@nicalbright's ASM 15' SI Sedan Build Thread
What’s up everyone? My names Nic, I'm 23, and a ACS Department Supervisor with Whole Foods Market here in North Carolina. I’m new to the 9th Gen forums, but not so new to Hondas. I’d describe myself as an ex-Honda owner who has finally made his way back to his roots. Follow me on my journey in this long-term timeline and build thread of my newly acquired 2015 Honda Civic SI sedan in Alabaster Silver Metallic.
Instagram: @nicalbright
Purchased June 24th, 2015
Intro
When I began building cars at age 15, I began my journey with Hondas, as a lot of young kids do. Cheap, easy to learn on, and fun to drive. I owned four pretty embarrassing Hondas over the course of a year, but my last ownership of a Honda was back in 2008. It was a Red EM1 that was coming together nicely, as I had just started getting into the definition of “clean” and quickly growing tired of the typical "loud car, buy everything available on Ebay" phase. The car had a few brand-name parts including a new Greddy Evo2 exhaust, some Skunk2 and Buddy Club bolt-ons, a Password JDM intake, and was set to receive a new paint job to clean up the dulled OEM paint. The night before the scheduled paint job, a man that had apparently spotted my car on a local forum called me offering me a 2003 Volkswagen Jetta VR6 off of his grandfathers car lot as a trade offer for the Civic. He wanted it for his son’s 16th birthday, but was short on cash and only had the Jetta to offer. Two hours later we met, did a couple of test drives, and my hand shook his before I even knew what was happening. That night was the night I said goodbye to the Honda world. Ever since that day I’ve been a “Euro guy”, owning and building numerous Volkswagens and taking extreme pride in each of them. My most recent build, a 2006 Volkswagen GLI was my pride and joy. However while it was my favorite build to date, it was also the most unreliable piece of machinery known to man. This is ultimately why I’m now here (and HAPPY to behere I might add) in the 9th Gen forums. Lets take a look back and get everyone caught up to speed.
My two most recent Volkswagen builds
1999 Jetta GL
2006 Jetta GLI
New Beginnings, Bad Impressions, and Hard Decisions
A month or so ago I finally landed a job with a company that I had been yearning to begin a career with for over two years. I was overwhelmed with excitement and couldn’t wait toget and get started after accepting their offer. Monday morning arrived; I hopped in the car, and headed out for my first day on the job! Half-way to work as I’m drinking my coffee and cruising along, the inevitable happens.. My car died.. right in the middle of the interstate. First day on the job, and I’m gonna be late because of the stupid car. Fantastic first impression, right? Now we fast-forward a week and the company has had pity on me and given me a new start date because “life happens.” So now the following Monday rolls around and it’s time for my first day again. As I’m driving along attempting to plan my first day (now equipped with a new fuel pump I might add) I’m rudely interrupted by the warning of the temperature gauge and the car dies AGAIN. Guess who now needs a new water pump? This guy. The new job is now suspicious and questioning whether or not hiring me was a good decision, as you could imagine any good company would be. Fast-forwarding again to my fourth day on the job. I’ve re-gained trust in my accountability, the car is fixed, and everything seems to be going well. I leave to go home that night, go to start the car, and boom. Dead. Guess who now needs the in-tank electronic fuel sending module? Pick me! Pick me! I need it! Luckily I had the next two days off this time. Close call. A day later after getting the car back home, I sat on my couch in a total funk hating my current situation. I had a hard, but logical decision to make. I began thinking “What’s the most reliable, best "bang for your buck" vehicle with adecent aftermarket support that I can grab today for $25,000?” After a few hours of research and narrowing down the list to a new Civic SI and a very gently used Subaru BRZ, I was at the local Honda dealership with two of my Honda-lifer friends ready for a test drive.
First Date
Upon arriving at the dealership, I had intended on scoping out a White Civic SI sedan, however I noticed a Silver one in the back peeking out of the plastic wrap that was still on the hood and roof. I was intrigued. I hadn’t seen too many of them in this color floating around, so I figured "Eh, might as well check it out." We unwrapped the car and honestly my first impression was not great. The shape, the taillights, and the lack of HID’s turned me off immediately. I did a brief walk-around and hopped in for the test drive. The second that I sat in the car my mind began to change. Ice cold AC, super comfortable seating, advanced dash and electronics, carbon fiber trim, leather stitched knob and wheel were all great features, not to mention the modern Black and Red color combo. My mind started racing with wheel setups, lip kits, accessories, and everything in between. As I left the parking lot I was surprisingly in total “chill” mode. I didn’t fear for my life or fear breaking down at any giving second like I frequently did in my GLI. The car lacked in power compared to the Volkswagen obviously, but it was fine. Everything was fine. I arrived back at the dealership and got out of the car. I walked around assessing, critiquing, hating, loving, and contemplating the “Pros and Cons” of the car for over a solid hour in the 102* heat. At 2:30PM I sat behind the wheel and decided that “Yep, I want it and I’m not going to leave unless I leave IN it.”
To move the story along, I haggled and compared prices with the managers, shook a few hands, and told them I’d be back in an hour. My two friends and I drove home in the GLI, swapped out my wheels, pulled out the floor mats, the trunk mat, all of my tools and personals, threw the stock intake back on, and drove it back to Honda. The Volkswagen was officially tradedin! I took a few pictures, signed a few papers, and walked out the door with my new 2015 Honda Civic SI sedan for $22,900. They even tossed in the OEM mud flaps and wheel locks that they said weren’t included for that price, so that was even better. I now had a brand new car, a few added extras, a few good parts to re-sell from the Volkswagen, as well as 3-piece wheels with new tires that can hopefully find a home on the SI later on down the road. Life was good today.
Week One
First full day of ownership and I’ve walked past it in aparking lot twice now, forgetting that it’s mine (LOL) So far so good, though. Although I really miss my GLI (and having a boosted car in general) I haven’t regretted my decision. Sure, I spent a ton of money that I would have rather not spent, but atleast it’s on a clean, reliable vehicle instead of on constant repairs for an old one. This has been a great investment thus far.
The “Mod Bug”
As any car enthusiast knows, the hardest part of a purchasing a new/unmolested car is to avoid getting bitten by the “mod bug” that comes with it. Well I’m certainly no different, and my house is full of them. In the last 24-hours, I’ve been creeping in all corners of the internet researching, photoshopping, planning, and “Adding to Cart”. So far no purchases have been officially made, but tomorrow is another day.. ;)