If you are a car racing movie fan, you probably might have heard about the Spoon Engine. In those films, it is an added advantage to cars that make them go faster than their competition.
But guess what? Spoon Engines do not just exist in movies.
They are real-time automotive technologies that can be found in many cars. This article needs more light on this automotive technology and explains what it is and how it works. You’d also get some answers to some common questions about the spoon engine.
What Are The Spoon Engines?
If you visit many automotive sites about cars, you would have come across a spoon engine meme or two. So it is only befitting that we now talk about them.
Spoon engines are products of a Japanese tuning firm called Spoon Sports. Essentially an automotive modification invented by Tatsuru Ichishima, a former Honda test and race car driver. The idea was simple; make an inexpensive car incredibly fast and enjoyable to drive.
So he went ahead to modify a third-generation Honda Civic hatchback, took apart its 1.6 Liter ZC engine and made it 230 horsepower stuck it in an car. And once it made it’s followed into Japan Touring Car Championship around the 1988.
Ichishima’s exploits wowed Honda so much that they made a deal with him, and by 1989 he founded Spoon Sports Company.
So what are Spoon Engines?
Spoon engines are engines that have been tuned for circuit racing using specialized Spoon parts. These parts are made with unbelievably low margins of error because of the level of accuracy demanded by such races.
The parts that go into making a Spoon Engine are tuned and balanced.
- Throttle body
- Brakes
- Driveshafts
- Gusset Plates
- Head Gaskets
- Aero parts
The result? An 11,000 RPM rev limiter that makes it comfortably capable of going toe to toe with most racing car engines as far as speed and more importantly, power.
The basic aim of the tuning and balancing process that produces Spoon Engines then is simply: Improving capability, eliminating weakness.
So, in essence, issues like loss of power from inefficiency, power delivery, engine and throttle response it’s all tuned and balanced to improve after the process is complete. That way, it revs faster, handles high revs better, it lasts longer…and it makes more power.
What Cars Have Spoon Engines?
Spoon engines are built to be extremely fast, but fast-moving parts do lead to a higher strain on the engine due to the internal forces and a huge amount of heat generated.
This is why Spoon Engines are not mounted on just any old car. Due to the Honda/Spoon Sports collaboration, the Honda Spoon engine can be mounted on only Honda cars. Some of the Honda cars you’d find Spoon engines on are:
- Honda CR-Z
- Honda Civic
- Honda S2000
- Honda N-One
- Honda S660
- Honda Accord
- Honda Acura Integra
- Honda Fit
FAQs.
Q: Why is it called a Spoon engine?
The Spoon engine is named after the Spoon Sports Company that produces the parts needed to customize it.
Spoon engines are hand-built by Spoon teams that produce Spoon-certified and Spoon-approved engines. They are called Spoon engines for the same reasons, which is why only engines that are built at Spoon Sports complex in Tokyo are accepted as Spoon engines.
Q: Is a Spoon engine worth it?
It all depends on what you want. Spoon engines are mostly assembled for racing, powering the volume of power produced without compromising the longevity or dependence of the engine, both of which are needed for racing.
So a Spoon engine may not be worth it for you if you are not a car racer and using the engine for “normal” driving would be wasting its potential.
Q: Can you turbo a spoon Engine?
Yes. But that could be an overkill, for it will not always boost Spoon engine power. They are hand-built cars designed to be an example of reliability and high-speed performance.
So getting a turbo done on it will lead to an excessively high compression and increase the risk of detonation.
Q: Can I build a spoon engine?
No. Here’s the thing, you could buy any of the specialized Spoon motor parts when looking to fit or modify an engine to your taste and even build your own. But for an engine to be classified as Spoon engine, it must be assembled at Spoon Sports factory in Japan.
You cannot then build a Spoon engine even if you bought and used Spoon components in building an engine. Getting a spoon engine swap might just be an excellent alternative to building one yourself.
Q: Why are spoon parts so expensive?
There are a couple of reasons for this. One, the precision for Spoon parts is so high that making them cost a lot of money.
We are talking about motor parts that are made to have a precision of +/- 0.01 grams. The nuts and bolts are not left out either, as they need to be torqued for an accuracy of +/- 1 Nm.
The second reason is that these parts are only produced and shipped from Japan. Shipping adds to the costs of the motor elements that are already expensive.
Q: What sports use spoons?
Spoon motors/engines are practically used for circuit racing. They are made to provide the power, durability, and reliability required for racing for extended periods.
Final Words
The Spoon engine is the type of stuff that shows up in movies. There is hardly a car racing flick that does not mention a Spoon engine in some form. If you have the cash and cars with rich engines are your thing, you can grab one for your car.
If you are on a budget, you can also grab a “diet” Spoon engine for your car. It is called a Spoon crate engine, and it may also meet your need for speed.
We hope this article helped you demystify the mystery of Spoon engines. We hope you can say a thing or two about Spoon engines after reading this.