As much as we hate do to it, everyone keeps secrets. It doesn't matter who you slept with at your bachelor party or what Jonny does late at night in front the computer because in real life what it all boils down to is that a secret is a secret. When it comes to building cars competitively for shows or races, the idea of keeping your mouth shut becomes an even greater priority. Oftentimes there are cars that are so mind-blowing, but you'll have no idea what parts are on it because the company that built it doesn't want you to know. How odd is that? Really damn odd, if you ask us. It makes perfect sense for companies to sell products by putting them on company cars. That said, what exactly is the point of not telling anyone what parts are being used? Exactly, there is no point whatsoever. So being the award-winning investigative journalists that we are, we trekked over to Skunk2-way out in the 909, aka the Inland Empire, aka Hell on Earth-to do some major undercover work on the Civic RR project ('02 Honda Civic Si) that they were working on. We ducked into stealth mode, suited up in our ninja gear, and strapped on all of our spy cameras. It turned out that we just ended up looking really stupid because the Skunk2 guys were more than happy to invite us in, give us a tour, and introduce us to their new project. What's even better is that they're taking all the pictures so we didn't have to kick it with the Mullet Patrol on the way through the 909 every week. We thought it was dope enough until Nads demanded that he be allowed to wear the ninja outfit for the remainder of the month.
The ConceptAs many of you have already seen, Skunk2 can build a really sick all-motor race car. But not everyone has hundreds of thousands of dollars in their wallets and 20 free weekends out of the year to go win a few major drag racing events. If you do, then you're way out of our league and you should give us some of your money. When it comes down to it, nothing beats having a daily-driven car that can whoop everyone's ass on the track-and that's the entire concept behind the Civic RR. Sure, everyone loves to look at race cars from Japan as something to aim at when building their own cars. Hell, we know we do. But sometimes waiting for parts to get shipped and hoping they'll fit on a U.S.-spec car just becomes a big headache. From what the guys at Skunk2 tell us, their goal is to build a sick street car starting from scratch using the highest quality parts and manufacturers that can be found in the U.S. Do the names Brembo, Ray's Engineering, Sparco, or Hondata ring a bell? They damn well should. Skunk2 wants to show that a lot of parts are sold right here in the US of A so you don't always have to go overseas. That means no more $50 phone calls to order what you want, unless you call the phone numbers on the back of Option2, like Roel does.
The StagesAs all build-ups should go, Skunk2 starts with the basics. We're not talking about buzzing muffler tips, flashing windshield squirters, or spinning hubcaps. These are top-notch products going on here. We got the ball rolling with a bagful of goodies that almost everyone starts building their cars with-you know, bigger wheels, better tires, lower springs, intake, exhaust, and brakes. It's not much, but it is enough to make your car stand out from the flock of Si's. Next, they're going to stay mild with some racing seats, steering wheel, lightweight audio in conjunction with Car Audio Magazine, and other accents. Then things start getting a little more intense with a five-lug conversion, coilovers, RSX head and cams, and an upgraded computer. After that, these guys have a fully furnished engine swap in mind, full dyno testing, plus a couple more goodies here and there.
First StageAs promised in our glitzy little introduction, Skunk2 provided us with a whole line up of simple upgrades that aren't too hard on the wallet.