When Darryl began his modifications he not only thought of it as a daily driver but he also wanted to be able to take it through local mountain passes and on weekend-long track days. Darryl was intent on making improvements to the factory B16 by highlighting its attributes and maintaining reliability. A Mugen airbox and filter provide fresh air to a Skunk2 ITR "style" intake manifold and a set of Skunk2 Stage 1 cams. To further encourage flow, a Toda race header is attached to a high flow Carsound cat and RS-R ExMag cat-back exhaust. Finely tuned ST Corsa cam gears and an A'PEXi VAFC piggy backed to a CTR ECU brought peak power up to the 180 hp mark, which is more than enough to scoot this coupe to work and back and allow some high-rpm screaming when Darryl's right foot decides to break the monotony. To help harness the newfound bump in power, an Exedy clutch and flywheel were chosen, along with a stainless steel clutch line. Hasport motor mounts add rigidity to the chassis engine connection and keep the engine movements to a minimum. The Skunk2 short shifter and ES shift bushings make life easier while stirring the martini through the gears. No Mugen-inspired Civic could ever be complete without the pice de rsistance sitting atop its powerplant-a Mugen formula valve cover replaces the stock unit and adds the final touch to a freakishly well-maintained engine bay.
Step inside the cabin and you'll no doubt notice there's not a scratch or stray hair to be found; it looks as if this Civic was just manufactured last week. To spruce things up, some inspiration from the race world found its way to the interior. Continuing his Mugen theme, Darryl bolted in a set of Mugen S1 buckets via Mugen side mounts and complemented them with a suede Mugen Racing II steering wheel. Other Mugen goodies include an aluminum shift knob, billet pedal kit and red bezel enhanced white face gauge cluster.
Darryl took a tried-and-true approach to building his Civic: high-quality with carefully chosen upgrades that are just enough to cruise under the layman's radar yet draw some attention from those "in the know." With a picture-perfect Si coupe that has seen a number of different combinations over the last seven years, you'd think that this enthusiast has finally reached a state of euphoria. But alas, with a new Element SC daily driver and the itch to continue his build Darryl says, "I'm happy with where it's at now, but I'm going to finally dig into the motor with a brand new U.S. ITR block, Toda valvetrain and cams and upgrade the tranny with a Quaife LSD and 4.78 FD." Like we said, the tuner crowd is a funny bunch.