Lucky Number Six: Trey Edwards' Skunk2 Racing Honda Civic Si

Article and Photography by Corey Davis

To truly understand Trey Edwards' love and passion for Honda, you must know a little bit about the man who has a Honda "H” tattooed on his hand.

Influenced by The Fast and the Furious, Trey’s introduction to the Tuner Scene was a 1997 Civic LX. He didn’t go into much detail other than that he had no idea what in the world he was doing mod wise. With little planning and direction, we picture underglow, a ridiculous body kit, and some NOS stickers. He later lost this car unexpectedly. Shortly after the F&F saga, he moved to a Honda Del Sol, which he also chose not to go into much detail about. Again, we have to go with a loud exhaust, altezzas, and a bolt-on spoiler. What both cars do have in common is that they were both unfortunately lost, which ultimately made him leave the car scene for a while.

As faith would have it, though, Trey met his wife who would unknowingly become a huge catalyst in his passion for modifying cars. To solidify their plans to marry and support each other, Trey decided to join the Army and move from his home in North Carolina. His first duty station was at Fort Irwin, California, where he was just two hours from Vegas and Los Angeles. Can’t blame that sentiment, Trey! As we all know, the import scene is huge in Cali, and he quickly found himself sucked back into the Modified Lifestyle.

We always hear that all the "good ones” have already been taken and that finding a great partner to settle down with is tough these days. Well, Trey got a keeper. She let him sell her first car so that he could buy another—you guessed it—a Honda Del Sol, but this time it had a B16A swap in it. Satisfied with his most recent project, he entered the Honda scene again, where he began meeting new friends, which only helped further his addiction to Honda.

Misfortune would later strike again when his driver's side motor mount broke, letting the engine hit the ground and snapped all the bolts off into the engine. If you’re keeping track, this was the third Honda that he had lost. Unfazed, however, a few weeks later, he located what would be one of his favorite cars. The new 1997 Civic was mostly stock but not for long. The stock D16Y8 just couldn’t hang with Trey and ultimately grenaded. With a shell still intact, he began hunting for a new engine. Trey knew he wanted something unique that would turn heads, so he went with a full B16B swap from HMotorsOnline.com. After only two days and performing the entire swap, the motor fired right up. A month before being reassigned to Colorado Springs, he was headed to a meet in Fontana, where Lady Fortune had her way with his newly finished ride. While trying to merge, the driver of the car in front of him slammed on the brakes, causing him to swerve into a curb. Thankfully, everyone was all right, and there was no damage to his newly swapped B16B engine. The Civic, on the other hand, was done for. It didn’t take him long to locate another host for the swap, and three days later he moved everything from the totaled coupe into his newly acquired 1997 Midori Hatch.

After a long ride in Honda #5 from California to Colorado, things were looking up. One day Trey decided to drive through an Acura dealership for a VIN verification on his wife’s car and looked to see what they had on the lot. He found a perfect 2007 Honda Civic SI sedan, which was the car he had always wanted, and he thought it would be a great daily driver. After haggling with the salesmen, they settled on a decent price, and he slowly drove it home in the snow. Once the snow melted, he took it for some spirited driving to see what it could do, only to find out that it wouldn’t shift into second past 6,000 rpm. He learned that the previous owner had filled the transmission with the wrong oil, causing it to fail, and Honda refused to rebuild it. Luckily, the Acura dealership where he bought the car rebuilt the entire transmission for free.

Being a dog owner is difficult if you’re renting an apartment, but Trey and his wife decided they wanted to risk bringing their four-legged friends back to Colorado, so they made the trip back out to California to pick up their dogs. Unfortunately, Trey and his wife were soon evicted from their apartment because they were caught with their dogs. The only way they could afford to move somewhere else was to sell the prized Midori Hatch. Devastated, Trey sold the car, but because he gave up so much, his wife allowed him to do anything he wanted with his SI.

So began the modifications, which started with some Enkei RPF1s and coilovers and later progressed to a lip kit. Once the exterior was complete, Trey researched power mods. A Skunk2 Mega Power 70 mm exhaust lets the engine breathe and the VTECH scream, and a Hondata FlashPro let him tune with ease. The engine bay is dressed nicely with a teal valve cover and carbon kevlar accessories. While browsing one day, he noticed a program called Skunk2 Certified, which is basically a certification process where a select group of enthusiasts can be recognized and rewarded for using genuine Skunk2 products. Trey’s car made the cut, and he was accepted to be part of the Street Team, allowing him to get discounts on Skunk2 parts and a serialized plaque. Finally, with a car still intact and where he wanted it, he contacted NvUS, a nationally syndicated car club in California with hopes of starting a chapter in Colorado. After being approved, he began as chapter lead and just recently became an Elite member, who are chosen for their unique and flashy builds. They are the face of NvUS.

What sets Trey’s ride apart from most of the other Civics that we see is his attention to detail and uniformity of all the parts he’s chosen for the car. Even his oil and radiator caps are Skunk2! Perhaps one of the coolest parts about the car that will have all the JDM fanboys drooling is his rear license plate that lights up. Straight from Japan, it’s one of the only working ones stateside. Why can’t our license plates light up?

Trey has come a long way since his Fast and the Furious days, and the road has been a bit bumpy. After countless misfortunes and Hondas, however, he’s finally found one that will stick around for quite some time. This car reflects his passion for the Modified Lifestyle and his will not to accept failure as a reason to stop. So, the next time you find yourself stuck or with a wrench in the gears, think about all the Hondas Trey went through. And, just for the record, it helps to have an understanding wife.