The business financial centre was jolted from its peaceful slumber on a Sunday evening by a loud sound echoing fast from one end of the street to another, alternating between gear changes and thunderous revs of internal combustion fury.
Claiming responsibility for the 'menace' is this tuned 235 brake horsepower FD2R, or also affectionately known as the Honda Civic Type R, high on custom-designed carbon fibre body kit and a long list of tuning charm. We take a closer look at the highlights.
The red emblem represents Honda's Formula One success and it has hugely earned respect and won fans from all over the world. The Civic Type R is one true bloodline that exudes this engineering marvel from the Japanese company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo.
Eric, the owner of this heavily modded machine, is one car nut.
Starting from the steering rack, he has fitted it with a fine piece of art from Nardi, an Italian workshop building racing cars and special designs with its roots tracing back to the 1940s. Imagine the excitement building up by just laying both your hands on it. Great workmanship.
We continue to indulge in more car pornography.
Feeling tempted to push that red, hot button?
Or pedal to the metal?
The handsome dash and driver oriented cockpit makes everyday driving less mundane. Neatly arranged cluster of gauges and monitoring equipment hint at the capabilities of this VTEC monster. Red line is a standard at 9,000 RPM, and Eric with his tuner has also managed to launch this car from 0 to 100 at a neat 6.1 seconds.
Not bad for a 2,000 cc naturally aspirated engine.
Powering the shifter is a customised high-performance Final drive gears made specifically for Honda transmissions. Exactly what hard and rigorous driving do need to unleash its full potential.
The chassis sits on 17" light-weight racing rims on tyre profile of 225/45 and a BC coilover suspension system. Brembo 4-pot brakes were also installed for raw stopping power.
The distinctive bumper design is also the ingenious work of the tuner. In Eric's technical explanation, the custom cut allows better escapement of trapped air while the car is in motion, reducing drag.
Sounds badass, isn't it?
Sounds badass, isn't it?
The car got more alive on the open straights as we left the skyscrapers behind. This is the time when you can hear the screaming VTEC bass shooting right through the ear drums, leaving you totally flabbergasted.
One thing about the Civic Type R is that the more you hang around with it, the more it grows on you, and the more great angles you discover to view it from. At the end of our shoot, saying goodbye was the last thing we ever wanted to do.
In collaboration with
CONVERSATION