Ha asked himself how an all-motor four-cylinder was supposed to keep up with a supercharged V8. The answer was simple. "Fight fire with fire," he says.
The all-motor plan went out the window and instead Ha took the Type-S to CK Auto in Philadelphia with forced induction on the brain. CK built Ha a turbo setup based around a Turbonetics 60-1, custom manifold and custom piping. But within two hours of getting the car back, the motor checked out, "oil and smoke everywhere," Ha recalls. He cites "unknown reasons" for the damage.
"I had been racing a lot on the all-motor setup, and had a misshift now and then. I think the rods just weakened."
We suspect one of those reasons is because someone's foot got the better of his brain, a forgivable enthusiast offense as long as no one gets hurt. And the only thing hurt in this transaction was Ha's wallet, which he cracked open for a replacement K20 with 10,000 miles, sourced for $2,500 from a wrecked '03 RSX.
Back to CK Auto with a thicker head gasket to lower compression, the turbocharged DC5 underwent the same treatment as before, using the same Type R throttle body and intake manifold from his previous motor for inhalation, while the engine blows out through a 3-inch test pipe from Unforgettable that dumps into a 3-inch Thermal exhaust.
To this day, Ha says the RSX runs strong and healthy. "I pull on STi's and EVOs all day long."
His pulling power will increase once he takes delivery of Hondata's K-Pro ECU. He'll push it even further when he installs an in-car computer from Xenarc Technologies with touch-screen interface, and has real-time tuning parameters available from the driver's seat. For now, boost is regulated by GReddy's Profec B controller.
Dyno sessions at Performance Specialties in nearby Pottstown, Pa., showed untuned results of 320 hp to the wheels. Later runs down Atco Raceways dragstrip put him right at the numbers by which he was stomped by that Cobra long before: 13.25 seconds at 109 mph.