Although it helps, a sleeper doesn't necessarily have to be some shit-brown rusting hulk. Just look at this Integra, which would be easily overlooked by the general public as just another slammed Honda. This car is clean, simple and understated, yet it packs a punch when provoked.
If it weren't for the Corolla GT-S in his garage, it might be easy to dismiss Shaun Kasperowicz as just another Hondaphile. After all, he has owned 11 in 14 years. Shaun is also the administrator for the Hybrids.jp web board, and has built his 1996 GS-R largely from parts and services offered by fellow board members.
Shaun rescued his ride from modification mediocrity. Owned by the girlfriend of a close friend, the then-black Integra had the standard SoCal mod job: Springs and shocks, intake, exhaust and rims. A new job meant a 50-mile commute each way, so the GS-R began as just another commuter car, earning 25K bonus miles a year. Now, of course, it's "too pretty to drive every day."
Then, Shaun found a smoking deal on a used CARB-legal GReddy turbo kit, which he quickly augmented with a GReddy Type 24 front-mount intercooler. A GReddy 18G turbo forces 7.5 pounds of boost through an otherwise stock B18C1 engine, which now sports around 150K miles with no issues.
Eastside Muffler, which handles much of the custom exhaust work for the Southern California Honda community, fabricated a 2.5-inch, stainless-steel downpipe. The automotive illiterate would notice just another shiny muffler tip tucked behind the bumper and not notice the 70mm (2.75-inch) Kakimoto-R stainless-steel exhaust tubing, which runs to the catalytic converter. Tuning for crappy California gas is accomplished with a Hondata IIb programmable ECU, and with this fairly low boost level, only 440cc injectors from RC Engineering were required to ensure the necessary volume of fuel.
The stock forged crank is mated to a most trick transmission. The Y21 case was born in a B16-powered del Sol VTEC, but is stuffed with a gear set from a USDM Type R. The tighter gear spacing keeps the turbo on boil, effectively giving the engine more area under the curve for a more linear driving experience.
A slightly shorter 4.26:1 Integra LS final drive is bolted to a Quaife ATB limited-slip differential, which splits torque delivered through an Aasco aluminum flywheel and Clutch Specialties street performance clutch package. Finally, a Fast Lines Performance braided stainless-steel hydraulic line ensures there's no flex as fluid is moved from the clutch master to the slave cylinder.
Sixteen-way adjustable Tein HA coil-overs, sourced secondhand, are a good compromise between street ride and track duties. Darin from West End alignment, a shop that's responsible for setting up many of the road racing cars in Southern California, corner-weighted the GS-R and removed preload from the infinitely adjustable Heim-jointed Ground Control rear anti-roll bar.
But making the car perfectly balanced at the limit is not meant just for enjoyment of freeway on-ramps. Shaun's GS-R can seen be sprinting around Southern California tracks wearing big blue lights on its roof as an official pace car for the Southern California region NASA Honda Challenge series. Incidentally, Shaun also owns a H1 B16-powered CRX that is a contender in the series, piloted by Tom Liang.
Stock-sized brakes remain at all four corners, but the stock rotors have been replaced with units from PowerStop and Z-Speed braided stainless-steel brake lines are installed to improve brake feel.
Women collect shoes; car nuts collect wheels. A self-described "wheel whore," Shaun's GS-R has worn all sorts of rims, mostly rare, light and Japanese. Stern Aguzzes, imported from Japan, visually quiet, are the stock diameter of 15-inches, but are 7 inches wide. Falken Azenis Sports, sized 205/50-15, use every ounce of their stick to translate turbo power into forward motion.
Shaun originally bought the car as a birthday gift for his wife, who has been turned into a "boost junky" by the blue 'Teg. A little old lady redecorated the GS-R's bumper in a Wal-Mart parking lot, and the resulting insurance payout, combined with money that was being saved for new paint, meant a stellar Monte Carlo blue pearl paint job, a color available on the Honda Insight. MOB in Orange, Calif. handled the respray, along with updating the bumpers and lights to '98 specs and shaving the antenna and emblems. Cool for those in the know, clean for the clueless.