1999 Honda Civic Si Import Car

“No Daren—a Big Wheel, not a big wheel.”

Mmm…now that’s a tasty speaker.

People don’t like to admit they were a part of the fake-Veilside trend that happened in ’97, but they’ll be happy to tell you that their Mugen body kit is “real.” Sure, whatever. These people will tell you that if you don’t have a JDM butt-plug or your next purchase isn’t going to be a pair of APC taillights, then you aren’t cool and you don’t follow the trend. Rob Brooks is probably going to be very confused when he reads this story. Why? Well, he’s not a trend chaser and he probably has no clue what I’m talking about. He’s probably oblivious to it all—all this “cool” stuff that everyone has to have.

Civics are owned by every man, woman, and child on earth, and the Si doesn’t stand out any differently from the lower models with the exception of a couple of emblems. So, in the looks category, you’d suffer a 4 (maybe a 5 at best) out of 10. But Rob? I think he stands a better chance of getting noticed. With a Wings West body kit and deck wing, it’d be foolish to say that you couldn’t at least acknowledge its presence. Perhaps more noticeable are the graphics that make the Civic look more like something from the Gran Turismo Garage stage after you’ve won the B-license and decided that your car needed a face lift.

Rob’s car is an icon that possesses more fame and popularity than Halle Berry exposing her breasts on the big screen. He made his first improvements with parts from AEM, installing an adjustable fuel pressure regulator and fuel rail. He then bolted on AEM cam gears and its world famous cold air intake along with a bypass valve, then picked up every engine dress-up part he could find in the catalog. A Crane HI6TRC ignition box helps to increase spark in the combustion chamber while the Brospeed header and Vibrant exhaust combo are more than competent in releasing gases like a satisfied Moe Durand after a bad lunch at the local taco stand.

In terms of handling, the Si is pretty decent. It rides the way it was designed to—comfortable, and not for an N1 enduro race. And with this in mind, Rob felt he could make further improvements if he threw on a set of Eibach ERS springs and Koni sport shocks—it worked. To accommodate body flex, an Eibach strut bar and lower tie-bar were installed. For braking performance, big AEM brakes were installed along with EBC green pads and Goodridge lines. The MOMO GT-2 wheels don’t look so bad, either. At least they’re better than those pants you’re wearing.

The interior of a car really shows off one’s personal taste; some people can really screw things up. But with MOMO on hand, you can hardly go wrong. He added Street Racer seats, Fighter steering wheel, King shift knob, and Supertourismo pedals. The gauges are VDO-issued, but the stereo is heavy on the Pioneer tip. The stereo dumps out pure sound through Polk Audio’s MOMO edition speakers (I suppose MOMO is the theme) in all forms and sizes.

If the Si that Rob built is a good example of what’s “in” now, then I guess he’s done a good job. Even though trendsetters would point out that it doesn’t have headlights from Japan and the wing isn’t a triple decker GTR-style copy from Joe Shmoe’s body shop, it’s still cool. Am I wrong?