- Ah yes, the nineties were cool. You had fantastic cars from a country that probably
had way too much money than it knew what to do with. It was almost too perfect. The nineties were too good for Japan. Then you had the 2000s, which has when things started
to get a little bit weird. Everybody started getting
a little too futuristic. We had to calm that down. The 2010s, everyone thought
the world was ending and now you have 2020, where it might actually be. We're just not gonna get into it. So the nineties, right,
are the place to go for when it comes to cars. Well right, but no. Because everything from
the nineties these days is a lot of bloody money. Okay, everything. Some might even say it's
slightly overpriced. But there's a decade of
cars that still drives home the same fantastic feeling of nostalgia. A decade that laid the framework for the success of the nineties. Baby, welcome to the eighties. Even better because it came before. I'm Alex, alex.fi on Instagram, and today we're going to
be talking about a car that was the literal creation of the now affordable sports car class. A car that showed car manufacturers that not everything needed
to have bells and whistles and a five figure death note to essentially make it possible for anyone under the age of 24 to own. A car that had such a good suspension that it is still considered one of the best configurations ever made. Ladies and gentlemen, today
we're gonna be talking about you wanting to own a Honda CRX. (energetic music) In case you're wondering what my coffee cup for today is, I have a disposable because I ran out and it's Christmas. And if you're just jumping
into this video, hello. I need more patterns. I'm Alex. And if you're looking for aftermarket wheels, tires, or suspension, Sure to hit us up over
at fitmentindustries.com. All right, where we have everything for your newly acquired CRX or other vehicle that is in need of just maybe four wheels, four tires, or four suspensions. You will do say suspensions. That's an actual thing because we have it all. Oh, and don't forget to subscribe so we can keep making videos like this. We've also got Black Friday stuff going on all month long. And if that's not enough
for your cup of tea, if you want a four course meal baby, we're also running the
BC giveaway right now. You can pick up any of this apparel, it's gonna get you an automatic entry in to win some BC racing coilovers. Black Friday,
fitmentindustries.com/blackfriday, giveaway gear, wheels, tires, suspension. (screams) Sorry. Anyway, the Honda CRX is
a legacy in and of itself. Brought to us by the legendary Honda. Honda is by far one of
my favorite manufacturers because of everything that they stand for and did back in the day. The Honda CRX would be a front wheel drive sport compact car, granted to our meaningless lives from 1983 to 1991. It'd be replaced by
the CRX del Sol in '92, but that's neither here nor there. The Civic Renaissance Experimental, coined after Honda's internal pre production name of the car, CRX, was their attempt to produce something that was new, invigorating, a breath of fresh air, to quite literally quote-unquote, "Push the envelope." All right, the design
elements were originally taken from the Alfa Romeo Junior Zagato, maybe, depending. Which, the designer of the CRX actually own one of those. Fun fact for your garage drinking nights. And it was an incredibly
popular look back in the day. And because it was Honda, it still managed to get
the job done with less. Honda was doing a really good job at really understanding
who it needed to become. It had experienced failures in the past with sports cars, but they really started found some ground with a sport compact class. It would use a 1.3 liter CVCC motor, or a 1.5 liter three cylinder with three valves and a five speed manual, or (clears throat) a three speed, it's like a T-- It's an automatic. It's not that I don't like automatics. I just don't like automatics
that are only three gears. Unless it's like a 900
horsepower drag car. In which case it just needs two: slow and fast. That's the only gears it actually needs. The CRX was birthed in Japan, but made its way to the USA in no time, with the American Honda introducing the CRX without the hyphen for the 84 model year, which had the DX, the HF, and the SI model trims. It's important, the little dash is really what signifies a US model spec. This was the Asian era of Honda truly becoming what it wanted to be. It was finally just strutting
it stuff a little bit. The American vision,
it finally established. The Honda research of America, which would now be their RND department. It was back in Formula
One because it had money. Honda Japan had just one car of the year and now people were immediately infatuated with this tiny, fun, rail
riding, front wheel drive CRX Si because it was just a blast to drive. The CRX was based off the Civic Chassis but with smaller, sharper, had a little bit of a bigger chin, and had two less seats. This was not only looking like a car that was sharp and performed well, but it was also a doozy
of good gas mileage. I mean, the thing just did well. It make the EPA proud before
they really even cared. In fact, it was known for its gas mileage. And even though the CRX was initially launched by Honda Verno, which is essentially a
new-age selling technique. Pretty much the similar PayPal to Venmo. The technique and the company aimed to revitalize
interest in the Honda brand with the younger folk like you and me. No one really noticed, nor did they really care. But they shared so many
parts with the civic, that it kept prices down on the CRX and it even kept it reasonable
enough with trim options. You're never really breaking
the bank with the CRX. It was young, it was hip, it was jazzy, you know. $65.99 could get you a 1.5 liters CRX with the zero to 60 to
just about 10 seconds. Nearly $2,000 cheaper than the GTI, but just as fast at the time. Now, the first generation was cool and it had quite a bit in its own right, but in 1988, they did it even better. Came in like Matrix Two, except it wasn't trash. There's a few complaints with the CRX, the lack of power, sometimes a lack of quick
delivery at top speeds, and the fact that it
was a little bit noisy. So Honda completely revamped the engine and suspension that will be
brought into the SI model. All right. The 1.6 liter dual overhead had ZC engine with fuel injection. Made the car fantastic. Pair that with its double wishbone unequal length twin A arm arrangement. I did, that was a lot, okay. And you have a banging suspension for a tiny car with a tall hat. The car was well, well-developed. The second generation configuration, especially in Japan with the introduction to the V-tech trim option,
took this car from just, "Whoa, it's kinda fun" to professional racing, all right. But you would see racers in both US and JDM markets use
this car for everything. It was just an iconic car
that brought Honda back into the light with an
attempt of a true sports car. That wasn't really a hot hatch. That wasn't really a class yet. It was a thing, it was a thought, but they didn't really call it that. This would be the inevitable
car that taught Honda they could do it right and properly actually inject the idea that would then become the first-generation Honda NSX. But we're not here to
talk about the history. All right. Even though we do. We're here to talk about you wanting to own a Honda CRX, all right. If you want history, go
get yourself as a coat. and ask them about taco ding dong. Okay, no, we're here to talk about you wanting to know what it's like to actually own one of these
mean green fighting machines. These absolute JDM classics, all right. The cars that are likely to make your mom and dad a JDM fan boy when they were young and now they have Hondas
for the rest of your life. And you just don't understand why. This is why, all right. So you want a Honda CRX. Well, grab your favorite plastic refresh and drop your favorite five lug wheels because we're about to talk what it's like to
actually own one of these. We have fancy lights again. Look at 'em. Purple and blue, as an Easter egg to Artists Wheels. Honda CRX's are a legacy. Finding one with the right
trim in clean condition is also a little bit of a difficult task. It's possible, sure, but it's just not that easy. But if you do pick one up, there's a few things that you will want to keep in mind when you
actually drive this thing. First off, the car is a rust magnet. If you find one, you
need to make sure you fix and repair any rust immediately. They were a commuter fun car that was produced in the eighties. What do you expect? It wasn't really meant to
stay alive as long as it had. And you need to treat it with care too. The headlights can and will be
known to fade out over time. And if you get ones with the pop-up tech, because you brought one
in from the overseas, it's gonna not work, all right. The car can start to feel worn if it's not consistently
replacing its wearable parts. And because the car is so old, there's a tendency for previous owners to forget or just refuse to replace stuff as it gets more expensive. Number two, don't
overestimate the car itself. It's a properly fun car
that would be considered the symbolic golden age start of Honda. But it's not what you would
experience in like a 2016 SI. It's a hundred horsepower on a good day. And that's pretending none of it went away over the past 40 years sitting in Florida collecting terrible $6
t-shirts and door dings. It's just, it's not
like the same excitement as a new generation excitement. But that doesn't mean it's that exciting. It's just a different
kind of exciting, okay? I don't know how to explain it. Honda CRX's do best with
the simple stuff though, like paint correction, clean JDM wheels like Watanabe's, mesh styles or even some
good ol' Rono's again are really just cool
wheels to see on this car and tires from anywhere
you can find the sizes because the wheels are generally smaller. While the SEV Engine can
be lowered even further with stuff like Tane, Skunk, BC coilovers, or even the typical
Eibach Lowering Springs will do this on the car, it's actually pretty well-defined as is. If you can just bring down the aspect ratio of the tires, you're gonna be pretty much set to go. You'll find most of
the fun in these things is in the driver's seat on a lonely road with the windows down. They don't really try to hurt you. CRX's are just, they were
a great commuter car. They don't try to throw you into a wall. They just try to make you feel connected. It's why the racers of
the eighties, nineties, and even nowadays love this platform. It's the reason that all
Honda's from the nineties and 2000's feel like this. It's the reason many
of the Honda community just loves these cars, because it did a lot of things right. It laid the framework on
the next generation of cars that everyone would love. Spend time restoring one of these things if you pick one up before
you go modifying it though. Clean up the engine bit. Do a rebuild. Be patient with it because this was one of those cars where if you do that, you'll have it for another 200,000 miles. The car was fantastic as a
gas mileage, good commuter, that also happened to
be fun as a sports car and that's inherently what
made it so successful. But what do you think about the Honda CRX? Let us know below. And if you're looking for aftermarket wheels, tires, suspension, oh my knee, be sure to hit us up over
at fitmentindustries.com. I'm Alex from Fitment Industries. We will see you later. Peace.
