"It was really cool that Geoff came all the way out from Arizona to help us coming down the stretch," says Koury. "When it came to dropping in the K, the Hasport mounts and plug-and-play wiring harness made the job relatively easy. Then we added the Full Race turbo kit, which took a lot of work and custom brackets before we 'convinced' it into the tightly packed engine bay. The end was finally in sight after three straight weeks of hardcore wrenching."
"The thing fired on the first try, with no leaks and no check engine light, and was immediately strapped to the dyno. There, Jeff used a Hondata K-Pro ECU to dial in the K24," Koury continues. "After about three hours, the car was pushing 370whp and 265 lb-ft. of torque at 10 psi on 93-octane pump gas with excellent part-throttle response for the street. We later added Sunoco Cam 2 race gas and made 440whp and 300 lb-ft of torque at 14 psi."
On the street though, the K24 was a handful. "That motor was very torquey. When it hooked, it moved out. It was definitely impressive."
But the euphoria was short-lived as it became apparent that 14 psi barely challenged the GT35R turbo and stock internals were not going to cut it at the strip.
"The lack of support, at that time, made it tough for the K series to compete at the strip. We could foresee serious, costly tranny problems beyond the stock nature of the engine," says Koury. "We built a B series $10,000 to $15,000 cheaper, got more power, more reliability and fewer maintenance issues." The GT35R was retained and generated 654 wheel-hp on a stock-sleeved Frankenstein LS/VTEC engine.
The car has posted an 11.8 at 142 mph on BF Goodrich drag radials and Koury admits more seat time and better 60-foots will drop ET's substantially. She's hoping to run 10s on the drag radials, and then go for single digits with some slicks. Does she miss the K24?
"It is an awesome way to go now that the market has caught up with it. There are more serious hard parts for it now, compared to when we were starting out.
Bolts&Washers
Andrea Koury's 1995 Civic
Propulsion
The internally stock K24 scavenged from a TSX is pressurized by a Garrett GT35R turbo that was secured by a custom, equal length turbo header from Full Race Motorsports. The remainder of the turbo system consists of a Tial Sports 44mm wastegate, Tial 50mm blow-off valve, a 3-inch Full Race V-band downpipe, a Full Race vertical feed intercooler and a Thermal 3-inch exhaust system.
A Walbro 255 lph pump, Aeromotive regulator, 750cc/min RC Engineering injectors and a Golden Eagle fuel rail handle fueling.
The tuning attack is led by a Hondata K-Pro ECU, tuned by Jeff Evans of Evans Tuning. It should be noted that the TSX swap included grafting in an RSX 6-speed transmission fitted with an Exedy twin-plate clutch.
Stance
Damping is provided by Advance Design struts, teamed with custom Eibach ERS lowering coils. The EG runs 800 lb-in. units in front and 1300 lb-in. units in the rear. Polyurethane bushings are employed throughout and Full Race traction bars keep wheel hop to a minimum during hard launches.
Resistance
Evans Tuning concocted a cross-pollinated braking system using '95 Prelude VTEC rotors (11.2 in.) and Accord wagon calipers in the front and GSR rotors (10.2 in.) and calipers in the rear. A Civic EX brake booster master cylinder pressurizes Earl's braided lines to put the clamp on the high-spirited Civic.
Rims & Rubber
Koury's EG grips the asphalt with BF Goodrich T/A Drag radials up front and Falken Azenis' out back. The wheel of choice is Rota's 15-inch, five-spoke Slipstreams sporting the full blackout treatment.
Fashion
The exterior of the car has been modestly enhanced, adding to its sleeper appeal. An OEM Honda front chin spoiler is joined by Full Race underpan diffusers front and rear. The paint is stock Honda white.