HT: How much power are you putting out now?CS: Our stuff really goes down the track really well. I've dyno'd my car a million times. I have a dyno in house, but it spins the tires or blows through the clutch. It does something stupid on the dyno. We know we're somewhere between 1000 hp and 1100 hp at the wheels. We know we're making a lot of power. But we can't get the car to stay on the dyno. It's just stupid. We can turn the car down to 25 lbs. of boost and it'll make 780 hp and about 650 lb-ft of torque, so at 60 lbs. of boost-you can do the math and find out where we're at.
HT: How old is the chassis?CS: It was built in '01. I tested it in '03 and brought it out in '04. The car was built according to the '03 rules, when we finished it. So the car is 250 lbs. too heavy. The suspension is old. It's not very aerodynamic. It's a '92 model Civic hatchback. I know Kenny Tran was running the same car. It's outdated. I'm taking this worn out car and competing with guys with a lot bigger budgets, and their chassis are one to two years old. And the rules are different. We can put better suspensions on cars now-better parts. So mine's outdated. But I expect this car to run either teens or twenties by the end of the year.
HT: Do you play the qualifying game?CS: I make sure that the fastest guys are on the other side of the ladder. In '04, I concentrated on that. I always try to be number two qualifier or number one, because I knew that Gary Gardella was going to be number one or number two. I didn't want to qualify number four, because that meant I would have to race Gary in the semis. Yeah, I do look at that. Obviously, you want to qualify as well as you can-I want to qualify number one every time. But when you can't do that, then you have to look at the ladder and try to see where you're at. And if I need to go a little faster, we'll turn it up a little bit and go faster.
Splash 'N' Dash
The Fit blitz continues as Honda teamed up with the House of Blues to collaborate on the "Fit in the House" marketing/charity promotion. Jack Poppitz, the artists responsible for much of the folk art and murals in House of Blues clubs around the States, painted a one of a kind '07 Fit Custom Art Car to be auctioned. Benefits will go to the House of Blues Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization dedicated to bringing the arts to schools and communities.
The Sweet Type
Return of the Civic Type S
The Type S still exists? It does if you're a tight pants-wearing European. At the British International Motor Show in July, Honda unveiled the new 3-door Civic Type S.
Visually it looks the part-flaring fenders and sculpted sideskirts, spoilers in the front and rear, all colored in gunmetal gray. An everyday hatch, it's not. Mechanically, Honda tells us that it beats out base Civics with sharper steering response and sportier handling with a specially tuned suspension. There are revised spring and damper settings and wider rear track. It comes standard with 17-inch alloy wheels and two engine choices: a 1.8-liter i-VTEC and a 2.2-liter diesel. Both models produce 140 hp and come standard with a 6-speed manual. The 1.8-liter i-VTEC is also available with Honda's automated-manual i-SHIFT transmission.
Inside the cabin, it's sporty-with leather trimmed steering wheel, aluminum pedals and silver-stitched black alcantara seats-though not enough to steal the spotlight from the upcoming Type R.
A Civic Type S GT model will be available. Although it won't come with any performance upgrades, it will come with some cush features like a panoramic glass roof, cruise control and dual zone A/C. The Civic Type S goes on sale in January, serving as the opening act for the Civic Type R, which will go on sale in March. Honda announced that the Type R, too, will have a GT grade.