LOCAL RIDE // LEONARD'S TODA-MFACTORY TIME ATTACK CIVIC

It’s a cold morning in Goulburn, Sydney. I’m standing on the pitlane wall, all rugged up with mist coming out of my mouth after each breath. My trusty camera is around my shoulder, ready for a big day of action at the NSW State Supersprint at Wakefield Park. As I watch the early morning session I hear a distance engine note, which instantly made my head turn to see where the noise is coming from. I see a little blue Honda come flying up the straight. I was shocked at first that what was originally designed to be a shopping basket could be so fast, it trigged my love for cars that perform better than they should be allowed to. I continued to watch as it circulated around the circuit. As the blue Honda braked into the last hairpin at Wakefield it caught up 20m to an EVO 9 under brakes, pretty impressive I thought to myself. But that was nothing; once again I hear the distinct naturally aspirated engine note going quickly through the gears sitting on the bumper of this Evo all the way down the straight. I was truly impressed and I knew I had to find out more.

During the lunch break I headed towards the pitlane hoping to introduce myself to the driver, Leonard and this is where the true story begins... [read more]

Detailed list of Car Specs:

Toda / MFactory Supersprint Civic

Fully Stripped Interior with a half roll cage

Engine:
Built by Toda Performance Australia
Sleeved B18C2 + Ported B16A head
Displacement - 1979cc
Camshafts - TODA Racing
I/H/E - Mugen Air Box, TODA carbon surge tank, TODA 50mm quad throttles, TODA headers + 60mm cat back
ECU - HONDATA S300

Transmission and Driveline:
MFactory Close Ratio Gear kit (Off the shelf item)
MFactory Final Drive (Off the shelf item)
ATS LSD (To be replaced with an MFactory metal unit soon)

Suspension:
Toda Fightex N1 Coilovers
MFactory Rear Sway bar
DC2R Front Sway bar

Brakes:
VTTR 6 pot callipers with VTTR brake pads

Car is street registered and fully engineered to comply

MM: Future Plans?

Leonard: The car is pretty much developed for the class its racing in. There really not much more that can be done. It is pretty much the same package as last year where we won the Class 3B championship of the NSW Supersprints Championships in 2008.

If anything, I’d be looking to try and save more weight on the car. Unfortunately, we’re hampered by the model of the car which has heavier gauge steel on the floor pan and firewall unlike base models out there which is used by some of our competitors. Despite the disadvantage, the car is still clocking very competitive times and we believe we can make it very competitive as we once again compete in this year’s Supersprint Championships.

What is flattering is that competitors are using us as the benchmark in the current year’s championships as they front a whole new package, having already tried a few last year. That sort of exposure can only be good for us as it shows the importance of getting it right from the start – especially when most of us self fund our campaigns.

MM: History of the car - i.e did u buy it stock, was it just a daily turned track car? How many evolutions has it been through?

Leonard: I bought the car completely stock about 3 years ago. Originally, it was meant to be a car where my wife and me could just hop in and have fun touring the country side of Australia, which we did, taking the car on the Spirit of Tasmania in Sydney and driving around Tasmania and then back to Sydney.

A botched engine transplant to a B16A lead me to Adrian from Toda Performance Australia, who, over the time I knew him, was “lucky” enough to have had to fix other botched home jobbies.

I first competed with the car with a B16A, coming 2nd in Class in the Championships, losing to a veteran in a Datsun 1600! However, that was the first year ever that I had driven a car on track, so it wasn’t too bad.

The following year, with a bit more experience under my belt, Adrian and myself started discussing competing in Class 3B, a 1601cc to 2000cc class. Also there was a sort of a challenge within the local car community that year. The car was bumped up to almost 2litres and we managed to take out the class Championship.

I do occasionally enjoy taking the car out into the twisties late in the night, but in its recent trim, the street tyres I use can’t cope with the power the engine puts out. Haha.

MM: Why did you choose the Honda?

Leonard: Good question – I first drove an EG with a modified B18C transplant about a decade ago. It blew me away with it revving to 10K rpm. Since then, I have always wanted one. So, about 3 years ago, when I returned to Australia, Now that I’ve started working, I thought, why not…

I don’t have a preference in brands, except for maybe….Ducati!

What’s the best characteristic of the car (under brakes? Turn in? So on?) and why?

I think the best part of the car is the grunt the engine puts out. Despite the weight disadvantage and lack of practice, the engine’s got real grunt and I believe it’s the factor that keeps us competitive.

Moving on to the 6 piston Callipers from VTTR was not a very good move. Even the stock DC2R callipers I ran last year braked better. The VTTR pads wore out after just 3 rounds! At Wakefield, I had to start braking before the kink or the car simply would not haul up.

Otherwise, I’m still learning to setup the car and drive it properly. Unfortunately, due to work commitments and a baby, I don’t really get much time to work on or practice with the car. Usually, we just give the car a once over the day before the event and then rock up – guessing with the setup as we drive.

It doesn’t help that I don’t put enough lap times under my belt, but hey, I think our current times at the various circuits around NSW are certainly nothing to be a laughed at.

MM: Why Supersprinting? Why not racing or just average track days?

Leonard: Supersprinting is a good entry level motorsport – Not too expensive and with a duration that’s much more bearable than Hill Climbs or Motorkhanas. That’s not to say that Hill Climbs or Motorkhana’s are boring or anything, it’s just a different discipline.

I’d certainly like to try circuit racing proper, it’s just at this time, I’m not sure if I can afford the expenses to further prep the car, cost of tyres and even entry fees. If a sponsor comes up, I would definitely consider.

However, that’s usually easier said than done – Sponsorship at this level of motorsports isn’t quite like what you see in the upper echelons of motor racing. A lot are just small businesses that are struggling to survive, especially in this current environment. A lot of times, when people think you’re sponsored, they don’t really know the harsh realities and sacrifices made by both parties.

As such, I am very grateful to Adrian from Toda Performance and MFactory for providing the support that they have so far.

After talking for almost an hour, I got back to taking pictures and every time the little Honda was out on the circuit, I took my eye away from the cameras view finder so I could just watch. Every time it went past me I was impressed.

Photo/Editorial: Matthew Mead