photographer: Richard S. Chang
Perhaps you’ve already read about the Civic Si Challenge and the fact that we won despite some pretty strong competition. But we didn’t feel that the story on the Challenge itself allowed us enough room to address the buildup of the car. Hence, this story.
Let’s cut to the chase. When we got the call from Honda asking if we’d be interested in participating in the Challenge along with Car And Driver, Popular Mechanics, and Sport Compact Car, we were downright giddy. We were going to be able to prove ourselves against what some people consider to be our competition—as well as some very well-known mainstream titles. It’s no secret that many of those other magazines spend most of their time trying to convince the world that they know everything there is to know about cars. To a certain extent, their ad nauseam banter must have been effective on some level because our feelings of giddiness were soon replaced with apprehension. How were we going to compete with all these self- professed experts?
Believe it or not, it didn’t take the brain trust known as the Super Street editorial staff long to figure out a plan. It’s unclear who exactly came up with the idea, but its foundation was based on that old saying, “Know your weaknesses and exploit your strengths.” If there is anything that we excel at, it’s knowing our weaknesses. So we agreed that none of us possess the ability to build our Challenge car based solely on our own mechanical prowess. So we did what we do best: We went to the experts and asked them to put their expertise to work for us. After all, what are the chances we could build a car better than the experts?
One of our first calls was to the folks at the Progress Group. Former almost- technical editor Brent Romans and I were given the chance to experience the Progress Group’s suspension know-how firsthand when the company invited us out for a day at a local road course. After a day of watching the Progress crew tweak and tune the company’s two Civics, we were beyond impressed (they even let us drive them). It obviously left a lasting impression on us because when it came time to look at suspension for our Civic, Progress immediately came to mind.
Don’t think that the Challenge Civic Si was treated any differently than the rest of our projects. True to form, we left everything nearly to the last minute. As usual, we would get bogged down in the daily far-from-routine grind of putting out the magazine, so the project suffered. Whenever someone would mention the Challenge, the usual response was, “We still have a month or so, don’t we?” Luckily for us, the companies we were working with are used to our less-than-desirable timing, and they were willing and able to accommodate us.
Jonathan and Jeff at Progress set us up (read: we had them install the pieces) with the company’s latest fully adjustable coilover kit and larger rear sway bar. Little did we know at the time that they were also providing the suspension components to the Sport Compact Car entry, as well, but in the true spirit of racing professionalism, Progress kept everything confidential (in spite of our best efforts to get them to tell us what the SCC guys had going on). With the suspension taken care of, we returned the Si to the parking garage for another extended stay. After all, we still had a month or so before we had to turn the car in.
Our next step would turn out to be the most important of the entire buildup. We set up a meeting with Todd Ishimaru of JUN USA. JUN, in case you didn’t know already, is one of the premier engine builders in Japan. The company has set up an American branch that builds complete engines and supplies performance parts to serious enthusiasts. Together with Todd, we went over the guidelines, looking for ways to get the most power within the rules (the car had to pass a smog test and remain street-legal).
While most of us (OK, none of us) here on staff are capable of swapping out our own motor (let alone, changing a spark plug), we do have several advantages over our competition. First, we had JUN on our side. Second, we drive our own cars on a daily basis (as opposed to falling into the oh-so-tempting trap of scamming manufacturer rides in the name of never-ending projects and evaluations). As a result of having to drive our own cars, we’ve had to have our cars smog tested. Since we’ve actually gone through the experience for ourselves, we knew what was involved in getting a car to pass.
In California, a car has to pass an emissions test, and it has to pass a visual inspection. The rules laid down by Honda mirrored those of the California test: The car had to pass the sniffer and a visual. That meant that any performance part that could be seen (visually) had to have a CARB number. Does that mean that we couldn’t build the internals? Well, we went around the room and asked each other if anyone had ever been torn down at a smog inspection. Since we’d all been through the process ourselves, we were able to say unanimously, no. So were internal modifications legal within the rules of the Challenge? As far as we were concerned, undoubtedly yes.
From that point on, we put together a list with the help of JUN that would allow us to compete with the other cars that we had found out were being supercharged. In addition to the engine package that JUN put together (in Japan), we relied very heavily on Todd and the boys for input on the other major parts. For example, we were able to get our hands on hard-to-find parts like the Cusco limited-slip, Yokohama A038 tires, Advan Racing wheels, and Endless brake pads. That was in addition to balancing, blueprinting, porting and polishing, and the ECU tuning the company did while it had the engine in Japan (all labor, and, hence, didn’t go against our $10,000 bottom line).
Since we were running out of time (and since JUN suggested we get as much done to the body while the engine was in Japan as possible), we wasted no time in getting the rest of the car in order. With the help of Ron Bergenholtz (truck) and Ken Miyoshi (trailer), we managed to get the car to Car Craft Custom Interiors. Car Craft gutted the interior then laid some vinyl down the center of the remaining seat. The car then went back to JUN where the crew installed the Honda Optional Equipment wing and the Versus Motorsports carbon-fiber hood.
Given the fact that we lagged in getting the engine to JUN in the first place and that they had to pull it, ship it to Japan, tweak it, and get it back to the States in less than a month, we had very little time to test the vehicle once JUN dropped in the engine. The custom exhaust was bolted on, as was a DC Sports header (CARB-legal, ya know!). We were supposed to supply JUN with a DC intake, but we forgot to pick it up. So a last minute run to Options Auto Salon netted us an intake (not the first time Options has saved our collective arse).Two days before the car was to be returned to Honda, we arranged to do some track testing in Palmdale, California, (home of the Battle of the Imports).
How serious was JUN about winning the event? Did we mention that the company’s vice president and top-tuner Susumu Koyama accompanied the engine back to the States? Did we mention that he and the entire JUN USA contingent worked 48 hours straight to get the engine in and the car ready by the deadline? Did we mention that Stephan Papadakis was kind enough to show up on test day and offer his driving expertise? And what did we do? Well, we took pictures.
After the day of testing, we determined that the car was going to need slightly stiffer springs in the front in order to maximize the engine’s newfound horsepower and the grip of the Yoks in the quarter-mile contest. Swapping out parts after the car was turned in was against the rules (or so we thought at the time), so we had to take a chance and gamble a little. We swapped in a set of stiffer Eibach springs in the front knowing that we may be giving away performance on the road course to get a little on the 1,320. As the final tuning touches were being done, Robert from Modern Image Signworks traveled to JUN to apply his magic vinyl touch to the Si.
The car was loaded onto the JUN trailer and taken to American Honda in Torrance, California, just as the business day was coming to a close. While we were confident in the products and the people we worked with, we really didn’t know how we were going to stack up against the other cars. After all, they were the experts. All we had going for us was the fact that we knew we didn’t know everything—but we know the people who do. When all else fails, exploit your strengths.