There's a Japanese proverb, or kotowaza, that's valuable to mind when assessing things at first glance: Saru ni mo ishou. Literally translated, it reads, "Even a monkey can be dressed up." Think, "Don't judge a book by its cover," and you get the idea. What you see here isn't some powerless, over-built show car, bogged down heavily by ICE and dressed up in livery paid for by the latest video game sponsor. This is not a fox borrowing the skin of a tiger, as another saying goes, but a tiger built by a fox (yes, by the girl on the last page) whose knowledge and discipline-like the performance at the heart of her RSX Type-S-runs far deeper than you might expect. But let's hear it from her . . .
"My family has always had Hondas in our driveway-either here in New York, or wherever we lived in Japan where I spent my early childhood (mostly Yokohama). I learned to drive with my father's automatic Legend, but watching my brother, Hide, and sister, Michiko, modify their EF Civic hatchbacks made me want to get a CR-X for my first car. After months of looking through used car ads, I finally found a clean, five-speed '90 CR-X that met my budget. I'd never driven a stick before I bought it, but somehow drove it home by myself. After I got the hang of it, I remember thinking, 'this is for me!'
Around the same time, my sister upgraded to an EG Civic sedan and started hooking it up with her boyfriend (now her husband), who had a heavily modified EG Si hatchback. This was my first exposure to Hashiriya, or modifying in the tradition of Japanese street racers of Shutoko and the touges: for performance, without really caring about appearance. In 2000, after going through the common Euro lights/Indiglo gauges/mono-wiper phase, I was introduced to a shop called Ultima Performance in Long Island, NY, where my boyfriend's brand-new EK Civic hatchback got the first B16B motor swap we'd ever seen. I traded my CRX in on a '00 Civic sedan and started hanging out more with the shop crowd, and going to street races at places like Hunts Point in the Bronx where the fastest and cleanest cars at the time could be found. I researched what the Japanese builders were doing, and decided to go after a JDM Ferio look for my Civic because not too many people were doing it back then. I added all the bolt-on parts and some JDM stuff . . . the car looked 'clean', but being my only car, I didn't have time for hardcore engine work.
In 2004, I went to a dealership to test drive an Acura TSX. I wanted to stick with a less-popular sedan, and planned to go with Accord Euro-R styling for mine. But as soon as I stepped into the showroom, a white RSX Type-S A-Spec caught my eye. Once I sat in the driver's seat, I had to have it. The magic of a coupe had gotten me once again, and the six-speed trans felt so much more natural than my automatic Civic. My friends and I worked on our cars and entered random shows over the next couple years, always just for fun. The RSX had basic bolt-ons, a suspension, a Modulo lip kit and some other little stuff, but I never imagined it would receive any recognition without neon lights, Lambo doors, and tons of audio. That is, until HIN Nightshift in NY, in August of '06. I was B.S.ing with my friends and packing up during the award ceremony when I heard the MC struggling to pronounce a name: 'Neyokeekee Onsheenee.' It was my name! Well, kind of . . . but I had just won Second Place Female something-or-other! It was the beginning of being recognized for doing something different, and the start of my mission to build my car the way I like it."
By Luke Munnell
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