It is often said that the key to happiness in life is balance. It’s all about making sure focus isn’t overwhelmed by any one thing. That philosophy can be many things in addition to overall happiness. In this instance we’re talking about a way a certain shop approaches their projects.

The shop in question is Stradale which is located in the Gifu Prefecture in Japan. Stradale is unique for a few reasons one of them being that their location makes them one of only a few shops in the area. Though while it’s location may seem remote it is actually advantageous as it is near a local track. Because of this, people who frequent that track tend to visit Stradale to tune their cars for the next track day.

Another reason why Stradale is unique is that unlike some tuner shops, Stradale is comfortable with adapting to changing trends and the tastes of the customers. When the shop first opened, most of their clientele were Evo owners; Including the shop owner Hirohisa Kato.

But soon Kato-san started to notice that he was getting more and more customers who owned Hondas. Specifically S2000’s and Civic Type R’s. When Mitsubishi discontinued the Evo Kato-san saw the tides changing so he even bought a Civic Type R for himself; which is the FD2 4-door Civic Type R seen in this article.

The third reason why Stradale is unique is because of their approach to tuning cars. Kato-san likes to try and preserve a car’s daily functionality and enjoyment as possible while also enhancing performance.

“When you start going to the track chasing lap times, your car quickly gets messed up. Pretty soon you strip your interior and no one wants to ride with you anymore.

I wanted to avoid that.

I wanted to build cars that looked good, fast on track, and are fun to ride in” said Kato.

Admirable goals indeed. But how does one achieve such a thing? Well as we mentioned before, much of Stradale’s clients are Honda owners who daily drive their cars but also like going to the local track. With that in mind and considering what Kato-san had to say about keeping cars fun, some of the things Stradale will likely avoid can be surmised.

When Stradale builds a car, they’re going to try and keep as much of the interior as possible because gutted cars are not comfortable to daily drive at all. Secondly, Stradale will increase engine power but not to unmanageable levels.

Third and likely most important, Stradale focuses on suspension enhancement. Because when it comes to tracking a car, cornering is king.

All of those three edicts went into Kato-san’s own FD2 Civic Type R. From the outside it looks mostly stock save for a few aero bits. Though upon closer inspection it can be seen that the front fenders have been widened a bit to accommodate bigger tires for better front grip.

There is no roll cage to be found inside. All the seats are there (with two Recaro buckets up front), and the only interior mod is a Nardi steering wheel. Even the stock navigation system remains in place.

The only physical modifications to the engine block is a set of custom camshafts and a thinner head gasket which increases piston compression.

Beyond that, all engine performance enhancement comes from ECU tuning. With the right map in place, Kato-san says his FD2 Civic Type R can make 280 horsepower at the wheels. Not bad at all.

The rest of the modifications are all suspension-centric. It starts with a bespoke suspension built by Ennepetal in Japan. Stradale commissions Ennepetal to build custom coilover setups for them that they then sell to their customers.

Additionally, Stradale actually manufactures their own suspension arms which use spherical joints, replacing traditional rubber bushings. All of those parts can be found on Kato’s Civic Type R.

The combination of having restraint when it comes to power and weight savings, but significant suspension modifications makes this Civic Type R “fun on the short circuit”. In the end, isn’t that what we’re all searching for with our respective project cars?

Needless to say, Hirohisa Kato is happy with his tuning philosophy and with Stradale. Kato does note that not as many young people are into cars these days but he says that he is seeing an increase of customers in their “early 20s” coming in.

Kato-san welcomes those younger enthusiasts with open arms, “I'd like to continue to show many ways to enjoy their cars to such younger generations.”

As we said before, admirable goals indeed...

Honda Civic Type R By Stradale