Resto-modding is a part of car culture full of areas so grey, they may as well have come from a BMW sales brochure. Everyone thinks their car is some kind of resto-mod because they both restored it and modified it in some capacity. New wheels and a clay bar treatment on your 2013 Subaru? Technically, that's a resto-mod.
But generally, the term is used when someone, or a team of people, painstakingly tweak and tune every single aspect of their car, upgrading what can be modernized without losing touch with the original product. Think of Singer 911s, Eagle E-Types or Alfaholics GTAs. Those are true resto-mods, as James May put it, "a love letter to a car," done to beloved and priceless classics.
What happens, then, when your automotive nostalgia doesn't reach as far back as the revered classics of the 60s and 70s, or your interests in cars lie elsewhere? What if you could go back in time and do all the things you wished you could have done to your first tuner project when you could barely scrape enough money together to afford fuel and tires? What happens when the sort of time, effort, and budget spent on restoring classics is applied to something a little more humble, something like a 2000 EM1 Honda Civic Si?
That's precisely what Matthew Moreman of Obsessed Garage set out to do. His Civic project was a way to reconnect with the car of his youth, to build the ultimate Honda that he never could when he was a younger man. And the car he created is an absolute gem, as Mark from the YouTube channel Savagegeese discovered in the video review.
JDM Engine And Race Suspension In A Street Car
The list of modifications to this car are extensive, even though it doesn't look like it from the outside. It's sitting on Rays wheels wrapped in Potenza RE-71R tires, Moton adjustable coilover suspension, sway bars, a rear chassis brace and Spoon brake calipers. All told, it weighs just 2,600 lbs, or 100 lbs lighter than a stock BRZ.
The engine also couldn't be left alone. The car has a fully built JDM B18C 1.8l engine that revs to 9,000 RPM thanks to one of the best applications of Honda's VTEC technology (and some extensive tuning to set this particular engine up correctly). It only produces about 200 horsepower and less than 150 ft/lbs of torque, but those numbers become irrelevant as soon as you hear what this car sounds like at the limit. Tuner Hondas don't have the best reputation for pleasant engine notes, but this car's intake noise is enough to make the hairs on your neck stand at attention.
$24,000 Stereo In A $25,000 (base) Car
Part of Moreman's plans for his dream Honda build included one hell of a stereo. Custom-designed by Sound in Motion from Boston, MA, it has fully customized speaker enclosures, a clean-fitted amplifier in the trunk floor, a custom Sony head unit, and extensive sound-deadening throughout the vehicle for better audio insulation. The whole thing cost $24,000, which is only a thousand less than the $25,000 that Moreman paid to buy the car in the first place.
Unfortunately, Mark from Savagegeese points out that because of the solid engine mounts, most of the detail and sound from this high-end audio system is lost to engine and driveline noise, but you could argue that's a good thing with a motor as characterful as this one.
Elsewhere in the interior, the car has very rare Mugen front seats and the steering wheel from an S2000 roadster. Crucially, all of the modifications to the car are reversible, so that it can be returned to stock by future owners.
Are Honda Civics Future Classics?
It's hard to think of a Honda Civic becoming a classic car sometime in the future, but perhaps we need to give this car the credit it is due. Sure, we can poke fun at riced-out Civics and keep scapegoating the car as the boy-racer favorite, but without it, whole generations of potential car enthusiasts could have missed out on the vital introduction into the world of performance driving. For many, a tuned Civic Si was their first taste of a "fun-to-drive" car, their first experience shifting gears manually, and the car on which they learned how to do basic driveway repairs and modifications.
A Civic will never be prestigious or revered in the same way an old 911, E-Type Jag or Alfa Romeo GTA would be, but that doesn't stop people from feeling nostalgic for their old Hondas, nor does it prevent them from spending the money they never had before to buy and build their perfect Civic Si.