JDM 1996 Honda Integra SiR-G

Edison Jacinto doesn't regret buying his 1996 Integra SiR-G two years ago. On the contrary, looking at his modified Japanese market 'Teggie, a dreamy RHD hatchback that started life as the GS-R's overseas equivalent, you can't deny that it's been lavished with tons of attention. Someone clearly loves this car. It's just that it wasn't the DC2 that Jacinto was waiting for.

"I was holding out for a Phoenix yellow [Type-R], but I got tired of waiting," he confesses.

Acutech Autos, the Thailand-based importer he was working with, informed him of the SiR-G one day in early 2003 and after some deliberation Jacinto jumped at it. He dropped nine grand and became the proud papa of his first JDM vehicle, not exactly a big deal when you work for an authorized Spoon and TODA Racing dealer (D2 Motorsports) and all of your friends are heavy on the JDM aesthetic.

The bigger deal was learning to operate his first right-hand-drive vehicle, which became a battle of defeating instinct.

"I was reaching for the turn signal [and] turning the windshield wipers on," he recalls. "Shifting with my left hand, for a while I was punching the drivers side] door panel. My friends would joke that they needed to tape my hands to the [steering] wheel."

After he came to grips with controlling the hatch, Jacinto had to decide whether or not to modify it. At the time, he also owned a '98 USDM Integra Type R and his wife gave him the ultimatum that no enthusiast wants to hear: pick one or the other. Unable to trump the wife card, Jacinto sold the ITR, but not before he swapped the suspension and interior between both cars.

"I didn't want to be stuck with a stock Integra," reasons Jacinto. "At that point the [SiR-G] was half built, so I figured I better keep going."

His goal was to build a car suitable for both daily driving and racing. He later picked up both a Spoon-built 1.8-liter motor/transmission combo and a blown Spoon B18C3 stroked to two liters (note: the unconventional block code is from the '95-'97 JDM ITR). The damaged unit came from Jacinto's friend Kurt Lee, who kept the block after he blew it up on the dyno. Apparently, the motor seized at 9800 rpm and although Lee didn't want to sell the block at first, Jacinto explains that he changed his tune "after a few Coronas."