There are things in life that aren't supposed to mix. Oil and water comes to mind. Inexpensive and Ferraris. How about Hondas and rallying? A Civic? No frickin' way, man. They're more suited to your typical street, drag, or road racing venues. Which is why Steve Perret's old-school, low-budget Civic draws so much attention in Northwest Division SCCA rally events.
Steve is the general manager of H&R Springs and a factory-trained Honda tech who's been known to build some outstanding cars, including "dabbling in performance-tuned Cosworth Escorts." He'd never tried rallying before, sticking mainly to paved venues with his rigs. In 2003, he was looking for a change and wanted to go off-road without breaking the bank.
When Steve first considered rallying, he knew he wanted to drive a Civic. His friends told him he should stick to something European, because, after all, that's where rallying got its start. They also said the Civic was too fragile to take on the European competition. Bullshit, Steve thought. If built right, Hondas can be bulletproof, and he's proven it.
"As a Honda junkie since way before they were popular, the Civic made total sense to me. There are very few Hondas rallying and I really wanted to prove that it could be a competitive car," Steve says. "This generation of Civic is light, has a great wheelbase for rallying, and I was already comfortable with 'em as I owned one new and had spent many miles throwing it around."
The whole car was built according to the mantra: "To finish first, first you must finish." Instead of starting with a beat-up street car, he made a smart move and bought a 1990 Civic Si rolling chassis ex-drag car. No muss. No fuss. It was already stripped.
Priority one was a stiff platform. The body was seam-welded for strength and, for even more strength and safety, a heavily reinforced roll cage by Cascade Autosport was installed. But even with such an extensive cage, Steve says the Civic's roomy cabin makes it possible to "still have room to move around inside." When the body was done, the sunroof was filled for safety purposes and the car was slathered with yellow paint.
Then it was time to attack the mechanicals. No fancy VTEC power here, but a simple, torquey B18B1 out of an Acura Integra LS. Besides a solid rebuild, the only tweaks made were an open-element air filter and a Supersprint exhaust system with a header, piping, high-flow cats, resonator and muffler. The 142 dyno-proven hp is controlled with a '91 Integra ECU and Holley performance fuel pump. Where's the trick? No tricks, just longevity and ease of maintenance.
"The powertrain is basic, so all parts are easy to get at a local shop if they're needed," Steve says. "The reason for the O.E. ECU is to keep revs down in a manageable range for wheel spin. It also keeps the fuel management simple--no need to have complicated adjustments for different elevations or have the possibility of lean run problems burning up the motor."
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