AEM 2001 Honda Civic - Blown Fuel Altered

"I am only pushing 540 whp which in the realm of drag racing is not that much but good for 1479ccs. Granted that's detuned for the distance because it will be at full throttle, full boost for 70 seconds. You can't go out here with a Hail Mary but we (imports) can still run some pretty frightening numbers, especially some of the four-digit Supras out there.

"My car has no right to sound that quiet and idle that good and make 540 hp from 1.5-liters or go 200 mph. I was talking to some guys last night that had a big roadster and they asked me how much I made; I said 540 to the wheels maybe 600 at the crank. And they did some figuring and were totally astounded that it came to 6.2 hp or something per cubic inch. I said 'yeah that sounds about right' and their eyes popped out of their heads. To us 6 hp per inch is just how you do it if you lean on a turbo import motor and do it right. You don't run a big-block Chevy and make 6 hp per cubic inch... that's a bomb, not a motor. It can't survive in this environment.

"There is no 'that's import crap' or 'that's domestic crap' here. It not like you see in the magazines where readers write in and there's a war of words, an 'us' and 'them' mentality. It's so great to come out here and there is no mention of it. It's not hidden, it's not there. It's about how fast you can go."

Romero backed up his 195.557 with an ultra consistent 196.079 for a combined run average of 195.818 and the record. When we left him he was in line to go on the long course for the first time. Track conditions were not as good and the car ran a best of 199 mph. He was slated to reset his record when the rains came. He will be back and looking to go 210 mph.