A long time coming: Robbie's EP3

I wrote an article on this car once before in an attempt to get a job. Didn't work. Some crap about not reaching a word minimum. Sounds just like school. But that's all behind me now and I'm finally going to write about it the way I damn well please and not to meet some stupid requirements. This is way overdue and I should probably be listening to my professor right now or doing homework that's due tonight but "frankly my dear, I don't give a Damn"!

First and foremost, I am a NISMO man, always have been, always will be. That being said, I have a sort of bittersweet relationships with Hondas. I got my first ticket not a month after I got my restricted license. My punishment? spending the summer driving my mom's car. Blech. Turns out my mom had a '98 accord. 4 doors, leather interior, japanese luxury...you get the idea. But thank the lord that my dad had a say in buying it. His only condition was that the car came with the V6. that is where my punishment became fun. It introduced me to the mighty and legendary VTEC!!!!1!! (I know, I know, it's i-VTEC, but still). The engine sounded like it was trying to eat it's way out of the crumple zones encasing it. I loved walking away from my friend's '98 stang. All good times from my highschool years but Robbie's civic is different...and yet.

The EP3 is strange. It oozes Honda: not bland but not exciting styling, economy, ergonomics, practicality, comfort, all wrapped around a nice little nugget of surprise. Robbie's car is not fast in a straight line. It is not heavily modified. It is uber-stock. yet driving it or riding with him still brings back those immature tire-shredding days in a grocery getter. It is a wolf in sheep's clothing. It's limits are far beyond what it's humble grin expresses. And the ever so quietly puttering engine has the potential for greatness. It is in fact a K20A3. A variant of the superman of 4-cylinder powaaaaaa, the K20A2. But for now, it's happy staying under the radar. And that's why it's so fun. It's like a boxer fighting with weights on. It's like putting a Monet in the closet. Its like a stripper keeping her clothes on. It knows it has the potential for attention, but it's happy right where it is. That's where I respect it most. It is quick enough and asks for nothing more.

Being the Z guy that I am, it felt like cheating on my car driving the Civic. Nissan and Honda remind me of Ford and Chevy: both accomplishing sporty goals through different methods. But as much as I prefer Nissans and Robbie prefers Hondas, we can agree on one thing: at least it's not a Toyota!