Since the interior was gutted after the fire, Ken took the opportunity to have a roll cage welded in by Gary at Design Craft, around which he fitted a new dash and the rest of the interior trim, as required by Street class rules. This undoubtedly stiffened the chassis and helped the suspension and tires work their best at this year’s event, but it also added 120-lbs, so Ken had Sportcar Motion build him a K20/K24 frankenmotor that made 30-whp more than his prior setup, bringing it up to an impressive 330-whp and 230-wtq on the Church Automotive dyno. No matter what your opinion may be of FWD race cars or Hondas, you have to admit that 330-whp out of a naturally aspirated 2.4-liter engine is just incredible! For more details on the motor check out the spec sheet at the bottom of this story.
Other than the addition of a roll cage and a those extra 30 ponies, little else has changed on Big Red since the fire. It still features Ken’s trademark ultra-aggressive front end aero modifications, which he built and installed himself on the Mugen RR front bumper. The front fenders are made by Japanese Honda tuning specialist Feel’s, and Ken has enlarged the rear vents and added topside venting as well. The hood has also been heavily modified by Ken using a large main vent from a NSX-R hood. He’s going to put these vents into production as a KSR product in 2015. And of course there’s a Voltex GT wing out back, along with a custom diffuser built by Ken. DTM Auto Body handled all the finishing body work and paint, and Ken also upgraded to stiffer and lighter 17×9.5 +13 front and 17×8.5 +24 rear Volk Racing CE28RT wheels, wrapped in Hankook Ventus RS-3 tires, 255 wide up front and 225 out back.
Safe to say, then, that the changes Ken made to Big Red when rebuilding it were to further optimize the chassis for Street class (notice the ridiculously lightweight front passenger seat), but with an eye to the future. As Ken explained when I asked where he found the extra pace at this year’s SLB event, “I really didn’t change anything major on the car. I think most of the time came from the JRZ dampers, which I really hadn’t fully dialled in yet. I think the added power just offsets the weight of the roll cage, but I will say that more seat time with the car really helped me a lot this year and we’ve now got the suspension about 80% dialled in. I really felt like there was more in the car this year. I know there was a high 54 in it during the last session at SLB, but I decided to reduce the angle of attack on the wing to minimize drag, but instead I ended up drifting thru Riverside [Turn 7, a very long, high-speed sweeping right-hand bend].”
So what’s next for Ken and Big Red now that he’s achieved his goal of a 1:55 in Street class? “First I’d like to run in Street class with my new K20 supercharged setup and do 1:52’s and close up the gap to SAWD and SRWD. But I was really inspired by the Spoon FD2 running a 1:46 in Unlimited class this year, my mind was blown and I think its about time for me to catch the big boy times, so once I go 1:52 in Street class I’m finally going to step up to Limited FWD. So Big Red Ver.3 will have that K20 with a Jackson Racing supercharger, plus much lower curb weight (aiming for 2300 lbs, currently at 2800 lbs), aero pretty much the same since I know my aero is aggressive enough, the result of being a Cyber Evo fan boi and Time Attack being what I call a “pretty sport”. Haha. Big Red Ver.3 has a goal of 1:45, and I don’t know how but I’m going to do it. I know if I just commit to this, it will happen!”
To see what a 1:55.6 looks like from behind the wheel of Big Red, check out the video below. We can’t wait to see how Ver.3 runs with the JR supercharged setup next year!
Godspeed Project ‘Big Red’ Specs:
2008 FA5 Honda Civic Si sedan
Engine:
- K20/K24 engine built by Sportcar Motion
- Drag Cartel Stage 4 camshafts
- ported K20 cylinder head
- Golden Eagle sleeved K24A2 block
- 13.3:1 compression JE pistons
- Supertech valves
- Hybrid Racing water neck, fuel lines, fuel rail and rad hoses
- KSR 3.5” intake w/ K&N filter.
- Tuned by Church Automotive – 330whp & 230 wtq
Suspension, Brakes, Wheels & Tires:
- JRZ RS Pro coilovers
- Godspeed rear camber arms
- AEM front strut bar
- Front TL Type-S Brembo brakes w/ Project Mu Club Racer front and rear pads
- Volk Racing CE28RT 17×9.5 +13 front and 17×8.5 +24 rear wheels
- Hankook Ventus RS-3 255/40R17 front and 225/45R17 rear tires
- Mugen RR front bumper
- Voltex canards and Type-4 wing chassis-mounted by Design Craft
- KSR hood vent (modified NSX-R piece), front splitter and rear diffuser
- Feel’s front fenders modified by KSR
- roll cage by Design Craft
- prep and paint by DTM Autobody
Action photography of Big Red at 2014 GTAxSLB Finals by Evolutionized Photography
