It's silly to think that the Soulja Boy dance is still popular in 2008, the Spice Girls have sold out venues across the country and people actually believe Knight Rider is still relevant twenty-plus years after we done forgot about it. What's not silly, however, is the everlasting love we all have for the car that arguably carried the tuning industry on its shoulders, er, fenders and forged an unbreakable bond between man, car, and the neverending pursuit of modification. That car is the honda civic, and Vinnie Kahn is an example of a man who's willing to test his mettle to realize that modification chase.
He Decided to show his tuning skills on the hatchback '97 EK version of the civic, the sixth generation of its kind. The EK hatchback is ripe for modification with a phone book-sized catalog of available aftermarket parts, from companies large and small. JDm style is the most popular trend among EK owners because there are so many Japanese examples that they can all bite off from, like civics from Spoon Sports, Top Fuel or any Japanese tuner ever featured in Option magazine. Of course, there's also a long list of american tuners who have modified the civic in every way possible since the EK's inception. all of which makes it very difficult to tune an EK civic that stands out from the rest.
But Vinnie managed to do so, and he didn't even have to create a Japanese eBay account so he could score some rare cup holders or spend thousands on some mugen wheels that feature a JDm-exclusive yellow lip, if such a thing even exists. Instead, he incorporated the best of the JDm styling with the best of whatever styles we have here, which can be pretty much anything, and hit the gates with this high-horsepower, eye-candy EK.
The first natural step in modification is the engine, which is the ultimate deal breaker when it comes to making a good impression with a civic. Vinnie had to replace the dinky 1.6L D-series stock motor with something more major than anything readily available here. He went with the once most coveted engine in the scene, a 2.0L Type-R engine. The Type-R powhe erplant was the stuff of legends, with its Oem red valve cover, lightweight components and racing heritage. after all, the "R" in "Type-R" does not stand for "ricockulous," although it should, because it is indeed ricockulous.
Vinnie managed to produce a documented 474 horsepower to this motor by picking and installing the right aftermarket parts, JDm or not. Inside the block, he went with a combination of cP pistons and crower connecting rods to pump and push the burnt fuel in the combustion chamber. To provide the fuel in the most efficient manner, he went with an aEm fuel regulator, Walbro fuel pump and a set of 720cc Rc Engineering fuel injectors. Sucking up the needed air into the engine is an SG intake manifold and, more importantly, producing the compressed air into the system is a stout turbo from Turbonetics, which works with an hKS blow-off valve and TIaL 38mm wastegate. Vinnie's shop of choice, E-Shift Performance, created custom intercooler pipes to make sure the engine doesn't overheat into oblivion. The people at E-Shift Performance also custom made an oil cooler that functions closely with a moroso oil pan.
Transferring the strong 470-plus horses to the ground is an acura Integra LS transmission, modified with custom gears. It grinds out with an aTS 1.5 limited-slip differential and acT stage 5 clutch. Working overtime to make sure the power doesn't slip away are some sticky Falken tires spinning in conjunction with a set of 17-inch Fikse high-performance forged modular wheels. Fikse is known for its artful design and precision engineering, which has helped numerous motorsports teams from the FIa to the american Le mans win championships.