- On this episode of Modified,
Matt and I are taking a road trip from Cali to Las Vegas.
- That's right, we're going to check out a couple cool stops
along the way, show off this Project Civic at Street Driven,
and then we're going to race the brand new Type R.
Hit it, Geoff!
(engine revs louder)
- [Geoff] Yeah, this thing's got power, dude!
(upbeat electronic music)
Before heading out towards Street Driven
and the Honda Proving Grounds, I'm going to met up with Sam Du
to get a final look at what Super Street did
with Project Civic.
- I'm Sam Du from Super Street magazine
and welcome back to our Modified Civic build.
Matt Powers handed me the keys
to this 2017 Civic Hatchback Sport.
This is Honda's first turbocharged Civic in history,
and we were able to take it to the next level
with only a few minor changes.
While the stock suspension of the Civic
is already comfortable and handles great from the factory,
we wanted our car a bit sportier and capable around a track.
So we installed Eibach coilovers
to tighten up the suspension
and lower the car's center of gravity.
But a good handling package wouldn't be complete
without proper grip, so we added wider Gram Light wheels
and stickier Continental tires.
- I bet this thing handles like a dream.
It looks really fun to drive.
Did you guys do anything else for the style
and the aero of the car?
- Yeah we definitely did.
Honda offers several accessories for the car.
So we added a different roof spoiler, cross-drilled rotors,
and floor mats inside.
- [Matt] And what about under the hood?
What'd you guys do there?
- We knew the engine was capable of a lot more power,
so we added a Hondata FlashPro, a new intercooler,
and exhaust from Greddy, as well as an AEM intake.
And we went back to the dyno and the car put down
212 horsepower and 230 foot-pounds of torque.
- [Matt] Wow, that's crazy, that's 44 horsepower
and 61 foot-pounds of torque more.
I bet this thing is going to be chirping the tires.
- It is, and you're going to have a blast driving it
and you'll know just right when you fire up the car.
- Awesome, thank you, Sam for showing us the
potential of Honda's first turbocharged Civic.
- Thank you to all our partners for helping us
with this build.
Matt, you're going to have a lot of fun driving this thing.
- All right, Geoff, I got the keys to Project Civic.
You want to road trip this thing?
- Yeah, dude, let's do it!
This car looks insane from the last time I saw it.
- Yeah we're going to show this baby off at Street Driven.
- Dude!
(relaxed music)
Can you put it in gear?
- I got it in gear. - Are you sure?
(relaxed music)
- We're road trippin'. - Road trippin', yeah!
First ever road trip with Matt Cat Powers.
- That's right, showing you the South West.
- You're my nav right now, dude.
- [Matt] Have you ever done the road trip to Vegas?
- [Geoff] Never ever.
- [Matt] Never!
Route 66?
- Dude, never ever been on Route 66.
I'm so stoked right now.
- [Matt] Go left, Bottle Tree Ranch.
- Bottle Tree? Left? - Yup, yup.
- Dude this place is wild. - I like it.
- What is this? - I don't know.
- [Geoff] You said trees, they're not even trees!
- [Matt] They kind of look like trees.
- No they don't, dude!
How'd you find this place?
- It's Route 66.
California secret.
- Yeah, it's interesting.
I don't know where Matt's taking me.
It's a weird road trip.
It's like what does he do on his time off?
Weirdest places in California.
- [Matt] I wonder if any of these are sparkling water.
- Ooh, sarsaparilla.
Love a good sarsaparilla.
You know what sarsaparilla is? - No.
- Just like 1JZ, doesn't know the difference.
- [Matt] I don't know.
- This place is cool, don't get me wrong.
Weird, little freaked out.
- I feel good in here, I like it.
- Let's go back in the AC Civic, finish our trip to Vegas.
Hoping it's not as weird as this.
- [Matt] See, I think the glass bottle trees
kind of break it up, but all right, let's head to Vegas then.
(relaxed guitar music)
- Oh, we lettin' her eat.
- [Matt] Definitely hearing the turbo.
- Yeah, this car feels amazing
after all the upgrades you and Sam and everyone else did.
Tires feel great, suspension feels great.
Power? Awesome.
Crazy thing about this car in the road trip,
36 miles per gallon. - Yeah.
- And over 200 horsepower to the wheels.
- Yeah, the six speed's really nice.
The boost comes on super early.
Sounds good, not too loud, but still has a nice grumble.
Has room in the back for our gear.
It's a perfect, sporty daily driver car.
- Yeah, perfect road trip car.
- Feels really good to not drive with a backpack on, too.
- Backpack, book, pillows.
- This is the first car you've been able to reach
the pedals in all season!
(laughing)
- Yeah, whatever dude.
(relaxed electronic music)
(electronic music)
(engines revving)
- We finally made it out to Vegas.
It's been an awesome road trip so far.
And the crowd's looking pretty sick at Street Driven.
- Yeah, there's tons of spectators out there.
We're going to show off Project Civic,
drive it through the pits.
Matt's going to be giving demo ride-alongs.
Should be a good time!
- Yeah, I'm excited, let's show this thing off,
and do a little driving. - Cool.
- [Matt] As Geoff cruises around, showing off Project Civic
and passing out tees,
I spent my time sliding around the drift course
and doing my best to scare some fans who just jumped in
for a ride-along.
Street Driven's put on a great show for fans
all over the country over the last four years,
with shows in Virginia, St. Louis, Atlanta,
and right here in Vegas.
(engine revving)
(slow electronic music and engines revving)
- [Geoff] Later, Vegas.
- Peace out, Street Driven.
That was super fun.
The fans were loving Project Civic.
We got a really good response.
I'm pretty stoked on that.
- [Geoff] Yeah the fans were vibin' hard on Project Civic.
They were stoked.
They're asking questions on performance upgrades,
wheel tire package, suspension.
It was killer.
- [Matt] Been a really fun road trip.
- [Geoff] Amazing road trip.
- But we got one more stop.
We're going to race a brand new Type R, head to head.
- So we got to go. - Let's go.
- We got to hit this road.
(slow electronic music)
- Geoff and I are out here, Mojave Desert.
It's 110 degrees, middle of summer, and we don't care.
- No, we don't because Honda hooked us up
and set up our competition for this episode.
- That's right, they came through big time.
They got us two 2017 Civic Type R's.
These things are a blast to drive.
They let us through the security gates
at their super exclusive Honda Proving Center.
But before we get our competition underway,
I want to make sure everybody understands
how serious these machines are.
(slow electronic music)
(engine revving)
(slow electronic music)
So how're we going to do this?
- All right, so the competition is super simple.
Basically, each driver will get two practice laps,
two timed laps, and the driver with the best lap time wins.
But this being Honda, they thought it'd be a little bit
more fun adding another variable
for this episode's competition.
(dramatic music)
Honda brought in their superstar driver, Mitchell DeJong
to compete against us in the Type R.
- [Mitchell] Thanks for having me.
- Tell us a little bit about yourself
before you go out there and school us.
- So I raced in Rebel Global Rally Cross
in the Supercar class.
And this is my first full year competing in that class now.
- Well you look pretty young.
Do you have a license?
- I do have my license actually.
I got it a couple years ago.
- [Matt] I'm sure despite us having had your license
for three times as long that
you're going to teach us some things out there, so.
- We'll see, we'll see.
Maybe, you never know.
- Well it looks like you're ready to hit the track.
Thanks for coming out, and good luck out there.
- Thank you, good luck, good luck.
- Yup, good luck to you. - Thank you.
- We're totally going to need the good luck.
- Dude, I saw him set the track record
at Family Fun Together last week.
- I thought he looked familiar
'cause I took my daughter to Chuck 'E' Cheese,
I swear he was there.
(dramatic music)
(engine revving)
(dramatic music and engine revving)
(tires squealing)
(dramatic electronic music)
(tires squealing)
(dramatic electronic music)
- How was it?
- That was fun.
- Got any tips for me out there?
- Yeah, the whole thing is just,
there's such high speed corners you need to,
you know, carry that entry speed in.
That's where a lot of time can be made up.
If you can push the braking points, I think that's,
that's a key part, so.
The car has pretty much enough power where
you can pull any gear you want, so should be good.
- Sick, thank you.
- Yes, have fun. - Good job out there.
- Thank you.
- What're you listening to?
Are you jamming out? - I'm always jammin' out.
You got to keep, you know, the tempo going, you know?
- Get it.
- Listening to Beethoven, it's pretty rad.
- I don't really know my strategy.
I'm just going to go out there, try and be clean.
Keep a moderate pace and just not overcook anything.
And have some fun and do my best.
- Let's get it!
This is going to be fun.
(chill music)
(chill electronic music)
(tires squealing)
(chill electronic music)
(tires squealing)
(chill electronic music)
(tires squealing)
(laughing)
Ohh, that's close!
(chill electronic music)
Woo!
- All right Mitchell, that was super fun out there.
Good work, everybody, but let's get down to business.
How did we do?
- I think we all did really well.
It was a very tough track to find the limits of the car
and things like that, but we all kept it on track,
we kept the cars in one piece, so I think
we all did a good job.
- Well yeah, I mean, I had a ton of fun out there.
The car felt amazing.
Super close ratios, boost throughut all the turns,
and I had a blast out there
and I wish I could drive all day.
So how'd you like it, Geoff?
How'd you do?
- [Geoff] Yeah I mean, I'm in love with the car.
I mean it's powerful, the gearing's awesome,
the seats are comfortable.
Feels very light and it just hugs the track, so I had fun.
- We need to know, who won?
I can't take it any longer.
- So we have third place is Matt
with a 1:43.04. - What?
- Second place we have Geoff with a 1:42.16.
- Nailed it.
Good driving.
- And then for my time, 1:39.69.
- Smoked us. - Yeah.
We should just stick to drifting.
Thanks for coming out, man.
It was super awesome seeing you rip behind your wheel.
- Thank you, no, I appreciate it.
It was a lot of fun getting to drive these
magnificent cars, and everything's great.
- Big thanks to Honda for having us out here
at this awesome facility and getting to test these
wicked new Type R's.
Next episode, we're going to an undisclosed,
top secret location, very high stakes competition.
Whoever wins that round is going to be a very happy person,
so we'll see you there.
(electronic music)
Please slow down.