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Jul 19, 2023

10 Unique Honda Civic Mods That Stand Out From The Crowd

Diving past the axle-back exhaust and cut springs, these mods will help your Honda Civic build stand out from the mainstream. After over 50 years in the production cycle, the Honda Civic continues to

Diving past the axle-back exhaust and cut springs, these mods will help your Honda Civic build stand out from the mainstream.

After over 50 years in the production cycle, the Honda Civic continues to endure generation after generation. Due to its long-reigning existence as the econobox king, it can begin to feel like a difficult task setting your Honda Civic apart from the rest of the crowd.

In the ensuing decades since its arrival, we've seen everything from ridiculous engine and drivetrain swaps to full-on safari builds. Modding Hondas for massive power is such the norm, items like bolt-on all-wheel drive kits and drag pack front-end swaps are readily available for off-the-rack purchasing. Leaving the upcoming generation of Honda tuners in the precarious position of developing new ideas to further improve upon the Civic builds that include something other than learning to jailbreak ECUs quicker.

With the near-endless possibilities for a Honda Civic build, wondering where to begin feels like a task in and of itself. Luckily, for the Honda lovers of the world, HotCars decided to put together a list of Civic mods sure to help your build stand out from the crowd.

Because while we aren't saying these mods on an individual basis will make the build unique, however, a combination of multiple mods is something most tuners aren't willing to do whether it's available resources or timeline — This is 10 unique Honda Civic mods that stand out from the crowd.

RELATED: Iconic Car Models: Delving Into The History Of The Honda Civic

Although it's long-established that the performance gains from an intake kit are marginal in terms of power figures, a quality intake system contributes to greater overall performance in conjunction with other bolt-on parts. Contributing to greater engine responsiveness, the mass amount of air taken in, when compared to a stock intake, feeds denser air to the engine and theoretically creates better combustion.

By switching out the stock cold air intake for a suction-type intake picture above, the surface area of the filter itself is dramatically increased, helping improve air intake efficiency — not to mention it looks great in the engine bay and is a definite conversation starter for anyone who sees it.

For nearly 30 years now, the addition of carbon fiber aerodynamics or body panels to production cars has become common for everyday car enthusiasts. Once thought to only grace the world's most high-end race cars, carbon fiber body parts are readily available from dozens of different distributors — and they all supply Honda Civics.

However, other than the Honda Civic Mugen RR Advanced Concept, a Honda Civic dressed completely in carbon fiber isn't something we've often seen. While we're sure some full-carbon Civics exist in some garages, through a detailed search of the Honda rabbit hole, none other than the Mugen appear.

In the automotive world, the term "period correct" refers to the modifications of cars and ensures their chronological timelines match. Simply put, the OEM or aftermarket mods used in a build were available when the car was originally sold off the lot — and generally stipulates that the parts originate from the same region as the car.

For instance, adding anything other than Japanese-built wheels to your Honda Civic can draw ire from the community, despite a growing number of people enjoying German-manufactured wheels for their setups. However, in order to gain respect from the JDM crowd, Japanese brand wheels are the only acceptable way to go.

RELATED: Ranking The 10 Coolest JDM Car Rims You Can Buy

Perhaps the most overlooked mod of any Honda Civic is a stage zero rebuild kit. Because unless you're driving a new or certified pre-owned Honda off the lot, chances are, the Civics found on Facebook Marketplace and OfferUp will need some level of refreshing in the engine bay.

With plenty of all-inclusive rebuild kits available for just about every Honda engine ever built, its relatively small price tag of a few hundred bucks is well worth the expense — especially if you're planning to do what's next on our list.

For those who may be unfamiliar with the origins of the "bolt-on" terminology, it's exactly as it sounds — bolting on new performance parts in order to achieve higher levels of performance. Generally, bolt-ons include aftermarket parts that typically don't require an engine tune, however, with the growing number of forced induction cars, tuning is becoming more common.

As it relates to Honda Civics, bolt-on parts tend to include an upgraded turbo kit, coilover suspension system, performance sway bars, exhaust components, and all-wheel drive swaps. While prices can quickly pile up when adding more than a few of these aftermarket parts, builds will result in sports car-like performance from an economy car.

Essential Bolt-On Items For Fk8 Type-R

MSRP

Turbo Kit

$2,500-$8,000

Coilover System

$1,000-$5,5500

Front/Rear Sway Bars

$250-$700

All-Wheel Drive Kit

$3,000-$5,500

Downpipe

$300-$1,500

Technically falling under the bolt-on category, Honda Civic exhaust system upgrades deserve their own list for the polarizing effect they have on the community. While gearheads and non-gearheads alike know the wild screech of a terrible-sounding Civic from miles away, a proper catback exhaust system helps the Civic and it's plucky VTEC engine perform sound like a proper racecar.

The only downside is the rather hefty price tag a well-built exhaust system brings — although, if you're well-entrenched in the community, a pre-loved exhaust shouldn't be hard to come by.

Also known as a waist spoiler, a mid spoiler sits just below the rear glass of hatchback cars — as seen in the picture above. Some may try to argue its contribution to downforce, but as studies show, in order to significantly affect downforce, the wing of the hatch must remain on top.

However, like many of the aesthetically pleasing styles to come out of Japan, the mid spoiler adds a certain flare that is quite unique by today's standards. If properly done, the mid spoiler can be a statement piece on any Honda Civic hatch. While there are many reasons to add a spoiler or not, there isn't any reason a mid spoiler won't look good on a Honda Civic hatch.

RELATED: This Is The Effect That Spoilers Truly Have On An Everyday Car

A surefire way to stand out from the rest of the Honda Civic builds it to wrap the car in a period-correct racing livery. Featuring some of the most iconic liveries of all time, cult-classic favorites include the JACCS Civic JTCC pictured above, Civic FD2 Type-R Spoon Racing, Gather Drider Civic EK, and the Mugen Motul Civic Si EF.

With the proper resources, and an expert car wrapper, having the most unique Civic build at your local car show is as easy as plunking down a few stacks of cash. However, with a livery straight out of the circuit world, expect a few challengers at your local street light.

On par with the stage zero rebuild we mentioned earlier, a well-engineered tune from a respectable tuner is an overlooked Honda Civic mod. While everyone knows the "Civic with a laptop" meme, not everyone understands a Civic with a laptop and expert tuner can easily be one of the best ways to spend money on any Civic build.

And of course, the numbers don't lie — take for instance the gains, seen here, when utilizing Hondata flash tuning on the all-new FL5 Type-R. Of course, the best way to utilize tuning comes after upgrading the bolt-on parts, and rebuilding the engine to ensure the safety of the engine's components after the new power gains.

FL5 Civic Type-R

Pre-Tune

Post-Tune

Horsepower

333 HP

378 HP

Torque

376 LB-FT

426 LB-FT

Gasoline

91 Oct

93 Oct

Layout

Turbocharged 2.0L Straight-Four

Turbocharged 2.0L Straight-Four

Finally, the most unique mod in terms of safety, is the addition of a big brake kit. Exactly what it sounds like, the big brake kit adds bigger brake calipers and rotors to any Honda Civic build to increase stopping power. After all, if you're going to build a car capable of achieving power figures three to four times more than the manufacturer intended, you're going to need a pair of brakes that inspire confidence when pushing the car.

Though as it stands, it would require a lot of time, money, and effort to build a unique Honda Civic — not to mention how the parts themselves are probably worth more than the car itself. However, for the faithful and loyal fans of the Honda Civic, the resources needed are just a drop in the bucket after the satisfaction of being a tastefully modded Honda Civic capable of claiming the title of coolest and fastest car at any show.

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Jacob is a writer and gearhead splitting time between Southern California and Phoenix, Arizona. When he's not wrenching on his and his wife's questionable fleet of cars; he's learning DIY repair, researching car culture and history, or casually browsing used cars. Jacob cut his teeth writing for the now defunct, Oppositelock, before the website was blown up.