2003 Honda Accord & Other News - Spin Out

All New 2003 AccordCaught during a commercial photo shoot in Southern California, this is the all-new 2003 Honda Accord Coupe. Does it run on Mazola and hover off the ground with an anti-gravity system? No, it's still an Accord. But a comprehensively better machine anyhow.

Honda is famously tight-lipped about its product plans, even though the seventh-generation Accord is only about a month away from going on sale. So there's very little hard information about this new car, but we've heard some peeps and a bit of photo analysis reveals more.

First, expect the base Accord to get a version of Honda's latest K-Series, clockwise-rotating, DOHC, 16-valve i-VTEC four. Best guess is that the Accord will have the same 2.4-liter displacement as the i-VTEC engine in the CRV but that different tuning will alter the output somewhat. In the CRV, the 2.4 is rated at 160 hp, and we expect the 2003 Accord DX's engine will be pretty close to that. The 2.4 in the EX model, however, will likely bump up to about 170 hp. Transmission choices will likely remain a five-speed manual or four-speed automatic.

The new Accord will probably still carry a 3.0-liter version of Honda's versatile SOHC, 24-valve V6 as an option. However, we know the output will bump up from the current 200 hp to at least 240 hp in order to counter the challenge presented by Nissan's Altima. Our guess is 245 hp since that keeps the engine's output comfortably less than the 260-hp output of the Acura TL Type-S' 3.2-liter version. We also expect the V6's automatic transmission to gain another gear for a total of five. A six-speed manual may come later, but we doubt it will be available from the outset.

It seems the new Accord is slightly larger than the car it replaces and wears 17-inch wheels and Bridgestone Turanza all-season tires. We expect all models will adopt four-wheel disc brakes as standard equipment.

Inside there's a new triangular steering wheel similar to the one used on Honda's new Pilot SUV with integrated audio and cruise controls. The center console seems dominated by large circular ventilation controls and we expect both a DVD-based Navi system and the OnStar assistance system to be offered as options on high-end models.

R32: VW's Muscle GolfIt's not too startling an idea: Put a big engine in a small car. It's how muscle cars were made back in the Sixties and it's how VW is building its new R32-a Golf with a 3.2-liter version of the VR6 narrow-angle V6 feeding a six-speed transmission and the 4Motion all-wheel drive system. With 241 hp on tap and a chunky 236 lb-ft of peak torque at just 2800 rpm, think of it as a normally aspirated, German WRX. But so far, it's a Europe-only deal.

The two-door R32 is a step beyond any version of the GTI. Maybe even two steps. The V-6 itself features continuously variable valve timing on the inlet side, a variable geometry intake manifold and dual exhaust to produce a throaty roar no turbo four could hope to match. To make the most of the power, the suspension has been lowered about an inch and those are P225/40ZR-18 tires on alloy wheels just outside of oversize four-wheel disc brakes with blue-painted calipers.

Inside the seats are covered with black leather and brushed aluminum caps the pedals, shifter and the instrument panel's center. Most every luxury item is standard, including "Climatronic" electronic air conditioning, a "Gamma" stereo system, multi-function display and a young frulein trained in the oriental art of shiatsu massage.

Outside, the R32 is distinguished by its own front plastic pieces with oversize air intakes and the rear end has been similarly tweaked to accommodate the twin exhaust tips. The headlights are Xenon units that could fry the Teflon off a crockpot from 30 yards.

VW claims the R32 rips from 0 to 100 kph (0-62 mph) in 6.4 seconds and has a top speed of more than 140 mph. Rumors are something like the R32 will go on sale here.

Round 1: Sears Point- USTCCThe opening round of the 2002 United States Touring Car Championship (USTCC), which is now co-sponsored by Sport Compact Car, was held at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. Because Sears Point is undergoing a $50 million rebuild, the course layout changed twice during Saturday's practice sessions, Saturday qualifying was cancelled and official qualifying took place on Sunday morning.

On Sunday came rain and yet another new track layout. Gary Sheehan's Stoptech WRX lead the way, qualifying three seconds ahead of Daryl Chan's Autotronics/C2 Automotive Honda Civic. Qualifying third was Ali Arsham's gogogear.com/Bosch Honda Civic just 0.007 seconds ahead of Jeff Lepper's modernperformance.com Dodge Neon. Rounding out the top five was Pete Bovenberg in the McDonalds/PPG Honda Civic.

At the race start, under dry conditions, Sheehan's Subaru got the jump, followed closely by Chan's Civic and Arsham's Civic. Arsham soon passed Chan to take second place and went after the WRX. Chan later spun. From there the chase was on for Sheehan's Subaru. Arsham closed in and made several attempts to take the lead but Sheehan held him off. Further back the team of Tom Lepper and Anthony Vanni's H&R Springs/Impact Engineering Honda Accord battled with Clyde Flewellen's Oakland Acura Type R.

The only major incident of the race involved the Fantasy Junction Integra. Going into Turn Six, Ward Rose locked up his Integra's brakes and slid off into the mud, unable to continue. Clean up took several minutes, but no full course yellows were needed.

Setting the fastest race lap was Neil Vanni in the Hopkins Honda-Sunnyvale Civic. Vanni passed car after car, closed in on the WRX and made numerous attempts to take the lead from Sheehan's Subaru. Going into the turn seven complex Vanni got a run on Sheehan and got under the WRX, but Vanni got sideways and did a slide job Steve Kinser would be proud of to take the lead from the Subaru. It was a move that earned Vanni the FLUIDYNE "Cool Move of the Race" award. Celebrations were short lived, however. On the next lap in Turn Two, Vanni's Civic got loose, which gave the lead back to Sheehan.

After spinning off early, Gary Hutto in the Global Motorsports Group/HD Racing BMW 328i started to gain on the leaders. Near the end, he made a great pass to get ahead of Arsham's Civic for second place. Going into the last lap, Hutto was gaining on the WRX. Coming onto the main straight, Hutto's BMW got under Sheehan's WRX but it wasn't enough. Sheehan held on for the win.

Third place went to Arsham's Civic. David Lang in the Miracle Auto Painting-Napa Honda Prelude finished fourth after starting last. Neil Vanni held on for fifth. Anthony Vanni finished sixth, Chan was able to come back to seventh, with a great battle for eighth going to Flewellen's Type R just ahead of Richard/Woo/Gordon Pun's Integra. Tenth went to Jeff Lepper in the Neon who fought with ignition problems.

The USTCC teams next travel to Portland International Raceway in Oregon. The long, front straight at Portland will surely favor the high horsepower cars so we look to BMW and Subaru to do well there.-Jeff Lepper

Interview: Matt ScrantonMatt Scranton was already a big success in drag racing before he ever turned a wheel in sport compact or import competition. Matt and his brother Jay formed Scranton Bros. Racing in 1995, deciding to go legit after years of street racing around their Tampa, Fla.-area home. With support from their father's Precision Elevator Service, by 1996, the team's "Silver Bullet" Mustang was a force to be reckoned with in races organized by the NMCA and NMRA. In 1999, the team broke into the 7s with the car, and last year, the latest version of the Silver Bullet took the Super Street title in the NMCA.

Having developed a strong relationship with Turbonetics, they entered the world of sport compact racing and immediately went about standing it on its ear. The turbocharged Tundra V8 in their rear-drive, tube-frame Celica has proven to be an epic competitor. At the NHRA's season opening BFGoodrich Sport Compact Nationals, Scranton dominated the Pro field before the NHRA started the Pro V8 category. And as this is written (after the third event) it's the only team to ever win a Pro V8 race-taking the first two events of the new category.

But the real shock came at the second NHRA race of the season at Englishtown, N.J. Not only did Scranton set the lowest e.t. ever run in sport compact competition with a 7.107 seconds at 198.99 mph run in qualifying; in the final against Craig Paisley's Tundra, he became the first person to blast through the 200-mph barrier in sport compact competition with a 7.159 seconds at 202.55 mph win.

If Scranton has his way, he'll make a lot more 200-plus mph passes this year and go undefeated.

Sport Compact Car: Why imports?Matt Scranton: To be honest with you, Turbonetics has had this car and had been trying to campaign it without much luck. We showed some interest last year and we considered building or buying a truck. But instead Turbonetics asked us to campaign its Celica. So we put 110 percent into getting Turbonetics' car running. It's a chance to recoup its investment as well as a marketing strategy for the company. We had more to offer. We were more or less Turbonetics' third try.

SCC: So this was Turbonetics' car. How much did you guys have to do?MS: The basic part of the car was there, I'd say, 70 percent. A lot of chassis work needed to be done. The engine needed to be assembled. We needed to get it up and running, make some horsepower with it and get it on Wayne Young's dyno in Alabama.

The chassis had to be totally stripped because it was an old Pro Mod chassis. Marc Garland basically did all our chassis work for us with all-new sheetmetal and made it something that was a good representation for Turbonetics. Something that was fast and we could show.

SCC: So, this is an old car?MS: I think this chassis is about five years old. It was running as a Pro Mod with a Monte Carlo body. But with all the work involved, we pretty much took that chassis and stripped it down to next to nothing. Technically, I'd say the car is only about five months old.

If we had to do it over again, we'd have had Marc Garland build us a whole new car to start.

SCC: How similar is the Celica to your Mustang?MS: Basically we try and keep it similar so the transition is smooth. Our biggest fear was the reliability of the engine since we had to retain the factory block and cylinder heads. We tried to remain as consistent with the Mustang as we could.

It's been a lot of fun. Jay does all the wiring and knows the cars in and out. When we assembled the Celica, we stuck with what we knew. We called our sponsors who supported us with the Mustang and wanted to get their feet in the door on the import side.

We have more and more people coming up to us asking what kind of fuel injectors we're running. We're different than 99 percent of the cars out there-we have domestic stuff the import guys don't know about. For instance, we're about the only ones running Mickey Thompson tires. From what I understand, they're getting more and more calls from people on the import side wanting the company's tires. It's good to see we're getting noticed for what we're doing.

SCC: Which car is faster? The Mustang or the Celica?MS: The requirements we have on the Mustang-the 10.5-inch tires and 600 extra lbs-keep it slower. If it was an even deal, I think the Mustang would be faster. It has enough horsepower to run 6.80s. But we've run 7.40 at 196 with it.

SCC: How has Toyota been to work with?MS: Excellent. The guys at TRD have been very instrumental in getting Robert Fulco the parts he needed to get the engine together in such a short period of time. It was done in about six weeks and it would normally have taken three or four months. We did seven days a week for six straight weeks.

SCC: Do you see a big difference between the domestic and import event crowds?MS: The Englishtown [May's Nitto Tire NHRA Sport Compact Nationals in New Jersey] race was huge. By far the biggest event we've been to. The kids are really educated and much more technology advanced. When we ran the Mustang there were still cars running carburetors.

There seems to be a lot more turbo talk in the chat rooms and they're more technologically advanced on the import side. They're not afraid to go out and try different stuff. Pretty neat.

SCC: Is there anything you miss about the domestics?MS: Well, we're going to compete the Mustang. It's cool to be versatile. To run both. It gives my sponsors more bang for their buck. It gives us an edge in solidifying deals for next year.

One thing I learned long ago is you have to be loyal to your sponsors. I have a hard time turning my back on the people who have been good to me. It's been great involving all those sponsors on my car.

SCC: Was breaking the 200-mph barrier a surprise?MS: After Gainesville where we went 199 mph, we knew it was inevitable. But before that it would have been up in the air. We've learned an awful lot about the engine and it has a lot of pluses over the conventional pushrod engine. In the future, you'll see a lot more four-valve engines in drag racing.

SCC: Do you want to eventually run NHRA Pro Stock?MS: To be honest with you, that's been my dream. But right now a good sponsor is hard to find. The relationship I have with Turbonetics is just great. If it wants me in imports for the next five years, I'll be in imports for the next five years. It's great to race and even better to race for people you really like. Things are almost perfect for Jay and me.

SCC: Has the Toyota exceeded your expectations?MS: By far. Its ability to make power reliably is way more than we expected. We thought we'd plateau at 1250 hp and we weren't going to push it because it was the only engine we had. But we had to push it after the first race at Gainesville when the NHRA put more weight on us. We put more boost to it. Everyone that mattered (our family and our sponsors) was there. As the temperature dropped, we really pushed it.

SCC: Will you guys build another car?MS: I'd like to. Next year we want to build something with a six cylinder in it to compete in Pro. It remains to be seen. Next year we want to be considered the class threat in whatever class we're in, maybe even in a front-drive class.

You have to surround yourself with knowledgeable people if you're going to be successful. There are a lot of other people involved with this car that people don't see. It's a big team effort. That's what it takes.

I'm so competitive I couldn't sleep at night if we couldn't go at 100 percent. There's talk about what we'll do next year; we'll see.

Question Of The MonthIt's rumored that some readers of this magazine street race. There are also a bunch of racers who buy this magazine who enjoy controlled competition on our nation's fine, sanctioned race tracks. That brings up the question:Is street racing or legal, on-track drag racing better? Why?

We know you have an opinion and we want to hear it, especially if it's in well-expressed and entertaining English. So send your answers to sccnews@mcmullenargus.com and we'll publish some of the best answers in a future issue.In the July issue we asked you: Should Toyota be in the NHRA and NASCAR? Most of you like the idea, but some of you hate it. Here's what you had to say.

I think it's great Toyota is competing in America's favorite series.

Answers Of The MonthThe competition will be great, what Toyota brings to it will step it up another notch.Eric WilliamsCincinnati, OH

Yes. Toyota should be in NASCAR and the NHRA. Many of us would really like to see Toyota in mainstream NASCAR events as well. Get the V8 engine approved and race the f*!%ing thing.No NameNo Place

First of all I would like to inform you that John Force's Mustang Funny car is as American as baseball, hot dogs, and apple pie. It may not sport "Ford" mechanicals but the engine design and engineering is of domestic origins. Realizing this, I say the Toyota Celica is laughable. That car is the equivalent to putting "TRD" stickers and a 5 inch exhaust tip on my 1996 Chevrolet Cavalier and trying to pass it off as a Toyota.Dave BowtieParts Unknown

Burnout Of The MonthZach Guildoo, Middlebranch, OHZach is a member of the Wide Open Motorsport Car Club. He has a white Civic. It does big burnouts. See Zach's white Civic do big burnouts.

Let's go to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary and see what it says a "burnout" is.

1 : the cessation of operation of a jet or rocket engine; also : the point at which burnout occurs

2a : exhaustion of physical or emotional strength or motivation usually as a result of prolonged stress or frustration b : a person suffering from burnout

3 : a person showing the results of drug abuse

That's three incorrect definitions. So much for giving a crap what Merriam-Webster has to say.

If, unlike Merriam or Webster, you know what a burnout is through personal experience, send us the photographic evidence. We want your photos of blazing Bridgestones, flaming Falkens and ignited Nittos. Send us your digital images as attachments at sccnews@mcmullenargus.com or ship your conventional photos to Burnouts, Sport Compact Car Magazine, 774 Placentia, Placentia, CA 93870. If we publish your photo you'll earn worldwide recognition and the respect of literally dozens of readers. But you won't earn a dime toward paying for your tires.

Rumors&Lies* According to an April report in the "Idaho Statesman," Dr. Paul M. Brown was drag racing his 1972 Mazda RX2 on a remote road outside of Boise when he lost control and the car rolled several times in an orchard. Dr. Brown, a nuclear scientist, was the Chairman and CEO of Nuclear Solutions, Inc.

* Honda has announced it will supply engines for Indy Racing League competition during 2003. The engines will be co-developed with Ilmor Engineering. Ilmor developed the successful turbocharged Chevy Indy V8 during the Eighties.

* Mazda has said it will experiment with a "digital showroom" for selling cars. It hopes to bring some of the "Internet experience" into the showroom and "make shopping more fun." No word yet on whether that "Internet experience" will include porn.

* For the fiscal year that ended March 31, Nissan reported it earned nearly $3 billion. Once near death, Nissan expects to earn more than $3 billion next year

* Canadian auto sales are running at a record pace during 2002. Let's invade.

* Saturn is now issuing a credit card emblazoned with its logo. Imagine the prestige.

* According to the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI), the 1999-2001 Acura Integra has the highest theft rate and claim costs. At least some of that is due, says the Institute, to thieves stealing the vehicles for their engines and transplanting them into Honda Civics. Integras those years are eight times more likely than a "normal" car to be stolen.

Web SideDespite the best efforts of those of us who make our living putting words on good old-fashioned paper, the Internet continues to thrive and grow.Do you have a web site that's either frigidly cool or blazingly hot? Is there a set of HTML-coded electrons out there that bounces your brain like a tach needle? We want to know about it. Write us at SCCNews@mcmullen-argus.com.