Specially For The Civic Fan

Introduced in 2000, the ES-generation Civic is very different from previous generations. For this generation, Honda rationalized the line-up significantly - Civic fans were taken by surprise by the deletion of the highly regarded SiR variant ! There are now no DOHC VTEC ES-Civics, even for Japan. In its place is a line-up of refined 'executive' SOHC-VTEC Civics. As a whole, the ES-Civic is actually improved in many ways compared to previous generations - strengthened chasis, more spacious cabin, etc. For the JDM, both the Civic Ferio sedan and the Civic hatch line-ups now uses a significantly re-designed D-series engine in either 1.5l or 1.7l, SOHC, with and without VTEC. For most part of Asia, especially ASEAN, the ES-Civic line-up was similarly simplified. For Malaysia for example, the line-up comprises only 1.7l Civics, SOHC, in either non-VTEC or VTEC form. It was similar in other Asian countries as well.

On a personal level, the ES-Civic's main dissapointment is its over-conservative look. Nowhere near as sporty looking as previous generations (especially when compared to the very good looking EK-Civics), to me the ES-Civic even look feminine in some ways, unsubstantial and unexciting. Sales of ES-Civics suffered especially here in Malaysia. The Civic's position in Malaysia has since plummetted to an all time low, behind the Toyota Altis and even the Nissan Sentra.

Fortunately a dedicated core of Honda Civic fans still remains loyal and dedicated to this great model, even for the ES-Civic. To these fans, the JDM Civic Ferio RS is especially well loved for its much sportier looks. The JDM ES3 Honda Civic Ferio RS comes standard with a Honda Access bodykit and is powered by the 1.7l D17A SOHC-VTEC engine. It is not 3-stage VTEC unfortunately, implementing instead a simpler 12V/16V VTEC system adapted from the older VTEC-E system on the 1991-1995 EG8 Civic ETi optimised for maximum fuel economy but now with a good midrange power band. Technically the unusual 1.7l displacement was chosen by Honda because it offers the best of both worlds - near the fuel economy of a 1.6l but near the power/torque of a 1.8l. Unfortunately my personal opinion is that this move sort of back-fired because competition-wise the awkward 1.7l size brings it up a different class to the 1.6l, making buyers compare it to the 1.8l instead with dire consequentes in power output comparisons.

Comparing the JDM Civic Ferio RS to the local Civic VTi, Honda actually confirmed that the two uses the same engine. The JDM RS however comes with either a 5 speed manual or the excellent Multimatic gearbox while for Malaysia, the VTi comes with a Grades Logic Control equipped 4 speed auto gearbox. Other minor areas that are better on the JDM RS would be it's rear disc brakes and also its use of an Electrical Power Steering (EPS) system. So for a change it was a nice surprise to see that the Malaysian version is not that much down when compared to the top JDM version !

Into the Malaysian scene comes Honda Malaysia's Special Edition Honda Civic RX. At first glance, the Civic RX will not seem significant but if we look deeper, it is indeed very significant in many ways.

Honda Malaysia specifically targetted the Civic RX at the Honda Civic enthusiast. Indeed I was rather pleased when the Honda Malaysia product executive who packaged the RX told me the TOVA readership profile is typical of the market segment at which he specifically packaged the Civic RX for. In fact, the product executive himself is an enthusiast at heart !

So the target Civic RX buyer profile would be the Civic fan who is seriously considering to upgrade to the current ES-Civic. Being an enthusiast, he or she would be considering the VTi but also be attracted to the JDM RS because of it's better looks. So the idea is to offer these fans a local option of the Civic, this Civic RX, which has equally good looks but with additional finer touches. Therefore, it will not come as a surprise to learn that in terms of design concept, the basis for the Civic RX is the JDM Civic Ferio RS. But instead of simply introducing the RS which will involve homologation problems, Honda Malaysia came up with a model similar to the RS but with many finer touches specifically for the local market. These fine touches are carefully chosen based on what a Civic enthusiast would prefer.

Blueprint for a Civic for the Enthusiast

The Standard Issue ES-Civic

The typical Honda enthusiast is probably best exemplified by the fact that he seldoms (and really couldn't) leave his Honda completely stock. The typical enthusiast's Honda will always look different, often more aggressive and sporty than stock units. Frequently the interior will be customised as well since enthusiasts likes to pamper themselves while driving the car. A good stereo system is also important to enthusiasts with emphasis on up-to-date technologies. An upgrade to the engine/suspension for more performance is popular too though not to the extent of looks, and comfort. Many enthusiasts actually just wants a reasonably preppy car that pampers himself or herself while driving and is great to look at. Probably many are forced to suffer in severely congested city traffic most of the time so outright performance has become a lower priority as long as the car is able to handle itself reasonably well when the situation requires of it. Thus the things most customized by the enthusiast can generally be separated into three main areas - exterior/looks, interior/cabin, and performance.

Also crucial is that personal preferences are important in terms of customising. No two persons will have exactly identical tastes and with a certain amount of budget, different enthusiast will emphasize more on different areas. Thus the wisest approach will be to create a good solid base on which the majority of enthusiasts will appreciate and which can be used for further customisation which will have to be of a highly personalised nature.

In terms of the three main areas of customisation, looking at performance first, it has been shown that the local Civic VTi is not that much downgraded even when compared to the top-of-the-line JDM Civic Ferio RS. As stated earlier in this article, the engines are identical with the only really significant advantage being the excellent Multimatic gearbox for the RS versus the GLC 4AT for the local VTi. The ES3 Civic Ferio RS remains the top-of-the-range Civic sedan for the Japan Domestic Market even as of today. Because of this, Honda Malaysia felt the regular Civic VTi to have a good enough performance base for the Civic RX.

Moving on next to the exterior/looks of the car, good looking Honda Civics are very much valued by the typical Honda enthusiast. The standard method consists of adding a bodykit as well as comestic changes to selected areas. Very popular is also a change of the wheels, larger rims with matching tyres is a must. The JDM Civic RS comes with a bodykit that is much admired that is very similar to the standard Civic bodykit in the Honda Access catalog. But Honda Malaysia feels that just retrofitting the Honda Access bodykit to the standard Civic would not be a terribly imaginative approach. So they also focussed on the third area, the interior/cabin of the car. Again the changes made for the Civic RX is based on what the tyical Honda enthusiast would probably do himself/herself.

Thus the Civic RX name is aptly chosen since it's largely based on the JDM Civic RS but with many detailed improvements specific to Malaysia and not available on the JDM Civic RS.

Civic RX Exterior Highlights

Looking at the Civic RX for the first time, on a personal basis, the most striking feature would be how the Honda Access 'RX' bodykit significantly improves the look and sportiness of the car, even making it aggressive in some ways. The bodykit is made up of front and rear lower lips, side skirts, rear boot (trunk) spoiler and a mesh-design grille. Except for the rear spoiler, all of these are original Honda Access items, made of PU and fully imported. The front and rear lips, combined with the side skirts extends the 'reach' of the car downwards to the road, making the Civic RX look so much more 'substantial' in the process. Similarly, the rear spoiler - which is a standard Honda item also contributes to a more purposeful look for the car. The variant name is emphasized by a red RX badge on the front mesh grille and the rear boot (trunk) cover. Colour-wise, the Civic RX is only available in Forest Jade.

A very significant contribution comes from the upgraded wheels on the Civic RX. A set of larger, good looking rims is critical to the Honda enthusiast. Thus the Civic RX comes with up-sized 16inch rims and matching tyres. But therein lies a big problem - rims are actually a very personal thing - what looks good to one enthusiast sometimes, indeed often does not look good enough to another. This was a huge headache to Honda but the solution they came up with was I think quite imaginative. Honda sources their rims exclusively from rims specialist Enkei. For the Civic RX, Honda equipped it with a 16inch Enkei rim which is a virtual direct clone of those used on the EP3 Civic Type-R but in 4-lug PCD-100 configuration ! 'Type-R rims' are of course always popular with Honda enthusiasts. This rim design is actually not listed on the Enkei rims catalog and furthermore EP3 Civic Type-Rs comes with a 5-lug rim with different PCD so sourcing this rim for the RX is a good job on the part of the Honda product executive. Fitted to the exclusive Enkei 'Type-R' rims are Dunlop LM702 205/45 VR16 tyres specially imported from Japan.

One item which might elicit some comments would be the various chrome trimmings still on the car. The JDM Civic RS comes with completely no chrome trimmings but problems with the 'CKD packs' and replacements for the chrome trimmings caused Honda to re-consider their deletion/replacement. In the end, because the design concept called for a similar look to the RS but not identical it was decided to retain some chrome trimmings since they are part and parcel of the original Civic design which helps to emphasize that the RX is a local version. Another item which might get some comments would be the front headlight covers. I personally like the headlight as they are so the effect of the covers would be a personal choice in this case.

Spicing up the interior

The "U" portion is real leather

The interior of the car received attention as well. The Civic RX has genuine-synthetic leather combination seats with the front seats having sports headrests (i.e. of the hollow design) popular with enthusiasts. Both the front and rear seats are combination leather. The center portion of the seats or in general, all parts that touches the body are genuine leather while the sides and rear of the seats are synthetic leather. In fact, even the door trimmings too are leather, in this case completely genuine leather in two different textures. The center portion is genuine leather in basket-weave pattern while the sides are genuine leather in perforated pattern. To add a touch of exclusiveness, Honda had the model name Civic RX embroidered in white and red onto the center door trim. Similarly the floor mats are also embroidered with the model name, again in white and red.

For the dashboard, to complement the neutral tone of the seats and door trimming, the center console cover is now silver instead of gold. Otherwise the dashboard remains unchanged including the instrument cluster & steering wheel. Viewed as a whole and in real-life, I felt the cabin to look nice and classy - quite invitingly comfortable.

The standard Civic VTi comes with a Kenwood CD-receiver and 4 speakers. For the Civic RX, the audio system has been upgraded to be more in line with current technologies. The headunit is now a Kenwoods KDC-M4524GY which is an MP3-Receiver. The 4-speakers system from the VTi is retained. MP3 capability is a rather imaginative feature to put on the RX which I feel would be much valued by the enthusiast. Few cars available in the market, probably none at the Civic RX price-range offers such an advanced player.

Optional Sports Suspension

While the Civic RX is identical performance-wise to the base Civic VTi, the original design concept actually had it equipped with Honda Access Sports Suspensions. This is made up of a combination of lowered, stiffer springs with matching harder shocks, specially tuned by Honda for better handling. However during testing, Honda Malaysia felt that the sports suspension incurs two important compromises. First is the ride height is quite significantly lowered. Honda enthusiasts are well familiar with this of course - lowered ride height gives better stability especially during hard cornering but has problems clearing the many speed breakers very common on Malaysian roads. With the bodykit making the body reach 'lower' towards the road, this clearance problem may lead to some difficulties for everyday driving. The other characteristic about the sports suspension which Honda Malaysia felt may not be universally acceptable is it's relatively harder ride. Our local Malaysian roads, even the newest highway and expressways are not particularly flat or even - often with slight and continous undulations so the sports-suspension might make long journeys a bit tiring especially for the rear passengers.

After much thoughts and rationalising, Honda Malaysia eventually decided that the best approach is to offer the Honda Access sports suspension as an option, leaving the choice between a comfortable ride and superior handling to the enthusiast.

Looking At The Big Picture

Timing wise, it is rather unfortunate that the Civic RX launch for Malaysia sort of coincided with the launch of a face-lifted K20A-Civic by Honda Thailand. But I want to point out to readers that the K20A-Civic is a local Thai effort and was designed for the local mass-market, i.e. for general car buyers in Thailand only without catering for the needs of the enthusiast in any way. This should help explain the rationale of a K20A Civic that comes only with an autobox which does not have sports (sequential) shifter. Note that while some Asian countries have adopted the minor face-lift, none have adopted the K20A model. I think most importantly is to highlight that for the Japan Domestic Market, the ES3 Civic Ferio RS is still unchanged cosmetic-wise as well as specification-wise and is still currently the top-of-the-line sedan model.

So it is important to see the special edition Civic RX for what it really means, the first project car developed by Honda Malaysia specially for the Malaysian Honda enthusiast. Being a pioneer project, there will inevitably be some restraint and conservativeness in its design. But more importantly is that while project cars have hereto always been done privately by the enthusiast, now we have one being marketed officially by the manufacturer ! As a measure of how unique the RX is to Honda Malaysia, justification for it was done for a planned production run of only sixty (60) units ! For a big manufacturer like Honda, 60 units is virtually nothing so for Honda Malaysia to put so much effort to create the RX really shows its sincerity.

The Civic RX package is not perfect and was never been intended to be perfect. Rather it is a sincere effort to create a unique Civic that hopefully the enthusiast will appreciate and which can be the base for further personalized customization and modifications. In this aspect, I at least personally think it met its objectives admirably.

Conclusion

In the end, I think the ultimate proof is the Civic RX's price - at $118,888 'On-The-Road' (with full insurance and without the optional sports suspension), the Civic RX is selling at less than M$3,000 (~USD 750) more than the base version (M$115,973). This small price increase is not enough to even pay for the wheels ! This means Honda Malaysia is actually absorbing or subsidizing a large part of the extra cost that goes to make up the RX and really shows that Honda wishes to reward diehard loyal Civic fans that continue to support the Civic despite what it has gone through. Proof indeed that Honda DO recognize and value their fans a lot.

Even more significantly would be the implications if the Civic RX does well in the market. It will quickly prove to Honda HQ in Japan that the Honda enthusiasts market is well and alive here in Malaysia. This can only lead to more 'adventurous' projects for the future, perhaps with similar low-volume special performance-tuned models specifically for the enthusiasts. Do not underestimate what Honda Malaysia can do with 'only' factory parts because Honda Access also makes performance upgrades for most Honda models. More significantly, I wish to point out that Mugen is also a wholely owned subsidiary of Honda and thus is also considered 'factory'. I think the implication of this certainly do not need any elaboration !

Readers who wishes to discuss about this model are encouraged to join our special Civic RX thread in our TOVA forum.

Wong KN
April 2003
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