How many thumbs up did you get on your way to wheels tower?
Loads! I love how people react and smile when they see my car. They also take pictures and videos of it, while notes left on my windshield asking if the car is for sale are quite common.
It’d be hard to miss your Civic, especially with this paint job. You did it yourself, is that right?
Yes, with a little help from my friends. The paint is an original Honda Y-56 Phoenix Yellow. This is the same base colour of the 2011 Honda Jazz. We painted the car at a friend’s garage in Al Rashidiya. Since we all have day jobs, we were only able to work on it during weekends; hence it took us one month to finish. We added pearl on the base and didn’t buff it to achieve that unpolished look.
You’ve modified the suspension on this. What exactly have you done?
It has a set of BC Racing adjustable coilovers that allow me to play with the ride height of the car. I also installed a strut bar at the front and a camber kit for the rear to keep my car flat on the ground when cornering and it sits on lightweight Lenso Samurai rims.
Nice job on the new grille and those side skirts… The grille is from a 2005 Honda Civic Ferio which was only released in Japan. The side skirts are copies of the original ones released as standard equipment of the 2001 Honda Civic in the Philippines.
I bought these plastic skirts in Manila and had them shipped here.
Does your car bring you any unwanted attention?
I got pulled over a couple of times by the police. They asked for my registration card and then enquired whether I’d be willing to sell the car!
On to the interior, you’ve got a Recaro driver’s seat. Must keep you planted when you’re carving up those corners…
Yes indeed! The Recaro seat does an awesome job keeping me in place whenever I drive fast into a corner. And it’s quite comfortable on longer drives.
You swapped over a 2005 Civic EXI instrument cluster to your car. Why did you do that?
The old cluster looked dull compared to the 2005 EXI. So, instead of adding flashy coloured gauge stickers, I opted to change the entire instrument cluster altogether.
It was quite a tricky job as I had to rewire all the plugs in order for it to work.
Tell us about the music system you’ve got in there and your driving music...
I’ve got a Pioneer head unit with a USB port, DLS front speakers, four channel JBL amplifier and a Polk Audio subwoofer. I removed the rear speakers and tuned the stereo to achieve a high-quality sound. I listen to all sorts of stuff from the Sixties up to present, it depends on my mood really.
Have you touched the engine at all?
I only did some minor modifications to it such as removing the original air filter and adding a K&N air filter with a cold air intake tube. I also added a bigger exhaust manifold. These mods have improved the power of the engine but I never wanted to make the car run really fast. I have accepted the fact that I can never outrun a V8! If someone dares me to race, I just smile, pull to the right and let them pass.
But it handles superbly thanks to the suspension upgrades. They have made it feel responsive and agile in comparison to a stock Civic. It feels comparably sportier too.
I’m planning to install a carbon fibre bonnet and would like to change the engine in the future.
Your Honda club comes in quite handy, doesn’t it…
I always ask the Dubai-based Club Seventh Generation Honda Civic (CSG) for advice whenever I want to change or fix something on my car. It’s very helpful to have people with good experience to lend a hand.
And you enjoy taking part in car shows…
I have participated in quite a lot of them. I enter these shows together with my friends and we’ve driven to Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah and Abu Dhabi in convoys. Although we don’t expect to win, the drives together are rewarding enough. Imagine seeing a dozen Civics with different colours and modifications driving in a line from Dubai to Abu Dhabi. It’s quite a rare sight.
We’ll keep an eye out for that! Finally, what’s the dream?
A Porsche 930. I always wanted to drive and own a classic German sportscar.
Bio
- Name Steven Tan
- Job Ground handling staff, Emirates Airline
- From Manila, Philippines
- Wheels 2003 Honda Civic LXI
- In the UAE Four years
