writer: E. John Thawley III
photographer: E. John Thawley III
Doug Macmillan's first trip to the Bonneville Salt Flats was with the Progress Civic Si, which was still early in its development. A partner and co-founder of Hondata, his operation was young then and the timing wasn't right for his own effort. However, toward the end of 2005, the right deal on a 2002 Acura RSX came to the attention of one of Hondata's workers. Macmillan bought it and the build-up began. There were two goals from the beginning: to set a record at the Mecca of all land speed racing-the Bonneville Salt Flats. And to build and tune a naturally aspirated engine-with nitrous oxide-that could go toe-to-toe with the best forced induction engines.
Macmillan's eye was on the 2.0-liter Altered (ALT) and 2.0-liter Competition Coupe (CC) classes. Both fall under the 'production' category of Bonneville rules. The ALT class allows a bare minimum of aerodynamic modifications. Use of an air dam, headlight and grille covers, and a 10-inch deep rear spoiler are allowed. The CC class allows considerably more. Legal CC mods include custom nose and streamlining forward of the cowl area, a full belly pan and a chopped roof.
The RSX could run with and without the nitrous in the ALT class for two separate records, Gas and Fuel. Then, with the addition of a belly pan or more radically designed nose/bumper assembly, he could run each engine class (Gas and Fuel) again in CC for a total of four records. Sounds simple. It isn't-especially for a rookie.
The building of the car reflects Macmillan's managerial skill set. A number of industry associates came onboard to help, each with their own area of specialization. Joe McCarthy of Prototype Racing performed the engine building and drivetrain fabrication. The roll cage, safety system and most of the chassis fabrication was assigned to Brian Kono of After Hours Automotive. Steve Ritchie Styling Development built the composite nose for the Competition Coupe class. Every other detail (from graphics to Nomex underwear) was arranged, scheduled, tracked and checked off by Macmillan's wife, Miriam, who fulfilled the role of team manager to a level that might embarrass a few Roger Penske employees.
At the two El Mirage meets before Bonneville, the Macmillans accomplished the following: passed technical and safety inspections, completed rookie orientation and licensing, set a record in F/BGALT (with an old 2.4-liter blown engine left over from another project), set a record in G/GALT and learned the ropes of the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) record-setting process.
Once the car and driver were ready, it became time to focus on two Bonneville engines, a primary and a spare. The first did double duty as the dyno queen/development mule. Achieving cylinder pressures equal to those of a blown motor would take a lot of nitrous and additional fuel. Not the sort of thing to do all at once. Using what is commonly called a 'dry' system, the Hondata K-Pro ECU adds additional fuel through the main fuel injectors whenever nitrous oxide is in use. The latest K-Pro is set up for three stages of nitrous, each with its own hard lines and solenoids.
The three-stage dry system is ideal for Bonneville. Unlike drag racing, there isn't a lot of traction on the salt. The surface has the consistency of moist 50-grit sand paper, with much of the grit being loose. Factor in the narrow and low funny car dragster-style front tires, which are rock hard at 50psi, and full power off the line is the last thing you want.
The good news is that there's plenty of room for acceleration. The required power is in the top two or three gears, which come into play when aerodynamic drag is increasing exponentially. The three staggered nitrous stages allow for that, as well as being a much safer way to tune the stages individually.