Carbon Footprint | Ben's Carbonized Civic Type R

While adventuring in another city, I find myself rediscovering many things I usually overlook. Some things that I even forgot that I enjoyed it once before. Regardless if its car related or not. So this brought me to the night I was meeting with Aloy from LHB Motorsports in Singapore. How I got to know him was through Facebook. Apparently, I kept taking shots at his customers’ cars on track at Sepang. Especially the time attack spec black FD2R. Straight off the bat, that car looked bad ass.

But we will save that FD2R sometime later on. While Aloy was introducing me to his crew, I can’t help to notice one FD2R which was just covered in a lot of carbon fiber. Being a sometimes overgrown kid, I can’t help to check out all that carbon. Of course, half of the times I do check out a car that’s got carbon all over, it turns out to be just a wrap. But this FD2R, as I start to look at it, I realize that whole interior was stripped as well. The only trim that’s left is just a dashboard. That’s when you know that this car is on a serious diet.

So I met up and rode shotgun in the car with the driver, Ben. Ben, a National Service trainee during most of his time is also an occasional track junkie has always been a car nut for quite a long time now. It started off when back when his older brother use to own a low and loud Honda Civic EK. Back then he didn’t know anything about cars. But that all changed when one day, he took a ride with his brother. For being the good older brother he is, while Ben was playing Tap Tap Revenge on his iPhone, that’s when his brother did a pull which caused the phone to be planted on Ben’s face. That’s when he knew what the VTEC craze was all about.

At first, he was hoping to take over his brother’s EK by the time he turned 18. At first, he thought it would be a great plan since back then, his brother always wanted to get an Evo. But high hopes came crashing down when his brother ended up selling off the EK when he was only 16. But after a ride in his friend’s Civic FD2R, Ben quickly decided to get an FD2R for himself. In the end, he got it.

At first of course, it was a bit of a learning curve for him to get in tune with daily driving the FD2R, especially for being such a race oriented car. Especially when he was enlisted to join the Singapore Army, it became a bit more difficult since he now has less seat time with the car. But with support from his buddies, he improved slowly to be a more poised driver.

But when there is time, he started to learn to drive on track with his car. So throughout the experience, Aloy became a mentor to Ben when it comes to track driving. Some examples of things that was taught and trained through Aloy varied from simple things like shifting to track racing lines in order to make the best lap time.

The car itself was built to be pretty straight forward. The idea was to have a track worthy car that is still within margins of being street legal. Along with the guidance of his friends from LHB, he ended up getting a car that turned out to be a track weapon that just wants to go. For now, with some simple bolt-ons like a full exhaust system and some custom cams, Ben is pretty satisfied at how the car is. With high hopes to enter Zerotohundred Time To Attack in 2016, he can’t wait to take a shot at beating his personal best lap time. Synonym to Bruce Lee’s quote, “Life itself is your teacher, and you are in a state of constant learning”.

TUNING MENU

Owner: Ben Leow 

Model: 2007 Honda Civic Type R FD2R

Location: Singapore

ENGINE:

2.0L K20A Inline 4,

Webcams Custom Camshaft,

Custom Air Intake by LHB, 

Honda Throttle Body,

Supertech Valve Springs, 

Skunk 2 Full Exhaust System,

Hondata Flashpro Custom Tuned by LHB Motorsports,

DRIVETRAIN:

6 speed manual,

Ogura racing Super Single Clutch, 

Custom Gearing, 

OS Giken LSD ,

SUSPENSION, CHASSIS AND BRAKES:

Nitron Suspension,

AP Racing Pro 5000 Brakes (F&R), 

Spoon Rigid Collar,

Cusco Anti Roll Bars (F&R), 

Cusco Strut Bars (F&R),

Cusco Centre Brace,

Js Fender Brace,

WHEELS AND TIRES:

Enkei RPF1 17 x 9jj (all round)

Yokohama Advan AD08R 245/45/17 (front) 225/45/17 (rear)

EXTERIOR:

Seibon Carbon Fiber Hood,

Seibon Carbon Fiber Doors,

LHB Custom Door Panel,

LHB Carbon Fiber Front Fenders, 

Js Racing Carbon Fiber Front Lip, 

Js Racing Rear Trunk, 

Js Racing GT Wing,

Custom GT-Wing Low Stand,

INTERIOR:

BRIDE Zeta lll Japan

OMP Superleggera Suede steering wheel

Defi Meters,

Hybrid Racing Shifter Assembly,

Hybrid Shifter Bush,

Skunk 2 Gear Knob,

Mugen Pedals,

SPECIAL THANKS TO:

LHB Motorsports

BONUS IMAGES

Sean's Nissan Skyline R33 | Random Snaps

Upshift And Thrill | Midnight Run with LHB Motorsports

From my last post on Cars And Kopi if one may noticed, I also included a photo of a lonely FD2R with a huge LHB sticker on the side. For those who know me well, they know it might be a subliminal message, since Cars And Kopi and this happened on technically the same day. LHB is an exhaust tuning shop located on the east side of Singapore. How I got to know them their cars were frequently captured during Sepang track days. Just by seeing them perform, one can tell that their cars are very worthy competitors.

I got hold of the guy who runs the show known as Aloy to just find a car to do a feature on. But at the end, I was given a bonus that I didn't expect. Aloy rounded up his whole crew. From some of the members and also loyal customers to Aloy's shop, they say a few random dates in a year will be chosen to be their "Rounding night" so that the guys can meet up and drive across the island. The only reason to have this happen is so that the guys won't get bored.

On another note, this is a good and eye opening insight since the situation is a bit different back in KL. Nowadays, most just want to take their so-called built and tuned machines to just park and chill which I feel is a huge waste. These guys from LHB do that too,but they make sure they stretch their rides' legs before doing so. To my surprise, many of them are familiar track weapons I see in Sepang. They just look unmistakably cool on a city street. Clearly shows that these guys build their cars to be driven, not just show and no go.

 
We met up at an alley near Boon Tat Street in downtown Singapore and set off from there. Majority of them are running K20A with a few other high performance platforms. Long story short, we did take a bit of time for me to shoot one of their cars for feature. But most of the night, we were blasting from end to end of the island until 3 in the morning. With so many well built machines, it might take me a few trips just to feature all of them. But nonetheless, with casual meets and runs like this is what keeps the car scene in Singapore still alive and raw.