Meet Daniel, and his K-series–powered Honda Integra DC5

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K-series swaps are becoming the go-to conversion for Honda enthusiasts. Their reliability, tuning potential, and affordability can’t be beaten if you want to go fast, but what to do if your Honda came with a K-series from factory? Daniel Tok had big plans well before he purchased his DC5 Type S project car. So big, in fact, that fellow club members mocked him for being so ambitious, and told him it couldn’t be done. What claim would warrant such an internet flaming? Well, Daniel wanted a 500kW-plus turbo K24A2-powered Integra that could be both daily driven, and tracked — clearly no easy feat, according to the internet.

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Thankfully, Daniel didn’t let his fellow enthusiasts get him down, and instead channelled his energy into finding the perfect base to build from. After purchasing a Type S Integra DC5 for a steal, he was now ready to start his build. First off, a block needed to be sourced if he wanted to claim the 2400cc crown he was aiming for, so off to the wreckers he went. There, he found a K24A2 engine out of a Honda Accord Euro S for an absolute steal, as Daniel explains, “When I went to find the engine, I was amazed that they didn’t know what these engines were and the potential they hold. It almost felt like thievery, they’re that affordable.”

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Although the K24A2s are known to be quite strong internally, it was never going to hold up to what Daniel had in mind, so a set of low compression CP forged pistons were sourced, along with Manley forged rods, ACL race bearings, and Darton sleeves. Once all of the engine components arrived, the car, along with the shiny bits, was sent down to Concept Dynamic Motorsport in Tauranga, where Lin Chen would work his magic and piece everything together.
“I decided to send my DC5 down to CDM in Tauranga, as he is known for building strong Honda engines, and his tuning is some of the best in the country,” Daniel told us.

With the hunt for 500kW on, Daniel had a set of custom camshafts designed that could flow enough air through through the ported and polished head. We can’t tell you what the cam specs are, as Daniel has found an extremely potent combination that he wants to remain a secret. “Once I had the camshaft, head, and manifold specifications, I could now have a turbo designed to suit my goals. I wanted something with minimal lag, that would make substantial top-end power. I won’t mention who, how, or what — but what they came up with was a very custom BorgWarner S300 turbo,” Daniel told us.

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After sourcing the Full-Race exhaust manifold, Full-Race front-mounted intercooler, and the Turbosmart wastegate, the entire turbo setup was ready to be thrown together, tightly wedged in-between the firewall and the K24A. Fuelling has been taken care of thanks to the K-Tuned fuel pressure regulator, Full Blown fuel pump, Injector Dynamics ID1000cc injectors, and the Hybrid Racing fuel rail. Finally, with the engine setup complete, it was time to fire it up, but that couldn’t be done until an ECU had been chosen and tuned. As Lin is somewhat of a Hondata expert, it was no surprise that Daniel opted for a Hondata K-Pro ECU.

Daniel was champing at the bit to see what his creation would lay down, so Lin started the tuning process and put it through its paces. “Initially we were really surprised with the turbo. It’s physically very large, so we thought we would have a bit of a lag monster, but it was building 10psi at 3000rpm,” Daniel explained. With Lin teasing Daniel with such low-boost pressure, the wick was finally wound up and the turbocharged K24A2 laid down a very impressive 445kW at the wheels on 19psi of boost, and using 98-octane pump gas.

Unfortunately, the initial calculations claiming that a 44mm external wastegate would be sufficient went out the window, not allowing the BorgWarner S300 to build enough boost for the 500kW target to be achieved.

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Torque steer and axle breakages are serious issues in turbocharged front–wheel drive vehicles, so Daniel has spent some serious time developing his current setup, which consists of a DC5 Type R six-speed gearbox, with a PPG gearset provided by Brendan at Pro Wholesale in Tauranga. Insane Shafts 1000hp axles are used up front, which are supplied drive from the OS Giken Super Lock LSD. Surprisingly, the Exedy Hyper Single clutch and flywheel kit has held up to the task. As Daniel plans on using the DC5 for track duties, more than just mechanical traction was required, so a set of 18×9-inch Volk RE30s have been installed and shod with 265/35R18 Dunlop Z1 Star rubber, which now gives the DC5 enough grip to both go in a straight line, and hang on tight through the twisty stuff. It is also helped by the very large GT wing on the back, as Daniel explained, “One of the biggest modifications to the DC5 for the circuit was actually the APR Performance GT wing. It’s like a different car to drive with that thing on the back.” Stopping, just as important as gripping up, has been taken care of with eight-pot D2 calipers and 330mm discs up front, which we’ve been told is plenty for the DC5.

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Daniel has recently resolved the external wastegate issue and installed a 60mm Turbosmart unit, which will allow him to run the turbo well into its efficiency range, so power levels are expected to climb well over his goal target of 500kW at the wheels on pump gas. If there weren’t people like Daniel out there proving to people that insane goals can be reached, we’d all still be driving boring nana-mobiles with next to no modifications. So, who out there is going to do one better than Daniel, and build something even more powerful that can be daily driven?

2003 Honda Integra Type S (DC5)

Engine

• Model: Honda K24A2, 2400cc, four cylinder
• Block: CP forged pistons, Manley Turbo Tuff rods, Hybrid Racing tensioner, ACL race bearings, OEM crankshaft, Darton sleeves
• Head: Custom camshafts, ported and polished head, Supertech dual valve springs, Supertech valves, Supertech titanium retainers
• Intake: K&N four-inch air filter, Skunk2 throttle body
• Turbo: Custom BorgWarner S300
• Wastegate: Turbosmart 60mm
• BOV: TiAL 50mm
• Fuel: Full Blown in-line fuel pump, K-Tuned fuel pressure regulator, Injector Dynamics ID1000cc injectors, Hybrid Racing fuel rail
• Ignition: Factory coil packs, NGK Iridium spark plugs
• Exhaust: Skunk2 MegaPower RR three-inch exhaust, Full-Race turbo manifold, Vibrant Ultra Quiet Resonator
• Cooling: Koyo alloy radiator, GReddy oil cooler, Full-Race front-mount intercooler
• ECU: Hondata K-Pro, Hondata boost solenoid
• Other: K-Tuned coil pack cover

Driveline

• Gearbox: Factory Type R six-speed, PPG gear set, Gear X 4.0:1 final drive
• Clutch: Exedy Hyper single
• Flywheel: Exedy lightened flywheel
• Diff: OS Giken Super Lock LSD
• Other: Insane Shafts 1000hp axles

Support

• Struts: Tein adjustable coilovers
• Springs: Tein
• Other: Progress front and rear sway bars, Energy Suspension bushes, D2 rear camber arms
• Brakes: (F) D2 eight-pot calipers, D2 330mm discs, (R) factory calipers, factory discs, uprated pads

Interior

• Seats: Recaro SR3
• Instrumentation: Defi Advance oil pressure, fuel pressure, exhaust temp, and boost gauges, Defi Advance ZD, Tein EDFC active controller, Pioneer head unit, 6.5-inch Kicker KS components, 6.5-inch Kicker KS speakers, Rockford Fosgate four-channel amplifier, Pioneer monoblock amplifier, Pioneer 12-inch subwoofer

Exterior

• Paint: Factory
• Enhancements: APR Performance rear wing, Seibon carbon fibre bonnet

Shoes

• Wheels: 18×9-inch (+35) Volk Racing RE30
• Tyres: 265/35R18 Dunlop Z1 Star Spec

Performance

• Power: 445kW (596hp) at the wheels, 19psi boost, 98-octane pump gas