Loi Song's 1994 Civic CX
When Loi Song, owner of Sportcar Motion in San Marcos, CA, heard about the Castrol Syntec Top Car Challenge series, he headed straight for his laptop to register. No stranger to stiff competition, the thirty-something native of Hong Kong was immediately overcome with thoughts of going head to head with some of the meanest and nastiest cars around. His little white '94 Civic CX hatchback had already caused quite a stir at race events throughout 2008, but it was the record-setting pace set in 2009 that raised even more eyebrows. Just a few years ago, Sportcar Motion produced another white hatchback that managed to work its way to the top of the food chain in the SFWD drag race series. Always a fan and participant in road race events, Song sensed a shift in enthusiasts' interest, and was confident that the industry would soon concentrate more on road events, rather than drag events. With the future of drag racing under scrutiny, attention was turned toward building a completely street-able Civic with enough power and finesse to hold its own against far more powerful competitors.
If you've never met Song, his demeanor is usually very relaxed, with a comedic and friendly side that most know him by. However, there's another side to this SoCal entrepreneur. Sometimes he's a quiet and complex thinker who seems to channel every bit of energy and attention into the task at hand. This is the dangerous side, the one that will spend hours making tiny adjustments to the car's suspension during all-night corner balancing sessions. Or you may find him scouring the internet all day in search of new ways to produce just a few more horsepower, or perhaps uncover a strategy to increase exit speeds. This is the Song that slipped through the cracks, and his Civic, with driver Tim Kuo, ended up as a Buttonwillow FWD record setter with a blistering 1:55.809.
The K24block/K20 head combo had proven itself to be effective and reliable under the harshest of conditions. Changing out cams, altering compression ratios, and experimenting with various exhaust systems and sizing eventually paid off. In all motor trim, the Frankenstein motor was able to inch its way toward the 300hp mark; more than enough power to move the lightweight chassis around the track and into the winners circle at many events. However, knowing that the level of competition during The Castrol Syntec Top Car Challenge would probably be relying on supercars with sky-high levels of boost and monstrous turbo upgrades, Song placed a call to Dr. Charles and Oscar Jackson. With the help of Skunk2 and Kraftwerks, a highly efficient Rotrex supercharger was chosen for battle. The Hondata-controlled Rotrex kit propels the featherweight CX to just under 470 horsepower on the rollers. The newfound power offers a whole new challenge to Kuo, who has to find a way to control the fury that lies under the hood.
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