2NR: We can only imagine how many cars you have tuned and dynoed throughout your automotive years. What's the most memorable car you have tuned?
JC: Aside from the AEM drag cars running right now, it had to be this twin-turbo, 355-small-block NASCAR motor in a C4 Corvette chassis with Studabaker body. That car hauled some ass. Another one that comes to mind was a Ferrari Testerosa twin turbo that needed some tuning on its Motec System. That was a blast to work on and drive. We took this car on the 91 freeway for some street tuning and just romped on the pedal, smoking the tires in 5th gear at 70 mph while we sat in the car laughing at the ridiculous horsepower.
2NR: Okay what was the ultimate nightmare car?
JC: Nightmare cars? Oh God, I can name a few (laughing). One car that pops into my head was this Pantera. It had to be the biggest pain in the ass I ever worked on in my life! The Pantera was supercharged with a twin-turbo setup. But the catch was, hanging off these ducts on each end of the turbos, was a Weber carburetor. It was a complete mess. To make things short, I ended up spending my money to repair this car that some other company fucked up on and returned the car to the owner. I learned my lesson never to take on another person's project.
2NR: Not much is known about the AEM pro-RWD Civic. Can you give the readers more insight on the car and what changes AEM has made to the car from its eight-second debut to its current record breaking run?
JC: The RWD, AEM Civic ran its quickest time to date at Englishtown on May 3rd. During the qualifying run, the car ran 7.101 at 195.17 and in the 1st round of elimination, where we hurt the motor, the car ran a 7.08 at 180. That's where Steph was off the throttle, at the 1000-foot mark. With the datalogging showing a liftoff and still posting a low seven-second pass, we're pretty excited about the upcoming Gainesville event. I am confident we will be in the six-second bracket at Gainesville. We currently hold the quickest and fastest Honda record in the world to date.
2NR: Any major changes to the car since?
JC: From the early debut to now, most of the changes have been to the clutch and suspension. Sure this is a horsepower race, but it's how you apply that power to the ground that determines if you set new records or go home early. Steph and Jerry (crew chief) get involved in the suspension settings and clutch settings. A 60-foot time of 1.029 attributes to how well the car is hooking up on the past event. This car can 60 foot with the best of them.
2NR: Who built the chassis on the car?
JC: Don Ness. As far as I'm concerned, he is God when it comes to chassis building. We have done so little in chassis tuning since we had the car, it's unbelievable. That's a major attribute to how well engineered the chassis is. The car is 2300 pounds, basically 100 pounds over the weight necessary, but we don't mind. It's not a disadvantage for us.