A MoTeC M800 computer controlling the dynamics of every moving part manages the free-revving F22, which is also dry-sumped and fully balanced. Inside the block, Tracy original pistons crown the C-West connecting rods and crank, combusting Bosch pumped fuel and C-West inducted air into the tubes of the Mugen exhaust manifold. The Autostaff custom titanium exhaust system then takes over to release the spent gases into the track's stirring atmosphere.
But an intense powerplant like this F22 can't be mounted without problems. "The most difficult part of the build up was relocating the motor and converting it to dry sump," described Takuya. "Lowering and moving it back 30 mm was very complicated." However, this complication was needed to run better times. Relocating the engine down 30 mm allows for a lower center of gravity and helps achieve improved aerodynamics by allowing a drop in hood line. In order to lower the engine, however, a dry-sump oil system is needed, which replaces the original oil pan (underneath the crank) to an oil tank elsewhere in the car, storing the extra oil and pumping it in to lubricate the engine. Their effort in lowering the engine is a testament to their quest for aerodynamic supremacy, which some may say C-West already holds.