Here's where we act like we know something technical about cars. Feel free to ask us about your technical troubles. Write us at tech superstreetonline.com or Super Street c/o Tech Support, 6420 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90048. Feel free to include a picture of your project or tech problem.inline_mediumwraptextright31290612/techarticles/sstp_0912_tech_support_december_2009sstp_0912_02_o+tech_support+import_model.jpgTrue

You try to do everything you can to prepare yourself for situations like this. You keep your expectations a bit lower than normal, tell yourself "if it's meant to be, it'll happen" but still it was hard to see the Z limp into the pit much much later than expected. The fuel pump had started to give out, and to quote Billy "the car fell flat on its face and just wouldn't go anywhere." Thankfully we did have at least one timed lap in the books in the 20-minute session, but still, all the hard work (and money) you put into a car to do well at the track, it felt to me that I had somehow failed my sponsors and I couldn't do a better job of representing them in the way that I wanted to. It was only because of their generosity that I could have gotten the Z to be selected in the competition, and to not do as well as you hoped, was hard to swallow.inline_mediumwraptextright27102811/techarticles/sstp_0912_castrol_syntec_top_car_challenge_final_part_twosstp_0912_26_o+top_car_challenge+personal.jpgTrue

Ed note: While the event is long over, the Castrol Syntec Top Car Challenge winner has yet to be announced (don't worry, the results are coming next month). That doesn't mean we can't fill you in on how our car did during the testing, so we asked our car's owner, Cheston Chiu, to help tell the story from his eyes of how his car did from beginning to end. We'd like to thank all of the companies who were involved and all of the readers who voted on Castrol Syntec's Top Car Challenge website for Super Street; your votes meant the world to us although they didn't go towards any actual points in the contest (although they should have).

The most ultimate and expensive part of a project car is usually the engine. But before you build your engine, take a look at what popular swaps might suit your car. For the ultimate build, people are not just building the engines given to them with their cars; they're doing a swap and building on top of that. These days the import scene knows no bounds. Tuners are doing swaps with engines from different chassis manufacturers and some are even going with domestic engines. Here are the top 10 swaps based not just on engine performance but also on the popularity of the swap. If it were up to just engine performance it would easily be just the three biggest engines on top. Whatever you decide is the right heart transplant for your car, there's nothing like having a more powerful, high-tech engine swap.

Ed note: Last year, we connected with the SOHC Honda master, Bisi Ezerioha for the Castrol Syntec Top Shop Challenge in the hopes of bringing the most unique engine setup to the table. Being one of the few teams with a naturally-aspirated setup, we certainly had our work cut out for us as we went heads up with the likes of some the world's best turbocharged platforms, including the RB26DETT, SR20DET and 4G63, which wound up winning overall. Of course, that's not to say our decision to take a NA F22 engine was a poor one; in fact, if you take into consideration an alternative multiplier (read Eric Hsu's blog entry at 'Beyond the Dyno': http://www.beyondthedyno.com/Blogs/Eric/?p=1244 to see what we mean), our engine setup actually made the most power. But that's the past and the winners (AMS Performance) deserved the win hands-down. Bisi, on the other hand, knew that challenge wouldn't be the end and promised he'd back with a new single cam killer to prove once and for all that his engineering expertise is the real deal. We'd like to introduce you to a new multi-part story behind the build of Bisimoto's 700hp D16, an engine that incorporates two things Bisi is usually not associated with: VTEC and a turbocharger. Can he prove that SOHC is best? We'll soon find out - but for now, we'll let the man himself give you the concept and introduction to his latest engine.

We get tons of readers writing into our Tech Support section asking which mods they should be doing to their cars in order to make them faster. Rather than answer one guy's questions on what to do, this month we're going to try to help a large segment of the scene: the Honda crowd.inline_mediumwraptextright30272145/techarticles/sstp_0910_building_honda_enginesstp_0910_01_z+engine_honda+building_a_honda.jpgTrue

Large Frame Turbos:
Characteristics: Lots of lag but capable of pushing huge power; suited for larger displacement engines and high rpm power (think 2JZ-GTE or RB26DETT); perfect for drag racing, dyno bench racing or tractor pulling; est. 850+hp

The most basic of basic upgrades, in our opinion, is an intake. So cheap that you can't afford not to do it, and easily one of the best upgrades you can do. But do they really make power? Does a simple pipe and cone filter make more power than an OEM engineered intake system? It's an argument we hear way too often and wanted to know for ourselves.inline_mediumwraptextright29715600/techarticles/130_0910_1991_honda_civic_kn_air_filter130_0910_01+1991_honda_civic_kn_air_filters+dyno.jpgTrue

For those of you that followed along last year's issues of Super Street and Project Car, you'll remember us editors going up against each other in the Street Racers issue and accompanying stories. We built Jonny's car using dope parts, such as an OBD1 B16 swap, JDM front end and 16" SSR Super Fins. Gary and his band of merry men at Project Car built a CRX out of cheap parts, including a junkyard turbo, a fake Mugen kit and a plethora of eBay parts.

Cypress, CA, April 7, 2009 - Nitto Tire and Team Achilles Motorsports recently competed in the world's longest endurance race: the 25 Hours of Thunderhill. The race requires teams to drive throughout the night for 25 hours straight. At the end of 25 hours the team with the most laps is declared the winner. The team campaigned a BMW M3 in the second fastest class overall and the fastest class requiring D.O.T.-compliant tires. The team ran on Nitto's NT01 road race tires. Nitto created a new website that documents the race as it unfolded.

Where We Cure All Your Tech ProblemsHere's where we act like we know something technical about cars. Feel free to ask us about your technical troubles. Write us at tech@superstreetonline.com or Super Street c/o Tech Support, 6420 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90048. Feel free to include a picture of your project or tech problem.

Break It Down Cost: J's Racing Intake: $1,078; J's Racing Header: $1,320; J's Racing Carbon GT Wing: $1,320; J's Racing Rear Roll Center Adjusters: $320; J's Racing Front Roll Center Adjusters: $418, Fujitsubo RM01A Exhaust: $1,490 PROS: Added power combined with better suspension geometry equals much faster lap times. CONS: The only tricky part is trimming the stock hood to fit the intake, just make sure you mark the area before you start cutting. VERDICT: At this point, the car has everything it needs to do well at the track and look good for the streets.

Break It Down MSRP: Inquire for your application Pros: A cleaner simplier engine bay. Makes it much easier to work on the engine much easier. Cons: If an electrical short ever happens, getting access to the wiring will be hard. Not impossible just harder than before. Install Difficulty: Intermediate. You don't have to be a rocket scientist or even a mechanic. You just need lots of time. Verdict: Jockin' my fresh.

Break It Down Cost: Fast Brakes disc upgrade and conversion kit $1300; SPC suspension arms $893.85; Super Pro bushings $288; Suspension Techniques sway bars $375; TEIN SS coilovers $1,415

We. Are. Done! After months of building what we believe to be the most badass engine in the Castrol Syntec Top Shop Challenge, we are finally through and ready for the dyno. Our single-cam F22A from the humble Honda Accord will be going head-to-head against our Source Interlink brethren who chose to take the more predictable route with engines like the RB26, 4G63 and SR20. We enlisted the expertise of our pal Bisi Ezerioha at Bisimoto who happens to be the single-cam Honda king, to radically transform our underdog into the champ you see today. Here's a quick recap of our F Bomb build.

Break It Down
Cost B16A and hydraulic transmission swap-$2,400; HASport mount kit-$399; HASport clutch, MC adapter and MC-$199; HASport wiring $199; HASport shift linkage-$149; HASport axles-$349.

The home stretch is finally upon us as Bisimoto has begun assembly of our F22A for the Castrol Syntec Top Shop Challenge. We're expecting to have one of the most durable and reliable engines out of the entire group, in addition to making serious all-motor power. Here's where we're at with our build:

Last month we announced a big engine build-off between ourselves and some select Source Interlink titles as part of Castrol Syntec's Top Shop Challenge, where each magazine gets to pick an engine and engine builder of choice to see which one will make the most power and maintain its longevity while on an engine dyno. We said that this would be a David versus Goliath match, so we're proud to announce our entry: the Honda Accord F22A engine, to go up against the likes of the RB26, SR20 and 4G63 monoliths. Think we're outpowered? Well, we are, but that doesn't mean we're not going to put up the good fight. Bisi Ezerioha is a champion when it comes to tuning these engines, and other single cam Honda powerplants. His expertise has won him numerous drag racing challenges and long lasting engine configurations. This month he drops knowledge on the basic outline and battle plan for our engine in the months to come.

Break It Down
Cost Enkei RPF1: $271 per wheel; Falken Azenis RT-615: starting at $144 per tire; fender rolling: varies on application.

A common upgrade for the S13 and Zenki S14 (non-SE) 240SX is the five-lug conversion. Besides offering improved torque transfer to the wheels, it opens up your wheel selection like YouPorn does, well, porn. Instead of being limited to 4x114 rims and offsets, you can go as wide as your wallet or wheel well's content. So when it came time to get serious with our budget track S13, we contacted Ichiba for its five-lug kit that comes with the bearings already pressed, an advantageous time-saving factor to consider.

If we could give you the solution to detonation and overheating, and actually increase boost in your ride, would that be something you'd be interested in? Normally, high boost combined with the extreme running temperatures of today's cars spell a short lifespan for your engine. Enter "water injection" and its benefits. This miracle invention (circa 1940) is used to increase compression, allow advanced timing and cool the intake charge in one shot. That said, just dumping water and/or methanol into your intake isn't going to do anything but hydro lock your engine. What's needed is a precise metering and atomizing of the liquid into your combustion chambers. This allows the miracle to happen. Once the mixture is atomized with the fuel, it becomes more dense (kind of like Jonny). The first benefit to happen is that the "dense" mixture raises the compression slightly because water is heavier than air. Second, the alcohol raises your octane level, which will aid in combustion while reducing detonation. Third, the water's natural properties of heat dissipation help get the heat off the piston head, cooling the intake charge.

Honda's Civic Si is a solid performer right out of the box, but as we all know, there's always room for improvement. We can go and slap on a turbo and a random set of springs, but that may void this new car's warranty, and as you likely recall, our goal for this car is to keep it street legal and keep its warranty intact. Our friends at Penske Honda offer a host of Honda-approved go-fast goodies that will improve our Civic's performance while keeping those disapproving looks from Honda's service department at bay. Of course, not all dealers will stock these parts, nor will all dealers honor your warranty if you install these parts on your ride, so be sure to talk with your Honda dealer before installing anything on your car. Follow along as we install a HFP suspension kit, Fujita F5 intake and Velox wheels on to our Civic.

So you want to be a track superstar? Live large-big house, five cars? The track superstar part we might be able to help you with, but for the big house and five cars bit you'll have to talk to Project Car's editor in chief, Ricky Chu. We've received endless questions about our Time Attack event and what it takes to compete, so we decided to take on a little project this year to give you guys a little more info on what you'll need to make your car a star on the track.

Preparation and proper tools are the key to any successful install; whether it is something as complicated as a motor swap, a simple exhaust upgrade, or getting the cute girl you just met to go home with you for the night (you figure out what to install in that scenario), knowing what needs to be done and having the proper tools to do it are key.