Chasing records and putting up big numbers is what racers live for. It really doesn’t matter the class, the car, or the powerplant, so long a the excitement of seeing a record fall is there, with the crew delighted and a roaring, electric crowd recognizing the feat. At the annual Imports vs Domestics World Cup Finals held at the Maryland International Raceway, records fall each and every year. With the great air and track prep this past November, the outright Honda S2000 record was one of the victims, as it fell in a big way with a low seven-second blast at the hands of Puerto Rico native Jesus Melendez.
The Honda S2000 is a pocket rocket of a car that’s known more for its handling, but this particular boosted animal has been constructed to go fast in a straight line, and it does that well. Under the hood is a stock block F22C motor that’s only 202 cubic-inches in size. A rather large turbocharger feeds boost into the engine, and at 36 psi, generates over 1,300 horsepower ( capable of 48 psi in full race mode). A Liberty transmission puts all that power down to a pair of 28-inch tall, 10.5-inch wide tires.
In this footage from 1320 Video, you can see just how nasty Melendezs’ S2000 is when the driver lets it rip at the flash of the green. On its first pass, the S2000 has some traction issues, but is still able to rip off a 7.39-second pass at over 184 mph. On the next run there are no traction issues and the mighty Honda resets the record with a booming 7.17 at 192 mph lick. That’s flat hauling the mail for such a small displacement motor, for sure!