When Andre Nuemann of Santa Barbara, California, wanted to fix up his '98 Honda Civic DX sedan, he had the fortunate advantage of having access to all of the latest equipment, as he is the proprietor of JA Motorsports. Given that he owned his own shop, his quest to build a Civic turned out to be advantageous as the Civic was transformed into a rolling showroom representative of his shop's capabilities in car customizing.
For starters, Andre's need for speed was fulfilled with the installation of a Jackson Racing supercharger with custom 13-psi pulleys. The additional horsepower is backed by a bottom end, which now incorporates a set of Arias forged pistons teamed up with a set of Total Seal rings. In addition, the stock rods were removed and replaced with a set of Arias rods, which help ensure a safe transaction between the crank and the pistons. Before sandwiching the engine back together, the block was bored at .10 over while the head received a set of web cams with a custom grind.
With the engine back together, Andre decided to add a host of AEM products, which include an AEM cold air intake, cam gear and power pulleys. The cold air intake from AEM now features a lifetime guarantee from manufacturer's defects, something unheard of in the big business of air intake systems. The intake system features performance that is based on numbers, since each unit is dyno tested, and offers the best available performance in the market. According to Eric "Hollywood" Valdes from AEM, "Our intake systems work, they are all engineered specifically to each vehicle and they are tuned to make the most hp for the given application."
Additional amenities include an Airmass 4:2:1 ceramic-coated header, Nology wires, SPAL high-performance fan and a Clutch Masters lightened flywheel. The header is mated to a custom dual exhaust that was fabricated by Higgins Muffler in Santa Barbara. With the engine complete and tuned, Andre went wild with the polishing of the engine as the block, head, intake plenum, blower, valve cover and basically everything else possible was polished to a mirror finish. With an engine bay so pretty, polished and complete, you would think that Andre would be happy, but guess again. He topped off the engine with a NOS system, which features a dry system, which is jetted to supply an additional 100 hp, pushing the overall horsepower to an estimated 320 hp.
With that much horsepower in a sedan, cruising at high speed could pose a problem without some suspension modifications. The car needed to be held to the ground, which is why a set of 18x7.5-inch Zenetti "Race" wheels were mounted onto a set of Pirelli P-7000 tires. The Civic's feisty stance was due much to the suspension tweaks, which included an Intrax S.R.S coil-over system complete with Intrax sway bars and a Racer design front strut bar.
From the outside, the Civic now flosses with a new look with the addition of a body kit and graphics, which were applied by R Vision Signworks in Santa Barbara. The kit, which is an Aero Gear body kit, was installed and fitted by J&A Autosport and flaunts a custom hood and grille. The kit gives the car a competitive look and is complemented by a Racer Designer rear wing, which is actually a prototype model and not yet available. With the components on and ready to shoot, the kit was coated with matching factory paint and included in the coating were the taillight inserts, M3 mirrors by Racer Design, moldings, cowl, door pillars and windshield wipers. After buffing out the paint, the final product was one lean mean, green machine! To help keep the consistency going throughout the car, the windows were tinted all of the way around with Sun-Guard emerald green tint. The tint helps block the UV rays while allowing a greenish light to penetrate the interior.
Inside you will find, an interior that that is highlighted by Konig K-5000 seats wrapped in German leather by the folks over at Car Craft interior in Torrance, California. To keep all occupants safe and to help stiffen the chassis, an Autopower point roll cage was added and painted to match the leather interior. While being cradled by the comfort of the Konig seats, the dash is lit up by an Autometer air-fuel meter, boost and NOS pressure gauges and finalized by the APC two-color Indiglo instrument kit.
While the car leaves many green with envy, the build up of this Civic is just another example of Southern California flavor diced with Japanese technology. It's smooth look and emerald appearance help bring closure to a once stock Civic that was begging for an attitude adjustment.
Owner: Andre Nuemann
Vehicle: '98 Honda Civic DX
City/State: Santa Barbara, California
Club: No affiliation
Engine: 1.5-liter bored .30 over
Setup: Intrax coil-over system
Tires: P215/35-ZR18 Pirelli P-7000
Wheels: 18x7.5 Zenetti "Race"
Model:Chona Lagman