As soon as the exterior was color coated, it was time to work on the interior. Since the car was originally white from the dealer, it came with a light beige interior, a total mismatch to the new paint. Fred got in touch with his connections at Honda and ordered every piece, including the dash, proper headliner and every last plastic screw, to convert from beige to full black.
But before the interior was installed, MOBworks sprayed down every square inch with the new red, then Fred added the EM Racing cross bars, an L Tuned C-pillar bar and relocated a Braille battery to the trunk. As the dashboard was laid in, he installed a Mugen steering boss and Sparco quick release along with a Personal 360 steering wheel, then picked up a new shift boot, gauge cluster, coin pocket and door sills out of the JDM ITR to make subtle enhancements. A pair of Bride Zeta III bucket seats was bolted in using Bride's Super Low brackets along with Takata harnesses for safety. With the makeover near completion, he also changed out the previous black-faced Volk LE-37Ks for a super baller set of 18x8.5 Advan RG IIs and hooked up a set of Parada Spec 2 tires from Yokohama in preparation for the RSX's participation at upcoming track events. He tuned the suspension by slipping on HKS' HiperMax II coilovers, Mugen strut bars and a rear lower arm bar from Carbing, then beefed up the brakes by installing larger Project ? rotors and calipers.
Version 1.0 of Fred's RSX wasn't slow by any means. It was used by HKS USA as a test bed for many of its turbo components, specifically for the K20 engine platform. For this version, HKS' tuning wizard, Jon Kuroyama fabricated a kit using one of their 2835 ball-bearing turbos and tuned it on their dyno for a total of 400+whp with the F-Con V Pro. Other HKS goods used are the GT Type S intercooler, a Reloaded Super Mega Flow intake, prototype Hi-Power exhaust and 680cc injectors to supply more fuel to the mix. Fred also made adjustments to the factory transmission by swapping out the final drive for one from the JDM ITR as well as a limited-slip differential, also from the Type R. Not one for tuning alone, he added some style by changing the black valve cover to a red ITR valve cover, an ARC spark plug cover and a carbon fiber intake manifold cover from Vision. The current plan is to have the RSX ready for the Time Attack finals, where it will make its racing debut; it'll be exciting to see just how fast and far it can go.