BIG POWER - Travis Mangum

However, with the rise in popularity of imports at the strip, it’s only natural that they join in on the fun. Travis Mangum’s idea of what a small tire street car should be is something that melds both drag racing and street driving together, but why not take advantage of some obvious tactics right out of the gate, like building a lighter car with some serious proven power.

Travis grew up loving all things with a motor. If it had one, he’d be tinkering with and riding it. But once he caught a ride in a swapped Honda Civic as a teen, he fell in love with imports. Most are front-wheel drive, and today’s drag racing community has created classes dedicated to the four-cylinder screamers, but Travis would take a bit of a different direction. He did play with his Acura Integra for a number of years, that is, until the Honda S2000 came along.

Atthedragstripthesedays, especiallyasmalltireor radialtireevent,youwill alwaysseethetypical AmericanBig3muscle brandsalongwithvariants ofV8soundseverywhere.

As you can see, the S2000 gets up and out off the line, and runs clean to the top end thanks to chassis and suspension work.

the looksthatkill

The S2000 is a small fourbanger car, but rear-wheel drive, opening up so many possibilities for the right person. The nice thing about the car is the engine bay has room for improvement, and that’s where the LS powerplant comes in. It’s pretty fair to say that over the past few years, it doesn’t matter what it is, an LS has found a home in it. And with the Honda S2000 being light compared to other bodies, building an LS for it opens up a whole new level of performance capabilities.

Travis found this particular build as an unfinished project that already had the LS swap started. Initially, he kept the LS1 backed by a T-56 manual six-speed and had some fun on nitrous, however, the itch to get more out of the platform became too much to ignore, so a complete teardown started with a goal of having a serious top-tier street car.

Aside from the Formula Red paint along with most of the factory body panels and interior of the Honda, the rest of

the car was changed entirely. A custom owner-built one-off hood was also added to the exterior.

The LS1 5.7 was ditched in favor of a more boost-friendly LC9 5.3 block; it’s no secret that many push these things well into four-digit numbers. Surprisingly, the stock crank is a solid piece so it was kept and now spins K1 rods pinned to BTR boost-spec pistons. Once the short block was in check, Travis moved on to choosing the right parts for the top end,

and this would require a bit more creativity. Boosted applications obviously require increased breathing capabilities and the best way to achieve this is by maximizing the head and intake package. A set of Trick Flow 220cc heads served as a base, and they were packed with a complete lineup of parts from BTR, including their Ultimate RPM springs and shaft mount rockers for high revs, and the mill was topped with one of their Equalizer intake manifolds.

A turbo’d LS is tightly packed into this S2000. The math of drag racing clearly illustrates that more power and less weight equal quicker elapsed times. Of course that all depends on the rest of the car doing its job and holding together.

Compressed atmosphere is introduced to the 5.3 through a Forced Inductions

GT55/88mm turbo; Travis built and fabricated the turbo kit himself. Fueling comes via a custom AEI cable drive system that pumps E-85 through Billet Atomizer injectors. A Fueltech stand-alone ECU and dash control all vitals and operations. While there are LS swap kits available, Travis wanted to be able to get the motor in and out fairly quickly with the use

of a motor plate, so he went with a custom-made setup from AEI.

The driveline hard parts aren’t different from the typical pieces used, but Mangum was shoehorning it all underneath a small S2000, which took a lot of work. While a six speed comes from the factory, and the T-56 sits quite well in the factory tunnel, going auto is a whole different animal. Besides going to an automatic transmission, Travis wanted to also

Looking at the sum of the parts in Travis Mangum’s S2000, it’s obvious he’s got it figured out.

replace the factory independent rear suspension with a solid axle, requiring a complete suspension overhaul.

Travis used fabricating skills at his shop, Hidden Performance, to perform these daunting tasks, first creating a transmission mount for the auto. Like many in the drag racing world, he backed the LS with a built TH400 from PTC and Dusty set him up with a spec’d converter to go along with the build. Mangum based his custom rear suspension on a Moser Fab 9 inch, then stuffed it with 35 spline gun-drilled axles and added an Enemies Everywhere anti-roll bar setup. He has two sets of gears to gain an advantage, 4.30s for the 8th mile and 3.73s for the quarter. The suspension system is four-linked and uses 2JM coilovers valved for the S2000. 2JM coilovers sit in the front, as well, while the rest of the

Inside, the Honda is about as factory original as you can get, including power windows. The cage, race seat and a few other parts were necessary for the business of winning races.

suspension remains untouched.

The Honda has some show with a Belak Industries drag pack wheel combo with Mickey Thompsons on all four corners. Specifically, 15x3 in the front and with a mini tubbed rear, 15x10.5s clear the wheelwells. Factory brakes reside out front, and Wilwood drag brakes and a ’chute bring the Honda to a halt when needed. If none of that grabs your attention, the massive intercooler in the bumper and cut-out for the turbo above it should, not to mention the menacing cowl hood. Carbon fiber accents and hardtop match well with the factory bright red.

Travis wanted a street car, so all of the interior stayed, including power windows. He sits strapped into a Kirkey seat with RJS harnesses, while a certified cage he built surrounds him. A fuel cell, air-to-water tank, and battery relocation fill up the trunk area.

This S2000 does get street miles put on it, plus some of the classes he runs require a 25 or 50-mile cruise before heading straight to the lanes for eliminations. So far, Travis piloted the Honda to a 4.94 at 141 8th-mile and an 8.19

Traviswanteda streetcar,soall oftheinterior stayed,including powerwindows...

The trunk is filled with a sizeable fuel cell, cooler tank and battery.

Another

Travis Mangum’s 2001 Honda S2000 SS

Body & Paint:

Original body with lightweight cowl hood. Factory red paint.

Chassis & suspension:

Factory style front suspension with aftermarket coilovers. Rear is 4-link with 2JM custom valved rear coilovers with Enemies Everywhere anti roll bar kit.

Engine:

LC9 5.3, TF220. BTR parts. Custom cam, ultimate RPM spring pack, shaft mount rocker kit, boost pistons, K1 rods, stock crank.

Cylinder Heads:

TF220, BTR shaft mount rockers, BTR Ultimate valve springs.

Fuel Delivery:

Billet Atomizer injectors, AEI custom cable drive fuel system, Brown and Miller fittings and lines.

Electronics:

Fueltech

Power Adder:

Forced Inductions GT55/88mm turbo.

Transmission:

PTC TH400 and converter.

Rear:

Moser Fab 9” with 35 spline gun drilled axles 4.30 rear gear for ⅛ mile and 3.73 for ¼ mile racing.

Brakes:

Factory front brakes and Wilwood rears.

Tires & wheels: 15x3 fronts 15x10.5 rears Bleak Industries

Interior:

All factory interior with power windows, speakers, carpet, dash… everything.

ET & MPH: 4.94 at 141MPH, 1/4 8.19 at 126 “lol...I had to let up at the 1000ft mark!”

Thanks To:

Huge thanks to Nick and Brian at BTR, they have both been a major helping hand in leading me to where I am today. Kyle at BTR sends all the parts out asap. Dusty a PTC answering questions and getting this converter right. Robert at AEI working with me making our custom LS/S2000 motor plates and cable drive fuel systems.

major benefit of the S2000 platform is the fact that they were rear wheel drive. Of course, the factory independent rear suspension would be no match for the power Travis had in store, so he swapped it out with a heavily fortified Moser fabricated 9-inch hung by a 4-link coilover setup with anti-sway bar.

at 126 in the long haul; he let out at the 1000 foot mark! Of course, he’ll get that 7-second full pass in the books soon enough; after all, this build is relatively new.

Travis’ proudest moment was at a Streetcar Takeover event in Charlotte, NC. After putting out a small fire that scorched the cars wiring to the lights, he wired the car to run what was needed. He’d planned to roll race and run in the streetcar drag class but got placed out of

the street car class due to not having working lights.

He went on to win the roll racing class and got bumped up to the faster small tire class, where he finished a close second.

Mangum has definitely fulfilled his goal of having a seriously badass street driver and strip contender, and there’s no doubt that building a wicked boosted LS then packing it into a smaller, lighter chassis has helped him achieve that goal.