Chosen One

Writing a feature story about Stephan Papadakis' Civic drag car is like writing an Elvis autobiography for a crew of Las Vegas lounge singers. What hasn't been said before? After all, we are talking about one of quickest, fastest and most famous Honda drag cars in the world. The King of the Hill. The Big Kahuna. The Cream of the Crop. Such words of praise are well-deserved indeed, as this Honda was the first front-wheel-driver to ever break the 9-second barrier. Not to mention the first front-wheel-drive Honda to break the 8-second barrier. Adding to the list of shattered records, it was also the first to ever reach trap speeds in excess of 150 miles per hour. Soon afterward, it was also the first to see speeds of 160 mph. To say that Papadakis and his Civic have consistently been on the leading edge of the Honda drag racing scene would be a shameful understatement.

Despite the accolades and accomplishments, Papadakis is like many other professional drag racers, in that he struggles toward his next performance goal, one small step at a time. The difference is, he spends a lot more time on the job than most others. And it shows. More than just a driver and spokesperson, Papadakis takes an active role in every aspect of car development. From building (and rebuilding) his own engines to setting up the drivetrain, Papadakis has an almost intimate familiarity with every single nut, bolt, widget and do-hicky in his racecar. And when one's riding the tip of a 160-plus mph arrow, such profound knowledge isn't such a bad thing. Perhaps this is the very same reason professional skydivers pack their own parachutes.

Despite the obvious dangers associated with piloting a frighteningly fast drag car down the strip, Papadakis and his team have paid their dues in developing the ultimate front wheel drive racecar. Just a year ago, people would have laughed at the notion of an 8-second front driver, suggesting not only that Honda power and traction have reached their fundamental limits, but also that such a vehicle would be downright uncontrollable. "It's like dra'vun a 900 horsepower 'Stang backwards down the track," they insisted.

They're wrong. All of them. Riding a full chrome moly chassis designed by NuFormz of Ontario, Calif., the Civic exceeded all expectations, in terms of stability and safety. With much attention placed on weight transfers, polar inertia and alignment control, Padapakis' Civic is surprisingly benign--relatively speaking, of course. Don't forget, we're still talking about a featherweight drag car that is pulled by massive M&H Racemaster slicks (the tire size is undisclosed) and supported in back by tiny 26x4.5x15-inch goodyears. "There's really no secret to what I do," Papadakis claimed, "I just try a lot of new things and don't give up until I think the limits are reached." And according to him, that means using only new components when rebuilding the engine and transmission. It also means painstaking suspension and tire testing at the drag strip. Not to mention countless hours and many late nights of dynamometer tuning and testing. But with the front wheels scorching the ground with a claimed 650 hp, it appears that all of Papadakis' efforts have paid off in spades. While it's no surprise that he is one of the hardest working racers in the import scene, many of the technical aspects of his racecar are shrouded in secrecy. What we do know is that Papadakis' 2.2L H22A engine originated from under the hood of a 1995 Prelude. Fully balanced, blueprinted and sleeved, the original bore and stroke remain intact. For the bottom end, Papadakis installed JE Pistons of undisclosed compression ratio and Cunningham rods. Up top, the only modifications we know of are AEM adjustable cam gears. Although we're quite confident that there is plenty more than meets the eye, Papadakis is remaining tight-lipped on the subject. About the only other engine components we could confirm was a mammoth-sized GReddy T88 turbocharger and a Speed-Pro stand-alone engine management system. As we all know by now, an 8-second front wheel driver relies on traction just as much as, if not more than, gobs of horsepower. And this is exactly why suspension design plays such a critical role in a racecar's success. Designed by Nuformz to ProStock regulations, the fully customized suspension consists mainly of Lamb shock absorbers and springs. Not exactly designed for corner carving, the Civic has no need for front and rear anti-sway bars. And even if it did, the spooled differential would certainly keep the car tracking on the straight and narrow.