Body shop owners are a finicky, often cranky bunch. They endure long hours in hot garages, noxious gasses and paint dust. Then there's the constant clatter of tools around. It's enough to make a sane man go nuts. I mean, when was your last encounter with a body shop pleasant? Most of the time you're in there because some ass hit your pride and joy, or you're forking over huge sums of money to paint your car. You, yourself are often tired, cranky, and most likely have taken some time off to deal with your "problem". Face it-body shop people get very little love dealing with people like you. It might even be said that one has to be a little crazy to work in this field.
To that end however, owners Masahide Kawamoto and Syuko Morita of Final Motion must be full-blown certifiable. They've conceived a plan to not only make you fork over huge sums of money, but do so with a smile on your face. Perhaps it's all the fumes, but if you've ever repaired or owned a boat, you know what I'm talking about. Let me explain. "Resin", and it's closely related brother "catalyst", are the haz-mat level-two materials that harden bottoms of boats, fishing rods and crossbows. Readers of this magazine might be familiar with their uses on stereo boxes, carbon fiber hoods and body kits, but one base material used with them that you might overlook is Kevlar. Ballistics-grade versions stop bullets-think of how that can be applied to automotive. F1 and GT500 cars use it to build whole chassis and so do some super-exotic production vehicles. Upon closer inspection of the R32 before you, you might notice the carbon. But if I didn't tell you it is indeed Kevlar, you might not have known. One could literally stand on the hood of this car without nary a hair crack forming. Try that with your cheap Made-in-China reproduction hood.
At roughly $50 per square foot, this stuff is not only expensive but expensive to fuck up. Yes, Kevlar is one of the reasons that sets Final Motion apart from other body and aero component shops. Other carbon-Kevlar components on this '92 Sukagee are the Final Motion wide body front fenders, doors, front lip, bumper, grill, rear wing, radiator diffuser plate, under-car diffuser plate, and side skirts. And not only do they look mean, they all serve function in either creating downforce or aiding in heat dissipation. But all these aero components would be just plain silly if the car underneath it were just a 170hp Civic. Morita employed engine and chassis tuning specialist Nokyo Racing Service (NRS) of Kadoma (outskirts of Osaka City) to help attain speeds more befitting of his Kevlar-clad creation.
In its current state, the RB26 is on its sixth rendition. This version started with a Nismo short block, with NRS boring it out to 87mm, giving it a final displacement of 2.66 liters. With 2.7-, 2.8-, and even 3.0-liter versions of bored stroker kits available, we asked why Morita didn't take advantage of them. The Osaka native explained that he wanted a car that achieved balance. Going further, he wanted a car that does everything equally well. Getting greedy with the power almost always ends up giving you a car that does incredibly well in a straight line, but sacrifices in everyday drivability and corner exit speeds on track. Fortunately, the Japanese aren't greedy.
Delving more into the engine reveals HKS S3 connecting rods, pistons, piston rings, and a Tomei fully balanced and blueprinted crankshaft. Other bottom-end components include a Trust oil pump and a NRS aluminum crank pulley. Leaving no stone untouched, the boys at NRS also ported the head, and fitted it with Stage 2 HKS Camshafts. With the long block complete and in the engine bay, NRS helped it breathe with high-tension valve springs, an NRS one-off intake manifold, turbo manifold and downpipe, and finally a T8833D turbine, all from the Trust catalog. To top off the engine, Final Motion included their signature Kevlar valve cover, and NRS used titanium extensively to create the exhaust and side-exit wastegate pipe.