Every time I meet the nice folks at American Honda, I ask when the new CRX is coming. And every time, they give me a look that roughly translates to "Go away, little Super Street man."
Good thing there are people like Ricky Mari. It's the kind souls like him that keep the spirit of the CRX alive. Back when George Herbert Walker Bush was still prez (Speaking of which, what is Georgie doing these days? Flipping burgers at Wendy's?), Ricky's CRX rolled off the assembly line. Nineteen eighty-nine, to be exact. In stock form, the engine produced 108 hp. Thanks to a few tasty goodies, Ricky's ride now makes much more.
MGR Performance of Van Nuys, California, is responsible for the engine buildup. The stock internals have been replaced by Crower connecting rods and AEM pistons. Up top is an MGR Stage Five cylinder head. This means it has been ported, polished, and milled. You can also find an AEM 9000 Series camshaft, a JG adjustable cam gear, MGR valves, and RC Engineering fuel injectors. Air is routed through an AEM air intake and overbored throttle body, and spent gases go through a DC Sports header, custom piping, and a Dynomax muffler. So far, so good. But for Ricky and the rest of his crew in team R Version, these simple bolt-ons aren't quite enough. That's why he has also installed the best thing for affordable horsepower:a direct-port NOS nitrous system. An AEM clutch keeps the power under control, while a Crane Hi-6, a Dinan computer chip, NGK plugs, and Magnecor wires round out the power parts. Ricky says all-motor dyno tests of his CRX's engine have shown a front-wheel result of 136 hp at 8,800 rpm. In combination with slicks and the squeeze, his best timeslip is 12.28 seconds at 108 mph.
With enough balls to generate 12-second quarter-mile times, some attention-grabbing parts were in order. A&A Autobody of Van Nuys installed the Wings West body kit and wing and then painted everything in a new hue of red. The red and white graphics were cut at Check Point Graphics in Chatsworth, California.
The red and white theme continues inside. M-C Custom performed some impressive work, completely redoing the CRX's interior with red and white vinyl. This includes the seats, dash, interior panels, headliner, rear cargo cover, and the console. The three gauges installed in the passenger side of the dash are from Auto Meter, and they monitor oil pressure, water temperature, and volts. The steering wheel, shifter knob, and pedals are all from MOMO.
Underneath the stylish clothes is some useful underwear. At each corner, the CRX wears VIS coilover springs and sleeves in conjunction with Tokico Illumina shocks. Suspension Techniques antiroll bars are used in both the front and rear. The wheels are 17x7-inch Axis Touring Cups with 205/40ZR17 Toyo Proxes FZ-4s.
It has now been 10 years since this CRX was new. Kind of hard to believe, isn't it? And until the S2000 hardtop comes out, it's up to people like Ricky to keep the CRX flame burning strong.