FRUITS OF OUR LABORS

Fifteen years ago finding a shop capable of modifying a street or race import vehicle was next to impossible. When you spoke to a manufacturer about making parts for a Honda Civic, a comprehensive and compelling argument was a must. If you couldn’t convince a manufacturer that they’d sell the Honda, Mitsubishi, Toyota or Nissan parts that you wanted them to make, you’d have to find another manufacturer willing to take a chance. Whether you’re a fan of import drag racing or not, it was the pioneers of import drag racing that put import performance on the map. The rivalries between racers, racing crews and tuning shops spurred the competition that sorted out a great deal of what parts worked and what didn’t. Today’s import performance enthusiast is now able to enjoy the fruits of the labor, headaches, heart aches and pitfalls experienced by the industry’s pioneers.

WHATEVER... I'LL DO WHAT I WANT

Ever since I wrote my first magazine tech article back when some of you were born, I always wanted to produce an issue with a bad-ass import engine on the cover. If you haven’t guessed it, I’m a motorhead in the purest sense. While I enjoy having a thorough knowledge of all of a vehicle’s systems, I relish pursuing and expanding my knowledge on engine technology. This technology is always moving forward. Even if you knew everything there is to know today, tomorrow there may be more to know or proof to dispel something you took as the Gospel. When I worked for other publishers, they never believed an engine cover could sell to the import market as it wasn’t mature enough. I thought they were wrong then and I’m willing to bet that this will be our best-selling issue to date (even outselling our Issue #101 All-tech edition).

ENGINE TECH ISSUE

Engines can be intimidating. There are so many components and systems to comprehend. In this special DSPORT edition, we decided to break down the systems within an engine to make it easier to understand. After a mastery of the information in this issue, you should be able to plan out future engine modifications or plan for your first ever engine design and build. Of course, this information represents the fundamental building blocks that you should build upon for the future. There’s always more to learn and so there will always be DSPORT to deliver the goods.

BLUEPRINT FOR DOMINATION

The accompanying ENGINE BLUEPRINT GUIDE (EBG) is a product long overdue. It’s amazing that no one had thought of producing such a guide in the last 100 years. We figure it’s their loss and we don’t mind being the first to get it right. This DSPORT Engine Blueprinting Guide is the ultimate companion to any “engine build” or engine development program. Each EBG is designed to be used for the life of an engine. By keeping a comprehensive register of the components, machining processes and critical clearances used on the engine, an identical replacement engine can be built to deliver the same performance. When an engine doesn’t live up to its potential, the guide can be used along with a proper teardown inspection to identify the culprit. Was it a poor quality component that led to a failure? Was a machining operation not up to spec? Or was there a critical clearance that was bigger or smaller than it should have been? With all of this data recorded, a proper plan can be set in motion to develop your next engine to exceed the performance of the engine it replaces.