Picking Up Where Honda Left Off: The Evasive Motorsports Civic Type R
The GT3 Approach

Those of us with a little snow on the roof and shake in our cane distinctly remember when the first Civic Type R was released. It was Honda’s way of saying ‘we know what you guys want to do with this car, so here’s a head start’.

Type R editions have always been the best version of their respective Honda chassis, and the general idea is that they are lighter, faster, and more performance focused than standard models.

2018 Evasive Motorsport Honda Civic Type R by Jr Sang-04

Unfortunately, every generation prior to the current model release wasn’t sold in North America. This was a serious downer for those of us in NA, but it made the hype around the Type R very, very real.

If one showed up to an event, particularly a Civic (this was peak Civic era), everyone – Honda fan or not – wandered over to see what made the red-badged cars so damn special.

2018 Evasive Motorsport Honda Civic Type R by Jr Sang-47

When Honda announced that, finally, the next generation of Civic Type Rs would be sold in North America, Mike Chang and Tony Kwan of Evasive Motorsports immediately queued up for a chance to own one.

Of course, simply owning an FK8 wouldn’t be enough – it had to be modified in Evasive’s noteworthy function and form style.

2018 Evasive Motorsport Honda Civic Type R by Jr Sang-01

Evasive’s approach to modifying their Type R has been a calculated one from the very beginning. Their intent was to address the weak points and emphasize the strong points, rather than blindly throwing the book at the car and hoping for the best.

The overall ethos for the car was actually inspired by Porsche GT3s. GT3 911s are a track focused model of an already great car that is still very streetable. Furthermore they look like a proper finished vehicle with attention paid to every aspect.

2018 Evasive Motorsport Honda Civic Type R by Jr Sang-40

To ‘GT3′ the new CTR, the first place Evasive took it was the track. Testing the car in its stock form is simply the best way to identify its shortcomings, and it didn’t take long to find problem area one.

California is a notoriously hot state, and after a handful of laps it became clear the FK8 didn’t like the climate. To alleviate the problem, Evasive crafted a custom hood with a wide NACA-style duct riding high center.

2018 Evasive Motorsport Honda Civic Type R by Jr Sang-13

The prototype vented hood solved the overheating problem nearly immediately, while further bolstering the car’s overall visual aggression.

Continuing down the path of blending function and form, Evasive also developed a high-flow carbon fiber grill for the CTR. Again, like the hood, it’s proven effective in keeping the car out on the track longer at comfortable temperatures.

With the carbon manufacturing tools already out, Evasive added splitters to the front and side. Carbon was also used for the rear wing and rear diffuser.

Driver’s Delight
2018 Evasive Motorsport Honda Civic Type R by Jr Sang-05

The iterative drive, tweak, drive approach to achieving balance was employed not only to the outside of the car but the inside as well.

2018 Evasive Motorsport Honda Civic Type R by Jr Sang-33

Evasive developed their own roll bar and installed it along with a tidy carbon fiber rear seat delete panel. I’m not sure about you, but I prefer this approach to leaving the back half bare, or worse, leaving the seats installed as some sort of sick challenge to only the most proficient of contortionists.

2018 Evasive Motorsport Honda Civic Type R by Jr Sang-29

From the roll bar forward the interior is a mix of business and pleasure. Honda niceties like the radio, HVAC, and power accessories are all retained untouched. This includes the factory steering wheel with its associated controls.

However, seating is an area that has been addressed, and in a throwback to the original EK9 CTR, Jersey red Recaro seats can be found for both the driver and the passenger.

2018 Evasive Motorsport Honda Civic Type R by Jr Sang-26

Matching Schroth Clubman 6-point harnesses keep occupants where they ought to be when the car is pushed to its working limit.

2018 Evasive Motorsport Honda Civic Type R by Jr Sang-19

Speaking of limits, Mike touched on the interesting topic of the car’s electronic driving aids. Though many would-be racers hate on the various ‘nannies’ cars come with today, he confirms the ones in the CTR are actually quite good.

Instead of limiting the driver and numbing the overall experience, they inspire just that extra bit of confidence that allows for quicker lap times and a more enjoyable overall drive.

Mike also admits to being pleasantly surprised by the tires Honda specified for the vehicle; they provided plenty of grip and showed decent tread wear after several R&D sessions. However, 20-inch performance rubber isn’t exactly cheap, nor are 20-inch wheels light, so they had to go.

In their place are Advan GT wheels. A classic white 5-spoke, visually these play well with the car’s current livery. Performance-wise, the tire setup varies ever so slightly between street trim and track trim.

Both setups use Maxxis VR-1 rubber and 265/35 tires up front, however in the rear the sizing drops down from 245 to 235 for track use. That little bit of extra room out back ensures there is no worry of rubbing under hard cornering.

Behind the wheels, the factory Brembo calipers have proven more than up to the task. The factory rotors and pads did leave a little to be desired, though, and have since been replaced. Tarox 2-piece rotors and matching Enduro race compound pads have been added up front, while the rear pads are Project Mu Club Racer pieces. Project Mu also provides the brake fluid running through the system.

Know The Ledge
2018 Evasive Motorsport Honda Civic Type R by Jr Sang-41

Under hood is where Evasive displayed some level of restraint. This is the second Civic Type R to get a turbo powerplant, and Honda didn’t leave all that much left on the table if you want a motor that’s still reliable. That said, Evasive did put in some work to enhance the K20AC1.

From their own catalog they selected a down pipe and front pipe, and from the GReddy warehouse came an intercooler, oil cooler and Supreme SP exhaust system. The aforementioned, combined with a custom tune, produces just under 400hp with nearly equal amounts of torque.

Evasive suspects there’s plenty more on the table for those who want to crack open the motor and replace the internals, but considering how versatile the car currently is, they don’t see the need to take things so far right now.

With the hood popped the external reservoirs for the AST 5300 Series suspension are visible. In addition to the coilovers, Eibach adjustable sway bars have been thrown into the mix, along with an Eibach camber kit to allow for the alignment specs Evasive determined suit the car best.

Concluding the suspension modifications are Ultra Racing chassis braces and a prototype Evasive roll center adjuster.

2018 Evasive Motorsport Honda Civic Type R by Jr Sang-02

Evasive debuted their version of the Civic Type R at the 2017 SEMA Show where it received almost unanimous praise. Today, it remains as one of the most modified street/track FK8s around.

2018 Evasive Motorsport Honda Civic Type R by Jr Sang-39

From here out Evasive’s plans for the car are to continue to develop their EVS Tuning offerings with real world performance testing. The next target in the Evasive cross hairs is some competition at Buttonwillow Raceway.

Given the meticulous modifications made to bring this car to the next level I can only imagine it will fare extremely well, and from there the sky is the limit.

Dave Thomas
Instagram: stanceiseverythingcom

Photographed by Jr Sang
Instagram: @jrsang_

Evasive Motorsport’s FK8 Honda Civic Type R

Engine:
Honda K20AC1 2.0L DOHC 16V turbo inline-four, EVS Tuning down pipe, EVS Tuning front pipe, GReddy intercooler, GReddy oil cooler, Greddy Supreme SP exhaust, Koyo radiator, Hondata FlashPro custom tuned

Drivetrain:
Honda 6-speed manual gearbox, OS Giken 1.5-way LSD, EVS Tuning prototype transmission bypass/cooler

Suspension/Brakes:
AST 5300 Series 3-way adjustable coilovers, Eibach rear camber kit (EVS modified), Eibach front/rear adjustable sway bars, EVS Tuning prototype front roll center adjuster, Ultra Racing chassis braces, Tarox F2000 2-piece front rotors, Tarox Enduro race compound front pads, Project Mu Club Racer rear pads, Project Mu 355 fluid

Wheels/Tires:
Advan GT wheels 18×10.5-inch front 18×9-inch rear, Maxxis VR-1 265/35R18 front 245/40R18 rear (street), Maxxis RC-1 265/35R18 front 235/40R18 rear (track)

Exterior:
EVS Tuning carbon front lip, EVS Tuning carbon front splitter, EVS Tuning carbon side splitter, EVS Tuning carbon rear wing, EVS Tuning front tow hook w/adaptor, EVS Tuning prototype hood vents, EVS Tuning prototype high-flow carbon front grill, EVS Tuning prototype carbon side skirts and rear diffuser, EVS Tuning prototype carbon GT side mirrors

Interior:
EVS Tuning rear roll bar, EVS Tuning carbon seat delete, Recaro Pole Position Seats, Schroth Clubman 6-point harnesses

Cutting Room Floor
2018 Evasive Motorsport Honda Civic Type R by Jr Sang-46
2018 Evasive Motorsport Honda Civic Type R by Jr Sang-45
2018 Evasive Motorsport Honda Civic Type R by Jr Sang-48
2018 Evasive Motorsport Honda Civic Type R by Jr Sang-49
2018 Evasive Motorsport Honda Civic Type R by Jr Sang-50
2018 Evasive Motorsport Honda Civic Type R by Jr Sang-25
2018 Evasive Motorsport Honda Civic Type R by Jr Sang-16
2018 Evasive Motorsport Honda Civic Type R by Jr Sang-17
2018 Evasive Motorsport Honda Civic Type R by Jr Sang-03
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1
Jay Soh Tsu Chung

Aren't the NACA duct on the hood already on the stock FK8R itself? The only difference I see are those vents on the sides of the hood.

Author2

You're right, the side vents are the addition. Might need a hand wiping this egg off my face.

3

Mugen, Spoon, Backyard Special: tick tock, guys, clean up those bumpers already!

It's kind of annoying to see 18" wheels fitting over the stock calipers just fine, too. The factory setup looks ridiculous.

4

I think you should have kept the rear seats in if you planned on keeping it streetable. If you plan to haul more cargo than what can fit in the rear hatch, those rear seats could be beneficial. Sure, you can put it on the delete panel, but the rear seats have seatbelts to keep the cargo restrained. JS.

5

FWD always attracts a...."special" type of enthusiast. Having grown up racing on fwd platforms and then switching to rwd and getting some experience with awd I speak from first hand experience.

Type Rs are great, but they will always play second fiddle to properly designed cars that are FR or MR. It's a simple design flaw at a certain level of engineering. For what they are they are great cars though. I like the idea of a fast civic to mess with people who own Ferraris (or w/e) but can't drive them.

6

Or Best Motoring videos where sorted Civics were spanking AWD and RWD
Or rally where RWD died in the 80s while FWD were still showing up to full fledged WRC until recently on tarmac...

FWD was created for economical cars, sure, but for low-mid HP, they’re better pound for pound. But that does not mean they should be one’s preferred choice.

7

It might limit useable power when it comes to handling, but I just see FWD as a different skill set to learn.

8

I know the whole Nurburgring lap time thing is overrated, but just look at the rear-or all-wheel driven cars that are slower than the Civic.

9

Honda is gonna have to try REALLY hard to make the next generation Civic uglier than this one.

Yet, (based on their post-90s history) I’m confident they will succeed in doing it.

decom_31b618d5d46b9bf7ef3f802aacae0c36_5b660e6f91142.pngdecom_31b618d5d46b9bf7ef3f802aacae0c36_5b660e6f91142.png
10

Awesome Civic Type R. The Evasive aero kit very clean and aggressive.

11

The body style is more like WRC/WRX than a GT3 but the finish product is good regardless where the inspiration came from.
Those white 5 spokes Advan wheels are the best part for me. And stepping down from 20 to 18 on stock brakes size, i think Honda made the inverse way offering this setup (usually you buy a car and try to fit a bigger wheel size).

12

I'm beginning to want a fwd platform.. The future is a scary place.

13

I'm curious to know if the aftermarket suspension completely removes the adjustable modes in the FK8.
Will you still have 'street/race' damper settings with the coilovers?

Either way it's a great looking car.
I'm amazed at how well it looks on smaller wheels.

Author14

Street/race mode no longer works as factory. This did come up in conversation but I must have edited it out.

You're right though it does look very, very good on 18s.

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