NA = Not Applicable? Not always.

The past month has been rather exciting as far as car testing is concerned. Having come to a firm conclusion that I’ll never derive as much pleasure driving a car with an automatic gearbox (DSG included), I’ve managed to focus my attention to analyzing engines and the way they deliver their performance. Two kinds of output come straight to mind. Forced induction (turbo to be exact) and naturally aspirated engines. Time to dissect them both.

Some might argue that if you want the pure thrill of being pinned back to your seat, look no further than forced induction to settle this urge for you. Yes, it will produce more torque from a small displacement, and the turbo lag helps in a way to create that “pause” and suspense. But do you really enjoy it all the time?

It’s time to draw a comparison. I have to admit that 90% of my mileage over my driving years has been clocked with turbo cars, and I have little experience handling NA machines. Being able to try a couple of NA cars guided my train of thought to focus on the wonders of naturally aspirated engines, regardless of the performance output.

Clocking 500 miles in the C63 AMG in Southern California partially changed my narrowed perspective of NA powerplants. It’s not the best car start with, since I was trying my best during the drive to siphon that distracting and addictive V8 symphony out of my mind, to comprehend how responsive that hand built Vee can be. It’s like studying with trance blasting out from your headphones. 600nm of torque didn’t help either. It’s a self-guided bullet train with gadgets perfected by German scientists. The AMG was oozing with absurd pace, but it didn’t manage to educate me with the basis of NA enjoyment, no matter how attentive a student I was.

I needed an instructor to provide me with more engagement. The Kia Koup with a 6 speed manual gearbox was perfect. 450nm of torque deficit wasn’t part of the syllabus. Crafting my own line in one of the tightest roads in Singapore needed a car with instant response, and it’s almost technically and physically impossible for forced induction to be considered, even with twinscrolls. (Unless we pop in a compound system form the Lancia Delta S4?) A simple tap on the accelerator out of any corner in this Koup was fuss free, with the eager motor replying to any of my information thrown at it. This is the car that can provide instant satisfaction, due to its high revving nature of the engine, and reliable self serviced gearbox. This Korean wasn’t even close to sprinting, but I hopped out of it confidently with a more knowledgeable driving brain.

Then came the revered machinery from Japan Land. Analyzing an F22C and two K20A within a span of 5 days helped me to indulge in uninterrupted NA goodness. 5 minutes in the Civic Type R was more than enough to help me dive into the nucleus of Honda’s core attributes. It was all about that springy needle on the tacho, shoving clockwise with absolute ease. It’s a sin not to mention vTec with Honda, and I could understand why after experiencing a 2^nd gear pull in the FD2R. Think forced induction with no lag at 6000rpm. That’s vTec for you, and you’ll be ultra impressed once you get involved in it.

The AP2 S2000 Type S, with its F22C, was way more linear in its delivery and to be honest, I couldn’t really feel the vTec kicking in. This engine aces in power delivery right from the moment you depress the throttle. It was never made to provide spurts of power, and its flat torque is laughable based on today’s towering numerics, caused by none other than forced induction performance. Try it if possible, and pay attention to how the engine responds to you. It’s razor sharp, way sharper than the C63 AMG. It’s as though the engine management system bypasses your limbs and sync wirelessly to your brain, whenever you want to make an attempt to rev it with any amount of pressure. This is how I derive driving pleasure.

You might realize that I didn’t put any emphasis on forced induction. This imbalance stems from the fact that NA will be more enjoyable than turbo most of the time. My opinion will definitely be met with plenty of doubts, and I will understand as I had been in this mindset for years. The past month changed my perception. Try some NA machines. It might change yours too.