,
The Garrett GTX35R remained unchanged for this year except for its position in the engine compartment.If the car is run again the turbo will be switched to a new second generation compressor which will both improve spool and top end power. The new turbo location moves the compressor inlet to be in line with the hood scoop that feeds it a supply of cold fresh air as well as reduces heat soak in the general area.
The Eimer Engineering fabricated exhaust has a flared exit that turns the exhaust plume to run along the side of the body instead of just blasting straight out which can have a large negative effect on the car's aerodynamics. 
To avoid the problems the car had last year with controlling engine blowby, a Vibrant blowby tank and separator was used. All of the engine's couplers were replaced with HPS heavy duty 4 ply heat resistant silicone parts and T-Bolt clamps.
The car's performance was hampered due to the limited test time with the big changes being made.Unfortunately, a too tall final drive was selected which kept the car out of the powerband in many turns, the suspension was too stiff for the rough Buttonwillow track surface and the front diffuser did not get done. The team knew these issues would be a problem but decided to press on anyway as the car was showing great potential in testing in spite of these issues.
Additionally, the aggressive pads killed the brake rotors which were nearing replacement time. The rotors warped which made braking difficult. In the later sessions when the car ran, the fastest time. These issues combined to make the car two-tenths of a second slower than last year at 1:45.802.
The team was also hampered by Dai not being able to get a clean lap in due to traffic in the fast and cool early morning sessions. The FWD unlimited record was shattered by the PZ Tuning Civic driven by William Au-Yeung running a scorching 1:43.365, bettering the Spoon car by 2.4 seconds. Second place was captured by James Houghton in the K-Tuned Integra which ran a blistering fast 1:43.559 which also beat Spoon's old record of 1:45.585. It is interesting to note that the FWD Unlimited cars are now quite a bit faster than the RWD cars and are knocking on the door of the AWD Unlimited cars in this country.
The Spoon Team is confident that there is a lot of time left in the car. With a change of gearing and a little more suspension and aero tuning all of which were planned the team feels that the car would be right up there with the current top cars.
However, there are rumors of a new car being built using the new Type R Civic and this may be the old car's last hurrah for Super Lap Battle although it will still run in a select few other events. In any case, the changes made to the car were a great learning experience and the lessons can be applied to new stuff.
The car has proven to be reliable and shows great potential for easy improvement. It has also paved the way for a renewed battle in FWD Unlimited, spurring both fan and competitor interest again in a class that had lost popularity. Most people had figured the time posted by Chris Rado's mega-buck, super high tech F-Wing was unbeatable.
Let's hope that Spoon Sports continues to develop the car so we can see it return to competition once again soon!
Sources
Spoon Sports USA
Eimer Engineering
Special Projects Motorsports Gear-X
PE Engineering
KW Suspension
Turbosmart
Turbo by Garrett
Vibrant Performance
Whiteline
Pegasus Racing
K-Tuned
OS Giken
Momo
Greddy
Hawk
Forward Motion Technologies
