The Honda Civic: The Most Iconic JDM Tuner Car in History

​In the last 5 decades, the Honda Civic has become the most iconic JDM tuner car in history. It’s the vehicle that has been tuned to perfection and has been the starting point to numerous race car builds. This article is all about the Honda Civic and the different tuner options available for this JDM icon.

A Brief History of the Honda Civic

​You know about the Honda Civic because it’s considered one of the most popular cars in the whole world. It was developed in 1973 by combining the earlier S800 and S600 engines to form the CSX800. The car went on sale in the spring of 1974 and had many different engine options. In 1990, the Civic Type R was launched, where a version of the D2X engine was fitted. The car came out of the factory with the all important 2-pedal setup and the 5-speed manual transmission. The car’s design has been changed many times over the years, and when I say changed, I mean seriously changed. For a start, the original CT100 design was dropped for the CT100N (sometime between 1986 and 1989), the car’s front-end was a redesign and it was fitted with a more recent variant of the S13 engine, the CB20.

The Civic Hatchback

​The Honda Civic Hatchback is a 2 door four-door hatchback. It was launched in 1975 and it’s the best selling compact sedan car of all time. There’s no question that this is the most iconic JDM car and there’s no reason to believe that it will be affected by the change in the market or by a change in the trend. The car has seen a multitude of different styles and has undergone a lot of changes over the years. The Tuner Options for the Civic Hatchback The Civic Hatchback is the quintessential hatchback of the JDM tuning scene. You can still get a Civic Hatchback today with a range of different styles, body styles and body kits.

The Civic Coupe

​To start off, we are going to take a look at the first generation Civic Coupe which was first released in Japan in 1973. From the outset, the Civic Coupe was a huge success in Japan due to its engine downsizing which made it an excellent vehicle for tuners. In fact, the first generation Civic Coupe was tuners’ goldmine. The first time the car came into the spotlight was in 1974 when a civic coupe equipped with a Cosworth BDA 1.8-litre engine won the Nurburgring 24-hour endurance race which was then only the second time a Japanese car had won that famous race. The above picture was taken on November 8th, 2016 when Honda had its 40th anniversary celebrations at the Osaka Motor Show.

The Civic Type R

​The Honda Civic Type R is the performance version of the ubiquitous Civic family. It’s the perfect car for a small compact hatchback with 1.8 litre engine making 306hp, and 400Nm of torque. It has been built for power and it also has the most comfortable and sporty cabin on the road. The Type R has got a lot of good build materials inside the car, including a Nappa leather interior, Recaro sport seats and upholstered door panels and center console. As for the performance, it’s also impressive with a top speed of 233km/h (143mph) and acceleration 0-100km/h (0-62mph) in 5.8 seconds. The Type R is incredibly easy to drive, plus it can do over 250km/h (155mph). It has no option for manual transmission but a very economical 1.6L i-VTEC engine has been used to make its power.

Conclusion

The Honda Civic has been involved in so many different types of Japanese tuning and has been a driving force for Japanese car tuning. This article aims to showcase the best of the best of the Honda Civic tuner scene. This article will hopefully serve as a reference guide for the tuners who want to enter the JDM scene. Find more information on the tuner world and tuning as well as the stuff that goes on in Japan.

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