The Temple of VTEC - Honda and Acura Enthusiasts Online - Articles

article details

Author

Shawn Church

Categories

Performance Parts, TOV Road Test, Civic

Create Date

June 04, 2002 16:49

Last Update

November 08, 2002 15:38

Introduction

When TOV attended the SEMA IAS in Long Beach, CA earlier this year, we made it a point to spend some time with the folks at the Honda booth. When we got there, we were surprised to find some rather nicely turned out Honda and Acura models that had been modded by Honda. We cornered John Yoshinaga of Honda's accessory marketing group and asked him to tell us more. His response? "How would you like to drive one?"

How would we like to drive one? Oh yeah, the NSX please! Well, it turns out the NSX actually didn't have any mods on it (can't blame us for trying though), but John did get us a nicely turned out 2002 Civic EX coupe.

The Civic Coupe is the very first example of Honda's new Factory Performance (FP) concept. Intended to offer a factory backed performance option straight from the dealer the FP package is for those folks who want some additional spice in their Honda, but don't feel comfortable going to the aftermarket (and dealing with installs, warranty violations, etc.). Here at TOV, we applaud Honda for taking this step. Honda is one of the few car manufacturers that doesn't offer a sport suspension or appearance package that can be applied as an option to its cars. If you don't buy an Si, or Type-S, you're stuck with the OEM setup unless you want to go to the aftermarket.

With the creation of the FP option (which is to be applied to the RSX as well), Honda has taken a big step towards satisfying a bigger portion of the market. And it shows that Honda is paying attention to the enthusiast market. In fact, over the last 5-6 years, we've noticed that American Honda in particular is starting to listen. Whether its taken that long to work through corporate bureaucracy, or its due to the onset of stiffer competition from other makes, we don't know. All that matters is that Honda is moving in the right direction (we at TOV feel that this trend began in 1996 when Honda listened to our pleas for the Integra Type-R which TOV readers lobbied heavily for in a major survey sent to the corporation).

O.k., so now you know what FP stands for and the rationale for its creation. "But how does it drive?" you say? Read on to find out.

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