We are proud to bring you this special feature of an even more special car. The Honda Civic is one of those cars which get modified a lot in the Japanese car scene. Some people just lower them a bit, buy a nice set of wheels and cruise along. Others rebuiDt it from top to bottom, put in an exclusive engine and modify the interior and exterior to perfection. John Robert McBrien is one of those guys who made his EJ completely conform his taste and desire.
At first Vincent and I didn’t notice John’s Civic because our attention was attracted by a Silvia as we drove by a parking area near the Nurburgring. When we parked over there we saw a completely track prepared Honda with a few custom parts which make the exterior look a little ghetto. Nevertheless it looks damn nice!
John fabricated custom arch extentions and a front lip. You can also see some lightweight parts like the carbon bonnet, Spoon carbon mirrors and a rear spoiler for some downforce on the track.
Speaking of track… Since John was visiting the Nürburgring, just like us, we also spotted him while he was doing some laps. It looked great out there!
Well, to be able to drive a proper lap you need some power or some handling. Mr. Mcbrien from Cambridge decided for both. Let’s have a look in the enginebay.
In there we find a K-pro’ed, fully tuned K20A DC5 egine with 224bhp. This thing will not stay in its place by itself but it does with OBX engine mounts.
The interior is also quite a piece of art. It has an OMP 6 point blue painted rollcage and two bride fixed bucket seats to begin with. You can also see that the stock door panels were removed and replaced with aluminium plates for weight saving.
When you take a look in the boot you won’t find any groceries or girl panties. No, you’ll find steel braided fuellines attached to a new 30 litre petrol tank. Pretty awesome!
And what is the meaning of this fine piece of machinery without a proper set of wheels and tyres. Pretty known wheels for you people, Rota grid V’s 15×8 et0 with Toyo 205/45r15 T1R tyres. The handling is also optimised by the BC racing coilovers and front and rear strutbraces.
Photo by Rens Adams
You don’t have to be an average Honda enthousiast to like this. I think there is almost nothing about this car you can dislike. Probably like most readers and viewers on our Flickr page, I have great deal of respect for the owner and driver John McBrien. Thank you for your time at the Nordschleife and we are proud to feature cars like this on our blog. Hopefully we’ll meet again in the future so we can see the progress on your car. I Hope you like the feature.
– Rens Adams
Photos by Vincent Roos and Rens Adams
Speclist:
Engine:
K20A DC5 engine
Obx engine mounts
F1 racing stage 3 clutch
HKS oil cooler kit
Hamp oil filter
Obx fuel rail
Pace products custom radiator
Revotec fan controller kit
Devoted 11″ slim line fan
PRO alloy motorsport custom air box
PRO alloy oil catch tank
K tuned power steering delete kit
K tuned manifold
Fujitsubo mid section
Spoon N1 backbox
Hondata K pro (by the time it’s published)
Interior:
Bride fixed bucket seat on buddyclub ultra low seat rail
Takata Harness
DC2 integra dash
Omp suede wheel
Defi oil temp, oil pressure, water temp gauges Sport comp rev counter
Baffled 30 litre fuel cell
Bosch 044 fuel pump
Sytec fuel filter
2x facet lift pumps
Fuel swirl pot
Braided lines and alloy fittings throughout
Floor mounted pedal box
OMP 6 point bolt in roll cage with door bars
Exterior:
Spoon carbon spoiler
Spoon carbon mirrors
Custom arch extensions
Custom front lip
Plastics 4 performance Perspex window kit
Tegiwa rear tow eye
Polycarbonate bonnet
Roof sprayed black
Chassis:
BC br series coilovers
SPC front camber and castor adjustable arms
D2 rear camber arms
Bloc rear Lower control arms
Top fuel rear chassis brace
DC sports rear upper strut brace
ASR 24mm ARB with ASR subframe brace
Integra type r front ARB
K sport 6 pot front brakes with 286mm discs, feroddo ds2500 pads
Eg6 rear discs with Hamp pads, braided brake lines throughout with motul brake fluid
Eg6 front subframe
Tegiwa 3 point front strut brace
Rota grid V’s 15×8 et0
Toyo 205/45r15 T1R