I am not always impressed by these articles, but Motoiq did a neat feature on a Spoon Civic.
http://www.motoiq.com/MagazineArticles/ID/3735/Keep-It-Simple-Go-Tunings-Spoon-Sport-Civic.aspx
The thing is that it's really really fast. How does this thing, with 430 hp (not that it's a small power output) lap Buttonwillow faster than the F-wing Scion with 1300 hp? The Civic has stock rear brakes, stock rear swaybar, stock head, stock cam... it's pretty amazing what is staying on this car.
If a Civic is anything like a classic Mini, the back half of the car is just there to keep the bumper from scraping :) Brakes, suspension, alignment - I swear the Mini guys would just put castors back there if they were allowed to.
1300 hp means bupkiss if you can't put it on the ground, or the boost lag is so monumental that you barely get there before the next braking point.
This is the same question as:
"Why is a 300HP E36 faster than an 800HP American Iron X Mustang around a road course with more corners than straights?"
"Why is a 165HP Lotus Seven clone faster than a C5 Corvette on the same course?"
"Why is a shifter kart faster than a motorcycle with the same engine?"
And of course the answer is there is a conspiracy.
Knew it!
What duke said. I believe that there is only so much horsepower and torque that a given vehicle and driver can actually make use of, the rest is just noise and heat.
In reply to Giant Purple Snorklewacker:
Thanks Obama!
I just did a google image search of F-wing scion because I really had no idea. That thing looks hilarious. Too bad that wasnt a thing 10-15 years ago during the boom of the ricer era, so I could have seen what that looked like on rusty 4 door civics with busted, unpainted body kits.
Colin Chapman had it right... add lightness.
Well, anyway, I expect that the big HP number of the F-wing is more of a "12 second dyno queen" number but still. I am rather impressed with that Civic. Do the cage the right way, take off those silly canards in the back and back down the diffuser a bit, give it a few feet of exhaust and it could be a street car.
Sanchinguy wrote: Colin Chapman had it right... add lightness.
Mark Donohue and friends would disagree.
I was having similar thoughts on my train ride in today. Those racers sweating over 1/2 psi in a tire to try to gain a fraction of a second are mostly ignoring the main variable in car performance: The loose nut behind the wheel.
I bet this Civic driver would turn fast lap times in a lot of other cars.
There's also this:
Pretty sure this helps alot.
volvoclearinghouse wrote: I was having similar thoughts on my train ride in today. Those racers sweating over 1/2 psi in a tire to try to gain a fraction of a second are mostly ignoring the main variable in car performance: The loose nut behind the wheel. I bet this Civic driver would turn fast lap times in almost any of those cars.
The driver was Dai Yoshihara, a well-known Formula D competitor. Who says drift racers can't drive?! 
volvoclearinghouse wrote: There's also this:
That explains why the car is running insanely hard spring rates, 28kg/mm front and 22kg/mm rear 
This thing is the anti-GTR, it's faster than it should be, but it's light, simple, and an underdog power-wise...I like it! 
If that was previously a Spoon car I'm willing to bet there's a lot to that car that you DON'T see, in addition to what you do, as far as chassis work and fabrication.
From what I've seen over the years, their race cars are all about the details that all come together in the end to make something that the numbers don't always add up to. Add a good tuning shop that adopted the car over and a pro driver and this is what you get. I love it 
Sky_Render wrote:volvoclearinghouse wrote: I was having similar thoughts on my train ride in today. Those racers sweating over 1/2 psi in a tire to try to gain a fraction of a second are mostly ignoring the main variable in car performance: The loose nut behind the wheel. I bet this Civic driver would turn fast lap times in almost any of those cars.The driver was Dai Yoshihara, a well-known Formula D competitor. Who says drift racers can't drive?!
Also this:
Daijiro Yoshihara
TIME ATTACK / ROAD RACE
25 Hours of Thunderhill - 2013
MotoIQ Pacific Tuner Car Championship – 2011
Competitor
Podium, 1st Place, 2011
Super Lap Battle – 2006 & 2010
Competitor
Podium, 1st Place, 2006
Podium, 1st Place, 2010
GYMKHANA
Gymkhana Grid – 2010
Competitor
Podium, 1st Place, 2010
So he can do more than just drifties.
Wanderer wrote: If that was previously a Spoon car I'm willing to bet there's a lot to that car that you DON'T see, in addition to what you do, as far as chassis work and fabrication.
I was actually looking carefully in the pics for the chassis being swiss-cheesed with chamfered holes, but didn't see any.
Super hard springs and stock anti-sway bars front AND rear. Weird. My philosophy's been the other way around- stiff bars and softer springs.
What role do the belly pan, front splitter, and rear baffle play with regard to spring rates?
In reply to volvoclearinghouse:
I think its more that those three give a ton of downforce so then the car needs more spring to compensate. Hopefully one of the smart folks around here will chime in with a better answer...
volvoclearinghouse wrote: Super hard springs and stock anti-sway bars front AND rear. Weird. My philosophy's been the other way around- stiff bars and softer springs. What role do the belly pan, front splitter, and rear baffle play with regard to spring rates?
Ground effects that smooth create a LOT of vacuum under the car, requiring the stiffer springs to stop it bottoming out.
[edit] Treed.
GameboyRMH wrote:Wanderer wrote: If that was previously a Spoon car I'm willing to bet there's a lot to that car that you DON'T see, in addition to what you do, as far as chassis work and fabrication.I was actually looking carefully in the pics for the chassis being swiss-cheesed with chamfered holes, but didn't see any.
I was looking for this and stitch welding everywhere and X bars but you can't see much in the pictures 
Edit: Actually, you can see a lot of that here not that i'm looking closer:
Here's another parallel thought for you - why is one 120 rwhp Spec Miata 20 seconds faster per lap at Thunderhill than another 120 rwhp Spec Miata?
Answer - driver skill
volvoclearinghouse wrote: Super hard springs and stock anti-sway bars front AND rear. Weird. My philosophy's been the other way around- stiff bars and softer springs. What role do the belly pan, front splitter, and rear baffle play with regard to spring rates?
I try and tune with springs more than bars even though adjustable bars are kinda the easy button ,big bars tie the opposing wheels together and transfer weight onto the outside wheels.Neither is great but big spring rates have their own negatives so as usual its a balancing act.
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