"What the hell are these?" Rhyu asked the first time he saw the K20A. "There's no way-no way-this will work."
Rhyu left Phan's with a JDM K20A Type-R.
His timing was a mixed blessing. K-swap mount kits were still unavailable, keeping the engine's cost in the affordable zone. But unavailability still meant no mounts, so Rhyu waited seven months until Hasport released its kit, then quickly proceeded with the transplant. Rhyu says the K20 is the culmination of everything he felt lacking in the B-series: the square bore/stroke relationship, 2.0 liters of displacement, variable cam timing.
Shortly after the RSX's introduction,...
Shortly after the RSX's introduction, Rhyu caught wind of a K-series engine that found its way under the hood of an EG.
Anxious to debut the swap, Rhyu put out word that he'd be attending an upcoming drag race. The car did well at first, then was sidelined by a broken axle. After a new set of Hasport axles, the Civic posted a best e.t. of 12.28. But as much as Rhyu loves a good quarter-mile pass, he'd long dreamed of road racing the hatch. Having spent most of his money on underhood power, he slowly began to tweak suspension and braking to match the newfound horsepower.
With the chassis up to spec, Rhyu made arrangements to enter a Southern California autocross event, planning to convoy with friends from Illinois to California, enter the event and catch the Super GT race later in the week. The prospect of financing a lengthy drive and taking two weeks off from school and work wittled the convoy down to just Rhyu and a passenger.
Undeterred, he made the trip, competed in two races and checked out Super GT before attending the American Touge Showdown. A mishap for Team Vishnu's EVO VIII inadvertently led to an open spot for Rhyu's Civic. He happened to be in the right place at the right time, and his car placed second in a field that included Comptech's NSX and S2000, Hasport's K24 supercharged EP3 and an AE86 Corolla with F20C motor swap.
Both Tsuchiya and Orido took turns behind the wheel of the car, raved about it's balance and power, and ultimately ranked it second only to XS Engineering's WRX STi.
"The driver loved my car," Rhyu says. "To see the Civic out there on the track was like a dream."