What you can see is an RRC intake manifold which sources air through a Hybrid Racing throttle body. What you can’t see are the CP pistons, Brian Crower cams and rods, Supertech valves, and King bearings which hide within, making the big, reliable power possible. Yet, the once relatively pedestrian K20A2 is now capable of 600whp and 450ft-lb of torque thanks to LA Sleeves, a tune at OnPoint Dyno, and a long list of parts. Taking a peek under the hood, nothing immediately screams high-budget, nor does it seem too exotic. While Will has become a master of building and setting up his cars in-house at PZtuning, all we can really do from the outside is look at each component, recognizing that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The secret, of course, is in striking the right balance between each system. So, what is it that makes the nearly two decades old Acura so quick? Balance Still, that didn’t keep him from setting a new lap record - in the TrackMod class at the M1 Concourse - in the RSX on his way to taking the top spot in the bracket-style battles. It’s simply awesome to see someone at the top of their game who still truly enjoys tinkering around with cars and manages to find time to drive for fun - as Will was when I met him at Motovicity’s Speed Ring last year. But rather than stripping down or selling off the RSX in the wake of his successful new build, Will held on to the retired Acura, giving it love in his spare time. With a solid list of sponsors on board - Vibrant Performance, Competition Clutch, BorgWarner, RAYS, Project Mu, and Fortune Auto - at their first outing in 2015 the Civic took home a victory in the Unlimited FWD Class at Road Atlanta. Not only that, Will took the 2014 GTA Pro Championship in the Limited Class, and soon after began working to build the Civic. Will’s work on this chassis started in late 2012, but already by 2014 the RSX was a two-time GTA record holder in the Limited Class at Road Atlanta and Super Lap Battle, which takes place at Buttonwillow Raceway in Southern California. If you aren’t up on the goings on in time attack, allow me to share with you the list of records this Civic holds at this point: Buttonwillow CW13 Overall (1:37.308), Road Atlanta Overall (1:19.509), Gingerman Overall (1:23.775), NJMP Lightning Overall (0:59.819), CTMP Overall (1:20.200), and, now, Tsukuba FWD (0:53.071).īut before the highly-tuned Civic existed, Will built and drove a 2003 Acura RSX, a car which he still hammers around a circuit from time to time. This record came courtesy of his well-developed PZtuning-built Vibrant Performance 2012 Civic Si, as featured on Speedhunters some 18 months back. Notably, this was nearly two seconds faster than the next contender. It was there a few weeks ago that he took the FF record within a few laps during Friday’s practice from Nobuteru Taniguchi and the HKS TRB-04 Suzuki Swift, which had previously set a 55.498-second lap last December.Īt Attack Tsukuba, Will continued to shave down his lap times over the course of the weekend, ultimately ending up with a 53.071. But given Will’s recent time attack accolades, he’s since vaunted himself into another level entirely.Īs Dino’s recently explained, Will’s most recent notch on his belt came at Tsukuba Circuit in Japan. It’s a strong resume of FF seat time, and one that you could argue was fairly relatable. “I was hooked right off the bat and haven’t looked back ever since,” he says.Įventually, Will moved to a track-prepped ’90 Honda CRX Si, before getting into some wheel-to-wheel action using an EG Civic during the 2003-04 seasons. His first track day came in 1997 at Shannonville Motorsport Park - located up North between Montreal and Toronto, Canada - where he piloted his Integra. Behind the wheel, Will grew to love and appreciate the FF platform (front-engine, front-wheel drive) much more deeply than he was able to from outside the car, and he says he’s been enjoying this layout ever since. Will’s first Honda was actually an Acura, a ’95 Integra RS to be exact. Such is the case, however, and it’s a theme that can be seen from generation to generation. It’s almost humorous that a record-setting streak as strong as William Au-Yeung’s could have had such simple, benign beginnings. “I’ve been a fan of Hondas for a long time, even before I had my driver’s license.”
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