Readers' Rides: Andrew's 'Built Not Bought' Autocross Honda Civic

The Honda Civic is one of the most iconic and divisive cars in the motoring community. It's as at home as a teenager's first car as it is as an Autocross racer. This particular Civic has found itself utilised in both these ways.

What started life as a bog-standard Civic CX hatchback has been transformed into the Autocross weapon you see today, and it's all thanks to Andrew and his garage. "My family has competed in grassroots racing for the past three generations," and as a former employee of COBB Tuning, he clearly has the credentials to transform it.

After buying the car from his brother five years ago, Andrew immediately set about swapping out the cheap eBay coilovers. "I went ahead and purchased a set of Skunk2 Pro-S coilovers. After five years they're on the car still today."

Andrew was already racing in Autocross, but with the stock engine he was not in any way competitive. It was clear he needed more power, but first of all he just had to swap out the awful transmission. In went a D-Series EX/SI transmission, which made the car more driveable, if still underpowered.

That all changed thanks to the D16Z6 cylinder head, which made a noticeable difference. With the car no longer eligible in the same class thanks to its upgrades, it was time to throw caution to the wind and go all out with a new motor build. Before the CX, Andrew owned a Civic EX Coupe, and still had the engine lying around.

"I didn't do your normal Honda fanboy build, going into a B/K series swap. I wanted to build up my old single-cam I had laying in the garage from my old Coupe. My D16Z6 was then torn down and built with 'OE' bottom end."

Doing the vast majority of work himself, Andrew fitted new pistons with custom length rods. He then turned his attention to the head; "ported and polished with all the works from Bizimoto. Level three cam shaft, springs, retainers, flat faced valves, cam gear..." The list goes on.

Once all the work was completed, the dyno was calling. A healthy 152whp and 134lbs/ft was recorded, but out on the track Andrew kept falling out of the power band when he shifted. The answer? Another new transmission, and his favourite mod on the whole car, though ironically one of the few things he did not do himself.

"I did my research and found a guy that would build the transmission for me. I went with the MFactory short gear set, Syncrotech carbon lined synchros, and a Quaife limited-slip differential."

Aesthetically, most of the mods are purely for function, and unsurprisingly even the paintjob was done by Andrew himself. There are "Password JDM carbon canards for downforce, and bumper air ducts for brake cooling. I have 225/45/15 Hankook Ventus R-S3 tyres and Brembo slotted rotors with Hawk HPS+ pads for stopping, along with braided lines and all the other little necessities."

On the inside, Andrew's particularly proud of the S2000 AP1 digital gauge cluster conversion, which was fitted with a little help from Wire-Worx. It was picked for its pinpoint accuracy, as the original cluster was all over the place. It also revs up to 9500, which is useful since his modified motor now spins all the way up to 9k.

The future looks bright for this Civic, with a Kraftwerks Rotrex Supercharger Kit soon to become a part of its life. Andrew has big plans for this car, and has no problem throwing his time and money at it. Like all good project cars, it'll never be finished; "this thing is being buried in my grave with me!"

If you want your car featured on Readers' Rides, email darren.cassey@carthrottle.com with a pic and a few words explaining why you love it so much. If we like it, we'll feature it!