** Long-time King supporter Dewi sent this product review in... Thanks Dewi! **

My family are Honda/Mugen nuts and we import all of our Mugen goodies from King Motorsports to Scotland, so when we found out we were having a baby girl we started our DB8 (4 door Integra Type R) project as our family car.  It came as no surprise we wanted the right JDM parts to finish it off. This consisted of a baby Recaro in grey to match the car and whilst trawling King’s website we came across a black Mugen fleece blanket, so we ordered it up for car and stroller duties. 

The blanket is lightweight but warm, also very easy to keep clean if any spillages occur and our daughter loves the softness of the fleece. When it’s all tucked in, it keeps her very warm and she sleeps well without irritation.  We like to call her the ‘Mugen Slug’ so from a happy mum and dad we rate this product 5 stars for Mugen pervyness and 5 stars for performance and functionality.  Thank you very much King Motorsport for supplying us with this awesome quality product.

** This was sent in by Perry W... Thanks Perry! **

Gotta send a big thanks to Scott and the guys at King for their help picking out new rims for my 2002 Civic Si hatchback (EP3).

Because the 02-03 model Si has a 4x100 bolt pattern, wheel options are limited. Scott pointed me to Volk and Enkei -- but ultimately I had my heart set on the rarity and heritage of the forged Mugen rims.

My ideal Mugen rim (for my bolt pattern) was long out of stock: the Mugen MF-8. Those would have been awesome. But just as ideal would be the MF-8's big brother: the Mugen MF-10 (10 spokes instead of 8, with a deeper "webbing" where the spokes converge around the center). King has limited number of these -- in stock and on sale -- so I snatched a set up.

But there was a catch. In order to mount these beautiful new rims, I would have to convert my Si from a 4-lug bolt pattern to a 5-lug bolt pattern (the MF-10s are a 5x114 bolt pattern). More on this later.

First let's talk about these magestic MF-10s.

The set of MF-10s arrived a few days later from King: 16"x6", in bronze, complete with valve stems and black center caps. They look terrific and have a semi-machined lip that reminds me of the fine workmanship that goes into the Mugen shift knobs. The spokes of the MF-10 have a matte texture that offset the lip. These rims are a work of art and perfection. You can fall into a JDM-induced trance staring into the rich bronze color.  I love these rims so much I even recorded The World's First Mugen MF-10 Unboxing Video for YouTube.

I couldn't wait to get these on my car. But I would have to. I had to do that 5-lug conversion, all by myself. In my garage. I live roughly 2000 miles from King's shop. So driving out there wasn't an option. I don't really trust any of the shops out here yet. So it was up to me.

At this point I should stop to say that I have absolutely ZERO experience with suspensions. I think I might have rotated tires once. The most technical thing I ever did to the exterior was install side skirts, a wing, a short-ram air intake. Easy stuff.

I kept replaying the two comments Scott had given me:

The encouraging: "Just do a 5-lug conversion. It's not that bad."

Then the more ominous: "There's definitely a lot involved for the conversion. It's not for the faint of heart."

So I started by planning. I bought myself a shop manual, read every forum thread I could find about the 5-lug swap. I bought a bunch of tools, a breaker bar, fluids, ball joint puller etc. I was stocking up and studying nearly every night!

The 5-lug came from a donor car in Tennessee -- a 2003 RSX Type-S (DC5). The DC5 shares many of the same parts as my EP3, so the swap is possible and has been done by many EP3 owners. Because the donor car was a Type-S (not the base model), I had the benefit of getting much larger front calipers & rotors as a bonus. But that bonus was offset by the need for new axles (to fit the larger Type-S splines).

Here's a picture of the donor RSX parts before they were shipped to me:

Assembling all my tools and parts took about 3 weeks. Lots of mail order, and help from Big Mike and Jude. Jude's advice was something about using beer and copious amounts of swearing. That turned out to be good advice.

The actual install happened over 2 weeks, nights and weekends... I lost half a week when I realized the ball joint puller I had purchased was inadequate for the job. And had to hire a mobile mechanic to help me with a stuck axle (lesson learned: get a "BFH," bigger floor jack, bigger jack stands).

Picture of the work in progress. You can see the original 4-lug assemblies still on the car. On the floor is the new 5-lug, a fresh socket set, and an old rim (bronze C8).

A picture of the stock EP3 front rotor next to the larger RSX Type-S replacement:

New replacement axles from an RSX Type-S:

My tires are dismounted from my C8's and re-mounted to the MF-10 set! The de-throned old rims shrink back in shame.

Conversion is complete now, and my shiny MF-10s finally mounted on the car. Here are pictures of my dirt-covered EP3 in the fading dusk light. Look closely to see my smiling face in the reflections!!

We have a freshly-baked B21 shipping out to the Great Northwest!

Specifications for this King-built engine:

2.1 Litre, Skunk2 Pro 2's; King Hand Ported Head; 12:1; King custom ported Edelbrock Intake - cut apart, ported and re-welded.

The engine is pictured here in our B-Series test vehicle for break-in and Hondata S300 tuning on our Dynojet Dyno. In final form this motor will be running a King custom header, and tuned to 91 octane, since the customer cannot get 93 octane in his area. The motor will then be crated and shipped to the customer... ready to drop-in and run!

Read more on King's dyno break-in services here:
http://www.kingmotorsports.com/c-176-dyno-services-rates.aspx

Read more on King's engine building services here:
http://www.kingmotorsports.com/c-318-king-motorsports-engine-build-prices-process.aspx

(L-R: Mick, Bob Schroedter Jr., Mike Lindquist, Bob Schroedter Sr.)

It was an incredible finish to a trying season for the Schroedters, Bob and Bob Jr., as well as their driver, Mick. It was a year of shakedowns and testing, turbo upgrades and tuning.

The Schroedters had been running their turbo EK coupe for several years. They had been using the same engine - a modified turbo B16, still displacing 1.6 liters, but with substantial boost. The problem was, they knew the car had the potential for much faster times than they had been running, but they just couldn’t get there. After many frustrating trips down the strip, Bob Sr. knew some changes were in order, so he picked up a new turbo and some additional parts and gave our service manager Mike Lindquist a call.

Once Mike and Bob Sr. ironed out the details, the EK and its new parts were brought to King and handed over to our head fabricator and tuner, Tim. With input from Mike, Bob Sr. also decided to upgrade the axles to Driveshaft Shop 5.9’s as well as a Twin Disc Kit from Competition Clutch. Tim re-fabricated the entire turbo setup and installed a Borg-Warner 362. He also re-engineered the fuel system, including the installation of a fuel cell.

With the mechanicals ironed out, Tim strapped the car onto King's DynoJet and went to work on the electronics. Trying to squeeze major power out of a B16 running GSR cams was a bit of a challenge, but Tim was up to the task. By tuning the Hondata S300 to run the motor with 33 lbs. of boost, the upgrades were good for an impressive 581 WHP AND 358 ft. lbs. of torque.

With Mike's many years of success running an all-motor B-Series EG hatch, he had valuable knowledge and driving experience to offer, so for the post-upgrade shakedown runs, Bob Schroedter asked Mike if he would pilot the Coupe to see what it could do. Mike agreed of course, and having never driven the car before, ran a 10.786 @ 133.70 MPH - the first 10-second pass ever for the EK. 

With the final Import Wars only a few weeks away, the Schroedters and Mick took every opportunity to get familiar with their improved car -  and it paid off, big time. Running 10.8's @ 135 MPH, they won the Super Quick class at Great Lakes Dragaway’s final Import Wars as well as the Super Quick overall championship. An incredible ending to a tough year.

Bob Schroedter: "I can't thank King Motorsports,  Tim and Mike enough for all of their help. We knew the car had more potential, and Mike proved it with its first 10-second run." "In addition, our team appreciates King's involvement and we are really looking forward to working with King again next year." Said Mike, "That car is fast! - we're also looking forward to continuing King's involvement. We're currently working on plans for more upgrades over the winter that should allow the car to turn the corner and run in Pro FWD next season."

Editor's Note - This is a comment posted on King's Facebook page by Bob Sr.:

"There is a lot more to this story...First the 10.78 pass Mike drove was on pumped up slicks, not hitting target boost in second gear and Mike hitting second gear and the ass end breaking, but he stayed on it. There was and is more in the b16 in terms of et and mph but I made the decision to move on. We would like everyone to know that these guys are no BS: Mike, Tim and King. Stay tuned for the new build it should be a good RIDE!!!"

Ride along as we take the yet-to-be-released Mugen CR-Z Exhaust System out on the open roads outside our shop!

This video compares the sound and performance of the OEM exhaust against the stainless Mugen system. You'll get a great look at the distinctive triangular-shaped exhaust tip that Mugen designed for this system.

> IN CAR OEM Exhaust: 1st, 2nd, 3rd Gear / WOT
> IN CAR OEM Exhaust: 4th Gear Roll On / WOT / 40mph-70mph
> IN CAR Mugen Exhaust: 1st, 2nd, 3rd Gear / WOT
> IN CAR Mugen Exhaust: 3rd Gear Roll On / Partial Throttle / 30mph-60mph
> BEHIND CAR Mugen Exhaust: Exterior Startup, Rev, Pullaway
> DRIVE BY Mugen Exhaust

Unleash the GRRR in your CR-Z -- shipping soon from King Motorsports!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcV6gsSdVwQ

See all of our videos on the King Motorsports YouTube Channel.

Welcome to the King Motorsports blog!

King Motorsports has a rich racing history that goes back to 1981. We were racing Civics and Hondas back when nobody even gave them a second look.

Today, King tunes amazing project cars destined for serious track battles. We love to hear about customer wins at race events across the country, and look forward to sharing them with you on this blog.

We love working with discerning enthusiasts -- it doesn't matter if you're pro, amateur or just starting out! We work with you to make your goals a reality.

As the only authorized distributor of Mugen performance parts in North America, King Motorsports works closely with our Mugen collegues in Japan. We do test fits on new vehicles, provide design & manufacturing feedback, and make sure our customers get the most from their genuine Mugen parts. We've had a direct line of communication with Mugen's engineers in Japan for over 25 years -- so look to us first for Mugen products, information and more.

Is there something you'd like to see talked about in our blog? Let us know by leaving a comment.

You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter (@KingMotorsports).