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Drag Race

THE GRILLEMEISTER

Those who longed for their engines to look as they did back in the old days of multiple-carb setups were out of luck. Cool as they were to look at, there are lots of reasons why the multi-carb setup fell out of favor, and most of them had to do with the fact that they were a bear to sync. The advent of the four-barrel carb was the death for these systems, though the purists among us prayed for a breakthrough. Thanks to Ken Farrell and his company, Retro Tek, those prayers have been answered. Farrell started off converting old mechanical fuel injection systems (Hilborn & Enderle) when the first aftermarket EFI systems became available. His new system, which uses the latest in EFI mated together with the classic Stromburg 97 design, came about when Farrell saw that there was interest in the benefits of EFI, but he also knew that they were lacking in the looks department. The idea was simple take the best aspects of both and add them together.

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Driven Racing Oil’s Break-In Oil Kit BR30 5W-30

Driven Racing Oil developed the original high zinc, petroleum and low detergent break-in oil over twenty years ago. Break in oil is a specialty oil that reduces wear and contaminates when breaking in a new high-performance engine. It provides controlled friction for your piston rings and incredible protection that helps your camshafts break in properly.

COOL BLAST

Adding a nitrous spray bar to an intercooler is a proven way to lower the intake air temps and consequently give a more dense charge to the combustion chamber for more horsepower. We’ve been seeing more and more intercooler spray bars popping up on both performance and show-n-go cars.

THE SMART CHARGER

If you are going to connect anything automatic to your car, especially when dealing with electricity, lead and acid, you owe it to yourself to do a bit more research rather than pulling just any super-discounted, off-the-shelf item and connecting it to something as potentially volatile as a lead-acid battery. But we have, haven’t we?

FOUR-IN-ONE

In the case of a new Honda Civic Si (EP3), this owner wanted to enhance high-rpm power. The K20 engine with the new i-VTEC 2-liter powerplant has considerably more torque available in the lower part of the power band in comparison to the older B- and H-series VTEC engines. While the EP3 used here is primarily a street-driven machine, the owner plans on taking the car to the weekend dragstrip on occasion.

FUEL SYSTEM FUNDAMENTALS

After working long shifts and weekends, it’s payday and the time has come to enjoy your hard-earned cash. You stroll into the tuner shop and lay down some money on that turbocharger you have been dreaming about buying. Gotcha! Now your system is complete.

IN THE CLUTCH

Changed the clutch in your drag Honda lately? This has to be one of the worst jobs in all of compact car drag racing. Turbocharged, nitrous-fed Honda engines inflict severe damage on clutches after round upon round of heated competition—even some very good “hot rod” clutches.

MOD MOTOR 4-PLAY

Performance enthusiasts are a funny bunch. They all seem to agree that “as much as possible” is the correct answer when asked, “How much power do you want?” But they certainly
disagree about the best way to get there.

GETTING THE SPINS

While it is true that a turbo system does not have the instant response of a supercharger, the new Turbonetics T3/T4 Hybrid turbochargers are closing that time gap. Turbonetics has formed a complete lineup of products that take a T3 turbine section (in standard, Stage 2 or Stage 3 trim), that is then coupled with a T4 compressor section (T04B trim or T04E trim). The result is the T3/T4 Hybrid, which combines the low inertia and fast boost response of the lightweight T3 turbine wheel with the high airflow characteristics of the T4 compressor. These characteristics combine to make the T3/T4 Hybrid the turbo of choice for high-performance import applications.

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