Jordan Lamb’s intimidating Honda Civic Jordan appears to be a little bit faster every time we spot it tearing up the track. So, we decided to pin him down to find out once and for all what on earth’s going on under its bright yellow skin…
Words & Photos: Dan Sherwood.
A Giant-Killing Entrance
Mimms Honda Day, Rockingham Motor Speedway, 2015. Once we’d absorbed the sea of shiny H-badged metal sitting pretty in the venue’s vast paddock area, we were drawn to the commotion that was occurring out on track.
This was the year the brand new FK2 Civic Type R was seen for the first time, and the stunning example that was making full use of the public track time at the event appeared to be engaged in a heated battle with a little yellow EK-shaped Civic that was buzzing around the mighty 300bhp turbocharged beast like a bumblebee provoking a lion.
Clearly the Honda Civic Jordan in question was being piloted by someone pretty handy behind the wheel, but the poise and speed the car itself possessed was equally as impressive. As time’s gone on, this elusive late-Nineties hatch has been sighted again, each time attempting to embarrass slightly more formidable machines that step in its path. Finally, then, the time has come to sit down with the owner of what is undoubtedly one of the most heavily modified examples of this limited-edition model anywhere in the world and discover exactly what it’s all about…
Meeting The Jordans
‘I get bored easily!’ laughs plumber Jordan Lamb, the proud owner and pilot of this ballistic Honda Civic Jordan, as he justifies in a nutshell how it has evolved so far. A Honda boy through and through, he’s grown up with the likes of EG hatches, EJ coupés and even a supercharged EP3 Type R before selling up to buy a work van when he started his new business.
‘I’d already owned and sold this very Jordan in the past, and as my business got settled, I just couldn’t stop thinking about it again,’ he recalls, keen to start off with a fairly standard base car to begin his next big project now the funds were available. ‘Weirdly, the new owner text me and asked if I ever fancied buying it back off him, and it was back in my hands the very next day.’
This time around, it wouldn’t just be alloys and an exhaust when it came to putting his personal stamp on the car, as Jordan was keen to step things up a notch.
Heart Surgery
‘I gutted it, got the roll cage welded in, and began performing a K-swap to it,’ he reveals. Grafting a 2.0-litre unit over from the much younger EP3 Civic Type R is now a fairly common conversion, but back then there was far less information available on how to do it. This was no bother to Jordan though, who had begun to grow tired of the car’s original B-Series powerplant and was adamant on doing something about it.
‘I actually put the new engine in on a set of Hasport EKK1 mounts at first, which I later found out were designed for American drag cars, where the engine sits much too far forward for a track car,’ he admits. The solution was found quickly however, by swapping the units up for the firm’s more balanced EKK2 offerings, along with utilising a subframe from a DC2 Integra as he was exposed to more information on this then-rare heart transplant.
Sporting a not-unhealthy 246 naturally extracted horses on TDI North’s dyno once it was back in one piece, Jordan was ecstatic with the hugely positive reaction the car received at that year’s JAE show. It therefore took a couple more years of hot track action before the performance itch started to rear its head again.
‘I thought about aiming for 300bhp from a normally-aspirated setup next, but the more I looked into how expensive that would be, the more supercharging the car seemed like the way to go…’ he says.
Back From The Dead
Tragically though, before he could execute his forced-induced plans, the car was badly damaged in a hit-and-run rear-ender that left it in a sorry state. ‘Most people would’ve left it there, and I was very tempted to myself, but it meant too much for me to throw in the towel and I decided I was up for the job of getting it roadworthy again,’ a determined Jordan tells us.
With panels replaced and a sumptuous full respray inside and out, performed in that iconic yellow hue from the guys at Northamptonshire-based Paint-Tec, Jordan took the opportunity of the car being stripped back to a shell to add the likes of polycarbonate windows, some subtle aero upgrades and those lightweight APR racing wing mirrors, perfectly signifying that some more substantial changes were about to take place…
Realising The Dream
‘I didn’t even think about it,’ he continues ‘I’d spotted a second-hand supercharger kit online that was perfect for my application so I just bought it right then.’ Put together by US-based forced induction specialists Jackson Racing, these Roots-style blowers work wonders on K-Series motors, with Jordan wasting no time in researching the other parts he’d need to upgrade in order to get it functioning on his block.
Cue the likes of a bolstered fuelling system, a Hybrid Racing throttle body and even a Cosworth thermostat being introduced into the bay. After that, Jordan was almost at the stage of getting the car to a dyno and conversing properly with his tweakable Hondata ECU. A chance encounter with supercharger specialist, TTS Performance’s MD, Richard Albans, saw the Honda Civic Jordan sitting on the firm’s rollers just a few weeks later, where only a few tweaks to the ‘charger’s pulley stood in the way of that final power figure – around 300bhp at the wheels with around 240lb ft of torque also on tap.
‘I’ll never forget the day I first drove it!’ Jordan grins, explaining how as well as the extra brute force now available, it’s the mid-range grunt that’s really impressed him over his previous setup. Although he’s not been on track since it’s been completed, it’s only a matter of time before he does, and once again, he can go head-to-head with much more expensive metal, no doubt.
Finishing Touches
As the car’s powerplant has been progressing, so too have other aspects. Inside, for example, all signs of comfort have now been completely wiped out, with the duo of fixed-back bucket seats surrounded by swathes of bare metal as Jordan attempts to shed every last ounce of fat from the car.
‘It’s basically an Ariel Atom with a couple of hundred more kilograms of weight added to it,’ he laughs. The car is propped up on some modest 15in Volk alloys, with HSD coilovers the suspension of choice to help Jordan tackle the twisties.
The unforgiving modifications that’ve been performed to this pocket rocket leave you in no doubt that this car’s been built with only one thing in mind: to be driven at ten-tenths at all times. Evolving at a similar rate to its loyal owner’s driving ability, the two promise to be a pretty unstoppable outfit at any track day they care to attend, with that epic whine added to the soundtrack for good measure.
TECH SPEC: Supercharged Honda Civic Jordan
ENGINE: 2.0-litre, 4-cyl, 16v K20A2 VTEC engine, Jackson Racing M62 Roots-style supercharger, 8psi pulley, Walbro 255lph fuel pump, Hybrid Racing fuel rail, RC Engineering 650cc fuel injectors, braided fuel lines, Cosworth spark plugs, Cosworth race-spec thermostat, Mishimoto radiator, Vibrant air filter with custom aluminium 4in pipework, 70mm Hybrid Racing throttle body, Toda tubular exhaust manifold with 3in collector, 3in custom exhaust system with Magnaflow centre pipe and Turn 12 back box with turned-down tip, Hasport EKK2 engine mount kit, Hondata KPro 4 ECU with custom TTS Performance map
PERFORMANCE: 300whp and 240lb ft of torque (approx.)
TRANSMISSION: Six-speed manual gearbox from DC5 Integra Type R, Quaife ATB limited-slip differential
SUSPENSION: DC2 Integra Type R front subframe and anti-roll bars, HSD Monopro monotube adjustable coilovers, fully polybushed
BRAKES: DC2 Integra Type R disc brakes, Project Mu grooved discs and HC800 pads, HEL Performance braided lines
WHEELS & TYRES: 7x15in RAYS Volk Racing CE28N forged alloy wheels in custom blue flip paint with 225/45/15 Federal 595 RS-R tyres
EXTERIOR: Full respray in OEM Sunlight Yellow, cut-away rear bumper, Cusco GT rear wing, APR Performance carbon-fibre racing wing mirrors, custom front canards, carbon-fibre sunroof cover, polycarbonate side and rear windows
INTERIOR: Fully stripped bare-metal interior, Buddyclub P1 fixed-back bucket seat with Takata harness (driver’s), Bride fixed-back bucket seat with OMP harness (passenger’s), Buddyclub seat rails (all-round), OMP BTCC steering wheel, custom TDM Motorsport multi-point weld-in rollcage, Hybrid Racing shifter box, Skunk2 weighted gear knob
THANKS: TTS Performance for the mapping, Ben Gilbert at Turn 12 for the fabrication work, Sean at Total Dynamic Motorsport, Pete from Paint-Tec for the paintwork
