Honda Heat: The Chronicles Year 9 Anniversary Meet

Not even record-high scorching temperatures could keep enthusiasts from attending the Chronicles Year 9 event held at Eibach Springs’ headquarters in Corona, California. The event marks another milestone year for The Chronicles website. Its creator, Joey Lee offered his appreciation to all his loyal website followers by holding this semi-private event to celebrate the ninth annual anniversary of The Chronicles.

Why was the event labeled as semi private? Naturally, to weed out all vehicle owners that would otherwise attempt to bring their mom’s Toyota Camry with set of off-brand wheels, or patina inspired Honda Civics with mismatched body kits. Quality versus quantity has always been the focus for Joey since the Chronicles’ inception, whether its covering car show events or a series of vlog for his website. This event was no different.

As 1 p.m. quickly rolled around, a continuous flow of cars began to quickly fill up the Eibach headquarters parking lot as event staff instructed the owners to double-park down the aisles. At the end of the day, it was estimated that over 250 cars were in attendance with all the spots reserved well in advance before the event.

Anytime you have a set of individual throttle bodies poking out from the engine bay, it’s a sure sign that it will draw a crowd of curious onlookers. Jose Del Villar’s EF-chassis Civic is adorned with a Candy Apple Red hue from House of Kolors and modified using a K20A engine with Kinsler individual throttle bodies.

We loved the contrasting nickel plated velocity stacks. The engine bay was cleaned up using a tucked radiator and various -AN fittings and hoses to deliver a clean appearance.

Sean Lucas put an extensive amount of work into his 2000 Civic Si. According to Yuta Akaishi, longtime friend and co-owner of BattleCraft, Lucas’s Civic has been ever evolving since he first purchased it from the dealership more than 17 years ago.

Back in the day, the Civic was turbocharged and frequented the street racing scene. A mishap ended in a crash that prompted Lucas to remove the turbo kit and begin making alternative modifications to the car, but it wasn’t until one and a half years ago that he decided the Civic needed a major makeover.

Inspired from cars of Japan competing in the time attack scene, Lucas took cues from companies such as Inspired Garage to replace the glass panels including the sunroof with carbon fiber pieces. Putting the car on a diet has paid dividends as its curb weight currently sits at 1,974lbs.

The interior consists of a full weld-in roll cage, Bride bucket racing seat, AiM dash display and a custom carbon fiber dash for weight saving purposes. A rear-view-monitor placed directly under the dash became a necessity because looking out the rear and pair of side windows is utterly impossible.

Under the hood sits a LS/VTEC B18 block with B16 cylinder head. The cylinder head received a mild port and was stuffed with Toda B cams before being mated to a set of Kinsler individual throttle bodies.

A set of 17×9-inch RAYS TE37 wheels sits up front, while 16×8-inch SSR Type C wheels reside in the rear. The vehicle is obviously a work in progress as Lucas recently returned from Japan with a set of J’s Racing fenders and a C West bumper to complete the exterior.

Why does this Hachiroku’s paint job look so clean you ask? Kemritte Seang mentioned that his AE86 received a fresh paint job the day before the show.

Under the hood sits a 4A-GE 20V engine with a rare Silkroad N2 header.

Alex Zhao’s Honda S2000 has plenty of horsepower to back up his Voltex aero pieces, thanks to a Kraftwerks supercharged, E85 fed power plant that delivers 500 hp. Additional modifications include a Mugen header, T1R exhaust, AEM Series 2 EMS standalone. Suspension modifications include Exceed short stroke coilovers, and a set of Arcane wheels.

Pocari Sweat happens to be my favorite Japanese sports drink but Kodi Chan’s Civic took things to a whole new level of drink recognition. Chan isn’t the type to shy away from making headlines with his cars.

While the vehicle is still powered by a D-series engine, the exterior was upgraded with a BattleCraft vented hood, Chargespeed fenders, CWest bumper, Exceed coilovers and SSR MKIII 15-inch wheels.

This Tiffany blue colored Civic was converted to right-hand-drive and equipped with an M&M Hyper wide body kit.

Rowell Ysamuel trekked all the way from San Jose to display his right-hand-drive converted Integra DA at this year’s event. Under the hood resides a B17A1 VTEC engine that was accompanied by plenty of polished and chromed parts, including a custom intake. The minimalist approach helped to clean up the engine bay by removing all of the brake’s hard lines and tucking the entire engine harness for a clean look.

The exterior might look subtle to the untrained eye but the JDM theme plays an important role to this Integra’s unique appearance. JDM thin side moldings, window visors, sunroof visor, rear window visor, and OEM body kit were all present and accounted for.

The interior kept true to the JDM theme and retained every JDM right-hand-drive component that originally came with the car. The only aftermarket modifications we saw was the shifter, shift knob, and the ultra-rare Mugen FG-360 steering wheel.

Among the many cars in attendance we witnessed a few Honda Wagovans with one in particular sporting a throwback teal and pink color scheme that’s reminiscent of the ‘80s time era when these Miami Vice colors and Hondas were popular.

Allen Lugue’s ultra-clean ’86 Toyota Corolla GT-S came out to play under the hot Corona sun.

Hector Levario made the long trip all the way from Palmdale, California to display his ’07 Honda S2000. The S2K was originally purchased to serve as a daily driver for Levario but like many enthusiasts, his plans quickly changed and before he knew it, this simple build turned into a full-blown project.

Levario’s Voltex-themed AP2-chassis S2000 is comprised of a Voltex diffuser; Type 2 wing, and race front bumper. A set of Volk TE37 wheels gives this Honda an aggressive demeanor.

Jeremy Allgier’s BB6-chassis Prelude is another unique build that demands attention within a Honda scene flooded with Civics, S2000s and Integras. The lack of aftermarket parts for the BB6 chassis can be downright discouraging, to counteract that Jeremy took a page out of his own book and drew inspiration and creativity from his own previous builds to create a one-off build.

Second generation Integras have become somewhat of a dying breed in the import tuning world, so we were surprised to find a strong showing at this year’s event.

There was nothing particularly fancy or over the top when it came to this Integra—other than its striking condition—but as the popular phrase goes, ‘less is more’.

The owner opted to keep the OEM color while adding a few modifications including a front lip, Mugen side skirts, exhaust and rear wing, aftermarket mirrors, and JDM visors and side moldings. If you’re old school like me and from the southern California area, you’re familiar with the name Metro Speed from the street racing days.

We loved the variety of cars that attended this year’s event including a few Porsches with tasteful modifications.

No RAUH-Welt Begriff wide body kits here!

We loved this pairing of previous magazine-featured Civics under the Hybrid-Racing tent.

Luis Jaime’s bronze metallic Civic EG is powered by a ’03 K20A power plant with Jenvey individual throttle bodies, and a Hayward intake manifold adapter. A Hybrid Racing conversion harness and fuel rail is fed via a Walbro 255lph fuel pump.

Interior and exterior modifications are extensive and consist of a Back Yard Special carbon fiber front lip and rear wing, Mugen strut bar, Vision Mirrors, Mugen S1-R seats, seat rails, Race Steering Wheel 3, carbon-fiber shift knob, pedal set, instrument cluster and rearview mirror cover; JDM 20th Anniversary rear seats, door panels, key/key fob, arm rest and floor mats.

Teddy Timoteo’s green EK-chassis Civic sports similar modifications to Jaime’s ride. The engine is also a K20A mated to a set of Jenvey individual throttle bodies with Hayward intake manifold adapter, but the block was sleeved and punched out to a 2.2-liter displacement using 89mm bore pistons.

With a compression ratio of 12.0:1 and a set of Web camshafts, the engine now belts out an impressive 280 hp on 91-octane fuel.

The exterior modifications consist of a First Molding hood, Mugen front lip and rear wing. The most coveted item on this vehicle are the rare forged 16×8-inch front and 16×7-inch rear KS-CE wheels by Kei Office.

Nowadays it’s rare to see a modified Accord roaming the streets. The owner of this fourth generation added some visual exterior mods as well as engine modifications using a newer generation H22 engine swap.

The always classic Sprint Hart CP-R wheels complement the JDM front bumper, Greddy side skirts and front air dam. The lexan splitters were an interesting add-on piece that we’re assuming was custom made by the owner.

Muoi Tran’s EK hatch was fresh from the Super Street FF Battle as the B16B Type R-powered Civic went from stock to fully prepped in 10 days to compete. The engine is currently running off the original B16 ECU using a custom harness made by BattleCraft. Suspension consists of Exceed coilovers, ASR sway bars and sub frame brace, Integra Type R calipers and Mini Cooper rotors. A Tactical Art carbon fiber front lip, OEM Civic Type R rear wing, and 16×7-inch Volk TE37 wheels complete the build.

I can literally stand there for days ogling at the RC Garage EM1-chassis Civic with its near flawless build quality. This Electron Blue Pearl colored Civic owned by Mike Schietroma was built back in 2015 to display at SEMA using only the best parts.

A pair of ICB Pursuit MKI Kevlar-backed seats with Willans racing harnesses, wood grain Nardi wheel, and a chrome-plated K-Tuned billet shifter box adds to this unique build.

The color matched valve cover and chrome accented K24A2 engine was turbocharged using a JDL Auto Design exhaust manifold, Garret GT35R turbocharger, and force-fed though an All-In Fabrication center-feed intake manifold.

Project Mu four-piston calipers and Diamond Black Volk CE28N wheels were tucked under the fender well using a custom air ride suspension setup.

The Sport Car Motion supercharged Integra reemerged from a two-year sleep, since it ran 1:51 at Buttonwillow Raceway in the Super Lap Battle event. With plans of competing at this year’s event, the car is currently undergoing some minor modifications in hopes of claiming the title in FWD unlimited class.

A Rotrex C3892 supercharger kit aids the K24/K20 hybrid power plant. The internals were beefed up using Supertech valve train, JE pistons, BC connecting rods, SCM port and polished cylinder head, Golden Eagle sleeves, dual Forge blow-off valves and 2,0000cc injectors tuned on Hondata K Pro software. With the current modifications, the engine makes over 600 hp and 380 lb-ft of torque.

A Radium surge tank was affixed inside the cabin; along with a full roll cage and Hondata traction control system to assist in reducing wheel spin when exiting out the corners.

Go Tuning brought out the Spoon Sports center-drive Civic Type R turbo for display after testing completed two days prior. With Dai Yoshihara piloting the car, the team worked out any last minute bugs prior to this year’s Super Lap Battle. Parked alongside the FF time attack machine was a new Civic Type R outfitted with a set of Titan 7 T-S5 forged wheels. Titan 7 wheels have been aggressively pushing their affordable wheel lineup and have been making quite a name for themselves within the forged wheel market.

As with every passing Chronicles event, the number of cars attending the celebration continues to grow and by our estimations will outgrow the Eibach parking lot by next year. For information on the event or simply just to check out some of Joey’s worldwide event and feature car coverage, check out stickydiljoe.com. Hope to see you all at next year’s anniversary!


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