2002 Honda Civic EP3 "Type R" Track Review - Pure VTEC Noises!

Nothing like some good old fashioned FF VTEC ripping it down the corkscrew at Laguna Seca.
Mod list:
K20A2 from 2004 RSX Type-S
Skunk2 Alpha header
Modified tune, 214whp with lower VTEC crossover
Wavetrac LSD w/5.1 Final Drive from JDM Type R EP3
6 speed transmission
Konig Hypergram 17x8 +35 with Kumho V730 225/45/17
~2600lbs
Hasport motor mounts
Exedy Stage 1 clutch
Light flywheel
EM1 Civic clutch master cylinder with delay valve delete
Brake master cylinder from RSX
RSX 5 lug wheel hub conversion
Front rotors / calipers from 2004 TSX (stoptech / hawk hp +)
SS Brake lines
Stock front sway bar
24mm progress rear sway bar, stiffest setting
Yellowspeed competition coilovers with 14k/16k spring rates
RSX Tie rods
RSX Type S Insaneshafts axles
Type R Body kit with badging
Sparco removable wheel
Short shifter
Mishimoto radiator
No AC
Baffled oil pan
HKS Exhaust
Gutted rear interior w/roll bar
5-panel rear view mirror
Follow me on IG: / zygrene
Email me if you'd like me to review your car: [e-mail]

[@coldvaper]

The motor that should have come in the car to begin with.

[@Birmingham_racing]

It did in the uk

[@coldvaper]

@@Birmingham_racing Well you also got a lot of hondas we never got here. I believe you guys got almost all Type Rs and SIRS, we got the Dc2 type R in low numbers and then the FK8, FL5 nothing else. I would love a CH1 Accord type R personally.

[@zell4548]

@@coldvaper we got the FD2 =]

[@sclerocarpets]

Shoulda been K20A, Japan and Australia got them.

[@jointegra01]

Most underrated honda chassis ever

[@Gcoug69]

i would say its pretty known by honda ppl that with a k20aR or k24a2 fbo the ep3 is a track machine

[@elesjuan]

I drove a lightly street modified si "shoe" back in the early thousands when they first came out and agreed 💯 how underrated they are. Great little car that's oddly hated for reasons I can't quite understand.

[@jordenv5364]

​@@Gcoug69yea...there's a major racing series in UK that is 95% EP3 (and a handful of FN2)

[@startrader9503]

Man that thing hooks up nicely, such a proper build

[@BadBandar59]

Wow! That looks like so much fun. Granted you are a much better driver than me. But I feel like I would enjoy that car around the track. That’s such a cool build. Props to the owner for building an amazing machine!

[@callum4035]

Swindon’s finest 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

[@funtrain23]

That's pretty good driving!

[@lucaservin2071]

I have the old Type S brakes off this thing, rippin on the east coast 🙌

[@brickoutside]

This is the first car I bought in highschool back in 2015.. The shifter position was always a conversation point. It is crazy how much these shot up in value.

[@VS666]

I bought a 03 last summer for $5400 clean title 168K and it had a clean K 24 A2 swap already

[@neverknowsbest4994]

theyre actually dirt cheap. at least where i live. i got 2 running and driving for less than 4k. one with an a2 swap with kpro ecu.

[@fauxvier8519]

Love ur pov footage

[@leslie7872]

naturally aspirated 215whp that revs to 8,1000rpm is nuts

[@NotThatSlow]

My favorite generation of the Civic. Unpopular opinion.

[@stevemartegani]

Same

[@h2junkey]

Agreed!

[@mtshark7]

Nicely done!

[@bannister556]

Great video

[@VS666]

Newer subscriber here, happy to see an EP3 on the channel. I bought a really nice example last summer for around 5K that already had a K24 swap nicely done and then proceeded to dumped about 13k into it over the winter. I made a quick Short of it if you want to check it out on my channel really quick, I’d love to hear your opinion but I’m really happy with where it’s at. Next season will probably Get a Msport refurbished transmission with an LSD because god knows it needs it, I have to double clutch into third because of the failing synchro, but she’s still quite the ripper.

[@1006dn]

nice vid

[@SleeperHonda]

I

[@ItsBunCha]

Dream car

[@alexbill1020]

OMG ITS OVER 8000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@DOOMLORDHOKAGE]

What the heck was in that ND miata??? Seemed like you weren't gaining any ground

[@bryanlarrea2867]

How do you feel about this ep3 vs your Integra type s now that you've driven both on track?

[@Zygrene]

DE5 handles way better. More stable and higher cornering speeds. But that NA motor in the EP3 is amazing.

[@bryanlarrea2867]

@Zygrene makes sense, the de5 has a much more updated front Macpherson strut design, More tire, stiffer chassis and a modern way of managing power delivery over the ep3. The fl5/fk8/de5 chassis definitely makes want to build my ek to the level of those cars and then some.

[@h2junkey]

All that EP3 needs is a roll bar so driver can push more. Chassis is already stiff in OEM trim.

[@fewhavestrength]

not revving high enough!

[@easycheddy]

Wonder what a s2000 should do at laguna sea

[@Zygrene]

Depends on the mods. But an NA S2000 with no aero is capable of sub 1:40 with a god tier driver.

[@sdlausen1]

What on EARTH is up with the exhaust??? 0:24.

[@TranceFur]

They clamped an extra muffler on, in order to meet Laguna Seca’s noise restriction requirements.

[@Comidaparaelmundo]

whats the front suspension setup?

[@jordenv5364]

All the known issues are sorted out. Yellowspeed coilovers (same as used in civic cup racing), caster adjustment, camber adjustment, RCA extended ball joints, modified tie rods, steering rack slider. Trying out even more positive caster next weekend, along with reverse stagger, 255 on front, 225 rear 😊

[@Carbonsteel]

What is going on with that muffler extended past the bumper at 90 degrees?!

[@h2junkey]

Laguna Seca has a sound/decibel regulation.

[@Zygrene]

Laguna pipe

[@keiserious]

The K20Fit having more power but still getting beat by the underpowered ND Miata proves RWD is superior to FWD.

[@TassieLorenzo]

"RWD is superior to FWD" That's hardly a controversial statement, lol. Sadly you can't buy any rear wheel drive hot hatchbacks anymore so it's a moot point (not that you got the hatch version of the M140i in North America, but in any case the 1 series hatch and 4-door 2 series are othe MINI platform now). Obviously it all dates back to the 1970's when the front wheel compacts like the Alfasud, Citroen BX, Mini Cooper, Austin Princess, VW Golf and Honda Civic etc were seen as more modern, while the Chevrolet Chevette, Ford Pinto/Escort, AMC Pacer, Fiat 124 and Morris Marina etc were seen as old-fashioned with their rear wheel drive -- eventually by the late 1980's almost all compact passenger (not sports) cars switched over to the "more modern" and more space efficient front wheel drive layout. Of course the Toyota Corolla was famously available in *both layouts* for a time during the late 80's! Saying all that, is a front wheel drive Toyota Corolla GTi AE82 4AGE really that much less fun to drive than a rear wheel drive Toyota Corolla Sprinter AE86 4AGE? 🤔Obviously the former can't drift, but Toyota Team Australia raced both models in the Australian Touring Car Championship at the same time so the front wheel drive version can't have been that bad (I'm not sure if FWD models were allowed a lower racing weight to compensate for having less traction and a tendency to overwork the front tyres). Even today, it's really hard to find front wheel drive and rear wheel drive passenger cars with the same engine that weigh the same. The Genesis G70 2.0T manual weighs 250kg (550 lbs) more than Elantra N manual with the same engine, for example. So such a big weight difference negates a lot of the traction, weight transfer and tyre usage advantages the rear wheel drive G70 *should* have over the front wheel drive Elantra N.

[@keiserious]

@@TassieLorenzo I’m in the u.s of a so the Toyota Corolla GR is the closest to rwd hot hatchback but I believe bmw and Benz have sport hatchbacks in other countries.

[@jordenv5364]

Miata is 200lbs lighter, has a more experienced driver (in the car, not overall), has a wing, is more confident in the Miata (not borrowing a car). Look up jordan cox civic vs ae86, wonderful example of how little difference fwd vs rwd makes when power to weight, skill, and confidence are all equal.

[@TassieLorenzo]

@@jordenv5364 In Super Touring (2.0L, 8500rpm) the minimum weights were set at front wheel drive 975kg, rear wheel drive 1000kg and all-wheel-drive 1040kg. So rulemakers definitely considered rear wheel drive an advantage and all-wheel-drive a further advantage. A rear wheel drive car should have more traction and be able to use the tyres better given the same power to weight ratio (even more so for all wheel drive), so the rulemakers added extra weight to reduce the power-to-weight ratio (and increase tyre wear) of the rear wheel drive BMWs and all-wheel-drive Audis. The BMWs and Audis were not permitted extra power to compensate for the extra weight, they still had the same 2.0L 8500rpm limit as everyone else. It's not like more modern BOP with multiple factors.

[@darksunrise8777]

Looks like a fun car and sounds great. But putting things in perspective, all that work to swap the engine, add LSD, strip the interior, swap suspension, etc. and... still slower than a Miata. That's got to be disheartening. 214 whp at 2600 lbs isn't a bad p/w ratio, it's kind of an indictment of the chassis, no?

[@jordenv5364]

My Miata has been much more disheartening than this car on the track 😂. Modding and track testing each mod has been the one of the most enjoyable experiences I've had. There's also a ton of aftermarket support, as this platform is used in UK civic cup. It'll be faster than my Miata by end of year, but that's not the point. I'm enjoying the process and only competing against my former self.

[@gigi9467]

Should of bought the nd lol

[@jordenv5364]

The EP3 is so far quite a bit more reliable on track than my ND. No regrets, lots of fun.

[@gigi9467]

@@jordenv5364 u must be the exception.

[@jordenv5364]

​@@gigi9467I think me being an exception is self evident solely based on the fact that I'm tracking an EP3 in the US. 😊 Kinda what I'm going for. Fun fact, the red Miata cracked a wheel hub shortly after this video. While competent, fun, and popular (I have one), Miatas are definitely not known for their reliability when pushed to the limit.

[@inditube2]

Chasing laptimes in econobox sounds like losing proposition

[@TheBb6prelude]

Fastest NA car on the famous Tsukuba circuit is a eg6 hatchback

[@TheBb6prelude]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/moLan4dnbbehaKcsi=YJmwJ_M8vq_pqyFX

[@TheBb6prelude]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/moLan4dnbbehaKcsi=YJmwJ_M8vq_pqyFX

[@TheBb6prelude]

They destroy super cars and 700 hp AWD cars

[@TheBb6prelude]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/moLan4dnbbehaKcsi=YJmwJ_M8vq_pqyFX

[@kgthegreatone943]

My least favorite civic

[@easycheddy]

Didn’t get much love because it got the base rsx motor but they had atleast as much if not more potential than the rsx

[@carsonj4031]

yeah, out of all the SIs this is probably the worst but its still cool.

[@easycheddy]

@@carsonj4031 sorry I’d say the generation after the fd2/ fg the sad 9th gen k24 was trash imo

[@Zygrene]

It has some of the worst suspension design, but a proper K swap still makes it a riot to throw around on track

[@lamesamelame]

Mike Kojima, MotoIQ, explained how Honda Ruined the EP3 by replacing the Awesome Double Wishbone front suspension to a McPherson design that had Awful Bump Steer and No camber benefit under compression.

[@didiermejia780]

8k RPM. Yawn. I'll go get on my Shelly GT350R 5.2 L V8 with 8.25k RPM red line

[@CJJC7897]

You clearly don’t get it my friend…but GT350R is quite a machine in itself 👍🏼

[@TheBb6prelude]

Only 8200 ? 😂😂😂

[@TheBb6prelude]

Yawn,my prelude h22 turbo is waiting for you

[@UmarTheGreat10]

8250 yawn. My stock k20 revved to 8800 all day. Not sure why this guy set his rev limiter so low

[@didiermejia780]

@UmarTheGreat10 that's a 2.4L inline 4? Boring. Try a V8 with a flat plane crank at 8k RPM, there is nothing like it.