World Exclusive Test: 2011 Spoon Sports CR-Z - Road Test Spoon makes the sporty Honda CR-Z a true sports car.
Spoon is always one step ahead of the competition, whether that be in racing or introducing tuned versions of Honda’s sportiest cars. The new Spoon CR-Z closely follows Spoon president Tatsuru Ichishima’s philosophy on car tuning, improving the soul of the car rather than just its performance.
The Spoon car sits much closer to the ground, lowered by about an inch and a half. A black carbon-fiber hood and flashy wheels highlight its styling. Under the hood, Spoon took apart the 1.5-liter inline-4 and reassembled the i-VTEC powerplant with many of its own parts. The ECU was remapped, increasing redline from 6200 rpm to 8500, with more torque in the mid range. Of particular note is Spoon’s new exhaust, which makes this hybrid sound like an Italian exotic. Together, the gasoline engine and electric motor produce about 145 bhp and about 150 lb.-ft. of torque, significant gains over stock. Also, Spoon claims it shed about 220 lb. from the car’s curb weight.
Mash the throttle, and the car leaves the line in the same way as the original, with verve, but the Spoon CR-Z gets stronger as the engine revs rise. The Spoon Sports CR-Z, with a 6-speed manual gearbox, dashed to 60 mph in a scant 6.9 seconds and to the quarter mile in 15.5. Naturally, the car’s fuel economy takes a hit; I predict the Spoon CR-Z will still get around 25/29 mpg city/highway.
The car’s handling is much sharper, thanks to stiffer springs and shocks and thicker anti-roll bars. With a strengthened chassis and a custom limited-slip differential, the Spoon CR-Z feels much more neutral than the stock CR-Z. Spoon is currently working on a race version that Ichishima says will introduce a new era in endurance racing. He plans to have this car finished for the 25 Hours of Thunderhill in December.
This tuner version of the CR-Z will be available as a complete car later this year for about $8000 plus the cost of the car. For more information, go to the company’s website at www.spoonsports.us.
So..i'm guessing the Ex model here would be around $24000 + $8000 comes to
$32000. Dunno...i can think of many stock cars that can do that performance numbers without any mods.
That sounds fishy to me! If you look at the standard power graph it shows that at 6100rpm bhp is already tailing off so what would be the point in revving it another 2400rpm unless they had done some pretty extensive internal mods to gain from the increased revs.
///// * are prototype products as of August 2010 /////
Venturi Big Throttle
Tail Silencer N1 Type
Spoon ECU
Spoon Suspension Kit
L.S.D. Kit (1.5way)
*Spoon Close Ratio Gear Set
Sub Frame Rigid Collar Kit
*Engine Room Tower Bar
Carbon Fiber Hood
Roof Turbulator
*Aero Door Mirrors
Spoon Bucket Seat
Spoon Short Shift Knob
Momo Steering Wheel
a customer translated some Japanese to me : the Spoon engine is a lot worked, polished internals, pistons are exchanged (more compression)... New spark plugs.
Anyway the ECU is the main upgrade, that alone has a potential of 20% (ps and Nm) (on stock engine) however reduced to maintain reliability.
the throttle valve alone is adding 6 hp from 2500 and all the way up. (with all stock)
i will give my feeling as soon as installed.
I hope a little more with Racing suction + throttle valve, if the stock software auto-adapt ?
I don't know details about the job of the ECU but the 20% gain seems on a wide range.
all my questions about re-progs or ECU availability seem to go in a black hole.
By throttle valve I think you are saying enlarged throttle body. I have a thread about getting the TB bored out which equals an enlarged throttle body.
It makes sense. I wonder what size Spoon's TB is to get the 6 hp.