A Skyline GT-R may make a great dream car, but sometimes, JDM fantasies just aren't in the cards for all of us. Your first car may have ended up being an MX-3, G20 or Altima, and there's nothing wrong with that. You want to see your baby through and finally finished with decade-long build, but your pile of disposable cash always seems to be a little lacking. Not a problem, just ask Wayne Chen. This trophy stealing, candy infused 1998 Honda Accord was built on a student's budget with lots of time and plenty of sponsors.
Chen received this coupe eight years ago as a high school graduation present from his parents. Not quite a tire-shredding Corvette killer, it was a dependable, efficient daily driver. It wasn't until Chen attended his first Import Showoff event in 1998 that his passion was sparked. Seeing row after row of modified visions come to life gave Chen the inspiration he needed to build up his own ride.
Taking his project by the reigns, Chen brushed up with a few good reads on networking, marketing and sponsorship, then hit his first SEMA show. As opposed to the jaded post-The Fast And The Furious world of today, Chen's SEMA trip lined up plenty of good partners, many of who had never even heard of or recognized the import market. Chen, who happens to be the vice president of perennial show team favorite Team Hybrid, was all too happy to educate.
A full-time business school student striving for a MBA, Chen brought all of his time and spending money to the table to build this Accord. It took four long years and more sacrifices than Chen would care to recall, but the end result is a House of Kolor Kandy Apple Red-infused Honda that has taken home numerous trophies.
The exterior began with a custom Skyline-look body kit, molded with custom fender flares by Westcoast Spoiler. A Mugen rear spoiler was added to the car and then topped off with a TC Spoiler red carbon-fiber hood and eyelines. To those with a keen eye, you'll easily recognize the HIDs4Less projector headlights and Stage II HID lamps.
Filling up the mouth of the R33-esque front end is a genuine R33 Skyline intercooler, fed by custom chromed piping. Far from being an inter-fooler of any sort, this Accord is rocking a Comptech positive displacement supercharger, equipped with a Stage II high boost pulley. An Acura CL Type-S throttle body was installed to ingest larger amounts of air, while CL Type-S camshafts provide hotter cam profiles that are more befitting of this build. Funneling spent gases out of the V6 engine are a set of Comptech headers and a HKS Drager exhaust system. Extra fuel is provided by a Comptech fuel pump and fuel pressure regulator, while tuning is handled by a GReddy E-Manage unit. For those times when a supercharger just isn't enough, Chen added on a Nitrous Express 75-shot kit.
The next nagging problem was that this Accord was originally an automatic, plenty for commuting, but not nearly enough for fun times. Chen brought his car to 5150 in City of Industry, Calif., for a transmission swap to an Acura CL Type-S six-speed transmission. Completely reworked to put out more power than Honda ever thought possible in an Accord, Chen knew that some extra upgrades would be necessary. Wilson's Machine Shop in San Diego, Calif., custom modified a 1994-1997 Accord application Koyo aluminum radiator to fit Chen's car, since no drop-in model existed. Comptech's transmission cooler was also installed before the drivetrain could be considered finished.
With the body and power taken care of, the next thing to check off the list was stance. Nobody likes the 4x4 look, especially during a car show. Chen uses adjustable Ground Control coilovers, matched to Tokico Illumina adjustable shock absorbers. Those coilovers were adjusted for a low-down, show-car level, dropped over 18x8-inch gold Volk Racing GT-N wheels, wrapped in 225/40/18 BF Goodrich KDW tires. Filling up the dead void behind those new rollers is a Stoptech front big brake kit, which is light years beyond anything Honda threw on to an Accord. Suspension Techniques front and rear swaybars finish up the balance of the car, while Sprint adjustable camber kits help correct the alignment.
For all you show car junkies, we've saved the best for last-Chen's lavish interior design. No show car could be considered complete without a complete redesign, and this Accord doesn't disappoint. The dashboard and doors have been re-upholstered in black suede with red suede inserts, while red carpeting was laid down to match the crimson burn of the Sparco Torino seats. Behind the MOMO Fighter steering wheel rests an A'PEXi rev meter, HKS 60mm boost and 60mm oil pressure gauge, all custom fiberglass mounted, of course. More instrumentation rests in the lower center console, courtesy of Autometer. Air/fuel ratio, voltage and water temperature gauges sit inside a clean sheet of carbon fiber, right above the Ignited Performance ignition button.
Chen also makes use of the HKS CAMP system, which displays speed, RPM, fuel mileage, temperature, pressure and other vitals on the Alpine CVA-1005 flip-out LCD headunit. It's like having a selectable digital set of gauges that cuts down on clutter and looks a lot cleaner. From the Alpine stereo, high's and mid's get pumped out of Polk Audio MOMO speakers. Rumbling bass, however, is funneled out back by the Alpine EREG190 sub processor to Chen's trunk, where a PPI 6600 chromed amplifier powers up custom mounted Polk Audio MOMO 12-inch subwoofers.
With his stereo, suspension, engine, interior and bodywork completely transformed, Chen has finally called this project finished. It has taken a lot of time, money and effort, but the end result is exactly what Chen had in his mind all those years ago. With enough dedication, and the right partners on your side, any car can go from dream to reality. See for yourself.