Spoon Sports

Spoon Sports, legally Spoon Inc., is a Japanese automotive performance company specializing in engine tuning, racing preparation, and aftermarket components for Honda vehicles. The business was founded in 1988 by Tatsuru Ichishima, a former Honda race-car tester and driver. Its origins lay in Ichishima’s own Honda Civic E-AT, which he modified as an experimental racing and development platform. That car became an early expression of Spoon’s philosophy: extract balanced, usable performance from Honda vehicles rather than pursue power figures in isolation. The company’s formation reportedly benefited from support from Honda and Mugen, with Spoon providing racing and development information in return. Honda remained the central technical and commercial focus of the business. Spoon’s products and tuning work have covered naturally aspirated engines, valvetrain components, transmissions, close-ratio gearsets, suspension, brakes, cooling, exhaust systems, wheels, drivetrain components, and aerodynamic parts. The brand is especially associated with Honda performance models such as the Civic, Integra Type R, NSX, S2000, and Civic Type R. Spoon’s identity has been shaped as much by motorsport as by catalog products. Its prepared Hondas have competed in Japanese endurance and touring-car events, time-attack competitions, and international endurance races. The company has been associated with the Tsukuba 9 Hours, Super Taikyu, the Nürburgring 24 Hours, the Tokachi 24 Hours, the 25 Hours of Thunderhill, the Macau Grand Prix, and Global Time Attack. Its race vehicles traditionally used a recognizable blue-and-yellow livery, while its road cars have often appeared in white, although the visual approach has become less uniform over time. A major part of Spoon’s customer-facing operation is Type One, a showroom, workshop, and factory opened in 2001. Spoon’s main facilities function as offices, parts-storage and distribution locations, while Type One provides vehicle servicing, maintenance, engine work, tuning, and display space for Spoon products and race cars. Type One also buys and resells Honda vehicles and can turn them into individually specified cars, including left-hand-drive NSX Type R conversions or bespoke builds. In this structure, Spoon serves as a research, development, and product brand, while Type One operates as a practical tuning and service center. The company is known for a restrained but technically demanding approach to performance. Its parts are intended to improve the balance, response, reliability, and track capability of Honda cars, and many of its naturally aspirated engine products require corresponding upgrades to the valvetrain and other supporting systems. Signature products include the lightweight SW388 forged aluminum wheel, close-ratio synchronized transmission gearsets, steering wheels developed with Momo, and a broad range of suspension, braking, cooling, exhaust, engine, and aerodynamic components. Spoon’s motorsport reputation and international enthusiast following have made it one of the most recognizable specialist Honda tuning brands, although it remains a private performance company rather than a mass-market vehicle manufacturer.

Spoon Sports was established in Japan in 1988 by Tatsuru Ichishima, who had worked for Honda as a race-car tester and driver. The company grew from Ichishima’s personal Honda Civic E-AT, which he modified and entered into competition. The Civic became both a development test bed and the practical foundation for Spoon’s engineering philosophy. Rather than treating tuning as a pursuit of maximum engine output, Spoon emphasized the integrated behavior of the complete car: engine response, transmission ratios, chassis balance, braking, cooling, and durability under racing conditions. The company’s early development was connected with Honda and Mugen. Support from those organizations helped Spoon establish itself as a specialist Honda performance operation, while racing information generated by Spoon contributed to development knowledge. Its earliest racing activities helped demonstrate that Honda front-wheel-drive cars could be made competitive in serious motorsport. The modified Civic became associated with the Japan Touring Car Championship and is described as the first Honda Civic to enter that competition. Over subsequent decades, Spoon expanded from complete-car preparation into a catalog of aftermarket parts. Its range came to include engine and valvetrain components, exhausts, suspension, brakes, cooling systems, drivetrain parts, transmission gearsets, wheels, and aerodynamic pieces. The brand became particularly associated with naturally aspirated Honda tuning, a field in which supporting modifications to the valvetrain and other systems are important. Spoon’s products were designed for performance gains that could be used on circuit, with attention to response and balance rather than only headline horsepower. Motorsport remained central to the company’s public identity. Spoon-prepared Hondas competed in Japanese endurance events including the Tsukuba 9 Hours and Super Taikyu, as well as the Nürburgring 24 Hours, Tokachi 24 Hours, and the 25 Hours of Thunderhill. The company also achieved class results in international competition and podium finishes at the Macau Grand Prix. Honda models used in its racing program included the Civic and Integra Type R, NSX, and S2000. Spoon’s blue-and-yellow competition livery became a visual signature, while its road cars were frequently finished in white. In 2001, Spoon opened Type One as a distinct tuning shop and customer facility. The site functions as a showroom, workshop, factory, and display space for Spoon products and race cars. It carries out maintenance and repairs, modifies engines beyond factory specifications, and performs tuning work on Honda vehicles. Type One also buys and resells Hondas and can create individually configured cars, including left-hand-drive NSX Type R builds. This separation allows Spoon to operate as a research, development, and product brand while Type One provides hands-on service and vehicle construction. Spoon continued to use racing as a platform for engineering experiments. In 2008 it introduced the Spoon Honda NSX-R GT, based on the first-generation NSX-R and adapted for Japanese Super GT requirements. In 2017, its Unlimited Class FD2 Civic Type R used a front-wheel-drive racing configuration with a central driving position and competed in Global Time Attack at Buttonwillow Raceway Park. These projects reinforced Spoon’s reputation as a Honda specialist whose products derive credibility from competition use. The company remains a private Japanese performance business serving domestic and international enthusiasts through parts, tuning, vehicles, and motorsport-related development.

• 2017

  FD2 Civic Type R competes in Global Time Attack

  [1]Spoon Sportsen.wikipedia.org

  Spoon enters an Unlimited Class FD2 Civic Type R at Buttonwillow Raceway Park with a center-seat layout and a heavily developed front-wheel-drive racing configuration.

• 2008

  Spoon Honda NSX-R GT is introduced

  [1]Spoon Sportsen.wikipedia.org

  Spoon develops an NSX-R GT based on the first-generation 2002 NSX-R and adapted to Japanese Super GT regulations.

• 2001

  Type One opens

  [1]Spoon Sportsen.wikipedia.org

  Spoon creates Type One as a showroom, workshop, and factory for servicing, tuning, engine work, and display of its vehicles and parts.

• 1988

  Spoon Inc. is founded

  [1]Spoon Sportsen.wikipedia.org

  Tatsuru Ichishima establishes the company after working as a Honda race-car tester and driver. His modified Honda Civic E-AT becomes the basis of Spoon’s racing and engineering concept.

Track-oriented, Honda-specialist performance engineering focused on balance, response, durability, and motorsport-derived development rather than maximum output alone.

• Forged wheel

  Spoon SW388

  The SW388 is a lightweight forged aluminum wheel associated with Spoon’s Honda tuning identity. Its simple five-spoke design and low weight suit the company’s emphasis on reducing unsprung mass and improving track-focused vehicle response. It is one of Spoon’s most recognizable standalone aftermarket products.

• Transmission component

  Spoon close-ratio synchronized gearsets

  Spoon’s transmission gearsets use closely spaced ratios intended to keep an engine within a useful power band during acceleration. The synchronized design is aimed at combining competition-oriented gearing with practical drivability in modified Honda road and track cars.

• Engine performance parts

  Spoon engine and valvetrain components

  This group includes naturally aspirated performance components and supporting valvetrain hardware for Honda engines. Spoon’s approach generally prioritizes throttle response, usable power delivery, and circuit durability. Because more aggressive naturally aspirated tuning can increase valvetrain demands, these parts are commonly treated as an integrated engine-development package rather than isolated upgrades.

• Chassis and powertrain aftermarket parts

  Spoon suspension, brake, cooling, and exhaust systems

  Spoon supplies a broad range of systems intended to support Honda vehicles used on road and track. Suspension and braking components address control and stopping performance, while cooling and exhaust products support sustained operation and engine efficiency. Together these parts reflect Spoon’s preference for improving the balance of the complete vehicle.

• Aerodynamic aftermarket parts

  Spoon aerodynamic body parts

  Spoon produces body and aerodynamic components that combine functional track intent with a distinctive visual language. Some designs use an aggressive, crane-like front-end motif associated with the Spoon name, while wings and other pieces are developed to complement the handling balance of Honda performance cars.

• Complete vehicle tuning and services · 2001

  Type One tuned Honda vehicles

  Type One buys, services, modifies, and resells Honda vehicles. Its work can include engine development, maintenance, repairs, chassis tuning, and bespoke conversions. The facility has also been associated with individually specified cars such as left-hand-drive NSX Type R builds, extending Spoon’s parts expertise into complete-vehicle preparation.

• 2008

  Develop the Spoon Honda NSX-R GTProduct launch

  Background

  Spoon sought to apply its Honda racing expertise to a car meeting the technical requirements of Japanese Super GT competition.

  Action taken

  It launched a modified NSX-R GT based on the first-generation 2002 Honda NSX-R and adapted the vehicle for Super GT regulations.

  Aftermath

  The project strengthened Spoon’s association with high-level Honda race-car development and the NSX platform.

  Source

• 2001

  Separate product development from customer-facing tuning through Type OneStrategy

  Background

  Spoon needed a dedicated facility for servicing vehicles and presenting its products while continuing its broader research, development, parts, and motorsport activities.

  Action taken

  The company opened Type One as a showroom, workshop, and factory focused on customer tuning, repairs, engine work, vehicle sales, and display of Spoon products and race cars.

  Aftermath

  Type One became the principal hands-on destination for Spoon vehicle work and helped connect the brand’s motorsport-derived parts with road-car owners.

  Source

1. 1Spoon Sportsen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Spoon Sports official websitespoon.jp