goes to the ASM s2000.
It's had two different tunes so far...the following artical is copied from honda-tuning-magazine
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A Second Hand First
You've heard about Autobacs, but what about the Autobacs Secondhand Market? ASM is now a name of record at Japan's famed Tsukuba Circuit and it's not for selling used headers. By Len Clarke
Photography: Kyoshu Mizohata
In Japan, some things are cherished, others worshipped. And for street tuners, few circuits are held in as high esteem as the Tsukuba Circuit. While the Suzuka, Fuji and even Motegi speedways represent Japan on the map of world-class motorsport, Tsukuba is the holy grail for Japan's common man, the everyday street enthusiast who knows that running well at Tsukuba means you've put together a truly spectacular machine. Tsukuba is not a particularly beautiful circuit. It's a tight and technical 2,070-meter course situated in an ordinary country town about 90 minutes north of Tokyo. But Japan's best drivers have set the bar there. If you can run the course under 60 seconds, you're good. Run it between 55-58 seconds, and you're really good. At last check, Drift King Keiichi Tsuchiya owned the course record with a staggering 0:51.875-second run in the Team Autobacs NSX.
Autobacs Secondhand Market (ASM) first built a Tsukuba-spec S2000 in 2003, winning the class record on its first outing at the track. Given the car's phenomenal performance, ASM threw everything it had at the car to come up with the ASM Tsukuba Special: the first naturally aspirated car to break the circuit's 1-minute barrier.
Known to the tuning crowd as a place for used parts, ASM had increasing customer requests for original parts so it decided to develop its own. ASM started with I.S. Designs, an aero parts and body kit division that began selling an S2000 aero kit last summer. The kit has been enormously popular, in part because of an installation design that enables any ASM customer to fit the kit without assistance. Shinichiro Kanayama, Tsukuba Special's project manager, explains, "We wanted to show how quick a car could run at the track using our selection of parts. After trying other makers' components, we weren't satisfied, so we developed our own. Cost was no obstacle; our aim was performance. With the concept worked out from the beginning, the development of the car has been smooth throughout."
Kanayama is a Honda man through and through. A native of western Japan, he supports TODA (and the company's Okayama roots) as his Honda tuner of choice, whereas Mugen gets the fan vote in eastern Japan. TODA made a name for itself in Japan with its championship-winning F3 engines, then later for its number two Verno Tokai NSX in the JGTC series. "We didn't expect TODA Power to be interested in our concept, as it is involved exclusively in racing, not tuning and street cars," Kanayama says. "But TODA agreed to do it and it's been very successful."
Successful indeed. With the goal to break Tsukuba's one-minute mark, ASM called upon TODA's star driver, Hiroki Katoh, to bring it home. Upon hearing the Tsukuba Special Project S2000's exhaust note for the first time, Katoh exclaimed, "This is an F3 engine! In this car? That's sick!"
Katoh proceeded to wring every last pony from the machine and set a mesmerizing 0:59.283-second record lap. Kanayama says, "The temperature was quite high that day, preventing us from getting the most out of the engine and tires. Under the same conditons now, we're confident of running in the high 57s. We need to use a wider tread for better mechanical grip and also a sequential gearbox that will use more engine power and save at least a few tenths. Plus, we'd like to change the brakes to a unit we're selling this spring. These three things can easily take off more than a second from the present record."
The formula for the ASM S2000 success is an old stand-by: power-to-weight ratio. First off, the ASM S2K engine gets increased displacement--up to 2377cc--with TODA's F20C stroker kit, including pistons, rods and crank. A TODA oil pump and dry sump kit keep the machine well lubed. Up top, the cylinder head inhales through a TODA individual throttle body manifold (what TODA calls its "Sports Injection" product) while TODA Spec A2 cams and valve springs regulate intake and exhaust volume. Exhaust gas exits through an ASM header and custom titanium muffler. A Motec unit orchestrates engine management.
FIRST TUNE
It's had two different tunes so far...the following artical is copied from honda-tuning-magazine
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A Second Hand First
You've heard about Autobacs, but what about the Autobacs Secondhand Market? ASM is now a name of record at Japan's famed Tsukuba Circuit and it's not for selling used headers. By Len Clarke
Photography: Kyoshu Mizohata
In Japan, some things are cherished, others worshipped. And for street tuners, few circuits are held in as high esteem as the Tsukuba Circuit. While the Suzuka, Fuji and even Motegi speedways represent Japan on the map of world-class motorsport, Tsukuba is the holy grail for Japan's common man, the everyday street enthusiast who knows that running well at Tsukuba means you've put together a truly spectacular machine. Tsukuba is not a particularly beautiful circuit. It's a tight and technical 2,070-meter course situated in an ordinary country town about 90 minutes north of Tokyo. But Japan's best drivers have set the bar there. If you can run the course under 60 seconds, you're good. Run it between 55-58 seconds, and you're really good. At last check, Drift King Keiichi Tsuchiya owned the course record with a staggering 0:51.875-second run in the Team Autobacs NSX.
Autobacs Secondhand Market (ASM) first built a Tsukuba-spec S2000 in 2003, winning the class record on its first outing at the track. Given the car's phenomenal performance, ASM threw everything it had at the car to come up with the ASM Tsukuba Special: the first naturally aspirated car to break the circuit's 1-minute barrier.
Known to the tuning crowd as a place for used parts, ASM had increasing customer requests for original parts so it decided to develop its own. ASM started with I.S. Designs, an aero parts and body kit division that began selling an S2000 aero kit last summer. The kit has been enormously popular, in part because of an installation design that enables any ASM customer to fit the kit without assistance. Shinichiro Kanayama, Tsukuba Special's project manager, explains, "We wanted to show how quick a car could run at the track using our selection of parts. After trying other makers' components, we weren't satisfied, so we developed our own. Cost was no obstacle; our aim was performance. With the concept worked out from the beginning, the development of the car has been smooth throughout."
Kanayama is a Honda man through and through. A native of western Japan, he supports TODA (and the company's Okayama roots) as his Honda tuner of choice, whereas Mugen gets the fan vote in eastern Japan. TODA made a name for itself in Japan with its championship-winning F3 engines, then later for its number two Verno Tokai NSX in the JGTC series. "We didn't expect TODA Power to be interested in our concept, as it is involved exclusively in racing, not tuning and street cars," Kanayama says. "But TODA agreed to do it and it's been very successful."
Successful indeed. With the goal to break Tsukuba's one-minute mark, ASM called upon TODA's star driver, Hiroki Katoh, to bring it home. Upon hearing the Tsukuba Special Project S2000's exhaust note for the first time, Katoh exclaimed, "This is an F3 engine! In this car? That's sick!"
Katoh proceeded to wring every last pony from the machine and set a mesmerizing 0:59.283-second record lap. Kanayama says, "The temperature was quite high that day, preventing us from getting the most out of the engine and tires. Under the same conditons now, we're confident of running in the high 57s. We need to use a wider tread for better mechanical grip and also a sequential gearbox that will use more engine power and save at least a few tenths. Plus, we'd like to change the brakes to a unit we're selling this spring. These three things can easily take off more than a second from the present record."
The formula for the ASM S2000 success is an old stand-by: power-to-weight ratio. First off, the ASM S2K engine gets increased displacement--up to 2377cc--with TODA's F20C stroker kit, including pistons, rods and crank. A TODA oil pump and dry sump kit keep the machine well lubed. Up top, the cylinder head inhales through a TODA individual throttle body manifold (what TODA calls its "Sports Injection" product) while TODA Spec A2 cams and valve springs regulate intake and exhaust volume. Exhaust gas exits through an ASM header and custom titanium muffler. A Motec unit orchestrates engine management.
FIRST TUNE
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