Sep 1, 2011

11,000rpm B16B!

Who other than Spoon Sports would create such a high revving engine?

A redline of 11,000rpm is no easy task and requires every component to be in harmony with one another. The crankshaft must be finely balanced to avoid vibrations, the valvetrain needs to be very strong to avoid floating valves from the camshafts spinning so fast, the oiling must be adequate to decrease friction and protect the engine, the connecting rods have to be light yet strong, the engine clearances must be as aggressive as possible and so on.

Quite the engineering marvel Mr. Ichishima is. The engine note is ever so pleasing to the ears, as if they didn't sound great at 8,500 in the first place!

The block brace that is featured here to get rid of vibrations also requires the use of their oil pan. Good luck finding those parts, there were only a few made and it was a prototype that was never sold. It is said that they would go for around $5,000 for the brace or oil pan but it is one of the rarest Spoon parts without a doubt and would probably fetch even more than that.

This technology was also applied in the EK9 used for N1 endurance racing as the regulation allowed such mod and it revved even higher than this one, an astounding 12,000rpm!