I remember a few years back I met Brandon through Club RSX when I decided to start a Chicago area RSX club (Chicago DC5), he was one of the first members to join. His Rsx was a mostly stock base manual with a Type-R spoiler, some odd stripes on the fenders that came on the car when he bought it and an obnoxious exhaust. Over the years he has gone through a plethora of different wheel set ups, exhausts, lip kits and more. Last year he pulled the trigger on doing a K20Z3 Head Swap and then this year he did a k20 A2 6-speed trans swap. But recently he brought his dream to life, he had his car completely repainted with all new aero, new wheels and a few more small things here and there. He has envisioned what he wanted his RSX to look like since he got it and he has finally made that dream a reality.
Here’s Brandon’s story on how he got into cars “Since I was little I was always into cars, I had xmods, zip zaps, quick little rc cars you name it. I just loved how you could really customize and build everything and then be able to see it come all together. Sometimes what you did wasn’t exactly the smartest choice, but you learned from it like when I put the wrong voltage battery in my Lancer Evolution RC car and it caught on fire going 20mph down the street. And While other kids were out reading the latest Harry Potter for book reports , I was catching up on Initial D manga with my best friend or going to 7-11 after class and looking at the latest tuner magazine. It’s not like we really knew what everything meant other than turbo+intercooler = fast.”
Brandon said “Whenever someone asks you why you bought a certain car, I feel like the answer relies a lot on what you had before (whether it be a rust bucket or nothing at all). My first car in fact was a red 91 NA Toyota Mr2. I loved everything about the Mr2 (it having an appearance in Initial D was a plus as well), what wasn’t there to love? Flip up headlights, mid engine rear wheel drive, a Frunk (front trunk), and a tail happy end when you pushed it a little. Granted, mine looked like a piece of junk with clear coat peel here and there, and enough rust to make you wonder what was still metal.
But after coming to terms that an MR2 wasn’t the smartest choice to daily drive in Chicago, mainly during the crazy snow blizzards, I sold the car after a few large mechanical problems and began the search for another car. I had originally been looking for a clean Integra GSR, but if you spend as much time on craigslist as I do, clean+integra isn’t what you usually find up for sale. Eventually I stumbled upon a base manual rsx because of the related tags. And the only knowledge I had at the time was that it was a “newer” integra. So I stopped on by the dealership, haggled the price down by 30% and before you knew it I was a proud owner of a Satin Silver Base manual RSX.”
Everyone has some type of goal for their car, this is Brandons “Just like many other enthusiasts, the car started off as a daily driver. Since I originally made the mistake of buying a base instead of type S I decided to just work on aesthetics. But the speed bug eventually caught me and car soon became something faster than a Type S. After a season of auto crossing I learned that I was pretty content on how my car performed and handled and began to work towards form within function. I wanted something that looked aggressive, but played its part.”
“The main inspiration for my car’s aesthetics would most definitely have to be the fully loaded mugen dc5. While most people aren’t fans of certain Mugen styling, I felt like there was greater meaning behind the parts, the brand and the name itself. Based on the Mugen 2002-2004 DC5, I deviated here and there to things that I really liked. “
“The favorite part of my car is that it really was something of my own. If you go on online pages nowadays you’ll see these fresh kids asking “what should I do with my car?”, “you guys like my car?” .To me this seems pretty hollow, a lot of the time the justification is them trying to be “different”. Doing what everyone accepts on Instagram or facebook isn’t exactly being “different”. I’m not saying you’ll always know what you want, heck I started with a satin silver rsx and now its grand prix white. But you shouldn’t have to “try” to be different, you should just build your car how you like it and that’s something I’m proud to say I did. For example, a lot of people hate the mugen smile on the front of my car, a lot of people love it as well. But at the end of the day I can put on a smile just as big as the one on my car and that’s all that matters.”
Having seen Brandon’s car from start to its present state has been quite amazing, he doesn’t follow trends, he doesn’t try to make his car a certain way because people tell him he should. He built his car completely based on what he wanted his car to look like, he started with a blank canvas and made it his own masterpiece.
Brandon will never see the day where people don’t bring up his cars original sate, he said “WELL, I’m pretty sure the guys of ChicagoDC5 will never let this down. But back when I first bought my rsx, there were Acura stickers all over the car and there were stripes on the fenders where the fender met the bumper. Being a greenhorn in the dealership, I didn’t realize that a few of these things weren’t exactly removable without doing some major damage. This would eventually lead me down the line of “ your car looks like it has eye liner” , “Why does it look like your bumper isn’t connected to your car” , “is that an ass dent on your hood?” , “STRIPES” . I won’t lie though, all the teasing and jokes really did teach me humility in the car community.”
Mods List:
2003 Acura RSX Originally a Satin Silver Base Manual RSX , Now a Grand Prix White (not a base) RSX.
Exterior:
- Mugen Style Bumper
- Vis Mugen Style Carbon Fiber Hood
- Vis Mugen Style Side Skirts
- Type-R Rear Wing
- Aspec Rear Lip
- Password JDM Gurney Flap
- JDM Fenders with original side markers
- Enkei J10 Wheels
Interior:
- Mugen MidBar
- Bride Low Max Seats
- Buddly Club Seat Rails
- Blox Weighted Knob
- Recaro Red Style Door Inserts
- Mugen Pedals
Suspension:
- Eibach suspension
- SPC Camber Kit
- Front Sway Bar Delete
- Deeza Ball Joints
- Moog Tie Rods
Motor& Transmission:
- K20Z3 Head Swap
- Hondata Kpro V3
- Dyno Tune by SujaOne Motoring
- RBC Intake Manifold
- Hondata IM Gasket
- Karcepts RBC IM Adapter Plate
- K20Z1 Throttle Body
- Blox Kseries TPS
- Energy Suspension Motor Mounts
- Aem V2 Intake
- OBX Stainless Steel Race Header
- SRS Stainless Steel 2.5 Exhaust System
- K20A2 6 Speed Transmission Swap
- Exedy Organic Clutch Competition
- Ultra Lightweight 8lb Flywheel
- Em1 CMC with stainless steel lines
- EP3 AC Reroute Lines
Check out my photography page here and my full album from the shoot here. Also check out BNC Photography’s work here and his full album from the shoot here.
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