Cars of the Month - February and March 2008

 Miguel and Andy Visit from the Netherlands and Have Identical Supercharger Conversions

Last month two friends from the Netherlands, Miguel and Andy, booked their Honda Civic Type R EP3’s in for almost identical Jackson Racing supercharger conversions.  

Andy opted for the following modifications:

• 8psi Jackson Racing Supercharger with Hondata K100

• Clutchmasters Clutch

• Clutchmasters Aluminium Flywheel

• Quaife ATB Differential

• AEM Cold Air Intake with Hydroshield

• DC Sports Exhaust Manifold

• Greddy Catback

• Energy Suspension Mounts

• J’s Racing Front Strut Brace

• Earls Braided Brake Lines 

  

  Miguel already had a Hondata Kpro and AEM Cold Air Intake, but still had a substantial shopping list:

   

  • 8psi Jackson Racing Supercharger

  • Clutchmasters Clutch

  • Lightweight aluminium flywheel

  • Quaife ATB differential

  • Greddy Catback

  • Earls Braided Brake Lines

  • Torque Damper

  • BDL Fuel Rail

  The power and torque figures of Miguel’s car can be seen below.

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  The above is typical of what can be expected with a Jackson Racing Supercharged setup.  The JRSC provides high power increases whilst maintaining a high level of reliability and driveability.  CPL Racing have undertaken a high number of these conversions and many more of the chargers have been fitted by customers themselves to Lotus and Civics.

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  After getting the cars back to the Netherlands and driving them around for a while, Miguel emailed us to say “The cars go like bullets!!” .  On those great flat roads in the Netherlands we’re sure they do, just watch out in that rear-view mirror for those blue flashing lights…………………..

  Car of the Month - January 2008

  CPL Turbo-Charged Honda Civic Type R EP3 - The Car That Has Everything........

  Back in June 2007, David, from Duffield, booked his then standard EP3 in at CPL Racing for a turbo conversion, to take place in November 2007.  The plan being to get all the modifications he wanted on the car done all in one go, a philosophy that was well supported by his other half Rebecca (and no, we don’t know if Rebecca has a sister……….).   

  Unfortunately just after booking the car in, David’s standard clutch became very poorly so CPL squeezed the car in for a Clutchmasters clutch, Clutchmasters Aluminium flywheel and Quaife ATB differential to keep David on the road.  Luckily there was just about enough time to fit a Toda catback system as well which David was particularly keen to get put onto the car as soon as possible. 

  The above provided a sound foundation for the power gains that were to come a few weeks later, by greatly improving traction and handling.  The Quaife ATB differential is without doubt the best differential available for the Type R, it is a “fit and forget” modification that never needs to be removed and serviced, unlike a plate differential.  The Quaife also now come with the added bonus of a lifetime warranty, for that extra piece of mind.

  So – back to David’s car and on to November.   Firstly, work concentrated on the engine; with a CPL turbo kit, decat pipe, BDL fuel rail, new Greddy spark plugs and Hondata heatshield gasket fitted. 

  

  Then it was on to the suspension.  Following discussion with Guy in our workshop, David opted for the top-of-the-range Tein system, the Monoflex.  Tein launched this particular model several months ago and, although slightly more expensive than the old “Flex” model, the improvements over the old system are significant.  So the suspension was fitted, along with some rear camber adjusters, the camber set and laser wheel alignment completed.  The following day it was on to the Defi gauges, strut braces and short-shifter, leaving the final day for a full set-up on the dyno.   

  

  So with all the work done, David’s car was now throwing out a highly respectable 318 bhp.  Below is a copy of the dyno charts showing firstly torque and then bhp. 

  

   

  

  Since bringing the car in, David has just added a few cosmetic modifications to the car, so the current set-up is now: -

  CPL Turbo Kit

  Decat pipe

  Hondata Kpro

  BDL Fuel Rail

  Quaife ATB Differential

  Clutchmasters Clutch

  Clutchmasters Lightweight Aluminium Flywheel

  Tein Monoflex with EDFC

  Rear Camber Adjusters

  Nu-Speed Shortshifter

  Greddy Spark Plugs

  Defi gauges (boost, oil temperature, water temperature)

  Hondata heatshield gasket

  J’s Racing front engine torque damper with strut brace

  J’s Racing rear strut brace

  Buddyclub seats

  Carbon fibre bonnet

  Spoon oil cap

  Buddyclub radiator cap

  Spoon socks

  Tarox uprated front brake discs

  EBC Red Stuff front brake pads

  Black Diamond uprated brake discs and pads

  HID kit

  Silicone aero wiper blades

  After a few weeks of driving the car, we asked David to give us some feedback.  This is what he had to say.  “When Guy took me out for a little test drive in the car once it was finished, I could instantly feel a difference in response time and acceleration.  The car was a lot faster then I expected it would be, and also louder!  When I drove it home I was very impressed that the handling had improved so much, even though the suspension setup was softer than it was before.  It was raining all the way home, but the car felt more planted and sure of itself than it had done previously in the dry.  What I love about the turbo is that it compliments the VTEC engine so well.  I now have better fuel economy then I used to (as long as I don’t sit on boost) and a much faster car.  People who say the turbo kicks in too hard have not been in a CPL built turbo charged car.  The power delivery is steady and very controllable and there is never a point at which you feel you have too much.  The car pulls hard from 3k revs all the way to the red line without any loss.  You can still feel the VTEC kick in, and this just adds to the fun.  I use my car as a daily driver and it has not slipped up once since I have had it back.  The service I received was top class and if I have any questions I just ring up CPL and there is always someone there to take the time to help me out.  Being able to provide people with top of the range equipment is nothing without customer service.  CPL has provided me with both and I would recommend them to anyone.  Much thanks to Guy, Lynn and David”.

  Below are some more photos of the car.......

  

   

    

  Car of the Month - December 2007

  Jackson Racing Supercharged Ariel Atom

  Due to our knowledge of the K20 engines, CPL often have an Ariel Atom in the workshop, however in November we were privileged to have THE Ariel Atom featured on Top Gear last year.  Picture below.....

  

  Although CPL has carried out a number of supercharger conversions and even a turbo conversion on the Atom, this car had already had a Jackson Racing kit factory fitted.

  Steph, the proud owner and an Ariel enthusiast, bought his car to us as he wanted to extract a bit more power from the engine and also wanted his car to have a full overhaul/service and MOT.

  Due to the Atom being “open top” these cars are very much an enthusiast’s car, almost always used only at weekends, for track days and other special occasions.  Not so with Steph, he drives his car very regularly and is not frightened at all of taking it out in the rain.  Obviously a man and his car very resilient to the extremities of the English climate!

  Our workshop team hand fabricated an intake which was then power-coated in black.  Due to Steph’s frequent motoring in the rain, and the filter being exposed, a protective hydroshield was added to cover the filter and provide some protection from the rain.  Below are some photos of the intake.

   

   

  The supercharger belt was changed, and the car given a full service and MOT.  Following that the car was strapped down on the dyno and given a full tune.  The results before and after the CPL air intake and tuning on our Dyno Dynamics dyno can be seen below.

  

  Car of the Month - November 2007

  Ryan Simpson's Turbo-charged Honda DC2

  Ryan Simpson, from Haynes in Bedfordshire, booked his DC2 in for a CPL turbo conversion at the beginning of July this year.  Before coming to CPL Racing, Ryan had already started modifying his car and had added: 

  EBC turbo groove discs

  EBC red stuff pads

  Spoon N1 muffler

  Spoon resovoir covers

  Auto meter dial pod with Savage gauges

  

  

  The brakes were a certainly a wise investment as on the 27^th August work started in the CPL workshop to convert the car into a beast that would have most other DC2s running scared.   David Shaw, our senior technician, and Honda B Series expert, carried out the conversion over a period of four days.  As well as fitting the turbo kit, Dave also fitted a Spoon B pipe and hand fabricated a decat pipe.  The following parts were also added in order to compliment the turbo kit:

  Uprated RC Injectors

  3” Filter

  Some additional pipework and a silicone coupler

  Slimline radiator fan 

  Addition of uprated spark plugs (Greddy), and a change of engine oil and filter ensured the car was ready for whatever stresses Ryan would put the car to on the road once he’d got his baby back with all its new toys.

  

  At the end of the fourth day in the workshop, Guy, our tuner, fitted a Hondata s100 system into a Hondata conversion ECU and the car was strapped down on our brand new 4WD Dyno Dynamics dyno in preparation for tuning.  Hondata have recently added a boost option to the s100 which provides a more economical solution to those that do not require the additional functions of the s200 or s300.  At around £186 including VAT this is excellent value for money.

  On Friday (the 5^th day), Guy got an early start and, as is usual practice since the addition of the temperature-controlled dyno cell, locked himself in with his ear-muffs and began tuning the car.  With only a short 20 minute break for lunch, Guy was back in the dyno cell to finish the tuning.  By the end of the day the car had reached a level of almost 236 wheel horsepower running at 7-8psi.     The dyno chart below shows the wheel horsepower and torque.

  

  Here is what Ryan had to say a few days after he collected the car..........

  “I just want to say that I’m over impressed with the quality and fitment of the parts and the power gains my car has, the acceleration is awesome!!!  As for the sound, the exhaust note has a more meaty purpose to it now, and I love the sound of the turbo spooling up plus the dump valve, it’s a head turner!  I plan to get internals changed soon and maybe a carbon fibre bonnet.   Big thanks to CPL Racing - Ryan”

  

  Car of the Month - October 2007

  Flying Scotsman’s 509 bhp Civic

  Scott Whitelaw, from Lanarkshire in the heart of Scotland, has been bringing his Honda Civic Type R all the way to CPL Racing for almost three years now.  Keen for power in the early days Scott opted for just the Jackson Racing Supercharger initially, but once his interest in drag racing really took off he was hungry for more and soon bought the car back and a CPL nitrous kit and some cams were added.  This set-up, together with Scott’s excellent driving skills, earned him a European record, fastest supercharged Honda, running an 11.6 second pass at 118 mph (or 12.2 seconds without the nitrous).    This is a whole second quicker than anyone else in Europe has run in a supercharged Honda of any kind, how impressive is that!!! 

  Early on in 2007 Scott had been burning the midnight oil at work to replenish his car fund and had dreams of even more power (as if 356 bhp wasn’t enough already), and began discussions with CPL on a built engine.  The result was a decision to put a CPL turbo kit on the car, together with the built engine, so in July/August of this year the transformation of the car took place and the results were just what Scott was looking for…….a massive 509 bhp !!!  Here is the dyno chart.

  

  The current set-up of the car is as follows:

  CPL built 2.0 litre engine

  CPL turbo

  CPL fuel system

  CPL driveshafts

  CPL custom exhaust

  Hondata Kpro

  Quaife ATB differential

  Clutchmasters Clutch & Flywheel

  BDL Fuel Rail

  Buddyclub Racing Seats

  Sparco steering wheel

  Defi gauges

  External data-logger

  ARP head studs

  Greddy spark plugs

  RC Injectors

  A few other little CPL “trick” parts

  As we’ve already said, Scott is a keen drag-racer, and is this year competing in the HKS Drag Series (he is currently in the lead), and the Jap Racer Series (currently third).  On 12^th August, Scott took his newly built car to Santa Pod for the Rotorstock event and the car ran a phenomenal 11.1 seconds at 124mph on its first outing, won the event and became the 2^nd quickest Honda in Europe. 

  

  Here is a link to the video of this run.

  http://www.totheredline.co.uk/gallery/a ... scotts.wmv

   

  Of course, all this power is great on a dyno chart, and looks good at the track, but what is the car actually like to drive.  We asked Scott….

  “On the road the car drives really nice, you can tell the engine has been put together with perfection in mind.  It’s smooth and well balanced throughout and this can be felt whilst driving.  Clutch is not too heavy, keep out of boost when cruising along and feels like a normal car.  Put your foot down and the power just surges in, it’s a great buzz even though it only runs 350bhp on the road.  On the track you can really use that extra power, it pulls like a train at the top end, only thing I can say is that its awesome.  Going by the times I ran in its 1^st outing it does seem to go fairly reasonable too!!”

  

  And what of the future, given the car has more power than most people dream of, will Scott leave things as they are.   “I did have nitrous fitted previously and CPL Racing already have plans to plumb it back in early 2008 so who am I to argue!  In the winter safety modifications will mainly take place, roll cage, harness and perhaps a carbon bootlid to offset some of the roll cage weight.” 

   

  Since this article was written, Scott Whitelaw has gone on to win the HKS Drag Series and taken the record for Europe's fastest Honda, running 10.6 at 137 mph.    Slow down Scott........we can't keep up with you!!!!