Myles Kerr and the “Integra that Could” lives up to its name yet again.
Kerr began 2017 with quite a few power upgrades. A new bottom end with custom rods and pistons to English Racing spec, 4 Piston Racing Front Runner CNC ported head, custom GSC Power-Division T2 cams and “200 Or Bust” valve springs and retainers were installed. (Pic Included) A new turbo kit from Extreme Turbo Systems with a 5″ ETS intercooler was installed as well. “Precision Turbo gave me a new 7275 Gen 2 turbo to try, which makes killer power versus my old 6870,” says Kerr. “We had to add four more injectors for the extra power I planned on making so Fuel Injector Clinic helped out with that.”
After running the car successfully at TX2K17, Kerr started working with Mike Lewin from Professional Awesome on improving the aerodynamics on the Integra for the half mile. He wanted to make the car more “slippery” or streamline so it would cut through the air better to achieve a faster top speed. He knew he needed improvements from the last outing, so they got to work. They added a full two-part under tray; a front splitter that is measured 67-inches wide by 60-inches long, and a full rear section that was 114-inches long by 60-inches wide.
Kerr and the English Racing crew arrived to the Colorado Springs Airport for the Revvolution Shift S3ctor Pikes Peak Airstrip Attack on Friday afternoon, got the car unloaded and suited up for some test runs. “I hadn’t driven the car with the new aero so I was not sure what to expect,” says Kerr. “I get lined up and launch the car, shift into 2nd and everything was going well. I went to shift into 3rd and boom, nothing. No gear, no trans and no movement. We got the car pushed back to the pits and my first thought was that I broke the transmission. It was making some clunky noises and at that moment I thought I was done for the weekend, and it hadn’t even started yet. I called one of my coworkers, TJ, who is one of the main guys at English Racing, and told him what happened. He goes, “Did you check the axle?” I’m like, “No, it sounds way more broken than an axle but let me go check.” Sure enough, I had just broken the axle, and at that point I knew it was an easy fix. We went to AutoZone that night and picked up a replacement axle and got it installed. I had one more issue to fix, the puncture I got on my passenger side rear tire. Something sharp jabbed into it during the same pass, but the Bossman, Lucas English, came to the rescue and got the tire patched up in about 10 minutes, and I was ready to race again.”
It was a warm, sunny morning on the tarmac of the Colorado Springs Airport as the first day of competition was under way. Kerr and the team were ready to make a small half-track test pass to make sure everything was working correctly.
“Everything seemed to be running really good during the test pass,” says Kerr. “We got back to the pits, turned boost up for the next run and hit 37psi in 4th/5th with a full lift shift on every gear. I crossed the finish line going 192 mph. It was not a straight pass, the car started moving around a lot in 4th and 5th gear, but I still went 192, which at the time was the fastest I had been in Colorado. Needless to say, I was excited. The next pass I turned it up to 40-41 psi, which should have been about 1,000-whp at sea level. I launch the car and it feels smooth. I shift into 2nd, 3rd and then into 4th. It felt quite a bit better than the 192 pass already. I go to shift into 5th and boom, no power. Pretty much knew right then and there it lost a charge pipe.
“Get back to the pits, sure enough, the throttle body coupler came off, which was an easy fix again. We get the new clamp on and get the car ready for the next day since it was pretty warm and near the end of the day. I decided to save the car for the next day and I knew first pass in the morning was going to be the one.
“We went back to the hotel and looked over all the data from all the passes over the day,” Kerr stated. “I then realized I can give it some more boost. So, I give it a couple more clicks on the boost controller and ‘sent it’ as they say!”
It’s now Sunday morning with temperatures significantly cooler, making for the perfect conditions to pull off a record pass. The only thing that wasn’t in Kerr’s favor was the massive headwind that had kicked up overnight. With everything ready to go once again, Kerr suited up and headed to the starting line.
“I pull up to the line and it just so happened that I lined up against Morris Malone in his epic Corvette build. This thing has it all – twin Pro Mod 88’s, methanol, M150 Motec with John Reed Racing package, full aero with closed front end. We are talking one of the most gangster Corvettes out there,” Kerr continued. “I knew he had already been 205-206 mph the day before, so I hoping this pass was the one! I launched, took off and never actually saw Morris until he passed me after the finish line. I knew his car has issues stalling up in the thin air but didn’t think it was that bad. Every shift was smooth. I did a full lift shift on the 1-2 and 2-3 and then a no-lift shift on the 3-4 and my favorite shift ever, the 4-5 – there was a 1 psi drop on that shift! I knew the pass was faster than I had ever gone but I was not sure if it hit 200 mph.”
As soon as Kerr passed the finish line, 201.07 mph popped up on the board and the crowd erupted in cheers. He had not only joined the 200 mph club and achieved his goal, he had set the World Record for the first FWD car to reach 200 miles per hour in the half mile and had become the fastest Acura Integra in the world.
“As I’m pulling back up to the pit area, Kyle from 1320Video was waiting there for me and when I got in range he said ‘199.9’ and I was like, ‘Really? F*ck, but hey, I went faster,’” Kerr laughed. “Then he goes, ‘Just kidding, 201!’ At that moment, I was beyond stoked. Like you know how you get when you’re young and it’s Christmas and you just opened your big present and it’s exactly what you always wanted?! That’s the feeling I had, I was high on cloud nine. I was thinking, Well, all that work over the years and I finally reached my goal! I have to say it’s very, very rewarding to know something you’ve been working on for so long finally all came together and worked out. I could not have been happier in that moment!”
Kerr had finally accomplished his number-one main goal that was very special to him. Going 200 mph isn’t an easy task, especially in a 4-cylinder Acura Integra.
“I set three goals for 2017: Run 160-mph trap in the quarter mile on 225/50/16 Toyo R888’s and I went 163 mph – goal completed; achieve 200 mph in the half-mile and I went 201 mph – goal completed. All I have left is an 8-second quarter mile with a 170-plus-mph trap on slicks. This one I have not done yet, so it is my next goal on the list for 2017. I still do plan on going to half-mile events that we all go to. I am not sure which one will be the next, though. As of right now, I’m pretty stoked with how everything is going. I enjoy driving the car home, and the occasional run to Starbucks in the morning.”
