When we checked in with HKS reps at the SEMA show last November, they assured us the company's RSX Type-S turbo kit was days away from completion and shipping to dealers. Days turned out to be weeks, but not long after the new year, we got confirmation the kit was here, available and ready for primetime. The next step was to find someone who had one.
Fred Chang's JDM wet dream of a Type-S seemed an obvious choice. He knows some of the guys at HKS and even picked up sponsorship from the company well before the turbo kit was launched. Chang says he casually broached the issue of doing the turbo install on his RSX-"just friendly talk," he says-and soon enough his car was at XS Engineering (Huntington Beach, Calif.) for the install and tuning.
HKS Marketing says the kit had been approximately one year in development, developed first for use in a sport compact challenge event organized by a mainstream automotive magazine. The company's DC5 ended up winning the FWD class. HKS knew it might have a hit on its hands, despite its usual allegiance to Nissan and Toyota tuning. All of the R&D occurred in the United States, with manufacturing carried out in Japan.
The production kit's results are impressive. Tuned with 100-octane gas and using HKS's Super Mega Flow intake, 65mm Hi-Power exhaust and upgraded actuator, Chang's car made 357.2 whp and 293.7 lb-ft at 14 psi on the XS dyno. Since the Type-S is his daily driver, Chang doesn't see that kind of power on the street, where he runs between 7-9 psi. But it's still plenty of streetable power and twist.
Even if you didn't know what Chang is packing underhood, the car still blows minds with its paint scheme and, to the trained eye, an obsession to JDM detail.
The paint is first to catch your eye. "Top Secret was my inspiration," Chang says, referring to the popular Japanese tuner. "In Super Taikyu [Japan's endurance race series], there are these girls that run the Top Secret RSX and I really like the color scheme. At the time I painted it, around April 2004, there weren't so many gold cars around."
The inspiration extends to Mugen, of which Chang is clearly a fan. "I've always liked how they designed their cars. I had an EK that was completely all Mugen kit. I've always liked their designs and they were creative at the time, then all these fakes came out."
Prospective JDM miners might want to take a cue from Chang, who purchased a lot of his parts from JDMHondaParts.com (jhpusa.com) before he even bought the car, knowing the time and delay that are inevitable when buying Japanese parts.
"When I first got the car it was white, so I did the whole Type R theme. But that got old fast. Then I took it to MOB and they stripped it down. They didn't drop the motor, but they got in around the [firewall] and strut towers. Everything underneath all of the panels is pretty much all taken out."
When we look closely at the car, we realize about the only non-JDM parts are the Rotora binders package and the fuel pump. Damn. Chang even went the road less traveled with his seats, sourcing a set of carbon/Kevlar buckets from Vision, a company that makes parts for Spoon Sports, among others. "The seats are super rare," Chang says. "There are probably only, like, five sets in the United States."
The car gets plenty of attention, and not always of the desired kind. While most of the time Chang says he gets a thumbs-up or other gestures of approval, he often gets guys in Mustangs pulling alongside to make stupid faces as well as the usual ranks of ricer noobs.
The cops, of course, also can't help but notice. But Chang has never had a problem. "I tell them what the car is, what it has on it. They're interested. I've done the whole pop-the-hood thing and answered their questions. They haven't really hassled me too much. Knock on wood, I've never been sent to a ref. I think if you're cool with them, they'll be cool with you."