Honda "Big-Eye Chicken"

🛠️ Original – Honda誌 – JDM Car Fans Magazine – 📅 2025-04-10 11:46:17

Back again to the Civic history review time, and unknowingly we've come to the sixth-generation Civic, the EK.

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This generation of Civic is likely quite familiar to everyone. The reason is simple: 🏠 this car was produced domestically. Back then, many private companies such as Yangcheng Auto, Guangtong Auto, etc., assembled quite a few units using CKD (Completely Knocked Down) kits. In addition, quite a few were brought in through grey channels. So, at the time, the market price was not as expensive as the EG. 💰 Given that the Accord CD back then was priced just above 400,000 yuan, the EK could only stay in the 300,000s. Many people's first family-owned car might have been a Yangcheng EK🚗.

🗓️ The sixth-generation Civic was launched on September 4, 1995. Its body style was basically the same as the previous-generation EG Civic, including a three-door hatchback (EK), a four-door sedan (EJ/EK), and a two-door coupe (EJ).

🇯🇵 When the EK Civic was born in 1995, it was dubbed "Miracle City" by people in Japan. However, the advertisements in Hong Kong at the time were rather low-key, simply labeled "All new Civic".

🎨 Let’s first look at the changes in the exterior design of the EK Civic. At first glance, the most obvious is the headlights, which are significantly larger than those on the previous EG generation 👀. The clearly protruding fender flares on the front and rear wings are very sporty 🏁. The body design uses many smooth lines throughout the car, aimed at achieving a lower drag coefficient for better fuel efficiency ⛽.

Although the first generation of the Civic Type R appeared on the EK, for the regular versions, it was still essentially an economical C-segment small car. In the international market, it had many competitors—not just the Corolla, Lancer, Pulsar, but also Ford's Escort, Opel Astra, BMW 3 Series Compact, etc. Truly a battlefield of giants 💥.

Because the EK Civic had larger headlights, many car fans in Hong Kong affectionately called it "Big-Eye Chicken"🐔.

🏆 After the EK Civic launched, it soon won the Japan Car of the Year Award, marking the third time the Civic earned this honor.

📏 Every generation upgrade inevitably came with increased body dimensions. The wheelbase of this EK Civic was 2620mm, a 50mm increase compared to the 2570mm of the previous EG generation. This brought a certain degree of improvement to interior space and comfort, though it still lagged behind the 2700mm standard for C-class cars. Most of its European competitors had already reached or were approaching this value.

📐 The dimensions of the EK Civic were: Length: 4180mm, Width: 1695mm, Height: 1375mm.

🚗 Moving on from basic body specifications, let’s talk about the different body styles: The three-door hatchback and the four-door sedan shared the chassis code EK. In the Japanese market, the four-door sedan was called "Ferio". The two-door coupe version was still a model produced in the U.S. and “reverse-imported” back into the Japanese market.

📍 This Civic sedan version was also quite commonly seen in South China at the time. The "LEV" label means Low Emission Vehicle. Under the influence of California’s laws, Japan also started implementing regulations on low emissions.

🛞 Speaking of the EK Civic’s design and body changes, the next aspect—one that Civics have always emphasized—is handling performance. The suspension system still inherited the double-wishbone design from the EG era. This was also the last Civic generation to use double-wishbone suspension front and rear. After several generations of upgrades, by the time of the EK, the suspension system had become quite mature. The issue of limited travel found in EG models was basically resolved.

🧪 As for how strong the double-wishbone suspension and Honda's engineering prowess were, that brings us to the high-performance Type R. When the EK9 Type R tackled high-speed corners, all four wheels could stay firmly planted, giving the driver full confidence—thanks to the suspension setup.

🔧 The characteristics of the double-wishbone suspension are that it can, in any situation, maintain the maximum tire camber and maximize contact with the road. Also, it reduces the load on the shock absorbers during steering, allowing for better performance and durability.

📉 From a driving perspective, while the double-wishbone suspension offers superior handling, its mechanical structure also takes up a lot of interior space. For a car positioned as an economical compact, this wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

⚙️ The second major focus of the Civic is the engine. The most basic EL model used a 1343cc naturally aspirated inline-four engine called the D13B. Max torque: 114Nm/4800rpm Max horsepower: 91hp/6300rpm

🧊 This D13B engine also marked the last appearance of a 1.3L engine in a Civic. Starting with the next generation ES/EP Civics, the entire range switched to 1.5L engines.

🏷️ On this EK generation, Honda no longer used the SiR or Si designations. Instead, the sporty models were labeled SiR II and VTi II. These two models used the D15B engine, which featured a new technology called 3-Stage VTEC. This technology used three cam lobes with different lift profiles on the camshaft to achieve three different valve lift stages: low, mid, and high. This allowed the engine to maintain good torque across different RPM ranges. It can be simply understood as a combination of VTEC and VTEC-E.

🔥 After the D-series came the higher-performance B-series engines. Thanks to the introduction of the Type R model, in addition to the second-generation B16A engine, Honda also provided the most powerful 1.6L engine ever for the Type R: the B16B. This B16B engine used the same short block as the B18C from the Integra Type R (DC2), with the same block height and bore size. The only difference was the stroke. Max torque: 160Nm/7500rpm Max horsepower: 185hp/8200rpm

💡 Due to the shorter stroke, the B16B had a higher compression ratio than the B16A—10.8:1 vs. 10.4:1. VTEC kicked in at 6100rpm and continued up to the 9000rpm redline, giving a full 2900rpm VTEC engagement window.

📣 Speaking of the B16B engine in the EK9, here’s something to educate car enthusiasts: Some public accounts love to say things like "VTEC is race technology" or "VTEC shines on the racetrack" in their articles. Let’s make it clear to those self-media writers who’ve never seen the real world: the B-, C-, or K-series engines used on the racetrack don’t even have VTEC! They’ll remove the so-called “VTEC rocker arm system” and replace it with a setup called a “VTEC-Killer”. Then they’ll use camshafts with lift angles over 300° to achieve larger valve openings. Running DOHC VTEC in Group A or Group N racing? That’s a joke!

🚫 So please, those who don't understand Honda and just grab internet pics to write “VTEC tech comes from racing”—send your editors to be motorsport reporters for a few years before writing about “Honda Spirit.” Stop embarrassing your public accounts with nonsense!

🏁 After covering the power units, let’s talk about the sporty variants of this generation. In Japan and Europe, the SiR II and VTi II versions were available. Aside from these two sporty versions, in 1999 the Civic Si model reappeared. This time, it was built on the two-door coupe body (EJ), which tells us the Si was a U.S.-produced model. The “Si” designation gradually became exclusive to the U.S. market.

🎯 Both the three-door and four-door versions had SiR II variants, using the second-generation B16A engine.

🧩 The Si model used a 1.6L B16A2 engine: Max torque: 150Nm/6500rpm Max horsepower: 160hp/7600rpm

⏳ This Si model was only produced for a short one-year span. Hopefully, the JDM fanboys in the country take a look at these Civics and ask: are these JDM? U.S.-built and sold by Honda Japan—can it still be called JDM?

🗣️ Now that we’ve discussed the sporty versions, we must also talk endlessly about the Type R. This Civic Type R had the chassis code EK9. It was a new high-performance three-door hatchback added after the facelift on August 22, 1997. This was the first Civic Type R and also the last generation of Japan-built three-door hatchback Civic Type R. The later EP3 and FN2 models were also hatchbacks, but built in Honda’s Swindon factory in the UK. The FD2 Type R was Japan-built, but based on a four-door sedan. The FK2 and FK8 were even further removed—five-door hatchbacks.

💯 The EK9 Type R was the third member of Honda's Type R family.

🎯 To the point, the EK9 Type R was based on the EK4 three-door hatchback. In terms of exterior, it had a unique front bumper, front fenders, rear wing, and exclusive Type R wheels. It also came in the signature Type R color: Champion White.

🏁 Champion White was chosen to commemorate Honda’s RA272 F1 car, which won the 1965 Mexico Grand Prix—Honda’s first F1 victory.

⚖️ Again, let’s emphasize: We strongly oppose the narrative that Type R = high power. For those who love or admire the Honda spirit, please remember what Nobuhiko Kawamoto once said: The essence of Type R lies in lightweight for superior handling; power is merely secondary. Don’t get that priority flipped!

🛒 This EK9 Type R was sold only in the Japanese domestic market.

🎽 Its purpose, like the Integra DC2 Type R before it, was to be driven to the track and raced. In the pursuit of extreme lightweight, Honda removed many comfort features from the EK9 Type R. But it also added performance parts: Momo steering wheel with SRS airbag, Recaro bucket seats, titanium shift knob, and mechanical LSD.

⚙️ Even without chassis anti-rust coatings and with clearcoat pre-mixed into the body paint, the lightest EK9 still weighed 1040kg. This version lacked power steering, ABS, air conditioning, sound system, and had manual windows. The fully loaded version with those comfort features weighed 1090kg.

🏷️ There’s a Type R badge on the side of the car.

🧭 In terms of handling and power, the EK9 Type R not only had the tuned front/rear double wishbone and the best 1.6L engine from Honda, it also had reinforced sway bars, stiffer dampers, and other enhancements to improve body control during aggressive driving. Within the Civic lineup, the EK9 was a standout performance sedan.

😔 Unfortunately, it was kind of born at the wrong time—or more aptly: "Why must EK9 exist when there's already a DC2-R?" So, EK9 didn’t sell that well. Total production was under 16,000 units, while the three-generation DC2-R (96', 98', 00') was much more popular, with several times the sales.

📊 The instrument cluster differed from regular models, especially with the prominent Type R logo on the center console.

📈 From the driver’s seat, the most striking thing is the tachometer—redline at 9000rpm, gauge maxes at 10,000rpm.

🚧 Because the initial Civic Type R had such a harsh setup, its target market was very narrow. On September 3, 1998, Honda gave the EK9 a facelift with other production models. The exterior got redesigned lights and bumpers. Inside, the stereo slot changed from 1DIN to 2DIN, and the A/C controls were updated. Still, the stereo remained an optional feature until the release of the “Type R Humane Version” in December 1999. That version included stereo, speakers, power mirrors, power windows, keyless entry as standard.

📆 Although the Civic was fully updated in 2000, this “humane version” EK9 continued production until December 2001.

🌍 The EK9 Type R remained in production until the EP3 Type R from the UK factory launched. The story of EK9 is far from over—many right-hand-drive countries still have lots of EK9s on the road. Thanks to the recent JDM boom, after the 20–25 year import threshold, people have begun auctioning and flipping these classic JDM cars. Honda’s DC2, EK9, DC5, FD2—these classic Type R models are still hot. The author saw prices for EK9s and FD2s on Hong Kong’s used car websites still holding strong at HKD 230,000–300,000. Truly a timeless classic.