1994 Honda Civic Si

The Civic is powered by an Integra Type R engine with hidden J-spec goodies lurking around it.

Mmm...JDM heat shield. Yes, we’re sick.

For a Back to the Future nut like yours truly, learning that Doc Emmett Brown’s house isn’t really a house is like finding out Heather Locklear is really a man. Actually, I’m not exactly sure what Doc Brown’s house really is in real life. All I know is that Technical Editor Jonathan really wants his car photographed in front of it and that there are mass amounts of people in dark suburban sweaters and action slacks walking in and out of the place, shooting us dirty looks, as if we’re trespassing.

OK, we’re trespassing. But it’s for a good cause. We’re out here in Pasadena, California, photographing Jonathan’s ’94 Civic Si. It may not be a DeLorean capable of time travel, but it is powered by a Honda B18C5 powerplant. That’s an Integra Type R engine to you, daddy-o. And if this Civic could travel through time (which we all know will be possible very, very soon), it would be the perfect ride to take your sweetheart to the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance.

Instead of a flux capacitor (which makes time travel possible), the Civic has more than its fair shake of JDM parts. JDM stands for Japanese Domestic Market which, in Super Street terminology, means “this is heavy”. And we’re not talking about the gravitational pull of the earth. We’re talking about technology like a Spoon B16B cylinder head, an Integra Type R intake manifold, and a JDM Integra Type R 4-into-1 header with the heat shields. And if you tear apart the motor, you’ll find Civic Type R camshafts paired with Crower valvesprings and retainers.

Firing up the little red egg reveals all its hidden technology. The throaty note from the Tanabe Racing Medallion exhaust announces its presence. And it’s not too long after that that we are shoved off of Doc Brown’s driveway. And in our mad dash off the promised land, we leave behind…the film. The horror. So, what you’re stuck with now are shots taken moments before, as we circled the landscape, summoning up the courage to infringe on this little bit of heaven down in Pasadena.

Would it be an overstatement to say that this Civic is the one that put JDM on the map? I don’t think so. It definitely isn’t the first clean, Japanese-inspired Honda, but what it did do was help introduce the concept to every corner of Pine Valley, I mean, America. It’s the car everyone at the office wanted to own. It’s clean, fast, and could hit 88 mph without breaking a sweat. And it ran on pump gas.

Most likely, what you won’t notice about the car is the attention to detail that was involved in putting it together. Only the truly JDM savvy will detect the JDM Integra Type R valve cover, the EG6 airbox, the Civic EG6 SiRII parts inside the cabin (the gauges, mirror control unit, clock, and VT-i armrest), and the ever important Japanese Skel-D cup holder. On the outside, the rear wing and headlights are also from an EG6. And that’s about it for the exterior trimmings—aside from the lowered stance, carbon-fiber hood, and the ultra-rare black matte 15-inch Volk Racing NRS wheels, there’s not much on the outside to reveal the JDM performance chorus powering the car.

“I built this car for one sole purpose—to score chicks,” says Jonathan. “It didn’t work.” Although he blames his car, we here at the office aren’t so sure that his inability to break one off has anything to do with the vehicle that he drives. Rather, it just might have something to do with the Tickle Me Elmo backpack that he sports to the BGS.

Either way, shortly after the photo shoot, Jonathan sold his car. But worry not, the hot word that’s steaming up the streets is that Jonathan has a new car. Plutonium depositories watch out. And where he’s going, he doesn’t need roads. Whatever that means.