Not Your Usual Civic Hatchback

Ahh, the 90′s Civic hatchback: dime a dozen, get ‘em while they’re hot. I know you wanted to pick a flavor, but I hope you like vanilla, ’cause that’s what you’ll get. Right? Now, normally when you look under the hood of an EG-chassis Civic (92-95), you see one these: a D15.

Boring. On a good day, a single-cam D15 16v PGM-FI motor will make 110 or so horsepower. Which is perfectly adequate for a 2,400lb commuter car, and it’ll deliver 40+ MPG on the highway all day long. But if you want to go fast in your Civic Hatch, you’re going to need a bigger motor. How about one that doesn’t even fit under the hood?

Wait, WHAT? No, this photo isn’t photoshopped. That’s an Acura TL engine poking out of an EG Hatch’s hood. What?

I ran into the gentleman that owns this Franken-Honda at my local gas station while I was filling up my car, and I had a moment of cognitive dissonance when I saw the cam covers poking out of the hood. I went up to talk to the owner, who was an older gentleman named Marsh about the car.

The swap was done using a billet-aluminum motor mount kit from noted Honda tuners Hasport, who makes “swap kits” for putting most any sideways Honda motor into most any other sideways-engined Honda. But this has gotta take the cake for plug-and-play insanity. A stock TL engine makes 270 horsepower, or about double what a stock VTEC-equipped D-series I4 does. He pointed to the front tires, which were down to bare cords, and said “it’s a bit hard on the tires, though.” Well, I’d imagine so.

The Franken-Honda continues inside, where this EG sports an entire gauge cluster from a 3.2 CL Type-S Coupe, as well as the shifter. A bagless Momo wheel and some AFR and EGT gauges occupy the A-pillar, but otherwise it’s standard Honda in there.

As far as mods to the engine go, it looks like it’s got a set of stainless headers, a short-ram intake, and some silicone coolant hoses, but really- how much do you need to do to a TL engine in an EG to make it fast?

What’s funny is the relatively ricer-level quality of the rest of the stuff done to the car. The 18″ Motegi wheels are gaudy and probably weigh a metric ton, the clear taillights are just plain abominable, and there’s a big damn hole cut in the bumper for some reason. But when you’ve got a TL V6 in your Civic, I suppose we’ll afford you some ricer liberties. I mean, it’s not like it’s Ivan The Terrible’s Civic Type ARRRR.

It’s surprisingly quiet, too -- although I guess not that surprising considering the car that donated it’s engine to this swap was designed for ferrying around real estate agents and their clients. What crazy engine swaps have you seen? Did any of them make you drop your jaw like this one? Leave a comment for us below!

Supercar Sightings: Aston Martin Rapide

As a bonafide “automotive journalist”, I often find myself dreaming about luxury cars I would love to have parked up in my garage. From 2011 models only, these currently include the Fezza 458 Italia, Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera and the 2011 Ariel Atom for a nifty track day.
But for an outing with the lads or a nice cruise through the English countryside, there is no vehicle I would like to drive more than the Aston Martin Rapide. So I was naturally excited to see my first Rapide in the flesh on a busy day in Central London.

Make no mistake, this thing is a piece of art. With a hand-crafted engine from Gaydon, this AM comes equipped with an all alloy quad overhead cam 48 valve 5935cc V12 engine. That’s certainly a mouthful to say to any car novice but needless to say the setup produces 470 horsepower at a lofty 6000 rpm with a noise that is sure to excite any passer-by. So there is literally no need to get messy, the Rapide has as standard a “Touchtronic 2″ six-speed gearbox with an electronic shift-by-wire control system. Again, that’s too much information, but all you need to know is that flicking the magnesium paddle shifters will help you achieve the ridiculous speeds this 4-door car shouldn’t be capable of.

According to Chief Executive Ulrich Bez, there now exists an Aston Martin for every different segment of the (extremely wealthy) market and this Rapide fills the gap for the typical 2+2 modern family. Except from what we’ve heard, the rear seats really are reserved for the plus 2′s as headroom and leg space is limited. But no worry, with side angle looks like the image above (which is a little blurry I apologise) you will always be riding in style and ready to turn heads no matter where you are.

What I did find quite amazing was the fact that when I first strolled up to the car from the front, I knew it was a different AM from those seen earlier in my life, but it still seemed to have the normal Martin dimensions. At an extremely quick glance I might have mistaken it for a DBS with the menacing grille and air intakes on top of the hood. Walking round the car you do notice the two extra doors, but you also realise how beautifully they have been added to the overall design – this car truly is something and I can’t wait to see my next one. Maybe I’ll even be able to get inside.