Civic Duty: The Ultimate Guide to the World's Most Popular Sport Compact Car - the Honda Civic

There it is andmdash; your new (or new to you) Civic. Running through your mind are all these wild concepts and ideas about how fast it's going to go or how slick your ride will be as you cruise the boulevard some future Saturday night. But for now it sits on pizza-cutter tires and steel wheels.

Under the hood is the stock air box, cam cover, exhaust manifold and other various uglies all covered with three years of dirt and grease. The suspension features about five inches of wheel well gap.

The interior resembles four felt squares on soiled carpeting, and the fine AM/FM cassette tape player has a missing load door. Needless to say, as is, this car is not going to get you any dates.

But hope springs eternal. You have a vision. Flawless paint, 18-inch wheels, precision suspension, tuned exhaust, leather interior, pounding audio system, 0-60 in 5.9 seconds. Now we're talking about a chick magner. But how do you get there?

Although there are many ways to outfit your civic andmdash; street, strip, sport or show andmdash; there are only two ways in which to achieve the final result.

The two methods are called addition and subtraction. Both will get the job done. Both will result in a good looking, well running version. Both will take time. Both will cost you money. However, one will cost you more time and money than the other will.

Before we get to all that, however, let's determine what you want to do with your import performance machine.

Like most of us, you will want this car to be your primary mode of daily transportation andmdash; to use to and from work, school, family functions, club activities, events, etc.

If this is the case, it is important that the car has the ability to perform commonly needed functions with relative ease. For example:

• The ability to carry one or more passengers



• Room for a modest amount of luggage, tools or cargo



• Space for a spare tire and first aid kit (never underestimate the importance of these items)



• The ability to be driven in foul as well as fair weather



• Reliable, worry free operation

From this point we can explore the different avenues for contemporary Civic modifications and personalization.

• Foreword by Oscar Jackson
• The History of the Honda Civic
• The Basics of Personalizing
• Suspension 101: Get Down and Get Around
• Bolt-On Performance
• Hard-Core Engine Performance
• Power to the Pavement
• STOP! Improve Braking for Better Use of Horsepower
• Going in Style
• Interior Designing
• Graphically Speaking
• Performance Driving
• Getting Involved
• Resources
• About the Author