Text: Eric Tai
Photography: Taib Suleiman & Eric Tai
After 4 months of winter here in Kansas, USA finally the weather is getting warmer and drag racing scene is heating back up. After a few time of reschedule with Modifyd Performance due to load of works in their hands, finally we manage to make coverage on their Drag Machine. It was a hot sunny day. Me and Taib arrived at the shop at the time we arranged. First thing which caught our attention is a black trailer outside the shop with big “MODIFYD RACING” wording.
The person who welcomed us was Minh Tran –the builder, tuner, and driver. After a short chat, he led us into the garage. This garage is equipped with a dyno machine, almost all the tools you need, and spaces to store at least 8 cars. Regardless the other nice looking car in there, the main character today is the Dragster – an almost 1000whp methanol powered Civic monster.
Taking away the oversize fiberglass front body panel, exposing the custom welded body frame and the other high performance parts. First thing that caught our attention is the Full-Race Pro turbo manifold with dual wastegate setup. 2 Tial 46mm wastegates with custom dump tubes take up the task of releasing additional exhaust pressure. Air generated from the PT71 turbo will flow through Spearco dual water/air intercooler located in the cockpit before entering the engine thru AIR 8-injectors carbon fiber intake manifold. 8 Borsh 1600cc injectors together with Erics Racing billet 70/68 throttle body complete the manifold. A Tial 60mm blow off valve is installed on the intake ramp too.
Not a single part on the B18C1 engine is stock. AEBS port & polished head with Rev dual springs, 1mm over SS valves, and Titanium Retainers is merged with AEBS sleeves & O-rings block. Ross 9.1 84mm custom pistons, Rauter rods, OEM bearings, AEBS head and main studs make sure the engine is strong enough to withstand the pressure as well as 11,000rpm.
Under Minh’s help, we managed to identify the 3 Stage dry sump oil pump, Moroso aluminum dry sump oil pan, Sparco fuel cell, Waterman mechanical fuel pump, Skunk2 cam gears, and Marine ignition coils. He added, “Don’t ever try to touch the coils. It has enough power to send you into the hospital.” Wiggins 3” clamps are used to secure all the piping. Power is laid to the ground by an Integra GSR transmission paired with Tilton ceramic dual disc clutch assembly.
Extreme Fab axle, hub, brakes, intermediate, traction, springs, struntbar setup are combined with Weld 15x8 Magnum Drag wheels (front) and Weld 15x3 (rear). Goodyear 28x10 D6 compound drag tires and wheelie bars are used for better traction.
A powerful machine needs a good management as well as ignition system. Motec M48, Motec Expander and a MSD Dis-4 are found in the car. A Moroso battery box and Turbostart 16V battery with charger are installed beside the driver seat. Rollcage are build around the cockpit using 4130 chromemoly to strengthen the Civic which already had its floor panel cut out. Jerry Bickel fiberglass dashboard is used for weight lightening and different Autometer gauges for monitoring purpose. A red Sparco Rev full bucket seat with Sparco 5-points camlock harness holds the driver in place during races. Other additions include Sparco steering, various switches, Deist window net, CNC staging brake, and Simpson Drag Chute release.
To date, Minh Tran has posted a best quarter-mile run of 9.6 seconds. Besides he just won the recent Imports Drag locally when he clocked 10.63 @ 138mph. According to him, the power was turned down to about 600-700whp due to traction on this track. When asked about where he learnt the skills of building and tuning, to our surprise he learned everything by trial & error.
“If I’m to build another race car, it will be 10 times better than this one.”
PowerGenerator:
B18C1 Built Engine
AEBS ported and polished heads
Rev dual springs
Rev 1mm over SS valves
Rev Titanium Retrainers
Skunk2 Cam Gears
AEBS Sleeved and O-rings blocks
Block Internals
Ross 9.1 84mm custom pistons
Rauter Rods
OEM Bearings
Stock Crank
AEBS Head and Main Studs
AIR Carbon Manifold
8 Injectors Setup
Erics Racing Billet 70/68 Throttle Body
Borsh 1600 injectors
Hondata Gaskets
ATI dampner
3 Stage Dry Sump Oil Pump
Moroso Aluminium Dry Sump Oil Pan
GSR Transmission
Prodrive Spool
Tilton Ceramic Dual Disc Clutch
Full-Race Pro manifold with dual wastegate flages
Tial 46mm wastgates with custom dump tubes x2
Tial 50mm BOV
PT71 Turbo
Sparco Fuel Cell
Waterman Mech Fuel Pump
Wiggins 3" clamps
Spearco dual water/air core Intercooler
Marine coils
Turbostart 16v battery with charger
Moroso Battery Box
Electronics:
Motec M48
Motec Expander
MSD DIS-4
Interior:
Jerry Bickel Fiberglass Dashboard
Autometer gauges
Sparco Rev Seat
Sparco 5 points camlock harness
CNC Staging Brake
Deist Window Net
Custom Rollcage (4130 Chromemoly)
Exterior:
Extreme Fab axle/hub/brakes/intermidate/traction/springs/struntbar setup
Weld 15x8 Magnum Drag wheels (Front)
Weld 15x3 Magnum Drag wheels (Rear)
Goodyear 28x10 D6 Compound
Wheelie Bars
Simpson Drag Chute
