PERFORMANCE
Civic Duty
By Eddie Habeck III
Posted on Sep 1, 2004

Engaging in a conversation about import tuning and not mentioning the Civic is about as likely as finding Paris Hilton at a Days Inn. The Civic is a staple in the import community, tuned by everyone and their great-grandmother. Right after the caveman invented the wheel, he made sure that it had the proper offset so he could fit 19’s on his hooped-up Civic.

It’s very difficult to explain how to modify a Civic, because, basically, there isn’t anything that can’t be done to them. It’s not like certain vehicles where you have a limited selection of parts available to you, and much of the guesswork is narrowed due to lack of availability. With the Civic, every part is available and offered by more than a dozen different companies.

At one side of the argument, it’s a great, inexpensive vehicle to modify due to an abundance of parts. The flip side is that its all been done before, and if you want to really stand out, you’ve got to dump in enough dough to buy a second hand Ferrari.

So, how does one go about hooking up a Civic and still stand out enough to win some major shows? Instead of offering you a buyer’s guide to Civic parts, which is just a few pages shy of War and Peace, I talked with some Civic tuners that have established themselves in the industry. I am, by far, the wrong person to justify the Civic’s pimpability, but these guys can, because they all built some Civics that generated hoopla.

One of the finest examples of a Civic being taken to the max was done by Thom Voisnet of Polk Audio. Using a ‘03 hatch as his platform, Voisnet managed to guarantee the Honda would have a high drool factor. Voisnet understands that trying to make a Civic different from the next is like trying to explain what makes the Backstreet Boys different from N’Sync. I’m sure using my vast plethora of boy band knowledge I could eventually break down what makes N’Sync better, but until that time, lets see what Thom did to make the Civic stand out.

Something we can learn from Voisnet is that if you want to make a Civic different, you’ve got to go big. Treat it like it’s an SUV — 19’s are great, but, hey, why not 20’s? And a 255-width tire from BFG? Sure... Two 15-inch subs are great for a normal hatch, but why not use 6? I don’t know why not? I also purchased stock in carbon fiber manufacturing right before his project went underway, and it skyrocketed after he bought enough of the stuff to wrap just about the whole inside of the car with it (and the outside for that matter). Carbon fiber hood, roof, hatch, dash, blah, blah, blah.

Having also hooked up his ‘96 Daily driver, he understands what you’ve got to do to make the car stand out. Why does he think it’s the ideal tuner machine?

“It’s a well-built cheap car with lots of support from the aftermarket,” he states.

He purchased his ‘96 in ‘96, “before the Civics (popularity) got so out of hand”. His claim-to-fame in his ‘96 is his solid carbon fiber sub box — “I haven’t seen anything quite like it,” he adds.

In the ‘03, it’s Voisnet’s carbon fiber dash and the amount of %$@# he crammed in it and how he managed to make it all look like it belongs there.

Voisnet doesn’t see the Civic mayhem lasting much longer though.

“Other manufacturers are trying hard and are giving you a lot for very little money,” he states.
One of my favorite Civics to hit the show scene this year belongs to Ryan Shutt of Maryland. His ‘97 is very, um, orange, and has lead him to win 12 best-of-show awards — that’s about 12 more best-of-shows then most of us get. Shutt’s love for the Civic is due largely in part to the fact that he doesn’t have to look hard for accessories.

“Its easy to get parts for and it’s a low budgeted car” says Shutt. However, his favorite mod on his car is anything but a general bolt-on, a “modernized tag”, a license plate that mechanically retracts up and down from the rear bumper... An EZ-Pass runners dream, not that Ryan would dream of ever doing that, but, at that $2 bridge toll to that show last weekend, it sure seemed appealing.

He believes his car stands out due to its unique style, and that he “added a hot rod look to an import”.

It also seems like everyone is swapping random engines into Civics, but Shutt feels like this isn’t necessarily needed, even though “A swap or forced-induction allows for more points in the show scene,” he adds. Word.

Ryan believes that the Civics’ departure from the scene won’t be in the near future, “because it’s a long lasting car found everywhere, and it’s a low budget car to fix and built”.

Build the Civic the way that you want to, and don’t take into account what’s already been done to them. It’s the only way you’ll ever stand out. If tuners keep pushing it to the limits like these guys, the Civic is sure to be blingin’ in the future. “Don’t be scared to be different and change things up,” advises Shutt.

Enthusiasts not trying new ideas is the only thing that will stop the Civic’s reign as an import-tuning icon.