Thursday 9th February 2017

Spoon Honda Civic Type R: Time for Tea?

The drift king, Tsukuba, and a 260hp Civic weighing 900kg - hold on!

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2017 marks 25 years of Honda Type R, so you can expect plenty more VTEC appreciation over the coming months. That begins this weekend in fact, with a Type R road trip including Integra, Accord and various Civics to Retromobile in Paris. Keep an eye on the site and social media for more on that soon.

Until then, a little video to get us in the mood. Those who played (and indeed play) a lot of Gran Turismo will be familiar with legendary Honda tuners Spoon and its bonkers creations. Here is one of the silliest, driven at Tsukuba by Keiichi Tsuchiya way back when for one hot lap.

This Spoon EK9 Civic Type R makes 260hp and weighs 900kg. So that's 140kg less than standard, with another 75hp. The power gains are through stroking the B16 1.6 to a 1.8, then adding even more aggressive cams, lighter moving parts, Spoon's individual throttle bodies and its ECU as well. Oh yes, and fully balancing the engine. Don't ask about servicing.

Combined with shorter gears, new suspension and super sticky Yokohamas, the result is spectacular. The car looks completely locked on line everywhere, without a hint of understeer or wheelspin. The braking points are heroically late and the lap time is, well, really fast.

The noise? We probably couldn't do it justice with words. Just turn it up loud and wait for the downchanges...

Watch the video here.

 

[cib24]

Yes, the 90's is when Spoon was at the top of its game. That particular car was amazing. They also made a 12,000-13,000 RPM B16 engine that can be found online as well and was pretty nuts.

[SirSquidalot]

Spoon, the holy grail of Honda tuners.

[mp3manager]

I miss the N/A Vtec's.

[C7 JFW]

Not a bad looking car either and an awful lot of fun to drive.

[rampageturke]

cib24 said:

Yes, the 90's is when Spoon was at the top of its game. That particular car was amazing. They also made a 12,000-13,000 RPM B16 engine that can be found online as well and was pretty nuts.

Those high revving engines are really, really surprising, they just keep revving for days and you just keep expecting a gear shift

[anonymous-user]

Makes me want a DC2 again

[Mike1990]

So much want!

[EK9_CTR]

ITBs are high on my list. Jenvey looks like a decent option.

[Cable]

Damn, damn, damn... I already had a hankering for another EK again!

Edited by Cable on Thursday 9th February 17:04

[DanielSan]

Anybody want to buy my R26 Megane? I suddenly have an urge to buy another VTEC powered thrasher.

[dannyDC2]

For those who are interested, Garage Work in Japan have an EK Civic that can beat the already impressive 1:02 time set by the Spoon EK9, by a cool 5 seconds...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3nIlxtBvvc&fe...

[motor mad]

yonex said:

Makes me want a DC2 again

You can take mine for a drive if I can passenger in your Honda powered machine!

[CO2000]

dannyDC2 said:

For those who are interested, Garage Work in Japan have an EK Civic that can beat the already impressive 1:02 time set by the Spoon EK9, by a cool 5 seconds...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3nIlxtBvvc&fe...

That is way better, sounds 90's touring car

[ambuletz]

my favourite era of honda and civic. I wish more coupes were sold here, hardly any now! also wish they sold the coupes that get built for america over here, they all look pretty nice.

[Loyly]

Ah, from the era when hot hatches were a bit more fun. Absolutely delightful.

[dannyDC2]

ambuletz said:

my favourite era of honda and civic. I wish more coupes were sold here, hardly any now! also wish they sold the coupes that get built for america over here, they all look pretty nice.

A lot of the coupes over here were built in America! Certainly all the "EK" shaped ones. That's me at the limit of my Civic knowledge though..

[PorkFan]

Gives me motivation to complete my own 900kg 260bhp Honda project. Albeit mine being an EG shaped civic with Integra R suspension, brakes, steering rack etc and a mildly fettled DC5 engine.

Always loved a quick VTEC, makes my 996 turbo seem boring in comparison

[anonymous-user]

motor mad said:

You can take mine for a drive if I can passenger in your Honda powered machine!

Deal.

[Cable]

PorkFan said:

Always loved a quick VTEC, makes my 996 turbo seem boring in comparison

I think it's something to do with 'the more you put in, the more you get out of it' feeling you get with a fast Honda, that makes it so addictive; it's a satisfying feeling...

[Addymk2]

cib24 said:

Yes, the 90's is when Spoon was at the top of its game. That particular car was amazing. They also made a 12,000-13,000 RPM B16 engine that can be found online as well and was pretty nuts.

There's a video of that online blowing up at high revs, instant flames!

Awesome bits of kit mind you