- A Tale Of Two Hondas

When people hear the name Buddy Club they think of  car parts and when people think of Buddy Club parts, they usually think of Honda parts. But Buddy Club is more than just a stockpile of Honda and Acura parts, and there's more to the company than you think.

Buddy Club embarked on a and racing program that would display its products' capability and durability to ravenous spectators. The distinctive livery of the Buddy Club cars became synonymous with late-braking, full-throttle blasts and atom-splitting passes in such race series as the old JTCC.

Flash back to 2002. Buddy Club was sitting pretty with one of the nicest DC5 Integra Type-R N1 racers around. The only problem was, the car needed a driver. Far from some sort of 1980s-era Transformer amalgamation, the Buddy Club DC5 needed a capable, proven driver to sit behind the wheel and fight in Buddy Club's name. Buddy Club got together with Jun San Chen of the Taiwan-based Team AAI. With nearly 13 years of experience and racing history under his belt at that time, Chen stepped up to drive the DC5. After much on-track testing, Chen helped determine the EP3 Civic Type-R would be the ideal second platform with which to attack the Japan Super Taikyu Series. And so the twin Type-R's were born.

Chen's Team AAI and AAI Motorsports started out as a sportswear company. Chen's lineups reflected his interests. In the old days AAI had mostly BMX, skating and surfing apparel, but cars were always in the picture. In the 1990s, Chen tasted the bittersweet flavor of wheel-to-wheel racing, and AAI Motorsports switched over to automotive performance. Amongst the brands he distributed was Buddy Club. Over time, the two companies became further entwined. Currently, Chen has a branch of AAI Motorsports in Ontario, Calif., that only distributes and imports Buddy Club products. It's in essence Buddy Club USA.

Both Type-R's follow the rules of the Asian Touring Car Series (ATCS). After their adventures in N1 and Super Taikyu, both sets of JDM wheels were torn down and rebuilt to become competitive ATCS racers. The full chassis was seam-welded and all bushings were swapped out for solid pieces. On-board air jacks were added, with the nozzle attachment just barely visible from the front of the Buddy Club full body kits.

The suspension remains in the stock configuration. There isn't a bellcrank-operated cantilevered suspension design, and the mounting points weren't cut or welded. There's just a set of custom-built Buddy Club P-1 Racing-Spec damper coil-overs. The braking system is built around the stock master cylinder but upgraded with a set of awe-inspiring Brembo mono-block calipers and rotors. Covering the brakes are superlight Buddy Club P-1 Racing QF forged one-piece wheels wrapped in the requisite ATCS-spec tire, a Michelin true road-racing slick.

With very similar K20A engines, both Type-R's were modified with the same parts to the tune of roughly 250 hp. The K-series cylinder heads were pulled and fitted with Buddy Club Spec III camshafts, valves, valve springs and cam pulleys. The bottom end was rebuilt and balanced using factory Honda components and the head was returned to its home on top of a Buddy Club 0.4mm head gasket. The airbox remains stock, although the exhaust tract was fully modified with a Mugen header and Buddy Club Spec III exhaust system. Both cars run factory six-speed transmissions, although the gearboxes are fit with Exedy clutches and DC5 Type-R gearsets.

To survive the ATCS, Buddy Club put thorough effort into developing a comprehensive system of support mods. A drop-in Koyo radiator and Buddy Club radiator cap keep coolant temperatures under control, which contrasts starkly with the more heavily modified fuel systems aboard. Dual rear-mounted dry break receptacles provide an easy and safe way to quickly fill the fuel tank. From there, fuel powers the thirsty K-series engine by dual redundant fuel pumps. Rather than running two fuel pumps at the same time, one is a backup so if one should fail during a race, another will be ready to continue feeding gas instantly.