=> World’s Fastest Honda Civic

Place: Bonneville Salt Flats Outside Wendover, Utah/Nevada
Event: Bonneville Speed Week
Date: August 11-17, 2007

Piloting the Lucas Oil Honda Civic, Richard Holdener blistered the salt by running a two-way average of 207.5 mph. Running in the Blown Gas Competition Coupe class, the turbocharged Civic bettered the old record (set in 1991) of 196.124 mph by over 11 mph.

Bonneville records require the vehicle to make two time speed runs. The official speed is the average of the two runs. The Lucas Oil Honda Civic ran 206.2 mph in the first run and 208.7 mph in the cool morning air on the second day. The Civic was clocked at nearly 210 mph exiting the 5th mile. Holdener was quick to credit extensive dyno and top-speed testing in preparation for the Bonneville event. According to Holdener, “We spent hours on the dyno making sure the motor was both powerful and reliable. We also made numerous 200+ mph speed runs at our top-secret Nevada test facility (appropriately labeled Area 52). Running a FLUIDYNE High Performance radiator, BFG street tires, Eibach coil-over suspension and 17 psi of boost, we ran over 211 mph at Area 52. That was an exciting ride!”  

The impressive engine used to power the World’s Fastest Honda Civic was a turbocharged B18C built by Killer Bee Racing. Though the engine has produced as much as 728 hp at 29 psi of boost, the boost was run at only 13-14 psi for the record runs. Holdener added,” We purposely ran the boost, air/fuel and timing at conservative levels. The aero package on the car worked so well that it took very little power to achieve these impressive speeds. Of course the 1999 Civic Si was also a good car to start with.”  In addition to the use of Lucas 5W-20 synthetic oil, the 1.97L motor build up featured a Dart head and block, Skunk II cams and intake and Hondata S300 management system. Internal engine components came from Eagle and Coast High Performance. The boost was supplied by a Turbonetics T72 turbo feeding a dual-core Spearco air-to-water intercooler. Ice water was used to significantly reduce the air intake temperature, but further cooling was achieved with the use of a water/methanol injection from Snow Performance (Water only used for record runs). Ignition chores were handled by MSD while the custom 4-inch oval exhaust came from the experts at Borla. Driver Richard Holdener was quick to credit Bernie Vanhamond and Tom Habrzyk for their fabrication of the roll cage, full belly pan and other aero and safety equipment. Holdener added, “Driving a race car, even a 211-mph Honda Civic, is always the easy part. The real talent behind this car came from the guys who built it”.