Hartanto
quickly located a 1999 Honda Civic Si and dropped it off at RedZone
Performance in Fremont, Calif., for them to transform it into a race
car. One of the first things they addressed was the suspension.
Hartanto and RedZone chose to run Koni 30-series dampers in conjunction
with sleeve-type coilovers and Eibach ERS 800 lb/in springs up front
and 1200 lb/in springs in the rear. All the suspension mods in the
world are useless without a proper alignment, so the car was checked
and adjusted by Wicked Tuning in California. Hartanto says that from
his own personal experience, the setup consistently outperforms any of
the "JDM bling" coilover suspensions on the market. To further help get
the balance of the car more to his liking, he chose to jettison the
front anti-roll bar and bolted up a beefy 22mm Comptech rear bar. Like
the Koni shocks and Eibach springs, he says this anti-roll bar is
simply the best on the market.
Although purists may cringe at the
thought of power steering on a race car, Hartanto went to considerable
lengths to install it on his. He says it gives him more precise control
of the wheel and prevents him from having to constantly fight the
wheel, which in the end allows him to be more consistent. Hartanto
further justified his decision by explaining to us the importance of
consistency in a full-length race. He says the extra degree of
consistency the steering provides is well worth the 3hp lost to the
power steering pump. You don't need to justify it to us Andrie, we
don't think you're any less of a man for running power steering.
One
of the most heavily-taxed components on a road racing car is the
brakes. With lots of hard braking and very little time between turns
for them to cool down, they can quickly overheat and become useless. To
prevent just that from happening, Hartanto wisely chose to upgrade the
front calipers and rotors. But this is a working mans car, so don't
expect to see a flashy big brake kit bolted to the front end. Like many
budget-oriented racers, he chose to hit the OEM parts bin and grafted
on NSX calipers and 282mm rotors. Hartanto says that this, combined
with some DIY brake vents, provides ample stopping power.
With
the stopping and turning aspects taken care of, they then took care of
the poweplant (or powerplants in this case). For racing in the NASA
Honda Challenge, the car is equipped with an internally-stock K20A
motor. When racing in the SCCA Pro Speed World Challenge, the car
sports a Comptech-built K20A2 engine. As part of the World Challenge
engine build, Comptech installed 1mm overbore, 12.5:1 compression
Supertech forged pistons, Eagle forged rods and a Prima Racing oil pan.
They then prepped the head per World Challenge specs and bolted it to
the built short-block. The exhaust stays true to the budget theme and
starts with an R-Crew Racing header and custom 75mm RedZone exhaust.
The
stock differential, axles and clutch were discarded in favor of more
appropriate units, including a Kaaz clutch-type LSD, HASport axles and
a Clutch Masters clutch. The car's interior, exterior and aerodynamic
properties were also given their fair share of attention. Air is
directed and downforce is provided by a Prima Racing front splitter and
air dam, and a HPM rear wing. Inside the cockpit, Hartanto is nestled
by a Sparco racing seat and protected by a rollcage, which is a
necessity in the fender-to-fender racing the car sees.
To keep
Hartanto in synch in the engine vitals, he can interface with his
MyChron XG Log. The steering wheel-mounted unit displays RPM, MPH, oil
temperature and pressure, water temperature and fuel level. Hartanto
says the unit was supposed to be easy to configure for his setup, but
he found that not to be the case, frustrating him on more than one
occasion.
The Rota Torque wheels, on the other hand, provided no
additional drama. Measuring 17x8 inches and wearing 235/40/17 Toyo RA1
rubber on all four corners, they give Hartanto the grip he needs to win
races.
The old adage about not being able to have fast, cheap and
reliable all at the same time may be true most of the time, but as
Hartanto, RedZone and his crew of brave volunteers have proven, there
can be exceptions.