Poke Me In The Eye

1.8L inline 4 (B18A1)
130 hp @ 6000 RPM
121 lb-ft @ 5000 RPM
2549 lbs

I’m sure you are wondering why in the world I choose this car to be my Car of the Week. We’ll…its pretty simple…you see, I own this car (mine is white). I bought it a couple weeks ago after my truck caught on fire (a whole other story).

But this car does deserve some special attention. But this car does deserve some special attention. It, arguably, represents the beginning of the import tuning craze. 1990 was a fantastic year for the Japanese import…we had the DSM cars (Eagle Talon, Plymoth Laser, Mitsubishi Eclipse), the 240SX, 300ZX, RX-7, and the Miata, last generation Supra and RX-7 and 3000GT were right around the corner. And 1990 was the first year of the “new” body style for the car…and the first year of the insanely tune-able b-series Honda powerplant.

What sets this car apart is the extent at which the tuner market embraced it…and it was an essential car for the “engine swap” craze that still exists today. You can literally find thousands of performance parts for it from basic bolt on intakes and exhaust to full 50-state street legal turbo kits. The 93+ model has a bit more support however. The 93+ model has a bit more support however.

So what is the car like to drive? Well…it is 17 years old. It squeaks, it rattles, it isn’t exceptionally fast (although Acura made up for that with later GSR and Type R versions…the Type R being in contention for the greatest handling FWD car sold in the US.) But taking into account the years and mileage it performs amazingly well…it’s agile, quick (but not fast), comfortable…everything works and to this day it still looks pretty damn good.

Yes there are far more amazing machines out there and yes a 2007 Hyundai Accent may out perform it. But if you are looking for bang-for-the-buck and a car that has not only stood the test of time, but still have a tremendous following (with aftermarket performance parts still being produced!) you’d be hard pressed to find any better import.