We'd like to share some of the performance work going on the shop today -- the UK S2000 exhaust mod. This mods diverts a portion of the exhaust flow past the first part of the twin-loop muffler for a more pleasing exhaust note without the typical droning of common aftermarket exhausts for the S2000. We use a 1" stainless U bend and cut to fit. Here is a picture of the tube held up for fitment check.



Work begins on the UK S2000 exhaust mod. Cutting the stock exhaust for the stainless bypass tube.



Next the we grind the opening for exact fitment.



TIG welding the stainless bypass pipe completes the UK S2000 exhaust mod.



Complete UK S2000 exhaust mod. Ready to test on the dyno!

http://www.kingmotorsports.com/c-173-dyno-tuning.aspx



We've had lots of requests for dyno results after the UK S2000 exhaust mod- so here ya go. The customer AP2 S2000 is equipped with a header and test pipe and tuned using a Hondata K-Pro. Blue line is with the stock AP2 exhaust, the red line is the UK mod AP2 exhaust. A slight increase in power with the UK mod, but most importantly the exhaust note has improved dramatically. Nice and mellow without any harshness building to a pleasing wail at 9000 rpm- just what the customer wanted...

Some of you may remember this black beauty that King Motorsports built out and equipped with quite a few Mugen goodies!

See more pictures of this S2000 in our Facebook gallery.



ENGINE
Mugen Stainless Steel Header
Mugen Stainless/Titanium Cat-Back Exhaust
Mugen Carbon Fiber Airbox
Mugen ECU
Mugen Hi-Pressure Radiator Cap
Mugen Low-Temp Thermostat
Mugen HP Clutch Pressure Plate


SUSPENSION
Moton Double Adjustable Shocks w/ Remote Reservoirs
Hypercoil Spring Set
Mugen 31.8 mm Front Stabilizer Bar
King Motorsports Bumpsteer Kit
Mugen MF-10 Wheels: 17x7.5 & 17x8.5
Bridgestone S0-3 Tires: 215/45 ZR17 & 245/40 ZR17


AERODYNAMICS
Mugen Carbon Fiber Hardtop
Mugen Rear Spoiler
Mugen Front Half Bumper Spoiler and Undertray

See more of our performance parts for the S2000 at our online store:
http://www.kingmotorsports.com/s-94-s2000.aspx

When we aren't building race cars or getting the most potential from engine builds, we have plenty of other things to keep us busy. Here are a few examples!

In the shop today: Comprehensive dyno development program completed for the multiple time SCCA ARRC championship ITA CRX. Now on to corner weight and four wheel alignment. You can see another pic of this CRX on the King Motorsports Instagram feed.

http://www.kingmotorsports.com/c-326-wheel-alignment.aspx

In the shop today- assembling a close-ratio K series transmission for a Lotus Elise with a K swap-nice!

http://www.kingmotorsports.com/c-296-transmission.aspx



In our fab shop, we just finished up TIG welding an EGT bung to this S2000 header. This S2000 will be the test bed for the upcoming revised Kraftwerks SC kit.... More details to follow!

http://www.kingmotorsports.com/e-DM_ProductsPerMfgAndCategory.aspx?CatID=257&ManID=84



Have you checked your rear trailing arm bushings lately? 95% of the cars that we see for service have badly deteriorated rear trailing arm bushings. This condition can lead to very unsafe handling. Here we have just installed a set of PCI rear trailing arm bushings in an 88-91 CRX rear trailing arm.

http://www.kingmotorsports.com/m-78-pci-procar-inovations.aspx

Heading to the track this season? Consider a set of ARP hardened, extended wheel studs. Cheap insurance against bad things happening....

http://www.kingmotorsports.com/e-DM_ProductsPerMfgAndCategory.aspx?CatID=308&ManID=6

**The following is a post from blog contributor Perry Nation and in no way reflects the complete opinions of the KMS staff and in fact we feel even more strongly about these cars than Perry has expressed.**

Tucked away in the King Motorsports Facebook page is some kind of button that allows ordinary civilians to share pictures of their Honders. And this makes me very happy. I want to share some of these pictures with you blog-reading people. These are the cars I would drive if I were banished to Winterfell.

This daily driver was shared by Justin F. Lowered on stockies, nice and tucked with special windshield spiderweb design, offset and marbled passenger front fender and CF-inspired hood. Special seat covers protect the OEM seats. Additional ventilation beneath the passenger side headlight brings in extra cooling to the brake system. This Civic is as much at home on the track as it is in the backyard next to that concrete well that came with the house!

This beaut was sent in by Charles M. Best to let him introduce us to his EF: "last pic of the first car 365k on the clock before i took it off the road because of rust. It had koni yellows purchased through king motorsports back in 1990 by my father for his 85dx (bought new in 84) also had the jackson racing springs, JR short shifter, JR front and rear sway bars and JR Bushing kit. and it had a 13" momo monte carlo purchased new in 1990 by my father. plenty more done but this is what was taken off my dads old 3g. right after this picture i upgraded the injectors, added a hedman header and a side pipe. Miss this car but not that much since i have a better 3rd gen now ;)"

Charles we are loving your black-on-red color scheme with the meaty tires and the bold primer patch with color-matched gas tank fill door. Photographically speaking this is a work of art and we appreciate how the architectural and parking lines accentuate the subtle, shy curves of your EF. The green PARK sign is the icing on the cake and brings the perfect STOP-NO-NEVERMIND-GO-palette balance to your red masterpiece. Also you must have been very close to the ground to take this picture.



Here is a proper EF wagon from Shawn D. Shawn has *only* cultivated a wee bit of rust so far because he is busy chasing down his true automotive passion, which is finding and then parking in front of ridiculously large red doors. We see some rust starting at the taillight seam which is encouraging and a good start! Shawn you must be as tall as Chewbacca because those front seats have become back seats.



Yia L. wants ya'll to meet the Red Rocket: "93 civic Dx, d16z6 swapped, 261k on Chassis, 264k on engine. rear ended so the trunk does not seal, smells like exhaust in cabin when the front window is cracked/opened. This is truly a beater with a heater! Did I mention snow tires up front for extra Wisconsin traction?"



This 93 Civic Si was shared to us by Unikeone D. He bought this green EG gem because the heater went out in his 4 door Civic. The EG has become his garage project car and presumably has heat. It's got special features like lightweight steelies up front, universal 4-lug alloys in the rear and just enough rust to let people know he's serious about living where it snows. Unusual sheetmetal deformations above the rear wheel wells belie the hidden mysteries of this car's past -- was it stanced beyond sanity? Was there a fender rolling session using a 20" rim and a speed bump? Did a snow chain that should have been installed on the front tires come loose and tear up the inside of the fender? As it is with roommates you find on Craig's List, used cars should have some secrets that you discover when you are tired and vulnerable. The rear end features defensive metallic protrusions that can knick the shins of any would-be thieves.



Dustin's Ek hatch makes me cry, bitter, rusty tears of desire. My mind wanders to days of youth, when camel statues were still magical and when hiding people inside cartop carriers was not illegal but instead encouraged. We hope to see thee again at Dyno Day, Dustin. Don't make us beg.

This next beater with a heater is owned and driven by Alvin S., which clocked an impressive 313,763 miles and counting. He's opted for a unique rear wiper *BLADE* delete, rather than the more pedestrian rear wiper *arm* delete. Alvin must work with reptiles, because there is a snake escaping from the trunk and wrapping itself around the muffler. The front seats have been upgraded to racing hammocks with ultra rare JDM material sourced from Babies "R" Us.

This Geo Metr- er, Honda Civic was shared with us by Mikle I., direct from Hungary. His Civic features custom time attack steelies, a Christmas-inspired paint job, and is the very rare lightweight bumperless edition EF that Honda only briefly offered overseas (the stuff we miss out on due to over-zealous US safety standards...). We do like the door and window trim delete, which is popular in Europe. Also, Mikle, we caught you sporting that Mugen sticker on the hood, and you know what? We are proud. There is something poetic happening there with your gas tank fill door, like some kind of stencil/spraypaint experimentation that is perched on the edge of self-discovery. Keep up the good work!

Shulong X. shared this amazing 1994 Integra DC2 LS with us. This picture was taken from a moving tram during the Universal Studios Hollywood backlot tour, which passes by famous retired film cars. That's right! This is the "Silver Flame" Integra featured in the "Jurassic Parking" TV series! Only 7 of these "picture cars" were made, 5 of which were destroyed during filming the 2nd season of the show. 1 was shipped off to the Smithsonian, and this last remaining car was actually driven on set by Gary Coleman in season 4. It features a full working interior and an upgraded suspension that has been replaced numerous times due to all the jumps it was featured in.

There are many reasons to downgrade your car back to stock form. Most of the time, it's because life has struck. Maybe the car was munched up beyond repair, or finances are forcing some hard choices.

But sometimes the reasons are happy ones -- like upgrading to a newer model!

That's what's happening to our old friend John Hinrichs. John was one of the first to Mugen-equip his 2010 CR-Z. We documented his impressions of the Mugen carbon fiber air box, Mugen 17x7 GP wheels, Mugen cat-back exhaust and Mugen 5-way sport suspension for our blog. And now he's trading in his 2010 CR-Z for a fresh new 2013 model.

We asked him to send his thoughts on going back to stock form after enjoying his Mugen parts for the last 40k miles:

>> With 40k of the 41k miles on my CR-Z having used the Mugen suspension, I didn't remember how the OEM setup felt. Now that its back on, I can tell you I'll be in a hurry to get the Mugen gear onto my 2013.

>> There is little difference in comfort between the two. On the highway, or even a lumpy backroad (if it doesn't have any curves in it), I have to pay fairly close attention to notice the change. Large bumps do take the OEM suspension a bit longer to sort out, so if anything the Mugen setup is more comfortable by being less bouncy. But then there is the cornering. While the Mugen suspension did leave some body roll (it is a comfortable street setup, after all) turn in was immediate, and the way the car's weight would shift was linear and predictable. Not so much with OEM suspension. Not only is the body roll worse, but turn into a corner with any vigor and it takes two or three tries (read: bounces) before the suspension settles in. And it has to figure it out all over again if I try to change my line mid-turn. The OEM setup is best described as vague, if not a little bit unsettling.

>> Oh, and the fender gap is back to barely acceptable with my 16" winter wheels. Would look downright awkward with 17"s.

Thanks John for the report and we're looking forward to your future mods!

Check out all our CR-Z performance parts at the King Motorsports online store!

There are cars that find new life as race cars, and then there are cars that are practically delivered straight to the track. This 4th gen Honda Prelude (BB4) is a very storied car that's been a race car its entire life -- winning a few championships in the hands of Bob Endicott (it was Bob's car). We are currently reinventing this thoroughbred race car for its next chapter -- which is sure to be very interesting! :)

Orange is the color of the year over here at King Motorsports. The Prelude race car project -- nicknamed "San Pedro" -- is geting a fresh paint job in a bright new color. Some call it Hugger Orange, we prefer to call it Daytona Yellow!! Here it is over at Don's Auto Body in West Allis, WI (Don does all of our paintwork, give him a call at 414-541-5155 if you need anything).

Next stop back to KMS for final assembly and setup.

Now that "San Pedro" is back from Don's Auto Body with a fresh coat of Daytona Yellow (some call it Daytona Red), Chad begins final assembly. Installing the fuel bladder, rear tin work and a set of freshly rebuilt and revalved Penske triple adjustable shocks are the first on the build list.

Fresh new parts and fresh paint-wonderful!!

Rear tin work-bead rolled to eliminate vibration noises. Dzus fasteners are used for easy access to the fuel systems.

We just installed the engine/transmission assembly into "San Pedro" Trick transmission with carbon synchro's and a Mugen limited slip (super rare). The engine is built to the limit of SCCA EP prep rules with a camshaft set ground to our specifications. We'll be using a Hondata S300 for tuning. Can't wait to get it on the dyno!

Getting closer to firing up San Pedro for initial engine break in on the dyno. The engine is now completely plumbed and the engine harness has been installed.

Fitting an oil catch tank on a Prelude is always tricky. We fabricated our own and plumbed it with Aeroquip -10 braided lines.

Here is where we vent the H series valve covers. Here the motor has a race header that DC built specifically for the car years ago. We will use it to establish a baseline before we start developing our own race header for it.

The fuel cell is completely plumbed. We ran a hard line under the car to the engine bay for the fuel feed and return. Connections are -6 Aeroquip.

The Penske triple adjustable damper canisters are mounted for ease of compression and rebound adjustments. Controlling wheel movement is the one of the most important considerations in making a race car handle properly.

Just started fabricating the dash for San Pedro. We use .080" sheet aluminum. We will mount an Autometer tach, oil press/temp and water temp gauge in this panel. Once fabrication has been completed we will send it out to be powder coated flat black to reduce glare.

View from the top of the dash.

San Pedro is alive!! The engine has been broken in on our dyno and we are now testing various intake and exhaust solutions.

It is critical that the initial start and break in of a new engine be monitored closely on the dyno with a wide band. We have seen far to many engines ruined by improper A/F ratios and poor "base line" tunes.

Chad is busy fabricating a new H23 dyno header for San Pedro...

On the dyno with San Pedro with our new H23 stepped race header.

Detail shot of the H23 header....

Finishing up TIG welding the 3" stainless race exhaust on "San Pedro" with a Magnaflow 3" stainless muffler.

Here is the header to Mid Pipe Flex Joint.

Some finishing details on "San Pedro" dash is in and gauges wired up.

Fuel filler fabrication.

Interior tin work completed and plexi windows fabricated and installed.

We rebuilt San Pedro's front suspension using new uprights, bearings, hubs and upper control arms. ARP extended studs were also installed.

More updates will be added to the blog as we go. Be sure to check out our Facebook page to see the updates on San Pedro as they happen!

Update 12/4/2012:

We haven't had an update on the progress of "San Pedro" in a while. Christmas came a bit early yesterday in the form of the correct steering hub to mount the steering wheel. We even hear a pair of factory side skirts are on their way to us. "All" we have to do now is fabricate a carbon front air dam to mount the splitter and it's off to the races!!

Update 12/13/2012:

Here's a picture of the newly-painted Volk TE37's with Hoosier race rubber:

Update 12/21/2012:

We are finalizing chassis setup on "San Pedro" -- this orange beast is on the scales and will soon be ready for testing!

Update 1/9/2013:

Finally... San Pedro gets a new windshield!

San Pedro sees the light for the first time in 2013! Spring testing is coming soon!

Clicky-click to see "Re-inventing 'San Pedro' Part 2" for a continuation of the build pics!

Always a treat to receive pictures from our customers. Here is Meor Amir's 2005 JDM DC5R.

This is Meor's build:

2005 JDM DC5 Type-R

Exterior:

Update Dec 2012:

Thanks Meor for the new pics! Beautiful!

We are thrilled to have our 2012 summer Dyno Day appear in the latest issue of Honda Tuning Magazine!

For those of you that are image-imparied, here's the text from the mention:

EVENTS

June 2, 2012 - Wisconsin

King describes its event as part meet, part dyno-battle, part show, part barbecue, and part awesome. Everything you could possibly want in a summer afternoon with fellow Honda enthusiasts could be found at King's yearly shindig. And that includes detailed dyno analysis for spectators and competitors to view, detail demonstration, live music, food, a raffle, promos, and assorted free goodies, as well as a special guest in the form of Mugen's CR-Z RR.

If you're anywhere near the King facility in Wisconsin, you need to make next year's event a prioirty!

Awesome photos by Noggs Photography. You can find us in the Winter (Dec 2012/Jan 2013) issue of Honda Tuning. LIKE the King Motorsports Facebook page to be the first to know when Dyno Day 2013 is scheduled!

Here are a few pics of one of our favorite partnerships and race car builds -- the King Motorsports / Moser Racing ITR's at the 2000 Molson Grand Prix Motorola Cup race in Toronto. Toronto was a racing venue we always looked forward to! The photo above includes Robert Moser, Rich Hays and Joe Moser.

Below are the #63 and #64 Type-R's on a qualifying lap.

Here's a YouTube video shared by Joe Moser, who said: "Damn, would love to have the old #63 back! That thing was a beast. Here is the in-car from Toronto that year (starting dead last after a Qualifying issue, finishing 2nd)" 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FwuNxZ757U

Epilogue: #63 was retired (written off) at Watkins Glen and #64 was sold and is currently being raced on the West Coast.

Here is the promotional card we printed up years ago, describing our #64 King Motorsports / Mugen RSX World Challenge RSX.

Here's the back of the card with driver info and build specs (Right-click to see it full size).

KMS/Mugen RSX World Challenge RSX at Sears Point in 2003- What a great race series this was....

The KMS/Mugen WC RSX used custom fabricated Alcon brake caliper and rotors- front and rear. The chassis was seam welded and suspension pickup points altered for best geometry. Moton triple adjustable shocks controlled wheel motion. Trick from top to bottom!

Here's what our "home" looked like during a typical World Challenge weekend. Oh-do we ever miss setting up that awning :)

Our Mugen built K20 World Challenge race engine on the dyno at Mugen in Japan. While we were running this engine on the dyno, the Mugen JGTC NSX engine was being prepared to run on the dyno cell adjacent to to ours and next to that a Mugen F3000 engine was being run on dyno cell specific to that series. Quite an experience to have all that technology everywhere you look!