UtahHondas.net April 2010 COTM

311hp's Turbo Acura Integra



"It's an out for me." -Jarett, the owner

We all have hobbies, I take the pictures you see on this blog and I write the words you read. Some people make music, some write, and some hunt. Jarett's hobby is building his Integra.

The car has traveled a long road to be the vehicle you see here. When Jarrett purchased the car is was running on a SOHC motor. Odd? Yes. Unheard of? Nope. With the help of his friends Cory, Bobbo, Micah, Jeremy and Tyler this amalgamated pile of Honda-ness became the functional and powerful example you see before you.



First thing to go was the single cam boat anchor. Replacing it is an LS/VTEC setup utilizing stock LS internals and being held together with ARP head bolts. Attached to the LS/V is an Edelbrock Victor X intake manifold, some MSD spark an Earl's oil drain plug wires, and a LovFab Tubular Bottom Mount turbo manifold. Hanging off the bottom mount is a Garrett GT3582R ball bearing turbocharger, which is capable of moving enough air to make 650hp. Jarrett is only looking to make 400hp with this set up. A Tial wastegate and TurboXS boost controller keep the boost in check and a Tial blow off valve relieves excess presure.




The air, after being sucked in and compressed by the turbo, is sent through a custom bent 2.5" charge pipe and into the Victor X. In the combustion chamber it meets fuel, which was squirted by 750cc injectors, and proceeds to go bang. The spent gasses exit the combustion chamber through to LovFab manifold, through the turbine and out the back of the car via an Espiler 3" exhaust.

Controlling the whole fiasco is a Neptune base map. Don't worry, he's getting it tuned in a couple of weeks by Cortney. All will be right in the Integra's world soon enough. Getting the power to the wheels is a GS-R transmission with an Exedy stage 3 clutch and 11lb flywheel.

Now that we've discussed the means by which this Integra makes power, let's talk about the means by which it conveys itself around corners. The car is lowered on a set of Omni Power coliovers. Included with the coilovers are a set of Nitrogen charged shocks. The ride is a little stiffer than you'd expect, but not intolerable. Blox LCA's help keep things aligned, and DC upper strut tower bars and Megan Racing lowers help keep everything from twisting about too much.

Completing the transfer of power from motor to asphalt is a set of Falken Azenis wrapped around a set of 15" hyper black Rota Circuit 8's. Sticky and stylish: two words you don't hear together too often (or at all), but the right words to describe the wheel and tire combo on this Milano Red Integra.




Inside the car is one Corbeau seat, large enough for a normal human being to sit in, and one GS-R leather passenger seat, sourced from Dave: master of the ghetto arts. The passenger can fiddle around with the Alpine deck while the driver keeps an eye on the engine's condition and boost pressure via Autometer gauges and the Air/Fuel ratio via an AEM Wideband. Gears are changed via a Civic Type-R topped with an Integra Type-R shift knob. Everyone gets to put their feet on genuine-ish ITR floor mats.



Outside this Integra sets itself apart by rocking the original Milano Red paint, a carbon fiber hood, and a black replica Type-R lip. Silverstar bulbs light up the road when the low beams are on, and yellow high beams provide...hell, do you need a reason for the yellow high beams? They look good. People will know you are turning when they see the amber turn signals blink.



Most of the parts were bought, but a few parts were made by the owner himself: the radiator support bears his initials, a bumper support might (I didn't look to see) and some "bumper spacers" definitely don't but he made them.

A lot of people have hobbies, but few get to display the fruits of their amateur labor. And fewer still have results this good.

UtahHondas.net March 2010 COTM

AE86Micah-Neo's K20Z1 swapped hatch.



Let me explain why this write up taken so long. You see, this thing is in its element on the track and both Micah and myself agreed that this write up would be done AFTER I got some shots of it on the track. Problem was the first track day wasn't until the 14th, a week and a half after he won. So we waited, and then the day finally came around for us to roll out to the track.




Before I tell you about the track day, let me tell you about the car.

Under the hood isn't the SOHC that Honda originally placed under the hood, there isn't a B-Series like so many other have shoe-horned in the engine compartment, no there is a K20Z1 AND the accompanying 6 speed manual transmission. Hell, it's still got the spark plug cover emblazoned with the Acura emblem. Holding the motor in place are Hasport mounts, which Micah had to fix because as he said "some weren't even bolted! They were held in place with hopes and dreams." Gotta love fixing somebody else's mistakes. Air enters the K20 via a custom intake, through a 70mm P2R throttle body, and eventually into the combustion chamber. There it meets the fuel, which made its way there from the tank through a Walbro 255lph fuel pump, BDL fuel pressure regulator and fuel rail. After squishing and banging the spent fumes are sent out of the head through a DC Sports header and out through a Kteller 3 inch exhaust with a Magnaflow muffler and resonator. Making sure all of this works right is a Hondata Kpro ECU, and it does that well.

The car sits on Skunk2 coilovers and Bilstein shocks, which replaced the blown ones that came with the car. Again, previous ownership fail. Blox rear lower control arms, along with Hard Race rear toe and camber kits keep the car from chewing up the Falken Azenis RT615 too quickly. Speaking of those Flaken's, they're lovingly wrapped around 15x8 Rota RB's.




Inside there isn't much. No carpet or sound deadening, but there is an AEM Wideband on the A pillar and something much cooler. In place of your average cluster is a cluster out of an S2000. It's awesome, it's very awesome.



The minimalist motif continues on the exterior with a CTR front lip, EK side skirts, OEM mudflaps, JDM headlights (with 8k HID's) and amber corners. The only real flashy bit is the carbon fiber duck bill spoiler.



Now on to the track experience. Micah has a set of Hoosier slicks he wanted to run, but he couldn't get those on in time. He wanted to put a rear sway bar on, and he was all set to do it but a problem arose. Remember that Magnaflow muffler? Yeah, it got in the way. He was faced with a choice: run without a sway bar and face the consequences or hack the muffler off with a hacksaw, put the sway bar on and ride in ricer mode. Knowing how loud the car is made the choice easy: no sway bar. He was fairly nervous about it, but those fears were quickly quashed. He described the car as "the most predictable car I've ever driven. If my 86 was like writing a doctoral thesis, this (the civic) is like a third grade essay on Charoltte's Web."